Thank you MizuKaji, Mikki18, nevvy, RandomCitizen, AshleyArnetta, and Oakensheild for reviewing!

And now the action really starts to pick up! Read on!


"A lost but happy dream may shed its light upon our waking hours, and the whole day may be infected with the gloom of a dreary or sorrowful one; yet of neither may we be able to recover a trace."

Walter de La Mare

Infection


"Let's dig a hole, Sniper—each one of us. Seven graves will be a decent start. Black Angel, Gatekeeper, Sniper, Gourmet, Game Master, Doctor, and Seaman. Those were the word that came to his mind when he said the word 'seven.'"

"Are those the names of the guys we're looking for? The ones digging the tunnel?" Yana asked worriedly.

We were sitting in the hospital's waiting room—Murota had visited the ER and gotten a head wrap. We were waiting for him to be called for his x-ray.

"If that's true… then there's seven of them," I murmured. I fidgeted in my seat, glancing around the waiting room. It was very crowded; there were a few insects in here but most of them left us alone, repelled by my aura.

"Seven?" Yusuke pressed. "Is that all?"

Murota held his head in his hands, grimacing. "I-I don't know. That's just what I heard in the back of his mind—but everything else in his mind was hatred, a vicious desire to kill…"

"Gatekeeper, Gourmet—those all have to be nicknames," Kido said.

Genkai nodded. "Yes. And more than likely they're clues to each of their abilities…" she turned to Yusuke. "By the way, you did well with that confrontation—you showed patience. You didn't start punching like a moron."

Yusuke frowned. "Because…" He crossed his arms across his chest. "I think I was afraid of him. I sensed it as soon as I saw him—there's something dangerous about him. It's not what I sensed, though—but what I didn't sense. Like what I was seeing… wasn't the real thing. If Toguro was all about throwing the fast ball, this guy's all for the curve," he finished, and shoved his hands back into his pocket.

"Nice reference," Genkai snorted, but there was a small smile of approval twitching the corners of her lips. "And we can safely guess that he's the type that saves that pitch until the last inning. Whatever power is behind this mystery, he will wait to expose it until he's ready to finish us." She turned to Murota, and watched him as he winced, holding his head tightly. With all the people in the room, coupled with his head wound, I couldn't really blame him.

"The fact that he didn't use his own power to shoot Murota tells us that much," Genkai said simply.

Murota glanced up quickly. Kido and Yana started, looking at Genkai sharply.

"You mean the guy who was standing right there wasn't the one who shot Murota?" Yana asked doubtfully.

"Nope," Yusuke answered, crossing his arms again. He was fidgeting. "he just stood there and didn't do anything."

"The angle was wrong," Genkai explained. "The shot came from five feet to the man's right. His facing us was just a signal, nothing more. A signal to attack."

"But who's the shooter?" Kido asked hesitantly.

Genkai put her hand in her pocket and pulled out the eraser again, holding it out. "Let's examine what we do know. This eraser has faint demon trace marks… apparently, the shooter made it the exact hardness that he desired by coating it with energy—hard enough to break Murota's skin and scare us, but not soft enough to not pierce his soul. He shot it by telekinesis.

"Seconds after the shot fired, I tried to trace it back towards the origin. But it was too far—it must've been fired from over five hundred yards away. Quite a feat."

"Five football fields?!" Yana exclaimed.

"All with his mind…" I murmured.

"And if they're all as strong as this guy… then we're all in a world of hurt," Yusuke muttered grimly.

"Enough!" Murota ordered suddenly. He was back to holding his head in his hands; he was trembling from head to toe. "I didn't sign up for any of this—I'm not a hero; I don't want to die!"

Yusuke sighed heavily. "Listen, Murota—stop crying about it. They could be coming for us right now… we need your help."

"How can I possibly help you? I'm not used to this kind of thing like you are…" Murota argued weakly.

"Give us those names again," Yusuke said gruffly.

"Game Master, Black Angel, Gatekeeper, Seaman, Doctor, Sniper, and Gourmet…"

"A guy named Sniper… that must be the one who shot him," Kido said. Genkai nodded.

"And that leaves six more psychics whose powers we can only guess at…" Genkai murmured.

"Seven enemies with extraordinary powers…" Genkai continued. I glanced around us; there were bugs hovering inside the building—though there weren't quite as many as there were outside.

"And aside from the one we saw in the square, we don't know what any of them look like," she finished.

I bit my lip and frowned as I studied a swarm of bugs hovering near the elevators across the room. They were all uniform in color and size—that was a rare occurrence.

"I-I'm sorry, but that's all I can give you," Murota whispered. "Like I said, all that's running through this guy's mind is an insane urge to kill. He wants every human being dead…"

"Yet he's human; I checked his aura," I put in, glancing down at Genkai, who nodded in agreement.

"Yes, I checked it too," she supplied. "And if he completes the tunnel, he'll succeed."

Suddenly, chills raced up my spine as a territory opened—it oozed over us like a thick, oily slime, sluggish and wicked.

I rose along with Yana and Kido. Genkai and Yusuke were already on their feet. Murota, who had sensed the aura as well, settled for moaning and holding his head in his hands. He was trembling so much that he was shaking the bench.

"Shit," I murmured, glancing around us. "One of the seven is called Doctor… and we're in a hospital."

"Shit," Yana agreed.

Yusuke growled an explicative under his breath, his hands fisting at his sides. "Everyone make a circle, facing out—you too, Murota! We can't let anybody sneak up on us this time."

Murota did as he was told and I fell in line between Yana and Genkai. I shot a worried glance back at the elevators—the insects I had noticed earlier were gone.

"Grandma," I muttered in undertone, "did you notice a swarm of insects over—"

"—SHIT, I think it bit me…!" Yana cried.

I whirled, and saw Yana frantically flapping his arm. I lunged forward and grabbed his elbow.

A yellow demonic insect was perched on the back of his hand, wings fluttering lazily, its head burrowed in his skin.

My hand shot forward and I branched out my aura—the insect evaporated instantly.

Frowning in confusion, I pulled the minuscule syringe-looking appendage out of Yana's hand. It was empty, and it didn't feel demonic—it felt like the new territory that had just opened up around us, I realized with horror, dropping the syringe.

"I-I don't feel so well," Yana stammered, and sank to the floor. His face was a ghostly white and sweat was gathering on his brow.

As Yana collapsed, Murota let out a startled shout.

I whirled, but it was too late—he had already slapped the insect off with his hand. Like I had done for Yana, he pulled a small syringe out of his skin. It slipped from his fingers as he fell to the floor as well.

I swore under my breath and branched out my aura, reaching out and yanking Yusuke closer to me so he would be inside the protective bubble as well.

"The syringes are part of the Doctor's territory," I told Genkai, setting my jaw as two more of the insects came in contact with my shield and were electrocuted. "It's like… he fused them together somehow."

Kido kneeled beside Yana and checked his temperature, then almost fell back on himself in horror. "He's burning up…!"

"Murota too," I said after kneeling and placing my hand on his forehead.

Murota looked up at me with suddenly bloodshot eyes, and took my arm in a viselike grip. "It's a virus," he hissed. "I-I heard it in his thoughts…" he took a second, bowing his head in a coughing fit, his shoulders heaving. "He's going to infect everyone inside his territory—it kills in thirty minutes…!"

"We have to find the psychic," Genkai snarled, whirling as a cloud of insects came her way. "Reina, give everyone some of your wards and save your strength—here they come!"

I handed Yana and Murota a ward each, and gave Genkai and Kido one as well. Yusuke already had his out and wrapped around his knuckles—I grabbed one of my last two and did the same, zipping my backpack shut and swinging it over my shoulder.

"Take down the barrier," Genkai ordered grimly, and I obeyed.

The swarm descended on us with ferocity, and Yana, Yusuke, and Genkai started to slap them out of the air, shocking them with the wards.

"I-is something wrong?" a voice asked just as I killed the last insect from that wave.

A nurse walked towards us, frowning and tapping her fingers on her clipboard. Her eyes fell on Yana and Murota, and she hesitated. "Why are your friends on the floor?" she asked sharply, glancing at us worriedly.

There were ten or so bugs crawling on her shoulders, over her arms. One was tangled in her hair. Obviously, she still couldn't see them—even if these insects were carrying bits of a human psychic's aura.

"They'll eat her alive…!" Yusuke cried.

The nurse gave him a strange look; her frown deepened.

"Not if I can help it," I growled, and took a few steps forward, projecting my aura.

The bugs exploded into little piles of ash.

Genkai, Yusuke, and Kido sprinted past me, and with one last look back at our two fallen comrades, I ran to catch up with them.

Genkai shot out a little bit of her spirit energy to pierce a pathway through a cloud of the insects as we veered into a long hallway. "The only way to save Yana and Murota now is to find the psychic and take him out," she told us as we ran.

"Good, we'll just knock out every doctor in this frigging hospital," Yusuke growled, slapping a bug out of the air as it buzzed towards his face.

"Do you realize how many doctors are in this hospital?" Kido shot back.

"We don't have any other choice," I replied grimly, shooting my aura forward as a small swarm of the insects veered into our path. With a spark of electricity, they evaporated.

"This doctor might not work here—maybe a nurse could spot an impostor," Genkai barked over her shoulder at us. She was much older and shorter than any of us, but the psychic was still faster.

"I'll do that," Kido said.

"Reina, you go with Yusuke and keep the insects off of him," Genkai ordered. "I'll go upstairs and look for the psychic there. If you find anything, make a loud noise that we can hear—either yell or blow something up."

I nodded, and Yusuke and I veered off to a hallway on our left.

We strode briskly down the hallway, Yusuke checking every room, me zapping the insects that tried to attack us.

"Where are all the goddamn doctors?" he snarled as he slammed the door of another empty room shut. So far, we'd only been looking in waiting rooms—they'd either been empty or filled with sickly-looking patients who seemed very confused at our antics.

"That's what I always wonder when I go to the doctor," I muttered as I opened another room—a mother and son glanced up. I sighed and shut that door as well.

"HELP…! SOMEBODY HELP!" a distant voice shouted, echoing down our hallway.

"Kido!" I said frantically, grabbing Yusuke's arm. We broke into a run back down the hallway, Yusuke almost running into a nurse who skittered out of our way, dropping an armful of files on the ground. I did her a favor and incinerated an insect that was crawling up her leg.

We skidded into the hallway where everyone had parted ways, and I saw a crowd gathering at an opened doorway.

"Move!" Yusuke ordered, shoving a male nurse aside with his shoulder. I followed him into the room, and almost ran into him as he came to a sudden stop.

"Shit," he hissed.

I edged around him and gasped. "Kido!"

Kido was lying facedown on the floor in a pool of blood. His hand was resting by his head—his wrist was bleeding on the floor.

"You know this boy?" a doctor asked, rising from the ground. There was a group of them kneeling next to Kido; all of them looked up briefly when Yusuke and I walked forward.

"Yes—what happened?" I demanded.

"Apparently a man came in here and attacked your friend and a nurse with a scalpel," another doctor informed me, pushing his glasses up his nose a little.

"We've taken her to the OR, but your friend seems to be in shock. We can't get him to respond," he added with a worried expression on his face.

"Doctors… everywhere," I murmured to Yusuke. "What if one of them…?"

"I know," he muttered, looking around the room. "Stay close to me, Sparky—and keep your eyes peeled."

"Somebody get me a neurospecialist!" a doctor ordered, rising to his feet. "And alert the hospital—there's someone on the grounds pretending to be a doctor!"

The group of nurses behind Yusuke and I turned and left the room to do as the doctor had asked, leaving us with six doctors and Kido. Yusuke motioned me forward, and we walked towards Kido. Yusuke kneeled next to him and I stood, scanning the room. There didn't seem to be any bugs here, but I projected my aura slightly to protect Yusuke and Kido regardless.

"Kido, stop being lazy," Yusuke said, quietly enough so the doctors couldn't hear. "We know he isn't a doctor from this hospital—but I need you to tell me where he went. Who is he?"

Kido's eyes were wide and unmoving. His breaths were very shallow. His fingers twitched, but he didn't do anything more.

"He's in shock," a doctor informed us unhelpfully. "It'll be a while before he can respond…"

Yusuke let out a frustrated sigh and stood. "Fine, I'll just go look for him myself. Reina, you stay with Kido and I'll—"

A new territory washed over us—one that I recognized instantly as Kido's. Yusuke froze, rooted to the spot.

Kido's hand was resting on his shadow.

I kneeled next to Yusuke. "He's not letting you move?" I whispered.

"Yeah," he grunted, staring at Kido. "That means…"

"He's here," I finished in little more than a breath, fighting the urge to look around us—if we let on that we knew about the psychic's presence, then there was no doubt that he would attack us. I moved back a little so Kido couldn't grab my shadow, just in case I had to go get Genkai.

"Listen, son, we're going to take him to x-ray," a doctor said gently, kneeling next to Kido and reaching for him to turn him over. He froze in the middle of that action as his shadow fell on Kido. His face became utterly confused as he struggled to move.

"Tell us," I whispered. "Point, do anything… Kido…"

Kido's hand twitched.

Slowly, impossibly, his shadow separated itself from his body, and the shadow of his hand moved out, inching across the puddle of blood with one finger extended.

"Impossible!" the doctor frozen next to him gasped.

The shadow dragged itself onto a clean section of tile, and started writing.

Kamiya.

Kamiya. I glanced up quickly, and read the name tags on the doctors' lab coats, heart pounding frantically as adrenaline rushed through my veins.

As soon as I saw him and our gazes met, he smiled a terrible, vicious smile—and lunged forward.

"Yusuke!" I shouted, grabbing his shoulders and yanking him out of Kido's grip—we fell back on the ground as the Doctor slashed at us with his hand. His fingertips were glowing with his aura.

The other five doctors fell to the ground, mortally wounded, blood staining their coats.

Yusuke lunged to his feet and shoved me behind him, falling back into a defensive stance, lifting his fists in front of him.

Kamiya grinned horribly and tilted his head to one side, studying us. He lifted his hand, and a swarm of insects buzzed into the room, alighting on his shoulders and arms. He gazed at them lovingly.

"This is by far my favorite power," he informed us, lifting his arm. A few insects flew into the air, hovering around him. "I can infect anyone within my territory with my own psychic virus—it's so much easier now that I have these insects to carry the infection…"

I felt a surge of anger. "They're useless if they're dead," I snarled, and projected my aura.

I was starting to feel a little lightheaded from killing all these insects, but I decided that it was definitely worth it as the Doctor's insects evaporated.

His lip curled as his face contorted into a vicious glare, and with a cry of rage, he leaped forward.

Yusuke jumped forward and swung his fist into the psychic's jaw, avoiding his glowing fingertips deftly.

"Reina!" he shouted as he landed a kick in the Doctor's abdomen. "Don't freaking piss off," he whipped his leg around and kicked the Doctor out into the hallway, and stopped in the doorway, turning to glower at me, "the crazies," he finished, dustin off the sleeve of his green blazer.

I grinned sheepishly. "Sorry—but it distracted him enough for you to kick his ass…"

"True that," he replied, and turned to look out into the hallway. I edged behind Yusuke and peered around him—the psychic was sprawled out on the floor, bleeding. His eyes were closed. Yusuke snorted. "Take a nap, bastard."

I frowned. "But… his territory—I didn't feel it disappear."

Suddenly, the Doctor started chuckling, something gurgling in the back as his throat as his chest spasmed. He rolled over and pushed himself to his feet, and grinned at us maniacally. His glasses slipped off of his nose and clattered to the ground, lenses shattering.

"No time for sleep," he hissed in a vicious snarl, and pivoted, bolting down the hallway. "I'm working a double shift!"

With a shout, Yusuke gave chase. I ran after them for half the length of the hallway, and then slowed to a stop as they disappeared around a corner.

"I'll get Genkai!" I shouted after him, and turned, running for the elevators.


"Genkai!" I shouted as the elevator doors opened on the sixth floor. I bolted out of the elevator, reaching out to fry a few insects that dove towards my head.

Genkai, finishing off her own swarm, spun to face me. "Why aren't you with Yusuke?" she demanded.

"He found the Doctor," I explained quickly. "He's on the first floor—"

The sound of many wings buzzing through the air halted me in the middle of my sentence; we both whirled as a giant swarm of insects came flying towards us.

"How many could there possibly be?!" I snapped as I lifted my hands again, briskly wiping a sheen of sweat from my brow.

"Thousands," Genkai uttered, and ran forward. Instead of using the paper ward I gave her to slap them out of the air, she took a stance and gathered her energy to blast them out of the air. I zapped the few that she missed.

"Let's go," she ordered, and we both turned towards the elevators.

Ding.

I skittered to a halt as the elevator doors slid open, gathering my strength to project my aura. Genkai lifted her hands as well, lowering herself into a defensive stance.

We both let our hands drop as we recognized the people in the elevator.

"Genkai! Reina!" Shizuru exclaimed, looking extremely flustered and worried.

I rushed forward to hold open the door as she rose to her feet—she had been kneeling next to Keiko and Puu. Keiko was lying on the ground, shuddering.

"What's wrong with Keiko?" I asked, feeling dread seep through my veins as I took in the girl's paleness; the bags under her eyes.

"One of those insects bit her," Shizuru explained, confirming my worst fear. "She's not doing well at all—what's going on? Puu led us here."

"Get in!" Genkai barked, and shoved Shizuru back into the elevator. I whirled and backed into the lift, projecting my aura outside as another swarm of Kamiya's virus-carrying insects sped towards us.

The elevator doors shut, and Genkai pressed the button for the first floor. I sighed and kneeled on the ground next to Keiko and Puu, checking her temperature. Her skin felt like it could soontaneously combust at any second.

"What's happening right now," I explained, rubbing my forehead to relieve some of the pain from my recently developed headache, "is a human psychic using demonic insects to infect everyone in the hospital. The only way to make him stop is to knock him out—that's what Yusuke is doing right now."

"She'll explain the rest to you," Genkai informed her as the elevator travelled downwards. She turned and tossed me the paper ward I had given her. "You're tired enough as it is. Line the elevator with the wards you have. The insects haven't gotten in the elevator shafts yet; but it's only a matter of time."

"We're trapped?" Shizuru asked after a second of stunned silence.

"Seems that way." The elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open. Genkai glanced at us. "Reina will protect you if the wards fail. We'll take care of the psychic. Stay in here until one of us comes for you, or the insects reach you."

With that, she turned and bolted out of the elevator, and took off down the hall. I pressed the button for the tenth floor, holding the button to close the doors with my other hand.

The doors swished shut without a single insect entering our haven, and we started traveling upwards.

"Okay," Shizuru said, kneeling next to me. "Tell me exactly what's going on."

So I explained as we travelled upwards—while I was doing so, Shizuru lifted me onto her shoulders so I could thread my wards into the grate covering the lights in the elevator.

"So that's why we came to Mushiyori," I finished, hopping down and dusting off my hands. "We're looking for the psychics behind this mess—if we can find them all and either detain or kill them… then we can stop the tunnel's completion."

"First the Dark Tournament, now this?" Shizuru asked with a heavy sigh.

And then the lights started flickering. We both looked up as we heard it—the sound of many small bodies hitting the roof of the elevator. Puu squealed and fluttered down to rest on my shoulder, making small worried noises as the lights suddenly died.

It took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust; all I could hear was Keiko's small moans and Shizuru's and my breathing.

"The wards should hold them," I whispered.

"I hope you're right," Shizuru murmured.

Keiko twitched under Shizuru's jacket. "Y-Yusuke…" she breathed, and curled in on herself as her shuddering increased tenfold.

I smelled burning, and saw little flashes of light as the bugs came within the radius of the wards' influence, their bodies thumping against the roof as they slowly died. Soon, there were so many that the ceiling began to glow, and suddenly—

The paper wards burst into flame. Shizuru and I both let out cries of shock and horror, and she reached down to grab her jacket from Keiko's shoulders as a stream of insects flew inside the elevator. She flapped at them with the jacket as I lifted my hands, forcing my aura out and up. My energy levels were low, setting my head aflame. It puled on the threads of my concentration, and my shield sputtered several times, wavering.

"We need to get out of this elevator," I said sharply as the ashes of the wards floated down into our midst. "Now."

Shizuru whirled and pressed the button for the next floor, and a few seconds later, the doors opened. I reached down and grabbed Keiko, dragging her outside the elevator as the insects dove towards us.

"Gotcha!" Shizuru shouted, grabbing around the waist and yanking me back. It threw us all off balance and we tumbled to the ground in a tangle of legs and desperation—

A new aura, wholly demonic, appeared next to us and something green cracked over our heads.

The insects fell to the floor of the elevator in pieces, and I rolled to the side, away from the demonic aura, and shot to my feet, spinning around with my head burning, my fingers sparking as I wrenched on my aura.

"Reina?" Kurama asked sharply, his eyes wide on my face.

I blinked stupidly for a few seconds, and let my hands drop to my sides. "Oh…" I whispered. "It's… you…"

I fell forward on my knees, holding myself up with my hands. I felt Kurama's aura draw a little bit closer, but then he hesitated and drew back.

"Reina, put on the pendant," he ordered. "I'll take care of the insects."

I nodded once, and shakily reached into my pocket, drawing out the Barrier Stone. I pulled the chain over my head, and the burning in my head was quenched.

Kurama grabbed me by the arm and lifted me to my feet.

"Now…" he said firmly, "what on earth are you all doing here?"

"We met a psychic—one of the new ones," I explained, regaining my balance. He released me. "He was shot by another psychic called Sniper—one of the ones behind the digging of the tunnel. We brought him to the hospital, but another one of the other psychics—this one called Doctor—opened his territory and infected everyone in the hospital with a psychic virus. Yusuke is fighting him now; Genkai went to help him." I drew a breath. "He manipulated the demon insects into becoming carriers of the virus—one of them has bitten Keiko."

We glanced down at her; Shizuru had propped her up against the wall and was patting at her forehead with the sleeve of her jacket. She glanced up at us worriedly, as did Puu, who was sitting in Keiko's lap.

"Reina, is she going to be okay?" Shizuru asked quietly.

Something constricted in my chest. I drew a deep breath. "If Yusuke can knock the psychic out in time."

Kurama left my side briefly to take care of an oncoming swarm, and I walked over to Shizuru, kneeling at her side to help her tend to Keiko.

"How long does she have? Just tell me."

I glanced at Shizuru; she wasn't looking at me as she fanned Keiko's face.

"How long has she been like this?" I murmured.

"Ten, fifteen minutes. Why?" She turned her head to look at me; Puu made a small chirping noise as Keiko fidgeted.

I stared at Keiko sadly. "It kills in thirty minutes." I glanced up as Kurama walked back towards us. His expression was grim; his rose whip was loosely coiled in his hand. "But… Yusuke will take care of the psychic. Especially with Genkai helping him. Keiko and everyone else will be fine."

I hope, I whispered to myself.

Keiko's breathing began to slow. Her head fell forward loosely; bobbing several times.

Shizuru made a noise of exclamation; I reached forward and grabbed Keiko's shoulders, shaking her.

"Keiko! Keiko…?"

Her head slowly rose, and she squinted at me blearily, blinking rapidly.

"I-I feel fine. Reina? When did you get here? What's—?" She glanced up sharply at Kurama, then at Shizuru, and down to Puu. She gathered him close and flicked her gaze back to mine, looking utterly confused.

Frowning, I reached forward and touched her forehead. A grin broke out on my features, and I looked up at Kurama.

"Her temperature's normal," I said, and laughed, standing. "Yusuke did it!"

"Y-Yusuke?" Keiko stammered. She started to get up; I held out my hand for her to take and she took it. I pulled her to her feet, and she balanced herself shakily.

"They're on the first floor," I said happily. "Let's go!"

We took a different elevator this time—one with no demonic insects. When the doors swished open, Kurama's arm darted out, pushing me back. He went ahead of us, rose whip ready. But he hesitated.

"It's safe," he informed us, turning back to us. His whip shrank down to a rose, and then a seed, which he stowed somewhere behind his ear. "The syringes are falling off the insects—they're harmless now."

We all followed him out the elevator and took a right—everyone was there, including the members of Kurama's group. We strode forward to meet them; Kuwabara turned as he heard our approach and let out a startled laugh.

"Hey sis, what're you doing here?" he asked Shizuru, taking a few steps toward us. "Are you sick or something?"

Puu flew out in front of us, perching happily on Yusuke's head, much to the spirit detective's displeasure. Shizuru sighed, blowing her bangs out of her face.

"Yeah, bro—sick of tracking you down."

Keiko edged out from behind us and walked towards Yusuke hesitantly, still slightly weak from the virus.

Yusuke growled something totally unnecessary and grabbed Puu. "Goddamn it Puu, you're like their get into danger tour guide! Why'd you bring them here, huh?" With that, he flicked the poor spirit animal's beak, sending him squawking to Keiko, who caught him in midair.

"Don't blame this on him—we came here because you didn't come home last night!" Keiko accused.

I glanced over at the wall—Yana was sitting on the floor, wearing a nurse's uniform oddly enough, and Botan was healing a cut in his abdomen. Then I remembered.

"Kido!" I gasped, and bolted down the hallway.

"This is a crime scene!" Genkai shouted as I ran past her. "We can't be here, and we're leaving without you!"

I ignored her and ran back to the room where we had left Kido, and skittered to a stop just outside the door.

A group of doctors were lifting him onto a gurney—they had obviously recovered from the virus, and had gone back to work. The five doctors that Kamiya had attacked were being tended to by two doctors and a nurse.

"He will live," Kurama said quietly, walking up behind me. He placed a hand on my shoulder. "Right now, you need to leave. You were seen with Yusuke—and he caused quite a bit of damage fighting the psychic."

"If you're sure—"

"—Kaito already said that he will stay behind and make sure Kido gets the medical attention he needs." Kurama smiled kindly down at me, and pushed me gently back down the hallway. "Go. The next train for Nakayama (1) leaves in forty minutes; I'll meet you there."

"What're you hanging around for?" I asked curiously.

Kurama smiled; there was a slightly devilish glint in his eye. "Indulging my thieving side. The security tapes need to disappear. I will be taking care of that."

I grinned, and pulled off my backpack, tossing it to him. "Here, use my backpack. It'll make the smuggling a little easier. I'll see you in a bit, you thieving scoundrel." I shot him a mock salute, laughed once, and turned to go back down the hallway.


It took us fifteen minutes to walk to the train station. When we got there, we all visited a ramen stand to grab a late lunch—keeping an eye out for the other psychics as we did so. We may have gained a small victory by defeating the Doctor, but there were still six other enemies to take care of.

I held up the ramen that I had ordered for Kurama as he walked up to the tables we were seated at—we were waiting inside the station, at some tables near the ticket booth.

"Thank you," he said courteously, sitting in the empty chair next to me, depositing my backpack on the ground at his feet. He unsnapped his chopsticks and started eating, eyeing our surroundings watchfully. I kicked my backpack lightly; the plastic tapes slid against each other. I smirked and swirled my chopsticks in my noodles, shaking my head in amusement.

The bus came and we all got on, our group sitting mostly in the back—save Botan and Kaito. Kaito had stayed behind to take care of Kido, and Botan had whisked off to Spirit World to report everything that had happened to Koenma.

When we got back home, Genkai pulled all of us aside.

"It's not wise for any of us to go alone anywhere, now," she informed us. "We need to stay together—find a place where we can all stay in one group. That includes you Shizuru, and Keiko. The others know that you're with us; you're in danger now."

Yusuke shrugged. "My mom's off on vacation with a new boyfriend; we can all stay at my place. It'll be tight, but that's the best I've got."

"I don't know if I can get away from my parents, Genkai," I said quietly. "They're very suspicious after I went off to the Dark Tournament using math camp as an explanation. They know I hate math—it wasn't the best alibi." I shrugged helplessly.

"I will stay with her," Kurama offered.

Genkai nodded. "All right. Try to spend as much time as you can at Yusuke's apartment, though. I understand if you can't stay overnight, but try to be there during your free time."

"Will do," I agreed with a nod.

Genkai, Kuwabara, Shizuru, and Keiko went off with Yusuke. Yana went with them too, after stopping at a telephone booth to call his parents, telling them he was staying with a friend overnight. Kurama did the same with Shiori; explaining that Kuwabara wanted him to stay over and play video games. Kurama and I walked to my house; he carried my backpack. It was rather heavy with all the tapes.

"I'll see you upstairs," he murmured as we came to my door, handing me my backpack. He disappeared into the alleyway next to my house—probably scaling the wall, as he was perfectly capable of doing. I walked inside my house.

"Reina?" my dad called as he heard the door shut. He walked out into the entrance hallway and frowned at me. "Where have you been all day? I was just about to call Keiko's house…"

I felt the blood drain from my face. That would've been horrible. "Keiko and I decided to go to the shopping district in Mushiyori City for the day—I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to window shop," I lied quickly. "There's a wonderful bookstore over there; I might be going back sometime to get some things."

"Ah." My father's frown didn't waver for a second; he didn't look convinced at all. "You look frazzled," he commented with a suspicious lift of his grizzled eyebrow.

I shrugged. "Walked all over the shopping district. It was crowded."

"I was just watching the news," he said casually. "Did you hear about that doctor at the hospital there? It's a good ways from the shopping district, but news travels fast."

I bit the inside of my lip. "No, why? What happened?"

"He attacked his colleagues, infected a lot of patients and staff with some sort of disease, and paralyzed a boy." Kido… "They've detained him. He must've snapped from the stress."

"Yes… it sounds terrible. Did anyone die?"

My dad shook his head. "No, but a couple of doctors that he attacked came pretty close. The virus he gave to the people in the hospital faded after a while—so they're all right as well."

"That's good to hear," I said, truly relieved. I yanked on the strap of my backpack; holy it was heavy. "I'm exhausted. Keiko was on a mission today—dragged me all over the place. I think I'll turn in early."

"Well… goodnight." He stepped aside to let me pass, and I walked up the stairs.

"Reina?"

I turned to look at him, lifting an eyebrow in his direction.

He crossed his arms, peering up at me worriedly. "Did you feel… strange today? While you were in Mushiyori City? Did your surroundings feel… different…?"

My breath caught in suspicion. Could he…? No. He couldn't possibly sense the tunnel…

"What, like sick or something?" I asked hesitantly. "There wasn't any pollution Dad—Mushiyori's a big city, but it's not Tokyo…"

His frown deepened, and he shook his head. "No…" he hesitated. "Never mind," he said suddenly, and forced a smile. "Goodnight, Reina. Sleep well."

"Night, Dad," I replied, and almost ran up the last few steps.

Kurama was sitting on the edge of my bed, petting my cat idly when I walked in. With a weary sigh, I dropped my backpack on the floor at the foot of my bed, and sat down next to him.

"You heard that conversation, right?" I asked. Kurama nodded. I drew a breath. "Did it sound like he knew… about the tunnel somehow? Do you think he can sense it, Kurama?"

He frowned thoughtfully. "I have sensed extra amounts of spiritual energy from him—it makes sense. You're a psychic; usually that is passed down by blood. Perhaps he can sense that something is wrong, but I doubt that he knows exactly what it is."

"Where do you want to sleep?" I asked. I tapped my comforter. "You can have my bed. I can make a cot on the floor or something—I guess I'm going to have to sleep with those wards around me."

Kurama chuckled and shook his head. "No, I will sleep downstairs, on your couch. You can set out the wards if you want, but I doubt it will be necessary."

"On the couch?" I asked, and grimaced. "You absolutely cannot be caught sleeping there by my dad in the middle of the night. He will kill you, come upstairs, and kill me. Or give me a lecture on abstinence… I think I would prefer the former."

"I am a very light sleeper," he murmured, pressing his lips gently against my temple. "Do not worry. I will be back up here before your parents roll out of bed in the morning. May I use your shower?"

I blushed slightly at the thought of him in my shower, without… Okay, not going there. "Y-yeah. I'll grab some of dad's old pajamas for you to sleep in. The pants will be short on you, but it'll be more comfortable than your jeans."

"Thank you," he said sincerely, and rose with a chuckle, depositing my cat on my lap. "No peeking."

I averted my gaze to the ceiling, hoping he couldn't see the scarlet staining my cheeks. "Wouldn't dream of it."

"Somehow… I doubt that."

"Oh, shut up."


(1) Nakayama is the name of Yusuke's, Kurama's, Kuwabara's, Keiko's, and Reina's hometown. In volume three (or four, I can't remember) of the manga, Kurama and Yusuke go to visit Shiori. The name of the hospital is Nakayama General, so there you have it :P

Please leave a review on your way out! I love your feedback! :)