He would never understand how their minds work. 

            He had good reason to reaffirm that statement at the very moment, even as he tried in vain to squirm free of the iron grasp that held him --tightly, he might add-- into his current position; atop a long, none too clean counter that had seen better days. A pungent smell assaulted his tiny nostrils; in fact, it seemed to emanate from the dark liquid that dribbled everywhere, mostly in puddles at his feet. He tried one last time to break free --sweet, sweet freedom never seemed so far away until that instant-- but only succeeded in tightening the human's grip around him. 

            The human in question, was a brown-haired woman, who seemed to care not about Puu's predicament; every so often, she would take huge gulps out of a heavy filled container, then bellow for more once emptied.     

            "Gimme anudder one, guv'nor!"

             The man, a tall hulking sort of brute who filled the woman's container, shook his head. "You sure you can take another, Atsuko? I think that's enough for you today." 

             A hand came down hard against the counter, causing Puu and several other bottles to jump. "Course not! I know m'limits, Den. Ain't none enough for me!" Atsuko laughed uproariously. She snuggled close to Puu, close enough for the latter to smell that strong liquid smell in her breath. "An for my drinkin' pardner too, eh Den?"

            "Puuu." Puu pleaded, hoping for some sort of pity from the tall, terrible woman.     

            "That'sa mah penguin!" Atsuko crowed happily, shaking her empty mug with her free hand. "We'll keepun drinkin' till we fall offa th' table!"    

            Puu prayed for deliverance. 

             "Here y'go!" Atsuko tried to shove a brimming glass up Puu's beak; an attack that Puu somehow managed to avoid. "Dun be shy, we're jussa gal n her flyin' penguin sharin' a drink, wot?" Her next attempt was successful; Puu's mouth was immediately ensconced with cold, amber, and foul-tasting brine. He spluttered his protest, but the majority of the drink found its way down his throat and stomach, where it burned like fire. "Feels gud, eh?"

            "PuuuUUUUuuuuu......"

             She could be dead; but much to Puu's guilt, he was only interested in the fact that the human's hold on him had loosened; freedom, delicious freedom! The feeling of guilt vanished as soon as Atsuko began to snore loud as a thunderstorm; tottering to his feet, he wriggled his huge blue ears and flapped unsteadily away from the dank, dark room and towards the light. Vision was slowly blurring. That drink packed a punch more powerful than a Reigan. 

            Head whirling, Puu managed to locate a suitable branch to sit and rest on. Blinking owlishly several times, he managed to keep the steady pounding in his head into a dull roar after some minutes. It took some more minutes after that, that he realized he was not alone. 

             The lone figure sharing his branch paid scant attention to the blue long-eared bird now intruding on his territory; his eyes remained fixated below, intent on studying a --Puu scrunched up his eyes and peered down as well -- a familiar-looking blue-haired young woman, happily immeshed admist flowers and bright green grass. 

            Puu knew him; he was part of the group Yuusuke belongd to, the one they called Hiei. Hiei wasn't human; he was a youkai, and for that Puu supposed that they share yet another common kinship. He also knew that this Hiei had some strange relationship with the young girl below as well, a sister of some sort; but that Hiei had never told. Puu thought that Hiei, for all his contempt for humans, acted just like them, sharing in all their weird and complicated idiosyncrasies. But he would be a fool to say that directly to his face, of course. If he could talk. 

            Then Hiei's head jerked up and fixed him with a glare so deadly, Puu wondered if leaving the other, smelly room was a good idea. 

            "What are *you* doing here?"

            "Puu."

            "Hn. Go away." 

            "Puu."

            "You stupid, idiot? Are you going to sit here all day and stare at me?"

            "Puu."    

            "Hn. Why am I even talking to a damn bird?" 

            "Puu." 

            Disgusted, Hiei turned away from him to return to his contemplation of his sister. 

            Feeling a little affronted, Puu decided that he was not wanted here, despite all his overtures of friendship. With a little flick of his ears, Puu sailed down into the garden, opting to go with the wind. He puued happily, and closed his eyes, already feeling the beginnings of relaxation, long deserved.. 

            But then there was a sudden flash of someone - or something - blue, orange and with an unspeakably large mouth, streaking through and bowling him over as if he was a wayward leaf. Puu let out a mighty squawk of protest as he cartwheeled over and over again, his sense of direction quickly falling apart.

            "YUKINA-CHAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN!"

            From his position atop the ground, Puu could make out someone with tall orange hair jabbering excitedly at a startled Yukina. With dizzy cooing sounds, Puu managed to get himself upright, long enough to see the leaves of the tree above the couple, beginning to twitch in angry protest, the beginnings of barely concealed violence already hovering in the air. 

            Right then and there, the little bird known as Puu decided to go somewhere nice and safe. 

            Flapping his large furry ears once more, Puu soared off in search of a refuge. High up in the sky, he had a bird's eye view - literally - of the things that went on far below; people coming in and out of strange houses, often carrying with them large heavy bags that to Puu's way of thinking suited no important purpose; strange devices that zoomed in and out among the roads, stopping sometimes to give respect to yet another weird machine that blinked red, green and yellow ; large green trees that gave the only sane semblance of society in this very twisted world; Yuusuke a small speck on the same road, walking and talking to one with --

            -- Yuusuke!

            With a loud and important "Puu!", Puu dove beakfirst downwards, stopping long enough to resettle himself on Yuusuke's spiky hair. 

            "What in the --? Puu!" Yuusuke yelped, hands automatically lifting up towards his head in a futile effort to tear Puu loose. "Get off me, you stupid bird! I'm headin' for school and you ain't allowed in there! Shoo! Scat!"

            "Puuuu!" Puu puued. 

            His companion, a tall redhead, laughed. "It might take sometime before you get him off your head, Yuusuke!"

            "Aww Kurama, quit chortling and help me get rid of this baka!" Yuusuke growled. Poor Puu couldn't understand why he was being evicted off his favorite perch. As it is, it took several minutes of convincing and pleading before he was persuaded to reluctantly relinquish his hold on Yuusuke's head. Doing his best to look hurt and indignant, Puu began to toss his ears back and open his beak to tell them how he really felt --

            "Puu! Puu puu puuuuuuu puu! Puu puu!" 

            "That's a good bird. Hey Yuusuke, we better get a move on if we don't want to be late for school!" 

            "Ah, shoot! I can't get detention today, Keiko's gonna kill me!" 

            The two took off, leaving a very frustrated Puu behind to wallow in self-pity and with a growing exasperation for the human race in general. 

            With nothing else he can think of doing, Puu sadly took off, taking to aimless flying around the park . Humans really were so unfair. 

            To console himself, Puu settled down on a strange-looking box to sulk. Suddenly, he wished that he wasn't the only one of his kind in both the Ningenkai and Makai; everyone seemed to understand one another, but no one ever thought of understanding him. 

            Who had shielded the girls from all that dangerous spirit ki  from Yuusuke and the big-scary-guy-with-glasses (he never did find out his name) during the Ankoku Bujutsukai match? "Puu!"

            Who was responsible for reviving Yuusuke shortly after he was presumed dead in his fight with  yet-another-scary-guy-who-wants-to-open-a-Makai-portal-and-rule-the-world person? (he didn't know that guy's name either) "Puu!"

            And who teleported the rest to safety during *that* fight? "Puu!"

            And what did he get in return? "Puu!"

            Exactly. Nada. Everyone probably thought penguins were overrated. Now, if Yuusuke actually did something right sometime during one of his several lifetimes, and had willed him into the form of a small, cute cat instead of a silly looking bird with ears taller than he is.......

            A sweet, all-too familiar scent however, wafted through his sense of smell and chucked such unimportant things like comparative morality out of his mind. He looked left, then right, wondering where that delicious odor was coming from. An idea struck, and he looked down. 

            Ice cream. Oodles and oodles of rich, sweet, creamy......

            "Puuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu........."

            Puu quickly got to work. But fate, twisted and gnarled, had other plans.  

            "What--? Hey, you dumb bird! Lay off my ice cream!" At once, Puu shot upward, nanoseconds before a painful-looking beanie snow cone stick could find its mark. Its owner, a jolly looking man that offset the current scowl plastered on his face, was shaking his wide forehead in dismay. 

            "My boss is *not* gonna believe this..."

            Deprived of sustenance and comfort, Puu finally gave up and decided to hightail it back home, where safety beckoned like a shining beacon. Genkai's quarters were beginning to look like paradise with each growing second.

            "Waaaaaaahhhhh!! Stop hitting my brother!"

            "Stay out of this, girlie! This is between your brother an' me!"

            But what was this? From his vantage point, Puu could spot a commotion from under him; a lone youngster, barely into adolescence, getting beat up by a much older bully while another girl tearfully looked on. This seemed to be a lot like what Yuusuke often does, only this looked more serious this time. Puu was a compassionate bird at heart, as no one else seemed to be around to break up this fight, he decided that it fell on his shoulders as *his* responsibility. With another loud and mighty "Puuuuu!", Puu pounced. 

            The boy may or may not have seen his attacker; all he felt were the sudden flap of wings overhead, a startling shade of blue, and a steady incessant pecking at the spot between his eyebrows. He flailed helplessly, but Puu was relentless. 

            "Puu!" Peck. "Puu!" Another peck. "Puu!" Peck. "Puu!" Peck. 

            Not even the world's most experienced bully could endure such an assault. With one last yelp of pain, the boy threw up his hands in a last desperate attempt for protection, and took off in a flash, screaming for his mommy. 

            Work done, Puu condescended long enough to allow himself to be petted and fussed over by the young boy and girl, before taking flight once more. Now *those* human knew exactly how to treat a bird......

            It was much, much later when Yuusuke and Kurama arrived at Genkai's temple from school, to see Puu happily snuggled away in old warm blankets, snoring as much as a blue long-eared bird can snore.

            "He looks pretty tuckered out." Kurama noted, shrugging off his jacket. 

            Yuusuke scoffed, rolling his eyes upward. "Lazy, that's what he is. He probably didn't even do a whole freakin' thing all day long!" 

            Fortunately for Yuusuke, Puu was too busy asleep to hear him.