My eyes widened some at the strange insect sitting on the outer windowsill of my house. "Oh Dear…" I breathed, knowing already it was far too wrong for the natural world. At least this natural world. It was too big. A cross between a large mosquito and a beetle but not even that was entirely correct. It was so incredibly hard to describe. But it wasn't right. I didn't recognize what kind of insect it could be but I recognized where it was from.

I stared at the bug for a moment before quickly turning off the stove and hurrying out of the kitchen. Something was clearly going on. Grabbing my purse I left the house and locked the door behind me. I couldn't help but wonder where my son had run off to all of a sudden. I was worried for him but I knew he was smart enough to stay out of most trouble. He was a good boy like that. There was someone else who wasn't so able to stay out of trouble that I needed to check on.

My worry grew as I saw quite a large number of people looking very ill. Practically blue with a strange red glaze over their eyes. They were being controlled. That much was obvious. I wasn't sure by what they were being controlled; it could be any number of things but I was willing to bet it had to do with all those insects that I could see buzzing around. The mind controlled people seemed to be looking for someone and weren't paying me hardly any attention at all. But I decided that wasn't reason to dilly-dally and hurried through the streets to the apartment I was looking for.

The door was locked and I let out a huff of annoyance before crouching down and using a hairpin from my bag to pick the lock as fast as I could. I ran into the apartment, dropping my bag and shoes in the entry way as I did so. "Atsuko?" I called as I started scouring the somewhat messy house. "Atsuko, are you here?"

There wasn't any answer but I found the younger woman asleep in bed and sighed some. "You really need to stop partying so much," I muttered before going to the kitchen and starting up the coffee pot. Atsuko needed to wake up and coffee tended to do the trick but if it didn't I wasn't above pouring some cold water on her head. Thankfully, I didn't have to resort to that and a few minutes later Atsuko came out of her room yawning loudly.

"Shiori? What're you doing here?" she asked looking confused and still half asleep.

"Take a look out of the window," I said nodding to the nearest one.

"Hm?" She blinked at me but went to do as I said and stared out of the window for a moment before jumping back. "What the hell is that?" she demanded, pointing at a group of bugs that were hovering near the window.

"Some sort of demonic insect is my guess I don't recognized the specific type though. They've turned half the town into zombies and I'm sure it'll be spreading. I thought I'd check on you," I supplied as I handed her a mug of coffee fixed the way she liked it. "I'm a little worried though… I haven't seen Shuichi all day and that's not like him. I hope he hasn't gotten caught up in all of this."

Atsuko looked over at me with wide eyes before laughing. "You worry too much! If it were really that bad we'd have heard about it by now," she claimed before going to sit down on the sofa.

"I doubt that. We aren't active. They'd only call on us in a supreme emergency," I pointed out. "I'm sure they have their current detectives working on it. They'd better be at least. There is a serious amount of rage out there. It's… actually rather disconcerting."

"Stop using such big words," Atsuko muttered. "I'll have to start fining you for every word over three syllables you use if you don't cut that out…"

I sighed a bit and habitually started picking up the apartment. "It would do you good to expand your vocabulary. Where's your son anyway?"

"Oh, I'm sure he's out with Keiko or something," she answered dismissively. I felt my annoyance peak but bit my tongue. It wasn't my place to rail on her for how her and her son got along. We sat down in the living room, sipping our coffee for quite a while; keeping an eye on the number of insects and possessed humans we could see from the window.

Finally, after almost an hour Atsuko turned to me. "Have you heard anything from the others?"

I shook my head. "Of course not. They have no need to contact us," I said before taking a sip of coffee.

Silence fell over us again. Apparently we were no better at talking than we were fifteen years ago. "How are you dealing with that curse?" Atsuko asked after a few more long moments.

"It's been broken somehow. Just about killed me and then it was suddenly gone. I have no idea what happened. But I can feel my strength returning. Far slower than I would like but there's not much I can do about that," I replied. "I've thought about going to spirit world and finding out what happened but… I've actually grown somewhat attached to the life I'm leading."

Atsuko laughed a bit at that. "Well, that's not something I would have expected. You were almost as unhappy here as Yahiko was."

I laughed some. "I doubt there is a single demon less happy about being in the human world than Yahiko was. I've never even really hated it here; I just resented that I was stuck here. There is a difference, you know," I pointed out from over the rim of my cup.

Atsuko hummed a bit and pushed her hair out of her face some with her free hand. "Any idea who the newest blood is that Koenma's found? I heard our replacement's retired already."

"Mm, spirit detective turn over is really rather quick. Only a few years and then they're shelved," I mused aloud as I swirled the coffee in my cup without spilling any over the edge. "Truly it could be anyone who's spiritually aware enough and to be honest it really isn't our business. I suppose you could ask if were bothering you though."

Atsuko smiled widely at that. "Why would I do something silly like ask?"

"I suppose politeness wouldn't seem a good enough reason for you?" I asked eyeing her grin carefully.

"We should find out who it is," she said eyes sparkling in a way I'd come to realize was dangerous. "It'd be a great distraction. It's not like it really matters anyway. And it'll get us back into the swing of things."

I raised an eyebrow at that. "Why on earth would we need to 'get back into the swing of things' as you put it?" I asked in confusion. "Are you planning something? Because if you are… stop. You're bad at it."

Atsuko gave me a bland look. "I'm just saying I haven't even used my abilities in years and I know you haven't either. It's exercise."

"You hate exercise," I pointed out. "It's far more likely you're just bored."

Atsuko shrugged. "That too. Come on, Shiori! It could be loads of fun! Sneaking around and being detectives again! Doesn't it sound great?" she asked, eyes growing even wider. "I haven't done anything like that since I got pregnant with Yusuke."

"Technically, I was never a detective. I was a 'consultant'," I pointed out. "And no, it doesn't sound all that great. It sounds like it could lead to serious problems for us. Specifically me. Why are you so interested in all of this anyway?"

Atsuko attempted to paint a look of innocence over her face but I could see through that in a second. "Alright… what is it you really want?" I asked after several minutes of waiting for her to answer my first question and not getting that answer. "Or want to say?"

"Well…" she started, drawing the word out almost annoyingly long. "You remember when I called you right? About what happened to Yusuke?"

"Of course. You were sobbing so hard I almost couldn't understand you. And then you called back a few days later all happy again," I said. "And then he was brought back to life. You never did explain why though."

"I asked Botan and she said because they hadn't expected him to die in that car accident," she supplied putting her cup on the ground beside her. "So Koenma gave him his life back. I was still a bit… upset and wasn't paying close enough attention but Keiko helped him come back. They haven't said anything about it to me yet but Yusuke was gone to some 'camp' recently and I think he might have been training," she explained, whispering the last bit as if it were a great secret.

"I see, so you think that Yusuke is the new detective and what you really want is confirmation," I surmised. "I don't suppose you would ever consider sitting down with your son and having a conversation about it would you?" I asked glancing out of the window to see there were still bugs buzzing around.

Atsuko sighed audibly. "We're not good at talking," she said.

I gave a single laugh at that. "That, I believe, is an understatement."

Atsuko made a sour face. "Oh please, you're one to talk with all the secrets you keep."

"Secrets are dangerous. You have to share them carefully," I pointed out. "Use your brain please. I can't just go around telling everyone what I am."

Atsuko sighed and got up to go pour herself another cup of coffee. Despite the understanding that we'd gained years ago we were still butting heads over certain things. She was just too headstrong and impulsive. Hadn't changed a bit since she was a teen. "Oh!" Atsuko exclaimed and I looked over to see her looking out of the window. "The bugs are dying."

"Good. I told you they'd have someone taking care of it," I said getting up to put my own mug in the sink. "Now I should probably go. I need to start dinner. Hopefully, Shuichi will be home soon… I'd hate to think something's happened to him…"

"You worry about that boy too much," Atsuko accused as I went to pull my shoes on in the entryway.

I fought against the urge to roll my eyes. "No, I worry just the right amount. You can never worry too much," I replied. "Though I understand that's a concept you've never quite grasped…"

"So touchy… Sometimes I wish you hadn't stuck around," she muttered before downing the last of her mug.

"Where exactly was I supposed to go? I couldn't survive in Makai and I'm not exactly popular in Reikai," I pointed out. "Anyway, if you really wish to go snooping around in Koenma's vaults or something I certainly can't stop you. I would, however, advise against it. Just because you used to do things for them doesn't mean the Reikai will overlook wrong doing. They are rather vindictive that way."

Atsuko snorted some. "Like you're one to talk about being vindictive."

I ignored the comment. "Goodbye, Atsuko." I didn't wait for a reply and just left the apartment to make my way back to my own house. I couldn't take being in the woman's company for too long or I might have had to hurt her. We just were too dissimilar to stay within close quarters for very long. At least, not without a common enemy to focus on. I glanced around at the different humans as I made my way home. Most were on the ground passed out and some were groaning in obvious discomfort but none seemed terribly injured. There were some dead bugs scattered around and the police were swarming to be sure the 'riots' were now contained. It wasn't terribly hard to slip past whatever people were between me and my home. They weren't interested in stopping me anyway.

By the time I had dinner ready and on the table, Shuichi came in looking tired and unusually disheveled. "Shuichi? Are you alright?" I asked, even as he started straight for the stairs.

"Yes, Mother. I'm fine. I just have to clean up a little before dinner. I'll be right back," he said.

I frowned some at his unusual behavior before deciding to brush it off. If he'd gotten involved in one of those controlled human riots or something I suppose it would account for the scrapes and oddness of his appearance. Circumstances being what they were, I brushed it off. Clearly, he was fine now if nothing else. Perhaps I'd ask again later, though I doubted it. What was the point if it wouldn't happen again?