It has been a week, much to the surprise to everyone, especially when the gang and company (company being Grimm, Genkai, and Sagome) got their first word from Reaper, telling them to meet her at Mads's on...well, the day of today.

And so there they sat, waiting. And waiting.

Kuwabara's stomach growled and he reached for another sandwich off of a tray placed in the center table, "Is she ever going to get here?"

They had been waiting for about an hour, in the central room, with all the doors closed, and no windows- they assumed Reaper would drop in the usual way, by literally dropping in through a portal, and Mads hadn't wanted to take the chance of any passersby seeing her.

Kurama's head rested on the back of the couch, "She'll get here when she gets here."

Even his usually bottomless patience had run thin.

Grimm stood up as a portal appeared above them, and a small figure dropped through.

A really, really small figure.

Mads started laughing, "Oh holy skittles, is that a...ha...a LEPRECHAUN?"

Even Hiei's eyebrows rose as the small... ahem "height challenged" man stomped his foot, "I AM NOT A LEPRECHAUN! DO YOU SEE ANY FRIGGING SHOES AROUND ME? OR A RAINBOW?" Now he addressed Yusuke, "DO YA FRUITY? HUH? HUH?"

Grimm's whip sprang forth, looping gently around the wee character's waist, and pulling him out of Yusuke's face, before the infinitely taller boy hit him, "Whoa, cool it, hothead."

The small dude (man, it's getting harder and harder to find different synonyms for short) took a deep breath, and then smiled brightly (Bipolar, anyone?), "I have the pleasure to inform you that you have been outwitted by the short demons of the youkai world united, and you have two hours left before a poisonous gas begins leaking into the room."

Crickets could practically be heard. Until Mads burst out laughing, "Since when is there a Short Demons of the Youkai World United? Whaddaya call it? Midgets R Us?"

As the group rolled around on the floor laughing hysterically, the elf man sighed and stomped his foot.

An Hour Later

Yusuke stood, shooting Spirit bullets at the different doors, as the others sat in circles. Mads shook her head, "He was actually serious..."

Grimm narrowed her eyes at Sagome, "Yeah, and we would have at least found out why, if Sagome hadn't gone and set the midget on fire for looking at him funny!"

Mads shook her head again, looking around at the others, "I'm an elemental, with a fire demon, a kitsune, a half demon, one of the greatest ki teachers EVER, a stupid human idiot, a neko, and a... whatever the hell Sagome is, and NONE of us can figure out HOW to get out of a simple ROOM? I JUST SAVED THE WORLD FROM A FREAKING APOCALYPSE, AND MIDGETS ARE THE ONES WHO GET THE BEST OF ME!"

Sagome grinned, "Well, in all fairness, no one really has any control over their height, and besides, it's not like size determines how smart you are."

Mads stood up, steam practically coming out of her ears, "DO NOT QUESTION ME YOU SON OF A RANK BABOON WHORE!"

Kurama's soft voice stops Yusuke as he readies himself to shot again, and freezes Mads and Sagome in mid-chase, "It doesn't matter. We have more important matters at hand. The Tempest is coming, and we still have no idea how long we have, or just were Reaper is."

Silence fills the room, as all movement ceases. He was right- Not only was their time running short, but so was the time of the three worlds'.