Future Talk

Chapter 37:

"White Rabbit"

Yusuke raised an eyebrow when I stalked past him on the porch. "What the hack happened to you?" he said, tracking my progress with his eyes. He was holding a slice of cake in a paper napkin in one hand; pink icing marred the side of his mouth.

I grunted by way of reply and ducked indoors. My shoes were already off—still sitting at the bottom of the pond, as it were—so the only real damage I did to the floor was drip a bit of water in my wake. Grumbling, I walked to the bathroom and stripped, throwing my sopping clothes into the hamper before scrubbing my pink and fleshy skin raw.

And my hair stank like fish.

Sighing as I worked mint-scented shampoo into my disgusting mane, I thought about the last few minutes. Hiei had stood there and smirked while Genkai berated me for freaking out and diving head first into her carefully cultivated pond, and when she dismissed me I made sure to flip my hair so hard that most of it caught Hiei square across the face. To my satisfaction, he had spluttered and cursed before giving me his trademark glare (I had been wondering where it went!) and flouncing off. Then I limped to the boulder, grabbed my abandoned cane, and did likewise.

The shampoo washed down the drain in a spiral of pale green suds. Finally smelling like a person again did wonders for my mood, and when I sank into the bathtub full of deliciously hot water my happiness returned in full force, as did a wave of tiredness. I was much more fatigued than I had earlier surmised.

Ah, solitude, I thought, listening to the water's comforting rush. Lovely. I've been around people far too much for far too long.

The door promptly clattered open. "Yoo-hoo!" someone sang, and my eyes popped out of my head.

Botan, grinning from ear to ear, flew into the room with a large cardboard box clutched to her chest. I wrapped my own arms around my chest, going red before I remembered how common it was for people to be nude around their own sex in the bath. True to that, Botan didn't seem to notice my red face as she tugged over one of the shower stools and sat at the edge of the huge tub, humming away like an engine with bad tuning.

"I have your travel clothes!" she practically sang, ripping open the box with a sound that made my teeth grind on reflex. She yanked something huge, chocolate brown, and furry into my line of sight before cooing and rubbing the material against her cheek. Her face sank into it with plenty of room to spare.

"Is all of that… necessary?" I managed as she took out a pair of furry pants, enormous fur-lined boots, and a fur scarf. All of it was made out of the same chocolate brown pelt on the outside, and it all had the same fluffy gray fur on the inside.

"It's made out of the skins of the Makai grizzly bear," she said, "and the fur of the Makai's polar rabbit. It's the warmest thing you'll ever wear, and from what Koenma told me you're going to need every inch of it."

I winced. "That cold, huh?"

"Yes," said Botan, growing a bit more serious now that the novelty of such fuzzy clothing had lost its sparkle. "Koenma sent an operative to assess the terrain of Ryu's hiding place, and the word is that you'll be experiencing sub-zero temperatures during your trip."

I raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that seem too easy?"

She seemed confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, how did you find Ryu so easily?" I asked. "I'd think he would go to a lot of trouble to keep his location a secret since he's a fugitive and all."

But Botan just waved her hands in dismissal. "Oh, please. The Spirit World has advanced enough technology to track down someone who left that much evidence behind him."

"Evidence?"

"Oh, mm-hmm." She nodded vigorously. "The knife he left behind contained a good chunk of his spirit energy, and Kurama's binding plants drained a good bit away as well. Together it was more than enough to use to calibrate a tracking device that responds to his energy signature." She put a finger to her lip. "And Kurama's plants weakened Ryu by more than enough to keep him in one place for at least another week, for recovery purposes. By Kurama's estimate, we have a window of another nine days before we have to worry about him going on the run again."

I nodded, absorbing this. It made sense, I supposed—during the Sensui arc Botan had showcased the new and improved spirit tracker watch thing when they tried to find Hiei, and since even more time had elapsed since then I could only assume that the technology has progressed accordingly.

"Anyway, it isn't Ryu we have to worry about at this point," Botan continued, voice dropping as the gravity of the situation increased. "Seishou hasn't been spotted since he attacked you in the truck. Koenma thinks that you running him over weakened him and sent him into hiding, but Genkai is not so sure. You will all have to be on your guard in Demon World."

I smiled and lifted my hand out of the water so I could touch Botan's worried fingers. She looked up at me with grateful eyes.

"Don't worry," I said. "I've been learning how to kick butt, and the guys are all pros at this by now. We're on the offensive and we have the element of surprise, so what could go wrong?"

Botan smiled, but the look was a pained one. "They do have the home field advantage."

"That didn't stop us at the hotel," I told her.

She sighed. "You're right. I'm just a worrier by nature, I guess." She stood up. "I'll put these in your room—oh, and Yusuke was looking for you. He wants you to meet him in the courtyard."

I stood up, water falling everywhere as I grabbed a towel off the nearby rack. "Oh, thanks. I'll be there soon."

She grinned, saying something about finding Yukina to see if there was any cake left, and I watched her go in trepidation.

Seishou was still out there, huh…

I walked to my room in a towel; luckily no one saw, and I changed into jeans and a hoodie before going outside. Despite the noonday sun, the wind from the north was chilling—I had hardly noticed it in the garden earlier because the place had been protected from the wind, but now, out in the open…

"Hey!" Yusuke called as I rubbed my arms through my jacket to warm myself. My toes curled in their chilly open sandals. "Dani! There you are!"

I walked down the steps and into the courtyard just as Yusuke ran up. He skittered to a stop just before he reached me, grinning, and he grabbed my wrists and pulled my hands into the air right at the level of my collarbone.

"Since we're all going to Demon World soon," he said, holding my fists in his hands to shape them into balls, "I figured I oughtta teach you how to throw a solid punch. Sound good?"

I smiled, not at all sure I would ever be able to punch to Yusuke's discriminating standards. Still, I thought the exercise might at least prove fun, so I said: "Sure."

"Cool. Now make a fist." He let go of me as I did as he requested on my own, hooking the handle of my cane over my elbow for safekeeping, and his eyes glittered as they lingered on my hands. One arched eyebrow quirked. "Oh wow, Dani. That's just sad."

I looked at my fists, not seeing whatever he was so down about. "What is?"

"Your thumb inside your fist?" he said with obvious disappointment.

I shifted uncomfortably. "I thought… well, that my nails would cut my palm when I hit something, so I just…"

He snorted. "Yeah, they might cut you if they're too long, but what's worse—a broken thumb or a few little cuts?"

"Cuts," was my immediate response, and I pulled my thumb out of the rest of my fingers. "I'll trim my nails tonight, I promise."

"Good," said Yusuke. He stepped back, crossed his arms, and looked me up and down. "Now, show me your stance."

I did, not quite knowing what the heck I was doing, and with another sigh Yusuke grabbed my wrists and raised my hands up to about my collarbone. They had fallen when I shifted conversation elsewhere.

"You use your arms as shields when you fight," he said, grabbing and lifting my hands when the drifted yet again. "Keep them up at all times. And keep one foot a bit behind you for momentum and support…" He adjusted me accordingly. "There, like that. Use your good foot for the back one because it's gonna absorb the most impact, and your bad one can't take it. Turn a bit to the side so you have less target area for your opponent to hit… perfect."

In the end I felt rather silly and more than a little awkward in the weird, knock-kneed-and-pigeon-toed position, and when I raised an eyebrow at Yusuke over my hands he just laughed.

"It'll feel awkward til you get used to it," he explained, settling into a stance of his own. When he did I felt a surge of fear make my stomach flutter. Something about the pose made his whole demeanor change from helpful to threatening in an instant. "Now punch me. Don't worry about hurting me because you pretty much can't; just let one fly."

I started to, but I pulled back at the last second and lost my balance. Yusuke just raised an eyebrow as I recovered and stared at him through wide eyes.

"Where do I aim?" I asked in distress, and his hands dropped to his sides when he sighed.

"Aim for the face," he said, irritated. "Or maybe the kidneys if they're open, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. Christ, have you never even slapped someone?"

"Uh… not lately, no." I wiggled the elbow supporting my cane. "I usually aim for the crotch."

Yusuke winced, then rolled his eyes. "Girls," he said, mouthing the word like it was a curse, and I readied myself.

"Shut up and let me hit you," I told him, gearing up again.

"Be my guest," Yusuke said, and I took a deep breath before pushing off with my back foot and letting my fist fly forward.

Yusuke caught it with a lazy twist of his wrist. "It's like getting punched by a gnat!" he cackled.

"I'm a girl, you douche-bag," I said in my defense, but he just mimicked my sulking tone to make fun of me.

"Oh, I'm a girl," he simpered, letting his hands hang limp upon his wrists. "That's not an excuse. Keiko's got a slap even I fear—that girl can swing!"

This time I raised an eyebrow. "And you like that, do you?"

He beamed, obviously proud of her reluctant girlfriend. "You bet!"

I grinned and poked him in the ribs. "Ah. I see how it is. A lady in the street, but…" I shrugged. "You know the rest."

He gave me a look that said he thought I was crazy. "Know the rest of what?"

The oddity of the king of perverts Urameshi Yusuke not knowing that saying struck me. "A lady in the street but…" I began, prompting him to finish the statement, but he just seemed confused from the tips of his gelled hair to the depths of his dark eyes. My own eyes widened. "You mean you don't know. Oh wow, Yusuke, that's just sad."

"What's sad?" he demanded when I started giggling. "Wait, what's sad? What am I missing?"

"There's this saying," I chortled. "It goes something like 'she's a lady in the street but a freak in the sheets.' Dude, how can you not know that?"

He blinked twice before breaking into a huge grin. "Oh wow. I like it. I like it a lot." Just then, he spotted something over my shoulder that made his smile grow ever bigger. "Hey! Kuwabara!" he yelled, cupping a hand around his mouth for volume.

I turned to find Kuwabara walking up behind me, frowning when he saw Yusuke's demented smile. It could mean nothing good and Kuwabara knew it. "What, Yusuke?" he asked, clearly not wanting to know at all.

Yusuke, however, did not pick up on that reluctance. "Get a load of this: 'She's a lady in the street but a freak in the sheets!'"

It took a minute, but eventually Kuwabara quit staring at Yusuke and went bright red across the face. "Urameshi!" he bellowed, hands clenching as he punctuated the name with a stomp. "That's awful!"

Yusuke threw up his hands and pointed at me. "Hey, blame her! She came up with it!"

"Dani?" Kuwabara said in disbelief, and he turned his glare on me. "Dani! That's terrible!"

I plugged my ears with my thumbs. "La la la, can't hear you."

"I can't believe this," Kuwabara was fuming. "You two are both perverts! I would expect that from you, Yusuke, but Dani—"

"Expect what?" Botan said as the temple door slid open with a clatter.

"Botan!" Yusuke said, practically shooting light out of his eyes. "Good, you're here! Listen to what Dani came up with!"

"I didn't come up with it!" I protested, but no one heard as Botan skipped toward us with a quizzical look on her face.

"She's a lady in the street but a freak in the sheets!" Yusuke crowed. "Isn't it just great?"

Botan's hands flew to her mouth even as her cheeks went pink. "Dani!" she said, totally aghast as she turned her magenta eyes my way. "You're a pervert!"

"Oh, can it," I snapped at all of them. "It's just an innuendo and we're all adults. You'll all live."

"But, but it's terrible," Kuwabara protested.

I gave him my best 'Really now? Really?' face. "Oh, trust me, I could say worse," I said in as dry a tone as I could muster.

Yusuke, had he been a dog, would have perked up his ears. "Do it!" he exclaimed, face bright. "Do it, do it!"

I gave him a stern look, and then in a very solemn voice I spoke the phrase that more or less defined my generation.

I said: "That's what she said."

Yusuke's grin broke in half. He stared at me, shocked, then pulled his head back and looked at me like I'd told him I was actually a man.

Kuwabara, if it was possible, had gone even redder. Botan had put her hands to her cheeks.

Yusuke, however, just started laughing hysterically once the shock wore off, bent over from the waist so he could put his hands on his knees for support. "You know, I take back what I said about you being stuck up," Yusuke said, eyes streaming as he looked up at me. "You're funny."

I raised an eyebrow. "You said I was stuck up?"

He froze. "Uh…"

I tossed my head. "Fine, fine, whatever: I'm a stuck up pervert. Now can we all get on with our lives, pretty please?"

After a few minutes of continued laughter (by Yusuke) and admonishments (by Botan and Kuwabara), Kuwabara stalked off muttering about being surrounded by pervs and Botan jogged off talking about needing a good long massage to relieve her mounting tension, and Yusuke and I were alone again.

"Well, that was entertaining," he said, chipper.

I looked at him pointedly. "That's what she said."

He made a face that was a cross between pleased and horrified—really, he was quite good at it. "Now I think I'm getting it," he said, grinning from ear to ear.

"It can make any conversation less boring," I assured him. "And it's not the hard, really."

His smile grew even broader as he started shifting from foot to foot so fast that his legs blurred. "That's what she said!" he yelled. "She said it, she said it!"

"That she did," I agreed, and when Yusuke finally calmed down he looked at me with new respect… which I didn't know if I liked or not, considering where it came from.

A crabby voice cut through my rising dread. "What are you two doing?" Genkai snapped, and when I turned I saw her standing on the porch. She had changed out of her clothes from earlier, probably smelling like fish herself after helping me crawl out of the pond. Her hair even seemed damp—was there another bathroom she could have bathed in?

Yusuke looked like a cat that had been caught with feathers in its teeth. "Oh nothing, grandma, just teaching Dani how to punch is all," he said, holding up his hands in a please-don't-hit-me gesture. His nervous laugh didn't do him any favors, though.

"Hmph. Good luck with that," Genkai said, eyes closing while she laughed. "Teaching that one to fight would be like trying to bungee jump with a wet rag."

"Hey," I said, protesting without much conviction. I knew she was right even if it hurt.

She took a step towards up, hitting the stairs and then the courtyard at a stately walk. "Well it's true."

"Doesn't mean you have to insult me," I muttered, and Yusuke gave me a sympathetic look.

Genkai, however, just went on talking. "In Demon World you're going to be nothing but a liability, Dani. You're slow and weak and delicate, and—"

"Hey, I've been working on the slow part," I said, trying to tell her something to stop her flying criticism. "I can't run around or anything, but I think I should be able to move faster than I do with my cane."

Genkai's eyes narrowed. "And you didn't tell me about this, why?"

I shifted uncomfortably. "It hadn't come up?"

Her despairing sigh made me wince. "Well, it came up today. Show me."

I stared at her. "B-but I'm exhausted!" I said, holding out my hands in supplication. "I don't know if I can manage a shapeshift after this morning."

Yusuke, who had been looking back and forth between us with subtle darts of his eyes, said: "What happened this morning?"

"I turned into a fish," I said, keeping it simple, and his entire face lit up.

"So that's why you were all wet when I saw you earlier!" he said. His expression turned interested. "So did you manage to fix your leg or something?"

There was nothing to do but shake my head. "That's… beyond me." I put on a brave front. "But I can do this other thing that's pretty cool, too."

"Like I said," said Genkai. "Show me."

Another protest in the form of: "But this morning—"

"—was this morning and right now is right now," Genkai snapped, eyes flashing. "Show me!"

"All right, all right," I griped, and I held out my cane in Yusuke's direction. He took it with a look of confusion, a look that only grew more intense when I stripped my sweatshirt off over my head.

"Dude, you're stripping!" he said, voice climbing an octave, and I just blew a ton of air out my mouth. My bangs fluffed up from the force.

"Only down to my t-tanktop," I said, hugging my arms around myself as a gust of chill wind set my hair to flying. My lips suddenly felt chapped when I started gnawing on them. "G-gotta get to theta," I said to my audience, tipping them a shuddering wink, and I closed my eyes and started humming.

I hummed 'Little Wing', the first song I had ever heard by Jimi Hendrix, and soon enough I became lost in that bluesy tune. I let it punctuate each croon of my soul's voice as it instructed my arm to grow, grow, grow, grow, and when I felt the gentle push of my arm obeying me, I let my eyes crack open to the sound of a hushed voice.

"That is the freakiest looking thing I have ever seen," Yusuke was saying, and I looked down.

My arm had increased in length by about two and a half times, just long enough for my palm to lay flat on the ground and still have length enough to bend about thirty degrees at the bony elbow, all thin and spindly and long. It still looked kind of gross despite how everything about it was proportional, for a lanky giant, anyway.

"Interesting," said Genkai when I took two steps forward, using the extended arm as a crutch I could more easily control than a nerveless cane. "But it looks weak."

I grinned at her, lurching in circles more quickly than I ever could with the cane.

"Herp," Yusuke said, cheeks paling as he put a hand over his mouth. When I stared at him quizzically, he took a deep breath and said: "Sorry. Kinda made me nauseous there."

"Thanks," I snipped. I looked at Genkai. "I can fix the delicacy issue."

"Less talk, more action," Genkai said, and I paused long enough to go back into theta.

This time, even though I was using the thrumming "Little Wing" as a base, I whispered a different tune to my arm. However, I spoke more to my muscles than I did to my bones, and with a crack or two I felt my tendons creek under the strain of my expanding flesh. That done, I whispered to the bones I had neglected and my shoulder twitched and jerked and cracked open, turning into something strong and thick and muscular and whole…

"I take it back—that is the freakiest thing I've ever seen."

I glared at Yusuke as soon as I returned to my senses. My shoulder was huge, looking like I had sprouted a second head or something. It strained against the loop of my tank top's arm, but the entire arm had increased its mass until it looked like someone had transplanted a giant's arm where mine used to be. With a powerful surge of my new muscles I rocketed forward a step, but then I overbalanced because my good leg just couldn't keep up with my new arm.

"Needs some work," Genkai observed as I sat fallen on the ground, frustrated at my lack of coordination. "Practice. You'll need to keep a good pace in Demon World." She paused, thinking. "Since your body is a demon's, the Demon World atmosphere won't kill you. Probably."

My jaw dropped as she turned and started walking back to the porch.

"Probably?" I finally managed to blurt out. "Probably? What do you mean, probably?"

She turned, one foot on the first step. "The atmosphere in Demon World is poisonous to humans," she said in the voice of a jaded lecturer. "It gives them a wracking cough before putting them into a deep coma, and eventually they die of suffocation or starvation."

"Hey, I survived," Yusuke said.

The psychic shot him a tired look. "Yes, but you're a special case," Genkai said. "Your demon blood protected you." She turned back to me. "Enhanced spiritual awareness can also limit the poison's effects, but only for a while. All humans succumb eventually."

"So… probably?" I asked again.

"I mean that your soul is a human's and therefore you might be susceptible to the toxins in the air," Genkai said. "I don't think it will, but there's always a chance." She thought about it. "An small shield made of your spirit energy could filter the air if the need arose."

"Will you teach me?" I asked instantly, and Genkai glared.

"Do you expect me to hand you everything on a silver platter?" she snapped, wheeling around and stalking into the house. "Where's the experimenter who practiced in secret only a week ago?"

My cheeks started to burn. "Sorry," I said, not knowing what else to say, and Genkai 'humphed' before disappearing from sight.

"That's rough, man," Yusuke remarked. "But hey, at least she thinks you're smart enough to figure out that shield on your own."

I looked at him, not knowing if he was speaking the truth, but he seemed sincere enough. "Do you really think so?" I asked.

"Sure," Yusuke said. "The old hag never let me try some of her techniques on my own." He paused. "Then again, you don't have much to learn from her. Your powers and hers aren't the same at all."

I stared down at my feet, concentrating for a second on returning my arm to normal. When it shrunk back into place, I held out my hand for my cane. Yusuke returned it with a grin.

"She sure did teach me a lot for someone who doesn't share my abilities," I murmured. "That makes me feel pretty stupid."

"Eh, she has that effect on people," Yusuke said, shrugging. "But if she taught you the basics, you can bet she's given you everything you need to go places." He flexed his bicep and grinned so hard his eyes almost closed. "Just look at me! I'm awesome!"

I smiled at him softly.

"Yeah," I said. "You pretty much are."

That night I practiced walking, then almost-running, with my oversized and misshapen arm. It was hard to do in my tiny room, but I was determined to make Genkai proud by giving it all I had, and after an hour of repetition I could complete at least five swinging steps without falling flat on my face.

Feeling good about that and resolving to do more the next day out in the open, I set about making myself a shield.

It was hard to create a steady field of energy for a prolonged period of time—I realized, as I tried to form an energy web between my two outstretched hands, that all of my work until that point had been in bursts. A burst of energy to twist my body into shape, a surge of it to channel music into a shape, a jolt to take in the essence of another creature… never anything so drawn out. It pulled so much of my energy reserves out of myself that I began to despair and drift to sleep as the hours dragged on in my lonely room, but eventually I decided that the best route to take would be the one I considered last, and that route was the musical route.

I went through much trial and error, let me tell you. First I tried weaving a net with music, and when I affixed that musical net over my face I sprayed myself with a bottle of perfume I had bought on my long-ago trip to Sakana. It got in my mouth and nose and eyes, however, letting me know that my filter was totally unaffected.

Second, I used music to form an illusion—a haze like one you'd see on a hot day—made of low, buzzing notes that skimmed the air like a filter, but when I sprayed a bottle of body mist into my haze-wrapped face it still got in my mouth and nose.

"Fine," I decided after rinsing out my mouth in the bathroom. I stared at myself in the mirror above the sink, seeing my tired eyes with their fatigued glaze dart across my own face in agitation. "Fine. If you want to get literal, I'll get literal. A gas mask it is."

I went back to my room in a vague aura of temper gone bad, and when I slammed my door behind myself I breathed a deep sigh before collapsing onto my futon. Lying still and breathing steady, I let myself drop into theta like a stone into a pond, and then I began plucking music from the air.

The first strain I pulled up reflected the basic essence of a gas mask. Alien looking, somewhat intimidating, and altogether dark with wide, gaping eyes, I let the music reflect the way looking at someone's face hidden in the gothic item made me feel. Soon enough I began pulling smaller notes to flesh the image out, and when I had an almost perfect image of a gas mask in my mind, I turned my focus to its function.

I set the mask score aside for a moment and began to weave small, decisive, and picky notes into a sharp net, one which only let goodness in but chased away the bad like a cat chases a dog. When I wove that net as tightly as I could, pulling it so taut I thought it might break, I gently fitted it inside the mask melody, superimposing them and meshing them together so that the mask's larger melody was enhanced and under wrought by the all-important filter song.

When I woke up, the mask was sitting on my chest.

Rather than revel in it, though, I let my tiredness overtake me. With one small smile at the mask I took a deep, trembling breath, grabbed it, and rolled onto my side.

With the mask resting in the enclave formed by the curl of my body, I slept.

The next two days passed in a blur. Packing bags, getting clothes ready, practicing my mask and my shifts and my walk, it wasn't long before I fell asleep the night before the morning we were to leave this place behind for something new.

That night, I dreamed.

Koenma was there for only a few moments at the dream's outset. His dark eyes were haggard, worse than they had been the last time we talked, and before the dream descended into the normal madness he gave me a tight hug.

"I'm weakening," he told me. "The Beasts are close, catching on. I must conserve myself. I only have a few more contacts left."

I pressed my face into his shirt. "I think I knew that already," I told him.

"Stay alive," he said, pushing me from him. His eyes were soft on mine. "For both of us."

I shook my head. "Don't talk like that. I'll see you again."

When I looked up he was gone, lost in a miasma of nothing and everything at once.

I stared at myself in the mirror, horrified. "I can't go out looking like this," I said in disbelief.

Botan, behind me, just squealed. "You look so cute!" she said.

"You're only saying that because you're not the one wearing it," I said, tugging at the muffler around my neck. "Look, I can't even put my arms to my sides. That's just sad."

"It's practical," Botan chided. "Now here's your pack—" she lifted my arms and slipped it over them and onto my back, "—and you're dressed and prepared and well rested and totally ready to go. Right?"

"I'm prepared to look like an idiot," I deadpanned, and then I sighed. I could hardly feel the press of my cane through my thick fur gloves. "Let's just get this over with."

Botan and I walked out of the bathroom and into the hall, me with a frown and her with a grin befitting a proud mother. I was sweating by the time we got onto the porch and saw the others—everyone minus Genkai, that is—standing about, and when Botan opened the door all their heads swiveled around to look at us.

"We're here!" she warbled, and everyone started staring at me.

Kuwabara was the first to laugh, a low muffled groan that he quickly stifled with his hands. Kurama started smiling next, Hiei's eyes got wide, and Yukina put her hands to her mouth as her eyebrows rose. But it was Yusuke who started pointing and howling, freaking out as I waddled down the steps in pants and a jacket that were too thick to allow me free range of movement.

"Now that's not very nice!" Botan exclaimed.

I knew I looked a fright. My hood had so much fur lining it that my face was hardly visible at all, my hands were doughy mitts of fur and skin, and I'm sure my glare only made things look worse.

"All right," I said, tired of the impending jokes already. "Get it out now. Just get used to it because it's not going away." I slouched when I walked over to join them. "And any jokes about Eskimo kisses will be met with a slap."

"What kisses?" Botan asked as she followed me down.

"Eskimo…" I sighed, turning to her as I remembered that those only existed in Alaska. Which was in America. Shit. "People native to cold climates," I said.

Her head tilted to the side. "And their kisses are different?"

"Well, yeah, their mouths would freeze together in the cold…" I trailed off, uncomfortable when I remembered we had an audience. "Why are you so interested?" I asked sullenly, glancing at everyone else. Yusuke was still laughing on the ground, Hiei was pretending not to be listening, and Kurama was smiling in amusement.

She fidgeted. "Oh, you know," she said, trying to play it off.

"Only you would know crap about kisses, Dani," Kuwabara chortled as he came to stand beside me and Botan.

I growled at him: "For the last time, I am not a pervert!" I looked at Botan, reached out, and in a stroke of utter brilliance decided to freak out Kuwabara. "Or maybe I am," I joked with a wink, and I yanked Botan toward me so I could rub the tip of my nose across hers.

She yelped, not expecting the cutsie-wootsie action, and when I let her go she stumbled backward and pointed dramatically at my face.

"What is the heck was that?" she screeched.

Kuwabara yelled: "See! I told you!"

"It was just an Eskimo kiss," I said innocently. "What? It's not bad."

"What are you doing?"

The three of us jumped and turned, watching as Genkai walked out of the temple and paced toward us.

"Just showing Botan some American culture," I said sweetly.

"Well too late now," Genkai snapped. "I just received word from Koenma—the passageway to Demon World will be opening in an hour. You need to leave now if you're going to make it in time." She looked me up and down when she reached us. "Nice clothes."

"Ha ha, very funny," I said, and Yusuke finally got off the ground.

"Well, I finally got that out," he said, but he still had to stifle a giggle when he looked at me. I realized, then, that each of the guys was wearing an outfit very similar to my own—coats with hoods (though theirs were down), fur pants, gloves, mufflers, the works. But they all looked svelte and fit in their clothes, whereas I looked like the Pillsbury Dough Boy, and that was if I was being nice. "No use standing around here. Let's go."

"Yukina, I shall return a stronger man," Kuwabara said, taking the startled ice apparition's hands into his own.

She smiled sweetly. "I'll pray for your safety," she said, and she removed herself and bowed to the rest of us. "Good luck, everyone."

"Thanks," most of us chorused. I saw Hiei's eyes linger on her before he turned away, but then Botan pulled me into her arms and hugged me into her boobs without a care.

"Oh, I don't care that you're a pervert," she said a little tearfully. "I just hope you come home safely. Promise me you will!"

"I will!" I said, voice muffled in her chest, and she pushed me away.

"Oh, and Yusuke!" she cried, running to him and Kuwabara and everyone else in turn. She even managed to rope Hiei into a handshake, somehow, and then she dashed off with a tissue in her hand. "I can't take goodbyes, so goodbye!" she called, and without another glance she dashed into the house, blowing her nose in histrionics. Yukina followed after with another bow, and then it was just me, the boys, and Genkai.

Genkai reached into her pocket after the girls left, and from it she took a wristwatch with a black face. There was one diamond-shaped dial, half black and half white, centered on the black circle.

"This is tuned directly to Ryu's energy," Genkai said. She handed it to Yusuke with a glare. "Break it and I'll kill you."

"Yes ma'am," he said, sighing, and he turned. "Now let's just go. I'm just as bad at goodbyes as Botan."

"I agree," Kurama said, and he and Yusuke started walking off. Kuwabara waved at Genkai and trotted after, but it was actually Hiei who stayed with me until after I had approached Genkai with a hesitant smile.

"I figured out the gas mask," I told her hopefully, and I was rewarded with a small smile. The look made me feel warm despite the cold wind that was rushing by.

"Good girl," she said, and she slapped me lightly on the arm. "Don't get killed." Her eyes flickered to Hiei's. "And you watch her," she said to him. "She'll get in trouble without a babysitter."

"I know," he said, glancing at me, and then he turned away. "Come on," he said, and with one last smile at Genkai I let him lead me into the forest. The temple faded away as the trees closed in around us, and as I felt the birdsong swim into my ears as I stared at the place between Hiei's shoulder blades I felt a quiet sense of unease undercut my nerves.

Why did I feel like Alice all of a sudden, and why did Hiei seem like some solemn White Rabbit, bent on leading me deep into a place unknown?

"So is there a… portal, or something?" I asked after a good hour had passed. I was grasping at fanfiction clichés, honestly, because all we had done was walk into the woods and that didn't seem like a climactic entrance into Demon World at all. Frankly, I was a little disappointed.

Kurama glanced at me over his shoulder. A sudden gust of wind made me rock sideways in my path, and my foot stung as its thick boot chafed against my heel. My shoulder was cramping up, too, from leaning on my cane for too long.

"Of course," Kurama said in his soothing voice. "We've been walking through it for the last hour."

I almost stopped walking, so shocked was I. Kuwabara—who had been walking behind me—almost bumped into my back. "We have?" I asked in disbelief, and Kurama nodded without breaking stride.

"Yes," he said. Yusuke, walking at the front of our group, snorted at my stupidity. "Rifts often open between the worlds at random, allowing features of both worlds to bleed into one another." He shot me a sideways glance, but he undercut his rather condescending words with an understanding smile. "This rift, however, was scheduled. Soon we'll come out on the other side. "

"Oh." I looked around me with fresh eyes; the coniferous trees seemed the same as always, but now that he mentioned it they looked bigger than usual, with blue-green needles and almost silvery bark, the color of hematite or burnished pewter.

"I can feel it coming up," Kuwabara said suddenly. His words sent a shiver through me, one that did not have much to do with the biting cold around us. "Demon World."

His feelings made sense, because all around us the world was… changing.

"Um, guys?" I said when snow began to fall. "Do you guys… see what I'm seeing?"

We stopped walking as one, looking into the trees warily, and when we saw them we froze.

I was the first to think of something worth saying.

"I knew," I said solemnly, "that they would take over some day."

NOTES:

Who took over? WHO? Or… WHAT?

Dunno why I did the whole "Dani is a perv" thing. It just... hit me. Ah, well, next chapter will be actiony.

KRRIB drew some awesome Dani art! Links on my profile-check it out because I LOVE IT, especially Dani's expression! Really, everyone who's drawn something has been fantastic. ^^

And we're in America. Finally. Action? Yes. Soon. Like, next week. Sweeeet.

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