Okay! First update after coming back from the great white north! And boy, have I been waiting for it! Thanks to everyone for staying with me! Especially, Icefire2,ficfan3484, and animelover149 who've all been with me since--almost--the very firstday I posted. (Lol, Lord knows how long ago that was!)

You can read about what I was up to over XMAS and New Years' at But for now, let's get on with the story!


8 Surprising Discoveries

After barfing into Kuwabara's toilet for the third time since arriving, I wipe my mouth and flush, only to hurriedly boost myself onto the counter and retch into the sink.

Are you about done in there?

My stomach muscles clench suddenly and I give another dry heave. Must've run out of fuel (finally).

Gasping for air, I reply Not that you care or anything, but some of us aren't used to flying through the air at a gazillion miles an hour while being whipped back and forth by a KIDNAPPER!

Weakling,

He severs the mental link and leaves me to rinse my puke out of the sink. That-that, Hiei personran, leaped and just about flew us back to Kuwabara's apartment in less than five minutes, carrying me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes all the way. Unfortunately, my stomach was left behind on the very first leap and was just catching up to me. And now he has the nerve to ask me if I'm done puking because he flung me around like a rag doll!

That, that, idiotic… speed-crazed… arrrghh!

Okay, so I'm no good at insults. That comes from my other side, which has been strangely quiet recently.

Hello? Where are you?

That's weird…well, I'm not complaining.

I wash my hand and face, bracing myself to face the group of people in the living room, not the least of which is Kur-Shuichi.

The door creaks as I open it. The group in the living room goes silent. I tip-toe out to them.

Do they have to stare at me like that?

Kuwabara and Urameshi were frozen mid-arm wrestle, looking dumbstruck. (Not that it was an unusual appearance for them.) Hiei's eyes bore into me, a slight smirk on his face. Kur-Shuichi sits poised on the couch, next to Urameshi and Kuwabara, waiting patiently.

I'm not used to people even seeing me. Having the room do quiet and their undivided attention is downright scary. Blushing furiously, I drop quickly in a recliner that faced the couch. Yusuke and Kuwabara's eyes go wide.

"Don't—" Kuwabara starts.

Too late.

The footrest slams up at the same time the backrest goes down, and I find myself clinging to the headrest, parallel to the ground. Yusuke and Kuwabara dive to either side. The backrest catapults back up, flinging me through the air.

Ahhhhhhh!

I fly straight towards Kur-Shuichi's head. Faster than I can see, his hands grab my arms just below the shoulders. My spine pops once as my speed drops to zero and my knees bump against his abbs. Our faces are inches apart.

If I blush any harder my face will explode.

"Freeze!"

I jump. Kur-Shuichi's eyes flick from me to Urameshi.

"Hold it right there! We gotta measure this out!"

The blurry edge of a measuring tape appears on my nose. Out the corner of my eye I see Urameshi run it back to the recliner as Kuwabara resets it. Muttering among themselves, "Sweet." "Did you see how far she flew?" "That was so awesome." "We just need to adjust…"

Suddenly, the front door opens and it's their turn to freeze.

A woman with mid-length sable hair walks in with a bag of groceries. She re-locks the door, takes off her shoes, and scans the room quietly. We all stare at her, wide-eyed. She strolls through the living room and out of sight into the kitchen. Heads swivel after her.

"Kazuma!"

Kuwabara jumps. "Uh, y-yeah?"

"Gummy bears on the counter, milk in the frig, zucchinis in the drawer. Don't make missiles out of them."

"Huh? Oh, got it Sis."

"And stop torturing that little girl. She's scared enough already."

"We weren't…"

"Kazuma!"

He dips his head. "Got it, Sis."

"I'm going to bed."

Her footsteps taps quietly back to the bedrooms. A door opens, closes, and it's quiet again.

Meanwhile, Hiei is examining the recliner.

"What is this?" he sneers.

Urameshi grins broadly. "A trap. Without all the missions, Kuwabara and I have been trying to prank Shizuru, but she keeps sensing them and sooner or later we end up tripping traps we forgot were there."

"Like the zucchini missiles," Kuwabara adds.

Kur-Shuichi releases me, keeping a careful eye on me as I scramble to a far corner, trying not to tremble. He clears his throat.

"As interesting as the physics of vegetable projectiles are," he gestures toward where I've pressed myself as far as possible into the corner, "I believe it will have to wait."

Urameshi and Kuwabara exchange uncomfortable glances. By unspoken consent, they both put out a fist and bounce them three times. On the third bounce, Urameshi's fist opens flat while Kuwabara sticks out his first two fingers. Kuwabara grins, Urameshi grimaces.

I scowl. Oh, now that was cold.

They jump. Kur-Shuichi and Hiei flick their eyes at me.

You have to play jaken to decide who has to talk to me!

Kur-Shuichi, Urameshi and Kuwabara exchange puzzled glances.

"Ningen, if you were strong enough to communicate your whole thought and not just fragments, it might make your already addle-brained message easier to understand without having to piece it together," Hiei says.

Oh, what I would give to hurt him….

Well, excuse me if I only learned that I could send tel-e-path-ic messages less than an hour ago!

Only Hiei doesn't wince with the force I put into the message.

"Clearer, not louder, Shin Toki." Kur-Shuichi chides gently.

I shrink a little, and try again. Sorry, is this better?

He grants me a small smile, "Much, domo."

His eyes seem to be an even deeper green than when we first met. Their emerald depths seem to rotate slowly, drawing me in. I feel a little dizzy as I smile back. For no reason at all, I feel like giggling.

Hiei strides past me. His movement shocks me back into reality as he leans against the wall and stares moodily out the window. The only thing to escape his lips is a grunt that sounds a lot like, "Hn."

I scramble away from him and tentatively examine a different chair for any traps. Finding none visible, I sit. Urameshi and Kuwabara throw themselves back onto the couch.

"So, uh, let's start with names," says Urameshi, uncomfortable with the silence, "I'm Urameshi Yusuke, you can call me Yusuke. I'm the leader of our little Reiki Tantei—"

You died.

He stops mid-sentence. Kur-Shuichi and the others seem suddenly more interested.

"How," Yusuke's brown eyes search me carefully, "did you know that?"

I saw you save that boy when the car hit you. And I-I was at your wake. I didn't know people could stutter in telepathic messages. I think, I think I saw your spirit there. You were floating in the sky with a girl… a guide of some sort?

I even have Hiei's full attention now. I shift uncomfortably under all their eyes. Yusuke opens his mouth.

I was standing in the shadows, I anticipate his next question. I don't think you saw me.

Out of they blue, I remember what I prayed for him: May you come back better than you were before. My face contorts in a lop-sided grin. This wasn't quite what I had in mind.

"That wasn't what I was going to ask," he says carefully. "What you've said so far is right, but anybody at school with an active imagination could've told me that. How do I know you're not making this up?"

I scowl, irritated I retort, One, how many people from school can communicate with you psychically? Two, Keiko and Kuwabara both cried for you.

Kuwabara glances around to make sure this hasn't endangered his manly pride. I try not to smirk and ignore him.

Three, the girl…

My gaze goes hazy as I recall the memory. I realize that I didn't see Urameshi. I saw a white-blue cylinder next to a bubble-gum pink orb. They looked crystalline, and seemed to emit light. I frown at the memory. The shape didn't look anything like Yusuke, the orb nothing like a girl. But they felt like Yusuke and the girl.

I didn't actually see you or the guide in the sky. I'm sure my face looks troubled. My lead evidence is slipping away. I concentrate hard on it. A piece of information I hadn't noticed before suddenly strikes me. Matte, the girl, was her name, it slips behind a veil in my mind, oh, something like, Botoon? Botan! It was Botan! Right?

They seem startled. I know I got it right. Pride swells in me.

"Y-yes," states Yusuke, "That's her."

I nod enthusiastically. I had a dream about her once. It was a while back, when I was with Kur-Shuichi in that house. I try not to blush. Only this time I could actually see her. She was flying over the house on a wooden oar .I think she was looking for him. She said, um, thought, that she'd send out "the boys" tomorrow. You guys are "the boys" right?

They exchange glances, nod.

"One question," says Kur-Shuichi, "who is this 'Kur-Shuichi?"

I frown a little in surprise. It's you, who else?

Yusuke and Kuwabara have that dumbstruck look again. Kur-Shuichi looks uncomfortable.

"Did I tell you that?"

Yes.

"I believe I must have been confused. My name is just Shuichi," he says, seeming relieved.

Oh. Hey, um, this is going to sound absurd but, no more absurd than me speaking with my mind, I think to myself, Would any of you know anything about a youkai in kind of that area?

He room goes tense. Yusuke and Kuwabara peek at Shuichi, who gives them a warning glance before flicking his eyes to Hiei, then back to me.

I thought you said she wouldn't remember that. The mental voice sounded like Hiei, but much quieter, and it wasn't directed at me.

She shouldn't. The message came from Shuichi, but sounded nothing like him. It was older, darker….

An exact fit for the youkai's voice.

I gasp, my eyes almost popping out of the sockets. I lean back so fast I tip my chair over. I try to run, but my foot is tangled in the legs of the chair.

Someone grabs my wrist and twists it behind my back, almost pulling my feet off the ground. It's Hiei. His hot breath sears down the back of my neck.

"That was not for your ears, baka musume," he snarls, pulling my hand higher up my back.

I flail wildly, bombarding him with my fear as though it were a physical thing. It has no effect on him.

Tears spring to the corners of my eyes. I-I thought t-the youkai was a dream! They ar-aren't real!

Suddenly, I gasp.

Yusuke and Kuwabara are on their feet. Yusuke is pointing at Hiei and I, a dot of blue light at the tip of his finger. Kuwabara stands sideways, a beam of crackling orange light clasped in his right hand. Their eyes dart from me to Hiei, unsure of whom to attack.

Shuichi still sits on the couch, one leg over the other, hands clasped around his knee, eyes calculating. "Every one, calm down. Hiei, release her," he says, a hard note creeping into his voice.

Yusuke and Kuwabara back down warily. Their lights blink out. The figure behind me gives that "hn" like grunt again and appears by the window before my arm can even relax back to normal.

I inhale shakily between my teeth, letting the breath hiss back through them while I rub the bruise that's forming a ring around my wrist. I glare up at the four men around me. It occurs to me how much trouble I could be in.

"Now, Shin," Shuichi says, and I think longingly of Mrs. Ito, "We realize that this must be very strange to you. I don't mean to frighten you, but you've shown advanced physic abilities and you," he paused. Thoughts flashed across his eyes like sparrows. "Need to be protected. Many of the gifts you've shown us could terrify ordinary people."

Ordinary… I thought. The word echoed with a sort of no-turning-back-now-ness that I didn't understand.

Shuichi eyes flash as if he'd heard my thought. "Not that you aren't human, Shin, quite the contrary. Your talents just need to be… supervised."

He must be right. I can't do this on my own, I think pleasantly, bobbing my head, although something deep within me rebells.

Shuichi smiles back. "I'm glad you agree. You'll be seeing a lot more of us now. We'll help you discover more of your powers and master what you already know. Please don't be afraid."

I smile wide and shake my head. I won't.

Hiei shoots a glare at Shuichi, who acknowledges it with a slight twitch of his mouth.

"There is one thing that has to happen first, though," his encouraging smile seems a bit strained.

"Stop babying her, f-" Hiei snaps, cutting his sentence short. He scowls, turns to face me. His eyes bore into me. I try not to shake. "I have to place restraints on your mind to prevent you from using your powers stupidly."

I have just enough time for a confused look before his mind attacks mine. It feels like my entire consciousness has been seized in the jaws of some huge monsuta, a giant black dragon. It's fangs sink into my awareness.

Dimly, I feel my physical body writhe, mouth open in a silent scream. I fall from the chair and thrash around the floor. Hands hold me down, voices I don't understand are yelling.

The dragon hears them too, but he could care less. His giant tongue coils around my abdomen, constricting until I can't breathe. I'm feeling so many things. Hate, rage, anguish, panic, terror, they all file out of me in a wrenching mental scream.

I feel someone pick up my physical body; it sags lifelessly in their arms.

The voices go silent, or can I just not hear them?

My scream blasts down the gaping maw before me. I hear the message in it: "Reikon za Sokutatsu!"

The dragon flinches, leans and falls heavily to his side. I'm still clamped in his jaws. I feel his pain, his anger. But something clicks under his tongue. His emotions withdraw from me. He becomes unreadable. I lie limply as his tongue unravels and he drops me to the ground, to my own mind.

I clench my eyes shut, panting. I feel around my stomach at the thick leather belt that has been placed there. Cinched tight, it binds all of my newly discovered physic abilities. My fingers touch the buckle and I'm jolted painfully back to my physical self.

My real fingers spastically grip black material. Someone has their arms wrapped around my legs, my arms draped over their shoulders. My eyelids can only make it to half-mast. I stare at blurry city lights coming closer, closer, a building. Thump, a soft jolt goes through the legs that carry me. A window squeals in protest as it's opened. We drop through it. Things distort and go foggy. The next thing I see is Hiei, face guarded. He places one finger on my forehead.

The world goes dark.


Domo Arigato Gozaimasu to all of you! Review, please! Check me otaku thingie. Love ya!

Glossary:

Baka- Idiot

Domo- Thank you

Domo Arigato Gozaimasu- Thank you very much!

Matte- Wait

Monsuta- Monster

Musume- Girl (I was told this meant daughter, but in the Ruroni Kenshin manga, Saito calls Kaoru a "tankana mesume" which they translate as "raccoon girl". So um, yeah, there's my reasoning…)

Reiki Tantei- Spirit Detectives

Reikon za Sokutatsu!- Express the soul

Tankana- how I think the Japanese word for raccoon is spelt… can't remember exact spelling…