Thank you Juliedoo, Takara Rose Oizumi, GretchenMichelle, SnisteRRsAngel, Chibisensei110787, and GoodEnoughTheOpenDoor for your lovely reviews! :D

Luckily, I already have most of the next chapter written out, so you'll be seeing it soon enough. There's a bit of a plot twist; those that have read WTT before haven't seen it yet either; it's new. Prepare yourselves!

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"He rode to the summit

And waited at the bridge

I waved him goodbye

He vanished o'er the ridge

My face to the heavens

I waited for a sign

But only cloudy demons were circling in the sky"

—Bic Runga, "Ruby Nights"

Ruby Nights

As soon as the others left, I walked into Yusuke's room. I'd stashed an extra pair of shoes in his closet along with some clothes, and knew that I'd never find the sneakers I'd left at the apartment entrance—the blast had taken care of that. I brushed the glass off of my feet—the bleeding had already stopped; I only had small cuts—and pulled on a pair of socks, then my shoes, and started tying the laces.

"Genkai told us to stay," Keiko said hesitantly—she had arrived with Kurama. Puu chirped a little in her arms.

"You can stay," I replied calmly. "I'm getting my family out of here."

"I'll go with you," Shizuru offered.

I finished putting on my shoes, and stood, turning to her and smiling. "You don't have to do that. However, Keiko—did you bring the bandages?"

She nodded and walked over to Yusuke's desk—which was slightly singed but otherwise okay—and grabbed a roll of bandages and a tube of antiseptic. She wordlessly handed them to me.

"Sorry," I said, apologizing for my lack of modesty before ripping off my shirt. "No time."

I dabbed the salve on my shoulder where the cuts I'd gotten from Sniper were as Keiko averted her gaze and Shizuru continued to serenely smoke her cigarette, and wrapped it quickly, tearing through the bandage with my teeth and tying off the loose ends. I went back to Yusuke's closet and found that I'd only brought an extra school uniform—Kurama, however, had packed some casual wear and left them neatly folded on one of the shelves, so I commandeered one of his button-down shirts. It was quite large on me, so I tucked the hem into my jeans. It was supposed to be short-sleeved; the sleeves came down past my elbows—there was nothing to be done about that, so I let it be. I patted my chest to make sure the Barrier Stone was there, and jerked my gloves out of my pockets, putting them on. I turned to the others as I was fishing a ponytail holder out of my back pocket.

"I'll come back," I promised, raking my hair back into a sloppy bun. "I just need to convince my parents to leave—somehow, I don't think I'll have too difficult a time doing so…"

"Why is that?" Shizuru asked.

"I think my dad has some psychic awareness—he was asking some strange questions about Mushiyori City earlier. I think he might know at least something about what's going on."

"But Kurama said that there were plane tickets for all of your family," Shizuru pointed out, frowning. "You're leaving?" Her frown deepened. "They aren't going the leave the country without you, you know."

"I'll figure something out," I said with a sigh. I strode over to the door. "It's still a work in progress. Trust me. I'll call if something happens; that is, if the phone still works." The landline was mounted on the wall in the kitchen; I strode over to it, kicking a splintered chair out of my way, and picked up the receiver. There was a dial tone.

"Yep, it works!" I called, and replaced the receiver. "I'll be right back… somehow. Promise."

I hit the front porch running, and came to a stop in front of the door, hesitating—my resolve wavering slightly. It would be obvious that I hadn't been at Meiou—I wasn't in my school clothes; it was the middle of the day, so there would be some explaining to go along with that. They'd assume (rightly so) that I'd been lying about my location for the past week or so. And then after explaining all of that, and ticking them off most likely, I'd have to somehow convince them to leave the country without me—

—The door swung open.

My dad stood there in silence for several moments, staring down at me, looking wan. There was a certain hollowness in his gaze; his features were gaunt and thin, a line of gray stubble ghosting his cheeks and jaw. His arms were crossed.

He was in his pajamas still. He had obviously never left the house this morning—his hair was still in disarray. I smelled the faint scent of cigarette smoke, and frowned, ceasing the nervous gnawing of the inside of my lip. "Were you smoking?" I demanded. "I thought you quit—And aren't you… supposed to be at work?"

He raised a single grizzled eyebrow. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?" he rumbled, his frown deepening.

I winced. "Touché."

He stepped to one side and waved me into the house. "Inside. Now." There was no room for argument, and so I slunk into the hallway. He closed the door behind me, and I walked into the kitchen.

A long-extinguished cigarette was sitting in the old crystal ashtray on the counter by the window; said window was open to let out the smell. I drew a deep breath, fighting the urge to cough, and sat on a stool at the island countertops in the middle of the kitchen, letting my arms rest on the counter. My father took the stool furthest from me, pivoting in the seat to face me.

I inwardly collected myself, my thoughts, and turned to him as well.

"I have something to tell you about myself," I started, watching his expression carefully—so far, it was a mask of calm. "And I have a feeling that you have something to tell me as well."

I flexed my fingers, lifted my right hand. I slowly started loosening the fingers on my gloves, pulling the glove off in a flourish and tossing it on the counter. My dad stared at my bare fingers wordlessly. "Dad—there's really no easy way to go about this. This isn't something I can build up to. So, I'm just going to say it… And I'm going to show you, because I have a feeling that you'll be able to see it."

I drew a deep breath, and readied myself.

"Dad… I'm a psychic."

Tongues of electricity shot out of my fingertips, hovering around my hand like a halo, casting my father's face into sharp relief. As I watched him, he seemed to crumple in on himself—regret and horror mixed into one; he bowed his head and ran his fingers through his hair, messing it up further. I released my hold on my energy and leaned towards him, touching him on his shoulder.

"…Dad?"

He jerked his head up suddenly, reaching out and grabbing my hand in both of his. Aghast, I realized that the shining in his eyes was tears, that the expression on his face was complete guilt, a great and terrible sadness. I reached out and clasped my remaining hand over one of his, staring at him, at a loss for words.

"I tried to protect you," he whispered. "When they came for you, when they asked… I agreed so you would never have this power, so that you would never—"

"—They?" I pressed, interrupting him.

He released my hand and waved me off. "Later. How long have you had your power? What have you been doing with it? How did you find out?"

I drew back slightly from his rapid-fire interrogation, frowning. "Wait. Before I say anything… Dad, do you have psychic awareness?"

He nodded. "The men of our family have awareness; only the women have the power that you do. It's passed down from mother to daughter. Now…"

"To answer your first question," I continued swiftly, before he could ask any more questions. "I'm sure that you've realized that Shuichi is… of the demonic nature."

He frowned. "Yes," he grumbled. "He seems decent enough despite that. We'll have an entirely different conversation about that later…"

"He's how I found out about my power," I said. "I bumped into him one day and… yeah."

My father's brow furrowed. "That's not…" He paused, and rubbed the stubble on his chin. "It wasn't supposed to be that weak…"

I heaved a sharp sigh. "It?" I repeated. "Can you please tell me what you're talking about…?"

He waved me of once more. "Later," he repeated. "So… you've had full use of your power since the beginning of your freshman year at Meiou?"

I nodded. "Yes."

He gave me a hard, searching look. "I know that you would be incapable of letting such potential go to waste. What have you been doing with your power since then?"

I drew a deep breath—time to spill my guts. And get grounded till the end of time.

Oh well, that was the least of my concerns.

"Remember those rioters about a year ago… the ones that just started attacking people at random?" I rapped the counter with my fingernails nervously. "Yeah. They were possessed by demonic insects. I held them off—with Botan; you remember her right?—while some friends of ours took out the source."

My father was very quiet for a few moments. He worked his jaw. "That's not it, is it?" he murmured.

"When I spent the night at Botan's shortly after that…" I put air quotes around the words 'spent the night,' "we were out rescuing someone who was being tortured for the Black Black Club's financial gain."

My dad started suddenly, shooting to his feet—the stool fell to the floor with a clatter.

"You crossed paths with a sub-faction of the Yakuza?!" he all but shouted, slamming his hand down on the counter, making me flinch and the ashtray jump.

I gritted my teeth. "She was suffering. I did the right thing, and I don't regret it. Sorry," I added quietly as he fixed me with his most livid stare.

He glared at me for a few more moments, then, grumbling under his breath, jerked the stool he'd knocked over up with an angry yank, and sat down on it, clenching his knees in his hands so hard that his knuckles were white.

After he had calmed down slightly, he asked: "And I don't suppose you actually went to an academic camp during the winter break…?"

This was going to be the hardest part. Biding my time, I bit the inside of my lip and simply shook my head. My dad sighed heavily and clenched his fists.

"I'm not completely separated from the workings of the occult," he said quietly. "I know of one thing that was happening within that particular circle during the time you were gone. If you tell me, Reina, that you went to the Dark Tournament…" He swallowed, his Adam's apple bobbing frantically under his stubble-peppered neck. "I don't know, Reina. I don't know what I'll do."

My dad rose to his feet—though more carefully this time, not knocking over the stool again—and paced over to the kitchen sink, bracing himself against the counter. He suddenly spun, leaning against the sink, and gestured to me before crossing his arms tightly over his chest. "Well?"

My nails bit into the insides of my palms. "Yes," I whispered. "I went, and it was a mistake. But yes, that's where I was."

"What happened?" he barked. "Why did you do that…?" He quickly ran his hands through his hair once more, and then rubbed the stubble on his cheek, shaking his head.

"My friends were forced into fighting in the tournament," I murmured. "I…"

"Do you realize how dangerous that was?" he demanded, slapping his palm against the counter. "Do you understand that your life was on the line the entire time? Demons, Reina—demons everywhere. Just looking for a defenseless human girl like you to eat."

"I know full well," I replied somewhat frustratedly—he was mostly right about the "defenseless" part, but it still irked me. "That's why it was a mistake. It was stupid, but I wasn't thinking clearly at the time. I know exactly how dangerous going there was—"

"—No, I don't think you do," he interrupted darkly. "You don't know anything. Nothing. You have no idea how dangerous that tournament was for you—you've been sheltered your whole life, you've never experienced—"

I had intended to sit there quietly, letting him vent his frustration. But, at that—this direct attack on what I had, in fact, experienced, what I did know, and how it defined me—that was something I wouldn't sit down and take silently.

I rose to my feet quietly, back and shoulders stiff as I struggled to keep my anger in check, and my dad stopped talking—instantly—as I turned to face him. It might have been the fury venting off of me, the effort I was putting forth to keep myself from crying out of sheer frustration, or it might've been the hint of a spark of electricity that was making a few strands of my hair stand on end.

"I was almost killed," I said simply, quietly. "The only reason—" I paused for a second, swallowing the lump in my throat, "I survived was because someone put their life on the line for me. He died to save me. Ryo… Takeo."

My father's eyes widened. His hand slipped off the counter, fell to his side.

I let out a short, bitter laugh—it was half a sob, and I wiped angrily at a stray tear that had escaped. "That name sounds familiar, doesn't it? Old family friends, right—the Takeos?"

My father looked like a lost man; he was paling by the second.

Adrenaline, and a vicious concoction of apprehension and vindictive success, flooded through me as my father's face crumpled—as he realized just how wrong he was. There was some measure of guilt there as well, certainly—but between my insanely fast heart rate and the terrible satisfaction I got from having my actions validated, my "I told you so" (a horrible thing, but still something I couldn't deny myself), I couldn't act with my conscience in control. So I let loose the final blow:

"How about the name Karasu…?"

My father balked, backing away from me, his mouth opening—he shut it, working his jaw, unable to say anything. I watched him quietly, drawing a shaky breath. Calm. I had to be in control, or I'd become completely hysterical.

"Karasu," I said quietly. "A nice bedtime story to get the kids of the Shueisha family to behave and not run off alone in the dark? To keep them off the streets at night and safe at home, where Karasu," I spat the name, "couldn't find them? Well, Dad—I did go out after dark, and yes, I know it was a mistake—and yes, Karasu did find me.

"So don't tell me that I haven't experienced anything yet, that I don't know what I'm talking about." My voice was rising with every word; my dad simply listened, not able to say a single word. "I was attacked, and have a huge fucking scar to prove it on my back, and I watched someone die for me—I was there the moment Ryo's soul left his body—staring into his eyes…!" I was shouting now, and crying almost hysterically; I fought it down to say my last piece:

"And the only reason I came here," I slammed a fist on the counter and the ashtray jumped once more, clinking against the granite; my dad didn't flinch and I was beyond feeling the pain in my hand, "was so that I could tell you that the world as we know it has an extremely good chance of ending tonight, and I need to get you on a plane to the other side of the world now. Not so I could defend the amount of experience I have with the occult."

In the silence that followed, my dad simply stared at me with an expression that I didn't recognize twisting his features into something that ultimately resembled grief, and I stared at him, angrily wiping away tears as the last of them fell.

My dad nodded to himself, at some internal dialogue. "I was wrong." He shook his head, and strode forward—he reached out to me, and pulled me into a hug, holding me tightly. "You've suffered," he murmured into my ear, his hand resting on the back of my head, "in ways that I cannot even begin to fathom. I was wrong about that, Reina… I am sorry."

I nodded into his shoulder, and he drew back, his hands resting on my arms. He offered me a somewhat pained smile.

"I know about the tickets. And from that energy in Mushiyori City… I'm assuming that it's a tunnel to Makai that's threatening the safety of our world. It's a huge demonic aura... You are involved with that as well, I take it?"

I nodded. "The doctor that snapped at the hospital, the one on the news? He was working for the man in charge of creating the tunnel before he was arrested. We fought him. There were six others, but we got one of them on our side. Right now, my friends are taking the fight directly to the threshold of the tunnel itself—it's our last resort. Kur—Shuichi—"

"—Just tell me his real name, Reina," my father interrupted, letting his hands drop and lifting his eyebrows in my direction.

He did have a point… what did I have left to hide? "Kurama. But… keep his name to yourself. Technically, it's not my secret to tell."

My dad nodded. "All right. The boy's been good to you," he said gruffly. "Even if he is a demon… Where is he?"

My heart sank just thinking about it. "Fending off the apocalypse with the others. He's the one that sent the plane tickets, by the way—he wanted us to get out in case they don't…"

"—Succeed?" My dad finished.

I nodded sadly. Dad grimaced. "Figured as much. I already traded in your mother's ticket for an earlier flight and got her on a plane. We'll be joining her if things don't improve."

I frowned. "I was almost positive that you were going to get us to leave immediately."

He smiled wryly. "I want to know what exactly we're dealing with. Besides, the closest airport is in Mushiyori city. If things start going south, we'll go there and leave for the states."

It was all I could do to stare blankly at him for several moments—this was my father, yes, the same man I'd grown up with. I'd watch the laugh lines crease his face slowly over time, his hair lighten into gray; I'd known him all my life. But never in this light—never as someone I shared camaraderie with in my dealings with the comings and goings of the supernatural. This man was now a stranger.

"Dad?"

He shot me a half smile. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry for yelling at you." I smiled wryly at him. "I got your temper, I guess."

He snorted and mussed my hair, then dropped an arm around my shoulders. "Nice sarcasm you got there, kiddo. You got that from your mom." He chuckled and waved me forward. "Let's go."

Keiko looked very frazzled when we arrived at Yusuke's apartment—she was methodically sweeping the floor of the kitchen, cleaning up the glass, and glanced up sharply as my dad and I entered the room.

My dad coughed, and rubbed his eyes as the smoke burned them. "What happened in here? Looks like a tornado ripped through this place…"

"Just a ball of energy the mastermind who's bent on the world's destruction threw at us—no big deal," I answered offhandedly, sidestepping the small piled Keiko had made with the broom as I walked over to her. "I don't think there's any major structural damage…"

I could feel my dad frowning. "That isn't a joking matter, Reina…"

I turned and shot him a half-smirk. "With the apocalypse looming, there's not a lot to joke about. I'll take what I can get. Now, let me introduce you…" I put my hand on Keiko's shoulder. "You remember Keiko. Yukimura?" I prodded, and my dad offered us a short nod, which Keiko returned with a hesitant smile.

"And this," I continued as Shizuru walked into the room, snuffing out a cigarette in the chipped ashtray on the counter next to Keiko and I, "is Shizuru. Shizuru, Keiko—this is my dad, the other psychic of the Shueisha family, apparently."

Shizuru frowned, nodding to herself, and Keiko glanced between my father and myself quickly, before stepping towards him.

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Shueisha," she said quietly. They'd met briefly when Keiko had spent the night at my house a while back, but hadn't spoken much. Shizuru waved slightly at him; my dad nodded his greetings while eyeing the wrecked interior of the apartment.

"Trust me, it looked a lot better before the attack," I assured him as a piece of drywall crumbled off the wall behind him, kicking up a cloud of dust that made my dad cough once more. He sniffled slightly and returned to studying his scorched and smoky surroundings once more.

I winced as I guessed what he was thinking—if this rag-tag team of psychic punks could barely keep an apartment clean, then how were they going to save the planet, for crying out loud?

I'd had enough of the judgmental silence, so I coughed to get everyone's attention and slapped some dust off my jeans. "All right. My dad and I are headed to Mushiyori City to keep a closer eye on things—if you two want to join our motley crew, feel free. I know Genkai told us to stay here in case Yusuke came back, but Sensui isn't going to bring Kuwabara back, and Yusuke isn't going to give up trying to save him. So…"

"I feel the same way," Shizuru put in, tapping her temple. "I was just convincing Keiko to leave too. I feel like we need to go to Mushiyori."

"Keiko?" I asked.

She bit the inside of her lip, deliberating—and then she nodded. "Let's leave a note, though. " She ran off to go find some paper and a pen, leaving Shizuru, my father, and myself alone in the awkward silence.

Shizuru cleared her throat. "We should take Puu with us. Where is that dumb bird—Puu!"

With a squawk, Yusuke's spirit beast came swooping out of a shattered china cabinet, and zoomed towards the three of us. He hovered for a moment in the center of the room, and then his beady gaze found my father.

With a rapturous crow, Puu descended on my father as fast as his little body could manage—my dad, seeing this, hit the ground with his arms crossed over his head. Puu hovered over him for a moment, then landed gently on his crossed arms, and lightly pecked at his head in an interested way.

Snorting from laughter, I walked over to him and lifted Puu into my arms. "Dad, it's okay. Puu's a sweetheart, even if he is a little annoying. He just wanted to say hi."

He carefully pushed himself to his feet, and dusted off his shirt and pants. "I don't like birds," he grumbled in a gruff, embarrassed tone, glancing at Puu in a worried way. Puu made a little chirruping noise, clicking his beak, and my dad recoiled slightly, eyeing the spirit animal warily.

Despite this, Puu chirped and reached out, rubbing the side of his face against my dad's shirt.

"See?" I said with a small grin. "He's just met you, and he already loves you. And if I'm not mistaken, Keiko has him potty trained—for a bird, he's not all that bad. You have to admit that much."

My dad grudgingly reached out a hand and petted Puu's head.

"Ready," Keiko said, slapping a note on the fridge and pinning it there with a cat-shaped magnet.

We left Yusuke's apartment and boarded a train bound for Mushiyori City. The train ride would take a mere twenty minutes, so we settled in as best we could in a mostly empty car. Shizuru stood, holding onto one of the poles available for standing passengers, though she eventually took to pacing between poles, staring furtively out the window, waiting for Mushiyori to appear on the horizon.

There was a dark cloud looming over the city, and the train car was darkening by the minute. As I studied the misshapen and ominous thunderstorm, lightning flashed half a mile away from our train, and thunder snarled in its wake.

Keiko sat next to me, quietly, with her hands in her lap, staring at the opposite end of the train car. My dad sat just as quietly, with his arms crossed and his head tilted back against the window. His eyes were closed.

"Dad?"

He grunted and opened his eyes.

"Does mom know? Is she a psychic too?" I bit the inside of my lip as more questions loomed in the forefront of my mind. "And… where are the Takeos? Why aren't we still with—"

"—One at a time, sweetheart," he murmured, yawning and righting himself. He frowned at me. "Your mother and I met after I put the supernatural world behind me. She's just a normal human, and she doesn't know that I'm a psychic.

"The Takeos were attacked," he continued after a beat of hesitation. His features were grim. "they'd been hunted for many years by… him, and our family helped them as best we could—but Karasu finally caught up to them twenty-eight years ago." My father sighed, and passed a hand over his face, smoothing out the wrinkles on his forehead briefly as he remembered a distant and troubling memory.

"They disappeared and cut off all contact with our family, to protect us. Our immediate family is all that's left of the Shueishas—and there were no women born to our family for an entire century until you came along. I knew you would inherit our family's power, since it is only passed down through the women of our family, and I wanted to protect you from it. So I… took measures to do so." Seeing me open my mouth, he raised his hand and insisted quietly:

"That is a story for another day," he finished, and lapsed into silence.

"When they came for you, when they asked… I agreed so you would never have this power, so that you would never—"

I wouldn't press him for details. Not yet. I'd find out who "they" were later—there were more pressing matters to worry about at the moment.

A few minutes later, the train pulled into the Mushiyori City station. I pulled off my gloves and yanked the chain of the Barrier Stone over my head, stuffing it securely in my pocket, and grimaced as I stepped onto the train platform.

"Stay close to me," I warned, lifting my hands and drawing on my energy. "They should be harmless, but I'd rather we didn't take any chances."

There were Makai insects everywhere—buzzing, fluttering, creeping, crawling. It took very little effort to cast a shield of energy in front of us, and the insects were so weak that they evaporated even before my aura touched them. Everyone followed behind me as I took the lead, walking us out of the train station. I squinted as a gust of wind blew grit in our faces and swirled cigarette butts onto the tracks. It was incredibly dark—not raining though. Not yet.

"Where are we going, Shizuru?" I asked over my shoulder.

"Let's find a cab," she suggested, raising her voice to be heard over the gale. My father nodded and strode towards the curb, raising his arm. A taxi came to a rolling stop in front of him, and he beckoned us forward. My dad took shotgun, and Shizuru, Keiko, and I climbed into the backseat.

I spat out some dirt and grimaced as a Makai insect got caught between the door and the frame of the car, pushing my aura towards it so that the carcass evaporated.

"West end of the city," Shizuru ordered.

"I think this is far enough," Shizuru told the cabbie, who nodded and pulled over. My dad handed him some money, waving the cabbie off when he tried to give him change, and we all hopped out of the cab onto a sidewalk lined with small shops and vendors. I glanced around us and frowned.

"The insects are gone," I observed.

"And look—the sky cleared up," Keiko said brightly, pointing towards the sunset. "Maybe the boys sealed the tunnel…?"

Both Shizuru and I were shaking our heads before Keiko had finished; my father also looked skeptical and wary.

"No…" Shizuru said quietly, pulling out her pack of cigarettes and popping one in her mouth. She lit it, and held the lighter in the palm of her hand for a moment, staring at it with an expression that both confused me and made me feel sorry for her. It was an expression of bitter regret, thinly concealed by a stoic attitude.

"Usually when something seems too good to be true, it is." She pocketed the lighter rather forcefully, and stalked off down the sidewalk.

"Shizuru?" Keiko asked hesitantly, following her. "What's…?"

I caught up to Keiko, touching her elbow to get her attention. "What she means," I explained, "is that there's still a powerful demonic presence here. They haven't sealed the tunnel. Most likely, this is the stage that Koenma was talking about—the calm before the storm, when the tunnel stabilizes.

"Regardless," I continued hurriedly as Keiko's mouth popped open in horror, and Puu made a low, urgent noise of distress, "the boys are there, and they're taking care of it. And the Kekkai is still there." I smiled. "Don't worry too much. They've got this."

Keiko nodded, albeit hesitantly, and sped up to walk next to Shizuru, peering up at her worriedly. I slowed down slightly for my dad to catch up with me; when he did, he shot me a bemused half-smile.

"You need to explain to me what this 'Kekkai' thing is," he said somewhat abashedly, shoving his hands in his pockets. He tucked his chin slightly and muttered something along the lines of: "Newfangled young'ns…"

I grinned. "It's actually been around for centuries, Dad. It's, uh…"

My thoughts shot back to the completion of the Kekkai, the hopes that Masuyo had rested upon it. And, of course, how Kurama had shaped those dreams. I, like my dad, shoved my hands into my pockets in a nervous gesture, and swallowed, collecting my thoughts once more.

"It's an energy barrier between the Demon World and the Human World," I continued, giving him the short explanation, "Kind of a Reikai special-ops thing. I mean, I'd never heard of it until recently. And someone who works for Reikai that I know hadn't heard of it until Koenma told us either—"

My dad coughed, spluttered, and glanced at me sharply. "—Koenma?" he blurted. "As in…" He lowered his voice as pedestrians started giving us curious looks, one of them pausing in the middle of the sidewalk to listen in. "The son of Enma, ruler of Spirit World? You know him?"

I'd never thought that this would be a strange thing in the psychic community, but I suppose knowing the co-owner of heaven on a personal level was a bit strange. I shrugged helplessly. "Yeah. I mean, his Spirit Detective is a friend of ours," I motioned to Shizuru and Keiko, who were walking a few feet ahead of us, "and kinda, erm, dating Keiko… so yeah, we see Koenma pretty often. Even moreso now that the world's on the brink of ending."

"And the Spirit Detective," my father muttered, shaking his head perplexedly. "You've become more involved with the comings and goings of the supernatural in a year than I've been involved with it throughout the entirety of my life."

We walked in silence for about half a block.

"I'm impressed, Reina. Really, I am."

I glanced up at him quickly, startled. I offered him a hesitant smile. "Thanks, Dad."

He shrugged. "What else can I say? You're teaching me things about a world that only I was supposed to know anything about." He smiled, and nudged me with his elbow. "Now, only if you applied yourself so well to, I don't know, student organizations or something…"

I snorted. "Yeah, those are safe, but not nearly as rewarding. Life experience. C'mon, Dad."

"I don't think psychic prowess will be a good addition to college and scholarships applications," he hinted, frowning at me.

"Surviving to be able to fill out said applications is a bit of a plus, though," I pointed out, smiling so he wouldn't take it too seriously. "It's just another facet of this life. I'm not neglecting the other facets, Dad. They're all equally shiny and… reflective."

My dad didn't quite laugh; it was a cross between a snort and a quick exhale. He patted me carefully on my back, avoiding my bandaged shoulder. "I know. You're keeping things well-balanced." He paused. Then, quietly: "I'm proud of you."

Something strange and warm rose in my throat; it somehow made my eyes sting. I bit the inside of my lip and nodded, smiled. "I… thanks, Dad." It was really all I could say. I blinked rapidly and nodded again, head bobbing up and down, unable to say anything more for fear of letting this strange sensation overcome me.

We walked around not exactly aimlessly; Shizuru and I were feeling around with our psychic awareness, trying to figure out where exactly to go. My dad tried to help as well, but because he didn't know what the new psychics' territory would feel like, he was just searching for demonic auras.

As we walked, the sun crept lower and lower into the sky, and black clouds returned to hover over the city just before sunset, rendering our surroundings darkened and ominous.

Suddenly, Shizuru cane to a halt. Keiko walked past her for a couple more feet, then hesitated and glanced back at the older girl worriedly.

It was then that I felt it—a chill up my spine, a sharp thrill that made my hair stand on end and put every one of my senses on high alert.

A few blocks ahead of us, the earth erupted and a bright beam of light shot into the sky, punching a hole through the clouds. It was gone so quickly that I was unable to shout; do anything—but the image was burned into my retinas, dancing streaks of light blinded me.

The ground beneath us snapped like a towel, knocking me into the side of the building we were standing by, casting Keiko to the ground. My dad and Shizuru crouched down and stayed on their feet, and I shoved myself up, throwing out my arms to keep my balance.

"That wasn't demonic!" I shouted, fear and anxiety rendering me unable to modulate my tone. "It wasn't human either—"

With a creak and a flurry of sparks, a neon sign fell out of its frame and hurtled towards the ground—towards Keiko, who was still kneeling on the sidewalk, struggling to stand. Shizuru cried out in warning and lunged forward, grabbing Keiko and yanking her out of the way.

The sign exploded as it hit the ground, all twisted metal and flickering, broken lights. I ran forward, sidestepping it to get to Shizuru and Keiko.

"You okay?" I said breathlessly, reaching out a hand to help Shizuru up. She took it and I hauled her to her feet—she coughed and slapped some dust off of her pants.

"I'll take that as a sign," she muttered, fishing in her pocket for a cigarette and lighter. She popped one in her mouth, lit it, then drew a smoky breath, releasing it through her nose. "That we should never leave the apartment again."

Keiko laughed somewhat shakily, and I snorted. "Well, there's some good news," I said lightly, "that beam of light wasn't demonic. Wasn't human either, but at least we know that the tunnel hasn't opened yet!"

Shizuru nodded somewhat distractedly and waved at us. "C'mon, let's go get a closer look—it was over there."

We ran down the sidewalk for a couple of blocks, reaching the outskirts of the city—other pedestrians were trickling over to the site of the explosion as well, murmuring their worry and their opinions about what it could've been. I pushed past a couple of students in their school uniforms, and balked as I finally reached the place where the beam of light had emanated from.

"Water main?" one man offered to his companion. The woman standing next to him shook her head, and frowned, edging a step closer.

"Shizuru… the energy…" I bit the inside of my lip and edged away from the crater slightly. "It's demonic… but hidden, in a way. That's where the tunnel is."

The hole was enormous—perhaps fifteen yards in diameter, with dirt and debris surrounding it. Pouring out of it like a noxious gas was the latent demonic energy that I'd been feeling all over Mushiyori City. I could feel it, but it didn't call to my power—yet. The Kekkai was still in place, separating the energy from our world.

For now.

"All that's under there is Demon's Door Cave," an older man said somewhat shakily. "There's nothing down there that would've caused that explosion… no water mains, gas lines, nothing."

Despite everything in me that was screaming for me to run, get away from here, now, I edged closer and peered down into the crater. I knew that I wouldn't have much time—I could hear sirens in the distance; the police was going to diffuse the growing crowd in a couple minutes and rope this place off.

I peered down into darkness. There was nothing down there that I could see. I reached down and grabbed a chunk of clay that had been knocked loose by the explosion, and tossed it in. No noise of its impact reached me—so my worst fears were confirmed. The explosion had come from Demon's Door Cave, but what did it mean? Was it a signal to Shizuru, Keiko, and myself? That the boys were losing, and it was time to run? Or was it just part of the battle?

Shizuru grabbed my elbow and started pulling me away from the crater. I walked with her without complaint.

"I've got a bad feeling," she said hurriedly, motioning for Keiko to come with us and releasing me. "Something bad is going to happen, and it's going to happen here. We've got to get away from this place—far away. Come on."

My dad fell in line beside me, and I glanced up at him. "She has an extremely sensitive sixth sense," I explained. "When she says to move, move and don't ask questions. I'm pretty sure she's saved all our lives on at least one occasion."

We hurried back towards the city's center. Shizuru halted briefly at the front entrance of a hotel, features curving into a grimace as she let out a frustrated sigh and turned, pushing through the revolving doors into the hotel lobby. She veered off towards the elevator, and punched the button to take us up.

"Why here?" I asked hesitantly.

She crossed her arms, reaching reflexively for her lighter and flipping it open, then shut, and open again in a nervous mantra of clicks. "We're far enough away to not get hurt," she said simply. "But I still want to be able to watch what's going on. We're going to the roof."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened; we all walked inside and headed to the highest floor. When we got there, Shizuru led us to a stairwell, which brought us to the roof.

It was unseasonably cold, with a biting chill in the breeze. I wrapped my arms around myself and walked slowly after Shizuru as she rushed to the west side of the building, the side facing the site of the explosion. There was a chain-link fence that bordered the perimeter of the rooftop, and she laced her fingers through it, staring out towards the horizon with worry marking her forehead with thin creases.

The sun was setting, the clouds allowing a small sliver of light to shine through. It painted the sky red, a ruby night that hovered over us, suffocating us with its weight.

"What's wrong, Shizuru?" I asked, walking up next to her as she lifted a hand, covering her mouth with her palm. She squeezed her eyes shut.

"My brother," she said, voice, muffled by her hand, quiet and taut with concern. "I-I can feel his heart breaking.

Keiko stood at Shizuru's other side, clutching Puu tightly, staring at her with wide eyes.

"I hate to say this," Shizuru said after a few moments of silence, her hand slipping from her mouth, "but… I'm really scared right now. For all of them."

The only sound we could hear was the low moaning of wind, the chatter of pedestrians below and the rasping of tires against pavement. In the distance, the blinking lights of police cars surrounded the crater above Demon's Door Cave. People were milling about in the streets, some talking excitedly about the explosion, others just lingering about, peering down the street towards the line of cops.

"It's okay to be scared," Keiko assured her. She didn't sound too sure of herself.

I shoved my hand in my pocket and fingered the Barrier Stone while staring out over the city. "Yusuke took out Toguro on his own," I said as cheerfully as I could manage. "And he was a B class demon. Sensui can't be much stronger than that—and Yusuke has Kurama to help him, Genkai too—and Kuwabara when they cut him loose. They'll be okay."

I briefly thought of Hiei, of what he was doing. Yes, he had abandoned us, but…

Kuwabara glared at all of us. "He's still the... same selfish punk that he was from the start..."

"Yeah, he's the same," Yusuke agreed, frowning at the ground, brow furrowed in thought. "He'll come save us in the end, when we need him the most."

I hoped that Yusuke had been right about that. If we ever needed extra help, it was now—even if said help was coming from someone I wasn't too fond of. I'd even thank him for his help, if it meant the boys' safety and the continuation of our world. I'd take his help—even if it was grudging, even if he did snort and insult us and then disappear again—and I'd be grateful.

Hiei, I thought. You might not hear me, and my worry might not concern—hell, maybe you'd be glad to see the Human World's demise—but Kurama is your friend, and right now he needs your help. I reached out and grabbed the fence with my free hand, tilting my head forward to lean my forehead against the links. I closed my eyes, concentrating, focusing on projecting my thoughts—if that were possible.

I know you wouldn't help him for me, and that's all right—but know that I'm worried for him, just like you, and for Yusuke, and Kuwabara. And if you're already in the middle of it, I'm worried for you too. I hesitated. Be safe, Hiei—and come back. With all of them. Please.

My thoughts and pleas went unanswered. I opened my eyes as strangely distant waves of demonic aura washed over me, then frustratedly ripped the amulet out of my pocket, pulling the chain over my head. I sighed and reveled in the lack of sensitivity; all my anxiety and my desperate need for action, for running out to the cave to help however I could, cooled. My thoughts became quiet; my heart slowed. Silence fell over our group, and the sound of traffic rolling along below us became background noise.

"W-what's wrong? Puu…?"

My eyes snapped open, and I turned.

Keiko was cradling Yusuke's spirit animal in her arms, rubbing the side of his face with his thumb, rocking him slightly. She glanced up at Shizuru and I, worry creasing her brow. "He's fallen asleep—I can't get him to wake up…"

Shizuru walked over to Keiko, bending over Puu, talking quietly to Keiko, asking her what had happened, when—details, a blur of information that started to matter less and less as time went on. As I watched with stinging eyes, Keiko shook her head quickly and pressed her fingers to Puu's still belly.

"H-he's cold..."

I glanced back out at the horizon, where, in the distance, I knew that the boys were fighting for their—and everyone else's—lives.

I ground down hard on my lip as I realized what the implications of Puu's comatose state meant.

Puu was Yusuke's spirit beast—a reflection of Yusuke's soul.

And if Puu was dying...

I squeezed my eyes shut and pinched the bridge of my nose. Hard.

Yusuke was our informal leader... the backbone of whatever all of us did. The foundation, and the power. The strength behind the punch.

And if he were...

My fingers tightened.

Well, that meant that we were done for, really.

With a shuddering sigh, I released the bridge of my nose, and stared out across the city—it was bright and complex-looking from up here, on the roof that Shizuru had lead us to. As if this distance would save us if this all blew up in our faces.

I could hear Shizuru comforting Keiko quietly.

No, Puu would be all right.

Yusuke was fine.

I reached forward, and laced my fingers through the chain link fence once more, tilting my head forward until my forehead was pressed against the metallic weave.

And stared.

God, I hated this—being stuck here, not able to do anything to help. Because this enemy that our friends were fighting was not a demon.

No, Sensui was a psychopathic human hell bent on destroying our world... with hell.

I wondered idly about what I would do if it came down to that—if, somehow (because there was absolutely no way Sensui could beat us, I reminded myself firmly) the portal opened and all of the demons from Makai came into this world...

I would never be able to take off the Barrier Stone again.

My gaze flicked down to the ruby red pendant, as it swung gently from my throat.

And if it came to that... I would probably die anyway. My lips twisted upwards—a grimace, really—at the irony.

I uncurled one of my fingers from the fence, and lifted the Barrier Stone level with my face, staring into the scarlet depths, as if it had an answer. Some reassurance.

Like it would speak to me, as Shizuru was reassuring Keiko now.

Then, something caught my eye.

My brow furrowed, and I brought the Barrier Stone closer to my face, inspecting it confusedly.

A tiny, hairline crack... miniscule, but definitely noticeable. It hadn't been there before.

I rubbed my finger over it, and felt the almost imperceptible ridge there.

I frowned.

Huh.

"Hey, what's...?!"

I turned, alarmed by the tenor of Keiko's voice—she sounded shocked, startled.

Then, several things happened instantaneously.

One, I noted that Puu, still limp, lifeless, was taking on an otherworldly glow, which cast Keiko's features into sharp relief as she stared down at him, her head bent over his listless form.

Two, Shizuru's head whipped up, and her mouth opened in horror, as her hand lifted—slowly, it seemed—to point in my direction. I watched as she began to run towards me, mouth open, yelling something that my numbed ears did not hear.

Three.

My eyes flicked back down to the Barrier Stone, just as it was rent in two.

And the world seemed to tilt underneath my feet; a pit opened up beneath me—and I fell into nothing with the swiftness of a soul being swallowed by the abyss of hell.

Oh yeah, go listen to the song that I posted an excerpt from in the "lyrics" section. Bic Runga is one of the few musicians who have never failed to inspire me with their music. It should be on youtube somewhere. :D

Thanks for reading!