There were many things about the situation that I couldn't agree with that occurred, and many things that happened despite what I thought should happen. I was supposed to have some control over this situation; I wrote it, after all.
Maybe I should explain that? I am both a recorder and a creator. Maybe I should list those the other way. I create worlds, create places for characters to play, then invite them in and then record what they do. I have little say in what the characters do while they're in the words I create.
Let me give you an example, then maybe you'll understand. I created a world, not too different from our own save that demons live among us, maybe even are seen by those who are sensitive enough to perceive them. These demons are a lot like humans in their variations between good and bad, though more extreme in their alignment, which is to say that those that align to evil are more evil than evil humans and those that align to good are more pragmatic than good humans. Perhaps it would be better to say that demons are amoral. Even those that are 'evil' are pragmatic, but their alignment is based primarily upon their interactions with others, much like humans, but moreso. Yes, that's more what I mean and more what you'll see. In that world, there is need for a 'policing' force for the demons. As demons tend to prefer to remain within their own for the most part, it isn't necessary for there to be a large group of enforcers and those enforcers would need to have a connection to both worlds, that of the humans and that of the demons. Despite sharing the world, they are still separate, after all, much like the rich and the poor in our world. I wonder if maybe there's more of an analogy there to explore. But, that is for those who analyze those types of things. My focus is writing the story.
Now, I shall share with you my most recent of stories. I'll try not to interrupt too much, but every so often I'll interrupt to let you know my thoughts on it.
Yusuke stared out over the city, the city he'd been born in, died in, came back to life in, and frowned. He'd suspected a lot of the things about this world that he'd learned to be actual facts. He'd always thought there were more than humans on the surface of the earth, not just in the other worlds, the Reikai and Makai and Meikai. There were demons, actual demons, on the surface of the earth, living within the city and one of them needed his help even though he was supposed to bring him in for justice because he'd stolen something from the King of Death. But, Yusuke trusted him, believed in him and had agreed to help him. There was something that compelled him to want to help, something about his eyes, the way his plea had been offered directly, simply. He instinctively knew he could trust Kurama, Shuichi, whatever he wanted to call himself. A name was just a way of determining who you were talking to with no real meaning. If he wanted to be called Kurama even though his mother named him Shuichi, then what did it matter?
His guide, the girl who called herself Botan, had been appalled by his willingness to believe and agree to the bargain. But, Yusuke knew better at a level he couldn't explain, the level he usually worked from, the level that made him a great fighter. He trusted his instincts; without them, he would have died much sooner than he did and would have missed his chance to live again and to become the Reikai's detective. He sighed, frowning over the view and his thoughts.
His thoughts were interrupted as his childhood friend and all-around busy-body, Keiko, came out onto the roof. "I knew you'd be up here, Yusuke," she said sharply. "Why don't you come to class since you made it to school?" she asked, her tone still as sharp.
"I haven't decided to stay," Yusuke said blandly, less confrontational than he normally would have since she hadn't woken him up like she normally did. That, and she had saved his life, sacrificing her hair, something she was proud of, to do so.
She put her hands on her hips. "Yusuke," she said, obviously exasperated.
He put his hands behind his head and started walking toward the door. "Fine, fine," he sighed.
Keiko followed him into the classroom, making sure he got there. She'd known Yusuke to 'give in' only to walk out the front door and go somewhere that wasn't school and wasn't home.
The next time she found him on the roof, though, he had company, a buxom young-looking ferry-girl. Her intimacy with Yusuke fed an anger in Keiko that she hadn't been aware of before. Yusuke was supposed to be hers in some way. Even if this Botan was supposed to be a secretary for his new 'employer,' that didn't matter. She was encroaching in places she didn't belong. It made her want to punish Yusuke more, made her want to make him beg for mercy in such a visceral way that she didn't know how to react. In some ways, it was better that Yusuke left with her. Keiko wasn't sure what she would have done.
Yusuke himself was, in the way of males, oblivious to what Keiko was feeling. All that mattered to him was that he had a challenge, something that would keep him from being bored. That's really what he wanted from this whole detective thing, after all. That, and he wasn't interested in Keiko as more than a friend. Something about that Kurama drew him.
If I told you this was supposed to be a romantic comedy, do you see some of the problems with the set up so far? Keiko is altogether too dominant-aggressive-angry to allow for the type of comedy I wanted and Yusuke isn't involved in romance with her nor does he have any inclination for her. He only sees her as his dear childhood friend, nothing more. Utterly oblivious to her feelings and her jealousy of Botan. And, can someone tell my why he's so interested in Kurama? Or why his first instinct was to ask Kuwabara for help in returning to life? Seriously, this is not what I meant to happen and this is just the beginning. There's more characters to meet and more ways this story went wrong, like the afore mentioned Kuwabara.
Kuwabara is an interesting character. He believes in honour, in the way of the warrior and has a weak spot for cats. Yes, this great fighter, whom puberty decided to visit early and harshly, will go out of his way to protect a little kitty, to the point of nearly bollixing a fight. It's one of the few triggers that will push him into a nearly blind rage. He, like many warriors, believes in fate and protecting women and that he should be destined or bound to protect the woman he is destined or bound to. This is what throws him off when Yusuke asked for help in the manner that he did.
See, Yusuke needed someone to give him the 'breath of life,' or a kiss, whatever you want to call it. Since he was dead, he could only ask in dreams, not while the person was awake. This caused Kuwabara to flip out because he had never before considered Yusuke more than…well, friend isn't exactly the right word, but neither is rival. Perhaps it might be best to say they considered each other best enemies. Yusuke was the one Kuwabara gauged his strength against. He could beat pretty nearly everyone else, but somehow Yusuke always managed to worm his way into winning. Kuwabara was very familiar with that type of obsession, sometimes dreaming fights where he would win, and end up on the floor by his bed, and other times losing and ending up under the bed tangled in sheets and blankets.
Kuwabara believed in the red thread of fate, though it soon became obvious that he didn't believe it stayed tied to one person. At first, he was head over heels for Botan, willing to do anything at all for her, even to the point of learning a skill that wasn't, in the strictest sense, something a human should be able to do.
Oh, maybe I should clarify that. See, it comes out later in the series that Yusuke isn't fully human. He has a demonic ancestor and through tricks of genetics, is mostly demonic himself, something that comes out more and more after he comes back to life. Kuwabara is from a family of spiritualists, but not any actual supernatural creatures, which gives him a particular sensitivity to demons. This may explain part of his obsession with Yusuke. Keiko is human with no particular affiliations to the spiritual save friendship with Yusuke and Kuwabara. Botan, as I said before, is a ferry-girl for the River Styx. Kurama is a kitsune in a human avatar, a fox-demon with a reputation for being the king of thieves in addition to the species reputation for being good lovers. There are two more in the core group of this story. I'll go ahead and introduce them to you now and then get back to the story, since I'm sure you're more interested in that than listening to me ramble.
It is fairly well known that Enma is the lord of the dead. Less well known is that he has a son, Koenma, who is, at least nominally, in charge of the Gates of Judgment and the whole Reikai detective program. Enma is a very imposing figure. Koenma is…not. He looks like a toddler with a huge hat and a binkie. Yes, the Great Ruler of the Gates of Judgment looks like he needs someone to change his diaper. This was not my plan. He just insisted that that was what he looked like most of the time. He does have another form, an older, much more confident-looking form, but his personality suits his regular form.
Our other major player is Hiei. Hiei is a demon that shouldn't be. See, his mother was an ice maiden and those frigid bitches reproduce asexually. His mother decided to try the sex thing with a fire demon. Maybe he thawed her a bit. And, I better stop with the jokes. They're not appreciated and I prefer my brainspace without holes in it. His mother had twins, one female, pure ice maiden, and Hiei, a mix of fire and ice. Those bitches threw him away, which is even more horrible when you consider they lived on an ice cloud above the Makai, a place where the nicest part of it is like the worst part of Earth. It could be said Hiei's a little bitter and that could be considered an understatement. But, he cares greatly for his sister and has done many things to ensure her safety.
One more note. I didn't know all of this when I started out writing the story. A lot of it surprised me as I went along. You have the benefit of my vaster experience with the characters…and already knowing how the story ends anyway. I'm not even sure why I'm telling this except that I will go into things that I didn't have a chance to in the story that you were presented with. I will try to keep my commentary to a minimum from here on in.
There is one more player in this second act, I skipped the whole opening sequence in this story, but he is of such little consequence that it hardly matters. Especially given that he's killed before he can do anything interesting. He's really not worth even this mention, so let's press onward.