"Not that I mind the walking, but would you mind telling me where it is you're taking me?"

Scarlett was annoyed—perhaps even angry. This guy, Sensui Shinobu, had come to Kurama's home, looking for her. Obviously, this was suspicious. However, she decided to humor the tall man. He had been very charismatic. The young woman had to sort through her mind, trying to figure out when she had agreed to follow this man. Not many people could be such a smooth talker. Anyway, after Sensui convinced her to leave the house, they had traveled mostly in silence. They had taken the train to Mushiyori. The sun had set by the time they had reached the cave. And now thirty minutes into walking through the cavern, Scarlett was beginning to regret following this man.

Sensui chuckled humorlessly. "To the end, of course," he answered. He didn't even glance back. Scarlett folded her arms over her chest and furrowed her eyebrows. That sounded vague enough to be a death threat. Then again, he could be referring to the back of the cave.

"Mushiyori City, huh?" She recalled an earlier conversation she had with her host. "Just my luck to be targeted by the enemy this time around." The girl let out a long sigh. Sensui, however, ignored it. Finally, after another seven minutes, the two reached the destination. The temperature had drastically changed from cool to hot. Already, sweat was beginning to form. Great—she would need another shower by the time this thing was over. There was a lake in the middle, boat floating at its center. There was a man in that boat. Scarlett released another sigh. It was a dead end—pun very much intended on Sensui's part. The guy was probably holding back smug laughter at this very moment.

"SCARLETT…?!" A loud familiar—and muffled—voice snatched the young woman's attention. To her surprise, Kuwabara Kazuma sat, tied up, near the right side of the cave. There was another male sitting on higher ground right beside the younger teen. "What are you doing here?!" Ah, so Hiei had been right after all. This was kidnapping, so what was her situation? She really hoped it didn't mean accomplice. Not a lot of her friends would be happy about the news.

"Calm yourself, Kuwabara-kun." Sensui continued walking until he reached the couch. Scarlett blinked. She hadn't noticed it before. She also hadn't noticed the television either. "We need to conserve your energy." Hesitantly, Scarlett walked over to her distressed friend. His mouth was covered, which explained why his voice sounded muffled.

"Kuwabara-kun," she murmured. His eyes held confusion and anxiousness. "To be honest, I don't know what I'm doing here either!"

"How can you sound so calm about this situation?!" It was getting a bit harder to translate his muffled words. Clearly, though, he was upset.

"Ignorance is bliss…?" Scarlett tried. More stifled nonsense reached her ears. "Well maybe if you guys had informed me of who the bad guys were, perhaps I would have been more resistant!" Kuwabara pointedly glared at her. "There's nothing that can be done about it now, Kuwabara-kun, so let's just move on." Her blue eyes glanced at the man by her friend. "If would you just release him, we'll be on our merry little way!"

"You honestly think any of us will let you walk out of here?" His close-eyed smile made Scarlett cringe. "If you were to try, I don't think I could hold myself back from putting you in my territory." The young woman took a couple of steps backs. Despite not knowing what his 'territory' was, she still did not like the sound of it. She didn't like the guy licking his lips either. That just caused her skin to sprout chill bumps.

"That won't be necessary," Sensui's voice came over. "Scarlett-san, would you kindly make your way over to me?" In response, she produced a wary expression, glancing at the relaxed man out of the corner of her eye. He was a bad guy, yet he had yet to harm her. If anything, the man had only showed politeness. Whether he was sincere or not had yet to be determined. So what could she do? Be rude? Not without reason!

So stiffly, she nodded her head and walked over to the back of the couch. Sensui seemed to be watching something. However, Scarlett's eyes were focused only on the back of his head. She wasn't interested in—what, war movies? "So are you going to explain why you brought me here or keep me in suspense the whole time?" Scarlett asked.

"You are aware of what is happening?" Sensui still didn't turn his head. Scarlett rolled her eyes and chose not to answer. "In a few short hours, that hole that you see there will open." Blue eyes glanced upward. How did she miss the gaping hole, too?! Frowning, Scarlett rubbed at her left eye. It must have been exhaustion. This whole day had been physically and mentally tiresome. "This hole leads to Demon world." Now that she thought about it, Kurama did mention some humans were carving a hole, trying to let the demons out. Her eyes focused on the man in the boat. With his long turquoise colored hair, there was no way he was human. As if sensing her gaze, the seemingly demon male opened his eyes. They were an amber color. Nope, definitely not human. Sensui went on, grabbing Scarlett's attention again. "… and in the end, humanity and its cruel actions will be forever gone." Oh wait, he had been talking that entire time. Whoops…

Scarlett tried to hide her nervousness. "Yeah…" she started. "But what does that have to do with me? I still don't understand why you brought me into this. I mean, I could have waited for my demise in the comforts of home."

"SCARLETT!" Kuwabara sounded highly disappointed and incredulous. His friend, though, chose to ignore his outburst.

"All in due time, your purpose will be revealed."

"I really don't like vague bad guys…" she sighed heavily. "So we're basically waiting for Yusuke and the others to get here?" Scarlett asked out loud.

"Precisely. They have already entered the cave. In fact, they entered only a few minutes after we did."

"So they probably know I'm here then?"

"Perhaps." Again, his answer was vague enough that Scarlett wanted to reach out and cuff the back of his head. "They are being entertained by one of my followers now." Finally, Sensui turned his head to look at her. "While we're waiting, could I interest you in this movie?"

"No thanks. You seem to be watching something very bloody."

"Then shall I introduce you to my demon partner? His name is Itsuki, and he seems to be quite interested in you."

Once again, she looked towards the man in the boat. She was assuming he was the Itsuki Sensui was referring to. His eyes were on her as well. "Ahh, I see," Scarlett muttered. "So you guys are on that interracial stuff, huh?" The guy holding Kuwabara hostage exploded with laughter. Clearly, he was amused by the implication. Itsuki had no expression. He didn't react. Sensui, however, turned his head, managing to pull off annoyance and flabbergast at the same time. "What? I don't have any problem with it." She shrugged her shoulders before turning her attention to Itsuki. "I'm just curious as to why you're interested in me."

"It is obvious that you are from another dimension." At her narrowed eyes, Itsuki continued. "You have another worldly aura surrounding you. I can see it clearly. You cannot deny it."

"It's not like I was going to," Scarlett muttered. She walked to the water's edge and sat. "But could you tell me how could you tell?"

"With my powers over dimensional portals, I can see if someone or something is from another dimension." His golden eyes remained impassive. "However, I cannot tell where it is you have come from. Your presence here is a mystery to me. Do you know who or what summoned you here?"

"Nope, not a clue."

"I see."

Itsuki—Scarlett didn't know what to make up him quite yet. He was so expressionless that reading him was simply impossible. He said he had powers over dimensions, huh? Well, that must mean he's the one 'carving' the hole to Demon World. Scarlett frowned as folded her arms again. Then why did these people go through the trouble of kidnapping Kuwabara and provoking Yusuke. They could have let all the demons out by now. She recalled Sensui's earlier words. He had told her friend to calm down—something about conserving his energy. Hm… Very strange. Could it be that Itsuki was not enough? Could there have been a different layer to get through? If that was true then Kuwabara was probably the last resort, which is why he was taken in the first place. Scarlett found herself snorting. So someone else had recognized that Kuwabara was stronger than anyone seemed to realize.

"Take that you tree hugging asshole," she thought. She kind of hoped that Hiei heard that remark. When there was no witty retort, Scarlett sighed. How did telepathy work, anyway? She opened her eyes. Speaking of which, a confirmation was needed. "Hey, Itsuki-san! You're a demon, right?"

"That seems to be obvious, yes."

"I heard that using the tongue is very important in your culture. That true?" Scarlett chose to ignore the sarcasm in his words. For a moment, Itsuki merely stared at her. Then he cracked a tiny smirk. She almost didn't see it. He then opened his mouth and lectured. Seriously, he would not stop talking. Who knew that licking was so integrated in demon culture? Scarlett almost regretted asking in the first place. Before she knew it, three hours had gone by. Was Itsuki waiting for someone to ask him? It felt like he had this informative speech at the ready. He was probably the type who didn't get to talk much, but when given the chance, he would talk the crap out of some unsuspecting fool. Really, all she had learned was that demons were a bit nasty when it came to licking themselves or objects.

"And then there is the concept of licking another," Itsuki continued, unaware that his audience wanted nothing more than to claw off her ears and rip out her own tongue. At this point, Scarlett did perk up. This was the part she had been waiting for. "There are only two reasons a demon would resort to licking another. However, there are several ways in which another can be licked, which means different things." Nodding her head, she signaled for the demon to go ahead. "Before I continue, may I ask why you are interested?"

"Well, I have to demon friends. I don't want to mistakenly do something that will cause problems," she answered with a shrug. "As if I haven't already," she finished in thought.

"Ah," Itsuki seemed to be satisfied with her answer. However, before he could begin his explanation, Sensui interrupted.

"I'm afraid this will have to be indefinitely postponed. " His gaze did not travel from the television screen. Scarlett found herself glaring at him. How dare he interrupt just when the information she actually wanted was coming up?! "It is almost time, so this needs to be confirmed quickly."

"What needs to be confirmed quickly?" Scarlett nearly growled. She stood and stalked over to the sitting man. Finally, his eyes settled on her. "And why can't it wait until later." Instead of answering her, like a normal person, he decided to switch the subject.

"Are you feeling alright?" he asked. Twitching, she decided to humor him again.

"Well, despite being hot, I'm fine."

"Really? How extraordinary," Sensui commented.

"How is me being drenched in sweat extraordinary?"

"Any normal human would have died by now. The fumes that the hole is giving off are from Demon world. Apparently, Demon world has a different atmosphere than Human world."

"… Oh."

"Is that all you will say?"

"What am I supposed to say?"

Sensui chuckled again.

Scarlett had to admit that she didn't like this chuckle one bit. It sounded almost… malevolent. It was quite different from his usual humorless chuckles. Her body tensed up quite a bit. "Perhaps I should explain," Sensui said. "Because of this tunnel, ordinary humans in Mushiyori City have gained abilities, their bodies' last effort to prepare for what's to come. According to Itsuki, you had appeared from another dimension in Mushiyori City." Scarlett narrowed her eyes. She did not like where this conversation was going. "The fact that you haven't died in this tunnel confirms that you are a psychic. However, you have yet to use your abilities." The young woman turned her head, eyes landing on Kuwabara. Still, she pointed at Sensui.

"Kuwabara-kun, what the hell is he talking about? What's a psychic?"

The younger teen tried to answer, but his capturer placed a hand over his already muffled voice. "It's about time. I was getting bored over here by myself," he spoke. Confused, Scarlett looked at Sensui again. He was still staring at her, smirk on his tanned face.

"Makibara will awaken your ability now."

Without warning, Scarlett felt immense pain in her side. In the next second, she was airborne. She came crashing down, yelping because of the impact. Hearing Kuwabara screaming her name, she sat up. This Makibara was apparently the guy with the big lips. His foot was still in the air. He had kicked her without remorse. "You asshole…!" she shouted. "I'm a girl! Didn't your mother ever teach you some manners?!"

"Girl, guy—it makes no difference to me," he replied nonchalantly as he dropped his leg. Scarlett grimaced as she slowly returned to a standing position. "I'm just doing what's ordered of me."

"Teh… You kick like a girl anyway." It was, of course, a lie. That goddamn kick hurt like a bitch. But she wasn't about to tell him that. "You're going to try to force my power to come out with violence?!" Sensui nodded his head.

"I'm assuming that because you are from another place, a barrier is containing your abilities. The only option that I came up with is put you in a life or death situation. You understand."

"No I don't understand!" Scarlett yelled. "I still don't understand why I'm here in the first place!"

"Pity," Sensui remarked. He nodded his head. "Continue, Makibara." The creepy guy smirked, and then walked towards her.

"This is totally not fucking fair," Scarlett muttered, glaring.

0-0

"How much further, Mitarai?" Yusuke questioned. The blond teen glanced back. He had been leading the Spirit Detective and his team for quite some time. It had only been ten minutes since the group made it past his former comrade's territory. The kid had ended up dying. It was a tragic decision that Kurama was forced to make. Although no one spoke up about the subject, they were all worried about their friend's current mindset. Mitarai spared a glance at the red head. He held no expression. His eyes merely stared forward. The blue-eyed teenager turned his eyes back to the front. He couldn't begin to imagine what was going through his ally's mind right now.

"It's not much further," Mitarai answered Yusuke. He could pretty much tell what was going on through his head. Urameshi was an open book when it came to emotion. Clearly, he was wary of Kurama's aloof manner. "Just beyond this cavern." Mitarai didn't know much about the other demons when it came to facial expressions either. Hiei and Kuronue wore faces of steel. They hadn't reacted when Amanuma died. Ever since then, no one had spoken. He was half surprised that Urameshi broke the silence. That was probably the type of person he was.

After another few minutes of walking, Mitarai stopped. In just a few seconds, they would reach Sensui's lair. Admittedly, he was a bit scared of facing his former comrade again. "Why are we stopping, buddy?" Urameshi asked. Mitarai closed his eyes for a moment. He still could not understand why he was trusted after all he had done. To go as far as to call him 'buddy.' These were good people.

"Sorry… I just wanted to make sure all of us were ready to face it," Mitarai murmured.

"… Like I said: Why are we stopping?" Yusuke replied. With a nod, the blond teen continued walking. As expected, the temperature went from one extreme to another.

"Blood has been spilled," Hiei commented. This caused Mitarai to gasp.

"Is it Kuwabara-kun?!"

The group ran forward, stopping once they reached the end of the tunnel. Yusuke gasped in shock. His brown eyes expanded. His friend was tied up, in a boat, with a guy beside him. Probably guarding his movements. The boat sat on top of a small pond, which was near the gaping hole. Demons were trying to break free. Kuwabara glared at him. Even from a distance he could see the corner of his eyes welled with unshed tears. The guy beside him sported several bruises and cuts on his face. Also, he seemed to be missing a sleeve. Yusuke expected something like this. He assumed that Kuwabara tried to fight back as a result. However, what he was not expecting was his new friend, Scarlett, sprawled out on the floor, dirtied and battered. Her abused lips were slightly parted. Her eyes were wide open, yet clouded and aimless. "Wh-What the hell is she doing here?! She is-"

"Urameshi, you're late!" Kuwabara shouted from his position in the boat. Never had he heard his friend sound so mad. "Scarlett got beat up!"

"Sensui, you're a fucking jackass! You beat up on defenseless woman now!? If she's dead, you're not getting out of here alive!" Yusuke wanted to run over there and beat Sensui within an inch of his life. However, an outstretched arm stopped him. It was Kurama.

"No matter how upset we are, we cannot foolishly rush into battle, Yusuke," he told him. "Remember what Genkai said." The younger teen gritted his teeth. He knew, already! That still didn't make the urge to go ape shit on the enemy leave his mind. Yusuke blinked, finally noticing the trembling of Kurama's arm. He found himself flinching. After that face Kurama made after Amanuma died, Yusuke was a bit afraid of what the trembling meant. Not just the kid, but Scarlett, too? These guys had definitely gotten on Kurama's bad side.

Speaking of which, the boss of this whole fiasco was sitting on a couch, watching television. Yusuke twitched, aggravated by the bad guy's leisure attitude. There was a teal-haired man standing beside the couch. He wasn't really paying attention to the screen, though. "Defenseless…? I wouldn't call her that," Sensui's voice dragged his attention back to him. "She put up quite the fight. And not to worry, Yusuke. She is not dead."

"Good, maybe she'll wake up to see me kick your ass," Yusuke said. He took a step forward, intending to grab Scarlett's body.

"Don't move, Yusuke," Kuronue warned. The young teen looked towards Kurama's old friend. His narrowed eyes were trained on Scarlett. Furrowing his eyebrows, he frowned. "Something's different about her. Her presence is larger than it should be. It's like that crazy doctor's thing."

"A territory?!" Yusuke hollered. "Scarlett's a psychic?!"

"Yes, and her ability is quite dangerous. Makibara, here, almost lost a limb," Sensui stated. At the mention of his name, Makibara leapt from the boat and stood at Sensui's side. "If you can get pass the girl's territory, I will give you a chance to have Kuwabara-kun. One more step, and you will be in her territory. It stretches from there to the back of this couch."

"I don't get it. Since now, all of a sudden she's a psychic, why is her territory up, anyway?" Yusuke questioned. "Isn't she unconscious?"

"It would seem that she is a rare breed of psychic," Itsuki said. "Her power only surfaces when she has reached the unconscious state. If we knew that before hand, perhaps she wouldn't have been so brutally beaten." The demon ignored the glares he was receiving. "I assume that it is backwards for her because she comes from a different dimension."

"And how the hell do you know that?" Itsuki merely ignored Yusuke's question and turned his head away. "Real mature, asshole," he muttered. His brown eyes focused on Scarlett. They had to get pass her territory in order to get a shot at Sensui and Kuwabara. Sweat formed and dripped from his chin. This situation was just getting better and better. He'd rather not lose a limb because of a friend. Okay then, then the only option was to wake her up. "HEY! SCARLETT! CAN YOU HEAR?! NAP TIME'S OVER! GET UP!"

The young woman did not move. "Fool," Hiei almost rolled his eyes. "She's not asleep. She can't hear you." His eyebrow twitched. "I'm getting tired of these damn human territories. Will I be forced to sleep until the end?"

"Hiei, now is not the time for jokes."

"I don't joke."

"Tree hugging asshole."

Hiei clutched the hilt of his sword.

Ignoring the two, Kuronue picked up a rock. If her territory was as dangerous as Sensui said, it was probably best to see what they were up against. Without saying a word, the tall demon hurled the hand-sized rock at his housemate. The rock only reached a few inches before it was cleanly split in half. Yusuke let out a strangled gasp. "Not just friend or foe," Kuronue said. "She can't even tell the difference between rocks." He narrowed his eyes. "Anything or anyone that ventures into her territory suffers the consequences."

"Voices can't reach her, objects can't reach her—how the hell is this fair?!" Yusuke seriously wanted to yank out his hair.

0-0