Disclaimer: We don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Thanks for the reviews everybody! I hope you enjoy this chapter, written by yours truly. The last chapter was written by Sam...we called it Getting To the Hallway because it took her over two weeks to finish writing it. This is just one example of our phone conversations during that span of time:
YEM: "Have we gotten to the hallway yet?"
Sam: "Uh.....no. Hehe."
YEM: "SAMMYYY!!!"

Feeling is Believing

The spirit detective team, Koenma, Kasmira, and the two dark angels walked down the hallway. None of them seemed to heed the yelling and footsteps on the floors above them, as countless ogres went about their business.

Miko was still a bit shaken by what Kasmira had said in the office, and by what happened to Kisa. Remember, this has to be a dream, she thought. It has to be…

Even as she assured herself, there was a growing uneasiness in the pit of her stomach that seemed far too real. Trying to ignore this, she glanced around at each person, observing their varied behaviors. Kasmira walked beside Kisa, her violet gaze concentrating on the way ahead. Kurama walked with his eyes fixed on the ground and his hands in his pockets, deep in thought. Koenma veered slightly to the right every few seconds, still recovering from his fierce beating. Botan, who led the group with Koenma, gently steadied him each time, and only once looked back with some uncertainty at Kisa. Yusuke and Kuwabara walked side by side close to Miko, shooting frequent suspicious glances at her friend.. Kuwabara whispered to Yusuke, "That Kisa girl was really pretty back in her dimension. What the heck happened to her back there?"

Anger flared up in Miko, and she kicked at Kuwabara's ankle on her way past him. Ignoring his surprised squeal of pain, she looked over at Kisa. The girl's eyes were orange pools of pain and confusion, and watched the floor as if it was all that existed. Miko's heart sank as she saw this. Kisa, you really scared me. What's going on? Can you tell me?

Kisa looked up and met Miko's gaze, as if she had heard her questions. But she didn't answer them, and only broke their frail connection by averting her eyes. Miko sighed quietly

A black-cloaked figure caught her eye, and she turned her head to see Hiei walking a few yards behind Kisa. He was watching her carefully, his Jagan re-covered but still faintly glowing. Why is he looking at her like that? thought Miko; then she realized something. He thinks she'll change back into that form again. Why can't anyone trust her? It wasn't that big of a deal. She sighed and glanced at the ceiling, knowing that even she was unsure of herself. Miko's hand strayed to the white jewel hanging from her neck. Fingering it absently, she decided that she would talk to Kisa the first chance she got.

Botan suddenly swerved to the left and headed for a small closet. Everyone continued to walk another few steps, then Koenma glanced back. "Botan, what are you doing?"

The blue-haired ferry girl rummaged in the closet for a moment, then emerged with two white bathrobes. "I thought our guests might want to cover up their nightclothes. It's only proper, you know. Am I right, girls?" Kisa shrugged and gazed out a nearby window. Miko brightened and nodded. She looked down at herself and blushed. Her nightshirt wasn't exactly what she would have chosen to walk around a palace in. Botan handed her a robe, which she quickly put on. Kisa accepted hers, and the group continued walking.

Kisa was lost in her swirling thoughts. She couldn't stop the horrific images of a few minutes ago from flashing in her mind. Vivid pictures of Miko watching dumbfounded as her friend morphed into a hideous beast…Hiei's eyes widening in surprise as she drove the katano into his chest…the strange orange tint that had claimed her vision before forcing her into the back of her own mind. The whole time, she had felt like a helpless spectator on the sidelines of the whole incident. What is wrong with me? What am I? Miko is probably terrified of me now…will she ever want to come near me again? She clutched at the blue stone around her neck, and it glowed with pleasant warmth.

Koenma finally stopped at a large, steel doorway. He nodded at the ogre guard standing there, who flipped a small switch. With a loud creak, the door slowly began to open. "This is our file room," said Koenma. "We'll find the prophecy card in here, although it may take me a few minutes…or hours, to find it."

"Hours?" said Yusuke incredulously. "And it would take you that long to find a stupid card because?"

"Because, the dark angels haven't been of any importance for over a thousand years," said Koenma irritably. The door was now fully open, and the group walked in. Miko's attention was immediately drawn to the thousands of bookcases and tall metal filing cabinets around her, set up in endless rows. "It looks like a library I used to go to when I was younger. It's gigantic," she said aside to Botan.

The ferry girl nodded. "There is definitely a lot of information in those millions of books and files. The entire history of Renkai and Ningenkai has been recorded specifically for this room."

It was at that moment that a blue ogre appeared from behind a file cabinet, which was already open and overflowing with files. "Ah, Koenma sir, there you are!" he said, relieved that he might finally have some help. His boss stopped next to him, as did the rest of the detectives. Miko and Kisa hung back.

"So, found anything useful yet?" asked the vertically-challenged ruler, going up on his tiptoes to look into the file drawer.

George the ogre fumbled with a folder he had been reading. "Actually sir, I did find this one prophecy card, but I'm not sure-"

"All righty then, let's have it," said Koenma briskly, swiping the folder from his assistant's hand. He pulled out what looked like a bright blue index card, and turned to Miko and Kisa. "Now you two listen up; this is very important." He cleared his throat, and everyone watched him for some impressive proclamation. He read, "First, take some flour and pour it into a large bowl….add sugar and a teaspoon of vanilla…OGRE!" he yelled. "You've given me a recipe for angel food cake!"

George started, Kurama smiled, Hiei rolled his eyes, and Miko, unable to help herself, burst out laughing. Koenma glared at his assistant, who was now rapidly muttering apologies and digging through the file drawer. Miko's laugh subsided into giggles and she walked over to the drawer. "All right, what are we looking for?" she said, peering into the abyss of papers. Everyone looked at her in surprise as she pulled out another folder. "Try this one," she said, handing it to Koenma. He blinked furiously, then pulled out a red index card.

"Well…uh, thank you." He coughed, then began to read. "The angels are of darkness and light; one is day and the other is night. They will either save life itself in hands of good, or devastate in hands of evil. At the right time and place, they will know their purpose…." He squinted at the paper, then shook his head. "The rest is blotted out. Well, that didn't seem to help very much. But if that's what we get, that's what we get, I suppose."

Yusuke looked at Miko and Kisa, both of whom had looks of utmost confusion on their faces. "Well, whoever decided to write about you guys wasn't much of a poet."

Miko glanced at Kisa, who only stared at the card in Koenma's hand. She leaned over and whispered into her friend's ear, "Kisa, I don't know if you're having the same dream as me, but this is getting really-"

Kisa grabbed her friend's arm and pulled her into an aisle between two bookcases. She turned to Miko, who glared at her and tried to say something before the orange-eyed girl broke in. "Miko, this isn't a dream! Don't you get that?"

"Of course it is! You want me to believe this is all real? I'm getting out of here now, Kisa!"

Kisa clenched her fists. "Do I need to pull your hair or something? This is real. When that form took over my mind, I knew this wasn't some stupid thing my subconscious thought up." She suddenly looked pained, and clutched Miko's arm. "Believe me, Miko. I know I scared you back there, but believe me."

Miko stared at her for a moment, then said quietly, "You can't prove anything. I just can't believe you." She turned and walked down the aisle, away from her friend.

Suddenly, a loud crashing noise came from outside the room. The girls looked at each other in alarm, then ran back down the aisle. They joined the others, who were all intently watching the large metal door. Shouts of "Intruders!" and "Attack! Attack!" rang out above and around them, muffled by the thick walls.

"Oh boy, this is just what we need," said Koenma wearily.

"And just what we should have expected," said Kurama, his voice tense. "Hariato knows how weak and inexperienced the angels are at this point, so he's going to take advantage of that and try to take them now."
"Who?!" said Miko urgently, but she was drowned out by Kisa.
"Take us where?" the cat demon exclaimed. "Will someone please explain to us what's going on?"

Botan nodded grimly and threw a glance at Kasmira and Koenma. "We have to get them to a safe place, somewhere at the other end of the palace." She grabbed Kisa's hand and Miko's, then pulled them towards a small wooden door.

Koenma ran after them, calling over his shoulder, "Kasmira, Yusuke, and, uh…Kurama, come with us. The rest of you, get out there and fight those monsters already!"

"Right!" said Kuwabara fiercely. Hiei watched the majority of the group run off, his eyes fixed on Kisa until they were out of sight. Kuwabara made for the door, but before he could reach it, a loud "BOOM" made the whole room shudder. The door shook as if someone was forcing it open.

"I guess we won't have to go outside then," said Kuwabara as he took his fighting stance. The door toppled inward and fell with a mighty crash, but when the dust settled there was none to be seen in the hallway. Kuwabara and Hiei made their way outside. Kuwabara looked around, confused. "Where is everyone?"

Hiei jumped at a loud whooshing sound behind them, and when he whirled around he saw a large shimmering force field blocking the doorway. He drew his sword and not a moment too soon. Three large gorilla-like monsters dropped from the ceiling and landed in front of the two fighters. They grinned evilly at Hiei and Kuwabara with yellow rotting teeth, their black fur bristling. The orange haired teenager stared in surprise for a moment, then laughed. "This big scary dude sends us oversized monkeys? Are you kidding me?!" He jumped towards the first apparition with a confident yell. At the last moment before his fist connected, the monster let loosed a deafening roar and emitted a reddish glow. Kuwabara made contact and bounced off, landing hard on the ground.

Hiei glanced back at the force field covering the doorway. "Makes sense," he said briskly. Kuwabara groaned, not noticing the giant fist falling towards him at an alarming speed. Hiei, jumped, appeared above the hairy limb and slashed at it; the blow only moved the arm slightly to the right, so it pounded into the ground instead of Kuwabara.

Koenma reached the door first, and slapped a hand on it. The door slowly began to rise from the floor. Yusuke raised an eyebrow. "So much for a quick exit." The sound of the entrance door crashing to the floor met their ears. Botan summoned her oar, then signaled to Kasmira. "Hop on! We'll go and get the safe house ready; head for the security office! Yusuke, Kurama, I know you'll take care of them!" The two girls sat on the paddle and sailed out a high window.

Koenma ducked underneath the ascending door, and yelled from the other side, "Get the girls through, hurry!" At a quick nod from Kurama, Miko dropped to her knees to crawl out. At that moment, Koenma let out a surprised yelp, and a strange blur flew through the crack into the file room. The door suddenly began to close. Kurama grabbed Miko's arm and pulled her out of the way, while Yusuke seized the bottom of the door. "Koenma, what do you think you're doing?" he yelled, straining to pull the door back open. Kisa reached down and tried to help, and it looked like they would have succeeded if another blur hadn't zipped through and rammed Yusuke right in the stomach.

The spirit detective shot backwards with an astounded grunt, and the door slammed closed. Holding his stomach tightly, Yusuke scrambled to his feet. "Okay, that hurt a little. What were those things?"

Kisa's eyes darted left and right. A dark presence now brooded somewhere in the room, and Miko shivered. Kurama put his hand beneath his hair, ready to pull out his deadly rose. Yusuke clenched his fists and scanned the rows of file cabinets. "Come out and fight, you cowards!"

A shrieking laugh rang out from somewhere above them. Kurama pulled the rose out and it transformed into the rose whip. Miko only glanced at it briefly, then she looked up in the direction of the voice. Her heart pounded faster when another evil giggle pierced the air. Yusuke gritted his teeth and shouted, "What the hell is so funny!?"

"THISSS!!" crowed the voice. The four people whirled around to see a filing cabinet toppling over, headed right for them. Kisa grasped Miko's hand and they sprang out of the way, Kurama leapt upwards, and Yusuke ran and jumped out of range. The cabinet hit the floor, and files flew everywhere.

Kurama watched the two girls as he jumped, but as he landed, they were obscured from his sight by the whirling papers. He heard Yusuke yell, "Miko? Kisa? You guys okay?"
"Kisa? Miko?" said Kurama worriedly.
Kisa grimaced from the pain that shot up her leg; she had met the ground at the wrong angle, but could still walk. Her hand was still closed tight around Miko's, who sprawled on the ground beside her. "Miko?" whispered Kisa. Miko looked up at Kisa and opened her mouth to reassure her friend she was fine.

"Hello there, pretties," hissed a duo of sickly sweet voices behind them. Miko screamed, Kisa swore, and they were roughly pulled apart.

Yusuke saw this from his perch atop the fallen cabinet, where he had landed. "Kurama!" he yelled desperately, but as soon as he moved to go help the girls, two bright green flashes went off one after the other, temporarily blinding Yusuke. When he regained clear vision by blinking furiously, the two girls and their captors had disappeared.

Kurama saw the flashes through a cloud of papers. He gasped and ran for the source, skidding to a halt beside Yusuke, who stood staring at the ground.

"They just disappeared," said the detective disbelievingly. The papers settled around them, and Kurama sighed in genuine frustration.

"No, not teleportation powers….not in this room…"

"You're telling me," growled Yusuke. "Damn it, we'll never find them in here."

"Well, we have to try," said Kurama, jumping onto the top of a high cabinet. He called to Yusuke, "Feel for their spirit energy. We must hurry, Yusuke, or they'll take them to Hariato as soon as possible." He jumped to the top of the next cabinet, and Yusuke ran down the aisle up ahead.

Hiei traced a wide circle around the monsters, searching for a weakness. He saw one quickly. The force field around their bodies had one small flaw; it left a tiny spot of their back uncovered. He heard Kuwabara make another attempt to punch the monster's lights out, only to be thrown back again. "Moron," said Hiei, and he leapt upon the first monster in order to stab it in the back. The next few seconds saw the two other gorilla demons fall soundlessly to the floor. Hiei stood near the doorway, ignoring Kuwabara's protests of "Hey, that wasn't fair you little twerp!" and "You could have a least left one for me!" He peered through the shining force field, but found he couldn't see much besides obscure rectangular shapes.

The sword wound given to him by Kisa suddenly blazed with an excruciating fire. He gasped in pain, gritting his teeth against the wave of nausea that hit him like a locomotive. Kuwabara lowered his arms and stared at him. "Hey, Hiei, you okay?"

"Just…shut up," muttered Hiei. It's her. She isn't even supposed to be in that room anymore. What happened?

Kurama found Kisa fairly quickly. "Take that, you sadistic idiot!" Her voice rang out across the library, and Kurama jumped cabinets faster.

Yusuke made a sharp left turn, and around the corner he saw a grotesque creature of purple flame standing there, glaring up at Kisa. She was perched on an empty shelf of a large bookcase, her orange eyes burning with fury. The lopsided violet demon hissed and jumped towards her. Kisa gave a small smile and pushed off in the opposite direction, sending the bookcase toppling over onto the demon. It had no time to block or escape, and shrieked as it was crushed beneath the wooden structure. Kisa landed on a giant red book that had slipped to the floor, and looked at Yusuke. "What took you so long?"

Kurama's voice floated down from above them. "Well, I guess we didn't have to worry about you, Kisa." The girl frowned up at the fox demon.

"I guess not. Have you seen Miko?"

Kurama's eyes widened. "You mean she isn't with you?"

Kisa shook her head. Panic gripped her as she whipped around to Yusuke. "You mean you guys haven't found her yet?! I haven't a clue where she went, that freak must have taken her somewhere else!"

KISA!!! Miko screamed inside her head as a flash of sickly green became her world. The teleportation lasted maybe a few seconds, but to Miko it seemed eternities. When her feet found solid ground once again, she was ruthlessly thrown down by her attacker. He stood and listened for a moment, one hand still clutching Miko's arm. Miko took a few deep breaths and knew she had to fight back. She grabbed the demon's arm with her other hand and tried to pry her arm from its grasp. He looked down with little concern and laughed. "So you are the weak one of Light, seems like. Well, easier work for me." He laughed again maliciously, then heard his partner's squeal of death. He growled fiercely as he heard Kurama's order to the others to find Miko.

"Let's hurry," shouted the kitsune. "I can sense her sprit energy strongly now…this way!"

The glowing red fire demon grinned and turned an eye on Miko. "Well, we can fix that." He dragged the terrified girl to a nearby wall and pulled her to her feet. Keeping one hand on her arm, he placed the other in the middle of her chest. Miko's blue eyes filled with tears of fright, and she closed them tightly to keep from crying. The monster smirked, then said, "You can't even fight back. Ha! Your spirit is the weakest I've ever felt in all my centuries of concealing spirit energy…and stealing it away." He chuckled quietly, then pressed his hand against her chest. "Now brace yourself. This might hurt."

Kuwabara stood staring with Hiei into the force field. "Should we try to get back in and help them?" he asked, glaring through the purple haze. At that moment Koenma appeared around the corner, running as fast as he could towards the two teammates.

"Hiei! Kuwabara!" The 700-year old toddler stopped in front of them, forcing out words as he tried to catch his breath. "Do…you see…anything in there?"

Hiei's eyes narrowed. "What is going on?"

"I have no clue! I was opening the back door, and as soon as I was through, a sort of stealth fighter got into the file room! The door started to close on its own, and another one went through before it slammed shut! The girls are still in the room, with two of Hariato's agents!" He shook his head and looked worriedly through the barrier. "Yusuke and Kurama better be protecting them in there."

"That Kisa girl can protect herself. The other one probably won't stand a chance," said Hiei darkly.

Kuwabara suddenly grunted in pain, looking down at his ankle. Hiei said without looking at him, "And what's your problem?"

Kuwabara rubbed his ankle, examining it curiously. He grimaced as another bolt of pain shot through it. "I dunno. My ankle hurts all the sudden. I don't remember doing anything to it…" His eyes widened with realization. "Hey, Miko kicked it or something! Why it would hurt now, though, I don't know."

At first, Miko didn't feel anything. A numb sensation spread throughout her entire body, and she sensed a strange detachment from herself. She forced herself to look down at the demon's hand, which was still on her chest and now possessed a luminescent glow. Then his hand entered her, and everything changed.

Miko had never screamed so loud in all her life. White-hot pain exploded within her, and she felt as if every inch of her was on fire. Nothing mattered now except the horrible, devastating pain.

She slowly slipped to the floor, and the demon had to stoop down in order to stay in contact and conceal the rest of her spirit energy. But what does it matter now?! Every spirit in this accursed world can hear her…

Kisa froze at the sound of her best friend's piercing cry. Yusuke skidded to a stop, and Kurama dropped to the ground. He drew a sharp breath, and felt his heart skip a beat.

"What could he have done to her?" said Yusuke disbelievingly. Kisa let out a strangled cry, and ran with all the speed she could muster towards the sound. "Miko!!"

Yusuke followed, and Kurama brought up the rear. He gripped his rose whip tightly, anger blossoming inside of him. That scream can only come from one in extremely intense pain. It could destroy her.

Kisa thought of nothing else but reaching her friend, and getting her out of this insane situation. She cursed herself as she ran. I shouldn't have turned my back on her for one second! What if I'm too late? She's hurt, and it's all my fault…

Miko's fingers closed over the demon's arm. She couldn't stop screaming; she felt as if a part of her soul was being ripped from her. No…this can't happen…never…

"NO!" She yelled this word with such force that the demon lost his grip on her spirit energy for a few seconds. Once he regained it, he could now feel Kurama, Kisa and Yusuke getting closer. Damn it…I can't conceal the rest of her spirit from them and teleport at the same time.

"No!!" yelled Miko again, tears flowing freely down her face as she gripped the demon's arm tighter. To his surprise, she slowly began to pull his hand from her body. He gritted his teeth in anger and pushed harder. Miko groaned in effort and, suddenly, her entire body began to shimmer. The fiery apparition's misshapen eyes widened and for the first time, he felt fear.

Kurama and Kisa rounded the last corner. Yusuke joined them, his spirit gun charged and ready to fire. Kurama prepared to wield his whip, but what he saw stilled his hand. He lowered his arm, and all three people stared in awe. Miko was now shining with a blinding white light, and, step by step, she steadily pushed herself and the demon away from the wall.

Suddenly, Miko threw her head back and let out another piercing scream. She forced the demon's hand from her chest, then all of the light surrounding her channeled into one dazzling beam of power. She released it just as Kisa yelled, "Miko!"

A fantastic flash of light caused all watching to look away. When they dared to turn their gazes back to Miko, her attacker had disappeared. She now stood with one hand on the wall holding herself up, staring at the ground. Her pearly white wings had sprung from her back and now hung limply at her sides.

Yusuke whispered to Kurama, "What the hell happened? Where did all that energy come from?"

Kurama answered him, "I don't know, but whatever it was, it contained triple the power that your spirit gun holds."

"What?!" exclaimed Yusuke. Kisa ran to her friend and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Miko?" she said softly. "Are you okay?" Kurama joined Kisa at Miko's side, sliding the red rose back into place beneath his crimson hair. Miko took a deep breath, and looked up to meet Kisa's eyes.

"This isn't a dream," she said in a flat tone. Her eyes closed and she fell forward into Kurama's arms. He gently picked her up and turned to Yusuke. "Her spirit is almost completely spent. She needs rest and possibly some borrowed energy…in any case, let's get her to the security office."

"What happened here?" Koenma's voice spoke from behind them. Kisa looked behind her to see Koenma, Hiei and Kuwabara. She shook her head. "I don't know, really. I guess Miko can tell you when she wakes up."

"She was too weak for a simple prowler demon, then?" said Hiei scornfully.

Kisa leaped forward and grabbed Hiei by the front of his cloak. Her eyes shooting daggers, she warned, "You better watch what you say, you idiot." Hiei pushed her hand away and met her gaze with equal annoyance. He was about to say something scathing back to her, but Koenma piped up.

"Enough of your fighting, you two! We don't need that right now. Let's get to the security office and meet up with Kasmira and Botan." He looked at Kurama "What did you say about borrowed energy?"

"I'll give her some of mine!" said Kuwabara bravely.

"I didn't think you would have much left," said Hiei without missing a beat. "You wasted most of it back there in that so-called 'fight'. Baka."

Kuwabara followed up like it was scripted. " I'll pummel you into the ground before you can say 'shrimp', shrimp!"

Kurama barely restrained himself from rolling his eyes and closed them instead, concentrating his energy into Miko's body. As the transfer took place, he felt an immense emptiness….as well as a gigantic store of untapped power. Amazing.

The kitsune opened his eyes and met Koenma's expectant gaze. "It's taken care of. I've given some of mine to her."

Koenma nodded, then turned and walked towards the back door. "Well then, let's get her into a bed somewhere."

This has definitely been an interesting first day for those two in their home dimension, he thought as they headed out the door. I just hope Hariato feels discouraged enough about his failure to hold off for a while.

YEM: (looks over to find all characters sleeping) Aww, how cute.
I guess it is kinda late. The last time I woke them up to do an A.C.D., things got ugly. (tucks blanket lovingly over Hiei and barely dodges katana) Well, okay then. (yawns as Hiei murmurs something about puppies) Goodnight everybody! Please R&R!