Authors: Sam and Merrianna
Series: Master Detective 1 / 9
Rating: R: Language, Violence
Summary: Yusuke's private life seems to have turned into another Detective case... but can the Spirit Detective solve it before his life falls completely apart?
Characters: Atsuko Uremeshi and friends; A Policeman and a Mortician; Yusuke Uremeshi & Keiko Yukimura
Spoilers: From the beginning of the series until the end of the Dark Tournament, pretty much (at any given time).
Category: Paranormal, AU, Action
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho is a trademark of Yoshihiro Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, Studio Perriot, Media Blasters, and Central Park Media. We are in no way connected with these people, and we do not claim ownership to these characters, lands, or names. We have borrowed them to share a story... and most likely not a story Yoshihiro Togashi would have written, had he had the time or no. We are making no money from this, and it is just for our entertainment, and that of free entertainment to a select group of friends. Thank You.
Distribution: Please ask first?
Setting: AU: During and after the Dark Tournament (it's alternate from the moment they leave Hanging Neck Island, though).
Note: If someone can figure out the mystery, and give me the correct solution, your penname will be published as a Master Detective. So, get sleuthing!
Feedback: Please? We love comments: samwisebagginsyahoo.co.uk or merriannadragonyahoo.com
Laughing, Atsuko Uremeshi patted the stubbled cheek of her companion. "Gotta go pee. Be back soon." She swayed as she stood, deep voices protesting her proposed departure. The young woman laughed again and shook her head. "I ain't gonna pee here, girls. And I ain't running away." She tugged playfully on the frilly pink shawl drape over another companion's stocky, muscular arms. The group, dressed in informal evening dresses or formal skirt-sets, continued to complain, but Atsuko merely winked and walked unsteadily towards the ladies room.
Several minutes passed before the pretty brunette came out of the bathroom, adjusting her yellow sweater over her thin shoulders. She noticed a close friend standing in the doorway of the club. Grinning, Atsuko went to chat, pulling out a cigarette, lighting it up, and taking a deep drag. She laughed at something her friend said. Accepting a drink, the woman shook her head, handed the empty glass back, and waved goodbye, intent on enjoying her evening with as many friends as possible. She left the friend and headed back into the club.
Delighted with the unexpected encounter, the thirty-year-old woman rejoined her drinking companions. "Miss me, girls?" A chorus of deep voices confirmed her suspicions. "Well, if you really love me, let's go play." She popped a couple of nuts into her mouth and started walking for the door. Two of her companions agreed to join her, happily singing a bawdy tune as they staggered down the boulevard to the local gaming salon. Amid laughter and flirtatious comments, the threesome headed deep into the building.
Atsuko was considered a very popular face in the gaming and drinking crowd. Many a person stopped to talk to the woman and she savored every minute of the attention. In fact, within an hour, the young brunette had drunk three toasts and eaten two sandwiches, all without having to pay a single yen.
"Okay, girls, ante up." She lay down a chip and looked at the burly person dressed in the sassy red shirt-set next to her. Scratching one hand against bristling facial stubble, grumbling in a bass rumble over the hand dealt, the person finally made a bid. Atsuko laughed in delight as another companion took equally long. "Hey, I ain't getting any younger, ya know... oh!"
Her face contorted as pain wracked her frame. Dropping her cards, the woman groaned and wrapped both arms around her abdomen, doubling up to lay a very sweaty forehead against the hard table. As saliva built in her mouth, her eyes started rolling back and Atsuko began to foam at the mouth. "Ah…" she couldn't articulate her needs. The pain was horrible; it felt like nothing she'd ever dreamed of before. As the woman began convulsing, her last truly coherent thought was that she wished she could die... just end it all.
And then, her wish came true.
Sirens broke through the night, startling those still awake. However, Yusuke Uremeshi didn't let them bother him. He was too busy trying to study the file in front of him. It was long and boring and the thing he least wanted to do. The teenager wanted excitement, not this boring reading Lord Koenma had sent him.
Rolling his eyes, he pushed the paperwork away and stood. The sixteen-year-old stretched, yawning wide enough to hear his jaw pop. Grunting and scratching his belly, the young man headed towards the fridge. A firm knock on the front door drew the brunet's attention; with another grunt, he headed to the door and threw it wide open.
"Yeah?" He didn't recant his rude behavior even when he saw the uniform on the man in the doorway. "Ya want somethin'?"
The police officer merely showed his credentials and, in a soft, respectful voice, asked, "Are you Uremeshi, Yusuke, please?"
Yusuke's eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms, a defiant look settling over his handsome features. "Yeah." He didn't add any information, didn't ask any questions, didn't even invite the guy into the house. He had too much negative experience with the law to be overly helpful or eager to see them. As he forced the officer to stand on the threshold, the teen wracked his memory for anything illegal he'd done recently.
The police officer didn't produce cuffs, however. He never spoke above a whisper, either. The man, with no mention of a crime or a request to enter the premises, softly said, "Mister Uremeshi, you are needed to come to the hospital morgue to identify a body, sir."
"What the hell?" Brown eyes widened in surprise, the teen taken aback at the odd request. "Me? Why me?" He grabbed his jacket and followed the man outside without hesitation, even as he tried to figure out who would have died that he would be required to identify. With a frown, the young man slid into the police car, feeling odd to be sitting in the front seat rather than the back. He noted that the officer hadn't answered his questions.
When the pair got to the hospital, the still silent officer led the boy down into he morgue. Without a word, he nodded to the physician present. That man nodded back, solemnly, and carefully drew a sheet back, revealing the body on the table.
Yusuke gasped then stepped forward, one hand outstretched but not touching. His eyes were glued to the pale figure on the table... the figure dressed in a matching yellow sweater and skirt set. "Ma?" His voice was a whisper, confusion and disbelief surrounding every syllable. "What... the... hell?" He could only stare, wondering what kind of cruel joke this was. Soon, however, as he stared at the contorted features of his only relative, the confusion turned to anger the disbelief to torment. Still considering it a tasteless prank, but knowing deep down that it couldn't be, the teen clenched his fists and whirled towards the cop. "What the hell is this shit, creep?"
The officer remained calm, showing sympathy at the attack rather than defensiveness. The boy had just lost his mother after all. "She was in a gaming salon, Mister Uremeshi. Her companions reported that she became violently ill and thus they called medical services. Rescue workers were unable to save her, however." He bowed low to the teen. "I am sorry for your loss."
Turning away from the sympathy in the man's eyes, Yusuke walked directly over to the morgue table and lay a hand on his mother's pasty cheek. She still felt a bit warm, but he knew that certainly wouldn't last. A rancid smell, like bitter almonds, hung over the woman, making him want to vomit himself. He pulled back and frowned. "How'd she die?" He couldn't take his eyes off his young mother.
"We will be performing an autopsy of course. So far, it looks as if it may have been some sort of stomach virus." These words came from the morgue doctor. He stepped forward to face the grieving young man. "We will contact you as soon as we have full reports."
Surprise crossed the officer's face as he was suddenly grabbed by the uniform lapels. The young teen pulled him so close, their faces nearly touched. The office could smell the cigarettes on the boy's breath. The look in the teenager's eyes was so... haunted... the office felt his soul freeze. He nearly begged to be released, stopping himself at the low words the boy spoke.
"Find out how this happened."
Then Yusuke pushed the man away and strode quickly from the room without looked again at his deceased mother. He was a grieving young man barely in High School and now an orphan as well. No matter his youth and seeming inexperience, however, Yusuke Uremeshi would not rest until he found out just what had happened at the salon; his mother had never had a stomach virus in her life. And if the doctors and cops couldn't figure it out, Yusuke had his own methods. He'd use all of his contacts to the fullest extent.
He was sure his mother's death was no mere accident.
The sound of a key in the front door alerted Yusuke Uremeshi that his solitude was at an end. Looking up from his hunched position, sitting on the kitchen floor in a dark corner, the teen made no move to intervene in any way. He merely watched, numb and tired. The door finally swung open to reveal his girlfriend, Keiko Yukimura.
She glanced around, her face pale and tear-streaked. "Yusuke?" Letting herself in, she shut the door behind her as she kicked off her shoes. "Yusuke, where are you?" Her voice was as torn as his emotions.
A slight moaning sound answered the teenaged girl. She whirled around to see Puu, Yusuke's Spirit Beast, sitting near his other half. The small blue fur ball looked miserable and ill. With an answering groan, Keiko scooped him up and knelt by her longtime friend. "Yusuke..." tears started in her eyes once more.
The boy looked at his friend with little real reaction. He merely turned his head to stare into the increasing darkness, ignoring Puu as well. Yusuke didn't want to feel, to think; it was too painful. Yeah, he'd wanted to runaway numerous times, and was often disgusted with his mother's slovenly habits, but he loved her. She was his mother.
"Yusuke..."
Keiko seemed intent on disturbing him and the teen turned his face towards her, sneering. "What the hell do you want, Keiko? Mom's dead. Okay? Leave me alone." Her arms went around him and he didn't have the energy to fight her. Instead, he stiffened then let himself relax into her. A sob broke from him. Finally, Yusuke turned and buried his face in her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her in a desperate embrace. The toughest teen in the neighborhood began to weep, his Spirit Beast echoing the sadness and rage.
It was a long time before either of them was in any condition to speak. Neither pulled back, but the boy's voice broke the eerie silence that had enshrouded them. "The cops called. They said it was an allergic reaction to some almonds she ate at the..." he cut himself off and raised his head to stare blankly into the surrounding darkness. "They found the almonds in... her stomach... and..." he shook his head.
His girlfriend nodded and murmured something incoherent. She merely held him, soothing the miserable teen in her arms. One hand petted his unruly black hair. Peace seemed to settle over them finally as Keiko stroked him, a peace that had come with the revelation that Atsuko Uremeshi had died by the oddest twist of fate. Some nuts she was allergic to had gotten into a handful of nuts she'd grabbed on the way out of the gaming den. It was the oddest quirk, but something about such a stupid death almost made sense when it came to Atsuko Uremeshi.
The hard won peace would too quickly shatter for the so recently orphaned teen.
Continued in Chapter Two: The Better to See You By (---when written---)