A suntanned hand absentmindedly reaches to fidget with a starched green collar. Brown eyes glance over to the now empty spot where a classmate of hers once sat, and she shuts her eyes in pain.

Only fourteen, and he'd died saving a child…

"I'm calling in that favor."

"Only to be expected. What is it that you need?" A few papers shuffled on the desk. He seems to be thinking about his word choice. He's hesitant, and dread coils within her.

"I'll have to mess with your timeline." He warns.

She huffs, a bit bitterly, a bit amused. "What else is new?" When his eyes flash to hers guiltily, she shakes her head. "Look. Just tell me what you want, spit it out already."

"I'll have to change your physical age. While you're twenty right now, the charge I'm leaving in your hands will be fourteen, and you'll need to blend in to watch over him." Relief crashes into her so forcefully that her knees shake.

"That's it?" she asks. "I thought- I figured it would be something with memories again. I wasn't looking forward to having to deal with the repercussions."

Koenma flinches, and the words, though not harsh, settle heavily over the two of them.

"What my father did was…is-"

She holds up a hand immediately. "Be careful with your words, little prince," she warns. "Gossip and treason have a very thin line that I am not worth crossing. You've already stuck your neck out for me too much as it is."

It's true, and they both know it, so Koenma leans forward, purposefully meeting her gaze, and says five very important words.

"I am not my father."

She nods once, eyes flashing with understanding. "If I thought you were, I wouldn't have come so willingly."

A few moments pass, before the woman asks lightly, "So, who's my mission?" "His name is-"

"Yusuke Urameshi…" Her eyes open, blinking slowly as she stares at the spot where he'd always escape to, only to be found by his friend, Keiko. She's a sweet girl. Reminds her of herself, once upon a time.

She'd only been watching him for a week, and he'd died, and Koenma was going to be so pissed-

"Oh, wow, he's really not taking it well, huh?"

She blinks, a few pesky tears making their way down her cheeks, and looks up in disbelief. There, sat in the sky, was her charge.

"Yusuke?"

"Oh, shit- Kagome? You can see me?"

The blue haired girl who accompanied him put a hand to her mouth. "Oh, dear."