Shuichi led me to an open field, and by some tremendous luck, it was the same one my steel demon shelter was located in. I don't know if I could outrun them if I tried, but if these two turned out to be dangerous, I was certainly going to try.

I settled myself in the grass, kneeling so I could spring to my feet in an instant if I had to. Hiei stayed standing, stoically staring at me. Shuichi crouched down in front of me.

"Look, Tera…" He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "It's true that we're demons, but we're not the bad kind…"

I frowned. "Oddly, I don't find that very believable, not to mention comforting." I responded.

Shuichi smiled dryly. "No, I don't suppose you would. Especially if you've lived your whole life being afraid of demons."

I smiled, not able to resist the urge to tease a little. "Well, it certainly doesn't help your race's case that demons have been trying to kill me since I was born."

"And in our defense," Hiei retorted, surprising me, "you smell irresistibly tasty."

I blinked, while Shuichi glared at Hiei. "You're not helping any, Hiei."

Hiei shrugged. "I never said I was going to. It doesn't matter to me whether she's scared of me or not. In fact, it might even be for the better."

"Hiei," Shuichi warned.

I stood up, walking closer to Hiei. He backed a few steps away from me. "That's rather a rude thing to say," I scolded softly. "I'm sure you don't really feel that way." It was a wild guess, but I didn't think Hiei was really as coarse as he pretended.

"How do you know what I feel?" Hiei snarled. He disappeared in an instant, and I could feel his aura moving very rapidly away from us.

I was shocked, and stayed frozen. Shuichi approached from behind me. I jumped slightly when he laid a hand on my shoulder.

"Don't mind him. He's…You seem to be affecting him in some way, and it's confusing him."

I continued to watch the spot where Hiei had vanished. "Affecting? Affecting how?" I muttered. I didn't really expect an answer, and Shuichi didn't give me one.

"I'm a fox," he said, masterfully changing the subject. "And enchanted fox demon. I used to be an amazing thief, until I was killed by a spirit world hunter. I fled to the human world and possessed the body of a woman's unborn baby, and began to regain my powers. By ten years, I was a demon again, and fully free to leave my human family. But…" I looked around at Shuichi. His voice…Did I hear regret, or adoration? "I loved my mother. I couldn't leave her." Shuichi looked up at me, smiling. "I'm more human than you think."

I nodded, fairly. "You certainly don't seem like you plan on wiping out the entire human race anytime soon."

Shuichi laughed. "I'm glad you noticed. No, Hiei and I have been coerced into protecting humanity from demons. I suppose we could be called 'traitors.'"

"Not that that's a bad thing, considering what kind of beings you betrayed, Shuichi."

Shuichi started walking towards the direction of town. "Kurama. That's my real name. Shuichi is my human name, and only people who don't know I'm a demon call me that."

I followed him. "Kurama…I rather like that. And I definitely don't fall under the 'People who Don't Know Your Secret' category anymore."

Shu…Kurama and I walked for a while in silence, and my thoughts once again drifted to Hiei. I really hoped I hadn't offended him. Kurama and Hiei seemed like great friends, so if I stayed around Kurama, I was likely to see Hiei again. That is, if Kurama was going to let me hang around…But for some reason, I felt as if we weren't just going to say 'farewell,' and never see each other again anytime soon.

"Would you like to meet a few friends of mine? They're human, and also have powers. If you still don't trust Hiei and I, meeting them might put your mind to rest." Kurama said.

"Hmmm," I said. "Sounds nice."

**************

Kurama led me to a very large apartment, and knocked on the door. A black-haired boy about Kurama's age answered the door. I smelled the reek of his demonic aura instantly.

"Kurama!" He said. "What's the occasion?"

I leaned towards Kurama. "I thought you were supposed to introduce me to human friends," I commented.

Kurama laughed. "You caught that, did you?"

"Who's this?" The dark haired boy asked, curiously peeking around Kurama to look at me.

I bowed to him politely. I could sense that this boy held great power, but I didn't feel scared of him. There was a slight human scent to him, but it was mostly covered by the demon stink. "Amaterasu Okami, but you can call me Tera. It's nice to meet you."

The boy was scratching his head, seemingly confused by my behavior. "Right back at ya. I'm Yusuke Urameshi."

"Who ya talking to, Urameshi?" Someone called from out of sight.

"Kurama and his new friend," Yusuke called back. "Get out here, idiot!" He turned back to us. "You can come in, you know."

I followed Kurama into the apartment. It was larger inside than it looked outside. I wondered how many people lived here. It could probably fit four or five comfortably. A tall, orange-haired boy pranced into sight.

"Aw, Kurama got a girlfriend?" He teased. I blushed immediately.

Kurama sighed. "Don't be vulgar, Kuwabara. This is Tera. She's a psychic."

"Really?" Yusuke said. Both he and…Kuwabara, was it? looked surprised. "Cool."

"Can you read minds or something?" Kuwabara asked.

I felt a bit miffed at the generalization of 'psychic.' "What's your name, anyway?" I asked icily.

"Oh," Kuwabara seemed a tad bit mollified. "I'm Kazuma Kuwabara. Tera, right?"

"Mmmm-hmmm," I responded. "And no, I can't read minds. I can get premonitions, and I can lock or unlock any mechanism I come across."

"That must be useful," Kurama remarked.

"I never have to worry about losing my car keys," I joked. I didn't even know how old I was, and I'm sure a date of birth was a requirement for a driver's license. For the first time, I looked Yusuke and Kuwabara in their eyes. I could see they were both surprised by the bizarreness of my eyes, but they didn't comment on it. A first for me.

"Hiei hasn't dropped by perchance, has he?" Kurama asked Yusuke and Kuwabara. Both of them shook their heads.

"Hiei, come visit us by his own free will? You must be going crazy, fox-boy." Yusuke said. Kurama laughed.

"Actually, he might be at Genkai's temple, to see Yukina. He seems to be watching over her a lot lately." Kuwabara's voice was thick with envy. "I wonder if he's got a thing for her…" He muttered, more to himself than anyone else.

"I doubt Hiei feels that way about Yukina," Yusuke said awkwardly. I frowned in confusion.

Yukina? I mouthed at Kurama. He shook his head.

I'll tell you later, he mouthed back. That was a fine enough answer to satisfy me.

Yusuke and Kuwabara may be rash and brazen, but they certainly seemed nice enough. Both had good hearts, in any case.

We talked with Yusuke and Kuwabara for a while, and then Kurama tactfully excused us from the apartment. We started walking, and I had no idea where he was taking me now. I really wanted to know who Yukina was, but I didn't think it my place to ask. Suddenly, he stopped so quickly that I nearly ran into him.

"Would you be interested in meeting more of our friends, or are you too worn out?" He asked.

I smiled politely. "I'd love to see more of your friends. As long as none of them want a yummy little psychic for dinner."

Kurama laughed. "Very unlikely. Unless Yukina has cravings I don't know about." I waited for him to explain who Yukina was. And he did. "Yukina…is Hiei's sister. She knows she has a brother, but she doesn't know who he is. And he won't tell her. Kuwabara doesn't know either, even though he is very…'taken' with her, to use a nice euphemism. Hiei is obsessed with protecting her. She's an ice apparition."

I thought about this. "She must be quite the girl if she's got both Hiei and Kuwabara tripping over themselves for her." I didn't much care about Kuwabara's feelings, but hearing about Hiei's fascination with her made my heart twinge a little. I wonder why…?

Kurama chuckled. "Yes, she is. She's very special. I think you'll like her."