May 10, 2006

Faith: Expectations Based
On Trust

Tired old hands put down the phone gently. Wrinkled with old age, these hands are, but firm and strong still. Strong enough in their old age that they didn't require help in completing any of the tasks that needed to be done around the temple. Strong enough that no demons cared to contend with her on her own lands. Strong enough that everyone who knew her assumed the strength of these hands would hold out for years to come.

Ah, but Genkai could not afford to be so deluded. This she had known for years. And this was precisely the reason she had arranged to recruit an apprentice in the first place. She had needed someone to teach her skills to. Someone to pass on all her wisdom and experience she had acquired over these many long years. What's more, someone upon whose shoulders she could thrust the responsibility of doing good for the world onto.

And her extensive lands needed tending as well. Lands that stretched from as far as the eye could see, bordered on one side by mountains, on the other by sea, and hours away from the nearest city.

But that last bit was irrelevant. She could have gotten anyone to watch over her lands. Kami knew she knew enough people capable of the job. No, she had said it herself several times. It was not her business to play the hero, but to give one who would the skills and experience with which to become that hero.

A whistle sung through the air as the tea she had been brewing finally came to a boil. Absentmindedly, she lifted the kettle from the stove and lifted the cap to allow it to cool.

In the hopes of fulfilling these needs, Genkai had held a tournament to find herself a worthy apprentice. Yusuke had been a punk, arrogant and ignorant to the ways of Spirit Energy and formal fighting. He wasn't much of a student at all. He had, however, been the Spirit Detective. Now that was all well and good as it was, but not enough. The slacker didn't have the heart. As far as she could tell, no one had ever given him a good reason to do anything worthwhile. He simply didn't care, much to Genkai's dismay.

Luckily, time changed all that. Over the course of a little more than a year, Yusuke had grown up a great deal. A blessing in more ways than one. Not only did it ease her nerves over her apprentice, it also meant better security for the world.

Genkai judged the tea had cooled sufficiently and she poured herself a generous cup.

After all, who would trust their life to a teenage punk who didn't even care enough to go to school? Or get a job to help support his mother? Or even to take responsibility for his actions? No one. A life was too precious to put into the hands of a slacker like Yusuke had once been.

Ah, but now, now he was something that deserved more respect. Not quite what one would consider a man yet, –no, he wasn't even that old- she'd been proud when he had openly come back to her for more training before the Dark Tournament. And though she didn't dare show her approval, she knew Yusuke found his own reward one way or another.

She took her steaming cup of tea and strolled out onto the porch, where she sat herself down comfortably on the wooden floor. Relaxing in the peace of the night, she allowed her mind to wander further.

More time had passed since the Dark Tournament, and Yusuke had matured further. He had a bit more sense in him now, though for all that, his behavior still leaned more towards the adolescent side. And for all his joking, Genkai knew that the boy was smarter than he let on. After all, he wouldn't have survived this long if he weren't capable of thinking for himself.

Still, sometimes she had to wonder if her apprentice wasn't purposely looking to get himself killed. Kami knew he'd done it twice already. What's more, she had tried it for herself once.

Genkai sighed.

Not that there was much she could do about it if her apprentice suddenly up and decided to take on the strongest demon in Demon World. By now, he was stronger than even his sensei. After having fought of hoards of demons and a rough ex-Spirit Detective who had the virtue of Sacred Energy on his side, there wasn't a creature in Human World capable of stopping him.

"Truth is you can do whatever the hell you want. If you got mad and wanted to blow up this whole world, you could do that and nobody's strong enough to stop you, so I won't pretend to be able to influence you when I can't."

"Ch. Easy doomsday, I just wanted advice."

"Everyone has something that matters to them that they can protect or destroy. Kids have pets or toys. An adult has a child. Your something, Yusuke, just happens to be a whole lot bigger. With your new powers you control all our Fates. So, what's next? That's the question hidden beneath all your other feelings. Heh. Will you become the person who protects or destroys?" Genkai had looked at him inquiringly.

"Aw, c'mon," he had whined.

"But don't take it from me. I'm just an old hag." She had tossed him a folded slip of paper.

Folding it open, Yusuke had found a map and a scribbled address along the top. "What's this, an address?"

"Koroko Sato lives there…She took a very different path than Sensui, and she's much more like you than I am, so maybe she can help."

And as it was, even the Human World's first Spirit Detective couldn't have helped the boy. She had certainly thought she could, but in finding him a demon she could not bring herself to trust him around her children. Perhaps it was simply that she didn't know Yusuke as Genkai did, or that three S class demons had shown up on her doorstep to take him back to Demon World with them. Whatever it was, Koroko couldn't help solve Yusuke's restless problems.

So Koroko had called Genkai and told her of these events. Apparently, Yusuke would be returning to Demon World soon. What he would do there, not even Yusuke knew. That Genkai could be certain of. For as long as this tired old woman had known the boy, she had never known him to have a plan. And if that thought would bring worry to the minds of his allies, then obviously these allies knew nothing of Yusuke's luck.

Well, no matter, Genkai was certain that Yusuke would do right, one way or another. After all this time of knowing him, she would have to. And while she could never bring herself to trust the safety of an irreplaceable artifact to him, nothing stopped her from trusting him to protect the ones he loved. She had come to expect at least that of him.

Strange that when she had first met the boy, there was no way that she would have believed that he could be dependable in the least. And yet here she was, contemplating her respect for the boy. She found she had expectations of him. She found she had trust in him. And she found a sense of hope both for and from him. A hope so inexplicably carefree that it could only originate from one phenomenon.

Faith.

Disclaimer: Characters originate from the story of Yu Yu Hakusho by Yoshihiro Togashi. Portrayal of Genkai intended as a part of the Unmaskings. Dialogue pulled from the dub.