A/N: Been a bit since I wrote this one because I, genius that I am, lost the notebook. Found it finally, and wrote this in the midst of chewing my way through "Princess Tutu," an adorable shojo that my older sister suggested to me. Switching between watching that and Hellsing has been odd, to say the least. Well, enjoy the chapter. Read and review!

"Ice Maiden's Mulberry Tree"

Chapter Five

Kamaitachi

The Kamaitachi castled looked a lot more like an insect hive than the fortress Kuwabara had expected. The hanyou king apparently noticed his stare, because he grinned. "Yeah, not exactly me, I know. Inherited the place from my ancestral dad, Raizon."

Fuji glanced casually down toward the ground before calling to the woman standing below. "Hey, Atsuko-chan! Where's Wufei? Didn't eat him, did you?"

Puu suddenly banked to avoid was unmistakably a variation of Yusuke's spirit gun. Once he'd steadied himself, Kuwabara started laughing. "Nice kid you got there, Yusuke."

"Ah, she takes after her mother," Yusuke said with a snort.

Kuronue and Heero were standing with the dark-haired woman when they landed, the bird butting its head against her in greeting. Sending it off with a pat on the head, she turned to Kuwabara. "Welcome back, Kazuma-jisan. The baka here" She nodded her head toward the chimera. "tells me diaper boy screwed up and you're missing a ton of memories."

"I thought I was the baka," Fuji said in mock hurt, only to dodge swiftly as a kick was aimed at his head, swinging around to counter. Yusuke led the rest of their group away as the two got into a rather impressive fight.

"Shouldn't we break them up?" Kuwabara asked, tossing a glance over his shoulder as he was herded toward the castle doors. Atsuko's fists and feet were already glowing and Fuji was brandishing a green blade that he suspected was made of some sort of plant.

"They're just playing," Yusuke said with a careless shrug. "Oh, hey, there you are! Was wondering when I saw the brat and not you. Kuwabara, meet Wufei."

Wufei was a compactly built Chinese man with a sleek pony-tail falling just past his shoulder blades. It was to no surprise that a sword hung at his waist. He took a more solid stance as Kuronue, smoothly melting from youkai to human form mid-bounce, skipped over and glomped onto him with a cheer. "Wuffers!"

"It's Wufei, baka chimera," the man growled, trying to pry the braided growth free. Sighing, he gave up and nodded to Heero in greeting. "Heero."

"And now you've met three of our five crazy pilots," Kuronue said, though he supposed Duo might be more appropriate now that the youkai had taken human form. "All that're left are you grandson and his snuggle bunny. Unless you count Zechsy. He'll be part of the clan soon, because his sister's marrying one of Quatre's nephews soon. Welcome to the biggest powerhouse family the three worlds, by the way. We have the three kings of the Makai, the former queen of the world, a couple of people who almost took over the world, their more intelligent minions, the ruling population of L4, half the worthwhile thieves of the Makai, a family of human mercenaries, a circus-"

"A few ferriers," Heero added in, thinking of Solo.

"-And the king of the Reikai," Duo said, finishing with a grin. "I'm probably forgetting some people. When we get back to Ningenkai, I'll show you the picture someone took of the family tree I drew a couple of days ago. Quatre said he'd print it for me."

Kuwabara was very wide-eyed by the end of that. "Just what happened while I was dead?"

"A whole lot of insanity," Yusuke said with a laugh.

The resurrected human man had finally started to adjust by the time dinner (a meal eaten in Yusuke's private quarters rather than the dining hall) rolled around, and he was gradually filled in about the missing years, both those he'd forgotten and those he'd never lived through. Duo seemed to enjoy narrating the war, using soup spoons and rolls to re-enact favorite battles.

"Just how big are these Gundam things?" he asked, thinking of the damage being described.

"Deathscythe Hell, mine, was over sixteen meters tall, weighed about seven tons," Duo said casually. "And it was the shortest, now that I think about it."

"That's… big," Kuwabara said, a little stunned.

"Anyway, we destroyed the lot of them after the Mariemaia bit," the braided man continued, spearing a chunk of steak on his fork. "It was for the best, but I do kinda miss my buddy. But no war, no need for weapons. So, you'll be staying with Heero and I, taking his old room. We were roomies before we hitched, so just moved into one room. Don't worry, it's sound-proof." (Kuwabara didn't want to think about what the chimera implied by that.) "There's a shelf in the kitchen with a bunch of bottles and stuff. Don't touch it. When you meet Quatre, you can ask why."

"He seems to be adapting fairly quickly," Fuji commented, watching the conversation from the other end of the table.

"Kuwabara's already been good at rolling with the punches," Yusuke said with a nod. "So, what's the score?"

The red-head grimaced. "567-562, Atsuko. She's been training with you when I'm not around, hasn't she?"

"Like I have time to train while I'm here," the king snorted. "That's why I train so much at your parents' places when I get away from the three baldies. I think she trains by attacking them. Maybe with Wufei sometimes these days. He's pretty good with the sword."

Fuji's expression went from peeved to mischievous in a split second. "Good enough to court our darling Atsuko-chan?"

Yusuke started at him for a moment before snickering. "As if I have any say in who the brat dates. Like I've said, she's a combination between her mother and mine. Two women who'd kick my ass if they thought I was telling them what to do, and she's no different."

A servant entered with a bow. "Yusuke-sama, Koenma-sama has arrived."

"Bring him on in," Yusuke said. "And nicely."

The youkai's flash of fang among his otherwise human appearance showed his true nature as he smirked, clearly intending to interpret 'nicely' his own way. Seeing this, Yusuke just shook his head. No point in correcting him. It wasn't as though it would make a difference.