A/N: So this one came faster than I thought it would, yay.

O/C23: There are no matches for the day, which means that the others are bored. Misaki tries to be as inconspicuous as possible, hoping to make it through the day without anyone knowing that it's her birthday. But of course, she fails, Ike visiting their rooms and announcing to the world that it is indeed the day of her birth. Misaki threatens to hurt them if they plan or do anything and tells them that she will personally have Coahtu burn any present given to her but as soon as she's out of earshot, what happens? Ike starts planning…

--

There was a certain tree that Misaki sought out as she walked through the forest and when she found it she quickly climbed into its branches, settling down among the leaves. Her hand absently found the piece of bark missing from where her brother slipped and she rested her fingers there.

She pulled the book out of her back pocket and sat staring at it for a while.

"Misaki? Misaki?"

Looking down through the green veil, Misaki caught a glimpse of slicked back black hair.

"Whadaya want?"

Yusuke stopped and glanced around, unsure of where the voice came from. "Uh...do you want to go for a walk?"

"No not really." Misaki answered after a moment.

He caught the general direction that her words came from the second time and he gazed up the tree she lay peacefully in.

"I want to show you something."

Misaki pocketed her book, "...oh alright. But only because you probably won't stop bothering me about it until I do."

"You got that right."

Misaki landed in time to see his grin before he turned away and walked a few paces, pausing to make sure she would follow.

The day was peaceful and bright, the wind rustling the leaves of the trees around them every so often.

"You know, I've just noticed something."

Misaki looked over at Yusuke, "Hm?"

He stopped for a moment, "It's quiet here. Really quiet."

"Eh?"

"Listen." He closed his eyes and lowered his head a little.

Misaki's eyes wandered about the trees, searching for what Yusuke was talking about. Finally she closed her eyes as well.

"There's nothing." She heard him say, "No birds chirping. No insects buzzing. Just the wind. It's…unnatural."

Misaki had never stopped and thought about it, but Yusuke was right. There was no other sound on the air save the wind and the leaves, no activity of unseen creatures.

"Heh. Weird, isn't it?"

She saw him smile a little, looking thoughtful before he opened his eyes and continued walking, hands in his pockets.

There was more to the black-haired young man than meets the eye, Misaki decided, another side of him that most people didn't see. She hadn't noticed the difference in sound and yet he pointed it out with ease.

Misaki kept following him through the forest, light breaking in bits and pieces through the layers of branches and creating shadows on the ground. It was pleasant enough to walk and serene enough to be enjoyable.

"We're here." Yusuke suddenly announced, stopping in mid-stride.

Misaki's surprised expression got a chuckle from Yusuke.

"What? You didn't believe me when I said I had a destination in mind?"

"No, I didn't. And I still don't." She smiled back, "You just kept walking until the place felt right."

"Eheheh." He stuck a hand behind his head, laughing nervously.

"But it certainly does feel right. And it looks beautiful."

"Yeah…"

They stood at the edge of a cliff which opened up the horizon, revealing the ocean of trees that stretched beyond the capabilities of sight.

"I don't think I've seen so many trees in my life."

"The Endless Forest."

"Huh?"

"The Endless Forest," Misaki repeated, "It's called the Endless Forest. No matter how far you go, the trees keep on in an unmanageable pattern. After a certain point, when you turn back you'll find yourself right back where you started. No one can navigate it thoroughly because of the pattern which doesn't let you know where you've been or if you're going someplace that you haven't explored before."

"It's nice to know that certain things in life are set in stone, things that will never be explained."

"What makes you say that?"

"Well…how much fun would it be if we already knew everything? Never to have anything to explore, to dream, not to have any goals to reach for, having experienced it all? Life shouldn't be like that."

You know…thinking about it is a little to deep for me." Yusuke laughed.

Misaki found herself laughing beside him, and yet at the same time knowing that it wasn't true.

After a while Misaki sat on the edge of the cliff, gazing down at the trees which grew horizontally out of the rock all the way down. Yusuke sat next to her and they soaked in the view.

It was early afternoon when they headed back to the apartment, taking their time walking back just as they had walking to the cliff.

Misaki grasped the book in her pocket, thinking about the contents within it and determined to find out how Soren knew it was her birthday.

She glanced over at Yusuke, remembering his words. Life shouldn't be set in stone with one thing being just the same as the next. There would be mysteries that came, unable to be solved, forever hanging in the balance as an undefined result.

--

"Despite the fact that you actually had no idea where we were going, I enjoyed that Yusuke. Thank you." Misaki told him as she reached for the door knob to the rooms.

"Eheh, you're welcome."

The living room/kitchen/main area was empty and quiet, though a different sort of quiet than the one they walked through outside.

"Everyone must have left." Misaki thought, seeing no one.

"Don't think that you can always get what you think you ought to Ansatsusha."

"Coahtu. I'd recognize that smell anywhere."

"And what smell would that be?"

"Fire. You always smell of fire." Misaki turned to see that Coahtu stood behind the kitchen's counter. "What brings you here, Fire-wings?"

Coahtu cocked her head a little, hands tucked in the sleeves of her kimono, "You of all people should know, Ansatsusha. Doesn't today hold some sort of significance to you?"

Kurama came walking out of his and Hiei's room, holding a cake in his hands.

Everyone else came filtering out of the rooms: Botan, Kuwabara, Aldeve, Soren, Nicolai, Ike, Hiei, Eldred, Yukina, Genkai. They all came out until the room was overflowing.

Ike just grinned at Misaki's death-glare expression, but the air in the room sudden became tense, the mood a cautious one.

Walking to the counter, Kurama set the cake down and faced her.

Misaki's ice-cold gaze pierced them all, finally coming to rest on the cake as if to freeze it.

"Misaki?" Yukina walked right up to her and stopped, her red eyes questioning.

Taking no notice, Misaki swept the room again, taking in all of the attendants. She slowly raised a hand, pointing a finger at the cake.

"If anyone so much as tries putting candles on that cake, I will kill them."

Soren and Ike burst out laughing and Aldeve giggled, running over to fiercely hug the glowering woman. The tension was immediately lifted, though Misaki's expression hadn't changed any.

"Dear Ansatsusha, I do not believe that we could ever find enough ingredients to make a cake large enough to fit that many candles on it." Eldred's face was perfectly serious and he and Misaki stared each other down, Aldeve's arms still wrapped around Misaki's unresponsive body, though now perhaps to hold her back.

"The same goes for you, cherished Eldred."

He smiled and while Misaki's response was a bit grimmer, it could still be considered a slight upturn of the lips.

"Who would like some cake?" Kurama brandished a knife, Soren reaching into the cabinets and pulling out some plates, placing them nearby.

Most of the others scrambled towards him, wanting to satisfy their sweet-tooth.

Misaki sat down on the couch, watching the others as they started to mingle about.

"Misaki?"

"Hm?" Misaki saw that Yukina was coming up to her, hands cupped together carefully.

"I got you something." The girl could barely contain her happiness.

"Got me…something?" Misaki grimaced.

Kurama, done cutting cake, watched the scene carefully, unsure of how Misaki would react. Would she really hand whatever present it was to Coahtu for immediate burning?

"Here. Hold out your hands."

Obviously reluctant, Misaki obeyed, hands held palms up in front of her.

Slowly, Yukina dropped a small, blue pulsating orb into Misaki's waiting hands.

"It's a pendant. It goes around your neck. But there's a secret." Yukina climbed onto the couch and whispered in Misaki's ear.

Misaki's eyes widened, "Yukina! How did you manage to…"

Yukina shrugged, but her eyes danced, "I had help from the lady of the water. I don't think I'll ever be able to do it again. Here, let me put it on!" Yukina carefully took it back and placed about Misaki's neck, hooking it in the back.

Aldeve was peeking from behind the counter, through the crowd of people surrounding it, her fork upside down in her mouth as she took another bite of cake. She smiled carefully at Misaki and Misaki blinked a couple of times, unsure what sort of reaction she should be having.

"It's very pretty Yukina. Thank you." Misaki held the orb in two fingers and smoothed her fingers over it. It was round, its circumference about the size of a dime. Standing up, Misaki tucked it underneath her shirt where it nestled close to her heart. "It's a precious gift."

"I'm so glad you liked it."

"Vho do vou meenf?" Kuwabara swallowed the big bite of cake he had just taken, "You aren't going to have Coahtu burn it?"

"…burn it?" Yukina's eyes got big and watery as she looked back at Misaki.

"Uh…uh I didn't mean it, Yukina! Eheheheh! It's nothing, nothing at all! Nevermind." Kuwabara tried to comfort her.

"Misaki, there is someone here to see you." Genkai stood at the doorway, someone just barely taller than her waiting outside in the hallway.

"M…Missie?" The voice belonged to a young boy who was trembling a little, shyly tapping his foot against the floor.

Misaki frowned. Missie? He must have been mistaking her for someone else.

"Missie?" He asked again, searching for her. His eyes brightened when he spotted her and he stepped into the room. "Missie save me? Missie?"

"Save you…wha…I don't…" The confusion on Misaki's face was obvious.

The kid toddled forward and hugged Misaki's leg, happiness clear on his face.

Misaki was clearly uncomfortable and awkwardly stood while the boy clutched her thigh.

"Long time ago, Missie save me." His big blue eyes peeked over his little hands that held part of her pants. "Missie no remember?" His face was sad and his lip trembled.

Misaki just stared at the child, unsure of what she was supposed to do.

"Sheesh. I didn't know she was this awkward with kids." Yusuke scoffed quietly.

"Well we never have seen her in this sort of situation. Don't you think it would be a trifle odd if it was happening to you?" Kurama asked him.

"Nope." Yusuke promptly walked over and snatched up the kid, spinning him around in the air.

The boy giggled happily, spreading his arms wide as he flew in circles in the air.

"Alright, well I'm finished torturing the Ansatsusha. Come Aldeve. We shall go." Coahtu announced, motioning with a bit of an elbow jerk for Aldeve to follow.

The two disappeared in a flare of fire and water, respectively.

Yusuke, holding the boy with one arm, watched the exit, shaking his head. "Always a flashy exit."

"'Round, 'round!" The boy requested, swinging his body back and forth.

Yusuke laughed, obliging.

Genkai left soon after Aldeve and Coahtu, with Botan and Yukina in tow. Ike and Soren said their goodbyes about the same time, dragging Nicolai away from Botan and Yukina before Kuwabara realized what had been happening. The boy followed after Genkai, taking a liking to the grumpy old sensei. This left Kuwabara and Yusuke who went into their room and crashed.

Misaki went into Kurama and Hiei's room as Kurama was cleaning up, and leaned out the open window.

"Where's Hiei?" Misaki asked, knowing Kurama approached from behind.

He placed a hand on the window sill, resting his weight on it and gazing outside. "He left. Quite a while ago actually. He never likes being around so many people. Unless he happens to be fighting them."

They stood side-by-side for a moment. It was dark outside already.

"So who was the boy that came? I'm guessing that by referring to you as 'Missie' that you two must know each other."

Misaki frowned. "Elements aren't supposed to interfere." She mumbled.

"Pardon?"

Misaki shook her head, smiling a little, "But I did. Interfere that is. He was supposed to die and I saved him."

"Then you were meant to save him."

"He was supposed to die." Misaki snapped suddenly, "He is now at the mercy of fate which will continue chasing him, never resting until it has claimed him in any way possible. By doing so, I have created an alternate timeline for him. He will never live a normal life."

Kurama spoke quietly, "And yet there must have been a reason why you save him."

She didn't answer for a moment. "He was so helpless." She whispered finally.

"Then you were meant to interfere. You were there at the right time for a reason. Are you beating yourself up for this?"

The silence was an affirmative.

"You should not. He is alive now, not dead."

"And yet perhaps he is better off dead. Who knows what lies in store for such a child who is beyond the grasp of time, living of seconds that are not his own."

Her vehemence indicated to Kurama the something else was in fact bothering her but he let her continue in the direction she began.

"This is why time travel is forbidden. It creates too many side-tracks. Have you heard the story of the children who went back in time to correct a horrible mistake?" Misaki went on, not paying attention to Kurama's response—which was in fact a negative— "They had found that a horrible mistake in the past had lead to the future they knew, one of poverty and depression. They went back and 'fixed' said mistake, coming back to the future to find it happy and prosperous. While walking, one of them stepped on an insect that was vital to the passage of time that would keep said timeline prosperous. Their world spiraled lower than before, but then if they could go back and fix that problem, the result could be ten, a hundred times worse, and result in an infinite number of dimensions each devoted to every choice they changed." Misaki shook her head, clearing her thoughts, "I don't know why I'm saying this. It doesn't make any sense."

"It does make sense," Kurama admitted, "But how does that relate to the boy?"

"I don't know." Misaki shrugged, suddenly deflated, "If I could just go back and let him die…but could I let him die if I went back a second time…?"

"Your worry of the past prevents your present from being all it could be. Why worry about things that cannot be undone? Go with what has been done and accept it, good or bad."

Misaki shrugged again, sighing, "I hate pity, self-pity, and yet I think I am the one who does it the most." She shrugged once more, as if throwing off the stupid past. Kurama was correct, as usual, let the past worry about itself.

The orb throbbed around Misaki's neck and her breath caught in her throat.

"Misaki?" Kurama saw her grab part of her shirt, underneath which the pendant was concealed.

"Something…something's wrong…it's…it's Hiei…"

--

What does the pendant do? Hmmm? That's just something you're going to have to wait and find out. NO it isn't one of Yukina's tears or her mother's tears or any tear from any Ice Maiden or otherwise so stop thinking it's that because it isn't. You'll find out. Just wait. Heheheh

-lotsm