This one was short, so I decided to go ahead and put it up…This chapter was inspired by the ACT and too much watching the Kurama's past episodes.

Disclaimer: I don't own them, ha ha! What a joke on me. I thought if I wrote them more often, they'd become mine. I guess not.

Chapter 18: Day Two

…Bri…

"Welcome to Day Two of the Tournament of Trials!" Koto yelled. "The Star will be telling us what will happen, because I'm not entirely sure myself."

Neither was anyone else. The stadium had been cleared and most of the demons in the stands were staring down at rows of about fifty or so desks. They looked like school tables from Meikou itself. I was behind Kurama and in front of Kuronue in one of these desks, facing a thick packet of paper (blank), a pencil, and a pencil sharpener. The Star, in her black cloak yet again, took the mike. The Moon and The Sky were nowhere to be seen.

"I'm afraid there won't be much to watch today," she said. "This is the Mental Trial, a simple test of knowledge. All correct answers will bring points. All incorrect answers will be ignored. I'm sure you've all taken tests before, so I will leave you to it. Begin."

Everyone in the stadium stared at her.

I sighed and opened the packet of paper. It looked like any normal high school entrance exam, only it asked questions about demons, too. I was lucky I had paid attention to Yusuke's constant yapping about Demon World politics. The questions ranged from complex algebra to simple language skills (in about a dozen languages, some of which I didn't know). There were even some general trivia questions, which I got pretty easily. I felt pretty good about my test when I handed it in.

They called this a tournament?

I sighed and hopped over the edge of the wall beside Kurama, who had long ago finished his test. I think he was done about five minutes after The Star let us begin. Kurama probably answered every question correctly. There were still several demons out on the field, Kuronue and Kuwabara included among them. The stands were all but deserted. I didn't really blame those who had left.

After all, who would want to watch about fifty demons taking a stupid test?

Yomi stood from his desk at last, having had another demon have to read his questions aloud to him. The Star had sat nearby to make sure he was doing only just that. She left immediately afterward, to my not surprise. The surprising thing was that Yomi came right over to us after he weaved expertly out of the desks.

"Kurama." He nodded a small greeting. "Bri. Pleasant to see you here again."

I smiled. "Is that supposed to be funny, Lord Yomi?"

"Please, just Yomi," he said. He took a seat on Kurama's other side. I got a really good view of the three ears he had, all tapered points. His front-most horn that I could see had a small chip in it. Was that from one of his fights? "Does something seem amiss here?"

Kurama glanced in my direction. "Aside from the fact that most of the demons here were forced into this Tournament of Trials?"

"Yes, but that may not be part of it," Yomi said.

I glanced at Kurama. "Do you think it might still be there?"

"We can look," he said. "Follow us."

I couldn't help but notice every step of the way. Yomi followed us as well as if he could see quite well where he was going. In fact, he seemed to sense the uneasiness that we felt in going to the V.I.P. room again. When we sped up, so did he. His expression remained calm, but I could tell he was reacting within. As we neared the room, the scent of death reached my nose. I gagged in reflex.

"Perhaps you should wait here, Bri," Kurama suggested. "You're not used to this."

I scowled. Glared. "Do you really think you need to protect me all the time, Youko Kurama? I'm not a little girl anymore."

He blinked, the only sign that I could see to tell me he was taken aback. Yomi remained silent, waiting patiently. Kurama nodded slowly and we continued as if we'd never spoken at all. The scent grew worse. Although I knew there were slightly worse smells—decay, perhaps—death was something I was not used to. Maybe I should have heeded Kurama's warning, but something else—my pride?—made me continue on.

Then the door swung open.

The bodies were in much worse condition than before, now mutilated beyond recognition. The five neat pieces they'd been in before was a thing of the past, as if some sick tyrant had come in with a sword or a chainsaw and finished the job. I covered my mouth and nose, but it did no good to keep out the scent. Now was the time I wish I weren't half fox.

"This is unexpected," Kurama said, his voice still calm. Of course, he was used to death and violence. He'd been a warrior for more than a thousand years. "The bodies were recognizable when we were here before."

"You knew them?"

"Bri and I believe that they were the original judges for this tournament. A lawyer from Hong Kong, cat. Sakyo, though how he'd come back to life is a mystery. A mouse demon, unknown. The other three are imposters."

Yomi nodded. "We should leave the island while we have the chance." For some reason, I felt as if he was only playing.

Were they both trying to get on my nerves! "I don't know about you guys, but it's funny. A lot of the demons here, I recognize. Some of them should be dead."

"Karasu, for instance?" Yomi quipped, a small smile on his face. "I can sense your fox powers repelling him, Kurama. Though I don't know why you are concealing yourself from a tiger and a cat, Bri."

I blushed. "That's none of your business! And how can you sense that, anyway!"

"You hang around a fox for a few centuries and you learn some things," Yomi said. "We should leave before we are discovered."

The scent returned full force in my head. "Let's get out of here before I pass out."

"And you only have a halfling's nose," Kurama said, half teasing. I kicked him in the shin. What a wonderful girlfriend I would make to the boyfriend who'd forgotten me. I followed the two men out of the room and we resealed it. Kurama turned back to me a few steps outside.

"I promised Hiei I would meet him to discuss training Jun later," he said. "Can I trust you to get back to the hotel all right?"

"You should be more worried about him." I pointed at Yomi. The man is blind and he can find his way around better than I can. "I'll be fine. Just leave already, you know how impatient Hiei can get."

Kurama left. I couldn't help but watch his sleek legs clench and unclench, the sinew and muscle of them prominent through his jeans. I turned back to Yomi to say good-bye. The horned demon had other plans.

"You love him, don't you," he said.

I growled in frustration. "Why does everyone say that! I don't even know you!"

He chuckled, obviously amused. I wasn't.

"How did you meet him, anyway? Or can you remember that long ago?" I asked. I started walking back down the stairs toward the hotel. Yomi followed me as if he could see exactly where I put each step. I think he could sense it through his skin, or hear it, or something.

"How did you meet him?" His voice was playful, and yet deadly serious. He knew something I didn't. It would have made any other person angry to be toyed with like that.

I guess I'm just not normal, because all I got was curious.

"Answer for an answer, then," I said. He nodded. I stopped on the stairwell, glancing first up, then down the stairs. "He was my godfather's best friend."

Yomi smiled eerily, knowingly. "That is not the first instance in which you met him."

I scowled. "And just how do you draw that conclusion?"

His topmost right ear twitched ever so slightly. "Someone is nearby. We should go someplace else."

Slowly, I nodded. If his hearing was as great as I suspected, then I should trust his instincts at least in part. I didn't realize that most blind people would not have sensed me nodding, but Yomi was different. He'd had a thousand years to perfect his senses, to feel air vibrations, hear heartbeats, sense the slightest changes in temperature. He led the way this time, into his team's locker room. The lockers here were green.

"You have powers, scents that surround you," Yomi explained. "Similar to Kuronue in ways, and in others very unique."

I blinked. "You know I have a different past because of my scent?"

Yomi sighed. "I am one of few who would notice it, having had dealings with the cats shortly before Kuronue was killed."

I blinked, before the dawning horror struck. "It was you. You're the one who had Kuronue killed."

"In the business of demons, revenge is not nearly as sweet as one might think," he said, sitting down on a bench. Yomi nearly missed it, and I think it was a sign of his unease with the statement. "I knew Kuronue was himself because of the faint scent of guano and ash that still hangs around him. Although he is now a half fox, the bat side of him still hovers. You have some cat still left in you, though I know you are of the same origin as he is. And although Kurama's normal scent hovers as well, there is also the fox's marking scent, so faint that even he himself can't recognize it."

I sat on the bench, hard. It moved slightly with my momentum. "I'm still marked?"

"Faintly. Few others would recognize it for what it is." I realized that Yomi was trying to console me, though he seemed to have very little idea how. "Kurama would recognize it, if he was searching for it. You're lucky, he hasn't thought to seek it out. Quite interesting, as Kurama has the clearest mind I know."

"Why are you telling me this?"

"You wanted to know how I met him." Yomi chuckled darkly, the bitterness seeping into his own voice. "I, too, fell in love with Youko Kurama. He rejected me, though we remained friends, partners in our goal for lordship. I obtained the title, but I lost the friendship and trust. I do not wish the same for you."

I swallowed hard. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It wasn't meant to be. But I think for you, it is."

I sighed. "I wish I were so confident."

He fell silent. Then… "You didn't answer the question."

I smiled. "Do you know Koko Wolf, my cousin?"

He nodded.

"In the other time stream, she committed suicide, or at least that is what I was led to believe by our mother, Tsuki Sawaguchi. We shared one common dream, the two of us. We wanted to do foreign exchange in school to Japan. I went a few months after her death. Kurama was my host for the exchange. I lived with his family for three long years before I reversed everything by killing my mother before her birth."

"I met him in Gandara. We both wanted to steel the same loaf of bread and ended up taking the whole stand with us." Yomi and I laughed. "We weren't quite the legendary thieves then."

"Everyone has to start out small," I said.

"And everyone starts over small, as well."

Yomi stood and left me without another word. I walked back to the hotel, trying to determine what he meant.

…

…Unknown…

"Did you get all that?" I asked quietly. Yomi handed me the small recording tape with a small smile. "Thanks, Yomi-kun. I think it will only take a few more cracks in that stubborn wall to make her break."

"I like this woman for Kurama," Yomi smiled and set a hand on my shoulder.

I stuffed the tape in my pocket and sighed. "I just hope that the things set in motion will not come to pass."

"Rich men live for danger," Yomi said. If he had them, he would be rolling his eyes. "Kurama needs her. We should send the tape quickly."

"I will, after the final round is over. We need this to work, or they are going to freak," I sighed. "Years of planning, all resting on the whims of a love like this. When did they get so careless? When did I actually start to care?"

"You learned from them. As I did."

"True. I only hope my pushing them together will not create adversity between Bri and I. She hates me, you know."

"She doesn't know you."

I grinned and ran a hand lightly over his right horn. "Yomi-kun, why are you always so nice to me?"

"Because I love you, idiot."

I pulled one horn down and kissed him. When he pulled away, I smirked.

"You didn't catch the crow, did you, Yomi-kun."

"He managed to take flight before I could catch him. He has returned to the Makai."

"You know it will be so cool to see Kurama track Karasu down for himself. I'm sure he can beat him now."

"We shall see what he does later, love."

…

…

…

So, who wants to play "let's guess the unknown character who has the gall to call Yomi 'Yomi-kun'?"

Okay, I finished the watercolor one early…I've got to stop drawing those two sleeping! It's on deviantart . com again, under UglyKitten. The search doesn't work, so you just type uglykitten in front of deviantart and it'll take you to my page. They're so cute together! But….I don't like how Kurama turned out…T.T

Sillylittlenothing: Not much that I can say to that without giving so much away…:)

Kohari: I started laughing at the last comment…that we have too much time on our hands on this site…It's so true! And I don't think psychological problems suck…in fact, they're kind of fun! Can act however ya want without anyone bothering you…unless you're clepto, then you've got the cops on your tail…or…Okay, so they do suck…

Peeka-chan: Awww…poor duckie…I had baby ducks from a store two year ago…we let them go in a park near here…and they keep coming back. Their names were Sakai-chan (from Iron Chef) and Spongebob. Bri: I'm all swirly eyed…sorry, Peeka, I'm not gonna listen to the letter. Kurama's gonna have to force it out of me! UK: Stubborn fool…

WindRacer: Sure, you can ask advise any time! I'm flattered, really. I didn't know this story was good enough to sit down and read through like that. But you and Kohari proved me wrong. And there was another person, too. When I started Heal Me, I thought it was just another story I wouldn't finish. Now look at it…three stories…Oo

Kuramafan: Nope, not Kuronue or Koko. It's a person who doesn't really know much about her, but seems to know a lot anyway. Wonder who dat is…

Bookworm: (sweatdrop) Don't go nuts…And I really don't think this story's all that great. Oo I know, I'm weird. Just slap me, why doncha. And "best flippin' KuramaOC" doesn't exactly describe it…I've seen better, really, I have. I think. There are a bunch better than mine. Eh…try Kirei Kiane's stuff. It's not KuramaOC as in romance, but in friendship. I'm Eishi-kun's fangirl…

Lucifer: Another cakes who thinks it's Kuronue or Koko…I repeat, nope! I feel so evil right now. I will say this, the other three did kill the judges, but the reason will blow you outta da water. Actually, I've never had rainbow trout before. I don't like fish. Lol, I know, weird, I'm writing a character who loves it to death. I'm a cheese pizza girl. I know rainbow trout is a common okonomiyaki topping in Kyoto and Japan, though. It's like the Japanese version of pizza, doncha know.

Rayne-chan: Everyone loves this story and I really don't see why…I'm nuts, aren't I. I gotta be.