"That's ridiculous," said Ichika. "You've got to be kidding me, Shuichi."

"No, I'm not," said Kurama, folding his arms behind his back and looking at all the cheerleaders sitting in front of him, with Hiei and Aratani waiting for him in the bleachers. "May I at least watch the tape?"

"Just let Shuichi watch it, Ichika," Tanaka begged. "This could be our only chance at winning the competition."

"Well…okay," Ichika said reluctantly, getting up to retrieve the tape from the locker room. "Just don't expect me to visit you in the hospital when you break every bone in your body."

Kurama didn't know if she was exaggerating or if he actually should be concerned by this, but he didn't have too much time to ponder it, because Ichika wasted no time in bringing back the tape, along with a portable TV so they could watch it, and a boom box.

"This video is set to the same music I'm going to play out of the boom box," she explained. "The song wasn't around back when Miss Legendary made the tape, but it fit really well with the routine, so our school edited it in about ten years ago."

"Fine," said Kurama, thinking this was good news, because the music might help him memorize the routine easier, if it was truly that coordinated. As the head cheerleader inserted the tape, he sat down to watch with the others.

Ichika played the tape, and Kurama did have to admit that the Meiou Monster seemed pretty complicated. The whole time he was watching it, his superior brain was rushing to memorize the routine. Just as he expected, the music helped him along. There was also the matter of observing everything he would need, all around him—the rope, the rings, the balance beam, the pom-poms, the giant metal hoops that hung from the ceiling…Kurama had been wondering what those were there for, and now he knew: In the tape, the girl was dodging them.

Once the tape was over, Ichika narrowed her eyes at Kurama. "Do you still think you can do it?"

"Yes," said Kurama, and she actually looked surprised. "I just need to watch it one more time."

So he did, and once it was over, everyone gaped as Kurama grabbed the pom-poms and set both feet squarely on the ground.

"I'm ready," he said.

Ichika, looking a little pale, pressed the play button on the boom box, starting a spunky, energetic song—the same one from the video. It was time.

…

Hiei seemed to be the only one in the entire gym who had complete confidence that Kurama could do the Meiou Monster. It would have been impossible to see the TV from where he was sitting on the bleachers, but he just used his Jagan eye to watch long-distance, so that wasn't an issue. Why did they all think Kurama wouldn't be able to do it? Well, every time someone doubted or underestimated Kurama, they always ended up either really thankful, or really regretting it, depending on whether they were fighting with him or against him. So the cheerleaders would just have to wait until he was finished with the routine.

It started off with fairly basic cheerleading moves, or at least what Hiei knew of them. It was a solo routine, so none of the other cheerleaders were interrupting. But as the song went on, things got more complicated. By the time the first verse of the song was over, Kurama had displayed all kinds of fancy gymnastics-types moves—flips, spins, handsprings—all the ones that were in the video, and more.

There was one point in the video where he had to throw the pom-poms up and catch them again in time to the music, and if his timing had been off one bit, or he hadn't had good depth perception and aim, he wouldn't have been able to do it. After that, there were all kinds of jumps, with the hoops, the balance beam, and jumping straight up in the air, all in time to the music. Kurama could jump higher than the girl in the video, and he was more flexible. It seemed like he was actually adding his own personal flair to the routine.

This was especially well-demonstrated when it came to dodging those hoops that were hanging from the ceiling, for some reason. Unlike the girl in the video (who just dodged them), he used a few more backflips, and landed on his feet. Then it was time for some more tricks with the pom-poms, and then it was time for the rope. Hiei was especially looking forward to this.

…

When the music prompted him to, Kurama tossed his pom-poms aside and grabbed the rope with his right hand, prepared to follow what he had seen the girl doing in the video. Always in time to the song, he started the rope part of the routine, and what did you know…

The skills were transferrable!

Kurama decided that this would be the best part, and that he could (and would) do a lot more than the girl in the video. Just as he had done thousands of times before, he lifted the rope above his head, spinning himself in an elegant circle. It wasn't exactly the same without all the rose petals swirling around him, but it was similar enough, and although he knew he couldn't waste too much time or deviate too much from the routine, he enjoyed himself showing off the tricks he could do with his signature move.

Done! Kurama was almost to the grand finale of the video, and he had to think of something special to really make this impressive…but what? There were some more basic flips and things coming up, but after that, he was supposed to throw his pom-poms in the air, jump from the high beam onto a giant foam block, catch the pom-poms, then jump down again, executing a perfect landing. After that, the song would be over, and so would the routine.

During one of his handsprings backwards, he saw it out of the corner of his eye—the rope! If he could pull it off…

Once the music called for the jump up to the high beam, he tossed his pom-poms into the air like he was supposed to, but instead of jumping, he grabbed the rope again and flung it like a grappling hook so that it secured surely onto the high beam. Then, keeping himself coordinated, but with his eyes on the midair pom-poms, he used the rope's hold on the high beam to flip himself over onto the foam block, and—yes!—he caught the pom-poms just in time. As the last line of the song played, he flipped himself over onto the ground again, landing down on one knee with both hands out at his sides, still holding the pom-poms.

"How did I do?" Kurama asked, panting slightly, as the song finished, then standing up straight.

For the first time that whole afternoon, Ichika was speechless. Her mouth was just opening and closing again, like a fish. Hanako looked horrified; Tanaka was beaming. Hiei and Aratani had lost control of themselves completely, jumping up and down in the bleachers as they clapped and cheered and whistled.

"Never, in all my years of gymnastics and cheerleading…" Ichika had finally found her voice again. "Are my eyes really correct? How did you do that?"

"Well, to be honest, it looks to me like that girl just took every move she knew how to do and compiled it into one long solo routine," said Kurama with a shrug.

"Hmm…you're probably right," said Ichika. "But anyway, congratulations! You're on the team! If you do that well in the competition, there's no way we can't win. Right, girls?"

All the cheerleaders looked enthusiastic, except Hanako.

"Shuichi, you seem to be a fast learner," Ichika continued. "Do you think you can learn all our routines before the big competition on Saturday, like you learned the moves in the video? It's important that you do."

"Yes, I can do that," said Kurama, smiling.

"Great," Ichika replied. Suddenly businesslike, she ushered Hiei and Aratani out of the gym with a wave of her hand. "All right, time for the cheerleaders to practice like they've never practiced before. Go home, you two."

"I'm going to go hang out with Yu Kaito," said Aratani. "See you tomorrow, Shuichi."

Kurama knew that go hang out actually probably meant break up in this case, but he didn't say anything about it, just nodded and smiled.

"I'll tell the other two to meet at your house, Kurama," Hiei called. "We'll wait for you there."

…

It was a relief for Yusuke to finally finish school for the day, because he still wasn't feeling too well. Today he mostly had a stomachache, and he still found himself in the bathroom more than usual, but his head hurt, too. As he and Kuwabara were leaving school that day, Hiei jumped out of a tree and blocked their path.

"Don't do that!" Kuwabara shouted, startled.

"Kurama wants you two to meet him at his house," Hiei said shortly. "So come on."

"I see." Yusuke was grinning. "So the power couple's back together again, huh? I knew you two couldn't stay apart."

"Hn," said Hiei, and jumped back up into the treetops. Yusuke rolled his eyes at him and changed course for Kurama's house. By the time they arrived, of course, Hiei was already there.

"So can you update us on what's going on?" Yusuke asked, looking around as he stepped into the living room. "Where's Kurama?"

"It's something he's doing for his school," Hiei said dismissively. "Cheerleading."

"What? Cheerleading?" said Yusuke in disbelief, and he and Kuwabara burst out laughing.

"That's, like, the girliest sport ever!" said Kuwabara.

"Well, you had better not laugh at him when he comes back," Hiei warned, "or you'll have me to deal with."

"Okay, but do you know why he did it?" said Yusuke. "I mean, did he just walk up to you and say, 'I'm going out for the cheerleading squad'?"

"It's for a competition," said Hiei. "If Kurama's school wins, the committee in charge of the competition will donate money towards whatever charity the school picks, and their charity is the same hospital Kurama's mother was in when she was sick."

"Oh," said Yusuke. Suddenly it didn't seem so funny anymore. "Anyway, there's got to be something we can do while we wait. Hey, Hiei, do you have board games in Demon World?"

"Do we have what?"

"Board games," Yusuke repeated. "Oh, and puzzles. I'll bet they're in the basement."

So all three of them trooped down into the basement to see what they could do until Kurama arrived.

"Ha! Home movies," said Yusuke, going over to the basement TV, where there was a stack of tapes all neatly organized. "Which shall it be, 'Shuichi's Third-Grade Play' or 'Shuichi's Junior High School Dance Lessons'?"

"Remember our elementary school play?" said Kuwabara. "The one about dental hygiene, where I was floss?"

"And you wanted to be Mr. Tooth Decay, but that role was reserved for kids who could actually remember their lines," said Yusuke, rolling his eyes.

"Well, all the boys wanted to be Mr. Tooth Decay," said Kuwabara defensively.

"Here's the 'memory box' Kurama's mom put together for him," said Yusuke. "I wonder what kind of stuff is in here?"

"Hey, look!" Kuwabara shouted excitedly, picking something up off the floor. "It's that puzzle I got for Kurama last summer!"

"You got him a 5,000-piece jigsaw puzzle of a litter of kittens?" said Yusuke. "No wonder he didn't open it."

"I remember when I used to play puzzle as a kid," Kuwabara reminisced. "Whenever I couldn't fit the pieces together, I just used glue on them. One time, Eikitchi walked across the table and got glue all over her little paws."

"What's this?" said Hiei, picking up one of the board games on the floor.

"It's chess—Kurama's favorite board game," said Yusuke. "I don't know how to play it. Come on, Kuwabara, want to teach Hiei how to play Monopoly?"

"I'm pretty sure we could finish by evening," Kuwabara was saying, and Yusuke thought he was talking about Monopoly until he saw that his friend was still staring at the kitten puzzle. "There would be one corner for each of us, and we could take turns filling in the middle, and…"

"Would you forget the kittens already?" Yusuke said impatiently, swiping the puzzle from him. "You know, sometimes you really worry me."

"Fine, then, we can play Monopoly," said Kuwabara reluctantly. "Let's go upstairs."

They spent the rest of their time waiting for Kurama to come home teaching Hiei the rules of Monopoly, then playing the game. Yusuke could tell Hiei was beginning to enjoy it, and he was actually pretty good at it. After about two hours, the front door slammed and Kurama walked into the living room, bringing a strong smell of body odor in with him. His hair was tied in a ponytail, and he was looking happy, but also extremely sweaty. Even though practice was over, he was still wearing his gym uniform.

"How was cheer practice, Kurama?" Hiei asked in greeting.

"Oh, it was great," Kurama said enthusiastically. "That's the best workout I've had since the Dark Tournament."

"Yeah, I can tell," said Yusuke, pinching his nose. "Why didn't you take a shower at school?"

"Because the showers at my school don't have any curtains or stall dividers on them," said Kurama, setting his school bag down on the ground and taking off his gym shoes.

"What?" Yusuke yelped. "Like prison or something?"

"Well, not exactly, but I like my privacy when it comes to these things," said Kurama. "I'm not a fan of public showers."

"Just remember, don't drop the soap," said Yusuke, smirking.

"Look, Yusuke, if you can't say anything appropriate, don't say anything at all," Kurama scolded. "Besides, I'm in the girls' locker room now, so that doesn't really apply, does it?"

"I guess not," said Yusuke. "But that does sound good…being surrounded by all those naked girls."

"I'm going upstairs to take a shower," Kurama snapped. And without another word to the group, he left.

…

"Ha! Beachfront property!" Hiei said triumphantly. "Next time, Yusuke, I think I'll buy a few of your hotels."

"Is this game over yet?" Kuwabara complained. "It's been the same since we started."

"Aww, is someone a little afraid of going bankrupt?" Hiei taunted.

"We've created a monster," Yusuke groaned.

Hiei was enjoying the human game, Monopoly, more than he'd expected. All he had to do was bankrupt Yusuke and Kuwabara before they bankrupted him. Just as he was drawing a chance card, Kurama came downstairs. His hair was still wet from his shower, though it was combed, and he was dressed seriously down—just a loose T-shirt, sweatpants, and pink fuzzy socks. In fact, he might not even have been wearing a bra, though Hiei wasn't planning on investigating. Now that the concealer he'd been wearing had been washed off, his skin also looked worse than usual.

"Jeez, Kurama, you didn't have to dress up like that for us," said Yusuke sarcastically. "Those must be your finest sweatpants."

"Ichika worked us hard today," Kurama said by way of explanation. "I'm really sore. Plus, I think I'm gaining weight. My jeans felt kind of tight around the waistline when I tried to put them on."

"Have you changed your lifestyle in any way?" asked Yusuke.

"Not really," said Kurama. "I don't know, maybe in this form I just have more fat. Or it's differently dispersed. But it seems to have gotten worse."

"I'm sure you're just imagining it," said Hiei. "You don't look much different to me."

"Much different?" said Kurama, raising his eyebrows.

"Well, I'm going to be honest, your skin is a little bad," Hiei pointed out. "Nobody could tell when you were wearing the coverup, though."

"I'm not going to pretend I didn't notice it, too. I think it's stress." Kurama sighed. "Anyway…you're playing Monopoly?"

"Yes, and I'm definitely winning," Hiei replied.

"So I see, but I suppose it's a little late for me to join in," Kurama observed.

"Yeah, it is," Yusuke agreed, staring down at the Monopoly board, where his funds were running low. "Hey, do you guys want to catch a movie on Thursday? There's this really great horror movie debut."

"I can't," said Kuwabara. "I have to go to the doctor that day."

"What are you going to the doctor for?" Yusuke asked.

"Hmm, well…it's a girl thing," Kuwabara told him, suddenly looking a little embarrassed. "I have to go to the women's doctor."

"You know, you could have just said 'checkup' or something," Hiei snapped. "Besides, you don't need to go to the doctor for that. It's normal."

"It's not that. I talked to Shizuru about it, and she says I should get it checked out in case I have an infection."

"TMI, dude," said Yusuke.

"Again, we don't need to hear all the details," Hiei added.

"But you asked!" Kuwabara protested. "And I had to tell you, or it would be lying."

"Right," said Kurama sardonically. "Hiei's kill count is probably in the thousands, but he draws the line at lying."

"Well, Shizuru is a real girl, so if she says you have a problem, you probably do," said Yusuke. "She's helped us out a lot so far."

"Because she's the only one who can tell the difference," said Kurama. "Besides Botan, that is."

"You know, speaking of, that wasn't very nice of her, what she did in the lingerie shop," Yusuke said, remembering. "Pretending she didn't know what was going on, either, instead of trying to help us out of the situation."

"That's funny, I don't remember you being conscious," Kurama joked. "Just sort of in shock."

"Well, not because of Botan," Yusuke said angrily. "Because Keiko was there, and she was buying that lacy black thing." He paused. "You know, maybe that's what's happening to you, Kuwabara. You're not infected, you're just, well…But then, how do we know if that's normal?"

"We don't, I guess," said Kuwabara. "But anyway, that's not what's happening to me."

"Hmm. You could always ask the doctor for me," said Yusuke.

"Better yet, why not make an appointment yourself, where you can ask all your questions?" Kurama suggested.

"Because I'm not talking to anyone about that. Not even a doctor."

"Well, I think it's a good idea to do a checkup," said Kurama. "I'll see if I can schedule one too with Mom's doctor. If you have any questions, I can ask for you."

"Go right ahead," said Yusuke, looking depressed, "but I'd have to give you a list."