Ed pushed his speed a little faster, reaching the human limit, and rounded the street corner. Spotting his prey turning into a dark alley, Ed pushed his speed further, bypassing the human limit and appearing as a blur of gray and gold to the human eye. Feet clad in silk slippers that Kurama had given him, fell silently on the pavement, the kitsune dashed after the man not wanting to lose his sight on him.

Ed didn’t really like silk slippers; they wear out too quickly for him. He still liked his old, heavy black boots but they crunched and made about as much noise as a herd of thirsty elephants spotting a nearby waterhole during a summer drought. Silk slippers, though less practical, made little noise and if needed, Ed could go barefoot.

Finally reaching the alley, Ed hurried his way down, leaping over piles of trash, and scaring a cat out from a cardboard box. The cat yowled angrily at Ed, which he ignored, too focused in reaching his goal. The night provided little light for Ed in the alley, but his kitsune eyes solved that problem only to be presented with another.

The man was nowhere to be seen.

Ed had lost him.

Cursing, Ed kicked the cardboard box that was beside him, awakening dust-bunnies and bugs crawling underneath it. The cat hissed at the sight of its wrecked home before disappearing through a broken window of an abandoned apartment.

“Is the little Tentai angry?”

At the sound of the voice, Ed whirled around, golden eyes trying to pinpoint the source. He couldn’t feel any reiki coming near him. But that’s impossible. Right? Apparently it wasn’t.

“Koenma’s sending whelps these days? Can’t blame him, with the mess he has on his hands right now.”

The voice was coming from behind him. Ed spun back around, sharp eyes spotting an odd hunched figure leaning casually on the wall. It chuckled and moved closer to Ed, allowing the kitsune to confirm his suspicion. It was his ‘prey’ alright. But why did he have no reiki or any other ki for that matter? He moves so he's not dead right?

“Is the little kit confused?” The man drew his head back and laughed, the sound rolling and echoing eerily down the alley. Ed winced unconsciously, wondering if he was dealing with a youkai that fought with sound. But the guy had no ki! Ed’s mind screamed back at him. It made no sense. Nothing can be alive without ki. Narrowing his golden eyes in suspicion, Ed glared at the man standing twenty feet away from him, casually taking his hands out from his pocket. “You’re a kitsune aren’t you? They pay quite a lot for a kitsune slave.” A rustle and the sound of a breeze rushing past him, Ed suddenly felt a hand touching his cheek, stroking his face as if he was a precious stone.

Cold sweat trickle down his brow. Despite of the hulking figure, the man moved fast. Possibly faster than Ed’s own speed. If the man were holding a weapon, Ed would have been dead.

Was the guy a fire demon then? But...

“Still a kit.” The man chuckled behind him, his callused hands stroking Ed’s cheek. “I’ll leave you be…for now. Pass a message to Koenma for me.”

Ed snarled, hands bundled into a fist, fingernails lengthening to tear at the man’s throat. Flipping his other hand over, the man easily caught Ed’s slender wrist. “Tell Koenma, Ankuro sends his regards.” With a twist and sickening crack, the man deftly twisted Ed’s left wrist into an unnatural angle. Ed gasped, eyes watering a little from the pain, but he still managed to land a hit to the strange man’s stomach with his good fist. Grip loosened, Ed scrambled from his attacker’s hold to stand a couple feet away, eyeing the man and nursing another broken bone. That makes how many four now...damn him.

“And one more thing…tell the Furer that I’m sorry I couldn’t attend his ‘tea-party’ this weekend.” The man sneered at the cowering figure glaring at him. Ed snarled showing his sharp incisors, putting on a defensive stance, waiting for the man to strike. Despite of his earlier bravado, he admitted that in his current state he was no match for the stranger as the man’s ki suddenly flared out.

So he is alive after all. Ed gritted his teeth, wondering whether he should retreat for now and kill this nuisance when he recovered. As always, his pride won over his survival instinct. Ed dug his feet onto the ground to brace himself.

The darkened alley brightened as the man’s ki continued to flow around him, whipping up dirt and trash and tossing them into the air, dancing in a miniature whirlwind.

He felt his heart sink, recognizing the beginnings of something that looks Yusuke’s transformation to his demonic form. He still hadn't seen Al and now he’s going back to reiki as a spirit! Ed gritted his teeth with determination, his good hand inching towards his sweeping front bangs where the demonic seeds were kept.

But as suddenly as it started, the outburst of ki vanished, leaving some pieces of trash dangling in mid-air to fall. Behind him, the kitsune heard the yowling of that same stray cat as it suddenly fell out of the sky. Ed blinked, adjusting his eyes to the sudden darkness of the street.

The man lay crumbled on the ground, arms and legs askew. The neatly pressed military coat was in tatters, just like the cardboard box that had been beside Ed.

Is he dead or unconscious? Or just feigning sleep?

The same man, that could have killed him without giving Ed enough time to pull out his poisoned thorns or dagger, lay on the ground in repose.

What the hell just happened!

Ed grabbed a piece of trash and threw it onto the man’s head. There was an empty ‘thunk’ as the can made its target and bounced off.

The man didn’t move.

Now that Ed is quite sure the man is dead or unconscious. No military man with pride could stand being thrown trash at. At least Ed wouldn't. He took a few tentative steps closer. Still no movement. Feeling braver, Ed judged his distance and kicked hard at the man’s head.

It rolled off.

Ed gaped. What the –

“What’s going on here?” A group of blue-clad officers ran down the alley. They had discovered a suspicious source of light and having nothing better to do, decided to find out the source. Upon reaching the scene, several officers gagged at the sight while several pounced onto the stunned blonde beside the beheaded person. It was obvious who the culprit was, with his foot still in the air where the head should have been.

---G-O-L-D-E-N --- K-I-T-S-U-N-E---

The kitsune found himself tossed into an interrogation room. Blank white, dented walls with wooden desk in the middle and three chairs, a typical human interrogation room. Ed sighed with relief, sat down on the nearest uncomfortable chair and nursed his recent battle wound. In Makai, interrogation took place in a dungeon with whips, chains and burly, blood-thirsty youkai.

Ed was very familiar with the interrogation process. Yusuke and him were Koenma’s favorite interrogation team, mainly because they were ruthless. Kurama was a tad bit too soft-hearted, and Hiei wanted to see blood no matter what happens. Kuwabara did not have enough brain cells. So that left Yusuke, who was there because he had raw power that frightened weaker demons, and Ed, who had the blackmail material and the patience of a two-year old human child.

But since this was a role-reversal, so Ed wasn’t quite sure how to proceed.

The door swung opened as two military men shuffled in, looking sleepily disgruntled being awake at 2 in the morning, but alert. Ed kept his eyes down on the table measuring the amount of ki outside before deciding that it wouldn’t be wise to break out just yet.

There was a soft thud on the table as a cream-colored folder landed on the table. Hands lazily opened and scattered the papers messily around the table. “What’s your name?”

Ed shifted into a more comfortable position by crossing his arms, trying to hide his broken wrist. “Edo.” He drawled out, looking up into the eyes of two unsmiling blond-haired man. One of them let out a soft gasp of surprise, brown eyes widening slightly. The other officer quickly kicked his companion, silently rebuking him.

“Edo what?” The brown-eyed officer asked quickly, ignoring the frown on his friend’s face.

“Edo Minamino.” An alias that Ed had picked and used earlier in the seedy inn he was staying in. If the military bothered looking it up, Ed was sure the barkeeper would be on his side. He had paid him enough gold for that.

“Oh.” The brown-eyed man looked disappointed but tried not to reveal it. “Erm…sorry about this mess. Let’s get started then.”

The kitsune noted the oddness of this man. He seemed tookind-hearted to be doing this type of work. Maybe that’s why, Ed returned the glare of the other officer, this one seemed almost protective of the other. Or maybe it was because the brown-eyed one is inexperienced with this sort of thing. He couldn’t be more than twenty-one years old. And he looked familiar…somehow. Ed frowned a little.

The older blonde’s blue eyes hardened as amber eyes gazed back into his own. There was almost something familiar and strange in those eyes. Amber eyes are rare, but this kid’s eyes aren’t just amber, they seemed to glow. Like a cat. “What were you doing in the alley?” Make it a stray distrustful cat eyeing the offered fish with disdain.

The man’s voice was soft but had a cold edge to it that sliced into your thoughts like a knife. Ed liked it, and hated it at the same time. It had the same tone as Kurama had when Ed did something really bad, like accidentally leaving a death tree seed in the middle of Tokyo zoo. He really had no idea what it was doing in his pocket. “I was … taking a walk. I couldn’t sleep.” Ed finished lamely, cursing himself for not thinking out before speaking.

“Why were you with the victim? Did you know him?” The younger blonde spoke up. His voice, Ed decided, he liked. It had a soft, caring quality, though in this case it came out a little naïve, which added to the purity of this person. Looking up, Ed found the blonde looking at him with an earnest expression on his face. Ed immediately decided he liked the younger blond a lot better than his partner.

“No. I thought he was suspicious so I followed him.” That was true. Ed gave himself a pat on the back.

“What do you mean by suspicious?” The younger one pressed on eagerly, it seemed as though he was determined to prove something.

“He was walking oddly then started running. Maybe he sensed me behind him so he ran. Just cried out to my instincts so I followed him.”

“So you don’t know who he is and you just decided to follow him.” The older officer sounded a little bemused.

Ed shrugged. “I didn’t know who he is but he looked like he was out to do something bad, you know.”

“Even though he’s wearing a military uniform and looked every inch like Brigadier Watkins.”

Shrugging a little, trying to appear nonchalant and innocent, Ed spoke, making sure he kept his voice steady with a touch of hesitation. “I’m not really into politics or the military. I didn’t know who he was until you told me. He just seemed suspicious, like he’s off to rob someone so I followed. I don’t judge people by their appearances, but by their actions.” Ed filed the name away for later use in the library or in the military complex.

The younger man beamed, the tense atmosphere dispersing quickly, making Ed unconsciously smile along with him. “Good! That means he’s innocent right? And you got to admit, Brigadier Watkins doesn’t look like the friendliest officer in town.” The older officer grunted, ignoring the younger’s salutation.

“Well, we’ll just have to ask you a few more questions before you can go. Did you talk to him?”

It wouldn’t do much good but cause more confusion if Koenma and spirit world was mentioned. Deciding to spare them a headache, Ed gave them the illustrated version. “Sort of. He told me to die and I told him hell no.”

“That’s it? There were mentions of a strange light coming from your area. Do you know anything about that?”

“No. It was weird. He glowed like light bulb after he hit me.”

“You were in a fight?” The younger officer leaned forward suddenly, eyes widening when he saw Ed’s scratches and bruises, mostly left over from his last fight in Makai. “You’re hurt!”

Ed waved it off, using his good hand. “It’s nothing much. But the light, that’s from Brigadier what’s-iz-name. It was too bright for me to see properly.”

“Did anything…unusual happen after the light?”

“He fell apart. Then you guys came and I got sent here.”

The older officer scribbled some notes on the margin of a sheet of paper. “You can go then. Leave your address and phone number on the front desk. We’ll be contacting you if something comes up.”

Ed was surprised at the sudden dismissal, and the lack of punches, kicks and noise that usually accompanied him and Yusuke. He stood up stiffly from his chair but the younger officer pulled him back. Concerned brown eyes gazed down at Ed then turned to the broken wrist.

“You’re hurt. Let’s fix this up before you leave Edo.” He smiled gently at the kitsune who stared back wondering why this unexpected warmth coming from this heart felt so familiar.

“Let him go Alphonse. He can find the way to the hospital himself.” The older officer started picking up the papers, putting them back in order. His eyebrows crinkled with permanent frustration. Which was why he missed the look of shock on Ed’s face.

“But-“ Alphonse had his face turned to his partner, wondering what had made him so cold and callus this time. His partner usually has a soft spot for kids, but it seemed to have disappeared somehow when confronted with Edo. Or maybe it was because Edo was a teenager, past the cute, button-nosed, wide-eyed stage. “He’s hurt! It’ll just take a minute. I’ll be back later.” Placing his warm hands on Ed’s shoulders, Alphonse guided the kitsune out of the interrogation, leaving his grumbling superior behind with the paperwork.

“Sorry about that. Russ is probably feeling stressed. The higher-ups want to figure out the problem quicker but we just don’t seem to have the resources, or enough leads. I’ll bring the paper work with us. Let’s go to the hospital first.” Waving goodbye to the front desk, Alphonse lead an unresisting Ed back into the street. “It’s not very far from here. Can you walk? If you can’t I’ll carry you.”

Still in stupor, Ed shook his head trying to clear the cobwebs. He had just found his brother! Though Al didn’t recognize him, possibly because he looked so different. Heck, two hundred years is definately long enough to change anybody. Suddenly, everything seemed a lot less significant. Youkai, Koenma, Makai, flew completely out of Ed’s mind as he concentrated on keeping his elation to the minimal so he wouldn’t scare poor Al away from jumping and hugging him to death. The shock would kill him, if Al managed to survive Ed’s strangling embrace.

“No problem.”

Ed gave a yelp as Al suddenly placed his arms around him. So Al did recognize him! How could he have not? Al was his brother, so he must have got the smarts from somewhere. Ed reached up and hugged his not-so-little brother. “Al, I – ep!” Alphonse swept him off his feet, literally, carrying Ed in a bridal style with Ed’s arms unabashedly hanging around his neck.

“What are you doing?” Ed spluttered, turning red.

“You said you can’t walk. You’re so light!” Al smiled good-naturedly at the blushing kid in his arms. He couldn’t help but chuckle as the red face pouted and grumbled.

Al’s embrace was warm, covering him like a huge down comforter.

Ed snuggled a little closer.

It felt like home.

He hadn’t felt that in years.

Ed smiled a little, head turned so Al couldn’t see his face. Perhaps Al didn’t recognize him afterall. He didn’t react the way Ed imagined Al would. A glint of sadness reflected in Ed’s eyes and he tightened his hold around his brother’s neck.

It doesn’t really matter either way.

As long as he was with his brother, everything would be all right.

TBC