1

They had finally seen a friendly face in the crowd of aviation enthusiasts. Sesshoumaru had arrived to pick them up as promised. The six of them were in his car, driving home. Sesshoumaru and Kagura in the front, Hakudoushi and Rin sitting opposite of Kohaku and Kanna in the back. The cat sat in Kanna's lap, and when she began to pet it, it purred. She smiled. "So, Kohaku," she said, scratching its ear, "What are you gonna call her?"

"I dunno," Kohaku said, shaking his head. All of a sudden, the cat leapt out of Kanna's lap and leapt up to the window, breathing on it. Its breath fogged up the window, and then it began to write something with its paw. The kids stared at it in amazement.

"San-haku?" Hakudoushi said, scratching his head. What had been written were two kanji: the one for "stagger" and the one for "uncut gem." Together, with their respective on-readings, they would be pronounced 'san-haku.' But this was not the cat's name.

"Maybe it's the Chinese reading," Rin said. "That would be shan-pu."

"How the heck do you know that?" Hakudoushi exclaimed. Rin just smiled.

The cat meowed. It seemed that Rin's proposal was correct. The cat's name was the Chinese pronunciations of the kanji. Shan-pu was just another way of saying Shampoo. Again, it was Rin who realized this. "So your name's Shampoo?" she said, petting the cat. It meowed happily.

"Dude," Kohaku smiled, "We have an awesome cat."

"Guys," they heard Sesshoumaru from the front of the car say, "If it is alright with you, I want to stop off at the car wash and get this thing cleaned up a bit." Shampoo's ears pricked up at the sound of this statement.

2

"Ka...KAWAII!" Jakotsu exclaimed as Bankotsu presented his new pet pig to the group. It was so small that it fit perfectly in the palm of his hand. It looked around nervously at the faces prodding their way into its personal space. Sekka picked it up and held it in her arms, petting its back and then scratching its head between its ears. It suddenly began to loosen up.

"What did you say his name was again," Sekka asked as the pig snuggled up to her.

"Well," her boyfriend explained, "The store owner said his name was P-chan..."

"Aww," Jakotsu smiled.

"I like it," Sekka said, holding the pig in front of her face. She looked into its swine-like eyes and started getting a weird feeling. This was no ordinary pig...

3

Sesshoumaru's black Cadillac swerved into the car wash. It was an automatic wash; the type that you just programmed and then drove through. He had selected the average wash: hot water, soap, wax. There was but one problem to his grand scheme. He unfortunately didn't know his passengers all too well. The thought that was going through his mind (wash the car, hot water, soap wax... I hope they still make that shampoo I like...) was completely different than that of Hakudoushi (okay, so as soon as the car pulls into the wash... open up the window!).

The hot soapy water poured all over the car as it slithered slowly through the course, inching its way towards probably the oddest scenario that would ever befall ChikaraEki and their "chauffer," Sesshoumaru. Hakudoushi slowly and skillfully made his hand towards the door. Not a soul noticed. And before anyone knew it...

"Hakudoushi!" Kanna exclaimed as she got a face full of soap, "Close the goddam window!!"

"I've always wanted to do that," Hakudoushi laughed wickedly as he rolled the window back up. Rin laughed. Kanna scowled. Kohaku had a look of pure confusion. Soon, so did all the other kids in the car.

Sitting in Kohaku's lap, where the little purple cat should have been, was now a rather pretty teenage girl. She had long purple hair and gorgeous red eyes. She was wearing a beautiful pink Chinese dress, and had a big goofy grin plastered across her face. Kohaku stared at her face, then moved his gaze a little south, then more south, then back up to her face. "Nihao!" she exclaimed cheerfully, embracing the poor confused kid. "Wo jiao Shampoo!"

Kohaku glanced over to Kanna. His arms were stretched out, not touching the weird girl. "Look, Kanna," he stuttered, "Look where my hands are. No touchy..."

Hakudoushi, Rin and Kanna all stared at the woman with sheer curiosity. She glanced around and smiled embarrassedly. "You probably confused," she said, putting her arm behind her head. "When Shampoo get splashed with cold water, she turn into cat. When splashed with warm water, she turn back into girl."

"Uhuh," the four kids said in unison with no enthusiasm whatsoever.

The girl hopped off of Kohaku's lap, into the seat next to him. "Me come from China. Went to place called Jusenkyou: place of training. Fell into Spring of Cursed Cat. Now me cursed with kitty form." She meowed cutely, and then giggled.

"You're right, Kohaku," Hakudoushi grinned, "This cat IS awesome!"

"What's going on back there?" they heard Kagura ask from the front seat.

"Oh won't this be fun," Hakudoushi laughed. "Explaining this little situation to Ma and Pa out there..."

4

No one was in the house at all, save for that who was downstairs, so Sekka had the whole place to herself. She sat on the living room couch, with a pack of playing cards. She opened the pack and took the cards out and laid them on the table. She moved them to one side and picked up a few cards. She placed them on their sides in a square shape, hoping to create a house of cards. She place a few more ever so carefully, then a few more, then a few more, then...-

"I'm home!" Jakotsu's voice rang through the whole house as he barged in from the front door. Sekka's house of cards was almost ruined, but she managed to save it just in time. "Oh, hey Sekka," Jakotsu smiled at her.

She smiled back. "Where've you been?" she asked.

He sat down on the couch beside her. "I was out for a walk," he explained, "Thinking about this whole Fuyuka thing." He sighed. "I'm starting to agree with Renkotsu. I think he should be let out of the cellar..."

"Look, Jakotsu," Sekka said, looking him right in the eye, "I don't think letting him out is a good idea. Think about it: if he was roaming around the house... And think about Kotake. That would be putting him right in the middle of danger."

Jakotsu looked down at the ground. He hadn't thought of that. Fuyuka may have been acting with good behavior, but it could have been just a front. And if he was to be let out into the house, everyone, not just Kikyou's kid, could be in grave danger. He stood up. "I'm gonna go take a nap to clear my head." He walked upstairs.

Sekka returned to her house of cards, building it up a little bit more. She had already gotten it to be five cards tall. But that's when Bankotsu came crashing in through the kitchen door, causing another near catastrophe. "Hey, Sekka!" he called out to her. He was holding his pet pig in his arms.

"Hey, Bankotsu," she called back to him. "And where have you been?"

"Playin' with P-chan," he answered back. "I'm gonna go upstairs and give him a bath." He headed upstairs to the bathroom, leaving Sekka with her house of cards. A few more stories, and it would be a new personal best. It was eleven cards tall now; only two more to get to her best. Now one more. She laid the second-to-last card down with perfection, and then reached for the last card. She placed it with skill and precision, but one more thing just had to happen...-

A scream from upstairs made her lose her balance, and she fumbled the card, and the whole house came crashing down. "Dammit!" she yelled. She stood up. "Wait, that sounded like Bankotsu." A feeling of terror washed over her, and she dashed upstairs.

5

Bankotsu opened the bathroom door, and placed P-chan down on the vanity. "We've been playing in the dirt," he said with a sort of baby voice, "So we need to get cleaned up." He leaned down over the bathtub and switched on the water and plugged the drain. "How does a nice warm bath sound?"

P-chan was backing away into the corner, a look of dread pasted on his swine face. Bankotsu walked over to the little pig and scooped him up. He walked back to the bathtub and put him on the rim. The pig glanced down into the soapy water and began to shiver, even though it was relaxingly warm. It was the sound of clothes rustling that really made him begin to panic.

Bankotsu climbed into the white bubbly bath and sat at the far end of the tub. He picked up P-chan (even though the little black pig was trying its hardest to escape) and held him in front of his face. "Don't worry," he comforted, "The water won't hurt you." Then he placed the pig gently into the water.

It was what happened next that would mark quite possibly the strangest event that ever happened to any of the Shichinintai. Where the cute little black pig should have been was now a teenage boy with short black hair, wearing a yellow-with-black-spots bandana around his head. The strange boy backed away from Bankotsu to the other end of the tub. All Bankotsu could do was stare blankly.

Then the boy spoke. "Umm," he said with an embarrassed smile, "Hi."

Bankotsu shrieked.

Seconds later, Sekka and Jakotsu burst through the unlocked bathroom door. "Bankotsu!" Sekka yelled, "What's wrong? Is everything..." They stared at the other boy in the tub. "What the hell's going on here?" she stammered.

The boy put his right hand behind his head, his embarrassed smile not fading. "Umm, I'm that little black pig."

Jakotsu crossed his arms. "I want a pet boy too," he muttered.