Akurei-Shinzo: Hello! So how do you like this story so far!? Zeero, a special guest from my story (which I haven't posted yet) Youkai Shinzo. He plays a crucial role in this story and he can act very stupid. I bet you all (which haven't read my story) can't find out the secret behind my Youkai Shinzo characters. It's a secret that I bet none of you will suspect! But to discover what it is you must keep reading! I don't own Kingdom Hearts or any other anime/manga that appear in here, except for a few characters from some of my own series which I hope to get published! So please R&R! Enjoy!

===============================================================

Kingdom Hearts II: Shadow of Hearts

Chapter 4: Zeero the Fox-Demon

"Doesn't this thing ever come out of the shadows?" asked Yami who was frustrated on where to concentrate his magic on. The Heartless kept jumping from shadow to shadow, refusing to fight head on. Instead it just kept popping out of the shadows and attacked with magic.

"I don't believe it!" muttered Riku. "It's toying with us!"

"Then let's bring it to the light!" shouted Yami dodging a blast form the Heartless.

"How?!"

"With this! Dark Piercing Light!" Yami head up a cark up high. The room's shadows were reduced to only three shadows, their own and the Heartless who held it's arms up over it's eyes.

"Gotcha!" Riku charged at it with both Keyblades. He jumped over it and brought the Keyblades over the beast. "What?" The Heartless had split into two, but then it began to multiply and soon the whole room was covered in heartless! "That's unfair! How are we going to beat it now?"

"We should find the source of all this and destroy it!" suggested Yami pulling out a few more cards. "Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl! Attack!"

'Find the source of the Heartless?' thought Riku as he tried to get rid of the oncoming onslaught of Heartless. Riku fought through the wall of Heartless, but they still multiplied by the tens and hundreds! 'What am I suppose to do?!' Then he noticed a Heartless avoid battle, it was different from the other miniature Shadow Crawlers. It had a silver gem stone on it's chest.

"I bet you're the source!" shouted Riku charging at the Heartless. It disappeared and was replaced by other heartless. "Yami! Distract them while find the source!"

"Alright!"

While Yami and his Duel Monsters were keeping the other Heartless busy, Riku snuck around them and spotted the source.

"This time you won't escape!" shouted Riku as he lunged at the Heartless with the Keyblades. The thing didn't know what had hit it, the source disappeared in a cloud of smoke and dust along with the other Heartless, leaving the silver sphere in the Heartless's dust. Riku bent over and picked up the strange sphere.

"What's that?" asked Yami calling back his monsters.

"I'm not sure…"

Both Riku and Yami then turned their attention to the Keyhole, which was glittering on the wall. Riku's black Keyblade glowed and then a beam of light came from it, locking the Keyhole making a clicking sound. Slowly the Keyhole vaporized and then there was no trace left of it.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!" yelled another voice. Riku and Yami turned to see an eighteen year old boy fall from the railing of the second floor. He landed with a great boom and his eyes turned into a pair of swirls (@_@) "I'm okay…and 1+1=11!"

"Who's he?" asked Riku as the strange boy began to stagger around the room like a drunk.

"No, idea…" replied Yami.

"Oh great, you don't think…"

"That can't be him!"

While Riku and Yami were discussing who this boy might be, the guy shook his head, making his dark brown hair get messed up, to get his sense to return. His bright yellowish eyes looked at the wall where the Keyhole was.

"Yip! Where's the Keyhole!? Oh man I'm in hot water!" he squealed. "If Shiro finds out that I'd failed guarding it then…oh boy what to do what to do! At times like this there is only one thing to do! Run around in huge circles and scream for mommy! MMMMMOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!" After running around in circles for a while, he ran smack into a column, and he fell onto the ground with the same silly look again (@_@). Riku and Yami rushed to his side and stood over him.

"Are you alright?" asked Riku uncertainly. Even if this guy was okay he wouldn't be able to tell. It seemed as though this guy had some mental issues! The guy suddenly sat straight up, his fox ears jumped up in alert and his fox-like tail wagged back and forth in delight.

"Oh, hi! I haven't seen humans around here for a long time! How'd you get here anyways?"

"We followed my Keyblades."

"Keyblades!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're the Keybearer!? Well, that's good! By the way, what happened to the Keyhole?"

"I locked it."

"Oh, so that's where it went! Okay! I'm not in trouble! By the way, the name's Zeero!" ^_^

"Zeero?!" shouted Riku and Yami in surprise. Yuri had said that he was suppose to be a silly person, but this guy?! A guy who runs and circles and screams for mommy?!

"What?" asked the fox, tilting his ears, one down and one up in a confused manner. "What's wrong with my name?"

"Uh, never mind…" muttered Riku. Then he remembered the sphere he had gotten from the Heartless. "What's this?"

"Where'd you get that?!" asked the fox-demon, grabbing the sphere.

"We got it when we defeated the Shadow Crawler," explained Yami.

"So what's it for?" asked Riku.

"Hmmm, I can tell you, but only when you prove that you're suited for this power," replied Zeero.

"How am I suppose to do that?!"

"There's a ship somewhere in this town called the Outlaw Star. Seal the Keyhole that is somewhere in the ship and then I'll answer your questions!"

"Why can't you answer them now?" asked Yami.

"Because I want to see if you two trust your hearts enough. If your hearts aren't strong enough for this sort of power why waste explaining it on you?" With that, Zeero transformed into a five-tailed fox and leapt out of a nearby window into the night.

"What do we do now?" asked Yami.

"What else can we do? Find that ship and seal the Keyhole, then we can get some answers."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Zeero watched from a nearby building while Riku and Yami searched for the Outlaw Star. His ears perked up when he heard some rustling in the shadows.

"Hey Shiro, what are you doing in the shadows?"

The amber eyes in the shadows looked surprised when his name was called. For a moment he considered about leaving the shadows, but then retreated back into them again.

"I didn't know you'd sense me, if I did then I wouldn't have come."

"Why? What's with all the mysteriousness?"

"Zeero, I want you to do me a favor…"

"But I'm already doing one, I suppose to give that Keybearer some answers!"

"Yes, but I want you to follow him while he's on his journey…"

"Why?"

"I want you to make sure he doesn't give in to the darkness again…"

"Alright, alright! I'll do it. But I'd better be getting some alcohol after all this!"

"Zeero…"

"What?"

"Don't give away the secret, Sonraku's secret… It may cause a lot trouble and may break the Keybearer's trust with you…"

"Our world's secret?" There was no answer, the amber eyes were gone from the shadows. That left Zeero alone again. "Typical, Shiro gives you some advice, acts all mysterious, and then poof! He's gone! Oh well…"

Zeero notice that Riku and Yami were almost out of his sight, so he leapt onto one building after another. Silently stalking the two boys. 'I can't believe that this Keybearer doesn't even trust his own heart! What kind of Keybearer is that?!' thought Zeero.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Riku?" asked Yami turning to his friend who had paused to look at the top of a building.

"Huh? It's nothing…"

Remember this advice, Keybearer. Sometimes to find the light, you must look within the deepest part of the darkness…

===============================================================

Akurei_Shinzo: Hope you liked the chapter! Sorry if it isn't so good. I'm really tired now! Please R&R and good-night!