Thank you to all my reviewers. Your support keeps me writing!

To bahamut9999: I'm not planning to put Sensui's Seven in this fic, just the thirty psychics who trained with Genkai. If I do write about the Seven, it'll be in a separate fic. Sorry:)

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Kaitou dropped the bag of books onto his desk. The books were filled with word games. However, these weren't the childish word-scrambling games that pre-school teachers handed out to their students. These were puzzles that were impossible to the person of average intelligence, puzzles that only someone like Kaitou could solve.

'Or Shuichi Minamino,' Kaitou thought jealously. Spurred by yet another burst of resentment, Kaitou sat down and poured over his puzzles late into the night, analyzing each one and trying to see how it could be used for his new ability.

"Yuu?" Mrs. Kaitou knocked on her son's door.

"Yes, mother?"

"You should go to sleep soon. Tomorrow's a school day."

Kaitou, being a fairly obedient son, changed into his pajamas, put his new glasses onto his nightstand, and crawled into bed but he did not sleep. He wanted so badly to defeat Shuichi Minamino in this strange game of taboo words. But he could not keep from wondering if he was subject to his own rule. If he was, then Taboo, as he had come to call his ability, would be a fair game and he would be proud to beat Shuichi Minamino at it. But if he was not required to follow his own rule, then he would be pressing an unfair advantage, making him no better than Seichi.

Soon, the next day came, the day when Kaitou and his friends would seek out the psychic Genkai. For the second time in his life, Kaitou ditched school and took a bus to Kido and Yana's motel room. His friends were ready, carrying bags of clothes, snacks, and other things they would need.

Yana opened a map and showed Kaitou the path he had marked. "It takes us pretty far out of town," he said. "Genkai likes her privacy." He drew out a second map, this one of a forest. "This is the path through the forest to Genkai's compound. I'll be able to find the way."

The bus ride was uneventful; two hours of Yana gazing out the window, Kaitou obsessing over his word puzzles, and Kido fidgeting, desperately wanting something to do.

The bus ride ended at the edge of a thick forest. In the distance, the three boys could see a tall stony hill. "That hill was where Genkai would do her training," said Yana. "She would strap weights onto herself and climb it. My mother never did the physical stuff, though."

"You've gotta be exaggerating," said Kido. Yana shook his head.

"Well, which way is it?" Kaitou cut in.

"You're pretty impatient, pal," said Kido. "What's on your mind?"

"I've been wondering if I'm bound by my own rule, like you mentioned before," said Kaitou. "I think it's a safe assumption that this Genkai will know how to return a soul to its body. So, when we get to her place, I intend to violate my own rule and remove my own soul."

"What?" exclaimed Yana. "That's insane!"

"I have to understand every aspect of my new ability," answered Kaitou. "This is a necessary test. I need to know."

Yana led his friends down the proper trail, knowing each turn and fork perfectly, rarely glancing at the map. As he was exposed to this "familiar" place, more of his mother's memories fell into place and became clear. 'This must be what it's like to recover from amnesia,' he thought.

"My mother could sense apparitions ever since her childhood," Yana told his friends. "She developed an interest in the paranormal and soon learned about Genkai. She came here, hoping that Genkai could help her learn more about her abilities. Genkai gave her a choice. She could either train my mother and help her develop her powers or shut her powers down so she wouldn't see the apparitions anymore. My mother decided to train with Genkai because she wanted to know more about her abilities. She saw things she wishes she hadn't and left Genkai before her training was complete. She regrets it, even today."

"Curiosity killed the cat, huh?" said Kido.

"Then it's a good way to die," answered Kaitou. "Nothing good can come from ignorance."

"She shouldn't have done it. Because of her curiosity, she has to see those terrible things every day now," said Yana.

"She should have completed her training and learned to cope with her abilities. If we keep running away from new knowledge, we'd might as well be living in the feudal era."

"Your curiosity could kill you too," said Kido. "Are you really going to remove your own soul?"

"I'd rather do it near Genkai, who can put it back, than have it happen accidentally when I'm on my own."

They continued hiking. Yana finally brought them to a high staircase leading up to the tall wooden door of a large walled compound. Hanging by strings over the staircase were talisman cards so strong that even the three inexperienced psychics could sense their power.

Kido pointed at the cards. "Do those make you feel sort of, I dunno, uncomfortable?" Yana nodded.

"Yes, they do," said Kaitou. "But the writings on them indicate that they're meant for warding away various demons. I don't see a single one meant to ward off humans."

"Hello!" called a female voice from the top of the stairs. The three boys saw the figure of a tall, young woman descending the stairway to greet them.

"Yana, is that Genkai?" whispered Kido.

"Nope, not unless she has a shapeshifting power she never told my mother about," answered Yana. His friends could not tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

Kaitou held up his hand in greeting. "Hello. What brings you here?"

"I'm looking for someone named Genkai," said the girl. Upon closer inspection, the boys could see her short brown hair, violet eyes, and her soft, gentle face.

"What a coincidence. So are we," said Kido, deciding not to mention the powers he and his friends had acquired. At least, not before she revealed she had developed a power. "Why are you looking for her?"

The girl kept her eyes towards the ground. "You'll probably think it's weird."

"Trust me," said Yana. "We won't."

"Well, I found that I can do something unusual. I can read people's emotions and I can even read their more emotional memories. I learned about Genkai from a creepy wannabe psychic guy I know."

"Do you know of anyone else who got these powers?" asked Kaitou. "The three of us have been friends for a long time and it's a strange coincidence that all three of us developed these abilities. Did anyone close to you get any powers?"

"Well…" she seemed uncertain to answer.

"Go, on," said Yana. "You're among friends."

"I think my brother has a new power. I don't know what it is, though. All I could read from his memories was an amazement at discovering something new about himself and this terrible hatred for…for everyone and everything. He disappeared a few days ago."

"That's too bad," said Kido, not knowing what else to say. "Well, I'm Asato Kido. These are Mitsunari Yanagisawa and Yuu Kaitou. What's your name?"

The girl smiled, comforted by the boys' friendliness. "Sumiko Hagiri."