Really, I'm sorry it takes so long for these to come out. Seriously, Myou is a hard character to pin down. And I know they're short, but I know I said something somewhere about that. I'll be trying to rewrite some chapters over the summer too. Not that you'll go back and read them.

Heh, anyway, I don't have a single clue what I'm doing.

One More Surprise: Chapter 2

Not to be Messed With

Youko Kurama

"Halt!" Myou's commanding voice carried across the estate. She was standing on the balcony above the front door. I wasn't even halfway through her gardens. I had just pulled out my rose whip to dispatch an annoying bunch of guards when her voice put a pause on our Game. "Okay, you can't sneak around my guards. So what are you going to do? Kill them all and leave me defenseless against a real attack?"

"Well, if you wanted to spare you're precious employees, you shouldn't have arranged this demonstration." I was annoyed, she had called quite a few halts throughout this little practice run, trying to spare a few defenses in the hopes of saving some money.

Myou Shinri

His eyes may have been cold and his expression blank, but I could easily see he was getting frustrated. His ears were twitching again.

I had just called another halt in our little test run. We've had to do a lot of those lately. This one especially since he was about to kill off the best guard demons I could find. I had hand picked them myself after a series of strenuous tests. Of course, no self respecting demon would become a guard, so none of them, no matter how strong, could stand up against Youko's assaults.

I knew he was getting annoyed with all the pauses, but I think what got to him the most was where I chose to call those pauses. Now, I know I was claiming a wish to preserve my pretty gadgets and toys or whatever you want to call them, but we both knew I was going easy on him. Ever single one of the obstacles I had dropped for the "sake of money," were obstacles Youko had been struggling with. He's not going to admit it, and I won't bring it up; it's unspoken lore.

It was getting late, actually. I could see some of the rear guards who had come in to watch falling asleep. Then again, they aren't the most attentive group in the three worlds, but I can't exhaust them just for the sake of our little Games.

"Youko, that's enough for today. My men are exhausted. Let them rest."

With a condescending glance at the guards before him, Youko jumped his way through the garden and landed on the thick rail of the balcony. "Your men are weak." His cold tone and gaze made my guards shudder. I didn't even have to look behind me; I could just feel the fear hanging in the air.

Without removing my gaze from the fox, I raised my right hand to address my men. "Dismissed." A flick of the wrist and they were gone, out the door as fast as they could go without seeming to do anything but follow orders.

I could see within the kitsune's cold golden eyes a twinkle of amusement dancing as they followed their retreat out of his presence.

Narrator

Six weeks since their reunion, Youko has grown accustomed to living with Myou. Not since the night of his break in had he ever left the grounds of the estate, getting his fill of the outdoors via the immense gardens surrounding the mansion.

These gardens were enchanted. The plants were each deeply rooted in special soil designed to control the various types of vegetation. With the help of said fertilization, plants that would have attacked any source of meat passing by were trained to attack only intruders. All those meant to be protected were bled to allow safe passage among the plants. The blood letting became a form of initiation for Myou's people and a mark resembling a crescent moon left to symbolize they were one of them. This blood that is produced is diluted into the watering system for the gardens, where the plants soak up the blood and familiarize themselves with the owners, thus preventing any accidents.

When Myou wasn't out performing for the masses, Youko found himself playing numerous Games with the Midnight Kitsune. Often times she would change forms to one of her older life times and provoke him into chasing her. These were the more childish of the Games. Others involved thieving related Games and just plain sparring.

Eventually, the fox was able to spot any of Myou's numerous forms as she shifted at will. Especially when she became Tsuchi once more. But what he didn't know, was that she was holding out on him.

Normal

She'd done it again. She was a human girl of about twelve who had died of the plague. Of course, this body showed no signs of such illness. It was perfectly unmarred. Long light brown hair cascaded down her shoulders to the small of her back and naïve blue eyes scanned the halls for direction as she attempted to escape Youko's grasp.

She was considering her options when a sudden awareness struck through her. The magical strings gridding the mansion had been triggered. Realizing that Youko was catching up to her, she waited until he could scent her and then made as much noise as possible, running towards the break in.

Practically crashing through the heavy wooden double doors, her big blue eyes fell upon broken glass and a mangy gang of bandits mostly dressed in white tunics. Leading them appeared to be a goat demon with two horns sprouting from his forehead and four smaller ones nestled in his hair. As soon as their eyes laid on her they smirked. Apparently they were horny as well as vindictive.

"Can- can I help you?" Her timid voice caught the attention of any rogues who had yet to notice her presence.

"Yeah, pretty girl, I think you can," One of the rougher looking demons answered with a smirk. She stepped back, giving the impression of fear.

Suddenly a familiar cold voice cut through the room, silencing the bandits. "That's enough." It was the silver kitsune, King of Thieves, Youko Kurama, and the leader of their power hungry group.

"Youko!"

"Youko Kurama, you're alive!" Whispers and murmurs of surprise and exclamations of relief filled the room as the bandits took in the appearance of their great leader.

"We thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, we came for revenge." The last voice was that of Yomi, the goat demon mentioned earlier.

"Well, as you can see, I am alive and well." The brunette had been quiet so far, but she chose this moment to make a break for the door. "Where do you think you're going?" Youko's clawed hand easily caught her by the arm and spun her around before pressing her to his side. She timidly hid behind his languid form, trying to avoid the hungry stares of the numerous rogues in the room.

"Hey, Youko, who's the cute girl?"

"Yeah, you think maybe we could have some of her?"

Youko could feel her body tense immediately at these words. "No, she's-"

"No one's." Oops, there was Myou's voice. He felt her form shifting behind him as she grew to the taller height of the Midnight Kitsune. "I am not a thing that can be passed around or owned," she looked pointedly at Youko as she stepped out from behind him. "By anyone."

Even with the displays of surprise and astonishment, some of the bandits still managed to let out cat calls at the more mature form of Myou's body. Her dark gaze was immediately turned on them. "What happened to that white haired bitch you were mourning over not so long ago Youko?" Yomi interrupted, practically ignoring Myou's glare. "That one you went to that run down town to look for."

Suddenly the glare was turned full force onto the goat demon as her form shifted once again. Growing yet taller, Myou became the deceased singer, Tsuchi Kusabana. Her once short hair grew in length and became platinum as her eyes turned ocean blue.

"Tsuchi is no bitch, Yomi," Youko responded.

"You will learn to watch your tongue, goat." The Siren stepped towards Yomi menacingly. One more step and the goat demon was thrown into the wall behind him, the crowd of bandits backing out of the way. The resulting impact produced a huge dent in the wall where the demon made contact with its wooden surface as he was flung halfway across the room and almost straight through the wall.

All remaining rogues backed away in fear. If she could do that to their second strongest without even touching him, what could she do to them? No one had even sensed her spirit energy before she'd thrown Yomi around like a rag doll. Suddenly they became aware that the Siren had returned to the form of the kitsune with midnight blue coloring and had her cold gaze focused on them now.

"A rather messy bunch, aren't you." Her eyes flickered to the many shattered windows to her right before focusing on them again. "I expect you all to go back to where ever you came from the same way you entered." She indicated the sky light and now gaping holes in her room. "You will be stealing nothing here."

"I agree," The silver fox put in, reasserting the singer's authority.

This set up a roar of protests. Grumbles about this being a waste of their time reached Myou's acute ears and she smirked. "You didn't let me finish." This brought silence to upon the room. "You have exactly two hours to pack what you can carry. The same goes for whoever didn't come tonight. None of your pretty female 'friends', no slaves, and if you have any pets, they had better be house trained." Her blue eyes scanned the masses and noticed a few smug looks. "And if you think twisting my words and calling your bed warmers and slaves 'pets', you are sadly mistaken." The smug expressions disappeared. "When you arrive, you will enter through this room once again and either Youko or I will be here. If you are late…" A pause as Yomi groaned and emerged from the ruble of the wall, "Well, good luck surviving my defenses. Oh, and you're paying for damages by the way," She informed the disgruntled goat demon.

A turn of the heal and she was out the double doors without a second glance. The bandits were left to stare in silence, wondering what just happened. Some were unsure of whether to obey the woman or not, nervously glancing at their leader.

"Well, you heard the woman, move!" Youko commanded of his men calmly.

Myou Shinri

As the bandits returned with their belongings, or should I say, stolen goods, I informed them that they could move into any empty rooms on the second floor. As soon as those rooms were filled up, the first floor was utilized. Along with those instructions, I gave a warning I expect some of them to disregard; do not enter the gardens. In fact, I have reason to believe some of them will purposely head straight for the gardens just because I told them not to.

Then of course, there are the ones who were late. I gave them two hours and then some, and still they were late. You see, to safely skip over my gardens, the Seal Dome has to be up, otherwise, you're forced to do the impossible gauntlet through my defenses that even Youko couldn't pass without some help. So after the two hours I allotted them, I dropped the shield that encompassed my entire estate, and left the slackers to fend for themselves.

Suddenly a scream rings across the grounds and to my sensitive ears where I sit on my balcony. Oops, there goes another one. Ah well, it was about time to feed the plants anyhow.

"My men are out there." I hadn't heard the silver fox's approach over the scream of agony, so I tensed slightly before I realized who had entered. The tone of his voice told me he wasn't pleased with the prospect of loosing so many men.

"Don't you mean were? They're plant food now," I pointed out.

I didn't look at him, but I could just imagine his ears twitching again. "Those are some of my best men." It sounded like he was gritting his teeth or something as he forced himself to be civil.

"Yes, well, some of your 'best men' failed to follow orders. And who am I to deny my pretty garden a bit of fresh meat?"

Youko growled deep within his throat. "You are not their leader."

I crossed my arms and turned to face him. "That's right. I'm not their leader. The leader's responsibility is to go out there and save their sorry asses." I hooked my thumb towards the gardens.

I really don't know why I was giving Youko such a hard time. Maybe I was irritated that his men were so rude. Maybe it was the fact that all the glass in my welcoming hall happened to be on the floor. Or maybe it was the fact that I knew some of my valuables would be missing from their respective places soon.

Youko growled at me yet again and leapt off the balcony and into the gardens below. I noted that the plants ceased to attack completely in his presence. It wasn't just the fact that he was already bled to them, it was also his control over plants that made them stop. I watched as he untangled that goat demon, Yomi from the vines and I wrinkled my nose. Why save him? That headstrong, arrogant, confrontation loving, loose cannon; he was one of the ones that had entered the gardens on purpose just to spite me. I could see immediately that he would prove to be a problem in the future.

Whoa, longer than I expected it to be. Hah, anything I say in my notes is usually worth mote. It looks like I am writing longer chapters. /sweat drop/ and my random notes are becoming smaller too. Well, I'll be gone for a month. Without a computer by the way. Don't expect anything. Be surprised if I even have time to write something by hand. Yeah, it's something I call summer camp that involves taking high school level classes I am in no way qualified to take. The only way I got in was cause I made up all the junk about actually enjoying science. I seriously didn't expect to get accepted. Especially not to be one of the four out of fifteen from my school.

Glossary-

Yomi- He's a real character if you don't remember or haven't encountered him before. I looked his name up, and I get either Reading, or Hades as in the underworld.

Responses-

darknesspirals- /falls under weight of Dark/ I'm writing! I'm writing/tries to crawl towards computer with Dark still on top of her/

Hieiloving101- Great suggestion, I found it hilarious that no one ever thought of it yet, but that won't be necessary. /evil grin/ I want to make it harder for Kurama. Besides, it's simple enough for her to shift to past forms and use their powers to prove it's her. By the way, her true name is Kae Kaze. If I end up referring to her as Kae, don't get confused.

I find this pathetic. REVIEW!