Disclaimer: Must I repeat myself?

Quick A/N: Wow, I wasn't expecting that kind of reaction from reviewers. Neat! ^_^ Here's the conclusion! (See, I'm not that evil. ^^)

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            Ah, nighttime. A time for peace, quiet, and relaxation. A time to sit back and reflect on the day as you fall to a peaceful sleep, awaiting for the sun's rays to once again pour their light onto the land. Or not.

            "I…DON'T…WANNA…GO!" Yuuske yelled at the top of his lungs. He was currently held up under the table, refusing to come out and go to bed, fingertip glowing and ready to shoot.

            "You need sleep, Yuuske," Kurama pleaded. "You won't grow up without it."

            "NOT GOING! I DON'T WANNA GROW UP!"

            Shishiwakamaru closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead, trying to keep his temper in check. Grow up, indeed.

            "Kurama, get that kid to bed so we can END THIS!"

            The fox turned an emerald glare on him.

            "You figure out how to get him to bed without getting blasted, then. Yuuske may be only five, but his spirit gun still has power."

            Shishi didn't think Kurama was serious, but the fox gave him a challenging look and left the room. Damnit.

            A moment of silence, and Yuuske poked his head out from under the table.

            "Where'd Uncle Kurama go?"

            "To put the good little boys to bed," Shishi hissed. "Unlike you, who is not a good boy."

            Yuuske's lower lip started trembling, and tears started welling up in his big brown eyes. The samurai cursed himself and sighed.

            "Don't cry." PLEASE don't start crying!

            "I'm a good boy…" Yuuske started whimpering. A tear escaped and started running down his chubby cheek. Oh great. Shishi nearly panicked and started looking around frantically for anything that would distract the little devil from crying. Yuuske sniffed, more tears slipping down his face.

            Shishi's hand brushed against the hilt of the sword he always kept with him. Ah ha!

            "Look at this, Yuuske," he told the boy, pulling the blade out of its sheath, and holding it out so it reflected the kitchen light beautifully. Yuuske's jaw dropped, and he uttered a 'wow', his eyes growing big. Tears forgotten, he reached out and touched the cool metal, amazed.

            "Wow, Uncle Shishi, that's neater than Hiei's sword!"

            "If you go to bed, I might let you hold it." Please let this work…

            Yuuske's eyes got bigger, and he crawled out from under the table and stood up.

            "Really?"

            "Maybe. Go to bed and we'll see."

            "OKAY!" Yuuske nearly jumped up and hugged the blue-haired samurai, but remembered at the last minute that Shishiwakamaru wasn't big on hugs. Instead, Yuuske beamed up at him and sprinted off to bed.

            "Why did I just do that?" Shishi groaned, following.

            "Story time! Story time!" Kuwabara chanted, jumping up and down on his bed.

            "Aye! C'mon Uncle Kurama! Read us a story!" Jin added with a big, hopeful grin, bouncing right alongside Kuwabara. Hiei remained silent, preferring to stay as motionless as possible atop the windowsill and ignore the ruckus. Touya was lying on his stomach in the bed across from Kuwabara's, waiting for Jin to slam his head on the ceiling he was bouncing so high.

            "Only if you stop jumping," Kurama said. Kuwabara and Jin exchanged disappointed glances and promptly stopped, falling to the bed with a heavy sigh. Kurama resisted the urge to rub his temples.

            "Hey guys! Guess what?!" Yuuske shouted, running into the room with a huge grin plastered on his face.

            "What?" Kuwabara asked excitedly. Yuuske's grin grew bigger.

            "Uncle Shishi said if I go to bed, I can play with that sword he's got!"

            Kurama resisted a horrified look, and instead settled for an uneasy smile and the nervous thought about a five year-old Yuuske with a sword.

            "Aw, big deal," Touya yawned. "I've got my own sword. It don't even need a sheath."

            "Yeah, but Uncle Shishi's doesn't melt!"

            "Hey! Mine don't melt!"

            "Made of ice, ain't it?"

            "Don't. Even. Start." Shishiwakamaru had entered the room, wishing that the sun would hurry up and rise. "No one is going to be allowed any sword if you keep that up."

            Yuuske abruptly shut up, and Touya cut his reply short with a click of his teeth. He didn't want to make Shishi any angrier than he already was. Kurama arched an eyebrow and hid a smile, an idea suddenly occurring to him. Well, he did bring it upon himself.

            "Well, now that Uncle Shishi is here to tell you guys a story, I'm going to go home. Good night everybody!"

            Shishiwakamaru gave Kurama a murderous glare, but the fox grinned and patted the samurai on the shoulder before heading out the door. Hiei emitted a squeak and disappeared from the windowsill, reappearing attached to Kurama's leg.

            "Don't go, Kuwama," he said, clearly upset.

            Kurama sighed, and picked the boy up.

            "There's nothing to be scared about, Hiei. Now be a good boy and go to sleep when Uncle Shishi says to. Okay?"

            Hiei sniffed and rubbed his eyes with the backs of his hands, nodding.

            "Okay."

            After Kurama left, Yuuske and Kuwabara started snickering as Hiei quietly went to the furthest bed and reluctantly perched on its footboard. Shishi's jaw nearly dropped.

            "Hiei's a scaredy cat!" Kuwabara exclaimed triumphantly. Yuuske started laughing so hard he almost tumbled off his bed. Hiei scowled and started pouting. Touya frowned and saw his opportunity to get back at Yuuske for making fun of his ice sword. He rolled over, sat up, and started to form a carefully made ball of ice in his fist.

            "Hey Yuuske!" he shouted, taking aim. Yuuske turned around – and his forehead was met with an ice ball directly between the eyes. Yuuske immediately starting howling in pain, clutching his head, and Jin growled.

            "You hurt 'im you meanie!"

            Touya blinked in surprise right before Jin slammed into him at full force, avenging Yuuske's new bump on the head by beating, well trying to beat, Touya up.

            Shishiwakamaru just shook his head, turned, and left. Let them kill each other off. Less work for him to deal with.

            "Boys asleep?" Suzuka asked from the couch, setting down his book to give Shishi a questioning look. Shishi shrugged.

            "I trust that they'll either wear themselves out or kill each other. I'm voting for the latter."

            Suzuka rolled his eyes and sat up, marking his page.

            "You have no finesse when it comes to kids, Shishiwakamaru."

            Shishi dropped down into a chair, a strong headache beginning to take over his brain.

            "You go deal with them, then."

            "That's where I'm heading, then I'm going to bed too. Good night, Shishi."

            The blue-haired man just gave the blond a dismissive wave and yawned, the weight of the day suddenly falling in on him.

            Thank Kami it'll all be over in the morning.

~~A couple hours later~~

"Ouch! Watch where you're goin'!"

            "You're the one who stopped!"

            "Well, stop when I stop, why don't ya?"

            "Ssssshhhhhh…you're gonna wake Uncle Suzuka up!"

            "Ssshhh yourself, Touya!"

            "You started it, Jin!"

            "Guys," Yuuske's voice hissed, "you're gonna get us in trouble. Be quiet!"

            "Yeah, be quiet. Uncle Shishi won't like it if he finds us up," Kuwabara's voice added.

            "Why don't you all just shut up?"

            "Shut up, Shrimp!"

            "Ssshhh! I heard somethin'!" Jin whispered, ears perked. Quiet instantly fell upon the five little boys as the master of wind listened intently for whatever sound he heard. When he couldn't pick up on it again, Jin shrugged.

            "What was it?" Touya asked.

            "Dunno. Not there 'nymore. Must be hearin' things."

            "All right, lets go," Yuuske said, taking the lead once again.

            The boys continued their journey down the dark hall, trying to keep as quiet as possible as they headed down to the kitchen.

            "Will ya hurry up? I'm hungry!" Jin insisted, poking Yuuske in the back. The leader turned around and nearly punched the Wind Master.

            "SSSSSSHHHHHHH! Look!" Touya whispered, pointing at the couch. They were passing the living room, and someone was snoring quiet loudly from the couch. The light from the moon was just enough to silhouette a bright blue Mohawk.        

            "Oh, it's only Uncle Chu," Kuwabara said with a grin. "Lets go!"

            "But…we'll wake him up, won't we?"

            "Quit being a crybaby, Touya!" Yuuske shot, having not yet forgiven him for that ice ball to the head.

            "I'm not a crybaby!"

            "Are so!"

            "Are not!"

            "ARE SO!"

            "ARE NOT!"

            "SHUT UP!" Kuwabara clapped his hands over his mouth with stared with wide eyes when Chu woke and sat up, muttering something about burglars. The five scattered and hid wherever they could, not wishing to be told on.

            "Now I could've sworn…" the big man uttered, rubbing the back of his neck with a yawn. He looked around the room blearily. "Could've sworn I heard Urameshi's voice…ah well. Hearin' things." He then dropped right back to a deep sleep; something only a drunken Chu could do in a matter of nanoseconds.

            "'Dat was close," Jin whispered, climbing down from the top of the bookcase. Touya emerged from behind the big easy chair, followed by Hiei who had somehow managed to squeeze himself under it. Yuuske tumbled out of a cabinet, followed by a torrent of magazines and various other papers and books, and Kuwabara slammed his head on the top of the coffee table as he pulled himself out from under it.

            "Can we just go and get the sweet snow now?" Hiei growled, annoyed.

            Jin and Yuuske grinned.

            "Last one there is a rotten demon head!"

            The early rays of sunlight managed to make it past the drapes of the samurai's bedroom, and somehow managed to shine right on Shishi's face, waking him up and blinding him at the same time.

            "Kuso…" he muttered, sitting up. Rubbing his eyes, the realization of what today was hit him. "Suzuka!"

            "Mmmm…five more minutes…"

            "Wake up! They're back to normal!"

            From across the room, Suzuka groaned and rolled over, wrapping himself into a cocoon of blanket. "Too early…" he muttered. "Go back to sleep."

            Shishi shook his head and got out of bed, picking his pillow up as he did.

            "Suzuka…"

            "Goway."

            A pillow promptly met with the blond's head.

            "Get up."

            Suzuka sighed and sat up, glowering at his blue-haired friend.

            "Times like this make me wish you had killed me when we first met," he muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Shishi pulled on a shirt and rolled his eyes.

            "Get out of bed. I'll meet you in the kitchen."

            After Shishiwakamaru had left the room, Suzuka allowed himself a laugh. Shishi had been dead to the world when Suzuka heard voices in the hallway heading in that direction. If his assumption was correct, his dear friend Shishiwakamaru was in for another surprise.

            "I'm not missing this," he said to himself, grinning.

            For the first time in nearly three days, Shishi was happy. He was nearly whistling as he made his way down the hallway, looking forward to breakfast in peace and without interruption from 'children'. And then, as fast as his hope had arisen, it was shattered in a gigantic sticky mess.

            Melted ice cream lay in multicolored puddles across the kitchen floor, drops ran down the walls and even the ceiling was coated. Pools of dark colored chocolate sauce dotted the floor, accompanied by caramel and strawberry. Banana peels littered the countertops, with one even hung on the refrigerator handle, and dozens of maraschino cherries were stuck to anything that either couldn't move, or didn't move fast enough. Several empty or half full ice cream cartons were stacked neatly in the sink (courtesy of Touya, no doubt), companioned by a precariously stacked pile of sticky bowls, with the sticky being the only thing keeping them from falling and crashing to the floor. (Kuwabara's doing for sure)

            "The boys apparently got the munchies," Suzuka whispered with a grin, appearing behind the shocked Shishi.

            Indeed, the evidence of the midnight excursion wasn't the only thing marking the boys' paths of destruction. The boys themselves were still there, fast asleep amid the sticky goo and whatnot. Jin and Yuuske were sprawled out on the tabletop, remnants of their snack smeared across their faces. Jin had a banana peel stuck in his hair. Kuwabara had fallen asleep across two chairs, a puddle of melted ice cream and chocolate sauce steadily dripping onto his chest. Touya was out on the floor, curled up with what looked like caramel topping stuck in his hair and smeared all down his front, his thumb stuck in one corner of his mouth. Hiei, whom Kurama had warned Shishi had an addiction to ice cream, was fast asleep on the countertop, curled protectively around a soggy carton of melted Rocky Road.

            The funny thing was that they were all back to their adult selves. Every last one of them.

            "Ayie! What happened here?!" a loud voice exclaimed. Chu had woken up and stumbled to the kitchen in hopes of coffee, and instead got his bare foot stuck in a half solidified puddle of goo. He took in the mess and the five fully-grown men, shook his head, and left, mumbling something about going back to bed and swearing off drinking.

            Yuuske yawned and sat up, a cherry stuck to his face. He stretched and yawned again, and then took in where he was. His eyes popped open.

            "AH! WHAT HAPPENED?!"

            That shout woke the others up. Jin groaned and sat up, rubbing his head wearily, mumbling about a headache. Hiei snapped to alertness and fought down a blush when he realized what he had been curled up around, let alone where he was.

            "Can someone please tell me why I'm covered in caramel gunk?" Touya muttered, a hand stuck to the front of his shirt with the stuff. He tried sitting up, but instead was forced to lay still when an ice cream headache hit him full force.

            "I think I'm going to be sick," Kuwabara moaned, rolling off the chairs and clutching his stomach. "Yep, definitely sick."

            Shishiwakamaru then cursed whoever invented the concept of an ice cream sundae.

            "Well, you have to admit. It's nice having them back to normal," Suzuka offered.

            Shishi shot him a death glare.

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And so ends…or almost ends…Shishi's torture. Thank you, Shishi, for being such a good sport about it!

*Shishi mutters something about dead authoresses and pulls out his sword*

0_o…! I think that's my cue to escape. G'night everybody! And don't forget to review!