A fray.

There was really no other word for it. The office had been consumed by absolute madness.

"Every damn day..." Koenma muttered when yet another pair of ogres collided with each other, creating a personal – and unwanted – fireworks display of unstamped documents before him.

His voice bellowed throughout the office as he commanded everyone to vacate the room. The ogres stampeded out of the area and the last one shut the door behind him. Koenma sighed. 'Much better.'

The prince regained his composure and cleared his throat. "Botan!"

Less than a second later the not-so-grim Grim Reaper popped into the room. "Yes sir?"

"I need your opinion on something," he stated with unusual urgency in his voice.

"And what might that be?" she questioned, approaching the desk.

Not a moment later, a monitor blinked into existence behind her, courtesy of the push of a button on Koenma's desk. Fizzling to life, the blackened screen gave way to the faces of Yusuke Urameshi, Kazuma Kuwabara, Kurama – a.k.a. Shuichi Minamino – and Hiei: the previous unofficial Spirit Detective Team.

Her violet eyes fixed on the screen, confused as to why he was showing her the profiles of the last Spirit Detective and his comrades, people whom she recognized as her close friends.

"Quite frankly Botan," he began as Yusuke's image enlarged and took over the screen, "I believe firing Yusuke was the biggest mistake Spirit World could have ever made."

"I don't understand where you're going with this, sir."

Koenma laced his fingers together and rested his chin on them. "Demon World is bound by law – there will no longer be any mischief-making in the Human World. This keeps it safe for the next three years, but what then? And what of the demons that will defy that law anyway? There's no longer a barrier to keep them out."

Botan's eyes lit up as she grasped the situation. "I see. So you're saying that firing the last of Human World's defense was a bad idea, right?"

Koenma sighed, "Aside from the Spirit Defense Force, but they're a little too uptight to do this job on a daily basis. So yes, that's pretty much it."

Botan beamed with satisfaction for a few seconds and asked vibrantly, "So who's the lucky human? And might I suggest you approach them in your teenage form this time? You'll be taken much more seriously that way."

Koenma scowled at Botan. "Disregarding that... The next Detective won't be human. And from what I gather, more than one will be necessary." Koenma shifted his position and leaned back into his chair.

Botan frowned. "I'm afraid you've lost me again, sir."

"I'm saying there aren't any humans with enough spiritual energy to take on the job."

"Well what about the ones from Mushiyori City?" Botan inquired. "Weren't there a few dozen people that found themselves gifted with spiritual powers? Oh!" She punched her fist into the palm of her other hand. "Why don't we ask those three that trained under Genkai?"

She placed an index finger on her lower lip in thought. "Hrmm... What were their names again? Kaito... Kido... And Yana... Yeah, that's it!"

A vein popped out on Koenma's forehead. "Botan, do you honestly think that those three are anything compared to our previous team?"

"Well... No, but with some training I'm sure th-"

Koenma slammed his hands on the desk in a dramatic though unnecessary manner. "There isn't any time for that! The last time the Human World was almost destroyed, I had no control over it. But if the price to pay for its safety is the difference between a human and a demon then it's a price I'm willing to pay."

Botan waved her hands defensively in front of her face. "Alright alright, I understand. But I don't see why more than one Spirit Detective is necessary. Wouldn't that make it more difficult to find suitable candidates?"

Koenma pushed another button on his desk and Yusuke's image re-sized itself to a corner of the screen. "These four performed feats that no one person could do. Having a team of detectives rather than just one may be in our best interests."

"But what about the bonding of the team? You can't just hire a group of people expecting that they'll get along right away!" Botan declared in protest.

"Well, Botan, you'd be surprised how many demons have escaped through those occasional little holes in Pseudo Space. Though a great deal of them only come here to wreak whatever small amount of havoc they can, there are quite a number of them that just want to live here."

With another push of a button, the screen changed to a topographic map of an island nation. Scattered on it was about a dozen red dots that pulsed with each second that passed.

"You mean... All those dots..."

"Are demon families."

"Incredible..."

Koenma nodded. "And that's just in Japan."

Botan gaped and Koenma cleared his throat to regain her attention.

"Now of course these demons had to go through us before they even settled down. The SDF originally handled the job of intercepting the demons before they damaged Human World, but that was prior to the idea of a creating a Spirit Detective."

Botan nodded her head, soaking in the information.

"Anyway, by now I'm sure the children in these families have grown to an appropriate age, so they should be perfect candidates. The only people who may have a problem with this plan would be 'King Daddy' and his cronies. But if my father approves then their opinion doesn't matter."

"You mean the SDF, right?"

"Yes, the SDF! Do I have to spell it out for you?!"

"Well, if you said SDF I suppose you would have." Botan giggled to herself and Koenma face-planted the desk.

Koenma groaned, "This has been a long day..."

"And getting longer!" Botan smiled and disappeared with a wave, giving Koenma some up-close and personal time with his desk.


"What did you say?"

Koenma flinched but never shifted from his bowing position. "I request your permission to hire demons as the next Spirit Detectives, father."

King Yama scowled. "I thought as much... Spirit Detectives. Not singular, but plural. And demons no less."

"Yes, father. From what I've gathered of the past activities of Yusuke Urameshi and his friends, having more than one Spirit Detective may prove beneficial to us. As for hiring demons... It's been four months since Yusuke's been fired but within that time, no human has shown signs of having enough spirit energy capable of successfully taking on this job."

The floor rumbled beneath the bulk of King Yama's body as he heaved himself up from his seat. Pushing the screen out of his face, his eyes were at their optimum glowering capabilities as they rested on his son. He closed his eyes, drew in a deep breath, and sighed so powerfully that Koenma could feel it all the way down to his ankles.

"Junior," he began while approaching the balcony, "I placed a death warrant on the head of your last Spirit Detective for being part demon. Do you honestly feel that will grant you permission to hire fully-fledged demons to be your new Spirit Detectives?"

The shadow he cast stretched far enough to engulf Koenma's body in a sheer blanket of darkness. The air around Koenma suddenly seemed colder.

He pondered, "Well, when you put it that way... I suppose not."

There was a long moment of silence. It wasn't until Koenma realized the air around him actually was colder when King Yama finally spoke. "Alright. You have my consent."

Koenma's head snapped up and his hazel eyes fell on his father's back in astonishment. "W-what?"

"You heard me."

It took all of Koenma's strength to refrain from leaping into the air with joy as he cleared his throat and voiced his thanks.

"Junior."

Koenma flinched. 'Damn. I knew that was too easy.'

"Yes, dad?" The nervous edge was obvious in his voice.

"You'd better not make me regret this. I expect frequents reports and updates on how they're doing."

"Of course, father. I won't let you down."