Hey, guys, I was having so much fun with all the kawaiiness that I wanted to write some more. Some one asked me if I was in a cute mood and I don't know if it was from this fic or not, but if it was the answer, is yes. Totally. I really wanted to make them seem cute as little kids and it was so easy to write in little moments. And someone also wrote in and said Kurama was bald when he was little, and I have seen him with shorter hair. But I wanted him to have long hair already and so he does. He's cuter that way. So, anyway, I like to thank all my reviewers. So, here is a new chapter which will introduce Keiko and explain a little bit about how their friendship has progressed. So, enjoy. Oh, and I apologize if I've confused anyone with Kagome's mom's name. After I went back and checked I realize I have her with two names. Since I don't know what her name is, I'll be calling her Ani, just so it won't get confusing. And Shuichi's mom is really name Shiori. I haven't made that up.

Disclaimer: ::SOB I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho

Chapter 5

The Entrance Of Keiko

It was about a month later when Kagome's mom walked in her room one morning and tried to force a protesting Kagome and Shuichi out of Kagome's bed. Now this sight would have been surprising had it not been for Ani, Kagome's mom, walking in on them the night of Shuichi's vision. Imagine her surprise when she'd found her daughter curled up with Yusuke and Shuichi that night. She had immediately called Shiori, Shuichi's mom, and informed her that Shuichi would be staying the night. Shiori seemed a bit worried about her son sleeping with a girl and another boy, but when she finally made it over to Kagome's home, Shiori hadn't the heart to take them apart. And so, after a few cups of tea with Ani, Shiori had agreed to leave Shuichi there as long as he had a ride to school in the morning.

And that was the way it had been for the month. One or the other, usually Shuichi, would sneak over to the other's house every night and curl up with each other and both chibis would sleep contentedly in each other's arms. For some reason Shuichi really seemed to enjoy staying in Kagome's jungle room and Kagome didn't care; she was just glad that he stayed with her every night. Yusuke was there about half the time, as he would also sneak away from his mother, which wasn't that hard to do considering she was drunk must of the time or suffering from a hangover.

After the first night, Yusuke had tried to act tough and say it was babyish to sleep together, but sure enough the next night Yusuke appeared right after Shuichi. Over the past month the friends had only grown increasingly closer, as they did everything and went everywhere together. Each morning Kagome and Shuichi would wake up, take a shower and then walk to Yusuke's house, if he wasn't already with them. Then they would laughingly play a trick on the sleeping Yusuke to wake him up, thus ensuing a chase all the way to school.

School had also turned out to be a rather bizarre and fun experience for all three. Yusuke ended up being quite the trouble maker, no surprise there, and Kagome was usually found right along with him. Shuichi almost never participated in any pranks, claiming that it was wrong. But that didn't stop him from covering for the two. They had formed a tight-knit friendship, each bringing in their own area of friendship. Shuichi was the sweet one and the brains of the group. It was he that came up with most of their tricks in the morning to wake Yusuke up. Kagome was the sly one, always looking for some kind of adventure, as she was just as smart as Shuichi, and got bored quite easily. Yusuke was the punk of the group, as well as the toughest. At the age of five, he was already starting fights almost everyday. He was also deeply protective of both his friends. He yelled at one kid for picking on Shuichi and calling him a nerd, and he almost punched out Kuwabara when he said something stupid about girls to Kagome; that was until Kagome beat him to it.

And so, here we are on this lovely Saturday morning as Kagome's mom tried everything she could to rouse the sleeping chibis. Kagome and Shuichi had decided they wanted to go on a picnic. Yusuke had proclaimed that a picnic was a stupid idea, but said he would come to 'laugh' at their stupid idea. Sighing, Ani knew it was time for her secret weapon and thus sent him in.

The figure walked slowly into the room, and crouched in a ready position to pounce as a sleeping Kagome and Shuichi lay unawares; or did they? Winking at Shuichi, she drew the covers further over their heads and waited for the precise moment of attack. Waiting....waiting....waiting....ah, there it was! Right as the attacker jumped, both Shuichi and Kagome sprang apart as Yusuke missed and flopped hard on to the mattress. "Get him!" Kagome cried before pouncing on Yusuke and thwacking his head with her pillow. Shuichi joined in a moment later and also began pelting Yusuke.

Kagome shrieked as Yusuke managed to duck at the last second and Kagome's pillow headed straight for Shuichi's head. For a moment all chibis froze, before Kagome began cracking up at the look on Shuichi's face, and a moment later Yusuke joined.

"Oh, you think that's funny do ya'?" Shuichi asked. "Well, take a bite of this!" He launched an attack at Kagome and hit her square in the forehead. She giggled again as the pillow fight turned into a full scale war, which eventually had her whole room covered in feathers and dust. They were having so much fun they didn't even notice as Ani stepped in the room and again, her eyes wide at the state of Kagome's room. She was about to reprimand then, but stopped and simply couldn't. It had been a long time since Kagome had truly been happy and here she was with two best friends who cared for her as much as she cared for them.

When the door closed upon her leaving again, Kagome heard the sound and sat up on her bed breathing heavily. Her hair was in disarray, her night clothes bunched around her body. Shuichi sat up a moment later as his head popped up from the ground upon where he'd fallen after being clobbered by a joint attack from Kagome and Yusuke. Kagome and Shuichi searched for Yusuke and found him lying under a large pile of sheets, swearing profusely as Kagome was sitting on his chest.

"I'm sorry, Yusuke," she giggled before climbing off. "Anyway, what are you doing here so early?"

"Well, you two losers decided to have a crummy picnic today, though I don't see why. So, I decided to come along and laugh at your stupid idea," Yusuke proclaimed as Kagome and Shuichi exchanged amused glances.

"Oh yeah, I forgot," Kagome said brightly. "Let me get dressed. Fox, you should probably get home and take a shower too." Over the past month, Kagome had taken to calling him Fox all the time until eventually even Yusuke began calling him that. Shuichi had gradually gotten used to it and accepted it. Though if anyone outside their little group dared say it, he hated it.

"Yeah, Fox, better do as your master says," Yusuke said tauntingly.

"Hardy har har," Shuichi said dryly. He smiled at Kagome before jumping up and standing on top of her window sill. "Bye, Vixen, see ya' in a few." Kagome smirked back watching as her best friend climbed down the tree and raced across the street towards his house. Shuichi had taken to calling Kagome Vixen in retaliation of his nickname and she'd never once protested.

"I'll be right back, Yusuke," Kagome said before racing off to the shower. When she came out she was dressed in a little green sun dress and black shoes. Her black hair was held back by a black headband and the rest of her hair was hanging low to her waist. Her blue eyes were shining excitedly as she grabbed Yusuke's hand and ran down the stairs, stopping only to grab the basket her mother left, and heading outside to wait for Shuichi.

They hadn't waited for more than five minutes when Shuichi appeared. He was dressed in blue jeans and a jade green shirt. His red hair was handing loose (like it does in the show, only on a mini-Kurama) over his shoulders and his green eyes were twinkling merrily.

"Hello again," he greeted them, before offering to carry the picnic basket. Kagome let him and then took his hand in hers, while grabbing Yusuke's other hand and the three friends were off to the park. Once there Kagome found a nice tree to sit in and helped both Shuichi and Yusuke climb into it. They spread out on a wide branch sitting sideways next to each other, and opened the food.

"Mmm," Yusuke murmured, chomping on his Turkey Sub. "Kagome, I swear your mom is the best. She makes the best food."

"I have to agree with you, Yusuke," Shuichi agreed as he licked mustard from his fingers.

Kagome merely smiled in contentment at her two friends. She was staring for a few minutes, when she finally realized why she really wanted to have a picnic that day. She wanted to tell them about herself and what she was. So far, she had said very little about her life as a youkai and they'd spoken even less about Shuichi's situation. But now, knowing she could trust them, more than anything she wanted them to know.

"Hey, guys," Kagome started. At the nervous tone in her voice both Yusuke and Shuichi exchanged glances and looked up worriedly.

"What's wrong, Vixen?" Shuichi asked. Kagome almost melted at that name. She didn't know what it was, but she loved the way Shuichi called her vixen.

"Well, it's just, there are some things I should probably tell you about myself. I know I should have told you awhile ago and at one point I'm sure I did, but now I really think you should know-." Kagome would have babbled more, had Yusuke not taken her arm.

"Hey, Kag's calm down, whatever it is, you can tell us. I promise we won't get met," he said.

Kagome's eyes filled with tears at her thoughtful friends. "It's just, well, I don't know how to tell you this but, well here goes....I'm a demon."

She was expecting them to laugh, cry, run away from her, anything but what happened next. Instead they smiled. "Kagome, you told me that on the first day of school, don't you remember?" Yusuke finally asked.

Kagome could only gape. "Well, yeah, it's just that you guys never brought it up afterwards. I thought maybe you didn't believe me or you thought I was joking."

"Well," Shuichi looked thoughtful. "As for being crazy, we already know you are," he said jokingly as she giggled slightly before mock hitting his arm. "Other than that, well to be honest you've never really acted human. You don't make it a secret that you find most humans a nuisance and there have been times where we've both heard you say some things that sound odd."

"Oh," Kagome didn't know what to say. Was it possible she'd been fretting over nothing? "I thought that maybe you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore." She looked quite saddened and Shuichi reached over and lifted her chin.

"Hey, you're our best friend, Kag, we'd never leave you," he stated honestly.

Kagome smiled again as Yusuke commented, "I think it's totally cool you're a demon. Do you have any powers? Where do you come from? Can you show us?" Yusuke began firing questions one right after the other causing Kagome to laugh freely and Shuichi joined in after.

All afternoon Kagome told the boys all about Makai and how she'd grown up. They were both surprised to learn she was the equivalent of 50 in demons years and that her father had been killed by someone and that was why they were here in Ningen-kai. For some reason, Kagome noted, Shuichi began to withdraw into himself during their talk and only commented on a few things.

Suddenly the sounds of a piercing scream rang through the park and Kagome immediately jumped down, followed by Shuichi and Yusuke. Kagome spotted the problem as a little girl about their age was on the ground bracing herself as another kid was about to kick her. Yusuke became angry and rushed over and instantly punched the boy in the nose.

"Hey, what was that for?" The kid demanded.

"That was for picking on innocent girls who can't defend themselves," Yusuke said roughly as Kagome helped the little girl sit up, who was looking on in wide-eyes wonder.

"And if you don't want to see more of where that came from, I suggest you get out of here and never bother anyone again," Yusuke demanded. He held up his fist threateningly as the older boy backed down and ran away.

Yusuke turned around and found Shuichi and Kagome tending to the girl's knee, which looked like it had been skinned. "Is she all right?" Yusuke asked, kneeling down beside all three.

"I-I'm fine," the girl whispered. "Who are you guys?"

"Well, I'm Kagome, this over here is Shuichi, and the kid who just defended your honor, is Yusuke. Are sure you're okay?" She asked repeating her question.

"Yes, I'm all right," the girl replied. "I'm Keiko."

"It's nice to meet you," Shuichi replied kindly helping her stay steady as she wavered slightly on her feet. Kagome noticed Keiko blush lightly but decided not to say anything.

"So, where are you from?" Kagome asked. "Are you in Kindergarten too?"

"Yeah, I just moved here. I'm starting on Monday," Keiko replied. "I can't wait either. I love learning how to read and write."

"Feh, you actually like that crap?" Yusuke asked crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Keiko's eyes flashed with anger. "It's not crap! I bet you're just stupid."

"Oi! You're calling me stupid after I just saved you from that kid?" Yusuke demanded stepping closer and getting in her face. Shuichi and Kagome stepped back and watched the fire works.

"Why do I get the feeling, we're about to get a new addition to our little ensemble?" Kagome muttered to Shuichi as they sat back and watched Keiko and Yusuke went head to head, Yusuke flinging insults, and Keiko flinging fists.

Shuichi chuckled as he turned and looked at Kagome. She caught his amused glance and smiled back. "Come on," Kagome said after a moment holding out her hand. "This looks like it could take awhile. Let's go clean up our stuff."

"Okay," Shuichi took her outstretched hand and both friends made their way to the picnic basket which had been tossed aside after jumping hastily from the tree. In the background you could see a screaming Keiko chasing a laughing Yusuke as Shuichi and Kagome began the tedious cleanup duties; ah, life was good.

Okay, I know I said I probably wouldn't be having Yusuke and Keiko as a couple and that still stands, but I did have to introduce her. I've finally decided what her role is going to be. Eventually she will play a major role in the relationship between Shuichi and Kagome; whether it is good or bad I cannot say. She may be with Yusuke at first, she may not. But I realize I couldn't automatically introduce her the way I want her to eventually end up. She had to be sweet and still have that temper. So if anyone is confused, as you most likely are, just be patient and you'll see what I have planned for Keiko. Anyway, thanks to those of you who reviewed. And to whomever asked me to be in this fic, well I guess you can be. But here are some stipulations. You send me the name you want the character to be, but I make up the demon form, abilities, and temperament, because I plan for Yusuke to eventually end up with a demon mate. So, review and tell me what you want to be called and I'll add you in.

Ja ne

Kura-kun's-lovr