As soon as I felt myself falling, I flapped the wings to slow our decent. I was holding Akumei tightly but the last minute clinging had resulted in awkward positioning. His chin was propped on my shoulder as if he was looking over it. His arms hung limply at his sides as I held him tightly as I could around his stomach. He was steadily slipping downwards.

I opened my eyes and glanced around for a quick landing spot. At first, I was taken by surprise. When was the last time I found myself in a huge city like this? Shaking my head, I focused on my current task and spotted the construction beams of an incomplete skyscraper towering up into the night sky. It was the closest thing and I quickly decided to land on top of it.

Halfway there, Akumei began slipping twice as fast as before. "Just a little further…!" I was almost shouting. It was hard not to dig my claws into him to get a better grip and I kept catching myself about to do so. I closed my eyes, flapping the wings desperately as I inched towards the building.

Suddenly my feet hit something solid and, assuming it was the building, I landed on it, sitting on my knees and holding Akumei close. Only when I became aware of another nearby did I open my eyes. I jumped in surprise and a hand reached out to steady me. "Easy there. Don't want to fall, do you?"

I looked up into the face of a young man with orange goggles and brown hair tied back into a ponytail. Stupidly, I glanced down to see what I was sitting on and gasped out in shock. "What is that?" I nearly screamed. It was a blue creature resembling a stingray except it was huge! There was plenty of room for several others besides the three of us to stand on it. It was also slightly see through, like water.

He laughed. "What, you've never seen a Kudan before? Even though you seem to be using one yourself?"

"Kudan…?" I repeated, clueless.

"What? You mean you really don't know what it is? Then how do you have wings and ears and… a tail too…?"

"I was born with them…" I said in a near whisper. "The wings are the result of an experiment…"

"What are…?" He began but his voice trailed off as he saw the sword.

I grinned suddenly, flashing my fangs and causing him to stagger back a few steps. "I'm a demon."

"A demon…?" He repeated fearfully but then he noticed I was wincing. Forgetting himself, he knelt beside me. "Are you ok?"

I nodded, laughing. "Suddenly got your nerve back?" Gritting my teeth, I slid my legs out from under myself. "I'm just covered in bruises, that's all…"

He regarded me carefully. "Bruises, huh? Where are they?"

"…Legs and stomach." I replied hesitantly.

Before I could react he had me pinned and was rolling up my right pants leg. He reached the knee and froze. "What… did this…?" He asked, horrorstruck.

"Something attacked me from the sea." I muttered. I allowed him to lift my shirt to my belly button, just enough to see the bruises and then pulled away. "Yeah, I know. I'm hurt and should take it easy…"

I jumped as he plopped down beside me, removing the goggles to show his gray eyes. "The sea?"

"Yes, but not one from this world. One from another."

"I… don't understand…"

I laughed again. "I didn't think you would… I come from another world and have been transported here on my way trying to return."

He stared at me for a moment and then laughed loudly. "Alright then… Strange thing is, I'm finding that I believe you!"

I grinned. "Good. Umm… Could I… have my picture with you?"

He jumped slightly, startled by the request. "Why…?"

"I'm keeping track of who I meet by having my picture taken with them!" I said cheerfully, pulling out my camera. He laughed and agreed and I quickly snapped a picture before returning it to the bag. "Oh, my name's Kira." I said, holding out a hand.

He took it in his gloved fingers. "I'm Shougo." Standing, he glanced around himself. "I have somewhere to be actually…"

"Oh, I'm sorry!"

He laughed at my sudden alarm. "Don't worry about it. You needed help. I'll just set you down somewhere… You can manage right?" He asked, watching me carefully.

"Don't worry, I can take care of myself." I smiled reassuringly and finally he looked away.

"Ok then…" I felt us begin to descend and clung protectively to Akumei's arm. Shougo looked over as if amused. "And who is he?"

"He's someone who came with me without needing to just to keep me from suffering as much as I should be…" I murmured, bowing my head.

It was silent until we landed and then Shougo jumped off the giant stingray. He helped me get Akumei gently off as well. "Thanks…"

"Don't mention it." He smiled. "I'll see you around!" With that he ran off, the creature disappearing with him.

"No, you probably won't…" I muttered as I pulled myself to my feet. Holding Akumei's arm around my shoulders and mine around his waist, I started wandering the deserted streets.

I don't know how far I had traveled but I did know that I was exhausted. "Ugh… This sucks!" I yelled into the sky.

"What does?" I jumped up fearfully as a cheerful voice sounded from right behind me. It was a tall young man with messy blonde hair and crystal blue eyes. He was smiling at me. In his arms, he held creature, also smiling, with a round body, small arms and long feet. There was what seemed to be a red crystal on its forehead. It almost resembled a rabbit with its large, floppy ears.

"Umm… I…" I stammered but two more arrived and I froze up again.

One was short with brown hair and eyes and the last dwarfed the others in height and had black hair and red eyes. They both began staring at me.

The blonde one laughed again. "Don't worry… I'm Fye, that's Syaoran," he indicated the brown haired boy. "And that's Kurorin." I saw the black haired man clench his teeth in annoyance.

"It's Kurogane!" He screamed.

Fye ignored him, now introducing the thing he held. "This is Mokona."

"Mokona! Puu!" It shouted joyously, leaping up and down. I gasped for air as it hit my stomach and then fell backwards. "Mokona isn't that strong!" The thing protested helplessly.

I laughed, clutching my bruised skin lightly. "It's not your fault so don't worry." I reassured it. "It's mine for getting injured."

"Injured?" Fye asked.

I nodded, slightly lifting my shirt. All four stared in silent surprise. "What happened?" Syaoran asked.

"I was attacked by… something…" I murmured.

"Hey!" I looked up as Kurorin, no, I mean Kurogane shouted. "You're wearing a sword!" I flinched away from his accusatory pointing.

"Yeah…" I nodded slowly. "My father made it for me."

My ear twitched as I heard Syaoran whispering to Fye. "Why did you just start talking with her like that?"

"Well, it's pretty obvious she's not from this world either." Fye replied.

I nodded, smiling. "You're right!" They both jumped, surprised that I heard. I tapped an ear and continued. "I'm not from here, I'm from ancient Japan. So you guys are world hopping too?"

"World hopping…? That's an interesting way to put it." Fye laughed. "But yes, I suppose we are. Though this is the first place we've visited so far…"

"Well I've lost count of how many worlds I've been to…" I sighed.

"I'd think that would be a good thing…" Fye murmured.

"Oh, it is! I've met so many cool people! But…" I bowed my head. "I didn't ask to go. I was ambushed and sent away by surprise."

"So was I…" Kurogane muttered angrily.

I gave him a sympathetic smile before remembering that I had knocked Akumei over in my surprise. I picked him up and leaned him up, aware of the others watching. Quietly, I sat crossed legged on the ground beside him.

"Who's that?" Kurogane asked gruffly.

"It's Akumei. He's traveling with me."

"Is he alright…?" Fye asked in alarm.

"Yes… and no." I sighed. "When I'm transported, it tires me out. To spare me the trouble of randomly passing out, he's taking the full load upon himself. That way I can keep moving but he's always asleep. I would rather just take it myself so we could both rest and then travel together after. Now I have to carry him with me but he's too heavy…" I looked up, smiling again. "But I've somehow managed so far. We'll make it home."

"You're too optimistic." Kurogane said, glaring at me. "And you smile too much."

I simply smiled back, shaking my head. "No, just recently I had a breakdown and decided I didn't want to deal with all this crap any longer…" I gave a rueful laugh. "…But I promised some people that I wouldn't try anything so I'm going to hold true to that. Besides, I don't know how much longer my brothers can keep from killing each other if I'm not there to intervene."

"Wow, you come from a great family."

I stuck my tongue out. "Yeah, but at least it never gets boring…"

"What are you?" Kurogane asked bluntly.

I laughed at him. "Well if you want the absolute truth, which it seems like you do, I'm about three fourths wolf demon with the last fourth a mixture of dog demon and human."

"A demon…?" Kurogane asked, suddenly on guard.

"Yeah, but I'm definitely not in the mood to fight right now." I teased. I glanced over at Mokona who was still sulking. "Hey, are you alright?" I asked, rubbing his head. "I'm sorry about earlier, you just caught me by surprise before. I'm ready now if you'll be gentle with me."

He stared at me for a moment and then hopped lightly into my lap. I smiled and hugged him, wincing as he snuggled into my stomach. Fye was about to call him off but I silenced him with my eyes. Suddenly they flew open wide and I gasped for air, receiving none. I grasped my throat as I began to glow. Mokona shrieked fearfully from my lap and I bent over him, holding him protectively in my arms. My eyes were watering and I couldn't breathe! I felt myself changing, losing the tail and ears and markings along with the claws and fangs. Why can't I breathe? I clawed at my throat and felt a hand pull mine down so I couldn't injure myself.

Finally, it ended and I stopped glowing. I sat up and gasped again, this time finding air and breathing in deeply. "Oh man…" I gasped. "I've never not been able to breathe during the transformation…"

"What just happened?" Fye asked calmly, still gripping my hand tightly.

"Are you ok?" Mokona asked in his sing song voice from under the arm I held him with.

I removed it and nodded, wiping my watering eyes. "Where I come from, if you're not a full demon then one night each month you turn into a human. My time is the night of the new moon." I scanned the sky and found only stars. "And it seems like that's tonight." I sighed, bowing my head again. "It seems every time I go somewhere, it's the night of the new moon. I'll turn human and then day will break so I'll change back but then I'm transported and it's a moonless sky there as well so I change again!"

"Wait a second… Why do you still have wings?" Syaoran asked. "Aren't you human now?"

"I was in a tournament of demons and my opponent threw some gas at me. When I inhaled it, it gave me wings. Since they're not a natural part of my demon form, they don't disappear with the rest." I smiled, raising my head as the sliver hair fell to hide one of my now blue eyes. "It's not that bad if you think about it. I lose all of my demonic abilities but I can still fly."

"Mekyo!" I jumped as Mokona started jumping up and down on my bruised legs, his eyes open wide.

"A feather!" Syaoran shouted. "Where is it?"

"Feather…?" I grunted, opening one eye. "I have tons of feathers…"

"We're looking for a white one with markings…" His voice trailed off as he stared at my left wing. "White…"

"Huh?" I jumped again as he ran to my side and crouched beside me, shifting through the feathers. "Ow…" I whimpered.

"Sorry." He said but kept on going. Finally, he pulled back holding a white feather triumphantly. "I got it…"

I collapsed onto my side with a quiet moan and Mokona leapt onto me, slamming the bruises on my waist. "Ah-!" I cut myself off, closing my eyes tight and clenching my teeth together.

"Get off!" Kurogane yelled, knocking Mokona aside. "Are you ok?" He took my shoulders and I braced for the rough jerk I knew was coming but was instead surprised by the slow gentleness, which he used to lift me into his arms. "She needs a doctor or something." He said impatiently as I was held there, blushing with mouth slightly open. My eyes however remained shut by the pain.

I didn't know why I suddenly hurt so much… Because of the feather…? No… I suddenly realized that we were moving. "Wait!" I cried, voice suddenly hoarse. "What about Akumei…?" I trailed off as I saw Fye supporting him easily as we ran along. Mokona insisted upon sitting on my stomach as I was carried. He seemed to think the whole thing a game.

I closed one eye and saw through the other the scenery whipping by as Kurogane and the others ran. Here I am, causing others trouble again…! I frowned and gathered enough strength to speak. "Don't bother, just leave me. I'll be fine! I know you have more important things to deal with."

"Shut up!" Kurogane shouted and I quieted fearfully. His eyes were narrowed in determination. Determination in what? He didn't seem to like me at all back there. What is he doing this for…? Any further thoughts were lost as I fell into blackness.


I awoke with a start, jerking my head from the pillow and then laying it gently back as I grew dizzy. "Don't try to get up so quickly." I heard Fye laugh.

I nodded and tried again, slowly this time. After several minutes, I was finally in a sitting position, one arm bracing myself and the other gingerly touching my stomach. I felt bandages there through the shirt. "What good will bandaging bruises do?" I whispered, voice gone.

"Why don't you look at them?" Fye replied.

I stared questioningly at him and lifted my shirt slightly. My eyes widened as I saw the red seeping through. It was dried on the edges, which led me to believe that it had stopped, for now at least. "Why would they be bleeding?" I asked in shock.

"Well they were really strange bruises…" Fye pointed out. I nodded slowly to spare my aching head and looked around the room. I was lying on sheets placed in the center. To my left was another girl with brown hair who seemed to be unconscious. Syaoran was kneeling beside her, clutching her hand in his, oblivious to all else. Fye was sitting by the wall at the end of my bed, holding Mokona so he would not leap on me again and beside him, Akumei had been propped against the wall. Twisting my head slightly around, I glanced over my shoulder and saw Kurogane with arms crossed over his chest as he stared unblinkingly at the ground.

"Sorry to trouble you like this…" I sighed, only one eye open, now gray because of the pain. I was still forced to speak in a whisper as well. "Hey…" I started, just realizing my sword was now sitting next to Akumei. "Who took my sword off me?" Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurogane slip his hand under his arm. "Since it's so powerful, it shocks anyone besides me who touches it. That way it can't be used for evil purposes…" I bowed my head so the others couldn't see my face and crawled towards Kurogane, with one arm holding me up, and one hand holding my stomach.

"Stop, you're hurting yourself." He muttered.

I gritted my teeth into a force grin and shook my head. Silently I inched along until I was sitting in front of him, legs bent beside me so I wasn't sitting on the bruises. My face fell as I pulled his hand towards me and saw the deep burn marks covering it. "I-I'm sorry…" I whimpered. "I should have warned you or… something!"

"Shut up, it's not your fault." He replied, voice gentler than I expected.

I bowed my head, allowing the silver hair that fell to remain hiding my face. Closing my eyes, I searched inside for any traces of energy. I found some, much more than I expected, and focused it into my hand, keeping it from leaping to my own wounds. Instead, I placed my hand on Kurogane's, flinching as he winced. "Sorry…" I murmured, still without a voice, as the light spread from my fingers into the burn and healed it up. Only after I was sure that it was entirely better did I remove my hand and place it on my own stomach.

He looked up from examining his hand and stared at me as he realized it. "Hey, why'd you heal me first? You're the one who needed it!" He shouted.

I flinched, head still bowed. "Because it's my fault… I felt guilty…"

I gasped out as he took my shoulder, firmly this time, and shook it once. "Focus less on others and more on yourself. You're going to get killed someday because of it!"

He released me and I sat back, wings brushing the floor as they encircled me, leaving only a slit open in front of me where they couldn't reach. "The sun's up…"

"What?" He asked, stopping as he saw me glow again. He watched quietly through the gap as he saw my eyes close and head bow again. The hair at the top of my head turned black and the color fell downwards through the silver like water, washing it all black as well. Faint red streaks appeared on my left cheek and gradually darkened. The same thing happened with a pale blue crescent moon on my forehead. The nails on the fingers of the hand that gripped my stomach grew out into curved claws and my canine teeth into fangs. Furry black wolf ears appeared on myhead and the tail returned as well.Finally, the glowing ceased and I opened my eyes. He watched in fascination as they swirled from blue to green before his eyes and then blue again but not the icy shade of before. Now they were deep, dark blue with bits of gray splashed in as well… sadness and pain.

The wings pulled back and I was sitting as if nothing had happened, concentrating on healing my bruises. The light encircling my hand grew brighter green and it spread to my waist and legs, staying for almost ten minutes before beginning to fade. With an exhausted sigh, I collapsed against the wall, breathing hard. "I'm… healed…" I gasped out after a moments pause.

Finally, I began to catch my breath again, crawled towards Fye and Akumei, and leaned heavily on the wall between them, back against it. I was facing Kurogane who was glaring at me from across the room. I bowed my head and instead watched the floor.

"Are you all right now?" Fye asked cheerily.

I nodded mutely and remained motionless. A thought popped into my head and I looked up. "Can I take a picture of me with everyone?"

"A… picture…?" Fye questioned.

I quickly explained how I was taking pictures of everyone and slowly they agreed. We managed to get Syaoran and Kurogane to join in and I sat in the middle with Fye beside me and Mokona on my lap again. "Thanks…" I put away the camera and sat with my back to the wall again as everyone returned to their original positions.

Suddenly, I lifted a hand to my hair and let it fall between my fingers. "The green is gone…" I whispered, still not having regained my voice.

"What green? What green?" Mokona cried as he leapt onto my lap.

I flinched and then summoned a sad smile. "I had green streaks in my hair, caused by all the spirit energy that I hold inside, but they're gone now…" I murmured quietly.

"Spirit energy…?" Kurogane asked.

"What I used to heal us…" I replied distractedly as I shifted through the blackness of my hair. I could not fine a single trace of green. Does this mean my energy is almost gone…? I thought sadly.

I don't know how long we sat in that room. Syaoran was still sitting, holding the unconscious girl's hand tightly while Fye was sitting silently as if lost in thought. Occasionally he would smile towards me or Mokona as the hyperactive creature leapt between us. Kurogane was staring expressionlessly at the ground, and I was still sifting through my hair, patting Mokona absentmindedly if he leapt on me.

Finally, Kurogane had had enough. "Why are we just sitting around here doing nothing?" He shouted angrily as he leapt to his feet.

As if in response, I heard the little girl's voice in my head. "I was waiting for this…" I murmured, answering Kurogane, as I closed my eyes.

Are you all right?

I laughed at the worried tone. Yes, I'm fine. Fully healed and everything.

You don't sound very ok…

Well I am, don't worry about it.

There was a pause on her end and then... Ok, get ready.

I opened my eyes to see that Kurogane had sat down in front of me, watching curiously. "What were you doing?" He asked.

I smiled, eyes green once again. "I just talked with the one who transports me. It's time for me to leave again!"

"Just like that?" Fye asked in surprise.

I nodded as I strapped on my sword and camera bag. "Yeah, seems like our methods of transportation differ slightly. I just have to wait for her to find me and then she sends me somewhere else." I crawled over and pulled Akumei to his feet, then wrapped his arm around my shoulder and my arm around his waist. He was really awkward to fly with… I looked up as I began to glow again. "Thanks for everything you guys. Bye…" I glanced over at the youngest. "Bye Syaoran!"

"Bye…" He replied distractedly.

"Bye…" Fye said cheerfully as he held Mokona to keep him from jumping on me again. Kurogane remained silent. With one last smile and wave at them, I disappeared from the room.

"There are no coincidences in this world…" Fye whispered. "That is what the witch said… We met her for a reason."

"What reason could there be?" Kurogane murmured, and Fye remained silent, unknowing of the answer.


The young cat girl closed her eyes for a moment, waiting for a wave of dizziness to pass. Once it cleared, she looked around, seeing Hiei with both eyes closed. He seemed to be asleep. I could probably make a run for it… She thought to herself. Kyoshi was still gone as well, yet something held her back.

At first, she didn't know what it was but then she realized… She wanted to meet the wolf demon she had sent away. She wanted to know if she really would accept her even after what she had done. If she really would treat her humanely, something that she had never experienced before. She was used to fending for herself. Maybe she wouldn't have to be alone anymore! The others spoke so highly of her and she had to know why! Pouting slightly, the girl closed her eyes again to renew her search.