/Kurama to Hiei/ /Hiei to Kurama/

Kurama fled the classroom, and ran outside, avoiding Hermione and her questions. He knew he would need to answer them, soon, before Harry woke, but not yet… Kurama glanced at the sun, and approximated that he had a little over an hour before he needed to return for the seventh year meeting. He headed towards the Forest, youki as suppressed as he could make it, intent of checking out the plants Hiei had brought.

As he headed into dark foliage, he was wary not to spring traps that any Forest dweller could have set. Youko or not, it was best not to aggravate the creatures more than necessary, after all, they would be powerful allies. He neared the clearing and called out, alerting the youkai to his presence. Only Yukina's voice responded as he walked into the open space.

"Good morning, Yukina-san," he greeted, "Did you get any rest after returning here?"

The koorime maiden smiled and replied, "Yes, I did. Thank you." She then answered Kurama's unasked question, "I'm not quite sure where Touya-san and Jin-san are, but Hiei-san only just left. He should be back soon."

"Who should be back soon?" The low voice cut into their conversation, and Kurama turned to Hiei with a bright smile.

"Hiei! We were just talking about you! I've come to take a look at the plants Koenma had you bring, I have some time before I need to return."

Hiei looked at him carefully, then shrugged and walked over to a discolored patch on the ground. He reached down, and tugged, revealing a hole cut into the soil, filled to the brim with squirming tendrils. Hiei quickly moved back, "The wards have broken. Kurama!"

Kurama swept forward and released his youki, throwing it over the plants in an effort to control them. The plants froze, then sluggishly started moving. Kurama hissed, "They're angry. This body cannot hold them! Hiei, take Yukina to somewhere safer, I need to shift." Hiei glanced at him, then did as he was told. Kurama released the youki, drawing it into his body, and the plants burst out. Using the youki he had, Kurama forced a fast change, the black hair bleeding away, replaced by red, as Harry's body grew taller and more slender: Minamino Shuuichi's body.

The youki flowing from him was stronger and plentiful, and Kurama snapped the control back in place before the plants grew too large, forcing them back into the seedlings that had originally been in the pots. He strode forward, knelt, and picked up one of the pots, and carefully examined it, muttering to himself as he did so. A few minutes later, he replaced it, and took out another pot. He repeated the same motions as previously, and put the pot down again, lips quirked in amusement. Then, he took out the third. Kurama's brow furrowed as he examined it, looked at it for longer than the other, and then frowned, placing it to the side. He sat back, rocking onto his heels, and sighed.

"Well?" Jin prompted. Kurama looked up in surprise. Sometime during his inspection of the plants, Jin and Touya had returned, and were watching him curiously.

"The first two I looked at," Kurama motioned to the two pots in the hole, "are mine. I don't know why Koenma had them brought, as they should have only been in my territory. The plants do not pollinate, and can only be spread manually. I bred them to protect my dens, because they recognize youki. However, my youki was too diluted for these two to recognize me. Should I become youko, they would know me, and assist me. As it was, they were easier to hold control over."

Kurama then turned to the last pot, the one that sat beside him. "This, I do not know. It appears to have the characteristics of many plants, and does not seem to have been created through natural causes. I need to see what it can do." Kurama stood and stepped back a few steps. "I do suggest that you all move away. Do not interfere, no matter what happens," Kurama cautioned. /Hiei, if I should call for your help, use Kokoryuuha. It doesn't matter how much of the Forest you take out. / /Understood./

Kurama took another few steps back, let out a slow sigh, and raised his arms, releasing the plant as he did so. Jin watched from the air, as did Hiei in a tree. Touya and Yukina observed from behind the safety of a strong kekkai. The plant exploded outwards, tendrils creeping along the ground, bits of acid dripping from some, others cutting through anything it encountered.

Touya watched dispassionately as a few tendrils struck at his kekkai, only to freeze and crack off. Hiei avoided the plants, moving too fast to be caught, and Jin rose higher up. Kurama did not move, merely standing in the middle of the mass of writhing green. A tentacle dripping burning acid moved towards him, and Yukina muffled an alarmed cry. Kurama's eyes shot to the tendril and his youki blazed. The tendril froze. Unfortunately, the youki flare caught the attention of the rest of the plant, and it turned towards the youko. They rose, and in after a moment's pause, plunged towards the redhead in the center of the clearing.

Yukina cried out, covering her eyes with her hands. Touya's nails cut into his palms as he battled with his urge to freeze the plants. Jin actually swooped down to help Kurama, wind swirling around his fists, before finding himself knocked out of the air by an irate Hiei.

"He said not to interfere!" the fire demon hissed.

"And you're just going to watch him get killed?" Jin shot back, incredulously. "You're his mate! How can you just stand there?"

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "If he needs help, he'll call for it. Until then, I have faith in his abilities. After all," Hiei finished mockingly, "he's my mate." However, though he appeared calm, inwardly, Hiei was dreadfully worried. /Kurama/ he asked, trying to reach the youko buried under a writhing mass of greenery. No response. /Kurama/ Hiei tried again, frantically.

/Relax, Hiei./ Kurama's voice reached him, a bit strained, but calm.

"Hiei! Look!" Jin's voice caught Hiei's attention. The wind user was staring over Hiei's shoulder, with wide-eyed amazement. Hiei spun around.

Through the mess of vines and tendrils in the center of the clearing shone a faint silver light, which grew brighter and larger in the darkness of the Forest. It soon became shot through with a deep green, and with a sudden flare, the plant exploded outwards, releasing the youki to its blinding luminosity. The four youkai threw up their arms, shielding their eyes. When the glow diminished to a bearable level, they looked out cautiously.

In the middle of the clearing, where Kurama once stood in the body of Harry Potter-turned-Shuuichi, now stood Youko Kurama, wreathed in a powerful silver-green youki.

Kurama looked around him mildly. The plants had retreated to a respectful distance from the, still glowing, youko. He lifted a clawed hand, and a few tendrils obediently twined around it. He gently stroked one, lifted it to his lips, and to the shock (and mild disgust) of the others, he took a bite.

He thoughtfully chewed it, ignoring both the hissing as the acid of another vine burned into his hand and the blood flowing from his mouth as the vine he ate cut at his flesh, then swallowed. He lifted his other hand to wave slightly at the vines, and the tendrils retreated to the ground and backed away to the mass of vines encircling him. Kurama brought the bloody acid that had pooled in his palm to his mouth, and sipped it. He let out a low hiss as the acid burned on its way down, but made no other sound, though he did slightly grimace. His youki fluctuated, then slightly flared out again. He let out a sigh, and to the observer's amazement, the burns and cuts on his skin slowly fused together. Kurama inspected his hands carefully.

Apparently satisfied, he knelt, then held his hands out in front of him, aimed at where the flowerpot should be in the ever-shifting vines. A thin, smooth line of youki flowed from his palms and ever-so-slowly, the tendrils all gravitated towards that one spot, gaining speed as more youki was poured out of Kurama. In a few seconds, all that was left was a long stem with many vines branching out that shrunk quickly. A few more seconds, and no more green was visible. Kurama strode forward and reached into the pot of dirt, drawing out an oblong seed about the size of a chestnut, streaked through with red and blue in the strange coloring of Makain plants, long spines jutting out.

Kurama stored the seed with a flip of his hair, then walked to the other two plants and forced them back into seed form a lot more quickly. He stored those two seeds (dark green, with slight green patches) as well. His ears flicked slightly, and Kurama tilted his head up to meet Hiei's eyes with his own golden gaze. After a moment, it swung about to include Jin, Touya, and Yukina. "Its safe, now," he said, voice a bit unsteady. "Safe," he repeated to himself lowly, then shook his head as if to clear it. His tail twitched restlessly behind him.

Hiei immediately dropped down besides him, Jin closely following. Touya dissipated the kekkai, and both he and Yukina hurried to Kurama's side. Hiei stood to the side, watching as Yukina quickly checked Kurama over for injuries.

/Fox./

/Yes, Hiei/

/Are you hurt/

/No, Hiei./

/Good./

Yukina proclaimed him to be fine, and Kurama expelled a breath as his tall body was engulfed by the silver-green youki and collapsed into Harry's smaller form. He was breathing heavily in the human body, and with a tired puff of air, slumped down against a tree. Kurama held up a hand to prevent the youkai from rushing him, and reassured them, "I'm just tired from the switch. Its getting harder. Harry's body does not want me, and my youki does not want to return to Harry's body."

Jin frowned. "What?"

"Zigleaxh. But too early," Hiei explained.

The three demons' eyes widened, and Yukina breathed out a soft, "Oh no…"

Kurama shrugged. "I believe I have found the reason why it is occurring so soon." Four pairs of surprised eyes turned to him. "I think my birthday is coming up."

"Your…birthday?" Jin was confused. "How can you remember when it was? Aren't you really, really, really old?" And for that comment, Jin received a bop on the head by Touya and a disapproving look from Yukina. Hiei snorted.

Kurama chuckled, amused. "Yes, Jin, I usually do not know when my birthday is, as, like you said, I'm 'really, really, really old.'" Jin flushed. "However," Kurama continued, "every youko can feel their youki building at certain times in their lives. My current stint in my original form just confirmed what I suspected." Kurama stood, and flashed them a bright smile, obviously very happy.

"I'm going to gain a tail!"

owari