People, I've tried the diplomatic approach, but that's not working, so now I've been reduced to doing this. I keep receiving frequent, repetitive reviews from a specific reviewer- and though I've e-mailed this reviewer a few times, trying to explain that though I'm flattered they like the story, their type of reviews is gettingvery old, very fast, they have yet to cease it. I didn't want it to come to this, but it's getting aggravating. If this reviewer doesn't stop with their kind of reviews, I'm tempted to cease updating this story for a while.

The rest of you, react as you will. Enjoy the chapter.

Kazuya came inside and stomped the snow off his boots. Suichi followed him a few moments later. "Well," the former said, kissing Shiori on the cheek, "we should be done by next week at the latest." She smiled. When Genkai had first explained Den Syndrome to her she'd done her best to fill the house with reminders of the forest. It helped somewhat, but Kurama- as much as he insisted he felt fine- was still behaving oddly. There were times when he appeared to be completely miserable in the house. Therefore, in search of a more efficient solution, they'd decided to build an extension onto the home and put in a greenhouse.

Suichi made for the hallway and collided with Kurama. The redhead flung himself back against the wall and gave him a suspicious look. "Are you okay?" Suichi asked. Kurama nodded slowly, glaring at him and rubbing his stomach protectively. "Uhm, okay then." He cautiously backed out of the room. His brother appeared to be in one of his moods again.

The Fox stared after him until he'd disappeared from sight. "I believe we need to keep an eye on that one," he finally said. "He could prove dangerous."

"Suichi?" Kazuya asked, quirking an eyebrow. "How do you figure?"

"You see how he just turns corners without pausing to look? What if he'd collided with me on the stairs instead? I could have miscarried!" He leaned up against the wall and hugged his belly.

"I believe you're overreacting," Shiori told him calmly. "Are you feeling okay?" Recently, her son's immune system had plunged, and he was suffering from fatigue. Kurama spent most of the day resting and was usually confined to his bed after dinner. Sadly enough, it only worsened his Den Syndrome.

"I'm fine," he replied testily. Then he realized he'd snapped at his own mother and shook himself. "I'm sorry." He took a deep breath. "You're right," he beamed at her. "I'm just a little edgy tonight is all. But I'm okay now." Shiori smiled at him and turned to make some coffee.

Then the phone rang. "ROSEWHIP!" Kurama bellowed. Shiori and Kazuya jumped as they heard a loud crash. They turned around to find Kurama crouched on the ground, holding a weird-looking object and glaring at the phone, which now lay in numerous pieces on the floor. They both stared at the object. It was long and green, resembling a whip, with spikes protruding from it. Kurama saw they were staring and quicklygot off the floor, discarding his weapon. His parents jumped when the whip turned into a rose as it hit the carpet.

"Uhm, sorry," he mumbled, bright red. "I'll clean that up."

"That's okay," Kazuya said, staring at the floor. "We needed a new phone anyway. So, what was that thing?"

"That? My rose whip."

"Uh-huh. And what does it do?"

"Uhh…" he glanced at the phone's remains. "That, among other things. It can cut through most materials. A very handy weapon. It's rarely failed me." He fetched a broom and dustpan and swept up the mess.

"Suichi," Shiori said. "What do you mean it's rarely failed you? When else have you used it?"

Kurama laughed nervously. "Well…" he scratched his neck, wiping away sweat. "I've only used it when my life or that of a friend was in jeopardy. Always in self-defense." She gave him a stricken look. "Uhm, here!" He picked up the rose and gave it to her. "Isn't it pretty? Better put it in a vase with water before it wilts. Uh…I think I'll go up to my room now and meditate. You're right Mother, I have been rather tense lately. I love you, okay? 'Night!" He gave her a big hug and quickly escaped upstairs.

When he got to his room he shut the door behind him and collapsed on the bed. He groaned and rolled onto his side. He shouldn't have reacted so rashly. It was a phone, what harm could a phone do him? How moronic of him to use precious energy, of which he was seriously limited, to disembowel a phone. The room was spinning around in a whirling blur, making him feel sick. He closed his eyes and waited for the ill feeling to pass.

A few minutes went by and he was able to sit up, though he still felt shaky. He made a mental note not to foolishly waste his energy like that in the future. It had to be conserved., it HAD to be. Being careful to keep his balance he walked over to the desk and looked over his notebook, still lying open on the desktop. Having almost nothing to spend his days doing he'd spent a lot of time filling it out. It was almost three-quarters of the way done, for which he was very thankful. Though he knew he had to write all of this down, he was growing tired. Everything tired him. It was to be expected.

The scenery outside attracted his attention. It was most lovely- everything was coated in snow, producing a shimmery silver appearance as the Moon shone on it. He sighed and looked away, taking deep breaths in an effort to calm the strange feeling inside himself. It made him long for things so badly, things he knew he couldn't have or do due to the risk of exposure.

This feeling he was unable to identify made him restless He tried to add more to the notebook, but found his thinking was currently muddled, so he put it away. Of course this also meant that reading was entirely out of the question. He groaned and paced about the room, rearranging objects on his shelves, opening and closing drawers- anything to keep him busy.

Without thinking he opened the drawer to his bedside table, but immediately regretted the action when the only contents, Hiei's tear gem, rolled into view, as though to mock Kurama. He stared at it, vision blurring, then buried his face in his pillow and screamed. Once he'd gotten it out of his system he grabbed the tear gem, stalked to the closet, and tossed it into an old shoebox on the topmost shelf. The box also contained every photograph Kurama owned of Hiei (albeit that wasn't many) and shared the shelf space with Hiei's katana, currently wrapped in an old tablecloth. The Fox had packed up these painful reminders not long after he'd discovered he was pregnant. Somehow he'd missed the tear gem.

He narrowed his eyes and slammed the closet door shut. As far as he was concerned he could do without laying eyes on those objects for the remainder of his life. Let the twins have and appreciate them; he'd grown to despise everything on that shelf. The sword, the stone, the pictures: all souvenirs of happy times, all a mockery of what his life had been reduced to.

Now he felt depressed. Most days closed with his moping about his room, alone. That accursed vibrator helped to remedy his physical loneliness, but he was still starving for actual companionship. It was a void his friends and family were unable to fill.

Heaving a sigh, he glanced at this clock. Ten thirty. As of late he'd been making a habit of retiring to sleep by nine, his body was so tired. Tonight he was late. He shrugged. There was nothing to do, may as well make up for lost time.

Kurama undressed, donned assorted layers of mismatched nightclothes, turned off the light, and slid into bed. Alone.