On the way to school, Hisoka never imagined that he would unexpectedly run into a friend from his past life, before the accident at Mt. Sukuba. Even thought he did not want to admit it, he truly did lose a great portion of his memory from his life before the accident. Moving away to another city thereafter helped in his on-going recovery, but now that he and his mother moved back to his old neighborhood, he began to feel both at ease and on guard. The more he began to explore the depths of his mind, constantly fighting off the demon in his head and dreams at night, he began to wonder exactly what was going on with him, his life, and where these turn of events would take him.

On the bright and sunny morning walk to school, he came across an old friend from his past. As he continued to stare at the girl smiling giddily at him, he felt as if he were still within a dream. He couldn’t remember a single thing about this girl, and yet… he knew he had forgotten many people and things due to the fall from Mt. Sukuba. The only thing he could go on was her word.

"Um, hi," he said to the girl that stood before him. Her sea green shirt and mini skirt clashed almost pleasantly with her long hair as yellow as a lemon that blew in time with the bright sparkle in her eyes. She was pretty, very pretty, and she knew it.
"So then, now that we’ve introduced," Nanami said with the great smile still ever present on her face, "what do ya say we walk to school together?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Hisoka turned his head and looked down the street in the opposite direction from where Nanami stood. "I don’t care, but don’t expect me to remember everything that you do." Then returning her gaze, his eyes flashing darkly cold, he added, "I am not the person I used to be."

Shocked by both his look and his words, Nanami drew back almost instantly, not quite knowing what to say. "Uhh, o-ok, Hisoka. That’s fine. I understand that you’ve lost you’re memory from before… That’s ok, really! I’m just happy that you’ve come back to town! I’ve missed you!"

After just meeting this girl, Hisoka was already getting annoyed at her. She professed her mind a little too freely and expected a positive reaction from him? He couldn’t even remember the girl let alone feel anything for her, if that is what she was pushing. He wanted to brush her off and have his calm—solo—walk to school in peace, but now this girl suddenly trampled on his private moment and expected him to be happy about it?

"That’s nice, really," he said, as he began walking down the road again, leaving the girl stunned behind. "But I’d like to walk alone, if you don’t mind."

"Oh… sure, that’s fine." Then as if she had just remembered to tell him something, she ran after him. Desperately trying to keep the conversation going, she said, "But you know, I… I wanted to tell you about this dream I had…"

A dream? Quickly stopping in his tracks at the sound of the word, Hisoka turned to her in silence.

"Yeah, I figured you’d like to hear about it. You were always that way," she said with the same stupid grin on her face.

"Just spit it out. If it doesn’t concern me, then it’s of importance and just a waste of my time."

Blinking stupidly, Nanami stared at Hisoka. He had changed! She hardly even knew him any more. Since when would he yell at her like this? He used to adore her, now must she suffer the pain of rejection? "Um, well… I don’t know if it has anything to do with you, but maybe you can help me to understand it." Hisoka’s only reply was a growing darker scowl on his face. "Uhh… I remember seeing the image of two black cats and a white bird… Then I heard this weird, echoing voice, like of God speaking to me or something. It said: Black cats like to chase white birds into a corner. The black shadows entice the bird into its den, and as he follows, he does not realize that the dark cavern is truly the cat’s open jaws… What do you think that means?"

Starting down the road again, Hisoka said, "It just means your pet bird is going to die."

How cruel! Did Hisoka actually say that? Could that have really been the Hisoka that she knew from so many years ago? It couldn’t have been! He was never… that evil sounding. It frightened her to even hear such words come out of his mouth. He was like a completely different person that she had known before, and she felt so detached from his life… so unlike before…

Then as she watched as he turned the next corner, her entire facial expression changed. The giddy-come-sad expression blew away with the breath of the wind and suddenly grew just as dark as Hisoka’s glance at her earlier. With a sly grin cracking across her face, she said to herself, "But you’re right… My pet bird is going to die…"

**********

At last, stepping foot into her office after a hectic commute through rush hour traffic, Kaori walked over to her desk and plopped into her chair, exhausted. Leaning back in her swivel chair, she looked up at the round clock on the wall above her computer and saw that she was late to work, ten minutes late to be exact. She leaned over the many piles of paper on her desk and rest her head on her folded arms. How easy it would be to simply fall asleep here. It wasn’t very comfortable, but with the day she had yesterday, she could sleep anywhere! Just as she felt herself dozing off, she heard a knock at her door.

Jerking up in her seat, she looked at the doorway uneasily.

A young girl dressed in a white blouse and a floral skirt stood in the doorway. She looked about Kaori’s age, but in fact she was about nine years older. She had curly, long green hair that resembled moss that covers the forest bed. She had a face that could have been exceptionally beautiful, but for some reason, she did not feel like she needed to look overly beautiful, so she hardly wore any make-up at all.

"Eh, sorry. I didn’t mean to startle you from your nap schedule, but…" she said with a rude tone of voice.

"Oh, just can it, Kaeru. I had a rough day yesterday," Kaori said, spinning in a circle on her swivel chair.

"I’m sure you did. I just came to tell you that Gulabel wants to see you."

The boss! What did he want to see her for? Oh, no… This was never good news to hear when the boss called to talk to you… Maybe he was going to give her a raise with her exceptional work in handling Hisoka’s case the other day, or maybe… Kaori knew that Gulabel did not want her working on this case for some reason, but she never found out the motives in this reasoning. It seemed all too bizarre to her. Why would he care what sort of work she did as long as it pertained to the PCM’s standards and expertise?

With a sudden skittish look on her face, Kaori looked up at Kaeru, who merely grinned back at her. "D-did he say… what he wanted to see me about?"

"No, he didn’t. He just said to come to his office right away."

"Yeah, okay. Thanks for… letting me know." Lost in her thoughts, Kaori didn’t notice the girl shake her head in disbelief as she left the little office space.

Gulabel! The head executive of PCM! She couldn’t understand why the highest guy in the PCM firm wanted to speak with her. Normally, the lower ranking executives spoke with her, but now the big guy, the supreme master of all she worked on and worked for wanted to see her? It was too much for her to handle! Was it something she should feel good about or should she fear what he had to say? She wished she could simply stay put in her little office and be left alone, but she knew that she had to go. The number one rule not to break was to anger the highest guy in the business.

Finally standing up out of her swivel chair, she blankly walked out of the room, past Kaeru’s reception desk, and over to the elevator. Gulabel’s office was on the 11^th and top floor of the building. Normally she would walk up the stairs a couple floors rather than ride the elevator and be stricken with a dose of claustrophobia, but she was too tired this morning. Plus, she didn’t want to be out of breath once she got up there.

As the two double doors of the elevator opened, a woman of about thirty-five years stepped out. She had dark black hair that poofed about her head like a clown’s wig and a chocolaty complexion of the skin. Soft spoken and always cheerful, the woman was one of the only workers in the entire PCM building that she could trust completely.

"Oh, hello, Kaori," the woman said as she stepped out of the elevator.

Grappling on to the woman, Kaori said in a pathetic, desperate voice, "Pixce! I’m so glad to run into you! You won’t believe what’s happened!"

"What, what? What is it?"

"Gulabel! He called for me! Just now!"

"Oh no! What did you do?" Pixce exclaimed, fear trickling from her eyes.

"I don’t know! I just came to work ten minutes late and Kaeru tells me that he wants to see me. Do you think he knew that I came late today? Is that what it could be about?"

"Hmm, I don’t know," Pixce said, scratching her chin in thought, "but really, I don’t think it’s anything to worry about. The higher up guys don’t know whether you’re coming or going. They simply leave that up to the department heads to take care of."

"Yeah, I guess you’re right, but wouldn’t you be afraid? I mean, what could he possibly want to discuss with me?"

"Well, Kaori, I really don’t know what to tell you other than to quit freaking out about it and go up there to see what he wants. It can’t be all that bad… can it?"

Silence feel between the two co-workers. Kaori didn’t answer the question nor did she want to. Pixce coughed in her hand to clear her throat and then smiled her usual beachside grin. "Don’t worry, it’ll be ok. Just go up there and take your crazy personality with you! If you stay your cheerful self, I’m sure you can get out of any jam! Good luck!" With that said, Pixce quickly dashed away and down the hall.

"Out of any jam? What’s that supposed to mean? Pixce!" Kaori yelled back at her friend. Her friend only raised a hand over her had as she continued down the cubical hallway. With nothing more to do, Kaori sighed as she turned back to the elevator doors and pressed the button to open them. A few seconds later when they opened, she stepped inside the small, enclosed area. Sighing again, she pressed the top button that had "11" inscribed on it.

And up she went…

The ride up to the top floor seemed like an eternity. What was she going to say when she met Gulabel? She had never spoken with him personally before, so she didn’t really know what tactic to use with him. The more scared she became, the more she kept saying to herself that he didn’t want to talk about anything important, nothing at all in fact. Maybe he just wanted to talk about her progress in her line of work as well as congratulating her on her fine work and success with Hisoka’s case. She was the only worker in PCM that had ever successfully used the Dreambomb, but how could she explain its disappearance? The item was like a treasure of the PCM staff. Everyone wanted to see if they could use it and draw out its mysterious power. Since none of them had ever used it before, each person had a different perspective of the treasure, and until Kaori’s turn with the item, no one knew what its function was intended to be for.

Perhaps that’s what Gulabel wanted to discuss with her, the disappearance of the Dreambomb! That had to be it. But if he asked her about that, then she would have to explain every nook and cranny of her files related to Hisoka to make him understand what happened. Heck, no one would understand how or why the item suddenly disappeared like it did. She didn’t even understand it fully herself, so how could she explain it all to a man that knew nothing about the fine details of her past work? As the elevator neared the top of the building, Kaori suddenly felt ill. She could feel the butterflies swarming around within her, her palms were cold and clammy, her pulse beat rapidly in her head and throat.

"Calm, calm," she thought, "gotta stay calm!"

She stepped out of the elevator and into a warm, comfortable environment. The hallway extended both to her right and left, and in front of her was an open lobby. Two beautiful plants sat on either side of the elevator door. As the doors closed behind her with a soft ding sounding, Kaori took one of the leaves of the plant in her hand. The leaves were soft to the touch, almost as if they were made out of velvet. Then the lady sitting at the reception desk further down in the lobby cleared her throat loudly to get Kaori’s attention.

"Ohh… What am I doing? Admiring a stupid plant?" Kaori thought, as she let the leaf spring out of her hand. As she waked down the main walkway, through the center of the ornate lobby, she looked all about. She had heard stories of people describing this place before, but she never imagined it to be like this! It was beautiful and very peaceful. The path she walked on through the lobby was carpeted with a narrow strip of deep red carpeting, like in an ancient castle or something. The walls on either side were endowed with many famous paintings and several sconces with live torches. Perhaps this touch gave the room a feeling of serenity, or maybe it was just a hoax. In any case, Kaori finally reached the reception desk at the other end of the lobby and greeted the woman working there.

"Hi, I’m Kaori Epoh. Uh, Gulabel had just called me to come see him."

Ignoring the girl’s informality, the receptionist flipped through her most recent sticky pad notes and found one with Kaori’s name on it. "Ahh, yes. Hold on one moment while I page for him."

Kaori nodded and leisurely stepped away from the front desk to nervously look at all the ornaments on the wall. The receptionist picked up her phone and called directly to Gulabel’s office. With only a few rings, a man answered the phone and said, "Gulabel Schmick."

"Yes, sir? There is a woman out here by the name of Kaori Epoh to see you, sir. Shall I send her in?"

"Ahh, yes! The psychic girl. Send her in immediately," he replied with a tone of excitement ringing in his voice.

"Yes, sir." Like a robot, the receptionist hung up the phone and raised her head to call out for Kaori. "You may go in now, miss." Pressing a button to open the huge red door to her right, she raised her hand to show the way for Kaori.

Turning back to the reception desk, Kaori swallowed hard and began to walk towards the open door. With every step, she could feel her heart beating faster and faster and she could almost hear her footsteps grow in loudness. These few seconds in time, as she approached the door, felt as if they were scripted and she play the lead role. In her mind, she could see herself walking closer and closer to the door, the music intensifying, close up shots of her little feet hitting the soft, carpeted floor, small cropped shots of her neck as she swallowed, anticipation wracking her brain, and tight shots of her hands clenching open and closed. Was she watching some kind of movie? Why was she feeling so overcome with anticipation and nervousness? Swallowing again, she pushed all those skittish ideas out of her mind. When she stepped beside the desk, she looked back at the woman, smiled her thanks even though the worker was off doing her own thing at that moment, and finally stepped into the next room.

As the door closed behind her, she looked on to the desk on the far side of the wall. Instantly, this room felt similar to the last with its strangely ancient feel and warmth. There was a large fireplace to her right in a slight niche in the wall. The smell of burning wood reached her nose and she almost felt as if she were about to sneeze. Then before she had much time to examine the rest of the room, the man sitting behind the desk spoke.

"Kaori Epoh, I presume." Getting to his feet to greet her, the man smiled and reached out his hand.

This must be Gulabel, Kaori thought, although she didn’t imagine him to be as old looking as he appeared to her now. His hair was almost completely gray and falling out in spots, his face was wrinkled and worn by the passing years, and he had a large, round gut that protruded over the edge of the desk when he sat. Still, as old as he looked, he still had the feeling of power and authority all around him, and Kaori was settled with that.

Taking a few steps toward the desk to shake the man’s hand, Kaori returned his gentle smile and replied, "Yes, I am Kaori. You wished to speak with me?"

"Yes, I did," he said, returning to his seat. Referring to one of the two chairs that sat facing his desk, Gulabel said, "Please, have a seat." Without a word, Kaori sat and politely waited for Gulabel to continue. "Now, I can imagine how you must feel, after getting a call from me. What must I ever want to discuss with you, you might have thought, right? Well, it’s nothing much, so don’t be alarmed." Instantly, Kaori rested more comfortably against the back of her chair and sighed quietly to herself. "However, there is one matter that concerns me."

Oh no. Here it comes!

"I had just received word that your client… Oh, what’s his name…" His mind went blank and he was forced to consult the many notes before him for the name. "Kenage Hisoka? Yes, that’s him." Looking back at Kaori solemnly, he went on. "I heard about your recent success of awakening him from a sudden and short coma-like experience. This news excites me and I am anxious to hear how you managed to do this, however, the fact still stands that I had asked you to remove this boy from your services list and yet you still continue to schedule meetings and other whatnots with him."

What was he saying? That he completely wanted her to stop seeing Hisoka? Even when he was in such need? This didn’t make any sense!

Sensing her confusion, Gulabel continued, "Perhaps you did not understand my reasoning in telling you this in the first place. You see, PCM is a working facility that is happy to accept anyone into our circle and we are glad to help the few that come seeking our aid, however, there are some who tend to overuse us to the point where we are not able to fund everything that these people need, such as in Mr. Kenage’s case. You have been studying and treating this young man for over ten years, and you have not seen a significant change in his condition. I am afraid he is a lost cause. In this case, there is no further reason to continue wasting your time on him when you can be helping many others instead. I do not mean to sound harsh or unfeeling, because I am very proud with how you handled the case up to now. The plain and simple fact is, we can no longer continue funding for this case. There isn’t enough of that kind of cash to go around. Do you understand?"

Kaori had been looking down at her hands the entire time Gulabel spoke to her. At first she thought that he was going to praise her for her fine work, but now he was cutting her off from the very thing that she enjoyed doing— helping a friend she had known ever since he was a little thing! She had seen his progress, even if it was slow and minor, but now! With the addition of the Dreambomb to the equation, she knew for sure there would be a rapid incline in his recovery. How could she make him see that?

Finally looking back up at him, she said, "Sir, if I may say something…"

"Certainly. That is why I called you up here in the first place; to talk! Feel free to speak your mind. I will not hold it against you here."

Shocked somewhat by this, Kaori had to hold herself back from blurting out exactly how she felt and thought. She wanted to tell him her mind, but not so bluntly. "Sir, I have seen a gradual progression in Hisoka’s condition from the very day he came to us, and since the incident yesterday, I can only imagine how rapidly he will continue to recover."

"And on what grounds to you base this upon, Ms. Epoh?"

"It’s a long and grueling story," she said, turning her face away for a moment, "but I will try my best to fill you in on the details. By now I am sure you know that I recently held the relic known as the Golden Orb or the Dreambomb, as I like to call it, in my possession. Till this day, no one has been able to use it effectively nor has anyone been able to determine its true purpose."

"And I assume you realized its hidden potential in the short period of time that you had the item at your disposal?"

"Yes, sir. I finally was able to use it effectively. I am sure you also know my past and know that I have a slight psychic ability that I am still in the process of mastering, so you must understand how I knew what this item was and how to use it. When I received the call from Mrs. Kenage, she told me that Hisoka would not awaken no matter what she tried. That was the one fact that I knew for certain. With that behind me, I took the Dreambomb with me with the intention of using it to awaken him. But when I got there and tired to use the item, the orb seemed to take on a life of its own. It flashed out of my hands and sunk into the boy’s chest, where it still remains, I gather…"

"So, you were able to awaken the boy by using the orb on him? How on earth could you have known to do that? How did you know that the item would help him rather than hinder him all the more? You see, Ms. Epoh, these are risks that you needn’t take, and this is another reason why I so wanted you to stop treating this child with your psychic hunches backing you up."

"But you don’t understand. Hisoka is not a little boy any more. He is a grown man that could stand proudly on his own two feet if given just the slightest support. That is all that I am to him. Besides these bizarre happenings, I have done nothing to him. I have been more of a friend to him than a common doctor or shrink, or whatever you want to call me. I care for Hisoka and I want him to have a normal life. That is all that I ever wanted for him. Can’t you understand understand my connection and attachment to this client? I’ve worked and talked with he and his mother for so long, that we’ve developed this kind of kinship, like we’re all family, somehow. For all that I’ve done in the past and all that Hisoka has the potential to become, I want to be there for him whenever he needs me. That is all that I ask you to allow me to do, to continue helping my friend. I will not nor do I need to use any clinical moneys in this process. All I need is the time and the facility to speak with him during the work day. Please, can’t you see my side on this?"

Scratching the side of his head like a dazed monkey, Gulabel grinned, highly surprised from her argument. "Well, you have accounted for the loss of the so-called Dreambomb, and you have managed to show me why you are so fervent in this current case. With such wonderful achievements as you have managed to accomplish over the past few weeks, I suppose I can allow you to continue your work and research on the matter, however, I do hope you see an end to this in the near future?"

Almost not believing what the head boss was saying, Kaori gasped and nodded her answer.

"I understand. Feel free to use this facility to continue your work, and uh, the part about not using any more of the funds— I just wanted to scare you a little. Hahahaha." The old man laughed as he leaned back against his chair. "Now please, keep me informed with Mr. Kenage’s progress. As much as I hate to say it, I am enjoying this story. It’s almost as good as reading a novel. Ahahah."

Standing, Kaori again nodded. "Yes, sir! I will be sure to keep you informed on any such progress that I am able to see. Thank you again, sir. I really do appreciate your acceptance on this case."

"Yes, yes," Gulabel said happily. Then suddenly, the black phone on the right side of his desk rang loudly. "Ohh, I’m sorry, Ms. Epoh, but I really must take this call. I appreciate you coming to see such an old man as I am, and I look forward to seeing you again. Now, if you would excuse me…"

"Ohh, yes, sir." Turning back toward the red door, Kaori opened it with a slightly shaking hand, and walked out.

Once the girl had left and the door was securely closed, Gulabel answered the phone.

"Yes?"

The voice on the other end was of a young man, his voice quality sounding like rusty nails grating against glass, both gentle and harsh all at once. The tone of his voice commanded respect and obedience without question. This was the voice of a cruel leader, one who sought what he wanted and got exactly what he wanted.

"Did you see her?" he said quietly.

"Yes, she left just now."

"Good. I want you to continue watching her. Don’t loose sight with her progress or otherwise dealings with that boy, do you understand? If you do, I cannot guarantee the outcome of our plan."

Gulabel nodded as he held the phone. "I understand. How much longer do you think until he arises?"

The voice paused as if he enjoyed the thought, whatever it may be. "Not long, I can assure you. And when he does, the power of god will be yours!"