A/N: Wooo! So I'm dedicating this fic to C.Queen who makes me laugh more than any other author I've read from. Be warned, there is some Botan bashing! XD
Italics thoughts
Bold Italics memories/flashbacks
Disclaimer: I don't own it. (shrug)
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Deep in the forests of Makai, a certain fire demon found herself on the run. This was a common thing of course, so other demons turned a blind eye on the young demon's dilemma.
"I warned you, Rei! Stealing from me will earn you a punishment worse than an eternity in Hell."
The fire sprite shrieked and forced herself to run faster. Where was a fire when you really needed one? It was common knowledge that sprites could travel by their specific element; they just couldn't create that element out of thin air.
Ah, shit! She dove behind a fallen tree as a blast of demon energy took out a good quarter of the land. Looking down at the necklace in her hands, she grimaced; pretty as it was, it wasn't worth her life.
"Moriko-sama! I surrender! Please don't kill me!" So she was begging. Everyone begged at one point, right? She held the necklace up and cautiously left her hiding place.
A very, very angry wolf demon glowered down at the child-like being. "No, I don't think I will kill you." Moriko's golden eyes had a wicked gleam. "But I do know of a fitting punishment for you, Rei."
Before she could even scream, Rei's world went black.
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"Ah, so the little thief is awake then. Good. I'll just explain a few things before I go."
Kami, turn it off! My back is killing me. Rei groaned and felt her body twitch.
"Oh, don't worry. You're only temporarily paralyzed. It'll wear off as soon as I go back to Makai."
Go…back? Her eyes fluttered open. Everything was blurry, but from what she could see, she was in an alley of some sort.
"Anyway, I've temporarily restricted all of your sprite power, so the only thing you can do for the time being is sense demon and spirit energy. Oh, and you're still immortal; too bad everyone else won't be able to sense what you really are. There's only one way to remove the spell I've put on you and I doubt you'll ever figure it out. Ciao!"
Rei felt her jaw drop as the wolf demon stepped through a portal back to Makai.
What the hell was that bitch talking about? What spell?! She stretched, grateful that she could move again, but she could only stare in shock when she looked down at her hands.
Uh…paws.
That forest guardian didn't… Stunned, she let out a shriek when she turned her head and saw her furry back and tail. Oh, hell no! I couldn't have been turned into… she tried to flex her paws and only saw her claws appear before she retracted them. I'm a fucking cat! She groaned in cat horror as she stood on shaky legs. Why Kami? Why have you forsaken me? Sure, I've stolen a couple hundred forbidden relics, but come on!
"What the…hey guys, are you sure that Botan said there was a portal here?" Rei felt her legs give out. It was Yusuke Urameshi, leader of the Spirit Detectives. That could only mean…
"Hn. Baka onna…"
"Now, now Hiei. There is a demonic scent in the air."
"Can we go now? It's four in the morning and I'm starving!"
Hiei Jaganshi.
Yoko Kurama.
Shizuma Kuwabara.
Aw, crap! I hope like hell that Moriko was right about one thing! Wary, she walked towards Kurama; he looked like the safest person. Kuwabara looked retarded, Hiei was freakin' scary, and Yusuke looked like an idiot.
"What's this? Why, hello little one." The former King of Thieves knelt to pick up the little cat. He was never that much of a cat person, but he found this cat to be exceptionally intriguing. She was grey with white paws and a patch of black on her left ear. But what really caught his attention were her eyes; pale blue with streaks of silver. So much intelligence shone through those orbs that Kurama half-suspected that the cat in his arms might possibly be the demon they were sent to capture.
"Hey, Kurama." Yusuke called from behind the fox, "Whatcha got there?"
Okay, maybe he's not that much of an idiot, Rei thought to herself as she stared into Yusuke's chocolate eyes. She even purred when he scratched her behind the ears.
"Huh. I could've sworn you picked up a rat or a raccoon."
At his words, Rei froze with anger. That bastard! Forgetting that she wasn't really a cat, she raised her head and chomped down on his hand.
"Yeeee-ouch!"
"Urameshi! What the hell are you yelling about?" Kuwabara ran over to his teammate. He took one look at the cat in Kurama's arms and promptly went goo-goo eyed. "Oh, wow! You found a cat, Kurama? Can I have it?"
After harming Yusuke, Rei felt smug, but after hearing what Kuwabara had to say, her entire mindset was on high alert. No, no, and let me think, hell no! Seeing his hands reaching out towards her, she wiggled out of Kurama's grasp and took her chances with Hiei.
The fire apparition never saw it coming. Sure, he was amused when Yusuke got injured but he stopped paying attention after that. So of course it was a surprise when Rei climbed up his pants and cloak to his shoulder, where she hissed at Kuwabara.
"Whoa! Wow, Kuwabara. You scared off the hell cat." Yusuke chuckled, "And it looks like she's moved on to Hiei."
"Hey shorty! Give me back my cat!"
The koorime raised a brow. "Your cat? The cat that just ran from the very sight of you? I don't think so." Besides, he could for give the little beast for using him as a ladder. After all, from what he'd seen, the cat had a good sense of judgment.
Kurama sighed, "Seeing as how it's still early, why don't we head over to Genkai's Temple? We can talk with Botan over breakfast.
Botan, huh? As in the kato onna who wears pink? This should be fun. Rei practically radiated happiness. Most demons/beings in Makai thought lowly of Botan. In her cat form, Rei could inflict an infinite amount of damage without worrying about consequences.
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"Aw! What a cute little kitty!" Botan snatched the irritated feline from Hiei's shoulder. "Let's call you Kimi!" Rei purposely forced up a hairball onto Botan's kimono. I refuse to be called some cutesy crappy name!
Sadly, her revenge had little effect on the Grim Reaper.
"Oh dear! You poor, poor thing!" Botan brushed away the hair ball. "You probably have some internal damage or something! Here, Mommy will make it all better!"
Rei freaked at the sight of Botan's glowing hand. Get your pure and innocent spirit energy away from me! I rather be sent to the Maximum Security Prison in Makai than have you touch me!
Hiei watched in amusement as the domestic cat went wild; she dug her claws into Botan's neck so that the kato onna shrieked and dropped the hell cat. Said cat ran as fast as it could towards Hiei.
Hiei was safe. He scared everyone; therefore, he was Rei's sanctuary. Eyes wide and frantic, Rei mentally screamed, Kill her! Use the Dragon of the Darkness Flame and send the bitch to hell!
The fire apparition was genuinely surprised to see—rather than hear—the animal's thoughts. And what he saw was more than entertaining, and yet slightly disturbing. He saw flashes of Botan cowering in a corner while he glared down at her, followed by the cat waving a victory flag while the Dragon of the Darkness Flame devoured Botan. Before he could even make sense of it all, he felt a soft weight beside him on the couch.
Glancing down, he looked into the pleading eyes of a near-homicidal cat. Absently, he pet the little animal and even smirked when he received another vision of Botan's grave.
"It seems that Kimi likes Hiei more than anyone else." Kurama commented and winced slight from the sudden mental image sent to him via Kimi.
There was a banner with Kimi's name on it and the cat was ripping it apart.
"Katsu."
All eyes turned on Hiei, who was smirking at Botan. "Her name is victorious—Katsu."
Rei purred happily. Oh, this had to be heaven. Or at least somewhere close to it.
Botan pouted. "Fine. Well, at least let me put a pretty pink bow on her. That way, we'll match!" Conjuring up the ribbon out of thin air, she moved to tie it around Katsu's neck and found the ribbon in shredded pieces a second later.
"I think that's a 'no' Botan." Yusuke couldn't help but grin. This Katsu definitely hated Botan with a passion. Or maybe it just hated things that were pink?
Genkai coughed. "I suggest that Katsu stay here at the Temple. There's been a slight increase in the amount of rabbits this spring and I need someone to…lessen the numbers." The old woman struggled not to laugh at the look of utter horror on the kato onna's face.
"Y-You want Katsu to k-k-kill rabbits?! That's just so…so cruel!"
Her complaint went ignored; especially by Katsu whose facial expression formed that of the Cheshire Cat's grin. Rabbits? Yum! I haven't eaten since last night. Feeling perky-er than Botan, Katsu nuzzled Hiei's hand before hopping off the couch and running outside. She only half-paid attention to the others that ran after her. Tch. I need to lose them. I won't be able to catch any rabbits if they keep scaring off the prey.
Using her demon speed, she vanished from their sight and reappeared in the gardens. Staying low to the ground, she stayed perfectly still, her body absorbing every vibration in the ground. Using all her senses, it took her a good minute to decipher what sounds meant there was a rabbit nearby.
Got ya, sucker! Using her instincts, she used the slow-stalk technique that the big cats used to catch their prey. She could see the honey furred bunny just behind a patch of daisies.
Moving in what anyone else would have called freeze-frame, she stalked the rodent with a feral grin. When she was within distance, she pounced and enjoyed the taste of fresh meat in her mouth. She clung to the rabbit using her claws and her teeth were closed around its neck. Everything was in red haze and she loved every minute of it.
A flicker of movement caught her eye and she spotted a litter of younger rabbits attempting to flee. Imagining the horrified face that Botan made when Genkai suggested Katsu kill rabbits kept her motivated. She sprang from her kill and caught two of them under her paws. They struggled to get away, but she held tight. Oh, yes. Breakfast, here I come! She bit down on the one beneath her left paw.
…and found herself being hit by what felt like a truck.
What the fuck could've..? She mentally screeched as she went head over tail on the ground. Shaking her head to clear her dizziness, she glared at the bastard who interrupted her feast. A Black Lab mix snarled down at her as it stood over her first rabbit. Oh, no you don't! That's my food, ya mangy mutt!
Ignoring the fact that the stray dog was four times bigger than her, she charged the beast head-on with a yowl. The dog, clearly expecting the cat to run, was taken by surprise when she leapt onto its back and locked her kitty-cat fangs into its ear.
Yelping, the dog fell onto its side and rolled over, crushing Rei with its weight. Reluctantly, she let go, but she sprang right back at it; she bit down on its nose, her claws digging into its eyes. Stupid mutt! Low-life Twinkie on four sticks! She cursed the animal's existence and ignored the pain of the canine's jaws closing down on her ribs. She fought it off before it could do some serious damage.
She was more than satisfied to see the dog bleeding heavily. Serves you right, ya bitch. Raising her paw, she licked the blood off her claws, recognizing that it tasted like dog and rabbit.
"AAAAIIIIIIIYAAAAAGH!!"
Botan's scream of absolute terror was music to her ears.
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When Hiei and Kurama lost sight of the little cat, they grew suspicious.
Hiei, do you think it's possible that the cat could be a demon?
I doubt it. She doesn't have a demon scent or a demon aura.
But that doesn't excuse her demon speed.
They both had to agree on that one. Splitting up, the Spirit Detectives searched every inch of Genkai's Temple. It didn't take long for both demons to catch the scent of blood and to hear Botan's ear-splitting scream.
Kurama ran over to a sobbing kato onna. "Botan, what's the matter…" He didn't need her to tell him. No more than three feet away lay two dead, mauled rabbits. I bet Katsu is the cause of this. She is very intelligent to pick up on Genkai's suggestion.
I found her.
Hiei's voice drifted into Kurama's mind. And the tone sounded almost…amused? Curious, Hiei followed his friend's demon energy and saw what to be the most shocking thing he'd seen in Ningenkai.
Katsu, the violence-loving feline, sat before a bleeding, whimpering stray dog. It wasn't the damage done to the dog that surprised him, oh no, it was the amount of blood the cat was covered in.
Yusuke caught up with them and burst out laughing. Ignoring the fact that the cat was dripping with blood, he lifted her into his arms. "Someone needs a bath."
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A/N: What the hell, I'll even add in some Keiko-bashing! Trust me, I like the girls. They just annoy the hell out of me.
Review please!