{O-o chemistry is the lucifer!!! Oh god bless ya... I couldn't do that. I'm horrible with science! I hope you did good on your final!}

Yue didn't really end up eating too much- she never really did- but she did try the things Aleron mentioned; the girl had good taste in food, and it was a lot easier to consider trying new things when she had an idea of what they were. She ended up enjoying the meal more than she'd expected to, and made sure to thank both Genkai and Aleron when she brought her plate over to the sink.

Then she went and sat down where she'd just been, petting Kurama thoughtfully."Human food often looks like it's already been digested." She said after a moment, "It's a wonder to me that it often tastes good... Or how they invented such things." They certainly didn't have such things in demon world... Then again, demons didn't often cook their food either.

Yusuke had licked his plate clean by the time Aleron took it away, and he made sure to avoid Genkai as he made his way over to where she was doing the dishes. It took a lot of effort not to go running around in circles and knocking stuff over, but he was making an effort not to cause too much trouble... He WAS still in Genkai's temple after all... And that hag would definately not forgive him.

So he just sat and watched for a while, getting very bored. "Can we go back to your place now?" He finally asked, "I'm bored as heck and it's only a matter of time before Genkai decides she doesn't like puppies!"

((I hope I did okay too. Thanks!))

Aleron finished the dishes and dried off her hands before putting everything away. She rolled her eyes when Yusuke barked at her; she could figure out well enough what he wanted.

"Alright, alright, we'll go back," she grumbled. "Honestly, Yusuke." Shaking her head, she looked over at Yue. "Do you want to come too? Or do you think you'll stay here for a little while longer?" Either way worked for her, so she didn't mind either one. Besides, Kurama knew the way back to her house, so if Yue wanted to stay Kurama would stay with her, Aleron was sure.

Kurama looked up at Yue for the decision. He'd stay here with her, if she wanted to stay longer, and make sure she got back to Aleron's place alright. But if she wanted to go back now, that was fine with him too.

Fortunately, he was rather amused by watching Yusuke try to stay still and quiet and be good. It was so unlike him that it was amusing to watch and wonder how long he'd last.

Yusuke barked happilly when Aleron gave the okay to leave, it meant he'd made it through a whole day at Genkai's without losing his small puppy head.... he had to admit that fact made him quite proud.... But then in his hurry to get to the door he accidentally bumped into a chair and knocked it over, but while the puppy paused to look at it, he only looked for a second before taking off towards the door again. The chair hadn't been broken as far as he could tell, but he wasn't taking his chances of the hag catching him as he was about to escape either.

"Hurry up!" He shouted over his shoulder as he bounded towards the stairs... obviously the puppy was eager to leave.

Yue looked at Aleron, then at Yusuke when he barked from the stairs, knowing she had better make her decision quickly before the puppy lost his patience.

"We will catch up later." She finally said, patting Kurama on the head, "There is something I'd like to see before I depart." It'd been awhile since the last time she'd visited Genkai, but the last time she'd been there she'd found a small bird with a broken wing.... It had reminded her of a type of bird she'd seen alot while in demon world, and so she'd decided to take care of the creature; after all, she had a good idea of how to bandage a broken wing with how long her own wing had been bandaged up.... Plus Genkai had promised to feed him while Yue was away, so he should have been alright... But she still wanted to check.

"Alright. I'll see you back at home then." Aleron headed for the door, jogging outside and going over to Yusuke. She looked at him for a minute and shook her head.

"You know, it's a good thing you're so damn cute right now. Brat." She picked him up again, since it would take him a long time to get down the stairs on his own, and skipped down the stairs herself. She set him down once they were back on the street and started walking back towards her house.

"You'll probably be human again in a coupleof hours, if Takeshi is right. Hopefully. Although you not being able to retort has been rather fun." Aleron smirked.

Kurama sat and watched them leave before he looked up at Yue again. He hadn't seen the bird yet, so he was curious to see what she wanted to do. He got up and pawed at her leg curiously, peering up at her. Maybe this would be an interesting little jaunt that she wished to stay for. Otherwise he'd just sit and watch her, or find something else to do for a while.

Yusuke trotted after Aleron up the road, "Me not being able to retort just means I'll have a lot of things to say when I finally am human again!" he barked in reply. He couldn't wait to be human again. Being a dog had it's perks, but not being able to speak to anyone but Kurama and Loki got tiring real fast... Plus he missed his fingers... How was he supposed to fire his spirit gun without fingers?!

Yue giggled when Kurama started pawing her curiously, "I very much doubt you'd find it as interesting as I do." She pointed out, ruffling his ears. Then she got to her feet and looked at Genkai, swishing her tail expectantly.

"Don't worry, I've fed the dang thing." The hag said in a bored tone, "Seriously, how bad do you think I am? Feeding that guy gets rid of some of the birdseed that's around the house and keeps that ice apparition occupied when she comes around-" She was talking about whenever Yukina took a break from searching for her brother to visit, "It's like killing two birds with one stone." Then she saw Yue's eyes widen in horror and quickly added, "It's a figure of speech kid- I told you I took care of your pet!" Then Genkai walked off, muttering something about 'too innocent to really be a dimwit'.

Yue meanwhile heaved a relieved sigh, before leading the way towards the distant corner of the garden where a relatively small tree stood- it was a little taller than her, but since she wasn't even five and a half feet it was still a short tree.
The branches were thick enough that the nest inside them wasn't in plain sight, and inside the nest was a small bird with a mixture of blue and black feathers, next to him was a smile pile of birdseed he hadn't yet eaten.
"I very much doubt I did as fine a job bandaging up his wing as you did with mine..." She smiled at the fox before gently removing the bandages on the bird's wing, they'd been on there for awhile now- probably longer than they needed to be... "But he seems to be doing well!" He didn't seem to be in any pain while moving around anyways... A fact which made Yue rather proud considering her fear of doctors and medical things.

"It appears birds from the human world have wings different from my own." She said thoughtfully after a moment, "I imagine feathers must be much harder to keep clean... And they probably fall out!" She really couldn't wait until Kurama was human again- she had an awful lot of questions to ask.

Aleron snorted when she heard Yusuke barking next to her again. Ah, well. At least she didn't have to put up with the barking for much longer.

She paused a little ways away from her house, looking at it closely. Nothing was out of place, nothing looked disturbed, but something felt... off. Different. She approached cautiously, unlocking and opening the front door, still looking around. Nothing so far.

Loki trotted past her to go sniff around inside carefully. When he came back witha low, confused whine, Aleron sighed and walked inside.

"Well, at least nothing's around anymore..." she muttered to herself, crouching to take her shoes off. She always hated when things felt off but she couldn't figure out why.

Kurama sat and watched her, rather amused. Of course he knew Genkai was just grumbling, but it was so amusing to watch Yue.

When a strange ripple went down his spine, however, he trotted off to somewhere more private. Especially as his whole body started to tingle and feel all off and strange. It almost hurt, but he stayed silent. He had an idea of what was going on.

And, a few moments later, his idea proved to be correct. He looked up, crouched over on the ground where he'd been a fox a moment ago, and took a quick glance at his surroundings. A few strands of silver hair mixed in with his normal bright red, the only sign that he'd been closer to Yoko than normal.

The only problem was, he'd turned back into a human stark naked. And that wasn't okay with him.

Standing carefully and getting used to two legs again instead of four, he shook his hair out of his eyes and used a nearby plant for cover. "Yue? Would you mind getting my spare set of clothes?" he called to her. She should still be nearby, unless she'd wandered off.

{XD Haha I laughed at that last post pretty hard.

Sorry I haven't been on, was away for the weekend! >_> And I spent much more money than I intended to... Poo.}

Yusuke had just been about to trot up the steps after Aleron into the house when he suddenly felt... Strange... Like the wierd ass way he'd always imagined Kuwabara had felt whenever he talked about his 'vibes'. He looked around, wondering what the heck was wrong when suddenly a sharp pain shot up his spine; he had to refrain from yipping in pain as he realized what was happening... But when he realized he wasn't wearing anything he wanted to do a lot more than bark, and a reflexive string of cusses spewed from his mouth as he grabbed a towel off of the clothes line and wrapped it around himself.... It was pink with flowers on it. "What a great way to get in touch with my feminimity." He thought sarcastically; there was nothing more masuline nearby though. Even better.

He walked up the steps of the house, grumbling the whole way until he reached the door, where he looked at Aleron, the awkwardness of the situation making the entire thing worse.
"Look, considering my mom's the Obi Wan Kenobi of getting drunk, I doubt she'll even notice me coming home naked." He finally said awkwardly, "But I'd really rather not have to walk home nude if I don't have to...." His voice trailed off, figuring that she could guess what he wanted. He coughed. "I mean... I know I'm a rebel, but I ain't got the qualifications of a stripper!"

Yue had been still looking at the bird, coaxing him into eating the rest of his food, since he seemed more intent on flapping his newly unbound wing; however, when Kurama spoke to her she jumped. She knew that he was supposed to be turning back into human form anytime, but it was startling to hear his voice without warning when she'd been unable to understand him for the past couple of days. He wasn't standing where he'd just been either, so she had to wonder where he'd went to.
"Okay..." She finally said slowly, flying back to the temple with a flap of her wings since he'd sounded urgent.

Of course, when she got there Yue didn't see Genkai around, so she went into the room where Kurama had been resting back when he'd gotten himself injured, figuring the woman probably had kept the clothes around there. Even rushing it took a little while to find them though... and during that time she wondered why in the world he'd ask for clothes.... Until she put one and one together and her eyes widened.
By the time she made her way back to where she was her face was pretty red- both from the embarassment of not figuring it out sooner, and the awkwardness of the situation as a whole.

"I... um... I suppose I will leave them here...." She placed the clothes on a small rock nearby, not daring to venture very far into the woods, before turning away and looking upwards, as if the sky had suddenly become very interesting.

((that's okay, I've been crazy busy the past couple days. My family's going on vacation for two weeks, going back east, and we're leaving really early tomorrow morning. So I'm rushing to get everything packed now...))

Aleron blinked a few times when she found Yusuke on her doorstep in a pink, flowery towel. She bit her lower lip to keep from laughing, but she did refrain. She did not, however, refrain from looking him over.

"Oh, I don't know about that," she said lightly to his last comment. "I think you'd make a great stripper. You'd have to work on a couple things, but I'm pretty sure lots of women would pay good money. Not that I'm suggesting you do that or anything, but just saying."

She met his eyes briefly before she turned, leaving the door open for him. "Come on, I'm sure we can find you some spare clothes to wear home. I kept your clothes here from when you decided trying to get into Takeshi's room was a good idea." It didn't take her long to walk up the stairs to go fetch his clothes for him.

This would be an image she would never forget.

A few vines slipped out and took the clothes from the rock, pulling them farther back into the forest. Kurama was yet again briefly thankful that he could do that, because otherwise this would have been a lot more awkward.

It only took him a minute to emerge from the forest, fully clothed and apparently unruffled. He glanced at Yue and away again quickly, still a little embarrassed. It wasn't often the fox got caught with his pants down. Literally, this time.

"Thank you," he said quietly after a moment. Then decided to leap back onto safer ground. "Is the bird doing better? I couldn't see before from the ground."

{Oooh wow! I hope you have fun! We easterners have such strange eastern ways XD

Vacations are nice. I found out that I'm goin' to florida this coming february cuz my uncles getting married. o-o since both him and his spouse have connections in Disney world, there's a huge joke among us that Mickey Mouse is gonna be the priest. XD}

Yusuke made sure to wait until after he'd gotten his clothes back and had gone into the bathroom to get properly clothed before coming up with a retort.
"I never knew you were into that sort of thing- is that where all your spending money goes?" He snickered as he got out of the bathroom and stretched, "Maybe I should consider it then." Of course he wouldn't... Aleron was already going to hold this over his head.... Well... Forever pretty much.... And really, his remarks were just digging his grave deeper.

Yue had been very still when Kurama had first come out of the trees, half afraid to look at him; generally she had something to say, be it a question or a remark to the strangeness of a situation, but this time she just came up short. She knew that he wouldn't have come out unless he was decent, but the situation was still incredibly awkward. Luckily though, her inability to keep from getting easily distracted worked in Kurama's favor, because when he mentioned the bird she finally twitched her tail and looked in the direction the creature worriedly.

"I believe so... He's moving around okay." she finally said slowly, then she smiled guiltily, "But as I said before I'm not as good as bandaging wings as you are... and he wouldn't let Genkai get anywhere near him." She supposed that wasn't surprising, since the woman was extemely intimidating.

((lol! That should be pretty fun. Maybe you'll end up going to Disneyworld for a day or two. That would be pretty awesome ^^))

"Oh not usually," Aleron replied with a wicked grin. "It usually goes into my other hobbies, like dancing. You know, hula dancing is actually pretty fun. So is bellydancing. Plus you get to wear bells and jinglies for that."

And now she was just teasing him. She couldn't resist; she just had to see his reaction to that. Hey, she was allowed to tease him. He'd been the idiot trying to get into Takeshi's room, after all. So she was allowed to tease him all she damn well wanted to.

Kurama smiled a little and nodded his understanding. "Well then, perhaps I can take a look at him," he offered, looking over at where the little bird was. Hopefully the little thing wouldn't get upset, but it had seemed to like Yue well enough.

He stopped in front of its little nest, offering his hand. The bird looked at him and cheeped before letting him inspect its wing. It was more than happy to flutter around, though it didn't quite seem up to flying yet. Kurama poked and prodded carefully before he nodded.

"Well, that was actually very well done. He just needs a little more time to heal and let the bones mend more, and then he'll be fine. His wing doesn't even need to be wrapped again."

{Oooh o-o I never thought of that... That would be uber awesome! Haha, plus I just love Florida's warm weather! <3 I'm like an old lady with how cold I always am! ^^;}

Yusuke blinked, then looked Aleron over, obviously trying to picture her as the type of dancer she mentioned... He didn't get very far. Really, she seemed to him as way too much of a hardass for something like dancing... But if she was serious, he had to admit it'd be something he wouldn't mind seeing.... However, he wasn't about to take her abuse sitting down- he knew he deserved it, but he always had a comeback.

"Hey, you know what they say: dancing is a vertical representation of horizontal desire-" He replied after a moment with a laugh, "-That, along with the strippers... Well damn. Who'd have guessed you where that kind of girl?"

Then he plopped down at the table and leaned back, "Okay okay, that was a bit harsh-" He sighed, even though he was only teasing it came out worse than he meant, "So just hit me." He shrugged, "That's what Keiko always did. Worked pretty well." And then he blinked, realizing he'd just mentioned Keiko in front of Aleron for the first time.

Yue's smile widened when Kurama said the bird was alright, and she sighed in relief. "I was rather worried he wouldn't heal right." She said after a moment, "He squrimed an awful lot... But I knew enough on how to fix that after you tied up my wing." She twitched her ears a bit guiltily, realizing how bothersome she must have been with her impatience now that she'd witnessed it herself. "I'm glad he'll be able to fly again-" She added, to change the topic from herself, "I would simply wither away if I could never fly again... Really, being in the air is just as wonderful to me as eating is to Yusuke!"

Then she blinked, wondering how Yusuke and Aleron were doing. Which of course brought about the train of thought that they should be leaving the temple sometime soon to head home.
"Goodness... how do you intend to explain where you've been to your human mother?" She asked, sounding worried again as they walked down the temple stairs, she'd taken on a human form for the trip, but if she hadn't she'd have been swishing her tail curiously.

((Warm weather is nice, but above 90 is not so fun. Plus humidity is just so yucky and blech. Makes me want to take a shower.

So naturally we're going where it's super hot AND humid. >.<))

Aleron just laughed at that. She didn't mind so much, and she didn't even blink at the mention of Keiko. "Nah," she said after a moment, plunking herself across from him. "I'll just have to find some worse thing to do to you now."

And she smirked at him, still completely at ease. People had said much worse things about her before, and she knew he was just joking around, teasing her. That she could handle. If he'd been serious, she would have hit him. Or kicked him out of her house. She looked at him before she sighed.

"I have to admit, I'm gonna miss having an extra little puppy sleeping on my bed."

Kurama smiled a little as he listened to her, not interrupting. When she brought up his mother, however, he couldn't help but grimace. That was never fun for him.

"I will tell her that I was on a camping trip," he said after a moment. "I have told her in the past that when I go on missions, it is actually a school activity. She doesn't mind so much, and it keeps her safe." He shook his head a little, though. He hated lying to his mother, but he didn't have much choice at this point.

{Oh yes... above 90 is not so fun... especially because I don't tan, I burn... I'm so dang pale that my friends call me albino.... and it would be illegal for me to go tanning... not that I'd want to... but it'd be real detrimental to my health. XD

Blegh... Super hot and humid sucks! Bring one of those little toy fans that sprays mist in your face- they work pretty good. ^^;}

Yusuke had been taken by surprise that Aleron had ignored his mention of Keiko, but he was also grateful... Not that he'd ever admit it aloud.... But not talking about her made it a lot easier to move on despite all that hype of 'talking will make you feel better'.... Of course, when she mentioned she'd have to think of something worse he had to refrain a groan... Because he knew she was fully capable of doing so and undoubtedly would, given time.

"I'm gonna miss being able to get whatever I damn well please by wagging my tail and barking" He admitted with a shrug, then he stuck his thumbs up and smirked, "But dang am I glad to have fingers again!" He'd missed having the ability to play video games, and the ability to shoot his spirit gun.... but mostly just hands in general. "Hey, you don't realize how useful hands are until you gotta pick everything up in your mouth!"

Yue tilted her head, obviously wondering what a 'camping trip' was and how tripping over something would excuse one from home for a prolonged period of time... But she refrained from asking with difficulty. Instead smiling and saying after a moment, "I have always found humans strange, but your mother sounds like a wonderful human..." She paused for a moment, "And I think what we do for others rather than ourselves is very worthwhile. So you should not look so guilty about it." She then became silent for another moment, and when she failed to come up with more words to say she instead asked another question.
[b]"Do you have a human family other than your mother?"[/i] She'd seen human families with a lot of brothers and sisters, and even pets, and she rather enjoyed hearing Kurama talk about his family since she didn't have one herself.

((Yeah, I know. I'll have to find one around somewhere XD

But yeah. Tomorrow is going to be interesting...))

Aleron chuckled. "Yeah, I kinda know the feeling." She stretched out briefly before slumping back into her chair. "You seemed to do alright, though. And you ate enough that I know you're fine." She grinned to show she was just teasing.

Since he didn't seem to be moving anywhere, though, she was rather curious. She was used to living alone, but he'd mentioned his mother would likely be drunk, or something. "You live with your mom, right? You don't think she's missed you by now, or something?"

Kurama glanced over at her, rather surprised by her words. But he thought about it and had to smile. It made sense, in a way.

"My mother remarried," he said in response to her question. "He's a very nice man, and he's good for her. He has a son, a few years younger than myself. They're not blood relatives, but they are part of my family now." He glanced over at her curiously. She had never mentioned any family, but he had the feeling those questions might not be welcome. So he stayed quiet.

{Good luck~ Have lots of fun! -fans away humidity-}

Yusuke was flexing his fingers, looking like an idiot with his arms stretched out in front of him doing the 'spirit finger' routine, but he became a bit more serious when Aleron questioned about his mother- well, at the very least he put his hands on the table and became still.
"I doubt it." Yusuke said with a nonchalant shrug, "I mean, last time I died she didn't miss me until the police came knocking on the door with my body!" He laughed a bit, "And even then I still got covered in beer cans- remember what I said about the Obi Wan Kenobi about getting drunk? Ever since my dad left she hasn't spent a minute sober, and she parties a lot." He supposed that wasn't how parents were supposed to be, but for him it wasn't really a big deal- he was used to it. He'd probably consider it weird if he had normal parents like normal families did. "It ain't that she don't care about me- I mean, she hasn't trashed my room yet, and she feeds me.... Of course her cooking is charcoal at best, and toxic waste at it's worst!" Which was why he always ate so much when he was away from home- otherwise he'd probably starve... Or get poisoned.

Yue tilted her head, confused as to how one could be family without blood ties... Then again, most demons weren't functional families with them, and she'd never heard of a demon 'remarrying'.... Or marrying in the first place.... so whatever this strange method was that humans had probably worked. At least better than anything she knew.
"Hmmm... Well I don't remember my parents too well." She said after a moment- of course, he already knew that, since she'd told him once about her mother being killed, "But my teacher took care of me like I think a parent would, he took me in and fed me and such... I always thought of him as a father anyways.... I do not know if that made him family or not though..." Human standards were so very confusing.
"I also have a younger brother." She added with a distant smile, "I don't know where he is, though I'm rather certain he doesn't want to be found... But I can tell from his energy that he's still alive. And I suppose that is enough." She shrugged, then added in her best happy tone, "Besides, considering he is my twin if I ever see him I should recognize him!"

"I suppose I find human families so interesting because mine is rather disorganized." She said after a moment of awkward silence.

((Thanks! It's been nice so far, but we'll see how long that lasts...))

Aleron was quiet for a few moments, taking in what he said. Then she sighed a little. Her father wasn't around often, but at least he took good care of her.

"You can stay here if you want." Her offer was quiet and hesitant, and she didn't quite look at him. "Only if you want." She shrugged, a little embarrased, but didn't take back her offer. She just looked down at the table, idly tracing patterns on the wood.

Kurama nodded, listening quietly. He was silent for a moment after she'd finished speaking. "Well, you never know. He could look commpletely different from you. I've seen that before." He shrugged, looking at her.

"I am sorry you don't know him. It is a shame, I think. It might not seem like much, but it could change things for you." He glanced over at her. "I never had family as Yoko, but now that I have a family I find I enjoy it more than I expected I would."

{Well that's good! The weather hasn't been so bad lately here in the east XD but it's been raining an awful lot, so watch out. o-o

And rain isn't good cuz I might be goin' to six flags new england on either monday or wednesday.... i do love amusement parks~}

Yusuke had been absentmindedly staring at the ceiling while he'd answered her questions, but when Aleron mentioned staying with her his attention had shifted. He'd already opened his mouth to point out that he wasn't gonna fall for her plot to get back at him so easily, but when he saw how awkward she looked the words died in his mouth. She was serious. He blinked.

"It's not like I have a lot of money to pay rent..." he finally said slowly, failing to come up with any sort of sarcastic remarks over the awkwardness of it all, "But uhh... If Takeshi's room is the only one booby trapped and you're willing to spare a room..." His voice trailed off and he rubbed the back of his head, struggling for words, and finally settling on, "Uhh... Sure?" It didn't really feel real just then, what he had agreed to, but as he thought about it it didn't seem too hard... He didn't have too much in his room to bring over, and it'd probably be a way healthier environment to live in.... and the food would be good... And he could always visit his mom... She probably wouldn't notice he'd moved out anyways.

"When the hell did you get so nice?" He finally demanded, determined to break the awkwardness.

Yue looked thoughtful over Kurama's words, considering them carefully; one could practically hear the gears turning in her head as she tried to comprehend the concept of a human family. Humans were indeed the strangest creatures she'd ever met, but they were not nearly as stereotypically bad as demons made them out to be... A family though... Well, she just couldn't imagine.

"I do not understand..." She finally admitted slowly; it was pretty obvious from the look on her face that she hadn't been able to wrap her head around that concept. She'd met many humans... But Aleron's father spent a lot of time away, and Yusuke told horrible stories about his mother, so all in all Yue had very little knowledge or experience involving human families other than what she'd seen on the streets... But most human families she saw looked happy....

"Perhaps... I could meet your family?" She twiddled her fingers awkwardly, knowing it was a rather bold question to ask, but she was extremely curious.

((oooo yay! That sounds like fun! Hopefully it'll stop raining for you then ^^))

Aleron nodded when he agreed. She was partially relieved he'd agreed, somewhat embarrassed, and definitely feeling awkward. At least until his last remark. That was much more normal ground, and that was a definite relief.

"I never said this was charity," she grumbled. "I expect you to help with things around the house, like cleaning and things. When I need you to." She got up, starting to wash the dishes so she had something to do. She was tired, yeah, but this needed to get done. Besides, she didn't mind. Doing the dishes was a good time for her to think things over and stuff.

"Besides," she said, once her back was to him. "I like you, and I haven't had many friends before." She shrugged, a little embarrassed again. "But don't expect star treatment or anything."

Kurama blinked. That he had not been expecting. He had to think about that for a few moments, going over it in his head quickly.

"Well..." he said quietly, looking at her. "You would have to look human the entire time," he said cautiously. "And it would probably just be a dinner. But yes, hypothetically, you could."

He went over it again in his mind. He could tell his mother she was a friend from out of country, and ask her over for dinner. Hopefully things wouldn't get too awkward, but he could always save her from that. Or from blundering or telling too many secrets.

Yeah, this could work. Hopefully.

Yusuke shrugged when Aleron pointed out he'd have to help out around the house and such. He knew he wasn't responsible, but he wasn't bad at cleaning- at least the basic stuff. There was a reason why his house became filled with garbage and beer cans only after he'd died; generally during his living days he'd spent a lot of time cleaning up after his mother... Not that he was a need freak- his house was still pretty messy- but he'd kept it from being a dump. Even though he hated cleaning, if he had to, it'd be a lot easier doing it around this place than at his mother's.

"Hey, if helping out a bit is all you're askin' for, it sounds like a good deal to me. Seriously, if you feed me for it, that's close enough to star treatment." He said after a moment, laughing a bit and leaning back in his seat, "And as for friends- do I look like I have a lot? Seriously. I've got Kuwabara who lacks a brain, and the rest of 'em are demons and ghosts. You're probably the closest thing I've met to normal, and that's saying something!" Then he fell silent, but after a moment he sighed and added. "Y'know, I think that's why we get along- we argue so much that we make each other feel normal. Even though we're both pretty far from it."

Yue's smile widened when Kurama said yes- more so than her usual one she always had. "I've gotten much much better at being human!" She said when he pointed out she'd have to be careful, "I can do it for two whole days if I try hard enough!" She spun around, showing off her humanness as proof. In the back of her mind she was rather nervous- she really didn't have experience with many people- but she was excited too, and so far that was the dominating emotion.

((Ack! Sorry it took so long. I'm back east on vacation and I got sick. It's day three now, so I'm not happy >.<))

Aleron blinked, considering that for a few moments. He had a point. They both made each other feel more normal, more human. It was kind of nice, she had to admit.

"You have a point," she admitted after a moment. "Course, I'm pretty sure if we were normal we wouldn't know each other, but that's okay." She grinned at him briefly, busy setting out the dishes to dry. At least they could agree on some things, even if they did argue and squabble like an old married couple.

Kurama smiled and nodded. She did look much more human now. She was improving rapidly with all the practice she'd been getting.

"Very good," he complimented. "All this practice has been paying off, it would seem." He found himself rather impressed. Two days, if she concentrated? That was quite a long time to appear human. Part of him wanted to see if she really could do it, and part of him just wanted to sit back and keep observing her to see how much more she'd improve in the coming weeks.

{O-o I just figured you were having fun on vacation and were too busy... But sick? Well that just sucks! Especially on vacation! Do you have jet lag or something?

You don't gotta post if it's too much trouble!}

"I think if I were normal, I'd be in jail." Yusuke stated with a shrug, "If I couldn't take out my anger issues on demons and ghosts... Well, I'd probably be arrested if I took it out on people." He laughed a bit, but the fact was true that he wasn't the best at restraining himself... Not that he ever made much of an effort to. "So I'm pretty damn glad I'm not normal.... Plus it ain't bad knowing you." The detective then coughed awkwardly after saying that last part, and looked at the ceiling.

After a moment though he said, "Well. It'll be a helluva lot easier at least to plan that date you owe me if we're living together!" He still hadn't forgotten about that and he wasn't going to let it slide... Of course, back then it'd been more of a means of revenge... The thought appealed to him more now.

------------

"Oh yes! It's been paying off a lot!" Yue smiled as they began walking again; she didn't know where they were going, so she let Kurama do most of the leading, but she kept up the conversation. "I suppose change is inevitable though.... Except in your human vending machines..." Humans had the strangest technology... To her it seemed like uncommon nonsense to have a machine that popped out odd tasting beverages.

As they started getting into areas with more people bustling about, Yue became distracted by all the strange outfits and energies and emotions radiating throughout the place, and became rather silent. She looked every which way, her eyes shining with curiosity, but she stuck closer to the fox than she had before; for while the people were new and exciting, she wasn't used to crowds at all.... And the thought of getting lost in a human city wasn't appealing at all.

((I have a cold. It started out as a normal cold, but now it seems to have moved to my chest, so I'm coughing up stuff a lot. It's not fun at all... >.<

And it's no trouble to post, except when I'm too busy to turn on my computer XD))

Aleron blinked. She'd almost forgotten about that date. She had sort of figured he'd either forget about it or just laugh it off, or something. But he was still planning on doing something, apparently. She felt a little grin stretch her lips, but she quickly smothered it.

"Yeah, I guess so," she agreed. "Although since you're doing this as an I.O.U. I'm not giving you any good ideas. You'll just have to think of something yourself." Then she flashed him a grin, to show that there were no hard feelings and she was just teasing him. She would actually be rather amazed if he came up with something on his own. Especially something she approved of.

---------

Kurama chuckled at her words and led her through the city easily. He had a lot more practice slipping through crowds of people than she did, so he was especially careful not to lose her.

He stopped at a street corner and glanced around automatically. He didn't like to be taken unawares by anything. Ever. He was something of a control freak-y fox. A quick glance back showed her close to him, and keeping track of him well. Good.

"Did you want to go with me to my house?" he asked. "Or would you prefer to go back to Aleron's house for right now? I doubt anyone but my mother would be home right now. But if you wanted to meet her before you come for dinner, we can do that."

{Maybe you're allergic to something in the air o-o

I hear that there's a nasty cold going around too. A couple people at my work have it... Maybe you caught it?

Wah. Either way, it sucks having such a nasty cold!}

Yusuke blinked at Aleron's remark, taken aback that he was on his own. "Do I look like a romantic?" The best thing he could come up with off the top of his head was arcade and a movie or something... Which wasn't any good.... Really, the detective was at the top of his game when he was beating people up or killing demons... but dating? That was unfamiliar territory.... At least Aleron was laid back about it... She'd forgive him if he screwed up... Probably....

"Heh, we'll go to some ritzy place that's actually filled with demons." He said jokingly, failing to realize then how very right he was.... Then he blinked and looked around, "Doesn't fish girl live with you?" He wondered if she was with Kurama or something- she couldn't really take care of herself in the human world anyways...

--------------

Yue tilted her head thoughtfully, considering Kurama's words carefully. She didn't very much like the idea of going through the city again and the crowds of people; being near so many people at once made her rather nervous.... But the demon knew that she should give Aleron some warning of where she was going to be, so that the human wouldn't go looking for her thinking she'd gotten lost. Of course, a phone call would have worked just as well, but Yue still jumped every time a phone rang; she doubted she'd ever adapt to talking on them easily.... Plus she was still wearing a lot of her demonic bangles and such... Which blended in with the human clothes well enough... But it was probably best to get rid of most of them....

"Perhaps it would be best if I were to visit Aleron first." she admitted after a moment, "I do not wish for her to worry... Or Loki either." She laughed a bit, "He'd sniff me out and show up at your house... His sense of smell is rather phenomenal... Which I suppose must be a bad thing sometimes... there's lots of bad smelling things in your human cities..." Either way it'd probably be bad if he tracked her down.

((Yeah, I think I had that cold. I'm still coughing stuff up. Yucky.

And I'm sorry it took me so long! *flails* I just got home earlier today and I've been unpacking for a while...))

Aleron had to laugh at that. "A ritzy place filled with demons. Sounds like fun." She grinned at him, rather amused. Knowing them, they'd probably get into trouble and start a fight, or something. That wouldn't surprise her in the least, at this point.

When he asked about Yue, she shrugged. "Last I checked she was staying with Kurama. She's probably okay. I don't think he'd let anything happen to her." She paused.

"Well. Nothing really serious, anyway. Probably."

Kurama nodded his agreement. "Yes. He is rather one of a kind." He smiled a little. "But I agree. We should let Aleron know where you are, at least."

He started walking, glancing back to make sure she was keeping up, and decided to go a rather back route this time. He knew how nervous she was around crowds of people, since it had taken him a while to get over that very same thing himself. In the demon world you were hardly ever so crowded, unless you went to the bustling bazaars or such. But it wasn't constant, like it was here in Japan.

He figured they'd be safe enough making their way back to Aleron's house through the back routes. It wasn't too common to see human bullies around, not for him, anyway. And even if they did show up, well... They picked the wrong pair to pick on.

{Ooooh.... Well keep drinking fluids and get lots of rest! o-o

And don't worry, these past couple of days have been crazy for me- I wouldn't have been able to really post anyways before today! I mean, yesterday I worked a thirteen and a half hour shift XD I wasn't doing any posting after that.

Haha, I don't know if a gang fight was what your post was getting at, but it sounds good to me XD brawl before dinner. Great way to work up an appetite!}

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at Aleron's response, it was true what she said about Kurama not letting the fishy get into too much trouble, and sure, they could handle anything the human world threw at them after all their experience with demons.... But Aleron didn't exactly sound very certain.

"Heh, you know I heard a thing or two about a new gang starting up while I've been out of town." He said, managing a strained snicker, "I'd feel bad for them if they bumped into our friends!" then he paused, considering the fact that, on the off hand chance that such happened, he'd be missing out on a pretty big street brawl, and after a moment quickly added, "You wanna go look for 'em?" He sounded just a little bit too excited.

----------

Yue was able to keep up with Kurama much more easily as they made their way back to Aleron's than she had been when they were in the main part of the city; she felt like she was able to breathe much more easily when she wasn't surrounded by strange and unfamiliar people, so, even though she was unfamiliar with the particular route that the fox took, she was pretty happy about it... but as she walked onwards she noticed some energy nearby- it was a lot easier to narrow in on it since they weren't surrounded by all sorts of people- that seemed to be following them.... Which was extremely odd to her as it was the energy of humans.... And she didn't know very many humans.
"Is it very normal for h-" She stopped herself from saying 'humans' with difficulty, "-for people to follow other people?" She looked at Kurama and tilted her head, "Because that seems like an odd sort of thing for 'people' to do... and there are quite a few of them doing it I believe...." She took the time to count the energies she felt even though she didn't see anyone in the immediate vicinity, "...Ten... Maybe one or two dogs too I believe...."