Yep; this took forever. Sorry!

I think Hikitsu is the only one who made any progress in this chapter…

DarknessesShadow: Glad you liked it. And…um…there will be more Tasuki, so don't worry. And hey; I want some of that coffolate!

Xo Kurai oX: Ehhh; it's fine as long as you eventually review. And that's not fair…can't you work out a schedule or something for the computer. Much more simpler.

Pil-Z: It's fine. Yeah, I might do that later. Bashing! YAY! And that's a really good idea for Sai…hm…and (pouts) you don't like Suboshi?...i'm fine with him; I think he's okay…I dunno…oh well. Yeah, that's a good point with the pairing. And don't worry; I love long reviews. Keep leaving longer reviews!

Mint Drop: Hey! Are you on vacation or something 'cause I haven't heard from you in a long time! Yep; back in the book back in the book…(grins happily)

Lyssah: Hm…I think I already have it figured out, but…I could change it…LOL; aww; poor you. Oh well…must be cool to have a nickname exactly like a character's name on FY; aww; how I'd love it. Except Nyan nyan's are so…happy.

Chichiri's Wanderer: Yes…Chichiri…plushies…makes…chichies.

Mtgranola: rabid squirrels…I don't have one, but they're funny. FIREWORKS! GIMME!

Crimson Firefox: No problem. Glad to know you're alive. Had me worried there for a while.

Saturnsaturn: Glaives are fun, don't you think? And yeah, I hate frilly dresses too; dunno how anybody can stand them. In fact, I generally never wear dresser or skirts.

HAPPY HYPERNESS!


"I hate you so much"

Nuriko stuck his tongue out as he continued to drag Tasuki by the collar, "Well, you wouldn't walk, so I have to drag you"

"My hair is turning dust colored" Tasuki pointed out.

"And what a lovely color that is" Nuriko commented, "Much better than your usual carrot color"

"Did you just compare my hair to a fruit?"

"It's a vegetable, idiot"

"Whatever"

"You can't even tell the difference between fruits and vegetables!" Nuriko laughed, "Can you tell the difference between a watermelon and lettuce?"

"Of course I can!"

"Will you two stop arguing?" Yukari asked, trying to be patient.

"Once we teach Tasuki here how to tell the difference between a vegetable and fruits"

"That's simple" Yukari responded, "Vegetables tend to end up in the oddest places, don't you agree Tasuki? Especially in that plotted plant behind you in the restaurant, Tasuki…and for some reason, littered in the fish tank after we left. Don't you find that so very odd, Tasuki?" Yukari asked innocently. Tasuki turned red as he realized that someone had seen him put his vegetables in all those places. Nuriko burst out laughing, "You know, Tasuki; I think those fish choked on that piece of carrot" he said, trying not to laugh at the double meaning that the comment had.

"It's not my fault! YOU threw me in!" Tasuki protested.

"Too true…but I helped fish you out; what more could you want? I could have just left you in there forever"

"Let's get going, no da" Chichiri said, rolling his eyes at the conversation, "The sooner we get to the capital, the better"

"Aye aye"

Chichiri sighed. Three days of traveling and they were only halfway through Konan. If they hadn't stopped to argue so much along the way, they would be in the capital right now, possibly heading toward the palace. He sighed and realized that someone was trying to contact him. He took out his own mirror.

"How have you guys been progressing, Chichiri?"

"Da…well, we've figured out that Tasuki is a dust covered carrot, no da; does that count no da?"


Hikitsu gave a laugh as he held his mirror up. He was contacting Subaru and Tokaki to see how far they had gone. After a few moments of talking to him, Subaru began yelling at Tokaki for some odd reason. It seemed that while they had been talking, Tokaki was supposed to keep an eye out and instead, had been staring at his wife and they had walked straight into a sand storm.

"GREAT! LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE NOW!" Subaru shouted.

"Hey; that was a song in the other world. 'Look what you've done now'. I stole Yukari's radio for a while"

"I don't care! Teleport us out of here and teleport us now!"

Hikitsu quickly put the mirror away as he neared a town. He definitely did not want to be seen talking to a mirror and having a mirror talk back to him while he was amongst people who knew nothing of magic and such. That way, he would probably end up being fed to wild animals while bound up without any warm clothes and left in the snow. He shuddered and kept on walking through the town; ignoring the many stares he was getting because of his hair and the fact that he was wearing an eye patch over his eye.

He stopped at the tavern for a bit, to get a drink and sat there for a while, thinking about what to tell the emperor. As with all rulers of this nation, he assumed that the current emperor would want to know all the information necessary. It came with ruling a nation this large; if one did not know all the information available, then the nation would be doomed. As he sat there thinking, he heard the door open rather loudly, disturbing him from his thoughts. Annoyed, he took a sip from his drink and set it down loudly on the table, a sign for the bartender to refill his drink.

"I would leave if I were you" the bartender warned.

"Why is that?"

"Those who just came in…" he continued, "Very dangerous folk if you aren't careful. Anything can set them off"

"Is that so? What sort are they? Bandits? Pirates? Normal crooks?"

"Guess so, but their leader is really something else. He's no ordinary man; once, just last week, I saw this huge group of men try to steal something from Lady Fen's house over across the street and he went into the crowd, and one by one, the men fell and he came out, not a single scratch on him. Sometimes, they do terrible things but last week, they started doing all these things I figured no man was able to do"

"Interesting…" Hikitsu said, "Very interesting…"

He got up, "Thanks for the info"

He walked over to the group, ignoring the warnings the bartender kept calling to him and sat down across from who was obviously the leader. And the leader gazed at him for a moment. He had dark hair and blue eyes, which registered surprised for a moment. Hikitsu managed a grin, "Long time no see, Uruki"

"Hey; 'kitsu…how'd you find me?"

"Hard not to; when the bartender said 'no man was able to do', I figured it was you up to your tricks again"

"Damn. You always could figure me out quickly, 'kitsu"

"Now let's say you leave your friends and let the real leader out of whatever prison you've put him in"

Uruki sighed and led Hikitsu out of the restaurant until they came to a small shack. He flung the door open and there, sitting and blinking at them, was a man who looked exactly like Uruki did at the moment. Uruki began to change as the rune for 'woman' lit up under his clothes where his ribs were until he became a woman with long, pale blonde hair – almost white, in fact, similar to his own – and yellow eyes.

'Her original form…' Hikitsu sighed.

"Good; I see Chichiri was right about them all being alive" Hikitsu muttered, "But why'd I have to get stuck with the shape shifter first?" he sighed.


"I think we're lost" Sai declared.

"We are not!" Suboshi insisted, "We've lived here all fifteen years of our lives; I think we would know!"

"But we passed that tree already!...and that bush…"

"How would you know?" Suboshi asked irritably.

"'cause I stuck my gum on that tree..." Sai trailed off when she realized Suboshi had started examining the tree and had put his hand where the gum was.

As he struggled to get his hand rid of the gum, Amiboshi turned to Sai, "And what about that bush?"

Sai looked down at her feet for a moment and then she sighed as a blur came out of the trees. On the back of a small wolf pup that was rather common to this area, was the squirrel that had attacked Tokaki so many days before. It seemed to be…ordering the wolf?...with a stick…like a whip? Amiboshi chose to pretend he didn't see that.

"Is that…the rabid squirrel?"

"No; it's its cousin Poppity Bob the Poppity squirrel. Haven't you heard of him? He has a job as a fill in for the rabid squirrel, currently known as Joe, who is on his way to Sairo so he can attack Tokaki again"

Suboshi stared at her incredulously, "…you…are…"

Amiboshi clamped his hand over Suboshi's mouth before the younger twin could say something to upset Sai. In her obviously hyper condition, she could do something drastic…like give Suboshi sugar.

The squirrel began to chatter excitedly as it leapt off the wolf and into the woods. Sai picked up the wolf, "I think I'll keep you" she said, looking positively amused that she could have a possibly dangerous animal as a pet, "And Poppity Bob said to go this way" she pointed right.

Amiboshi nodded, "Well, since Poppity Bob said so…"

Suboshi looked at his brother like he was insane.

"…we'll go the other way" Amiboshi continued.