Part 7! Part 7! Part 7! 

Alright, I'm already being harrassed nearly everyday for the past week and
I can't help feeling happy when Rhionae's e-mail appeared in my mailbox
today! ::hugs for Rhionae!:: Anyway, I want C&Cs and comments, please. :) 

I nearly fainted when someone sent me her lemon version of part 5 and I
trashed it immediately... Bulma was also feeling dizzy when I told her
about the lemon today at the shopping complex... 

P/S: All previous chapters is posted up at my homepage:
http://members.xoom.com/hiei 

Siew Lee --- ow... my sore feet... 
[wsiewlee@tm.net.my] 

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	    ~~~The Past, The Present And The Future~~~

		    ~~~The Present - Vengeance~~~

		       Chapter 7 - A New Life 

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	"Kaasan... Kaasan! Are you in?" yelled Kurama from outside his 
home. It was about 7.30 in the evening now. Strangely, time passed 
very quickly when you had something in mind to think about.

	"Yes! I'm coming. Just hang on a minute!" yelled a middle age 
female voice from the interior of the house. Arisa clutched Kurama's 
arm anxiously, feeling an uncomfortable fluttering sensation in her 
chest. 

	"Don't worry. Everything shall be fine," assured Kurama. He 
could see that Arisa's lower lip was trembling a little. *C'mon 
Kurama, you are responsible indirectly for all that is happening 
today!* 

	"Yeah... I know. I don't know why but I'm just plain scared," 
answered Arisa. Kurama felt the grip around him arm loosen 
considerably. He sighed a soft sigh and looked at the lights in his 
house. He was still slightly worried that his mother wouldn't be able 
to accept the reality that her baby son was going to be a father 
soon... 

	Kurama nodded and put a comforting arm around Arisa. Just then, 
Shiori stepped out from the front door and unlocked the garden gate. 
"Come in both of you," invited Shiori in a very pleasant way. She 
gave Arisa a puzzled look but smiled at her. Arisa had a feeling that 
Kurama's mother was surely a nice and friendly person but still she 
couldn't shake off that tremor occurring within her. 

	Arisa and Kurama both walked in and took off their shoes,  
wearing only socks inside the house in accordance with Japanese 
tradition. Arisa glanced around nervously. This was her first time 
going to a male's house. At least with a guy who was about her age. 

	Kurama led her to the living room where Kurama's stepfather and 
little Shuiichi were sitting, reading magazines and newspapers. 
Little Shuiichi's eyes lit up at once when he noticed that his elder 
brother was back. His eyes soon caught the image that there was 
another girl standing beside his elder brother. Curiosity flickered 
in his innocent eyes as he looked at Arisa attentively. 

	"Please sit," said Shiori and gestured towards the small mats 
placed neatly on the floor beside a low table. 

	"Thanks," said Kurama and Arisa together. 

	Shiori's husband put down his copy of Shinjuku Press when he 
heard an alien voice near him. Arisa and Kurama sat down and shifted 
uncomfortably on the seats of the brightly lit living room. Arisa 
felt as though there were at least a few thousand pairs of eyes 
staring at her, waiting to make her confess the terrible truth. 

	Kurama's heart was beating wildly. What would be his family's 
reaction if they knew about it? His human mother, father and little 
brother were all seated in front of him. He grabbed Arisa's hand but 
only to feel that she was sweating cold beads of sweat. Every now and 
then, her hand shivered a little. Kurama gave her hand a tiny 
squeeze.

	"Otousan and okaasan, this is Arisa Kino," introduced Kurama 
slowly, trying to regain his composure. Arisa gave a polite smile. 
Mr. and Mrs. Hatanaka just gave a small nod. Shiori had a bad feeling 
about this... Her son, her son seemed so strange today. Maybe... 
maybe it was just her who was experiencing such emotion. 

	Shiori and her husband's expressions stayed unchanged while 
little Shuiichi was at the side giggling maniacally. "Oniisan, is 
that your girlfriend?" he asked curiously, stealing glances at 
Arisa. 

	Kurama gazed at his brother and gave a tiny nod. "Okaasan, 
we're getting married and we need Otousan's and your consent," 
explained Kurama cautiously, then he paused, waiting for their 
reaction. 

	Both Kurama and Arisa winced mentally as both of Kurama's 
parents gasped in shock. 

	"Why so early? Both of you are only just eighteen! Am I right?" 
exclaimed Shiori, directing the last part of the question to Arisa. 
Mr Hatanaka's brows met in a frown, his face showing confusion all of 
a sudden. 

	Arisa just kept her head bent down. This was a question that 
she had expected for a long time now, but she was rendered speechless 
now. 

	"Okaasan, you are going to be a grandmother," announced Kurama 
calmly. 

	Both Shiori and her husband gasped again, for the second time. 
Their eyes slowly widened in shock. At last, Shiori opened her mouth. 
"Since... since when?" 

	"Since two months ago," answered both Arisa and Kurama 
together. 

	"But why? Shuiichi, I thought you are in an all boys school and 
there are no girls at all... Besides, I don't think you are the type 
to go out dating..." reasoned Shiori, trying to make herself believe 
that it was all just a bad prank that her son was playing on her. 

	"Things change, okaasan," sighed Kurama. 

	"We are defeated. Let's give Shuiichi our consent," interrupted 
Shiori's husband suddenly. He gave his wife a squeeze on her 
shoulder. "What is done, was done. Arisa-san is already pregnant and 
we must receive her into our family..." 

	Kurama could hear the hurt tone in his step-father's voice. 
"Thank... thank you, otousan and okaasan," said Kurama as sincere a 
response as he could muster. He could not bear to hurt his parents if 
he could help it. If possible... Arisa stood up and gave Shiori a 
hug. "Thank you," she whispered into Shiori's ear. 

	Little Shuiichi congratulated his elder brother and he ran over 
to tug at Arisa's T-shirt sleeve. "Can I call you oneesan?" he asked 
innocently. 

	Arisa released Shiori and looked at little Shuiichi. She 
patted his hair and said, "Yes, of course! I never had a brother." 

	"Otousan, I have a favor to ask you. Can you keep this matter 
from our relatives and school?" asked Kurama, half afraid that the 
older man might say no. 

	"Why? Why do so?" 

	"Um... both of us are only eighteen and we don't want to 
attract trouble and people nosing around our stuff. Imagine how other 
classmates will laugh at us," explained Kurama. 

	"But they will know sooner or later," reasoned the man. 

	"I just don't want them to know that fast. At least give Arisa 
a break," said Kurama. 

	"Em... that's reasonable. Okay, we'll keep it to ourselves 
until you feel it's time to announce it," said Shiori's husband 
gently. He had always treated Shuiichi Minamino as his own son. 
Kurama thanked him and stood up again. He reached out for Arisa's 
hand who was busy chatting away with little Shuiichi. He tapped her 
lightly on her shoulder. Arisa looked up with her brilliant eyes. 

	"Let's go for a movie," suggested Kurama. 

	"Okay, exactly what I wanted," answered Arisa as she stood up. 
Suddenly Arisa remembered something and whispered into Kurama's ear. 
Kurama nodded and dragged her up the stairs. Both of them burst into 
his room. 

	Kurama's room was quite a big one, but cozily decorated. Over 
the corner of his room, there was a twin bed. Opposite the bed, there 
was a bookshelf covered with manga titles and reference books of 
every school subject. In fact, there were two bookshelves there, one 
was a the end of the room while another was next to the door. 

	"Wow... I'll kill to get these books," commented Arisa as she 
plucked out one to flip through. 

	Kurama just smiled and went over to his study desk. He pulled 
out two notebooks and passed them to Arisa. 

	"Here, my Geography and History notes." 

	"Thanks, at last I won't have to crack my head and do all this 
back breaking work," answered Arisa enthusiastically. "Hm... do you 
share your room with anybody else?" 

	"Well, my brother does share this room with me, but he would be 
moving out in a couple of days and I'll be able to sleep peacefully 
on the bed after that," answered Kurama grabbing hold of Arisa's 
hand. 

	"That's good. At least you would have some privacy to 
yourself," said Arisa. 

	"I think you can stay here for weekends..." suggested Kurama, 
giving Arisa a slight peck on the cheek. 

	"Yeah, hopefully. I could get you to study with me. Ah! I think 
my parents would be on a business trip this weekend, so I would come 
over here this Friday night," said Arisa. 

	"Good idea and perfect timing! My whole family will be going on 
a vacation to Taiwan, so that leaves me alone at home. At least I 
won't have to stay at home alone," agreed Kurama. 

	"Okay, if that's fine with you... Sometimes, I wish my parents 
would spend more time at home with me. I feel so lonely at times," 
said Arisa. "Besides, I hardly have the chance to see them, let alone 
speak to them." 

	"Come on! We have to go now for dinner or we won't be able to 
catch the 9.00pm movie at the cinema," hurried Kurama. He grabbed 
Arisa's hand and ran down the stairs. As he was going out the door, 
he yelled to Shiori. 

	"Okaasan! We will be back late tonight!" 

	Shiori nodded, a tear rolling down her cheek unconsciously. Her 
son was all grown up now. Her baby son... Her eyes followed the two 
human figures that were going further and further into the dusk. 

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	A couple walked down an alley in the middle of a quiet town. It 
was nearly midnight now and there was no one on the streets. Kurama's 
arm was casually slung around Arisa's shoulders while Arisa's left 
hand was around Kurama's waist. 

	"That film was nice, tragic," said Arisa. 

	"Yeah, but still we have to go to school tomorrow. It's getting 
late now," advised Kurama. 

	"Don't worry, I always stay up until 12.30 am. At least the day 
after tomorrow is a Saturday. That means I'm free from prison!" 
answered Arisa as she stifled a yawn, 

	The couple walked on until they were in front of Arisa's 
house. 

	"How am I going to break the news to my parents?" sighed Arisa 
dejectedly. "Just now your parents' reaction was quite normal, not as 
terrifying as I anticipated. But with my parents..." 

	"We will break the news, at the right time," promised Kurama. 

	Arisa waved at him with the two notebooks as Kurama said 
goodnight and walked away. 

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	"Ha! I wonder how I managed to survive until now, a Friday 
night outside the comfort of my home," joked Arisa as she grabbed 
her backpack and set it down at Kurama's living room sofa upstairs. 
This house used to be a place of horror the last time she was here. 
Arisa smiled wryly and she touched the armrest lovingly. This was her 
second home... At least it was more comfortable here than the living 
room downstairs where she first met Kurama's parents. 

	"You never been out before yourself?" asked Kurama curiously.

	"No, not even for slumber parties. I prefer studying at home or 
something of that sort," explained Arisa. She quickly unzipped her 
backpack and produced a few reference and workbooks. "Hope you don't 
mind because I always study at night, until about 12.30 am the 
most..." continued Arisa. 

	Kurama grinned forcefully. Staying with Arisa wouldn't be an 
easy job... 

	"C'mon. Let's fix something to eat and get started on studying. 
Don't forget, we have a major internal school exam next week and I 
want score straight A's... Alright, one week of torture and after 
that we'll be free!" reminded Arisa as Kurama flipped on the 
television screen. 

	"Yeah. I've some junk food on the kitchen counter, I think," 
said Kurama as he ran towards his room. 

	"Where are you going?" asked Arisa as she advanced to the 
kitchen. 

	"I'm going to get some reference books for Science. Surely you 
also want to know my secrets, right?" teased Kurama before running  
further. 

	Arisa sighed and got the potato chips out. She hunted around 
for a glass and poured herself a some water. Slowly, she made her way 
back to the living room and flopped down on the sofa set. 

	Kurama ran back again, this time with a few reference books and 
a equally high stack of workbooks. 

	"Wow... can we finish that all off tonight?" exclaimed Arisa, 
her eyes growing wide at the huge stack of books. 

	"Well, if there's a will, then there's a way," answered Kurama 
as he switched off the television. "For a start, let's listen to some 
music," suggested Kurama. 

	"Yay! I love music," Arisa half shouted and she jumped up 
to select her favorite compact disk from the rack on the coffee 
table. 

	"Okay, let's start," announced Kurama as the music started 
blaring out from the speakers. 

	"What topic shall we begin on..." mumbled Arisa, staring at 
the book index. 

	"I suggest a biology topic, since you are already so good at 
Physics and Chemistry," said Kurama. Arisa blushed a little as she 
remember how the Chemistry teacher kept praising her at her 
understanding of chemical reactions towards certain minerals. 

	"Okay, which topic?" asked Arisa curiously. "I don't want to 
study about frogs!" 

	"What about the ecosystem and how living things maintain their 
population?" suggested Kurama, smiling at Arisa. 

	"Up to you," came the answer. Arisa tore open a packet of 
potato chips and began munching. 

	For the next four hours, the couple was seen sitting at the low 
living room table discussing about food chains and of course, 
breeding. Low voices filled the silent night air and a bright 
fluorescent light was still switched on until very late at night in 
Shiori's house. 

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	"Gods, I'm burned out," groaned Arisa as she stretched her 
arms in her place behind the table. 

	"Me too. It's a miracle that I manage to cover that much in a 
night," agreed Kurama, also stretching. 

	"Yeah, especially when we finished off that ecosystem topic and 
went on to organic chemistry," said Arisa, rubbing her eyes. 

	"You are a lot better in chemistry than I am; although I might 
be better in biology," said Kurama. 

	"Perhaps it might be better if we study together always. If I 
were to work alone, I could only finish in three days and wouldn't 
understand that much," confessed Arisa truthfully. 

	"Who demanded that both of us would have to be in the same 
school? Major challenge, I should say," joked Kurama, shutting his 
book. 

	"I think it's time to get some rest," said Arisa, yawning 
sleepily. 

	"Yeah..." agreed Kurama as he got up from the floor. He stole a 
glance at the wall clock. "It's already 1.00am," announced Kurama 
loudly. 

	Arisa got up also and lay back on the sofa set. She closed her 
eyes and slapped her hand over them. 

	"Are you going to sleep there? I'll help you to the bed..." 
persuaded Kurama, grabbing Arisa's hand. 

	"Yeah, later. I'm very tired," complained Arisa sleepily. 

	"If you don't get up yourself, I will have to carry you up," 
said Kurama. 

	"Carry me then," answered Arisa lazily. 

	"Alright, since you said so," said Kurama. He put a arm under 
Arisa's waist and another under her legs and lifted her up. 

	"Okay, okay! I'll get up myself," yelled Arisa and struggled. 

	Kurama let Arisa down again and watched her clamber up from the 
sofa. "Am I going to stay in your room?" 

	"Where else? But... I will be sleeping on the floor," answered 
Kurama, grinning at Arisa. 

	"Okay then," said Arisa as she heaved herself up. 

	Kurama laughed and followed her. 

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	Arisa flopped down on the bed and immediately started to drift 
off to sleep. Kurama closed the door behind him and lay down beside 
Arisa. He looked at the girl who was sleeping peacefully beside him. 

	Almost cautiously, he touched Arisa's face softly. Her rosy 
cheeks and fair complexion was silky to caress. Kurama sighed a tiny 
sigh... He had already come this far, Hiei had almost become a 
distant shadow in his life. When was the last time he had talked to 
Hiei? Kurama could barely remember now. Maybe two months? Now, he had 
begun to feel for Arisa instead. Was it love that he felt towards 
her? Kurama didn't know, but what he was experiencing now was 
actually happiness. Yeah... maybe he should just go on with life. 
Besides it didn't really matter, right? He could live on as Shuichi 
Minamino, but it felt as if something had just died in him. 

	Yes, Youko Kurama had died in him. Youko Kurama was forgotten 
in him already; his past, his memories, everything. Kurama knew that 
he must always remember that he was a youko by nature, but things 
were different now... He had a family, a school, a life; and now her. 
He wouldn't care what the hell Inari-sama wants him to do anyway. 

	Maybe Hiei had also died in him. 

	His past was dark and shadowy, filled with blood and violence. 
A cruel and unforgiving thief, life as a youko was tough. He was 
hunted by both light and dark. Reikai investigators chased him all 
over Makai while enemies paid exorbitant prices for his life. 

	Kurama smiled a wry smile. It was nearly unbelievable. In such 
a short time span, he had changed from an unmerciful youkai to a 
docile human. Time changed people, people around you changed your 
principles... *What will Inari-sama think if he sees me like this?* 
Kurama toyed with the idea of meeting his guardian, but shuddered in 
fear when he remembered the deadly rule. He must abide this law of 
youkos, but he didn't want Arisa dead... 

	Kurama found himself staring at the lovely face beside him. 
He bent down and gave her a soft kiss. He heard Arisa mumbling 
something but didn't take note of it. It was very dark outside... He 
took a pillow and sat down on the wooden floor. He lay back on his 
place on the floor and slowly went into a deep sleep. 

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	"Please pass up last week's Biology homework now," announced 
Miss Saichiko to the whole class. It was Monday again, bleary eyes 
and sleepy faces filled the seats in the room. 

	Arisa and Kurama were also there, seated comfortably. Arisa 
removed two notebooks from her desk and passed them to the student 
sitting in front. The familiar whirl of the ceiling fan was the only 
noise in the whole room while Miss Saichiko tapped her feet anxiously 
on the floor, waiting for the books. 

	"See? I brought your homework too!" said Arisa and she smiled 
at Kurama. He nodded back and smiled. 

	"Alright, lets' continue with last week's lesson. Students, 
please turn to page 84..." Miss Saichiko's high voice rang throughout 
the whole classroom. Just then, Arisa began feeling waves of nausea  
and choked a little. Kurama reached a hand behind and patted her 
slightly on her back. 

	"What are both of you doing?" demanded Miss Saichoko loudly 
from the front of the class. 

	"Er... nothing," said Kurama and Arisa at once. Miss Saichiko 
gave both of them a warning glance and resumed teaching. 

	"...The natural habitat of the frog differs from species to 
species..." Suddenly, two continuous beeping sounds rang out. Over 
thirty pairs of eyes stared at the origin of the shrill noise. 

	Arisa tugged at Kurama's uniform sleeve. "It's Koenma-sama..." 
she whispered in a low tone. Kurama nodded and reached into his 
pocket to shut it off. 

	Arisa tried to hide the offending pager in her school bag but 
still the sound was quite clear. Kurama began fumbling with the small 
device before Miss Saichiko suddenly shouted, "Stop this nonsense at 
once before I send both of you down to the principal's office!" 

	Just then, the pagers began beeping even louder. "I said shut 
it off!" yelled Miss Saichiko angrily. Arisa and Kurama quickly shut 
off the devices and kept quiet. 

	*What happened in Reikai?* thought Kurama silently. Must be 
something very serious or else Koenma-sama wouldn't page for them at 
this time... 

	*Hang on, Koenma-sama. Another half an hour and we will be 
there...* prayed Arisa softly as she clutched her pager with a 
clenched fist. 

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	It was very tense, almost stiflingly quiet. A figure was pacing 
to and fro in the medium-sized office. In the room, there was a girl 
sitting by the office table, continuously tapping the keys at the 
computer terminal. Another two male figures sat on the chairs 
opposite the girl by the computer. 

	Suddenly, a black shadow flew into the room and rested by the 
windowsill. A small sized figure sat there quietly. A mass of spiky 
black hair with a white star burst on the top... glaring eyes with 
bandages covering his forehead.  

	"Hello, Hiei..." greeted Yusuke, seeing the fire youkai had 
finally turned up. *Why was Hiei so late? In fact, Hiei was one of 
the most punctual around...* thought Yusuke silently as he gazed in 
Hiei's direction. 

	"Hn. Mukuro's fault," snorted Hiei imprudently and rolled his 
eyes impatiently. 

	*Wow... Looks like he could even read my thoughts...* whispered 
Yusuke mentally. 

	The figure in the middle of the room stopped suddenly and 
glanced at the wall clock. *Ten minutes to two...* Seconds and 
minutes were ticking away. Koenma resumed pacing in a businesslike 
manner. 

	"It has been over half an hour since I paged for them," 
grumbled Koenma. Anxiety was beginning to build up in him, cold sweat 
formed on his forehead as he waited anxiously. 

	"Maybe they are unable to get out?" suggested Misuko as she 
began typing in Kurama and Arisa's pager numbers for the twentieth 
time today. "It seems that both of them have switched off their 
pagers." 

	"How could they do this? Yamaro and Murashi are about to attack 
anytime!" screamed Koenma and he folded his arms angrily. "Since when 
did both of them become so irresponsible? Don't they know that 
missions are very important?" 

	"C'mon, Koenma. Cool down. Screaming around won't do any good," 
interrupted Kuwabara and received a deadly glare from Koenma. Botan 
was sitting over at the other end of the room and fiddling with her
oar. Her sweet looking face was filled with worried glances at the 
closed door and she kept shooting looks at Hiei. *He seems cool 
enough, cool enough to sit there acting as if nothing has ever 
happened,* thought Botan. 

	The wooden door burst open with a loud crash, causing everybody 
to look up in shock. A boy and a girl rushed into the room, huffing 
and panting. The boy had red hair while the girl had black hair. It 
was Kurama and Arisa; still dressed in their school uniforms. 

	"Why are both of you so late? And why did you shut off your 
pagers?" demanded Koenma curtly, lending Kurama and Arisa a critical 
eye. 

	"I'm sorry, Koenma-sama, but our school hours were longer by 
about one hour..." apologized Kurama profusely. 

	"As for our pagers, that stupid Miss Saichiko threatened to 
send us down to the principal if we didn't shut our pagers off at 
once... She even insisted that no one should be let out of the 
class," complained Arisa as she fidgeted with her pager. 

	"Alright. Now get cleaned up and change into something 
suitable. I'll explain the details as soon as possible," said Koenma 
and hurried them along. 

*** 

	The small office was filled with talk and discussion. Kurama 
and Arisa were seated on the sofa set, each dressed in long pants and 
shirts. Koenma had finally called for an urgent meeting among the 
Reikai-tanteis. 

	"What's the urgent matter, Koenma-sama?" asked Kurama, his eyes 
showing signs of curiosity. Besides, it had been such a long time 
since there were any youkai attacks around here. 

	Koenma went behind his office desk and sat there. He tapped his 
fingers quickly on the glass covering. "Alright, let's get straight 
to the point this time. Reikai had managed to detect the whereabouts 
of strong youki presence in Ningenkai. Two sources, in fact. I 
suspect these sources belong to our *friends* from back then - Yamaro 
and Murashi," began Koenma and keyed in something at his computer 
terminal. "Why don't all of you gather around here?" 

	Just as eight pairs of eyes stared at the computer screen, 
Koenma pushed some buttons and a digital map showed up. It was in 
the form of a topographic plan and there were little black square 
dots all over it.  It was a map of a certain housing estate in 
Tokyo... Tokyo?! 

	"This is where I think both of them have placed their hideout. 
Over here, dark youki activity was also very widespread. They might 
want to open a trans-world portal over there. They would need to open 
at least one portal to transfer all their secret army over to 
Ningenkai..." explained Koenma as he pointed to a small square marked 
red in the center of the map. 

	"They recruited youkai?" asked Kuwabara, his eyes narrowed to 
a mere slits. He hadn't forgotten how that sissy taunted him the last 
time he fought with him. Unconsciously, he reached up a hand to feel 
the imaginary bump on his head where Yamaro had slammed him that day. 

	"Well, when they attempted to take over Reikai, they had 
somehow managed to recruit more than a hundred S-class youkais to 
support them... I'm getting like a nervous wreck now," confessed 
Koenma as he took turns to look at his investigators. 

	"You *are* a nervous wreck..." mumbled Kuwabara before gasping 
in pain from an elbow from Yusuke. 

	"We'll stop them before they wreak any havoc," assured Yusuke 
with clenched fists. "Let's go!" 

	"Yeah!" yelled everybody at once. 

	Just before Arisa made it out of the door, she caught Misuko 
looking at her with that peculiar expression in her eyes... Deep 
inside, she knew that Misuko was worried for her; but things would 
always turn out fine, wouldn't they? 

	Sometimes, but not always. 

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Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee 

All standard Yu Yu Hakusho disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

E-mail: Siew Lee [wsiewlee@tm.net.my]
URL: http://members.xoom.com/hiei
UIN: #14025577

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