Sorry for taking a while with this. It's the longest one so far, as you can tell. Thank you so much for your awesome reviews, and we hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: We don't own it. If we did, we wouldn't be asking why Botan is so often associated with cats...

Chapter 5: Getting to the Hallway

Memories of all different kinds flashed in Kisa's mind. One moment she saw Miko and herself, laughing and having fun, then suddenly it would flash and the shadow of a man would be the only thing in sight. Daddy? Is that you? she thought. The portrait of the figure in front of her looked as if it was being ripped down the center. The painting fell away it revealed a sandy road with a wall on either side. Kisa noticed that she was on a path of seemingly endless pictures and clips of her life. She stood up and decided to keep going. Staying still was never one of her best qualities.

She looked right and left and smiled to see all the happy times she shared with her friends. She saw Miko holding out her hand asking her to join the group. She saw Dave making jokes that at least made the rest of her guy friends laugh. She turned and saw a picture of Matt at a desk drawing. Kisa couldn't help but stop and look at him. He was a kind boy; he never meant to hurt her. She knew he only thought of her as a friend and standing there, she almost too easily came to grips with the idea and let her feelings for him disappear. The renewed girl turned and kept walking down the path. This road, she thought. Somehow, it's changing me. I'm only seeing the important things and putting everything else aside. Kisa, for the first time in so long, felt as if she had nothing to worry about. She was free and she was happy.

Out of nowhere, she started to hear voices. In her charitable mood she began to run down the path hoping to find the voices and try to help. She very soon came upon their source. She found two ghostly forms of her parents. They were yelling at each other and as Kisa arrived, her father caught a glimpse of her. He started to approach her and appeared to be yelling but she couldn't hear him. He had that look on his face like she had done something horrible, but she had no idea what it was. When he finally reached her, he grabbed her arm and pulled her into the air and threw her down the path. As she looked up again she saw him coming back. He passed by her mom, took the bottle that was in her hands and smashed the end of it off to make a dangerous weapon. He walked towards Kisa at a steady speed and as he came, her eyes began to shake and became moist. But she never shed a tear.

Finally, her adrenaline kicked in. She ran as fast as she could in the opposite direction of her father. When she ran the pictures reappeared, although this time they were all scenes of the times when her dad looked at her with that face. She started to hear her old screams of pain. She closed her eyes and covered her ears and continued to run blindly down the path. It wasn't long till Kisa didn't feel anything under feet. She opened her eyes to see that she was now falling down deeper and deeper into an abyss of darkness. She flipped over only to catch a nose full of what smelt like blood and rotting flesh. As she recovered from the smell she was able to see glinting claws and fangs reaching up to her. She gasped in fear, her heart stopped, and…

Kisa shot up out of a bed. She was out of breath and covered in a cold sweat. She looked around to see that she was in plain white room with a mirror on the wall that only reflected the wall across the way. She also noticed she was lying in a simple white bed, sort of like the ones you'd find in medical wing of a school.

"Ki…sa?" a voice mumbled. Kisa found it was only Miko in the bed beside her. "Kisa?" she said again. She was now rubbing her eyes trying to wake up. "Are you ok?" She yawned. "Yeah, I think so." Kisa said, closing her eyes and finally catching her breath.

"AHHH!" Kisa looked up quickly at Miko's cry, and at first glance didn't see her. Kisa jumped onto Miko's bed and looked over the far side. Miko was there; she was trying to ease the pain from the bump she got on her head by falling off the bed. "Miko are you alright?" she said, half-giggling.

"AHH!" Miko screamed again. Kisa got down in front of Miko and asked worriedly, "Miko? What's up? It's me Kisa!" Miko calmed down and looked at her strangely. "Kisa?" whispered Miko, with panic filled eyes.

"Yeah, it's me. Who else could it be?" Kisa threw back at her, totally confused.

"I don't know, but I think you should look in the mirror." Miko said pointing toward the glass. Kisa got up; when she turned and looked into the mirror, her knees almost gave out. She touched her face not believing what she saw. Kisa had found a monster in that mirror. Her body was covered in a thin layer of gray fur, she had cat ears propped on the top of her head, and her nails were now claws and her eyes were those of a ravenous beast. "What am I?" Kisa said aloud staring at herself.

"You look like a cat," Miko said bluntly, now that she knew this was her friend. Kisa turned to look at her, but Miko was playing with her hair and looking curiously aroudn the room; she had slightly turned her back to her friend. Kisa simply watched her. In the mists of fiddling with hair, Miko stood and started to stretch. While she did that, Kisa noticed two slits in the back Miko's long nightshirt near the shoulder blades. Nightshirt? She thought to herself. Kisa looked herself over to see she wore a pair of shorts and a spaghetti strap shirt. This was her normal nightwear; it was probably why she hadn't noticed before. Kisa looked back at her reflection. The longer she glared at it, the angrier she got. She raised a tight fist intending to break the glass. Before she did though, Kisa happened to see something move underneath Miko's shirt. Kisa spun around and gave an almost silent hiss.
As Miko moved to another stretch two feathered wings smoothly slid out of the slits in the shirt. For the first time ever, Kisa felt jealous. Miko's wings only seemed to emphasize her kind and angelic spirit, while Kisa on the other hand, looked like a bloodthirsty creature. Miko finished her morning stretches and turned to Kisa, "What's with that face?" Her friend cast down her eyes. "Come on Kisa, you can't be that freaked out, you've seen me do my stretches before… oh, there's something else on your mind, isn't there?" Miko went over and put a hand on her shoulder. "What's wrong?"

Kisa suddenly looked at Miko. Her powerful eyes made her friend let go of her shoulder and jump backward a little ways. Kisa ignored this and said in a monotone voice, "You have wings." A very confused look appeared on the blonde girl's face. Kisa reached and caught hold of one of Miko's wings and brought it forward for her to see. Miko took it into her hands and examined it curiously. Her face grew brighter and she seemed to be overjoyed. Kisa continued, her tone and expression unchanged, "So what were you saying?"

"What?"

"What were you saying before you cut yourself off?"

"Oh! I was just going to say this is just a dream, so we should play along." Miko answered with a smile. "It's pretty cool, too," she said, her gaze returning to her new appendages.

It's just a dream? Well in that case, I will play along. Kisa made a new fist that was so tight it made her claws pierce the skin, causing some blood to drip to the floor. With her other hand Kisa grabbed Miko's arm and pulled her through the door and down the hall. Miko was unaffected by Kisa's constant tugging; she just stroked her wings happily. As Kisa walked, she discovered that her senses were keener. She locked on to a group of familiar scents. She followed them with precision around every corner until she came upon a grand door that also seemed quite familiar. "Is this Koenma's room?" asked Miko. Kisa didn't hear her question; she was too busy tracking her prey.

When she was certain they were inside, she kicked the door open to reveal the spirit detective team and a teenage Koenma. He was sitting at his desk, without his trademark pacifier. When Miko popped her head in the first thing she said was to Kisa, "I always thought Koenma looked great without the pacifier." The ruler of the spirit world, not so gracefully, fell out of his chair at the remark, but quickly recovered and sat up once again. Kisa, still in a rage, gave a little smirk, went up to Koenma and glared at him with her fierce eyes. Koenma began with a smile, "Good morning, Kisa. If you had waited a while longer I would have sent Kasmir-ugh!" Kisa had gripped Koenma by the collar and brought him a little closer to her. Jr's form shivered with fear as the half-beast glared at him. "How do I change back?"

"Well…I don't…really-but Kas-"

"Wrong answer!" Kisa yelled, cutting Koenma off. She pounded her first into his head with immense force, causing him to fly across the room, turn back into the kiddy form, and get implanted in a wall upside-down. She used her powerful cat legs to jump over to Koenma and pull him out of the wall. "Now, how do I change back?"

"Like I said, just-" Kisa punched him before he could finish; the impact made Koenma fly up into the air. As he descended, the monster fell to her back and used her strong legs again to catch Koenma, made him do a few barrel rolls, then kicked him up so hard it made him stick in the ceiling for a moment. She used that time to jump back on her feet so when Jr. started to fall, she easily caught him by the collar and recommenced punching him randomly. Kurama came up behind Kisa and said, "Now, now Kisa, I'm sure you don't want to kill Koenma." Kisa let her punching arm fall to her side, leaving Jr. hanging in her other hand. Kurama gave a sigh of relief, but was shocked to find her staring at him fiercely. "Y-yes?" he asked nervously.

She yelled, "Why isn't Leader of the Spirit World a spirit?" A ponderous look appeared on his face. "Good question," he said to himself. He also found himself hearing the all too familiar sound of fists hitting flesh. He looked up to find Kisa had made a silent jump to the other side of the office and begun to beat Koenma once again. Kurama continued to try and calm her down but to no avail. Every time he came close to her, she simply jumped over him. Miko, along with the detective team, minus Kurama, were standing in the corner of the office watching this obviously one-sided battle.

Wow! Miko thought to herself. I never noticed how much more violent Kisa was in my dreams. Kuwabara was standing next to Miko with a look of curiosity.

"I know Koenma is our boss and stuff, so shouldn't we kinda…well be respectful or something?"
Hiei answered him, "Just shut up. This is the closest thing I've had to entertainment in a long time."
Yusuke watched wide-eyed, as he admired this rookie's style. "You're right, Hiei. I mean, I've heard of dinner and a movie, but I could sure go for breakfast and a brawl."

Miko almost laughed at Yusuke's corny joke, then turned it into a loud cough.

Kurama turned to Yusuke and said, "Actually, for it to be a brawl, Koenma would have to be fighting back, and I'm sure we all know that won't happen anytime soon." Kurama continued, "By the way, will anyone try to stop her?" He looked around at all the blank faces. "Please?"

Hiei stepped forward. "I'll do it. Even though I would love to see Koenma pounded to death by a female, it would only lead to more work for us." Kurama bowed his head slightly in thanks.

Hiei stepped in front of Kisa, unsheathed his sword and placed the tip neatly beneath her neck. "Drop the toddler," he demanded; she obeyed. Kisa's orange eyes and Hiei's red ones locked on each other. Hiei was truly underestimating her; he didn't concentrate as hard as he would in any other fight. So when Jr. groaned below him, it easily stole his attention. Kisa took this advantage. She pushed the sword away from her neck and grabbed the hilt out of his hands. Hiei tried to throw back a punch, but it had no power behind it, so she was able to push Hiei to his back with one leg. She knelt over him and mimicked Hiei in the placement of the sword's tip on her opponent.

Suddenly, Kisa felt a sensation that she hadn't noticed earlier. She shivered and closed her eyes, trying to suppress her feeling. "Just like I thought," Hiei laughed. "You couldn't kill if you wanted to. You're just a weak female, with a weak spirit." He laughed again. Her eyes shot open; she rose the katana's hilt high above her head and thrust it down. Instead of hitting flesh the sword stuck deep in the floor.

"All right, you have spunk," said Hiei lazily from where he stood, about four feet away. "I'll give you that. But you'll never hit me with such a slow attack." He gave her a taunting smirk. It would have been more taunting if Kisa had been looking at him, but her eyes were unseen and she held the sword tightly in her hands. She pulled the katana out of the ground with no resistance. She slowly looked up, straight into his eyes. Hiei, along with everyone else, grew wide-eyed in surprise. This was no longer Kisa; this was a true monster.

When the fire demon noticed the change, he prepared himself. This would finally be a challenge. He watched her; he never even blinked. But that didn't change anything; she still disappeared.

"Where did she go?" Miko whispered. Hiei swiftly pulled the bandanna off his forehead. The slit that was revealed opened to show the well-known Jagan eye. She's still in the room. But where? he thought. For a long period of time, no one spoke. No one moved; no one even breathed.

Hiei gasped. He looked down to see a katana driven halfway through his chest. As he glanced up, Hiei found a face that he believed could never have belonged to a female. It was a face that had no mercy, pure hatred, and a longing to kill. The only thing that was keeping her from killing him was a metal chain; it was tight against her neck not letting her move. The rest of the chain was in the hands of an eighteen or nineteen year old girl. She had long black hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. Even though it was pulled back, her hair almost came down to her ankles, her eyes where a shade of violet and her skin was light tan color. She wore a sky blue kimono.

"Please child, listen to me," rang her soothing voice. "My name is Kasmira and I'm here to help you." Kisa slowly turned to her, pulling the sword out of Hiei's chest. "That's a good girl. Brace yourself now, this will hurt." Kasmira took the end of the chain that was in her hand and pressed it against Kisa's collarbone. A blue light floated over the two young women. Slowly, the beast returned to her old self. Her expression softened, her fur disappeared, and her cat ears moved down her head and turned back into human ones. Once she was totally normal again she collapsed onto the floor.

"Kisa?" Miko asked aloud. Kisa didn't stir. "Kisa!" She yelled this time and joined her friend on the ground. She shook her a bit and after a moment her friend began to push herself up. "Goody, goody!" Everyone looked to find a blue haired girl in a pink kimono. "Great job Kasmira!"

Miko's head tilted to one side. "Botan?"
"Bingo! Good guess. Yes, I'm Botan; pilot of the river Styx-"
Miko cut her off. "The grim reaper and a licensed trainer. Right?"

"Yes, that's totally correct!" Botan exclaimed. Miko helped Kisa to her feet. The girl held a blue stone that adorned the now smaller, metal chain around her neck. She turned to Kasmira. "I have a few questions for you."

"Go ahead child."

"Who are you? I've never seen you on the show, and what is this stone? And what happened to me? I saw everything I was doing but I had no control." She looked at Hiei, who was still standing by the wall. He had a hand pressed over his wound.

Hiei thought to himself, That blasted female almost killed me! If she had pushed any farther she would have sliced my heart in two. His gaze rose from his wound and found Kisa staring at him with a worried and apologetic expression. Hiei closed his eyes, folded his arms, and turned his back to her.
A voice rang in his head, I'm sorry. The fire demon spun around to see Kisa's unchanged face. I'm sorry I did all that to you. I mean, I usually don't feel a lot of guilt when I hurt or kill things that have threatened my friends or myself. But the truth of the matter is, you did what you did because it was the right thing to do. She gave him a weak smile; he looked away.

Stupid female, right and wrong don't exist to me. What I do is simply based on how I feel at the time.

Feelings, huh? So you're not heartless?

Hiei glared at the floor, but admitted, you are a worthy opponent.

Every one seemed confused except Kurama and Kasmira, who had both listened in on the conversation. Koenma also had, though he was still stumbling around the room, recovering. After a moment, Kisa's gaze returned to Kasmira, and she began to answer the questions. "I am a master of magical artifacts and a well known researcher in the Spirit World. The stone is actually an interesting trinket created by your parents." The young girl gave her a peculiar look. "Ah, I see you're confused. When I said 'parents' I meant your real birth parents." Her face grew more confused. "The mother and father you've been living with all these years aren't your real parents. Your true mom and dad used their blood to make that stone to protect you before they died."
Kasmira's face suddenly took on an expression of apologetic shock. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I should have broken it to you easier. I'm afraid your true parents died many years ago." Her questioner seemed unaffected. Kasmira turned to Miko, " I fear the story with your real parents is quite similar." The angel-winged girl's eyes widened, and she looked away in confusion, shaking her head.

The artifact master returned her gaze to Kisa. "As for the stone, it was made by your parents, as I've said before. That gem also keeps your spirit in balance."

"So it's true then?" Kisa asked with a sense of wonder.

"Is what true?" Kasmira asked.

"I turned into some kind of half-beast. A part-human, part-cat monster. Cats are one of the most feared predators in existence, so their spirit content is usually based on a neutral scale. But of course compared to the pure soul of a sprite, well, a cat is pure evil. But how…oh, I know! The way you've been treating Miko and I is the way you treat a boss when he comes over for dinner. Where you chat, make small talk and hope to be heard or get a raise. Or in your case some help." She turned to Koenma who had somehow managed to get back to his chair. "You must have put a spell or something on us to keep us from transforming in the other dimension. And that means that bringing us here broke the spells and the sudden off-balance in my spirit energy caused me to lose control of my mind and body, till the only thing left was the instinct to kill."

She spun back around to Kasmira with a proud and confident appearance. Kasmira was dumbfounded, along with everyone else, except Hiei who just gave an unseen small smile, quite impressed. Kuwabara bent down to Miko's ear and asked, "How did she get all that from 'That gem also keeps your soul in balance', huh?"

"First of all it was spirit." Kuwabara looked even more confused. "She said it keeps your 'spirit' in balance not your 'soul'. Well anyway, studying the dimensions of the soul, demons, spirits, magic, any of it, is just her hobby that she does in spare time." Miko smiled sweetly, fighting back the nauseous feeling she got from Kuwabara's far too powerful toilet water.

"Um, well, it seems you already understand this concept," said Kasmira softly. Kisa's face lit up as she found out that all the stories and ideas she read about were true. Then it looked as if something had violently struck her. She reminded herself that she had no right to be joyous; she almost killed two people, less than ten minutes ago. Her eyes fell to the floor and she grew very melancholy. The others, seemingly understanding she was reflecting on her past actions, didn't ask of her troubles.

Kasmira approached Miko and pulled a white gem on a golden chain from her blue kimono. "What's that?" Miko exclaimed.

"If you remember, I said the story of your parents was similar to your friend's. That included that they used their blood to create this stone for you, so-"

Miko interrupted quickly, "But what would I need it for? I mean, I don't have a problem with my spirit balance…do I?"

Hiei watched Kisa slowly retire to a corner of the office; he seemed to be the only one that noticed her movement. He sensed this and took the time to study this mystery, commonly known as women.

"Now Miko," Kasmira said consolingly, "I said the stories were similar, not the same. As far as I know, your stone's only active purpose at this point is it allows you to hide and reveal your wings with ease. A wind demon's spirit doesn't emerge quite so violently, it seems, even after years of dormancy."
Yusuke smiled at his memory of a certain redhead wind demon with a strong punch and an accent to match.

Embarrassed at her panic, Miko's cheeks reddened and she busied herself with examining the stone. It's many facets glittered quite prettily in the…what was lighting the room? Miko glanced at the ceiling, but she couldn't seem to find a lamp or light bulb anywhere. As her eyes were on their way back down, they came into contact with Kurama's. He gave her an encouraging smile and nodded; she smiled nervously back, averted her gaze quickly and set to putting her necklace on.

Kurama looked over and was the first to see Hiei studying the girl in the corner; it was almost as if he could see right through her. The fox demon reached out to his mind. Women are intriguing creatures, aren't they? The one he spoke to turned toward him as if he hadn't been caught in an unwanted situation.

Stupid fox. That was his solemn answer. Although short, it was enough proof to show that the fire apparition, indeed, did not wish for any to see him staring at Kisa like he cared. There was a cheer from Botan and Kasmira after Miko successfully hid her wings, then Koenma rose unsteadily from his chair.
"Now that that's done, let's…get started. First, we must set the foundation of your mission. We have to get a prophecy from the file room that might tell us more about you." The group of friends and oddly made acquaintances walked out of the office and into the hallway.

Samurai: Well, that got some things established.
Kuwa: Yeah, well, I'm confused.
Yusuke: You would be.
YEM: Yipee, that chapter took a while to edit. And now its done. Phew. Hope you liked it and review please!