Hey, I'm back again! Sorry for the delay, I've ended up changing this a lot from what Kitsune no Kami and I originally had, but all the changes are for the better, I'm sure. As a result though, it's taken me a little longer to post then I expected, but here I am with another new chappy! In the last chapter, or maybe it was the one before, I asked for info on traditional Japanese weddings. I would now like to withdraw that request because I decided to just go with what I know and have that scene be in the normal, western style that we're all used to. But, don't worry about that now because that won't really come up for a while. So for now...ON WITH THE FIC!!! ;) (got a makeshift smiley!!! Yay!!!)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Shuichi sat in the bare room Genkai had lead him too, staring at the old woman who was now calmly sipping tea. Sazume sat to his right, not saying anything, but playing with her hands and watching him nervously. Not more then an hour ago, his life had been normal. He went to a normal school, had normal friends, and thought he had a normal family. But apparently, that wasn't quite right.

If all that he had just heard was true, as Genkai and Sazume assured him it was, then very little about his life was normal. He still couldn't believe it, his mind simply refused to process it. How could he have powers as the old psychic had said, and how could his step-brother be a demon? Somehow, it made no sense whatsoever, and all the sense in the world at the same time. It explained Shu--no, Kurama's long absences in the past as well as why Shuichi had seen him once or twice in the company of the short man who always wore black and gave Shuichi a strange sensation of great, inhuman power. But it also seemed like the most ridiculous thing he had ever heard. Believing his step-brother was a demon was like believing in Santa Clause, the Tooth Fairy, or the Easter Bunny.

What made his head swim even more was what Genkai had said about him. She had told him about a boy named Kuwabara, who he had also seen in Shu--Kurama's company, and who had the same sort of powers as Genkai alleged that he--normal, average Shuichi--had. She said that he had high spirit awareness and could sense, and even see, things that many others couldn't. She also said that if he practiced and trained and learned to focus this power, he could channel it into attacks. Just as the story about his brother, it seemed like an unmistakable lie, and an absolute truth at the same time.

"No," he managed to mumble, although his mouth was so dry that it was hard to make any sound at all. "No, that can't be true. It can't be."

"If you don't believe me, then see for yourself," Genkai answered his mumbled words, making him look up.

"How?" he asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Put your hand out, palm facing outward," Genkai instructed as Shuichi obediently raised his right hand, "And for goodness sake, don't point it at anyone!" she added as Shuichi stopped his arm in the air, palm aimed at her. He moved it to the left so it was no longer pointed at the renowned psychic.

"Now, imagine your body surrounded by energy," Genkai continued as Shuichi closed his eyes and pictured himself surrounded by a bright, white aura. "And imagine it all gathering at your palm," was the next instruction. Shuichi did so, picturing the light moving to his palm in his mind. To his surprise, his outstretched hand began to feel warm.

"And now, release it!" Genkai's final step cut through Shuichi's thoughts and he did as he was told, opening his eyes in time to see a small sphere of white light blast a hole in the wall to the left of where Genkai sat.

"Wow! That was great!" Sazume cheered, but Shuichi barely heard her. He just stared, even more dumbfounded then before. Genkai sighed as she realized, after assessing the boy's first attempt, that he had great potential in him and would need further training by someone who knew what they were doing.

"I'm getting too old for this," she muttered to herself, taking another sip of tea.

-()-()-()

Kairi, who had been wandering aimlessly around the temple since parting company with Akira nearly an hour ago, was startled to hear the sound of what seemed to be a mini explosion reach her sensitive ears.

"What the-?" she wondered out loud, taking a step towards the sound.

"Good morning!" a voice from behind her cut into her thoughts. Kairi, who had evidently wandered near the stairs leading to the temple, turned to find Kurama smiling at her.

"Hi," she greeted, still slightly worried about the sound she had heard.

"Hey, Kairi!" they both turned to see Sazume running towards them from the temple's entrance. "You'll never guess what-" she stopped short as she caught sight of Kurama.

"Oh...um...hi Kurama," she said weakly. Kairi and Kurama exchanged glances.

"Zoom, what are you-" Kairi began, but she stopped herself when two more figures emerged from the temple behind her sister. One was Genkai, and the other was a boy Sazume's age who looked pale and a little shaken.

"Shuichi?" Kurama asked. The boy looked up, but didn't say anything.

"Shuichi, what are you doing here?" Kurama asked, taking a step forward.

"Is it true?" the boy, Shuichi, asked in a small voice.

"Is what true?" Kurama questioned.

"That you're a demon," he said. Kurama blinked, then turned to Genkai and Sazume.

"I told her not to tell him, I swear!" Sazume cried in her defense.

"He had to know," Genkai said simply. "He showed signs of high spirit awareness and even blasted a hole in my wall. If I didn't tell him, it would only have been a matter of time before he found out for himself."

"Well? Are you a demon?" Shuichi asked again.

Kurama looked back at Genkai again before closing his eyes and saying "Yes, Shuichi, I am a demon."

Shuichi, who had looked on the verge of collapse since he had walked out of the temple, now lapsed into a full faint, falling unconscious to the grass.

"Shuichi!" Sazume cried in alarm, rushing to her fallen friend.

"He's fine, just a little overwhelmed," Genkai assured her.

Kairi was about to say something when a sound made her sensitive ears twitch. She turned towards the source, the temple's roof, and walked slowly towards the temple.

"What's wrong?" Sazume asked from her seat on the ground next to the unconscious Shuichi, watching her sister walk past her.

"I thought I heard something," she said quietly, still advancing towards the temple. In the next instant, Hiei and Akira were on the scene as well.

"What are you doing here?" Kairi asked, glancing back at her fellow fusion.

"I had a feeling something was about to happen," Akira answered. Kairi was about to ask what that meant, when she remembered that dogs had a kind of sixth sense for detecting danger. She wasn't sure, but she guessed that must have been the feeling Akira was talking about.

"There's the feel of a foreign energy in the air as well," Hiei observed, trying to pinpoint where the suspicious ki was coming from.

"What is everyone doing outside?" Yukina asked, suddenly appearing in the doorway. She didn't get an answer, however, because she was suddenly shoved aside by a barrier that expanded to form a bubble around the temple, forcing all but Kairi backwards. Kairi, was trapped inside the barrier.

"Kairi!" Sazume cried while the others regained their feet. Kairi was staring fearfully at the temple where she knew something lurked on the roof. She knew she had gained powers from the fusion, but she had yet to discover what those powers, other then her sound map, were. She doubted she could win a fight with whatever had set the barrier to trap her.

Then a shadow came into view on the roof, jumping to land in front of Kairi, who stepped back to the edge of the barrier. The thing was some sort of frog-like demon that surveyed her with narrowed eyes. It let out a horrible laugh that came out as a strangled croaking sound.

"Hello pretty kitty," he greeted, his voice like sandpaper.

"Hey, listen frog-legs," Kairi started nervously, pressing herself closer against the barriers edge and looking frantically for a way out that she knew wasn't there. "Can I take a rain check on this whole fight thing? I'm not really up to it today," she said, letting out a nervous laugh. The frog only came closer.

"Sorry pretty kitty, not rain check," the frog croaked.

"Bummer..." Kairi muttered before glancing back to were her so called 'friends' stood watching and hissed "Help me!"

"We can't stupid, there's a barrier!" Akira said irritably.

"Noxious Gas!" the frog demon yelled, opening his mouth and belching forth some truly disgusting yellow gas.

"Kairi!" Sazume called again as the bubble the barrier had formed around the temple clouded with gas. Kairi didn't answer, but they could hear the sound of her strangled coughs. After what felt like hours, the gas began to dissipate, leaving Kairi visible to her friends once more. She coughed into her arm, poisonous gas still choking her lungs. Kairi blinked her watery eyes, only to find that everything was black whether she had them opened or closed. The gas had blinded her!

"I...I can't see!" she cried, rubbing her eyes frantically. The frog only gave another croaking laugh.

"Foolish kitty!" he declared. Kairi growled, she wasn't going to let him win. She gave up the losing battle to rub the poison from her eyes and stood up, closing her useless eyes to concentrate on her sound map. The world slowly pained itself in silvery outlines on the canvas of her closed eyelids. She could see the frog demon as clearly as she had with her eyes opened. A smile spread across her lips, she was down but most certainly not out.

As she watched, the frog opened his mouth again and his long, sticky tongue shot forth like a harpoon. Unbeknownst to him, however, she could see it. With a step to the left, she easily avoided it and it crashed harmlessly into the barrier behind her, sticking to the force field's invisible wall. Acting on instinct alone, and barely aware of what she was doing, Kairi reached out a hand and grasped the tongue. She wasn't sure how she knew, but some how she was suddenly aware of what her power was. Electricity.

"Hey frog-legs," she said, much more confidently then the last time she had spoken to the demon, "have you ever stuck your tongue in an electrical socket? No. Well, it probably feels something like this!" With that, she let the energy she had felt store in her arm flow into the frog's tongue, sending a powerful electric jolt through his body.

"Shocking, isn't it?" she said as she pried her hand off the sticky tongue that then retracted back into the frog's mouth.

"Whoa!" Sazume gasped, staring in awe at her sister. "How did she know to do that?"

"That's the way the awakening of a fusion's power works," Akira said, also staring at Kairi in amazement, "it's all instinct."

The frog, who had been knocked on his back by Kairi's electroshock treatment, now struggled to his feet, swaying like a drunk. Again, instincts took over Kairi's brain. Spreading her fingers wide, she suddenly produced claws that were three inches long. Well, at least there was the mystery of what had happened to her hands solved. The claws, she realized as they began to charge with energy, where her main weapons. As sparks built up around the claws, she was suddenly aware of exactly what to do next.

Raising her hands to shoulder height, she brought them down fast, crossing them halfway so that they formed a glowing 'X' in the air.

"Lightning Cat Claw!" she yelled as her yellow electric X exploded towards the teetering frog. It hit him dead on, burning an X into his chest and knocking him unconscious.

Watching the windscreen in his office, Koenma smiled in satisfaction as Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan cheered.