I would like to thank Kage Hasu & Cherry-Blossom-Love for their help with some of the Japanese words. To show my appreciation, this chapter is dedicated to them.

The priestesses eyes widened. "What?! Yusuke? But.. how can that be? Since when are you a hanyou?"

Yusuke snorted. "And since when the hell are you able to tell? Come on, Kagome. Let us out, we gotta talk!"

Kagome narrowed her eyes. "And what about them?" She asked, motioning to the others.

Yusuke shrugged. "Harmless. We're all on the same team."

Kagome nodded and lowered her bow. She bowed her head and concentrated on withdrawing the energy back into the wards, freeing the boys.

Kurama looked up at the priestess as they ascended the steps, secretly in awe. 'She's beautiful..' he thought to himself.

Yoko grunted in agreement. 'And powerful.' he added.

Kurama started, surprised. 'Yoko.. did you just compliment a beautiful female without trying to convince me of anything?' he asked.

Yoko snorted, slightly insulted. 'This female is different. She deserves respect, not some pathetic half-hearted attempt to merely bed her.' he said before going into a contemplative silence.

Kurama was slightly amused and mostly confused. Sure, his head had been a lot quieter since Suichi had fused with Kurama, but Yoko still caused plenty of trouble, especially with females present. He had never been one to hold his tongue or his actions when it came to the opposite sex, so Kurama was understandably uneasy about the silence.

When they reached the top, the miko startled them all by jumping at Yusuke. "Yus-chan!!" She shouted, giggling at the two tumbled to the floor.

"Aaack! Gome, get off! And don't call me Yus-chan!" He shouted, trying to push the miko off of him.

Kagome sat up on his stomach and grinned down. "You'll always be my Yus-chan, baby cousin." She told him.

Yusuke huffed and crossed his arms. "Damn parents.. I just had to be born two months later.." her muttered.

Grinning, the miko stood up and bowed to the reikai tentai. "I'm Higurashi Kagome, miko of this shrine."

Botan smiled and bowed. "I'm Botan."

Kagome looked at her a moment. "And what are you?" she asked.

Botan looked stunned for a moment and looked to Yusuke. Yusuke nodded. "I'm a spirit guide, I guide souls to the Reikai."

The miko looked even more confused. "Reikai?"

Botan nodded. "Yes, the Reikai is the spirit realm where souls go. I guide them there and protect them on their journey." She explained.

Kagome nodded and turned to Kuwabara. He came forward and took her hand in both of his. "Hello pretty lady, I'm Kuwabara Kazuma. Would you be my girlfriend?" He asked.

Kagome stared at him, stunned. Suddenly, a small red kit jumped up and clamped down on Kuwabara's hand. Panicking, he started yelling and waving his hand about, trying to dislodge the mouth full of sharp teeth.

Kagome's eyes widened. "Shippou! Get that out of your mouth this instant! You don't know where it's been!" She demanded. The kit let go and jumped into her arms, glaring at Kuwabara and hugging her possessively.

Smiling down at the kit, she smoothed his hair out. "This is Shippou, my kit." She told them.

The Reikai Tentai were startled. "You-You're kit?" Asked Yusuke, his eyes wide.

Kagome smiled, this time a bit sadly. "Yes, one of two." She shook herself a bit and brightened up, looking at Hiei. "And you are?"

The short apparition grunted. Kurama approached her and smiled charmingly. "He's Hiei, and I'm Kurama. It's nice to meet you."

Kagome smiled warmly at them. "It's very nice to meet you all. Why don't you come inside. Kaa-san just finished baking some cookies, and if we don't get there soon, I'm afraid Akito and Ji-san will eat them all." She invited before turning and heading towards the house. The Reikai Tentai looked at each other for a moment before following the odd miko inside.

"Kaa-san, we have guests!" Kagome announced, slipping off her shoes. The smell of cookies wafted through the house and gave it a warm, comforting feeling. She led the group to the living room.

Sayuri entered the room with a small boy with silver hair and white fox ears in her arms. Her eyes widened in delight. "Yusuke! I haven't seen you in so long! You've grown into such a handsome young man!" She said, passing the boy to Kagome so she could give him a hug.

Yusuke laughed, "Auntie Yuri. It's good to see you."

She stood back and looked to the others. "And who are your friends." Yusuke introduced the group and Sayuri smiled welcomingly. "You all have a seat and I'll bring out some tea and cookies." She said, shuffling to the kitchen.

The group took their seats, Kagome on the love seat with the small boy in her lap and Shippou beside her, Botan, Kuwabara, and Yusuke on the couch, Kurama in the recliner, and Hiei standing by the window.

"So who is that one?" asked Botan, nodding to the small silver boy in Kagome's lap.

Kagome smiled down at the young boy. "This," she said proudly, "is Akito." She smiled wider as he grinned up at her, chewing at a cookie. She kissed his forehead, making him giggle as her breath tickled his head.

Botan cooed over the child. "He's so precious, can I hold him?"

Kagome's smile froze on her face and she looked at Botan uncomfortably, her arms tightening protectively around the kit. Kurama, noticing her hesitancy, spoke up. "I don't think now is quite the time, Botan. We need to get down to business."

Botan drooped a bit, but nodded in agreement. Kagome gave Kurama a hesitant smile of appreciation and Kurama nodded, smiling.

Yusuke cleared his throat uneasily, not quite sure where to begin. Seeing this, Kurama once again took over. "So, Kagome-san, you know of youkai, right?" he asked. Kagome raised and eyebrow and smirked slightly, nodding and running her fingers through her youngest child's hair.

Yusuke sighed. "So, remember all of those stories Ji-san always told us? About hundreds of years ago when youkai and ningen lived together? Well, a few hundred years ago, a barrier was erected to separate the the ningen world from the youkai world. The ningen world was called the Ningenkai, and the youkai world is the Makai. We're what you call Reikai Tentei. Our job is to protect the Ningenkai from the youkai that manage to slip through the barrier."

Kagome nodded in understanding. 'So that's why I haven't seen youkai in this time until lately. I thought it was just because I had the completed shikon no tama.' She thought. "Ok, so, what are you doing around here?" She asked.

Yusuke smiled sheepishly. "Well, actually, we just came here to visit. We were in the area investigating a case. I didn't actually expect to find anything here." He said.

Botan spoke up. "There have been an increasing number of youkai escaping in this area, and we've been sent to investigate. The youkai are not the kind to normally slip through. To weak to get through on their own, to strong and big to be able to slip through a small crack." She explained.

"And to add to that, when we were following a youkai's youki yesterday, we felt a strong miko energy that destroyed it. The carcass was on fire and the fighter gone by the time we arrived. Am I to assume that it was you?" Kurama asked.

Kagome blushed a bit and nodded. "Yes, that was me. It was a boar youkai, but- it was kind of strange." She said, recalling the fight.

Yusuke leaned forward, "What do you mean 'strange'?"

"I mean it was strange. Normally when I channel my energy into anything, especially a youkai, it flows through easily, like water down a smooth channel. But, with this one, it was like trying to wade through a swamp. It was thick, like a coat of slime. It took a lot more energy to kill him than it normally would." she explained.

The Reikai Tantei looked at each other, knowing that this was something that Koenma would need to know.

Kagome looked at Kurama, her eyebrows furrowed as if she was trying to figure something out. "Ano- gomen ne, but, what exactly are you? You feel both human and youkai, but- you're not hanyou." She said, confused.

Kurama chuckled. "I'm two souls in one body. A few hundred years ago, a kitsune-"

Yoko interrupted, 'DON'T tell her my name. Please, Kurama, don't tell her my name.'

Kurama hesitated, both confused and surprised. Yoko NEVER says please or begs. He makes a quick note to ask later, and recovers quickly.

"-thief was caught in a trap. His body was killed, but not his soul. He existed for a while, not moving on. One day, weak and unable to go on, he took refuge in a ningen's womb, in her unborn child. The child's body held two souls, the ningen and the youkai. Because of this, a third soul, a combination of the two, the beginning of the binding, was created. I'm the one with control most of the time, a middle ground. The ningen and my soul have joined into one, but the youkai is taking a bit longer." Kurama explained.

Kagome, Shippou, and Akito looked at him with wide eyes. Shippou and Akito both brightened happily, and scrambling away from their mother went over to Kurama. Kagome tensed and watched closely, ready to snatch them up at one wrong move from the male. She knew that male youkai were a threat to young kits and was cautious about letting one she didn't know around her kits.

Kurama smiled disarmingly at Kagome and did his best to make his movements as non-threatening as possible. Shippou hopped up on the couch beside Kurama, and Akito, with some help from Kurama, struggled up into Kurama's lap. They both looked at him in admiration. "So you're a kitsune, right? What kind of kitsune are you? What element do you control? Do you know illusion magic? How old are you?" Shippou shot off question after question.

Kuwabara and Yusuke chuckled as Kurama was a bit overwhelmed by the two kits, Shippou's questions and Akito echoing them. "Woah you two, slow down." He said, chuckling. "First of all, I'm a silver kitsune, and I control plants. Yes, I know a bit of illusion magic, and I'm 19, but my kitsune side is 679." He said.

Meanwhile, while Kurama was entertaining the kits, Yusuke turned to Kagome. "So Kags, what's up with the kits? The red one looks like a full blooded kitsune, and the silver one is atleast hanyou." He said.

Kagome nodded, forcing out a shaky smile. "Yes, Shippou is a full Kitsune. A red one. His parents were killed by some thunder demons. A friend of mine, a hanyou, defeated them. I adopted Shippou. And Akito is mine. His father was a Silver Kitsune." She said, giving out as few details as possible. Her voice shook a bit as she spoke of Akito's father. Yusuke put an arm around Kagome's shoulder and she leaned into him, taking comfort in his familiar warmth.

Kurama had been listening with one ear as he entertained the kits. 'She's really hurting.'observed Yoko, sounding sad and a bit guilty. 'Yoko, what's wrong, you're never this compassionate?' asked Kurama, confused. He felt Yoko's sadness 'No, it's nothing. I'll tell you some other time. For now, take care of her, Kurama. Get to know her.' Yoko then receded into the back of Kurama's mind.

Forgotten in the corner of the room, Hiei watched the proceedings with sharp eyes. 'Fox, I hope you know what you're doing.' He thought, feeling a small twinge of worry for his old friend before squashing it ruthlessly.