Ed sighed but nodded. At least he wasn''t having to deal with Mustang too. He started walking next to her, watching Kurama and Yusuke.

Yusuke nodded, not too worried. Then he spotted the other three. Great. More cold. He decided to let kurama do the talking, half-tempted to go join Hiei in the tree.

Al walked with his brother. He was still fascinated by what he was learning, and hadn't felt the need to ask questions yet. Ed had taken care of that one.

"What's going on?" Naomi asked as she got closer to the other three. "Where's Osanna?"

"Back at her house," Yusuke said with a shrug. "She said something about needing to cook because her grandpa's coming over later."

He didn't see the need to evacuate the house, but oh well. He wasn't going to argue with Kurama. The fox usually won.

Ed couldn't help but snicker. They were leaving because her grandfather was coming over sometime later that day? Either he was really scary or they were easily scared.

Naomi almost face-palmed.

"I completely forgot about that," she said. "He hardly ever visits, and it's kind of a big deal." She sighed. "Alright, then, apparently I get to keep an eye on you all for right now while we all stay out of the way."

"What's so scary about some old guy?" Yusuke grumbled. "I mean, really. He's a demon. So what?"

Ed kind of had to agree with him. But he didn't say anything.

Naomi raised an eyebrow.

"Would you want someone saying that about you?" she asked. "Really, though, this is the part where we stay out the way. I usually hide out in my house." She was a half-breed, she stayed well out of the way of high-level demons. They would just tear her apart.

"Hiding out is starting to sound like a really good idea," Al muttered to his brother.

Ed nodded his agreement. He was confident he could take a lot, but this whole demon mess was making him uneasy. "Come on, Al," he muttered, starting to head inside.

Yusuke sighed but trudged after the brothers, muttering under his breath the whole time. Hiei stayed outside in the tree where he could keep an eye on everything.

Naomi waited until all of them were inside before following them in. She wasn't all that concerned when the one in black didn't follow. It was still cold in the house, which she liked, but she reluctantly went over to the thermostat and turned the heat up to comfortable human levels. She could always turn it back down later.

"Osanna will let me know once her grandfather leaves again," she said.

"Great." Yusuke sighed. "Hey Kurama, you still have that deck of cards?" Hey, he had to do something to keep himself amused...

Ed went over and sat on the couch, just watching the others for now. They still made him a little uneasy.

It didn't take long for Naomi to go back up to her room briefly to change into something a little cooler than long jeans and a t-shirt. Once she was wearing shorts and a tank, though, she was perfectly content to settle herself in front of her gaming system and play her newest video game for a while.

Al watched the game, fascinated. It wasn't like anything he'd ever seen before. He almost wanted to know how it worked, but decided that it was probably one of those things that would be explained away as magic or something. This world seemed to be like that.

Kurama wasn't all that interested in the video game, but he'd found a couple of books lying around the room, and was immersed in one of them. It was a good enough way to pass the time.

About an hour after dinner, Osanna sent Naomi a text: Grandfather wants to meet everyone, so line 'em up."

Yusuke looked up when he heard Naomi's phone. He'd started playing with Naomi, actually having fun. Ed had been content to look around and browse through books, talking softly with Al, but now he looked over at Naomi.

Naomi paused the game to look at her phone. She read the message.

"Ugh, that bitch," she muttered. "She knows he doesn't like me. She knows."

"What's going on?" Al asked, looking over at her as well. Naomi sighed.

"We're all heading over to Osanna's place now," she said. She stood up. "I need to go change again."

Osanna promptly sent another message. And don't go anywhere, he said he wants to see my garden anyway, so we're going over. You know how he gets. Sorry!

Yusuke saw that text message and frowned. "Oh, joy. Another visitor."

Naomi was about ready to pull out her hair at that one.

"Oh you don't even get it," she said to Yusuke. "Osanna's grandfather doesn't like me, at all. I know exactly why, and it's not something I can really do anything about, which is why I always stay well out of the way. And now she's bringing him here." Turning, she stormed up the stairs to change into something that might or might not win her a few brownie points. The less she reminded her friend's grandfather what she was, the better off everything would be.

Yusuke blinked a few times before he shrugged it off. How bad could one demon be, really? After everything he'd been through one little fox demon didn't sound bad.

About fifteen minutes later Osanna knocked on the door. Hiei had already slipped inside Naomi's house again. He was curious to see this Blood fox.

Naomi was tempted not to answer the door, but she sighed and went to open it anyways. She'd changed back into her jeans and a nice shirt, and had pulled her hair back so it was off of her neck. She was already far too warm for her comfort, but it couldn't be helped.

She wasn't looking forward to this.

Osanna entered first, looking extremely apologetic. Then her grandfather came in after her, standing about 6'6" with crimson hair, fox ears and tail, and gold eyes. He looked at everyone in the room very carefully.

"Naomi. Good to see you again." He smiled at her, just a little, and he was faking it. But he would play nicely for his granddaughter's sake. "Are these your new friends, Osanna?"

Osanna nodded, keeping close to him in case she had to drag him outside again.

Yusuke blinked when he saw Richard. He didn't look so bad, even if he was tall. in fact, he looked a lot like Yoko Kurama, just different hair color. And he didn't seem too powerful or anything.

Ed's eyes narrowed as he looked at Richard. He was very obviously a demon. He just stayed quiet so as not to draw attention to himself.

Kurama also stayed quiet. In an unfamiliar place, it was always best to show respect to the ones who actually lived there.

Naomi nodded in reply.

"It's good to see you again, too," she said politely. That was really the best she could do. She wasn't exactly pleased with the situation. She stepped aside slightly so he could come in.

Al stayed close to his brother, making sure not to draw any attention to them, either.

Richard's gaze paused on Kurama. "I see you found another fox to play with," he said with an indulgent smile for Osanna. "Is he like the last one?"

Osanna turned red and punched him in the arm, though not hard. Richard just laughed quietly, turning back to Kurama.

"Good. I'd hate to have to interrogate another of your playmates, little one." He looked at the rest of the group, mentally dismissing Al and Ed, skimming over Yusuke, and pausing on Hiei. "Oh, another elemental. That must be why the house isn't frozen over for once."

Osanna scowled up at her grandfather and quickly used sign language to tell him, "Be nice, dammit. You promised."

Naomi had to grit her teeth not to comment. She knew very well that the dig was aimed at her. She just wanted to get this 'visit' over with so she could go shut herself in her room. She subtly shot Osanna a look that clearly said 'can we get rid of him now?'

Kurama was curious about the playmate comments. He would have to ask about that later. For now, though, it seemed best not to.

"Well, much as I would love to stay and interrogate you all before letting you into my granddaughter's house again, I do have a business to run." Richard let Osanna half-drag him out of the house, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek. "Contact me if you need me, little one." He switched his gaze to the others, specifically Kurama. "I'll see you again soon." Then he vanished, gone too fast for the eye to follow.

Osanna let her breath out slowly, reminding herself that her grandfather just meant the best for her.

"That was kinda freaky," Yusuke muttered.

"That's exactly why I try to stay out of the way," Naomi said. As soon as Richard was gone, she turned to go upstairs again. It was obvious that Osanna's grandfather cared about her, and Naomi always hated the reminder that her own father hadn't bothered contacting her since she was eighteen. "I'm going to go change into something more comfortable."

Kurama wasn't unnerved at all, but he was curious. Maybe he would ask Osanna about the visit later.

Al relaxed a little once the demon was gone.

"Brother, I think I'm kind of glad Naomi and Osanna found us instead of someone like that," he said to Ed.

"Yeah, me too," Ed said quietly. "I don't think we'd still be here if someone like him had found us." He didn't care to admit it, but the demon had unsettled him.

Hiei watched Naomi retreat upstairs without a word. Yusuke, meanwhile, shook his head.

"That wasn't so bad. Why'd you shoo us out of the house?" he asked Osanna. She just shook her head, looking after Naomi for a few moments, trying to figure out if she needed to be alone for a bit.

Naomi went straight up into her room and closed the door securely, taking the time to close it quietly rather than letting it slam. It was much cooler in her room than in the rest of the house, but it wasn't as cold as it should have been since she'd turned on the heat. Concentrating for a moment, she forced a layer of frost to form over almost everything. The temperature dropped a few degrees, but it wouldn't drop further unless she iced everything over.

"Is she alright?" Al asked after a moment. "She seemed kind of... mad." It didn't take a genius to figure out how quickly Naomi's mood had changed.

Osanna sighed and went over to the table, getting out pen and paper. She and my grandfather don't get along at all. They never have, and I don't suspect they ever will. Thus why she normally tries to stay out of the way whenever he comes over.

"So she's having a temper tantrum?" Yusuke guessed.

"I doubt it's that simple," Ed said. "It never is."

It's not a temper tantrum, Osanna wrote. It's more her way of dealing with things. Now unless you want to get cold, shoo. I'm turning the thermostat back down for her. She walked over and made the house a little colder than usual, since Naomi liked that, before she left the house to go back to her place.