Four hours later, they went down the path Ayla always went down when she was going home. They saw a huge mansion. Ari turned to run, but Chetara grabbed her.

"Get in there."

There were tons of people everywhere, loitering. The males whistled at Ari and Chetara, who ducked inside.

The room was filled with people back to back, laughing, talking. Ari and Chetara walked around the room once, not seeing anyone. Then they saw Ayla. They ran up to her.

"Ayla, where are Artemis and Kiri?" Ari asked.

"Uh, well..." Ayla frowned. She didn't recognize them. "The last time I saw Kiri, he was at the food table and Artemis was with him. Now, who might you girls be?"

"Ayla, it's us. Ari and Chetara!" Chetara whispered.

"Eek!" Ayla jumped. "No way. Wow, you two look different."

Ari blushed. "Good or bad?"

"Good!" Ayla nodded. "They're over there."

Koenma walked up. "Hello, Ayla."

"Hello, Koenma. Guess who these two are?"

"..." Koenma frowned, examining them. "Ari and Chetara!"

"Sh!" Chetara hissed. "We want to surprise Kiri and Artemis."

"Oh, sorry." Koenma frowned.

Ari and Chetara walked casually over to the food table, where they spotted Kiri and Artemis.

"Wow, Artemis looks really good in that." Ari blushed. Chetara laughed.

"I have my own opinion." Chetara laughed. "And are we going to talk to them, or are you going to gape at them all evening?"

Ari walked over there and grabbed a drink. She was standing next to Artemis. "Uh...hey."

Chetara walked over to Kiri. "Do you always eat so much?" She grinned. Kiri whirled.

"Chetara!" He gasped. "What are you doing...Wow. You look nice."

Chetara laughed. "So everyone's been saying."

Artemis looked at Ari blankly, then his face lit up. "Oh, wow. Ari." He blushed. "You look beautiful."

Ari blushed. "Thank you."

Artemis shrugged, grinning. "...Uh..." He blushed. "It's true. It's nice to see you."

Ari blushed. "Nice to see you, too."

Artemis took her hand. "Want to dance?"

"Oh, I don't know how." Ari blushed.

"That's alright, I'll show you." Artemis blushed slightly.

Chetara and Kiri watched them walk away. Chetara shook her head. "She's not wasting any time."

Kiri shook his head. "Hungry?"

Chetara laughed. "Yes."

"Alright. I'll give you the rundown. You don't want to eat that, that or that, because Artemis' mother made those things. They are unedible. That is more tolerable, because it's Kazuka's mother's food. That is horrifyingly hot, but edible. It's Ayla's mother's. And everything else my mother made, so it's alright to eat. It's delicious if my mother made it. A good rule to go by is if it has peppers, it's Ayla's mother's. If it's discolored, it's Artemis' mother's. If it's pretty, and smells like herbs, it's my mothers." Kiri grinned.

Chetara laughed. "Your mother is the only one among them that can cook?"

"Yup. Here, try this." Kiri offered something weird to Chetara. She ate it.

"Oh, wow." Chetara grinned, swallowing. "That's really good."

"My mothers. I wouldn't try anything that anyone else cooked, unless you're adventurous." Kiri grinned.

Chetara laughed. "I'll remember that."

"Do you know how to dance?" Kiri asked her.

"A little." Chetara shook her head. "Not really. It's been a real long time."

"You want to try?" Kiri asked. "It can't be any worse than Mukuro's cooking."

At Chetara's blank look he said, "Artemis' mother's."

"Oh, sure." She grinned. "I'll try one dance."

"Good, because I wasn't going to ask for another one." Kiri grinned. "If you're that bad."

"Thanks." Chetara laughed. "I appriciate the trust."

"Come on." He led her onto the floor.

Kurama was having a conversation with Hiei about something when he was distracted.

"Is that Kiri?" Kurama frowned. Kiri was dancing, and laughing with some girl. She was an ookami with black ears and a black tail with red tips. Her hair was black with red tips as well. He was going over the techniques with her and she was laughing. He dipped her, just for fun and she came up laughing. It was a fast dance, kind of and they were having a good time. They were both laughing.

He also spotted Artemis dancing with a girl. She was a neko with purple hair and black ears and tail. Artemis was also teaching her how to dance and they were having fun, as well. The girl seemed smitten with Artemis, and he seemed to feel the same about her. He spun her and she laughed. He spun her a few more times until she was dizzy and she wrapped her arms around him to keep from falling. She was laughing really hard and Artemis was grinning and laughing.

"I'm sorry, Hiei, can you excuse me?" Kurama asked politely, and then leaving. He went over to Kiri first to see this up close for himself.

"This is fun." The girl laughed. "You said this would be boring!"

"It usually would be, except you and Ari are here. So it's not boring." Kiri grinned. "Expecially because you're here."

Chetara laughed. "I'm glad we decided to come."

"Me too." Kiri grinned. The music came to a stop.

"Well, did I do alright?" Chetara grinned. "You said if I was a really bad dancer, you wouldn't ask me to dance another one."

"You did great." Kiri grinned. "That was fun. And I would ask you for another dance, but I need to rest a minute."

Chetara laughed. "Fine."

Kiri turned and spotted his father watching him. Kiri coughed slightly, and blushing, he grabbed Chetara and ran off the floor.

"Who was that, Kiri?" Chetara asked. "Your father?"

"Yes." Kiri bit his lip. "I bet he saw the whole thing. He's pretty cool when it comes to my friends, but when it's me, the rules of coolness do not apply."

Kurama frowned, mulling over what he'd seen. Did Kiri have a girlfriend he didn't know about? That had to be the case. First, he had to meet this neko girl Artemis had been so deeply conserned about.

Kurama walked over to them, where Artemis was teaching Ari to slow dance.

"..." Kurama cleared his throat, and Ari and Artemis sprang apart. Artemis turned pale, slightly. And Ari gave him a weird look.

"Uh...hello." Ari blushed. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you, as well." Kurama smiled. "Artemis, is this the girl Kiri mentioned?"

"Yes, this is Ari." Artemis blushed. "Ari, this is Kiri's father, Kurama."

"So you're Kiri's father." Ari grinned. "You two seem so...different."

Kurama sighed. "Yes. I can't figure out why he turned out that way."

"What's wrong with the way he turned out?" Ari asked. "I think he turned out fine. He's loads of fun to hang out with, he's a good friend. What's wrong with him?"

Kurama fell silent, thinking.

"No offence, sir, but you're a bit too judgemental of Kiri. It seems to me you only see the bad, instead of the good." Ari frowned.

"Who are you to judge my opinion?" Kurama asked, quietly.

"A friend of the object in discussion." Ari frowned. "And not a pushover."

Ari smiled at Artemis. "I'm going to get something to drink."

She left.