Thank you to Skyla15699, Nepheara, Kunoichi Chaos, DrunkFox, CrazyCreator33, Jashin worshipping Jaganist, SakiHanajima1, Crazy anime chick since 1993, sleepingsnowwhite, MCRDanime, LunarFlare14, Hakudoushi-9, TomorrowComesToday, HazelxLaShay, Sassasaurus, Ren, and Singer of Water for reviewing my last chapter even though it took me so long to write this new one.

This chapter is way longer than my others, and I can't even say it's to make it up to you. I just had a lot of things I needed to include in the story. As for why I was gone, well, I started writing in the summer and literally had no time to write once school started up for me. Now, however, it's summer again and I'm back with a fresh chapter!

For those of you who stick with me, I really appreciate it and hope you enjoy what's to come with Hakumei and her adventures. Enjoy~


Hakuemi clutched her bag strap as she knocked on the door. It was her first time going to a boy's house, and though it was just Kuwabara, she wasn't sure what to expect, especially with her reason for being there. She waited a few moments before she heard grumbling and footsteps from inside, jumping when a woman with long brown hair answered the door. She took a slow drag from a cigarette and released it to the side. If she saw Hakumei's nervous reaction she didn't let on. "Your roots are showing, kid," she said.

Her posture had an smooth ease to it that Hakumei was instantly jealous of, and in this observation she was slow to realize what the woman was talking about, then reached up and felt the top of her head. Oh. She'd been meaning to ask her mom for some money to get her hair fixed, but more important things kept coming up. Her natural brown hair was showing through now. "Yeah…" Awkward. "I haven't had the time to fix it?"

"What's with the question?" she said, smirking as she stepped to the side to let Hakumei through. "Kazuma's is growing out too. Hell, I already cut Keiko's hair, might as well do it for all his friends. I'll get you both set up," and after some thought, "I'm his sister, Shizuru."

So she knew Keiko too. Hakumei recognized the unusual wash to Shizuru's voice. She used the same inflections that Kuwabara did. Looking at her face, Hakumei realized the two had the same high cheekbones, but the similarities ended there. Maybe they were merely half-siblings? "Hakumei," she said, and after a moment of fidgeting to take her boots off, "That would be, um, really nice... Thank you."

"Relax, kid." Shizuru chuckled and pointed upstairs with her cigarette. "They're in his room. Third on the left."

Hakumei smiled awkwardly and shuffled up the stairs. She had no idea how much Shizuru knew or what to say to her. Was she in on it? She felt like she didn't know who to trust, yet she wanted to trust everyone. Her heart hammered inside her. Each step was a mountain, climbing closer to the answers she so desperately wanted. She was going to figure out what happened if it killed her.


Kuwabara's second floor hallway was decorated with family photos, but the family seemed to only consist of two. Kuwabara and Shizuru. No Mom and Dad? She stepped toward one of the pictures—Shizuru wearing Kuwabara's baseball cap at what appeared to be one of his childhood games. His hair was straight, and black. Natural. Huh, she had to say he looked a lot better when he was younger. Something jingled below her and she jumped, looking down to see a small calico kitten rubbing against her ankles. Instantly her heart melted. "Hi, cutie," she said, scooping it up and taking it with her. Small purs rumbled against her chest and Hakumei could barely contain the euphoria, but it was short-lived. The others were right where Shizuru said they would be, third on the left. The door was open a crack, but she knocked away, reluctantly setting the kitten down before coming inside. What Botan had to say, however, she was not prepared for.

It was complete and utter crap.

Hakumei looked at Keiko. She seemed to buy Botan's story. Yusuke was an apprentice for a growing detective agency. She raised an eyebrow. Yeah, and Hakumei was the queen of England. Yusuke, a detective? He broke more laws daily than half the school combined. Come on. And the water? It wasn't the water that made people crazy. Hakumei definitely drank from the fountain during club and was perfectly fine.

Keiko hadn't seen the insects. It was easier for her to believe Botan was telling the truth. By a stroke of luck for Botan, Keiko also hadn't had anything but bottled water to drink that day, so it explained why she was uneffected, to which Hakumei added, "Yeah, me too. I didn't have time to make tea that morning," to solidify things for her. Why trouble her more when Hakumei didn't even know anything herself? If Keiko was able to not live in fear of flying invisible insects all the time, she didn't want to take that from her.

Yusuke was too busy trying to beat Tetris on Kuwabara's Gameboy to pay attention. He nodded absently and emhm'ed when prompted, but it was obvious he had no idea Botan was spinning lies. Whether or not he would care if he knew remained to be seen. As for Keiko, Hakumei was sure she noticed—Keiko wasn't stupid—but she also didn't have enough evidence to dispel their explanation either. Honesty she probably wanted to believe them. Believing them would be simpler. Hakumei didn't blame her for that either. Maybe her plan was to grill Yusuke on his own after this conversation was over, a life-long friendship that gave Keiko and advantage Hakumei wasn't privy to.

She looked to the others in the room. Whether or not Yusuke would care if Botan was lying to them, she didn't know, but Kuwabara on the other hand, was sweating bullets and nodding vigorously in agreement with Botan's story. Hakumei had been around children long enough to know that this was the face of a guilty conscience.

The redheaded stranger, whose name she learned was Shuichi, though that didn't sit quite well with her either, had the best poker face of them all, and stood silently against the wall while Botan spun her story. He caught her eye and she shivered. Something was not right about that guy. In fact, this whole event had her screaming "not right". She didn't like this at all. He was watching her like he knew she wasn't convinced, and she couldn't fight the feeling that it amused him to watch her squirm.

When Botan was done explaining Hakumei suggested Keiko to take Yusuke home without her. Shizuru had offered to bleach her and Kuwabara's hair after they were done talking. She gave Keiko a look, hoping that maybe they were both skeptical. She'd tackle this group while Keiko worked on Yusuke for the truth.

"Yeah," Keiko nodded and looked at Yusuke. "We should go. Atsuko's probably worried about you."

Yusuke looked at the clock on Kuwabara's nightstand. It was almost one. "She's probably still passed out from partying last night." Keiko gave him a look. "…But I could go tell her I'm alive, or whatever."

Keiko winked at Hakumei as she ushered Yusuke out. Good! For once someone who was on the same page! Once they were out of the room Hakumei turned to Botan, confidence boosted by her new partner in crime. "Okay, what's the real story?"

Kuwabara blanched. Botan laughed awkwardly and waved her arms around, "Whatever do you mean? I told you everything I know." Shuichi remained calm, but Hakumei detected the faintest hint of a smirk in the corner of his mouth. Did he see the interaction between her and Keiko? She shivered, but held firm. Now was her chance to learn what was really going on. She had to know.

Hakumei slammed her fist into the carpet. "I mean that I can't be lied to." And she couldn't. She could always tell when the kids were fibbing. She could hear the deceit in their breath. "I want to know where Yusuke and Kuwabara were when the attack happened, and why Shuichi was with them. I want to know what those insects were that turned everyone into zombies. I want to know about that obnoxious whistle and these 'saint beasts'—none of those things have anything to do with contaminated tap water, by the way," she said as Botan opened her mouth to contest her. "I want the truth."

Botan closed her mouth, resting her eyes for a moment before opening them again. She was calm, her demeanor changed entirely. No longer was she the ditsy detective's apprentice who partnered with Yusuke. Now she was all business. "Unfortunately that information is classified."

"Classified?! What's that supposed to mea—"

"You're just going to have to make do with what I gave you,' Botan said, cutting her off.

She couldn't believe this. Botan had changed from a fabricated story to placate her concerns, to completely writing her off as unqualified to know what she saw with her own two eyes. She was not unqualified! She just lived through Hell, damn it! Hakumei gaped at her before and turning to Kuwabara, hoping at least he would say something to clear up the catastrophe that was the other day. "Don't you have anything to add?" she asked, incredulous.

His eyes darted between Botan and Hakumei, perspiration dripping down his face. Was he really not going to say anything? She knew she wasn't as close to him as the others, but she had kind of gotten to thinking that they were on the path towards friendship. Her life had been in danger and he knew why, and he wasn't going to help her understand the reason? Hakumei persisted, leaning forward, hurt and confusing written across her features. "You're really not going to explain this? Even though I know you're hiding something?"

Kuwabara's answer was silence. Loud, voluminous silence. Silence of the sweat dripping down his temples, his swallowing, hands wringing. She could hear the silence—everything except what she wanted to hear. It was too much. Silence irritated her to no end. Her expression hardened as she stood up.

There was so much she wanted to say. She wanted to yell. Scream. Cry. Punch the walls and stomp around until all this anger and frustration and confusion and fear was out of her system. She had ruptured both her ears drums and dislocated her shoulder! Her siblings were in danger. Keiko had been attacked and nearly murdered by their possessed teacher. Heck, even Botan herself had almost died! Hakumei had just suffered the single most traumatic experience of her life before getting her legs ripped up by a dog. The whole city had been shut down and he still wasn't going to talk to her?! Weren't they friends? Didn't he care!

Hakumei looked at him, wide-eyed, searching him, but he turned away from her. So that's how it was. "Fine," she said, voice cold. "I can see myself out."

He didn't try to stop her from going.

Hakumei snuck passed Shizuru, who was making tea for them in the kitchen, and left Kuwabara's house with a soft click, resting against the front door and looking at the sky to prevent the oncoming tears. Man that was just…that sucked. What was she supposed to do now? If Kuwabara thought things were going back to normal between them he had another thing coming. After this project was over they were through—

She heard a swish of cloth in the breeze and turned just in time to catch a streak of black dart across the rooftops. A chill ran through her. She had seen the same thing the morning before the attack. There had been another boy with Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Shuichi when Botan was talking on the compact… Hakumei pulled the device out of her pocket and examined it. Was he the shadow she'd seen then? If so, why didn't he join the others in the discussion?

Maybe Shuichi creeped him out as much as he creeped her out.

Hakumei snorted. "Probably not," she said, pocketing the compact. The thought cheered her some, however. Something funny in the bleak future of friendlessness that awaited her. "Back to the solo act, I guess…" Well, that might not be true. Keiko knew even less about it than she did. There was still hope of her getting info from Yusuke. She wasn't completely alone in this.

She glanced at her watch. It was a little after one and she didn't have to be home. The Watanabe's were at a baseball game. A warm breeze drifted passed and she breathed deep. The park. She could go to the park and work on the song for Goro.


Surprisingly the park wasn't crowded. A few kids climbed around on the jungle gym, parents watching from the outlying benches, but other than them, the park was empty. Everyone must be at the ball game, otherwise this place would be packed. She shrugged, this only worked in her favor. It'd be easier to concentrate with less distractions. She took a seat on a swing and rocked back and forth, toes dragging soft lines in the mulch.

Goro's lyrics… Goro's lyrics… She patted her thigh, trying to determine the best tempo. The words already had their own rhythm, but it wasn't flowing the way she would have liked. Japanese was so choppy, and the vowels. Hard e's made for terrible singing. Did she wish it was in English because it would sound better or because she was biased? After some thought she took out the actual paper and a pencil from her bag. English probably wasn't the best,but, "Maybe…" She scribbled Italian at the top of the page. Goro wanted a more classic sound. That's why it wasn't right. Most aria's she'd rehearsed were in Latin or Italian. She'd have to see about a translation at the library during club.

She hummed the first few lines and went through the song, circling words to emphasize and deciding the general volume of each paragraph. Goro had left notes of his own, which Hakumei scribbled out almost immediately after reading them. He should stick with poetry.

A breeze blew through the trees and she stopped. The sun was lower in the sky and the few kids on the jungle gym had left. How long had she been working on the song? So absorbed she didn't even notice that everyone had gone home. Now she was alone, or… She looked up to the trees. It wasn't just the breeze that had alerted her, but the sound of fabric in it. She recognized it immediately. The boy in black was back.

Hakumei clutched the lyrics, listening. The crinkle of the paper, the creak of the swing as she rocked back and forth. Her boots dragging against the mulch. The playground equipment groaned in the wind, but her attention was stuck on the trees. She couldn't see him, but hidden beneath the rustle of the leaves she could hear his step on the branches. She was alone with… She didn't even know what, but the urge to get up and go home was twitching in her every fiber. Why would he be here? Insurance? Because she was asking questions? She knew too much, and now… Hakumei stuffed the lyrics into her pocket and stood up, but when she turned toward the exit, he was there, blocking her path.

For a moment, just a moment, time stretched on for hours. His blood red eyes were screaming at her, loud enough to block out everything else. The enormity of the anger there, the unadulterated hate. The tension, coiled to strike like lighting before thunder, hard and fast and destructive. In his eyes was a raging fire, and it wanted to consume everything.

"Pathetic," he said, and it was explosive.

Her voice wouldn't come. Her legs wouldn't move. She stood, silent, rooted to the spot as his voice ricocheted off the inside of her skull, incinerating brain tissue with bone-melting intensity. Her mind boiled with the sound of him and she held her ears, leaning on the swing set for support. He sneered at her and disappeared.


The way home was silent. Her own breathing a mere hush as her lungs pushed against her ribs, deep and ragged. Once second he was there and the next he was gone. And that look. That look in his eyes was rage louder than anything she had ever heard before. In that one second it took for him to vanish, could her life have vanished just as easily? Logic abandoned her for the second time. How had he done it? Smoke and mirrors? Colored contacts? A LARPer? A really intricate costume with ungodly amounts of hair gel? But he was with Kuwabara and the others when the insects were infecting people. Smoke and mirrors didn't explain that.

She didn't remember the walk from the park to the metro. She shook during the ride home as the transit line blurred passed, and when she finally got home she sat on her bed with her legs curled up to her chest and her hands in her hair, motionless as the hours passed.

Impossible.

To have eyes so bloodshot they leak crimson into the iris. To move faster than the eye could follow. And Shuichi. His eyes and hair, the calculating stare, the feeling that she was being hunted, analyzed for weaknesses every time he looked at her. Their terrible electrifying voices that pierced her ears every time they spoke. Boton, she too had a sound not of this world. Kuwbara and his sister, Shizuru. Their voices were tainted as well.

Yusuke…? Yusuke Urameshi back from the dead. The rumors were endless. His voice had changed after the accident, changed to match that of the others.

She pulled at the roots of her hair until her knuckles turned white. Images flashed through her head in rapid succession. The insects crawling into Karin's ear, changing her into a gray, mindless monster with intent to kill. Shuichi, face expressionless while Botan blatantly lied to her. The alien landscape in the background of Botan's compact. The boy in black, his shadow on the roof, vanishing without a trace.

Unnatural…

Supernatural…

Deep breaths. In through the nose and out through the mouth. In. Out. What had she gotten herself mixed up in? Is this what her friends were keeping from her? That they weren't…weren't even human? Could she even call them her friends? Could she have ever really called them that? What about Keiko? She didn't know. She could be in danger, but how could she possibly believe…and what if she was wrong? She had anxiety. What if this was just her imagination? She could be crazy. God, she was a nutcase!

Hakumei collapsed on her side and cried into her knees for the rest of the day, remembering every bad thing that had ever happened to her on top of it all. Wondering if this was punishment for that, wondering if she should have never talked to Keiko, never hung out with Kuwabara and Yusuke after school.


It was dark before Hakumei was able to pull herself out of her state of racing thoughts. The logical thing to do would be to spend the remainder of her week off at the library. If she could do a little research, she could get some ground work on her theory. Find out if she needed to find another doctor or check herself into the loony bin. Whatever the outcome, she'd be as scientific as possible about discovering it.

For now she had homework to do. That would be enough to get her mind off things. She counted slowly in her head as she wiped the snot off her face with the back of her arm. On second thought, maybe she'd take a bath first. Relax, then do math. Nice, safe, math.

She heard the kids and Mr. Watanabe downstairs as she shed her clothes and slipped a robe on. They had come home hours ago, she imagined. She didn't notice when they got in, but the bathroom was free, and that was all she cared about. When she was done she was no longer in the mood for math, and instead sat with the kids and worked on Goro's song, testing out notes for Ai and seeing what she thought sounded better. The girl was already showing a talent for music, whereas the others were still figuring themselves out. Besides, music was the one thing that made Ai stop conspiring to make her life more difficult.

Yet somehow Hakumei missed the days when making Ai and Ayame a breakfast they'd actually eat made her late to class. At least things were normal then.


She woke up in a tangle of limbs on the couch. Mr. Watanabe had thrown a blanket over the group of them. Ayame was breathing in her ear and Daisuke was using her entire body as a pillow. Hana's feet dangled off the armrest. Ai was sprawled out on the floor over a coloring book with a blanket of her own.

The sun from outside was leaking through the curtains, and she was careful as she unwound herself from the kids and went upstairs to change. She could ride her bike to the library and start doing some research.

It was bright. A nice day, unusual for the time of year. Normally she would be sweating by now, but the bike ride was rather pleasant…until she arrived. She skidded to a halt, hands quivering on the breaks.

Shuichi was on the front steps waiting for her.

She did her best to swallow the oncoming dread, but it was forcing its way up from the pit of her stomach, creating a tight ball in the center of her chest that made it difficult to breathe.

"I thought you might be here today," he said.

She shuddered, busying herself with locking up her bike. It took everything she had not to get back on it and ride away, though she had no doubt he could catch her even if she ran. He had her cornered and he wasn't even trying. What was he?

"Is this wise?" he asked when she didn't say anything, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Think. Think of something to say. Anything. Anything would be better than just standing around like an idiot. She couldn't panic every time she saw them. She couldn't live her life like this. She counted to ten, slowly, taking as long as possible to lock up. When the latch clicked she took a deep breath and looked at Shuichi.

He still had that chilling smile, the kind of man who could make loitering look elegant, legs crossed, hands folded neatly around his knee, leg casually bobbing up and down. Posture too sophisticated for the setting.

"Wise doesn't have anything to do with it," she said finally, before ascending the steps and leaving him behind.

He didn't follow her.


Kurama smirked, resting his head in his hand and his elbow on his knee as Hakumei walked away from him. "What brings you out of the trees today? Nothing urgent I hope," he said as Hiei landed on the steps behind him.

"You're up to something."

"It's rare to see someone with her particular set of skills," Kurama said, looking over his shoulder with an easy smile. "Curiosity, and nothing more."

Hiei scoffed, "I wouldn't waste your time on another pathetic human."

"Pathetic is not a word I would use to describe someone who beat you in battle. Besides," Kurama stood, slipping his hands into his pockets. Hiei growled in warning. "You of all people should know my time is never wasted."

He smirked as Hiei disappeared.


Hakumei rubbed her eyes from under her reading glasses. It was already dark outside, and she'd only managed to ensure that she'd have nightmares for the rest of her life. There were plenty of myths and legends—too many. The boy in black was just that. A boy in black. Literally millions of demons and monsters and spirits wore black and had red eyes. According to myth nearly every one of them was gifted with supernatural speed. Shuichi was just as difficult to identify. The only thing she knew for certain was that he was probably old, and not only was that more on her gut feeling it did nothing to narrow down his breed of entity.

There was one lead, however, Master Genkai of the Shinkirou Temple. Guess she wouldn't be taking the kids to the beach on that property after all. A renowned psychic's house was not a place to be taking children when she thought demons were running around. It occurred to her that this "master" might not be psychic at all, but at this rate she was willing to put off her suspicion if it would get her answers. Hm, she'd have to take the metro and after that was a sizable walk. She'd leave early tomorrow and get there with enough time to get whatever info she could.

Then again, maybe a temple wasn't somewhere demons wanted to be… Would she have to worry about Shuichi following her again? So far from home… No. She shook her head. She wouldn't psych herself out like that. She'd never even make it to the station if she did.


She left before the sun the next day, anxiety high. She counted to ten over and over again as she rode the metro. Today was the last day before school started back up, if she didn't go now, she'd miss her window of opportunity. Homework was going to get heavy so close to summer break, and the kids would be taking up the rest of her time.

It had to be now.

She stepped off the train and into another world. The difference in the air was palpable. Forested mountains stretched imposing and massive as far as the eye could see. She was so small compared to this. And the sounds. The sounds emanating from the trees were wild, untamed…