Black and Blue

by Liz Inc

[EDIT] He had found her, he had loved her, and he had lost her. But due to fate's merciful and mysterious ways, he inexplicably manages to cross paths with her once more. The only problem is that he's not exactly the same 'demon' he used to be...[KurBo]

2. Pointless Prattling

Thanks to those who reviewed. Always appreciate it.

And to answer the question posed by the person who was "too lazy to log in:" No. Yusuke and the gang do not know Botan (sorry if I didn't make that so clear). Kurama on the other hand…well, you'll just have to read and find out. ;)

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that starts with a "Y". Maybe a couple of DVDs, but other than that, I'm clean.

oooOOOooo

Chapter 2: Pointless Prattling

Pain.

Pure, excruciating pain.

It was an abhorrent sensation; one that the powerful kitsune hadn't felt for almost an entire century. But that's what happens when you make foolish decisions. Initiate senseless fights.

Fight fire with deadly, carnivorous plants rather than fire itself.

He had to admit that he felt rather foolish, positioned there against that smoldering tree, surrounded by a stifling blaze that was slowly but surly asphyxiating him with each passing moment. But what could he have possibly done to evade such a powerful attack? He hadn't seen it coming. Yes he, a 280-year-old thief, who was technically supposed to have flawless senses, intuition, and skill, screwed up.

Royally.

And he couldn't help but mentally scream, over and over inside his throbbing head: what the hell had happened? Why was he frying underneath that tree, bleeding from grotesque, gaping wounds? Why the hell was he dying!

Because he just had to attempt an impossible theft—steal that rare, crimson jewel. He just had to awaken that vicious, fire-breathing deity from its blissful slumber.

From now on, he'd just have to remember that colossal, stone statues are positioned outside of ancient, forbidden Temples for a reason.

That is, if he lived to remember.

Though as he felt himself slowly begin to succumb to an inevitable, fiery death, the silver-haired kitsune felt something strange: an abnormal, celestial aura, a cool, calming sensation.

The fire…had it been extinguished? The air…it did seem a lot cooler.

Cleaner.

Breathable.

But how? What sort of unfathomable creature had the power to douse a blazing forest in only a few seconds? Hell, what would want to! In a world full of fiends, it was every demon for itself. Plain and simple.

His ears perked up to the sound of approaching footsteps, his nose twitching to the pleasant scent of…a human? No, not in Makai. Then what the hell was it?

"Are you…?"

A soft, silky voice. Who…?

"Oh, you poor thing…"

Using what little energy he had left, the wounded fox pried his blood-shot, golden eyes open, only to come face to face with vivid amethyst ones…

oooOOOooo

"Kurama…Kurama! Are you paying attention?"

The red-haired kitsune quickly rented himself from his thoughts, snapping his vivid, emerald gaze towards the command's origin. Before responding to the speaker's sharp, brown glare, he struggled to obscure any evident shock, melancholy, and bewilderment that may've remained upon on his face, replacing it with his usual, emotionless façade. "Yes Koenma."

The tiny prince carefully stroked his chin. "Yes, well you weren't three seconds ago. Hell, I'm not even sure if you were breathing!"

"Yeah man, you feelin' okay? I mean, ya look like you just saw a ghost or something," Yusuke queried, gently placing a hand atop his friend's shoulder.

Kurama flashed him a quick, reassuring smile, as phony and forced as it may have been. "I'm fine. Just a little tired." He then averted his gaze back towards the picture of the beautiful, blue-haired woman that was still plastered upon the screen. "Please proceed, Koenma. Forgive me if I interrupted."

Kuwabara poked his black-haired friend in the ribs, obviously oblivious to his ally's current distress. "Hey Urameshi. Why'd the kid bring us all the way here if he was just going to show us some cheap, PowerPoint presentation?"

Yusuke shrugged, hesitantly removing his fretful gaze from the seemingly troubled fox. "I dunno."

"Maybe if you two shut up, we can find out why," Hiei interrupted, shifting his seething, crimson gaze in their direction.

"AS I WAS SAYING!" Koenma boomed, cutting off any further conversing. "This is Botan: one of the few remaining hybrids in all of existence." He directed his remote towards the screen, pressing another button in the process. Within seconds, the picture on the monitor changed, portraying the stunning photo of a tall, demonic woman with long, blonde locks; a long, cream-colored tail that curled at the tip; pointy, elf-like ears; glowing, white eyes; and, originating from either of her shoulder blades was a large, feathery wing.

"And this," he continued, "is what's known as a Veela, Botan's demon half that she keeps safely secreted behind her human exterior. Alas, she has yet to access the true deity within her; I'm afraid her human essence makes that very difficult to do."

Yusuke opened his mouth to say something, but the agitated prince held up a hand. "Ah, ah, ah, I want you to wait until I'm completely finished before you ask any questions, okay? Otherwise, I'll never get anywhere."

The spirit detective stood there for a moment, mouth slightly agape before letting out a long, frustrated sigh. He then gave a quick, majestic wave of his hand as if to say, "You may proceed."

Koenma rolled his eyes. "Yes, thank you. As I was saying: this is a Veela. They tend to have an abnormally powerful ability to heal, even those that have already departed, and their tears have the potential to make it rain." He shot a quick, curious glance at the window before continuing. "Veela are also incredibly rare these days, which is probably due to the minor fact that they have no male counterparts, but, as interesting as that fact may be, it's kind of irrelevant to our—"

"Now hold up just a minute!" Yusuke interjected, raising a hand.

Koenma angrily chomped his pacifier. "I thought I said no questions until the end!"

"Woah, I think someone needs a nap," Kuwabara whispered to the tiny, red-haired woman that was standing beside him.

She subdued the urge to laugh and elbowed him in the ribs. "Quiet you!"

"Yusuke put your goddamn hand down!"

"But you're being so friggin' vague!"

"Because you won't shut up and let me finish!"

"Then maybe you should think before you reveal anymore supposed 'irrelevant' information to me!"

"For the love of…it wasn't irrelevant! It was just—"

"Can't I just ask one stupid que—"

"WHAT!"

Yusuke grinned, satisfied with the fact that he had won. "Just how did these supposed 'demons' come into existence if they're an all female race?"

"What do you mean 'supposed' demons?"

"Well…I dunno. They just look a helluva lot like angels if ya ask me."

Koenma paused for a moment, clasping his arms behind his back as he turned to face the picture of the rare being behind him. "To be honest, we don't know how these peculiar goddesses came into existence. They were first sighted over three millennia ago, so even if we did possess such information, I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to where it was."

George sighed. "Would you like me to go make myself useful, my Lord?"

Koenma raised a suspicious brow. "Uh…yes, please. But search the library before you go raking though my perfectly organized files!"

"Of course, Koenma Sir! I would never—"

"Just go!"

"Y-yes, my Lord!"

After the ogre had gone, the young prince let out a long, dramatically enhanced sigh. "Stupid monkey…ah well, that should keep him busy for a while; 25 years to be precise." With a quick shake of his head, he continued his incomplete explanation: "Where was I—oh yes. You had mentioned that—"

"SHIT!" Kuwabara suddenly exclaimed, startling anyone who wasn't currently speaking. Ignoring Koenma's agitated expression and twitching brow, he continued after a short pause: "If those women were sighted over three thousand years ago, then that must mean that this girl's mom/dad is like…really, really old."

"As stupid as that may have sounded, the guy's right," Yusuke denoted, directing his chocolate-hued gaze towards the floating toddler. "You claim that the race is rare, not extinct. That must mean that whoever's still alive would have to be thousands of years old, including this gal's demonic parent."

The black-haired apparition, who was currently leaning against a wall a few feet away, arms tightly crossed over his chest, slowly cracked open one of his crimson-hued eyes. "That's rather impressive…even for a demon."

Koenma's anger slowly diminished as he settled himself down into his chair. "True. Her mother was the demon, obviously, considering I just said it was an ALL FEMALE race." He shook his head and continued. "She lived to be almost 2000 years old. Her father was the human. Didn't make it past thirty."

Kurama inwardly snarled, but said nothing.

"Oh. My bad," Kuwabara replied with a frown.

"Wait, if the mom's dead, then that must mean she was killed by someone right? Because demons are supposed to be immortal. They don't die of old age," Yusuke inquired, raising a confused brow.

Koenma nodded gravely. "I'm afraid you are correct. She, as well as the human, were killed—no. Killed is a severe understatement. They were murdered, and it was by the same vengeful fiend too."

Hinegeshi frowned. 'I hate this part. It's a good thing Callie left.'

All four boys gazed intently at the slouching toddler, waiting for him to continue. It took him a few moments, but eventually, he began: "His name…is Karasu. He had been in love with Botan's mother—Kaminari was her name—for years, but she never…no, she refused to reciprocate his insane infatuation. She did, however, fall in love with another man—a human none-the-less. This angered the rejected demon to the point of lunacy. First, he hunted down the man that had supposedly 'stolen' Kaminari's heart—we don't know what his name was—and cut off his head. Subsequently, since his only obstacle had been carefully disposed of, he spent every waking hour of his life secretly stalking her and the little girl she always kept close at her side, his pale, gray eyes burning with the utmost lust, hate, and fury. In the end, when Botan was about ten or eleven in human years, he came out of the murky shadows and kidnapped them both. For some reason, he left the girl unharmed, but he ruthlessly, abhorrently, mercilessly…" Koenma trailed off for a moment, his mouth growing dry. "He murdered her, slowly and painfully. Botan had managed to escape unscathed, but it was only due to her mother's preordained sacrifice." He slowly shook his head. "I'm sorry, but to callously slaughter such a rare, angelic, and beautiful deity is just…it's just…" The prince fell silent, as did the entire atmosphere around him. It was almost as if someone had pressed the mute button and destroyed the remote.

Hinegeshi, desperate to break the silence, decided it was time for her to take over, so she hopped back up onto the desk and continued her Lord's unfinished tale: "Botan, now forced to fend for herself, meandered the dense forests of Makai for, we think, about nine or ten years. I was the one who found her frail form, floating unconsciously between realms. I decided to read her mind to understand how and why she had gotten there—its not exactly common to find demons drifting helplessly along the skyline." She paused for a moment, breathing deeply. "And what I saw was…it was horrifying. The bloody, mutilated corpse of Kaminari, lying helplessly before Karasu's looming figure. Botan's small, frail form running impotently through an endless, cavernous maze, her eyes blinded by salty tears. The vicious thunder storm that had suddenly enveloped the cold, blackened sky…

"Her thoughts, as I quickly rummaged through them, appeared to be dark and gloomy for years…five, six? I don't know…well, that is, until a lone, silver-haired demon—a dog, or fox of sorts—entered the picture. I never really got to delve any deeper into that though, because she awoke suddenly, screaming."

Yusuke shot Kurama a furtive sideways glance, only to find his face blank, almost listless. 'I wonder…'

"We decided to take her in for her own protection. We didn't want to risk having Karasu find her, so I had her, with King Yama's permission of course, move up here, with me. Veela are so incredibly rare these days; I'd say that it's almost a privilege to even sense one. We want to try and preserve them for as long as we possibly can, but Botan…she's a rarity in and of herself. That's why we've made it our duty to safeguard her."

Kuwabara was the first to speak after another long moment of silence. "Woah. That was…deep."

"Eloquently put," Yusuke muttered as he massaged his temples with both hands.

"Yes, yes, it was very catastrophic indeed," Koenma carelessly denoted, his grief obviously forgotten. "But I think we all sort of went off on a very large tangent. I was going to get to all that eventually, but…well, what was it you had said before I had been so rudely interrupted?" He shot the detective a curious, light brown glare as he floated up from his chair.

"Um, I dunno. That was like three hours ago," came his imprudent reply. "Like it actually matters anymore."

Koenma ignored him, evidently uninterested in what he had to say. "Oh yes, I remember now. You had said that the Veela looked a lot like a so-called 'angel'."

Yusuke sighed. "Yeah. Yeah, I did."

"Well, I hate to break it to you, but there are no such things. Believe it or not, it was the early people of Ningenkai that created the concept. The closest things we have to them are ferry girls, Hinegeshi excluded of course."

She sighed. "As much as I resent that fact, it's true. Unless you want to consider me to be the 'Angel of Death' or something."

Yusuke took in a deep breath and opened his mouth, but Koenma cut him off yet again with his hand. "Now I know what you're thinking: why the hell would I force you all to come up to Reikai, just so I could give you some insignificant history lesson on a woman you've never even met?"

"Woah. I was seriously just thinking that!" Kuwabara exclaimed, staring at the little one in awe.

"Yeah, I'll second that," Yusuke added, a smug look plastered upon his face. "I mean, I recall you asking us to find this woman, but never once did you mention that we were required to sit in on an exclusive lesson of Creepy Stalker 101."

Koenma sighed and pressed another button. This time, a video began to play. "I was getting there…"

"Hold up!" Kuwabara exclaimed, pointing towards the screen. "That's the place where Yusuke and I defeated Toguro! Hell, he's still lying there with his—oh my God…"

Horrified, the four boys watched as the shirtless man slowly arose from the ground, the sword beside him transforming into the sadistic form of his pale-skinned brother in the process. In the background, one the of the five, blank screens switched back on to reveal the scarred face of the man who had recently won the sixty-six trillion dollar bet against the hideous owner of the mansion. As the elder brother climbed atop his younger one's shoulder, Koenma's screen went blank, blinking senselessly a couple of times before reverting to the dancing salt and pepper screen of static.

Koenma turned back towards his shocked audience, his face pale and listless. "As you can see, the Toguro brothers are anything but dead. And, unbeknownst to Yukina's malicious captor, they had been in league with Sakyo, the man on re-activated the monitor, the entire time."

"We think that he might be in league with Karasu as well, but we can't be entirely sure. Botan, however, doesn't know about this possible affiliation. She sorta ran off before we could tell her." She directed an angry, golden glare towards the sheepish-looking prince. Turning back towards the boys, she continued: "This is why we need you to find her, guys. She could be in danger. And since Toguro's still alive, so could you."

Kuwabara snorted. "Yeah well, how hard could it possibly be to find a hot bird-woman with no eyes?"

Hiei cringed, almost as if he were in agony: "She's half human, you moron. She wouldn't be in that form if she's roaming around your stupid world."

"Yeah, well…" Kuwabara began, but couldn't seem to construct a decent rebuttal, so he left it at that.

"And Veela have eyes. It's just that their pupils and irises blend into their sclera." Hinegeshi corrected.

Kuwabara scratched his head and scrunched up his nose. "Their wha?"

Hinegeshi sighed. "The sclera is the 'white portion' of the eye."

Yusuke shrugged. "Whatever. As long as she's close by."

Koenma laughed nervously, lowering himself back down into his chair. "Actually," he began. "I…I don't know if she's on Ningenkai. She could be, well, anywhere. Due to the fact that she's a rare half-breed, an outcast if you will, we decided to give her free reign of all the worlds."

The spirit detective raised an aggravated brow, which, slowly but surly, began to violently twitch. "I'm sorry. Did I just hear you correctly? Because…heh, I could've sworn you'd said that the woman we're supposed to find could be ANYWHERE IN THE WHOLE, GODDAMN UNIVERSE!"

"Calm yourself Yusuke," Hinegeshi rejoined, using her oar to keep the incensed boy at least three feet away from the cowering prince. "You seem to forget: Hiei and Kurama are demons. I'm a ferry girl. We've got all the other worlds covered. All you and Kuwabara have to worry about is Ningenkai."

"No, I'm afraid that you seem to forget," Yusuke viciously retorted, directing a fiery brown glare her way, "that the living world consists of seven continents, 4 or so oceans, and a helluva lotta countries and states! Where the fuck would we start our damn search! We'd need at least twenty-five million people to cover that kind of ground!"

"Actually," Hinegeshi coolly interjected, "if she'd be anywhere on earth, I think it'd Japan. She's got an apartment somewhere in one of the less-populated areas of Tokyo, I forget where exactly, but that would make the city a familiar base and a means in which to ground herself in such a vast, disconcerting world."

Yusuke turned back towards Koemna. "S'this true?"

He nodded. "Yes, it is. And besides, I highly doubt that she's returned to Makai. There's always a slight chance, but the girl only crosses over there once in a blue moon, so—"

"Then why the hell did you—" Yusuke began, but stopped short as he felt a hand tightly clamp his shoulder; it belonged to silent and languid kitsune.

"What's done is done, Yusuke," he began, his voice calm and cool. "Instead of wasting time arguing over pointless matters, I suggest we begin our long-awaited search."

The spirit detective smirked, his anger diminishing. "Why, hello there. For a moment there I thought you'd gone mute."

Kurama reciprocated his friend's amused expression. "On the contrary. I figured you would ask all of the necessary questions, so my intervention would've merely been redundant."

The black-haired detective laughed. "I'm sure. But I gotta agree with you, guy. The sooner we start the search, the sooner we finish!"

"Wait a minute!" Kuwabara suddenly exclaimed, pointing to the large, golden monitor. "Can't we just locate her with this thing? I mean, Koenma is a God after all! Doesn't that mean he's got the power to see, like, everything?"

Yusuke stared at his goofy friend for a moment, before reaching over and slapping him on the back, grinning from ear to ear. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but you're a friggin' genius!"

"I know, I know," came his egotistical reply. "Tell me something I don't."

Turning towards Koenma, the spirit detective clapped his hands. "Well, come on then! I know you've watched me struggle throughout all my other stupid missions on this thing. Why don't you use it to pinpoint the damn girl?" When the Prince didn't respond right away, he added: "As an added bonus, I promise not to hold any would-be grudges against you for hauling my ass up here for no reason."

Koenma smiled sheepishly. "Heh, heh. About that…"

Yusuke's face fell. "Aw shit. A catch…there's a catch, isn't here?"

Koenma shamefully shook his head, innocently twiddling his thumbs as he struggled to avoid the irate boy's fixated glare. "Well, no…no, not exactly…"

Hinegeshi sighed, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Well, you can figure that we wouldn't have required your assistance had he been permitted to utilize the damn thing for that very purpose." She shot the Prince a tired glare. "His father forbids him to use it to spy on people, demons, spirits—especially those of the feminine nature." Ignoring her Lord's irate expression and heeding to the confused ones of the detectives, she added: "Let's just say that once he was caught watching something he shouldn't have…"

"First of all, I resent that!" the adolescent Lord viciously retorted, glaring daggers at the annoyed ferry girl. "Second of all, I was merely ensuring that she wasn't off gallivanting with some shady pretty-boy-demon—or—something. I mean, since when is overprotectedness a crime?"

Yusuke sighed, carelessly tuning out the toddler's incessant ramblings. "Kay. Not gonna ask."

Kuwabara shrugged. "Well at least we've got Hiei's creepy extra eye."

The fire demon snorted. "That's what you think."

As the four slowly exited the seething Prince's office, Yusuke furtively shifted his gaze in the fox's direction. His expression revealed nothing, but, for some reason, the detective had a strange feeling that something was off. What it was, he didn't know; but he sure as hell planned to find out.

"Oh man, I just can't get over the fact that shorty over here got his scrawny, little ass verbally kicked by a dinky cat-chick!" Kuwabara suddenly exclaimed, grinning like mad.

Hiei rolled his eyes. "Maybe if you weren't so dumb, I'd be more conscious of the disgusting word-vomit that always spilling fourth from your over-sized mouth."

Kuwabara scrunched up his nose and snarled. "Hey! I'm not dumb! Perhaps a bit on the mentally challenged side, but not so much that one could qualify me as being stupid." He paused, huffily crossing his arms. "And you can quit givin' me that friggin' look, Urameshi. Miss Nakamura doesn't lie."

"Please. That woman's word is as valid as a dog's."

"Eh, you're just jealous that she likes me and despises you."

"Right. Like I actually care what a weird, 25-year-old social worker thinks of me."

"A hot social worker, Urameshi. A very hot one."

Hiei inwardly seethed, but outwardly exclaimed: "Would you two shut up! Your mindless rambling is clogging my brain."

With an impatient flick of his wrist, Koenma's enormous office doors creaked shut with an echoing thud, suppressing any further arguments that may have commenced outside the room. "Oh Hinegeshi," he whispered, voice hoarse from screaming. "Is there something you wish to say to me now that the others have left? Perhaps an 'I'm sorry' or a 'Please forgive me, my Lord. I am not worthy of your awesome mercifulness!'"

"You know, I have been wondering…" she began, slowly turning around to face the furious Mini-Lord. "Don't you think it's kinda weird that they didn't ask what Toguro's sadistic intentions might've been?"

Koenma grunted, clawing relentlessly at the smooth surface of his desk like a rabid panther. "I don't know, nor do I care. Now…enlighten me." He paused to inhale. "What in my FATHER'S NAME could have POSSIBLY possessed you to reveal such CONFIDENTIAL information to the likes of those adolescent DUMB-FUCKS? And, more importantly, in such a CRUDE manner? I mean, you made me sound like a pathetic, peeping tom! The scum on the bottom of one's shoe! The lowest of the low—a member of Z class! (gasp) Yes! You created a WHOLE NEW class for me! Do you have any IDEA how humiliating that is? How demeaning Debasing? Demoralizing! Do you, you stupid, brainless death mongrel? DO YOU!"

The redhead openly ignored the toddler's pointless prattling, sighing as she thought aloud: "Oh well. I guess they'll find out sooner or later…"

oooOOOooo

Let's see.

The people sucked. The air sucked. The food definitely sucked. The weather sucked. Life in general sucked, and, most of all, THIS sucked.

Yeah. That pretty much summed up the blue-haired woman's bleak thoughts as she morosely trudged down the gloomy streets of downtown Tokyo. Her black, hooded sweatshirt obviously wasn't enough to obscure the fact that she looked weird, dissimilar, and abnormal, so one could only imagine the sort of looks she was getting. Half were perverted, and half were just mean. Rude. Insincere.

Really makes you feel welcome to know that people aren't afraid to hide their nasty opinions of you. It didn't matter which society she tried to blend into; neither accepted her. They always viewed her as the insignificant other, the strange outsider, the unwanted thing.

Oh, did she fail to mention that Earth sucked too? Because it did. A lot. Its inhabitants were so disgustingly corrupt. To think that she wouldn't even be there if it hadn't been for the Prince-of-all-that-is-hentai.

And yet, at the same time, this miserable world was, by far, her favorite of the three—but only because of her apartment. You wouldn't come across too many of those in Makai; perhaps a couple of creepy mansions, but other than that, you were pretty much out of luck.

She let out a long, exhausted sigh, watching as her breath sailed away with the chilled wind. Some weather they were having. Winter wasn't for what: two, three months? Everything seemed to be so incredibly inpatient those days.

Shoving her icy hands into her warm, fuzzy pockets, she diverted her sullen, purple-hued eyes towards the wet ground, watching as the light rain splashed silently against the darkened sidewalk, soaking the dragging flares of her light-fitting blue jeans. She preferred to keep her head down, watching the world pass her in pairs of muddy shoes and abandoned litter. Anything was more pleasant-looking then their intimidating, spiteful, and lustrous gazes, because in a way, they reminded her of his…

That devil's narrowed, pale-gray glare, with just a hint of crimson…

And fire.

It is said that the eyes are the doors to one's soul; a reflection of what they hold deep within their heart. Karasu didn't have a heart; just a big, black, vacuous hole—a bottomless abyss—that was slowly but surly devouring him with each passing moment. One day, it would inevitably consume him, but until then, he would continue to hunt her, his eyes harboring the deepest, darkest depths of Hell itself.

The powerful emotions that motivated him, whatever they may've been, would continue to grow in intensity, only diminishing after he succumbed to death's inescapable grasp, or she did by his volatile hands. Either way, his essence would continue to haunt her; just like it was now in each and every person's eyes…

The entranced girl was quickly rented from her despondent thoughts as she heard a loud, mournful howl erupt from below.

Uh-oh. She didn't step on her again, did she?

"BOTAN! You stupid butt-head! You stepped on me again!"

Oops.

Botan slowly lifted her forward-most foot, shifting her drooping, amethyst gaze towards the ground. There, wet, puffy, and slightly shivering, sat a small, calico cat, gazing up at her with the most adorable yellow-brown eyes.

She slowly raised a thin, blue brow. "How did you find me?"

The colorful kitty quickly shook out her fur. "Puh-lease." She furiously licked an annoying itch in her side before shooting the tall, demonic woman a strange look. "What do you take me for, a dog? I ALWAYS know where you are. I just didn't want to make that apparent to the redhead. Her and her stupid ESP…"

Botan let out an annoyed grunt as she threw her head back towards the sky, blinking rapidly as invisible droplets of rain entered her eyes. "Heh, would you look at that, Callie? The sky is raining all by itself today." She slowly lowered her head, frowning as she watched her feline friend continue to bathe herself. "This sort of thing should make me happy, but it doesn't. I just feel miserable, all over, all the time. Look at me, Callie. I look miserable, don't I?"

The calico paused in mid-cleaning, mirroring her companion's sorrowful expression. "Yes. You do. But I'm afraid that you're going to have to put your feelings aside for a moment, because I have something important to tell you."

The crestfallen deity moaned, carelessly stepping over the tiny creature that blocked her path before continuing on her way. "Then don't tell me. I don't wanna know."

Callie quickly finished her cleaning before bolting off after the run-away girl. "Botan! Now wait just a damn minute! Can you at least pick me up so I don't have to worry about stepping into puddles?"

"I don't feel like bending over," came her monotonous response.

"BOTAN!" the kitty screeched, pausing in mid-run to shake out her fur again. "STOP! I'm serious!"

"So am I."

"You're such a stupid liar! Just…would you PLEASE stop running away from me so I can tell you what Koenma—"

"Callie!" the blue-hair woman cried, spinning around on her heels. She glared down at the cat with menacing, amethyst eyes, earning a couple of strange glances from a handful of random passer-bys. "I don't care what you, Koenma, or anybody else has to say. I just want to be left the alone. What is so hard to understand?"

Callie mirrored her glare, hissing as she retorted: "Everything! Know why? Cuz Koenma has finally decided to get serious!"

Botan scrunched up her nose and narrowed her eyes in confusion. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

The calico breathed deeply, relieved that she had finally grasped the deity's attention. "He's dispatched a mini search-party for you—and they're not just any-odd bunch. It's his newest spirit detective—who, might I add, is a total moron— and a couple of his demonic friends."

Botan slowly relaxed her contorted features, raising a brow in the process. "He's sent a spirit detective after me?"

Callie nodded, spontaneously lashing out at a passing spectator's ankles. "Hey, hey, MOVE along, bub! There's nothing more for you to see here! (sigh) I SWEAR…if only those pathetic excuses for humans could HEAR ME! I'd just LOVE to give them a piece of my mind!"

The girl ignored her cat's sudden outburst, lifting her gaze back towards the sky. "What, am I some sort of fugitive now?"

"I…don't…KNOW!" came her distracted response in the midst of a series of startled gasps and sqeals. "Could be the case."

Botan let out a long, exasperated sigh. "Callie, quit attacking people's feet and get over here." Without looking down, she pointed to a small patch of empty sidewalk in front of her toes, and, within seconds, it became occupied by her frustrated, little friend. "Come here." She reached down, picked her up, and shoved her into the large, pouch-like pocket in the front of her sweatshirt. "We're splittin' this joint."

"Fine with me! These people suck, anyway…OH WAIT!"

Botan shot her a quick, suspicious glance. "What? …You don't have another hairball, do you?"

Callie snorted. "No, you twit! I just remembered something! One of the boys, the biggest most PRETENTIOUS moron of them all, had a hidden, Jagan eye."

"Hmm. And just how, may I ask, did you figure this out if it was hidden?"

The miniature feline grunted "How many times MUST I have to tell you?"

"Obviously not enough."

Callie ignored her companion's sarcastic comment and continued: "One, I'm a brilliant, flawless, and superior feline specimen whose nose can detect the utterly imperceptible, and, as for two…stupid men are CARELESS. All I really had to do was give myself the perfect excuse to approach him and double check."

"And what sort of excuse was that?"

"Eh, nothing. I merely, as his friends had so eloquently put it, 'verbally kicked his ass.'"

"I see." Pause. "He was cute, wasn't he?"

"(sigh) Yeah, but…I think his red-haired accomplice was prettier."

Botan smirked. "Well then. Looks like we'll just have to be extra careful, now won't we?"

Callie sniffed as she struggled to make herself comfortable. "Yeah, yeah, I hear ya. Now whatever you do, DON'T drop me again. You know how much I despise the rain."

oooOOOooo

Just a quick note: Kaminari is the Japanese Goddess of thunder, a.k.a. "Thunder Queen" and "Heavenly Noise." I have no idea how you pronounce it, but…I chose the name for a reason. ;)

Anyway, feel free to review. Always appreciate it. And BB, please don't faint. You make me nervous when you do that. (O.o)