VOW AMONG FRIENDS

I was about to go on duty when Marsha grabbed my attention. I was a detective with the New York police department. Marsha, a small grey haired lieutenant with the gang division, strode forward with a 15 year old boy in tow.

"Yusuke, didn't you hear me?" Oh god it seemed like forever since I had stopped going by my nickname. "This boy wants to talk to you."

The boy smiled a large smile as he approached me. He was dressed in a t-shirt and pair of jeans. On his feet was a nice pair of tennis shoes, so I figured he wasn't from some gang. I smiled and offered my hand to him. He graciously took it and had a firm handshake.

"Mr. Urameshi, it is an honor to finally meet you." He smiled. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about your old position. You know the spirit detective biz."

I sighed. It had been nearly 25 years since I had stopped working for Koenma. My friends and I had finally had enough and quit. I motioned for him to follow me as I grabbed some keys to a patrol unit.

"Marsha, would you tell the chief that I am going to do my road work tonight." I lead the boy out of the station. "He wants to shadow a cop so I am going to let him follow me tonight."

I got in an unmarked cruiser and started the car. As we pulled away, I looked over to the boy beside me. He had brown hair, tan skin, and was maybe about a few inches bigger than I was. I sighed again as we hit the beat. I figured the best way to get this conversation over with was to go trap speeders.

"Did Koenma tell you to find me?" I pulled up to a quiet, safe location and turned on my speed gun.

He shook his head and turned to face me. "I was going to die of a severe cancer and this guy came to me, promising to save my life if I agreed to work for him. So I did and I ended up with the title of spirit detective. I was talking to a demon I had captured and he told me about you and your friends. I just wanted to know what happened when you had my job."

I gazed out the window and sat there silent for a moment. A demon we had perhaps encountered still remembered us. Sad really, I had hoped that I could erase that part of my life. I was muscular now, not fat and slow. I was taller and finally happy. I hadn't heard from my friends in over 15 years and I figured that it was the way it should be. The last person I had talked to was Colby.

"How about we start where your friends are now?" He had a notebook and pencil in hand. "Please Mr. Urameshi, I have to have answers. I can't just keep fighting for no good reason."

I sighed heavily and gave in. "Ok, but what I tell you must never get out. You have to swear to keep this to yourself and tell no one else."

He smiled and nodded. His hand eagerly put the pencil to the notepad.

"You have to realize that my friends and I stopped hunting ghosts when we were 21. That was over 25 years ago. My friend Colby Kuwabara as far as I know is the chief of Mishi Japan's chief of police. He married and has 3 sons if I remember correctly. They would be your age by now. Kenji Kamadaki and Kida Minimino married but lost their lives to a huge explosion 3 years later. I doubt either stayed here afterward."

"Kenji and Kida, I don't remember the demon mentioning those names." He looked at me with wide eyes. "He said that the other members were captured demons."

"Well sort of I guess, let's just say they surrendered to save themselves from doing serious jail time. If I remember correctly they kind of got scared into helping us for a dangerous tournament." I lit a cigarette and almost laughed at the memory of their faces when they met Colby and me at Lucrezia's house that day. "I'm not surprise you didn't hear of Kenji or Kida. They were known by different names in the Makai or Demon World as you are probably familiar with that name instead. Their demon names were Kurama and Hiei. Kenji and Kida were their birth names given to them by their parents."

"So your teammates were illegals too." His eyes glued to mine.

"No, they were in Human World legally. You see I doubt the demon explained things clearly on how the big man designed things. Demons could be in Human World by 3 means legally. The first way was to get an official pass from Koenma himself. The second way was to be paired with a spirit detective and agree to obey your partner completely. The third and final way was to be born as a human yourself. That's what happened in the case of Kurama and Hiei. You have to realize that our ordeal started long before we were even born."

"Before you start could you tell me what happened to Hiei and Kurama?" He was shaking from the suspense. "Then I want to hear everything. About your time as a detective, how you met and what it was like to work with your teammates."

"Well, like I said Kenji and Kida died in a fire caused by a forgotten bomb Hojo had made as a boy. When the human flesh dies the youkai or demon spirit is freed to return to the demon form. Hiei, the fire demon, wonders the demon world trying to help those who have gotten into trouble with the defense force of Spirit World. He was a lawyer in human form and from what Colby has told me, he continues his work as a demon. Yoko the spirit fox or Yoko Kurama has returned to Gandera and is helping Yomi to improve it. Yoko and Yomi have finally settled their issues and are trying to make things into an intellectual town for smart demons who don't want to spend their lives fighting."

"Well, tell me the rest. How did you meet? What happened during your time as detective? What was it like to work together?"

"Like I said before our ordeal started before we were even born. My father Yusuke, an ex-spirit detective, and his friends gathered together and made a pact to protect us. They had gone through a horrific ordeal themselves and didn't want us to fall prey to the same lifestyle. They agreed that they would meet again, once each of their youth was born so that they would know who they were and protect each other's child from Koenma. A year later in mid-June, they gathered again. Kazuma presented his son, Colberto, later known as Colby. My dad presented me, Yusuke. At the time, the demon Hiei presented his nephew Kenji, who would later adopt his uncle's name. Also the demon Kurama, known as Suichi, presented his daughter Makida. She was the only girl there. They made a vow that no matter what happened, we would never have to use our powers."

"Wait, what about Lucrezia?" The boy looked at me confused.

"Well, at the time no one knew about her. No one knew about her father or the fact the psychic Genkai had borne a son and given him up." I crushed the cigarette and threw it to the ground. I started the car and changed our location.

"It was then that my dad moved me and my mom to America and Yukina (Hiei's sister and Kenji's mom), Suichi and his family, and Kazuma and his family moved to the remote island town of Mishi. Before I continue, I forgot to ask your name."

"Sorry, my name is Brandon Mitchell and I am the new spirit detective of the earth." He blushed as I lit another cigarette. "So what happened to the originals?"

"Well four years later, Kazuma was attacked in a raid and was killed. He had become an officer to serve and protect. Yukina died of disease and no one knows what killed Hiei. Kailynn found Suichi bleeding on the steps to her family's temple. He died right in front of Kida."

Brandon seemed to have stopped breathing for a few moments, probably letting the gruesome visions set in his head. He looked over to me nervously. "What happened to your dad?"

"Well, we were told that he died in a bust gone wrong but I later found out a demon shredded my dad to bits as revenge. My dad had scared all of Demon World straight when he was spirit detective." I took a puff of smoke. "That's what the job does to you. It makes you a mark for demons to want to kill you. I'm sure by now Colby and I are high on the list. I know Kurama and Hiei are. I know several have tried in the past and failed to kill both of them."

He almost jumped out of his skin at what I said. I felt sorry for him. I wasn't sure what to say to make things better. I guess Koenma had told him about the same thing he had both Colby and me. However I was an idiot back then and believed anything any one told me. I sat back, almost choking on the silence. I guess I had opened his eyes to something other than what he knew. He knew he had to stop the demons and that if necessary he would have to kill them. I guess Koenma had forgotten to mention that he would be now and forever a target for those beasts. I put my hand on his shoulder and smiled.

"Say, I'm hungry. What do you say we grab some chow and I'll let you in on what happened during my detective years. It wasn't all bad honest."

He nodded and we grabbed a burger. Sitting in park I continued my story.