. . . means misanthropy.

"Botan!" a voice rang through the Reikai executive office. "Botan!"

Yusuke repeated himself as he burst down the door. "Koenma, where's Botan?"

"I don't know. Why don't you try screaming some more?" the toddler at the desk asked.

"Botaaan!" the Spirit Detective shouted at the top of his lungs, as Kuwabara and Kurama behind him covered their ears.

"I was being sarcastic," Koenma frowned. "Botan's away on some business right now."

"Well, we need her now!" Yusuke demanded.

Kuwabara added, "Yeah! Saika's trapped in the Demon World with Hiei, and the portal's closed!"

Koenma's papers flew out from in front of him as he slammed his fists down on the table.

"What? How could you lose a simple human target?"

At that moment, Kuwabara and Yusuke simultaneously began spouting off excuses while Kurama rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"Enough, enough!" Koenma silenced them. "I knew you guys were idiots, but this is ridiculous."

"Hey! I get enough lectures from teachers, Koenma. We need another portal, now!"

"You think it's as simple as 'opening another portal'? These things take time! Especially with the tense relations between Spirit World and Demon World-"

"Get on with it, Koenma! The next time we find Saika it could be in your waiting room!"

Sighing, Koenma opened a drawer in his desk and pulled out a silver ring. "Take this. It's a portal sensor, so you'll be able to find the hole I make in the barrier."

"Where will that be?" Kuwabara asked.

"Wherever I can put it. That's what the band is for. Just wear it, and when the gem turns red, it means that a portal is near."

"You mean like the demon compass?" Kuwabara asked.

"Precisely."

Nodding, the group took the ring and left, Koenma mumbling about lax service as they did.

After the third time she caught up to Hiei and he shot off again, Saika realized she was being teased.

If that wasn't enough of a clue, he was smirking and chuckling the whole time, in between disapproving clucks of the tongue.

Catching her breath, Saika set her back against a tree while the man she chased into the trees again.

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the Tower card, studying again the enigmatic visage.

Instead of pursuing Hiei, Saika walked down a well-worn trail past some large rocks, a skinny stream, a tree whose overturned root she tripped over, two large mushrooms, and terrifyingly enough, several skeletons set against trees.

Upon seeing them, she thought it best to make like a tree, and ran quickly to another well-worn trail ahead.

Thinking she would soon reach some kind of civilization, Saika walked on and found two large rocks, a skinny stream, a tree whose overturned root she also tripped over, two large mushrooms, and another set of skeletons laid against trees.

After the third time she saw all of the markers, she realized she was walking circles.

So once she reached the large rocks on her fourth time around, she went deliberately left of the path and waded through thick shrub for a while before emerging to a cleared path marked by two stones.

Thinking herself insane, she tried the same thing again, only to reconvene with the second large rock.

An incalculable about of time later, Saika was positive that there was no way to escape the forest trail as she walked. The entrance she came through even seemed to disappear, and every time she walked the endless path, it seemed to grow shorter.

Ignoring the feeling that the universe was closing in on her, Saika tried to think of a plan.

Analyzing the skeletons, she saw that they wore the same clothing, marked by red cloth with a gray circle.

A demon band probably walked on the same trail as her a long time ago, and met a fate she wasn't eager to enjoy.

Looking hopelessly to the trees above her, Saika saw something that caught her eye: a torn shred of red cloth, higher on the branches than she thought it possible to climb.

Yes; when she looked closely around and below that area, and there were many shreds of cloth that appeared to have been ripped apart. They fell distinctively around the two giant mushrooms. One, she noted, was red with yellow spots, while the other was yellow with red spots.

Logically, Saika climbed to the top of the mushroom, but as it wasn't very bouncy, she slid off quickly. She had the feeling that if only she could get up higher, she could escape the deathly trail she walked.

Analyzing the mushrooms, she saw that some crusty holes marked the rim, as though something had been torn off a long time ago. Furthermore, the inside of the mushroom looked less like fungi and more like bread.

Slowly, she tore a piece off of the red mushroom and was shocked that it smelt something like the inside of a bakery.

Saika realized that the mushrooms could be deadly poison, and the poor fools who last tasted from them had rolled and writhed in pain before falling dead a few feet over, only to have their clothes torn by hungry crows.

Somehow, the palatable smell of the mushroom defeated her logic.

Gingerly taking a bite, Saika immediately felt a rush of sickness flood through her. The world seemed to vacillate as on a sea-set ship.

Then, her neck began to extend. Her limbs and joints followed in a noodle-y mess. Her torso and muscles caught up with her limbs and they reacquainted themselves in their previous proportions, although slightly larger.

By then she was a good twelve feet tall, and if she reached up she might pull back the branches of the trees.

But the first thing Saika noticed after growing was that her clothes had caught on a tree and nearly ripped off from her grown body.

The Sato household had a penchant for typical mornings.

Kaya, as the woman of the house, always woke up before sunrise to make breakfast for the family. Most days, Saika would as well, opting to practice piano while Yatsu, her stepfather, and Yuri, her stepsister, woke up to their tedious routines.

Once breakfast was served, Kaya thought it strange that her birth daughter had not yet come down.

Climbing the stairs, calling out her daughter's name, she entered the room to wake her, only to see a note upon the rumpled bed and nothing else.

"Ya- Yatsu!"

Hiei was thoroughly enjoying the act of infringing upon Saika's privacy.

He fully intended to defeat her telekinetically. However, until then, he felt like he was glimpsing his victory while reading her journal. As a part of his mission, obviously.

And though he wouldn't admit it, he grew more and more interested in the words that he could interpret. Some were beyond his ability ("Useless human script. . ."), while others seemed completely manufactured. The truth was that he had already solved the mystery the team was assigned to, but he continued reading the journal.

That fact occurred to him, but he ignored it. He had nothing better to do, he convinced himself.

Yet it wouldn't leave his mind, and he scrutinized himself, nearly tortured himself, the same way he would to strengthen himself while training. What use do you have for the thoughts of this human? What do you care?

With ten pages to go, he slammed the book shut. His interest in the human was apparent, and he hated the girl for it.

There was nothing particularly valuable about her (that he would admit), except that she could repel him with her mind.

And that was it. He was repelled. His disgust and distaste built (as he himself built it), and he cemented the promise that he would outdo her, and he would do nor care to do anything else.

Leaping from his tree branch to another in conviction, Hiei paused for a moment.

Vexed, he stood a while, then told himself he'd read. . . only one more entry.

Somewhere in the city of Tokyo, Yusuke, Kurama, and Kuwabara ran through the streets and over roof tops, as though they had any idea where they were going.

Suddenly, while complaining and catching their breaths atop a building, the band on Yusuke's finger (that did not go un-taunted as man jewelry) began to glow a soft garnet. On a hunch, he put his hand to the cement surface he stood on, and it glowed brighter.

The three boys dashed into the steel door by a fan that roared with the force of people inside preparing for a warm spring night.

They ran through the codified building, many with doors open to let in any semblance of cool breeze. Yusuke's tracking ring was a bright marischino red when he reached a inconveniently closed door.

Yusuke immediately pounded on the door, and after him, Kurama knocked softly and politely.

A woman's voice from within called, "Coming!", to which Yusuke kicked in the door.

"Was that really necessary?" Kurama asked with mild annoyance.

The woman, who was wearing oven mitts and carrying a pot, came into the hallway and dropped the pot with a gasp.

"Sorry, lady!" Yusuke called as he leapt over the spilt food, followed by Kurama, who nonchalantly added, "So sorry."

"Hey, is that shabu shabu?" Kuwabara momentarily hovered over her ruined dinner, before running into the woman's home with the others. She only stared on in shock, before fumbling into the kitchen to get a phone with which to call the police.

Yusuke's ring became a miniature red sun when he, Kurama, and Kuwabara reached the small hall bathroom. They burst in the door, and Yusuke found that the ring buzzed when held above the porcelain seat in the bathroom's corner.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Yusuke dropped his hand to his side.

"Urgh, Koenma did this on purpose!" Kuwabara shouted in frustration.

"Not it," Kurama spoke quickly, and the other two just stared at him. He became sheepish and put his hand behind his head. "Maybe I wasn't the most social child, but there were some things I learned from humans about games."

"Not it," Yusuke looked at Kuwabara.

"Oh, no way!"

"You first, Kuwabara. Show us how it's done."

"Indeed."

"Seriously, guys?"

"I suggest you get it over with before the portal closes," Kurama advised.

"Aw man, it's always me."

And with that, Kuwabara dived into the toilet, materializing instantly. Yusuke and Kurama followed.

Saika grew, but her clothing did not.

Her shoes broke completely off of her feet. Her hanging top become a tight slip that threatened to break at her bust. Her jeans, on the other hand, tore away towards the hips, leaving only shreds of pant legs, and the tightened elastic of her underwear.

Truly, growing had been a painful experience. All other objectives were to be put behind the need for clothing.

She reached down into the scrap of pants she wore, and, after much deliberation, pulled the tarot card out, nearly confetti-sized as it sat in the palm of her hand. Was that what it meant 'tower'?

"Quite a predicament you're in," an unfamiliar voice purred.

"Who's there?" Saika called, reasonably more on edge than usual.

"No one who's going to eat you, if that's what you're thinking."

Instead of a monster, a surprisingly sleek-maned black cat seemingly materialized onto a high branch of a tree. It was significantly larger than the sort of felines Saika was used to seeing, but by no stretch of the imagination was it a beast, excepting a pair of luminous yellow eyes and a subtle smile on its huge mouth.

"Now, what's a mortal human doing in this neck of the woods?" Fixed on its huge eyes, Saika stared gaping for a moment before it spoke again, "But then, there's no need to answer that. I've been watching you for a while, and I can tell that you're not exactly-" its mouth stretched into a frighteningly broad grin- "a normal human."

Yes, that cat had been watching Saika, and each movement she made, each revelation she had, was a pleasure to watch.

Most humans would flail and scream before passing out, but she walked the Eternal Path quickly and with purpose. Furthermore, there was energy resonating from her, and she hadn't recoiled at the sound of his voice. He desired to explore the young anomaly.

"You can speak," Saika blankly stated, and against all odds, she formed a distant sort of smile.

This took the cat for a turn.

"What are you smiling about?" His own smile flipped over, as he felt left out of the joke. She was supposed to be terrified.

"What am I doing?" she asked, laughing lightly. "I'm half naked in another dimension chasing a book. I've sung to flowers, picnicked with monsters, and now I'm talking to a cat. It's like some terrible dream come true."

"Be careful what you wish for." His cheeky grin returned. "Wishing is a dangerous business."

"This is all so impossible." Saika crouched onto her knees to keep the breeze from blowing uncomfortably over her legs.

"Impossible? You're only human. What do you know about the impossible?" The cat leapt from the branch and sat itself on the mushroom that Saika was crouched by.

"You humans have been throwing around that word, impossible, for centuries. And you're afraid here, aren't you? I'd be afraid of a world where you humans can decide what's all possible. They used to say they couldn't fathom lightning, but now they keep it in jars. Demons have never had that problem, but imagine a world where humans were simply right. In that sort of world, any point to imagining would waste away. I wouldn't exist. By carriage, you wouldn't exist, and we wouldn't be having this conversation."

Saika stared in awe at the cat before slowly saying, "What is your name?"

"What's in a name?" Saika stared at him curiously, and he added, "By name, do you mean what others call me? Or what my begetters named me?"

After a pause, Saika asked, "What do you call yourself?"

To her surprise, he laughed. Before she could think about how odd it was to hear a cat laugh, he said, "A number of things, being me, myself, and I. Because I don't often forget who I am."

"What can I call you?"

"Call me what you like," the cat chuckled, before vanishing from its tail up.

"Wait! Don't go," Saika asked, glad to have some remotely polite solace in the horror-land. "Which- which way should I go from here?"

"That depends on where you want to get to," the cat spoke just as its jagged shoulder bones disappeared.

"Well. . . I don't know."

"Then it doesn't really matter which way you go, does it?"

Thinking about this for too long, Saika watched the cat completely disappear, only leaving the ghost of its grin behind.

"I want to find some clothes!" she finally decided.

Two bright yellow orbs appeared above the moony grin, and Saika fell on her backside in shock of the face without a head.

"Then you'll want to head north," though he didn't explain why.

"Will I see you again?"

"Oh!" And the closing eyes blinked open again, ignoring her question. "There's something I forgot to say."

"What is it?"

"It was very important."

"What is it?"

"I don't know." The cat laughed a bit hysterically. "I forgot!"

And with that, the cat faded away completely, leaving Saika alone with her shock.

After a while, she stood up and pulled the trees tops away from the skyline with her enlarged hands, only to realize that she had no idea in which direction North was.

"If you spend all day staring at yourself, you'll just get older. And uglier."

Everyone had always said she was the image of a snow maiden. Except for her sister.

"You're just jealous," she spat, but she set down the mirror anyway. "And it's not just to see myself."

"Well, the mirror won't work if you just stare at it. We should go out and find more sacrifices." Her sister unsheathed her sword enthusiastically.

"What's the point?" she looked to the roof of the cave apathetically. "These low class demons barely have any energy."

A deafening roar rang from the corner of the cave, followed by the sound of strained chains.

"What's the matter, baby?" she cooed to the monster.

"He smells something good," her sister purred in delight.