Renata sat in the cold, dark auditorium, fiddling with her ring. The play itself was mediocre, but she had to admit that the acting was brilliant. If she was up there she probably would have fallen asleep by then.

A girl at the young age of sixteen and three-quarters, she was a dedicated Drama student. While her parents would never let her base a career on it, she played out her hobby to whatever extent her teachers asked her to go. With lightly tanned, freckled, and unblemished skin, make-up was never too much of a problem, no matter how long she left it on. Her black hair lightened to an auburn glow by the sun was cropped short an inch or so below her ears.

Her fellow students had learned to judge her outlook that morning by whether she had taken the time to blow dry her hair straight, or just let it air dry in a mess of sultry curls. On days she was busy, the curls could be seen pinned back, as far out of her face as Ren could get them. When she was stressed, the curls stayed down, unmoussed and limp. When she was happy, but pushed for time, the curls shined and bounced around her round face, and when she had a little extra time, and more gumption, she would run her fingers through straight hair, pushing it back as she contemplated the obstacles of the day.

Today her amber eyes that usually sparkled with a mysterious playfulness looked cold and calculating.

Renata Gwen McLairn was a critical person. And the other drama students both respected and avoided her for that. It had been said that she had had best friends at her school before she moved... But here she only had good friends... ones that were quick to stand up and defend her, ones that trusted her, and yet, no one there could have the right to stand up and say that they completely knew Ren.

Of course, none of them would figure it out. At least... not any time in the near future...

Reaper stood in Koenma's office, alone with the future ruler of Spirit World.

"I told you to come to me if it ever got this far."

Reaper's cold light green eyes gazed back disdainfully at him, "So you could kill me? That is your only way of stopping her isn't it?"
Koenma stood up, "Had I been given any notice, or request, I'd find a way."

Reaper smirked, "Now, now, we both know that isn't true."

"So what truly happened in the Minamino house? We both know Tempest would never come out this early."

Reaper's eyes narrowed as she remained silent that was only a warning... I have to be more careful.
"Nothing."

Koenma sighed, lowering his head, "Very well. You may go now."

Meanwhile...

"So Reaper used to be normal, huh?" Yusuke asked quietly. Mads had just shared the whole of what she had learned with the group.

A door closed. They looked up to see Grimm standing quietly against it, "That's not what happened."

The young neko draws sharp looks from everyone in the room.

"I don't know exactly how it happened. But I know someone who does."

Sagome looks up from his position on the mantle (God only knows why he's up there, he has a weird heights fetish) glancing around quickly, and then back down.

Mads stands up, and walks over to him, "Okay. You know something we don't. Spill."

Sagome shrugs.

A katana whizzes through the air, landing in the wall next to Sagome's head. He looks up to see Hiei glaring at him, "She asked you a question, bakka."

Grimm moved forward, her eyes locked on Sagome's, "It's okay... I think they need to know."

Yusuke's voice breaks through the sudden silence.
"When Kurama brought Reaper here, and he said that her eyes had changed... Koenma gave me a new mission." He looked up, his brown eyes burning into the psychic's green ones, "But I won't kill her until I know why."

Silence reigned as Sagome shifted uncomfortably on his perch.

"It all began on that day we were filming outside. Copper, Bet, and Nikki were playing with the camera, and these demons came out of the forest, and knocked out me and Dan.

"We didn't see what happened to the girls, and I don't know what really happened out there, but Copper is the only one that made it back. That puppet master guy, he told me that she was the only one strong enough to act as the Catalyst.

"First, you need to know that there was once a demon so powerful that it ascended as a dragon, and laid forth destruction on Demon World. When the demon made her way to Spirit World, Koenma's grandmother, Preenma, made the ultimate sacrifice to destroy the demon. The demon's power was so great, however, that she could not be fully obliterated, only sealed away in the form of three jewels. In one jewel, her ability to manipulate lightning and move with swift agility. In the second, her ability to control the winds and the ability to intrude on other's thoughts to an extent. In the final, and biggest jewel, the demon's very soul was sealed away.

"This demon's name was Tempest.

"Earlier, you assumed that this army the Puppet Master was building up was for Hael.

"But even the Earth itself would tremble at the rise of the Tempest."

Taking a deep breath, he looks at the others as they sat, spellbound by his words, before continuing "The Puppet Master and his minions had once ruled beneath Tempest, and searched the worlds to find the hidden stones. Upon success, a worthy Catalyst had to be found. There's an estimation of about 356 young girls, human and demon alike, which were sacrificed in their search.

"Raja had said that the vision of the three girls had come to him as he sat guarding the stones, and when tested, Copper was the only one who withstood the shock of sharing a body with another, much more powerful being.
"Believe it or not, Copper had been too pure for Tempest to ever gather strength through her. By threatening the lives of her family and town, she was forced to train and kill. With each soul that moved on by her hand, her hair grew darker, and her eyes grew lighter.

"Her parents had begun to suspect something was wrong. Because she refused to originally give in to the threats, her younger brother was killed in front of her and her parents, and after seeing what she had, or perhaps more of what they thought she had become, her parents disowned her. After the incident in the woods, Dan never went near her. After that, I guess she just learned to be lonely, rather than risk someone else."

Unbeknownst to the others, one of their number had gone suddenly. And the subject of their fascination was quickly approaching...

Reaper walked down the hallway briskly, fighting down the wave of dizziness that threatened to overcome her. She was getting weaker by the day, and the knowledge of it made her sick. Tempest was drawing more and more power out of her, and it would only be so long before she was ready.

Smirking grimly, Reaper's thoughts whispered with a bitter sort of smugness. It's all on Drake's shoulders when that happens.

Reaper halted, as Kurama stepped from around the corner, his cold voice breaking the air of threatening silence she had accumulated around herself, "You really think he'd go through with that?"

Yellow-green eyes narrowed, "He will."
"You had a brother," Kurama stated, matter-of-factly.
Her face settling into its mask of cold indifference, she answered with a frozen tone, "Yes."

Eyes locked, sound died away. Looking away, Reaper started to walk on.

Kurama grabbed her wrist, "He loves you."
Looking down at his hand holding her rooted to the spot, her voice came out in a whisper, "I know."

Pulling her closer, Kurama's eyes searched the assassin's. "You don't feel the same?"

Reaper's eyes glowed, and flickered to a shade of brown, and then back to green, "I did, once."

The kitsune's arms were now wrapped around her and neither moved to pull away as they stood watching one another.

Reaper's eyes grew darker, and then a wave of shock ran through her, leaving her weak in the knees. Her voice came out choked, betraying more emotion in that moment than she had in two and a half years, "I've lost everything... And she won't stop until there's nothing left for me to hold on to."

Kurama grasped her tightly, "You can't make me go because of something she might do."

Tears spring to her amber eyes, "Why can't you just hate me?"
"I did."
"Nothing's changed!"

Kurama's eyes stared into Copper's, "I hated who you wanted us to believe you were."

"Things can't change this suddenly."
"They have before."

Copper's lower lip trembled, her eyes flashing green, "No."

Closing her eyes, Reaper leaned forward, and kissed him gently, tears spilling down her cheeks. Kurama's emerald eyes widened in shock before drifting closed.

A small pop was heard as a sliver of electricity flowed from Reaper's hand, into Kurama's temple. She steps back as the boy slides to the floor, unconscious. Smiling bitterly, she bends down, and whispers softly in his ear,

"I hated you because there were times I thought that you could have been my everything... If everything hadn't torn us apart."