Just to unconfuse you, in the future I'll be copying Kurama's example: when Ivory is in her fox form, she is going to be called Ivory. And when she's in her human form, she will be called Zephyr. Just like Kurama is Kurama or Shuichi as a human and Yoko when he's all drop-dead gorgeous fox. (Mind you, his human form is nothing to spurn, but gods, if I could just find one unclaimed guy with a body and brain like Yoko's…)

KuramaIsFine: The above message should answer your question and let you know I share the same opinion about Yoko. n,.,n

Darknesspirals: —Turns to figments/alter egos— All right, who gave D.S. the sugar? —crickets— Fine, whatever. You'll find out about the fortune in this chapter, darkness. And please don't flush the fish, the sewer-guys have been complaining about getting their legs bit.

Arano Hono: Yes, I'm a bit of a hypocrite. I hate finding them in chapters of fics I'm reading, but I can't help writing them. They're just so much fun and I actually get a couple extra reviews for each chapter that I do them. It's a rather irresistible combination. But you should be glad: on a couple of chapters of Fox's Mischief, I actually had to set a minimum-reviews-for-updates thing to get even one. Since those, I haven't needed to use it!

I also agree about Yukina. I spent an hour arguing with Neo Zaku about that subject (we go to the same junior college) and even filled him in on koorime reproduction. The silly male needs to explore the Net more; all he knows is the stuff in the movies and the actual anime. That's it. He didn't even know that Yukina and Hiei are twins. Please do the Atsuko one-shot? Because it'll probably be funny, or at the least it'll be good? And because I'm asking so very nicely?

Silverwing013: Huh? Death? Big giant question mark right here. And it would be 'Ivory's back'. As for the fun part, well, we'll see.

Asilin Kheldarson: Yes, I made them related to cabbits. They do rather look like them; I'll have to scan a drawing of one so I can send it to anyone who wants to see what they look like. They were originally for a trilogy of my own work, but since their coloration is based off soul-energy colors, it inspired me to add them to this story.

The twins are going back for two reasons: one, what happened that night wasn't the fortune-teller's fault; and two, because they're curious. Nervous, but curious.

Kitsune Kit: —the entire cast, author included, is left standing in a daze after the whirlwind that is K.K. Yoko and Hiei notice Aislin eyeing the 'Aislin catnip' and decide to share the sake and sugar in a closet somewhere—

Magus784: —Hiei pokes his head out of the closet— Messes are amusing and the Makai is already a warzone. —Goes back to hiding in the closet while Aislin runs around giggling—

Niana: The meremia are cute, aren't they? Kind of like the twins, only more child-like and the furballs can fly. The Avalon twins can't.

———————————————————————————————–

"Damn it, Koenma," Yusuke groans when he ambles into the Reikai Prince's office, yawning and stretching in casual clothes, his hair left ungreased for once. The coal-black strands feather into his face and fluff around his ears, very like the ruff of a rumpled Labrador puppy. He even has the same chocolate eyes of said puppy, but his are filled with annoyance at being woken before three on a Saturday afternoon. "What now?"

The prince is in his teenaged form for a change, though the binky is still very much in place in his mouth. Stressed hazel eyes shaded a dark oak-brown at the moment scrutinize the young man with no hint of the usual irritation one would normally see with Yusuke's standard, casual complaint.

"I have a mission for you, Yusuke. I had hoped that sending you in would not be necessary, but much to my extreme dismay I find that I must."

The serious, grim tone in which the words are spoken wake the demon-blooded human up the rest of the way, an edge of maturity straightening his spine and take his hands from his pockets. "I'm listening."

"Approximately three weeks ago a kitsune escaped from Reikai's Mid Security Prison wing and, as far as my informants were able to tell, fled to Ningenkai to hide there. I set Hiei on his trail the night it happened. When he failed to perform his duties with his usual ruthless efficiency, I set Kohaku on the case as well, hoping that that, at least, would yield results." A cold, hard emotion shutters the normally-open eyes of the prince, revealing that he has not lived for so long on his father's reputation alone. "For two weeks the pair of them have fed false information about the case to my informants and myself, and knowingly protected their target from my normal hunters."

"Why? I mean, why have either of them on the case at all?" Yusuke tilts his head to one side, attention occupied by the hide-away screen displaying a picture and the stats of one 'ragged Avalon'. "He seems pretty weak, to me."

"Be that as it may, the Avalon is swifter than our hot-tempered ally even with his reserves at zilch. And with the exception of you fighting at your fullest, Hiei is my fastest agent. As to the reason why they did it, we can only guess." A heavy sigh accompanies a weary rubbing of the 'Jr.' marked forehead. "The ragged Avalon was one of Aislin's pupils about one hundred years ago; he was captured in the aftermath of a gang-war battle by some of my troops where his sister died in the cross-fire. Hiei could have been doing it as a favor for Aislin, or he could just have been doing it because he felt sorry for Avalon. Hell, he might have been doing it just for spite, I have no idea. Kohaku has informed us upon questioning that she waited because Hiei asked her to, playing off her curiosity of wanting to see what would happen. She has been temporarily placed on suspension and will remain in the Ningenkai for a space of a month while her punishment is decided."

"You're joking. All the shit she's gone through for everyone, and you're still punishing her like a kid who got caught with their hand in the cookie jar?" Disbelief and anger are clear, sparking Koenma's own formidable temper.

"Damn it, Yusuke! It's not like I'm looking forward to it! But this case is vital to the continued existence of the Makai and the Ningenkai! If it were a simple case of escaped-criminal-capture, I wouldn't give a damn! But the danger created by the ragged Avalon is too great to allow for missteps!"

One of Yusuke's random flashes of frighteningly intelligent insight strikes, narrowing those coal-lashed eyes in suspicion. "Something else about this case has got you spooked, Koenma. What is it?"

The temper is swallowed by defeat. "The ragged Avalon escaped back into Makai just two days ago. And in the past two days, the three most dangerous youkai have returned as well."

Blink. "No way. Hiei broke parole-terms and high-tailed it back home?"

"Yes. Aislin and Kurama have gone to the Makai as well, presumably to chase one after the other, after Aislin tried to hand me some story about Hiei only willing to go there because of Avalon."

Thinking back on Hiei's past deeds, Yusuke has to admit that the theory is perfectly logical and utterly typical of the ice-born fire apparition. Not once has the crimson-eyed male ever gone back on a promise or betrayed the trust of any of his—friends? Yes, friends—unless there was something greater than his own honor involved. Koenma catches the thoughts flashing behind the Spirit Detective's eyes with little effort, slumping back in his chair.

"I know, Yusuke, I know. I don't want to believe it, but I must. Hiei is still trailing the Avalon even though he broke an oath he made to me to do it. It is the thought of that trio being together, loose in that place, with no forms of binding upon them whatsoever, that worries me so. Aislin and Hiei together were the most ruthless of thieves during their partnership. Aislin and Yoko Kurama were the most unstoppable and strongest during their reign as the Queen and King of Thieves. The three of them working for me have forced the incursions of youkai into the Human World to almost zero and have worked to capture some of the strongest, nastiest demons on our wanted list. Should those three ever disregard their oaths and return to their old ways…" A heartfelt shudder. "I don't even want to think of it. Not even you would be able to stop them."

"So what do you want me to do about it, Koenma?"

"Three things, Yusuke, though I expect you'll find none of them to be easy." The prince holds up one finger. "One; find and arrest the ragged Avalon. The picture up there is the most recent one we've got; we got hold of his contact in your hometown, a nezumi youkai named Scripp."

Yusuke nearly chokes at the familiar face gazing out of the screen, eyes in the middle of the transition from gold to violet. "Haru?"

"So he was right under your nose?" A beaten groan from behind a hand. "And his power levels were likely so low you couldn't sense a damned thing. I should have brought you in on this from the start. I haven't learned a damn thing about this job yet…"

"Don't fall apart on me yet, toddler. What's the other two things?"

"Find Hiei and make sure he isn't doing illegal things with Kurama and Aislin. Last—and this is crucial, Yusuke—I need you to find the human girl Avalon took with him, if she's still alive." Yusuke stares into the calm face of Zephyr Uotani.

——

"Atchoo! Atchoo! Atchoo!" Aislin looks up from her crystals at the male reclining amidst the spires less than ten feet away, a snowy eyebrow arching upward.

"Should I bless you or wait for your head to explode?" she inquires mildly as she pours the last of her excess energy into a particularly lovely violet cluster standing as high as her chest.

"Hah, hah, snowflake."

An amused—yet unsettled—smile tugs at pink lips. "I do believe someone is talking about you, porcupine head. That means Obsidian has very little time left to do what he needs to do."

"Any idea what that is?"

"Honestly? No." She pats the tallest spire lovingly. "Like everyone else these days, my soul-brother, I am, as the humans say, 'playing it by ear'."

——

Warily the pair of foxes approach the small tent, tension slicking their hair to their heads along with their ears, stemming from their last experience with this thing. It's even the same robed youkai, the hood pulled back to allow visibility of the androgynous face with feline characteristics, that told them of that damning curse.

One violet eyebrow rises at the sight of the approaching pair, something akin to relief lighting the sapphire eyes. "Well, well, if it isn't the young Avalons. It is a pleasure to see you together again I must say. After I sent you from my tent that night, I feared for you as much as one like me is able to."

"With good reason," Obsidian tells her quietly as he slings a protective arm around his sister's shoulders, "since this is the first day my sister and I have been fully reunited in almost a century."

"Ah, so the readings were indeed true. I had hoped otherwise." A polite gesture with one arm draped in light cotton dyed a soft rose, a wry smile lighting upon the neko's face at the echoing motions of that fateful day. "Please, enter, and do not fear harm. I have read no danger of any sort occurring to anyone today in my cards and there is much that needs telling."

With all the wariness they have gathered in the last few minutes since sighting the canvas structure, the siblings slowly enter the dim interior of the tent. The seer follows behind them, pulling shut the door flap and plunging the small room into false dusk. The only light comes from cutouts in the fabric ceiling that mark out a few of the simple runes, backed in light gauze that keeps out rain and insects.

"Please, sit," the seer tells them, taking repose in a padded folding-chair in one corner and twitching long fingers towards folding-chairs beside hir. "Cease acting like rabbits instead of foxes, children. You need to hear this without bolting for the exit."

"It all depends if we need to or not," retorts Ivory as she gingerly sits down on the left chair.

"I assure you, you will not. Now, would either of you like some jasmine tea?" Obsidian shakes his head as he seats himself beside his sister. The silvery vixen repeats the motion. Thin shoulders shrug beneath the voluminous robe in an uncaring gesture. "Very well, allow me to begin. This may take several minutes so be patient."

"Understood."

"I have been researching the curse that I read upon you that night, for I was curious as to who would set such a horrid thing on two undeserving children, and I have found both the reason and the riddle for the spell's undoing. At the beginning of your careers as thieves there was a sorcerer who specialized in revenge-magic, whose castings often reflected upon the victim all the pain—real and imagined—that the instigator feels was caused by the spell's victim. Such a curse has been laid upon you, as payment for your believed crimes and for those done by your mentors, hence the severity if the spell is not broken in time.

"In short, youngsters, this is all in the name of vengeance, and the one who set the sorcerer at your heels was a man named Higurashi in return for the ruin your master the Winter Rose visited upon him long ago." Golden eyes meet cinnamon ones and share a look of confusion. Higurashi? According to the story they'd been told about the reptilian youkai, he'd been too much of a fool and too stubborn to bother doing something like this. The seer—who has yet to tell them hir name—catches the glance and correctly interprets it. "Indeed, he was known for his unbelievably dense actions, but several centuries can bring wisdom even to fools. Not to mention power. Higurashi is now a being to tread lightly around, if one dares tread so closely at all."

Brows are furrowed in enlightened (but continuing) confusion, edged with a hint of fear and anger. Such a distant person has dared lay such a black-magic curse upon them and didn't even have the guts to tell them. Isn't the point of a curse that of knowledgeable suffering? Mahogany eyes meet gold.

"You'd think he'd want to gloat and tell us…"

"But that would mean we'd know about the curse and try to break it…"

"He's still an arrogant bastard if what Boss-sama told us is true…"

"But a few centuries can teach caution to anyone who lives that long…"

"He'd want to watch us suffer…"

"Except that he probably has been watching us suffer," Obsidian concludes wearily. "I spent a long time in jail and I'm sure he has one of his spies somewhere in the prison ranks. He probably had someone there that night, too, just to see which one of us ended up dead."

Both turn to the unruffled seer and ask in unison, "So what's the riddle?"

"I'd say it's more like a scavenger hunt than a riddle, to tell you truly, young ones. However, this is what I have read…" An unwrinkled hand passes through the air in front of them, leaving curlicues of pale blue light behind that twist into words.

"I am blind yet I can see,

I am the flower that eternally blooms.

I am the Link.

I am the Light.

And I was shed at the beginning of the worlds.

Gather us. Bind us. For we have been alone for time beyond measurement."

"I am blind yet I can see…" Ivory muses, one hand reaching out to touch the words. They dissolve into nothing at her touch, yet her eyes remain distant and dim. "Why oh why does that sound so familiar?"

"I do believe you two have company," the seer tells them quietly. "Perhaps you should go and greet him." With identical looks of befuddled thought, the two rise, drop into automatic bows, and walk out. The seer just sits there with a pensive frown crinkling the smooth forehead.

The first sign the siblings have of something wrong in the bright afternoon is that no one stands waiting outside the darkened tent. No one in front of them, that is. A cold clearing of a throat makes them whirl with their hackles rises, hackles that slowly start to flatten again at the sight of a grim Hiei standing with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh, it's you, Jaganshi-san. Please don't sneak up on us like that." Hiei doesn't even look amused at the way they speak together, even after being apart for so long. Obsidian tenses.

"Jaganshi-san, that face of yours concerns me even more than one of Yoko-sama's sneaky smiles. What's wrong? And why are you not at the Lair? You mentioned last night that you'd be avoiding people today."

Looking very much as though he'd rather be back at the Lair and not here—or better yet, anywhere but here—Hiei takes a deep breath before intoning dully, "Obsidian Avalon, you are hereby under arrest for your crimes against Spirit World."

——

"What?" the siblings squawk. "Why now, Jaganshi-san?" Ivory adds for good measure. A man carrying out a death-sentence on a beloved could not look more unhappy than the fire apparition does, the triangular face set into a flat mask.

"You have attained your goal of locating your sister in full. I gave my oath to you that that would be all the leeway that I could give you. Not even Aislin's threats can change that." A deep, regretful sigh. "I am sorry, Obsidian, but I have no choice."

The black fox gives the other male a rueful smile, accepting that his mentor's closest friend is in no way willing to do this, but that the fire apparition's code of morality won't let him do otherwise. "Honor's a bitch, isn't it?"

"She taught you her way of understatement," Hiei tells him flatly as he takes a step forward, hand going for the hilt of his katana—presumably to use in rendering his target unconscious. Instead, a piece of inked paper is stuck to his chest and another over his Jagan, a heavy word being spoken. The kajihenge tries to take another step forward or even move at all…

And finds himself quite unable to do so.

Ivory regards Hiei coolly, pleased that her talismans are doing their job. "My human mother is Kumiko Uotani, Jaganshi-san. It would make sense that she taught me holding- and sealing-spells along with everything else. Now. I have a Game for us to play; care to hear the rules?"

The faintest quirk upwards of a thin eyebrow signals his unwilling assent. Obsidian is staring at his sister like she's insane as she stands there calmly and sets out the rules of her Game.

"We are as swift as you, but nowhere near as powerful. I will seal our youki-based abilities against each other but for no one else, so that none shall be able to catch any unprepared. You will try to catch us before we reach the Lair; specifically, Aislin-sama's Crystal Chamber at the very heart of our home. Should we reach the Chamber before you, you will allow us time enough to work out the solution to the curse that put us in this position in the first place. Should you win, we both go with you quietly and accept the punishments given to us by the toddler. You are allowed to attack us only to slow us down; killing blows, maiming and those strikes meant to deliver temporary oblivion are not allowed. In turn, we may use our abilities to slow you; we shall not entangle more than ten percent of your body, and you are allowed to use fire against our plants. Chemicals of any nature are forbidden, and will result in the Game being terminated and a free-for-all initiated—including calling allies in for help." A tiny smile as she pulls away the fuda affixed to his head.

The Jagan glows for a moment beneath the white headband before its master nods curtly and the second fuda is also removed, one of lavender paper taking its place. Identical lavender fuda are affixed to Obsidian and Ivory by the silver vixen, and she utters a word that crackles through the air. Ivory nudges Obsidian so that she and he stand about three feet from their opponent, the bowl with her fish still cradled carefully in the crook of her arm. "Upon the count of three, we will begin," Ivory says quietly. "One."

"On your mark," Obsidian whispers. Ivory flashes him a tense smile as all three crouch.

"Two."

"Get set," Hiei mutters as adrenaline floods through them.

"Three."/"Go!"

——

Two scratched, bruised, breathless young foxes tumble into a heap in the entrance of the Crystal Chamber, a bowl holding two fish somehow being kept from harm by the paler of the two. An petite woman looks up from a quasi-throne formed from several enormous spires, her mouth quirking as a male only a few inches taller than she stumbles to the entryway to rest his hands and weight above his knees while panting.

"Well, my dears, did you enjoy your race?" the woman asks mildly of the two almost hyperventilating on her floor.

"NANI?"

"What?" Aislin queries in mock-disbelief. "Just because you've both been gone for a century do you think that means I'm going to stop teaching you? You might have given up thieving, Ivory, but Obsidian probably hasn't. Either way, you're both woefully behind on training on all counts except for Ivory's fuda magic." A sweet smile over at the recovering fire apparition. "Thank you for your help, porcupine head. That was a magnificent performance worthy of any of the great actors."

"Hn." A wry smile. "These two are faster than I thought. I'm going to see what Gre'ich has in the way of liquid refreshment."

"Ask him if he can send down some strawberry tea, please? I'm really craving some but the lesson isn't finished yet." A negligent shrug is Hiei's response as he turns and walks away. The koorime woman's attention returns to the foxes slowly untangling themselves from their sprawls. "So. Have you learned anything from this lesson?"

Ivory raises a hand trembling with exhaustion. "Jaganshi-san is really, really fast. And really good with fire."

"Not the point of the lesson, youngling, but useful information for you that I've known for a very long time. Try again." Aislin adds in a firm, helpful tone, "Think hard."

Uncertainly, Obsidian offers, "An ally may not always remain an ally?"

Approval colors the jeweled eyes a shade of pale blue. "Excellent, 'Dian. That's part of what I was trying to teach you." After a few more minutes of recovery and hard thought, both turn to their teacher and shrug, unable to think of anything else that isn't already well-known. Aislin sighs, raising an admonitory finger. "Allies may not stay allies is part of the lesson, but only part. There will come a time when neither myself nor any other will be able or willing to come to your aid and you must hone your abilities to their best in preparation of that day. Nice thinking with your fuda, Ivory, but Hiei was putting on an act. Your foot-speed is marginally better than his but at hand-to-hand combat Hiei is the best, barring Yusuke at full strength. He could have easily stopped you from using your talismans had I not asked him to go a little easy on you. Remember to thank him the next time you see him."

"Yes'm."

A warmer smile. "Considering neither of you has trained properly for a hundred years or so you did very well, the both of you, in using what skills you have and at coming up with that minor Game that you got Hiei to agree to. But remember: a majority of our cousins and kind do not have the morals or ethics that those here at the Lair possess, and Hiei holds himself to a higher standard than even most here. Another opponent may agree to the Game, but try to kill you again once your fuda are removed. Don't trust everyone's word as a given."

That wine-streaked head tilts to the side as she eyes the various scratches and minor injuries that the siblings picked up during their headlong dash from Pridesholt and that sensuous mouth softens significantly. "Now get over here so I can make sure we don't have another episode like that lust-demon infection."

"Inari forbid!" Obsidian groans with feeling, helping his sister to her feet as he gets to his and the both of them dropping into tailor-seats in front of their teacher. "That's one experience I don't want to repeat!"

"The fool learns," says a dry voice from the entrance. Hiei walks in with a wooden mug in his hand, a tray with a pitcher and three more cups balanced on the other. "What a surprise."

"Thank you, Hiei," Aislin chirps at him while tending to her students. "So. Your opinion on their performance, Kikan-kun?"

Hiei sets the tray down on the armrest of the crystal throne, expression considering while Ivory twitches her fingers at him. The lavender fuda flutters off of his shirt into her waiting hand, joined a moment later by the two that had been affixed to the foxes. There had been those two times they'd nearly gotten him stuck with the fire-root around his wrists and ankles; the pond they'd tricked him into falling into; numerous rocks, tree-roots, vines, and thickets. Finally he shrugs. "For younglings not into their thirteenth decade they did fairly well. Especially when you consider that they haven't trained in a century. His timing is off, however, and her speed needs work. They both wouldn't be able to fight off a decrepit troll if their lives depended on it if it came to hand-to-hand, and their manipulation of plants is hopeless. Their teamwork is flawless."

"That translates to about a B-minus, younglings," Aislin supplies as the last scratch is Healed. "There we go. Now, you two have the rest of the day and tonight to relax, but tomorrow you two are going to start seriously training. So get some sleep, we're starting early."

——

"What do you think the riddle was talking about, brother?" Ivory questions late that night as they settle in for sleep. Set into one wall is their new fish-tank, sculpted by the resident stone-youkai and fronted with a large sheet of crystal-clear glass. It even has a water filter and a pump from one of the gang who'd stolen it last year, and it took barely a drop of energy to get some aquatic plants growing in the new structure. A hinged piece of stone, created so that it blends in with hardly a crack, is what allows food to be dropped into the water. A couple of ki-globes light the tank with a soft white glow, with the result that soothing patterns are being reflected on the walls, ceiling, and floor of the kitsune room.

The part of the vixen's mind that remains wholly Zephyr muses that the whole thing looks rather like some of the smaller tanks at aquariums she's visited, or like what would be suitable for a very rich person's home. The two living treasures swimming lazily within—utterly delighted with the five-foot tall, six-foot long, and three-foot wide enclosure—harmonize quite nicely with the simple water grasses and single water-lily rooted in the plain, grey-blue gravel that layers the bottom of the tank. A few semi-precious gems and some coins have been tossed in as well for a splash of color.

"I'm not really sure, sister," comes the drowsy reply. "Though the last bit sounds tantalizingly familiar. I swear there's a story that involves that line, but for the life of me I can't think of it."

A sigh. "Oh, well. We have a few months left to figure the riddle out and bind whatever it is we're supposed to be looking for. Let's just get some sleep."

Warm chuckling. "Good idea. I remember what Boss-sama's serious training sessions were like; we're gonna need all the sleep we can get. Night, sister."

"Night, brother."

——

A young man with slicked-back ebony hair strolls up to the edge of the Lair's front yard in time to watch a slender, graceful young man with numerous tails and long, ink-black hair climb to the top of an odd arrangement of poles and rope. It rather resembles a tightrope but only about six feet off the ground, surrounded by grinning people.

Chocolate eyes watch as a porcelain tea-cup filled with brown liquid and saucer is handed up to the male with a chuckle and the advice "Don't drop it, kit." Said cup and saucer are placed on top of the male's head while he balances easily on the small platform atop one pole.

At the foot of the pole stands a rather short, exotic female and a taller, silvery young woman, both wearing a mixture of greens and browns—though the shorter of the two wears wool, while the taller wears cotton. "All right, my winsome kit," calls the white-haired woman. "You know the routine! Get hopping!"

"Hai, Boss-sama," comes the resigned sigh. The watcher's eyebrow rises when the acrobat springs into a reverse somersault along the rope, vaults into several backflips, and lands on the far pole's platform. One hand touches the top of the silky head; gold eyes go wide, and he makes a frantic snatch for the upright tea-cup dropping a few inches away from his nose.

The watcher winces as balance is lost, the acrobat tumbling to the ground in an ungainly heap—with the teacup and saucer held safely upright in one hand. "Iiiiite…"

"So close, Obsidian, and yet so, so far," laughs Aislin as she walks forward, one hand outstretched to help her pupil up. "Your balance is just fine, but your timing's deteriorated quite a bit."

"I saved the cup, didn't I?" he protests cheerfully, handing it over to her with a bright, though rather sheepish smile.

"Indeed you did. Ivory? Think you're up to the challenge?"

The silver-haired vixen pales and gulps. "Umm, why don't I try it without the boiling hot tea first?" she suggests while eyeing the tightrope. The watcher stiffens as a heavy hand settles on his shoulder.

"It ain't nice to spy, Urameshi," a rough voice chuckles, shoving him into the sunlight. "Oi! Look who's come ta visit!"

"Oh, dear," Aislin sighs as a sheepish Yusuke walks over with a smirking Ikazuchi close behind. "Hello, Yusuke. Finally got set on the case, did you?"

"You might say that." The Spirit Detective scratches his nose as he scrutinizes Ivory, puzzlement clear on his face. "Yanno, she looks a whole helluva lot like—"

"Zephyr?" the vixen supplies, climbing up onto the first platform. "Quite right, since I am her. Hiya, Yusuke-san. How's Keiko?"

"What…the hell?"

The ice apparition now at his elbow chuckles wryly. "You aren't the only one she surprised. Detective, I'd like to introduce to you Ivory Zephyr Avalon-Uotani, my pupil and the only person I know who's somehow managed to almost duplicate Yoko's little soul-transfer trick."

"How…?"

"I'm not telling," singsongs Ivory while she loosens up. "Brother? Do be nice and catch me if I try to land on my nose? Pretty please?"

"No problem, Ivory! I'll be your spotter!"

"Less talking, chibi-Yoko, and more training," Aislin advises firmly. The vixen sighs, takes a deep breath, and does her best to repeat her brother's performance sans fragile piece of drink-ware. She almost makes it, too, but her foot slips on the last back-flip, one hand grabbing automatically for the rope as she falls, ending up with her legs caught safely in Obsidian's arms while still clinging to the twisted length of fibers.

"Oh, damn and blast it!"

"Try again, youngling," the koorime commands before turning back to Yusuke. "So, Detective, what exactly did the toddler send you to do?"

Yusuke ticks them off on his fingers, half of his attention taken up by the pretty, athletic female stripping down to a tanktop and shorts before climbing once more back onto the platform. "Double-check on Hiei, snag Obsidian, and hunt down Zephyr. Did they do this sort of thing all the time before?" he adds in a distracted tone when the silvery vixen makes it to the other side, only to fall backwards and into the arms of her laughing brother.

"Indeed. It's standard training, though as you probably saw it usually includes a teacup." A wicked smile. "You're drooling, Yusuke."

The demon-descended human quickly swallows and wrenches his eyes away, to find a much safer place to rest on Aislin's amused face. "Sorry. So what happens with the cup, anyway?"

"It moves with the trainee, partially depending on centrifugal force, partially depending on the skills of the person. If it was someone like Yoko doing that—and he has done it, mind you—you'd see that the teacup and its contents get transferred from top of the head to the bottom of the feet in rapid order. With those with speed like Obsidian, it's nearly impossible for anyone to see him move."

"As for me, Detective," a dry, male voice says at the teen's shoulder, "I can assure you that I have not been getting into my old tricks." The punk turns to find Hiei standing just behind him, a wicked smile to match Aislin's on his lips. "Nor do I have any intention to while on parole and on this mission."

"You're failin' miserably, Hiei, I gotta tell ya," Yusuke sighs. "The toddler was havin' a whole lot of nightmares at the thought of you three loose again, off robbin' and lootin' and whatever else the hell you did in the ol' days."

"'The ol' days' as you call them," Aislin chides, "ended less than two decades ago, Yusuke. Hardly old by a demon's reckoning of time. Please remember, it will be the way you see things within a few decades as well, when that youkai blood of yours really starts 'kicking in'."

"Nah," Yusuke chuckles in self-deprecation, "my motto's 'live for today'."

"As well as 'kick ass and/or shoot now, ask questions if anyone's alive afterwards," both elemental youkai tell him in amusement. The half-blood just shrugs; he honestly can't deny that oh-so-accurate description. The three watch in silence while Obsidian takes another turn, this time actually managing to end with the teacup firmly atop his noggin without a single drop spilled. Yusuke lets out a low whistle and Aislin nods approvingly at her pupil.

"Very good, winsome kit. If your sister can make the run without the teacup and without falling off, you both get breakfast." With that incentive, Ivory tries a third time to backflip across the rope—and this time succeeds, the pair dashing off happily for a well-deserved meal.

"Doesn't seem too hard to do that. Why're they so hungry?"

"They—and I—have been up since well before dawn, Yusuke," Aislin informs him dryly, her lips twisted sideways into a smirk. "And I've been training them non-stop since. This was a reward exercise, something they got to do if everything else was done to my satisfaction. An easy task, I suppose it would be called, though if you think it's so easy why don't you try it?"

Yusuke is busy trying to come up with an excuse to avoid the challenge when a winded, dusty youkai with violet skin and no hair races up, gasping and waving a scaly arm. "Ikazuchi-sama! Ikazuchi-sama!"

The lightning-wolf pushes through the crowd to the runner's side, anticipation lighting those butter-yellow eyes and fluffing his short-cropped mane of brindle-blond. "Nyolo! Good news, I hope?"

"Dragon's…Tear…on display…at Stone City's Museum…of World Treasures," reports the odd youkai, panting and swallowing to wet his throat between words. The teacup that had been used in training is handed to him; he drains the contents in a heartbeat and hands the cup back with a nod of thanks. "For three days only, from midmorning to midafternoon, the Dragon's Tear diamond will be on display for public viewing. Living security is lousy so far, but there's cameras and sensors friggin' everywhere. The stone is being kept in a container made of that new crap that's harder than hell to break or cut with laser-sensors and touch-sensitive flooring as a bonus challenge." The round, black eyes shine with unabashed greed. "But the stone is abso-friggin'-loutely gorgeous, Boss!"

Ikazuchi claps his hands together and rubs them with an acquisitive grin baring most of his teeth. "Excellent! Time to get back what's ours, my lambs! Alpha and Beta squad?"

"Present and accounted for!" pipes a reptilian female no more than three feet tall, echoed a breath later by a hulking bear apparition, both wearing a grey bandanna around their heads.

"Good! Gather your people and meet me in Plannin' Room Eight in ten minutes." With brisk nods, the two melt into the crowd while Ikazuchi strides into the Lair. Yusuke lifts an inquiring eyebrow at Aislin, who shrugs back.

"Don't look at me, detective. I have nothing to do with this caper, nor do I plan to. All I know is, the Dragon's Tear is a diamond the size of your thick head that once belonged to the Lair. It disappeared over a century ago, and we've been tracking it since; after all, thieves are the worst kind of people to steal from because we have a habit of taking things back."

"Wha' fings?" comes the muffled question as Ivory and Obsidian walk up with plates loaded with food; what look like more Makai-type apples are being held to lips by sharp teeth alone. "Wha goin' on?"

"Holy crap, that's a lot of food."

"Children eat more than adults, fool," Hiei snaps coolly, "and youkai children even more. This is a light meal, almost a snack for them."

"Eww, is that raw meat?"

"Yusuke, get it through your head; Ivory and Obsidian are not human, but they are children. Very intelligent children, but children nonetheless." Aislin shakes her head at the Spirit Detective's naivete. "For future reference, youkai youngsters need fresh food—whether that be vegetable or animal—to supplement their diet. Cooking destroys several crucial nutrients needed for proper growth and health. Thus, the meat does need to be raw. Besides which, raw meat tastes quite nice. And don't go turning green in the face," she adds tartly, flicking him on the nose. "In case you've forgotten, let me ask you what you think sushi is."

"To answer your question, foxling," Hiei drawls to Obsidian, "a portion of your gang is planning to retake a jewel called the Dragon's Tear."

Obsidian freezes as memory drops an anvil on his head. At the beginning of their apprenticeship, when Ivory had caught a small illness and had spent the day sleeping in their room, Aislin had told him a story about the diamond that had once held pride of place in the mundane half of the Treasure Hall. (The other half holds the magical or otherwise enchanted items.) Named the Dragon's Tear, the story behind the stone was that before the creation of the worlds, before the dragons had gone to sleep beneath Makai, there had been one dragon that had watched the battle between King Enma Yama-Daioh and the powerful demon. It had wept at the carnage that was wrought upon the combatants, the first tear changing into a drop-shaped diamond utterly without special properties, and then fled to the bowels of Makai to await the end of the worlds with the other dragons.

"'I was shed at the beginning of the worlds'…THAT'S IT!"

"What's 'it', brother?" Ivory demands impatiently. "Stop being so cryptic for a change!"

Brilliant gold eyes, pupils slit to almost nothing in excitement, are turned to the silvery vixen. "The answer to the riddle, sister! They're all gems!" When she continues to look confused, he elaborates. "The five keys to the curse, Ivory! The blind-seeing eye, the flower, the Link, the Light, the thing that was shed at world's beginning! All of them are jewels!"

"You think the Dragon's Tear is a key to unraveling the curse that's threatening your separation?" Aislin asks in a tone requesting confirmation. At Obsidian's fervent nod the koorime woman sighs. "Oh, dear. That's going to make this heist very important indeed. It looks like I may actually have to get involved in it."

"I will arrest you, Aislin. I'm still Spirit Detective."

"Yusuke, you trying to arrest me would be like trying to grasp water in a liquid or vapor form with your bare hands—no easy feat. Please try to avoid the business end of my arsenal; I'd hate to have to kill you because you interfered." The cold gleam in her turquoise eyes tells the demon-descended human that she is most certainly not joking. Taken aback, Yusuke just blinks at her with a faint edge of hurt frosting his chocolate-brown eyes. "These two are essentially my children, detective, and to do anything that brings them harm with be the day you sign your death warrant. Understood?"

Without even waiting for his hesitant nod, the Winter Rose pivots on her heel and stalks into the Lair. Hiei just shakes his head at his soul-sib's actions before enlightening the stunned boy about Aislin's behavior. "Foxes are a very clannish lot, Yusuke, possibly the worst-so in the Makai. To harm any of them is to risk all's wrath, unless said fox is pursuing private business on someone else's territory—such as stealing. Then you still earn their enmity, but they will refrain from killing you straight off." A shrug. "The snowflake is part fox and the instincts from the kitsune blood influence her as strongly as the koorime and the human she bears. Be assured, she means the threat. And try to put off arresting Obsidian for as long as possible."

Leaving Yusuke to settle in the tilt that has just been given to his view of the world, the fire apparition shoos the two young foxes towards the Lair entrance, reminding them in a very sarcastic manner that they still have much training to do, food to eat, and a bath to take before they ruin his sense of smell.

Speaking of smell…

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I honestly didn't mean to make this a cliff-hanger, but I think something close to eight pages Microsoft Word standard, 10 font is enough. Besides, I have to get you guys to read the next chapter somehow, don't I? (Like you really need incentive!) I know my regulars will do so, but can some new 'faces' please review, too, just so I know that it's not only eight people reading my work? I'm a little needy.

PS. Hey, ya'll, I'm back from Fanime 2005. What a trip. Word of advice: if you wish a stress-free con, do not do Der Cosplay. While doing the skit Bishounen Idol was a whole hell of a lot of fun (and the spotlight addicting), the tech crew screwed us over several times in different ways, and rehearsing was a pain in the ass. However, I think I did pretty good in my role as Koto, and our costume crew (Anne and her mom Sapphire, who played Yoko and Kuronue, respectively) did a stellar job on the costumes. We even had Juri and a cute stuffed Puu.

For anyone else who went (and wasn't part of my group! n,.,n) if you're wondering what I look like, I was the only Koto there. Anyone going to future Fanime cons, I'm not likely to be reappearing as her for a couple of years. I'll give you a heads-up on costumes so you can actually talk to me face to face (and swat me for all the unfair cliffies I put into my fics), 'cause that would just be cool. About as cool as all the loot I got this year. I even got a Kurama plushie! Squee! ♥♥♥♥ And, by sheer luck, I found a guy who was doing Naruto village designs on clothes: I got a spiffy white tank-top with the Sand hourglass on it. There was also a really nice woman there making these seriously cute jackets with little bat or angel wings on them, anime-style. I got a white fuzzy one with little blue wings—a great find, 'cause I forgot to bring something long-sleeved and was freezing my little fox butt off. Lessee, I think the name of the maker was Diva-licious…that's what the tag says, anyway. —sweatdrops—

Downside: I seem to have two things that I lost while packing up and leaving: my favorite chenille green pillow and this gorgeous drawing of Sephiroth with purple-trimmed wings and this stellar halo. (If said artist happens to see this, please e-mail me or review and leave an email or website or something! I need to buy another one!)

PPS: Hah, remembered the air-mattresses this year! Hotel floors are very uncomfortable without them. And Zaku-kun, seriously, your driving is just insane. I'm glad I was in my own car. Kiss kiss! n,.,n