AN: i'm SO sorry this took so long! as long-time readers (are there any out there?...a few, i think...waves) may know, i usually update once a month. i've just barely made october this time...once again, i'm really sorry! and i've noticed that this is taking a really long time. i know i've been saying it for a while, but i plan to edit this story sometime and compile a few shorter chapters into one longer one...hopefully sometime soon.
Happy Hallowe'en, all!

Disclaimer: HP and YYH are not mine.

Slack-jawed, wide-eyed amazement met Kurama's announcement.

"What?" Jin asked faintly.

"I'm gaining a tail," Kurama repeated, amused. "As in, growing another appendage in addition to the ones I already have, being able to regain some of the power and control I had prior to my death," his smile dimmed slightly, and Hiei slightly flinched at the nonchalant tone with which Kurama used, "and," Kurama continued with strained enthusiasm, "you can tease me about being even older."

Kurama paused, then continued, much more seriously, "You will be privy to a scene that no other youkai ever has before. I do hope you appreciate it." He grinned cheekily as Hiei's eyes shot wide open and Yukina gasped, hands flying to her mouth as her smile grew involuntarily.

Hiei gaped at Kurama, looking rather strange, to be honest "Fox…you're letting us watch?" Kurama nodded.

Yukina bowed, "To see a fox gaining a tail is an extreme honor."

Touya and Jin looked at her, confused. "I can understand why it's amazing that Kurama's gaining a tail, but why is it so…much?" Jin asked, understating the reverence and respect with which Hiei and Yukina both treated Kurama with when thanking him.

"It's a legendary experience, Ice Master," Hiei said. "The gaining of a youko's tail is an extremely private experience, usually done alone. It is only watched by very, very close friends and family, or a lover, and even that, is rare. Youkai who have tried to watch are usually killed before they even get a glimpse of youki."

"That we have been allowed to witness such a scene," Yukina bowed again, "Thank you, Kurama-san."

"You're welcome," Kurama said graciously, not in the least embarrassed about the attention he was receiving. He laughed, and shook himself slightly, settling his hair back into place, and stood fluidly. "However, I need to get back to the school grounds before the Headmaster notices that I'm gone." He turned to go.

"Wait," Touya said, halting Kurama's process out. "Wait," he repeated, "I'd just like to know, why did you do what you…did, with that plant?"

Kurama's head tilted back so that he could see the group of youkai still in the clearing. His eyes crinkled in a smile, "What, you didn't think I could control any plant just beause I wanted to, did you?" His eyes opened, and his smile became much more serious, "To control something, you need to gain its respect. The plants are like people."

A vine snaked out of the surrounding foliage, and Kurama caressed it fondly. "Every plant I use, I have gained the respect of. The more docile plants, the harmless ones, are like quiet people. They're willing to let you use them, and they don't enjoy fighting. The more powerful a plant, the more it takes. Something like this," the vine he had been petting slid back into the trees, and Kurama reached into his hair. The seed he now held in his hand sprouted, and revealed itself to be the plant he had just fought with. Everyone moved back a few steps instinctively, and Kurama laughed softly.

"Something like this, takes more. If you try to control it without understanding it, the more hostile plants will only hate you. And if you're like…some youkai," his eyes darkened with memory, "and merely use youki to force what you control into submission, they will turn on you as soon as they are able." The seedling shrunk back into a seed, and Kurama stored it again with a flick of his hair. "I gain the respect of the plants by understanding what they can do. Every plant I use, I know intimately. I've experienced what each of my plants can do."

Faces paled as they realized the enormity of that statement. "All of them?" Jin asked faintly.

"Yes."

"Then why are you still alive?"

Kurama held up a hand, and it pulsed lightly with youki. "Because I've proven myself to one, my youki alters itself so that the others know." He looked at the confused faces, and chuckled weakly. "Its hard to explain. For example, that plant I've just taken. If I met another sprout of it somewhere, it would know that I am worthy of using it because a part of my youki has adjusted itself so that it can accommodate that new plant. The altered youki is also what allows me to be…not completely immune, but less vulnerable to the effects of my plants." Kurama shrugged lightly. "It's hard to explain," he said again.

"It is indeed," Touya agreed. "The way you control your plants is…very different from the way that we shinobi were taught to use our own elements."

Kurama started walking out, saying as he did so, "But then, my plants are not what your masters of plants use."

Jin never took his wide eyes off of Kurama's vanishing figure, but said to Touya, "You know, he's right. I don't think Seiva could have taken down that…thing, and made it one of his to use. Kurama's scary." Touya nodded in agreement.

"Seiva?" Hiei asked curiously, "I don't know that name."

"He was our previous Earth Master, who preferred using plants over the actual earth," Touya explained. "He's dead, now." Touya shrugged, "I suppose Kurama just answered the question of why his plants turned on him on night."

chapter owari.