Flying over the River Styx was exhilarating, to say the least. Especially when holding onto the edge of a flying oar, which was being piloted by a ferrier that had seemed to be losing her mind as she murmured things under her breath that were incoherent. Yusuke shuddered at the thought that maybe she was going to kill them all because of some 'shred of news' brought on by the ruler of the three worlds.
"Hey, you guys, look! I can see the temple!," Hinageshi cried out happily as she eagerly pointed northwest. Yusuke and Kuwabara simultaneously cocked their heads towards the direction the young kohai had been pointing at. Much to their relief, the two ningens had seen the grand building standing proudly as the never-changing, gentle coloured sky emphasized its beauty and height. Kuwabara heaved a long sigh whilst his buddy tried to move in closer to the two women on the oar as the flying object began to slow down.
'Finally,' Yusuke thought as a sense of relief washed over his sweltering-hot body, 'we're almost there.' He quickly glanced at his curly headed friend, whose eyes were drooping at a considerable rate. By reaction, the delinquent used his stronger hand to keep himself on the oar while using his free arm to elbow the much bigger man in the ribs, forcing him to snap out of his unconsciousness.
"Damn it, Kuwabara, stay up! We're up thousands of feet in the air, baka!," scolded the raven haired youth as his friend groaned sleepily, trying to shake off the rest that was creeping in his emptied mind. "Freakin' baka…," Yusuke spat out coldly, scoffing. Kuwabara gave him a nasty look as he clenched his jaw tightly, making sure that not a crack would escape from his dry lips.
"Fuckin' asshole," Kuwabara muttered bitterly and rather loudly, just enough for the Urameshi offspring to hear it. The troublemaker felt a tiny vein pop out on the side of his forehead as a soft, threatening growl escaped from his lips, but he kept himself contained as the oar had suddenly hovered in front of the grand temple. Hinageshi swiveled her torso slightly, just enough to make contact with the two buddies as the same nervous grin played on her soft lips.
"'Kay guys, we're here. 'Member, no brawling, or Koenma-dono might kick us out of his office for awhile," she told the boys in her gentle, naïve tone as the tall doors opened slowly, making sickeningly eerie creaking as a cool breeze made its way out of the building. Botan turned her body as well, a serious twinkle in her violet drops as she glowered at the two men, both of which were already on their feet on the old wooden steps whilst they kept each other at a distance.
"Like Hinageshi had just pointed out, don't you boys fight while Koenma sir is explaining things to you," the bluenette stated crisply as the small group began their way inside. Yusuke grunted quietly and scoffed at her warning. Botan bit her tongue sharply as she jumped off the oar along with the innocent redhead. "I'm serious, Yusuke and Kuwabara; I don't even want to hear you two arguing while we're in there. Got it?" Kuwabara, cautious of his blue haired friend, nodded casually while the troublemaker of the group only grunted once more.
"I heard you the first time," retorted the raven haired youth as they made their way down the darkened hall. Botan straightened her posture and took Hinageshi by the elbow as they led the way towards the toddler's office. Yusuke smirked, knowing that the ferry onna wasn't going to scold him while meeting with the official Reikai leader.
~*~
Entering the office seemed crowded, even though inside, there was only three other figures, minus Koenma himself. Kuwabara and Yusuke exchanged glances with each other as they noticed that two of the figures were their other two teammates while the other beast was the ogre from before. Botan and Hinageshi bowed respectively before the important icon as Yusuke and Kuwabara casually waved at the rugrat.
"Hey Pacifier Breath," greeted Yusuke with a playful smirk on his lips. Inconspicuously, Botan had begun to chew on her bottom lip as she struggled to contain her anger within her. Koenma, however, had only nodded at the teenager while motioning the raven haired youth and his burly friend to stand next to the rest of the Tantei.
They both returned the gesture by each standing at the ends, with Kuwabara standing next to a feminine male wearing a loose white, button-up T-shirt and form-fitting black shorts that reached his knees. His crimson locks were pulled back into a low ponytail, a sad attempt to keep his hair as neat looking as possible. His eyelids were drooping over his emerald irises whilst he balled up a fist and let out a much-needed yawn into the fist.
Yusuke, on the other hand, had stood next to the shortest member of the group; a young fire apparition with spiky ebony hair, where a marshmallow white starburst had flared. An electric blue sheen had been naturally added to the dark, messy locks while he glared at their boss. His crimson orbs were giving Koenma nasty stares as the small youkai stuffed his hands into his cloak's pockets. Dark bags were forming under his eyes while the young male clenched his jaw tightly, trying to keep his temper under control.
The delinquent teenager already had his posture straightened, which seemed to add on to his serious expression as Kuwabara, who had looked a bit fearful before, now had his brow furrowed questioningly at Koenma, who had been pacing on his desk as thoughts raced through his brain. Botan, whose facial expression now seemed foggy with concern, had walked over to stand next to the messy desk. Hinageshi looked down at the slick cement floor, feeling her dark eyes water up as she brought her shoulders up. Koenma stopped after a few seconds, turning his tiny frame towards his team. His eyes were staring longingly at the many crumpled papers that were piled on his desk. The ogre had folded his beefy arms across his chest as he shot Koenma a look, telling him to spill the news.
"Well," the tot said in a hushed tone as he brought his head up, looking at his team with fright in his eyes, finally talking after a long, deadly silence, "there's obviously a reason why I brought you men here… I know you all would like to hear it." Yusuke nodded as an unbelievable look sparkled in his chocolate brown eyes. Koenma's body stiffened as he gave his team a serious look.
"I do not know if you all have heard of Kuchisake-onna…," Koenma mumbled gently before clearing his throat of the gob of saliva that had formed in his thick throat. The smallest member hid his curiosity from his team as he contemplated the term, 'Kuchisake-onna.' Kuwabara's brow seemed to make deeper creases in his forehead as the name came up unfamiliar. The feminine redhead blinked as the name had given him a vague memory, although he couldn't pinpoint exactly where he had heard it before. Yusuke, however, nodded casually and shrugged.
"Hai, I've heard of her before. Just a stupid myth," he stated, making it sound like it wasn't anything out of the ordinary. Koenma nodded for Yusuke to continue, and the teen gave the toddler a blank stare. "You want me to tell them about-?" Koenma nodded as a huff escaped from his lips. The troublemaking youth rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to speak.
"All right, so the story goes, or at least this version, something like this…"
~*~
"Wench! How dare you commit such an act of betrayal?!" She did her best to try and hide a knowing smirk that was dancing on her plump crimson lips.
"Hmph. What have I done that has caused anger in you, Masashi-sama?" His teeth were grinding loudly against each other as he pointed an accusing finger at his beautiful, yet unfaithful wife. He had just came back from a training session with his sensei, and the training had gone on for nearly eight months, and Masashi had seemed happy to see his young wife again.
But when he had trekked back to the quaint hut he had called 'home,' an anonymous neighbor had informed the honourable warrior of Japan's elite army of his wife's adultery, which had drastically changed the mood for the handsome warrior. When he had successfully completed the long trek, a torturous forty-six mile long path, young Masashi had his sharpened katana hidden underneath his dirty white cloak as he kicked the door open.
Beautiful, deceiving Yuriko had been sitting patiently on the floor, sipping silently on green tea as she attempted to make herself look as innocent as possible. She knew well that the neighbor had told her husband of her filthy deeds, and she didn't want to argue with him tonight. So, when the door went flying to the dirt floor, Yuriko couldn't help but try not to laugh at her mate's temper.
"Konnichiwa, Masa-kun…," the dirty wench greeted slyly whilst taking another sip of her scorching hot beverage. He had begun to scream at the disloyal woman, who listened intently to every word. A giggle could be heard at some parts of Masashi's speech. After a while, she joined into the argument after he began to curse at her, calling her many obscenities that had stung her.
Finally, things got a bit too physical, when Yuriko pushed Masashi when he invaded her personal space. A growl had hummed throughout the small room as he grabbed her thin wrists and threw her to the ground. Anger flared in his beady eyes as he swiftly unsheathed his long, bloody katana. Yuriko's eyes widened as her jealous husband threateningly pointed the weapon at her.
"You wouldn't dare…" Her voice had raised a little, and came out as a high-pitched squeak. Masashi's anger rose as he aimed at the end of her earlobes, causing Yuriko to worry at what her scorned husband may be thinking.
"Wretch… You may think you're beautiful now," Masashi murmured angrily as a silhouette of his katana had jabbed at Yuriko's face, which had also been darkened to a mere shadow as a bloodcurdling scream was freed from Yuriko's crimson lips, "but who'll think you're beautiful after I'm done with you?!"
~*~
The whole group had grown silent as Yusuke finished the gruesome urban legend. He shrugged off the last part, making it sound as casual as possible as he glanced around the room, noticing everyone's varied expressions. "It's nothing really. The main thing is that the cheating bitch had gotten her mouth slit from ear to ear," he explained in a seemingly spooky tone as he traced the ends of his lips from ear to ear, causing Hinageshi to jump in surprise, "and, supposedly, lives on killing people. Not really sure how she kills them, since I was told the legend when I was, like, five or so."
"Who the hell would tell a little kid that?!," Kuwabara shouted in an incredulous tone, flailing his muscular arms wildly as he said so. His beady black eyes had widened as he stared at his friend with a frightened expression that was glued onto his face. Yusuke, unfazed at his bulky pal's reaction, merely shrugged it off.
"Like it matters? Why, were you scared?," retorted the blunt teenager as he smirked at his enormous redheaded buddy. The other, beautiful redhead, better known as Kurama, had shook his head at the boys' bickering and, instead of usually breaking them up, had given Koenma a questioning stare, using his emerald eyes to ask the toddler why they needed to know of the tale. The brunette tot cleared his throat loudly, catching the boys' attention as Botan had threatened to smack them both in the head.
"I hope you all realize that there was a reason I asked about Kuchisake-onna," Koenma stated in a serious tone as the two young men pulled themselves together. The whole team, with the exception of the fire apparition, cocked their heads in a curious way. "Your new mission revolves around her." Everyone's reaction, of course taking away Botan and Hinageshi's calm reactions, were all the same; unbelievable, especially Yusuke's.
His dark chocolate brown orbs had grew smaller as a nervous sweat had broke out on his paled, rugged face. Kuwabara's reaction had been that his whole body temperature dropped dangerously low as a weird, tingling feeling had washed over his abnormally large frame. Kurama's was a more startled look in his green irises, nothing too bad. And the silent youkai, Hiei, as he was called, remained deadly silent as his brow furrowed in a curious, yet understanding way.
"N-nani?! But, she isn't real!," Yusuke pointed out in shaky stammers as gruesome thoughts of a Glasgow smile had appeared in his mind suddenly. Hinageshi tilted her head curiously as a quizzical expression formed on her gentle, little girl face. Koenma shook his head sullenly as Botan hung her head, avoiding making eye contact with the startled Tantei.
"Hai, Yusuke. She is real, and she's your guys' next case," the tot told Yusuke in a deadly serious tone. He nudged over at the two ferriers in the room and said quietly, "Kuchisake-onna is already on the move, from what the letter Ayame-chan sent me had said, and nearly fifteen names had suddenly been popping up in every 'grim reapers' books." Kuwabara's jaw dropped as his eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"Fifteen names already?! I didn't even know that you could just add names like that," the slightly dopey teenager exclaimed as he stared at Koenma with a shocked expression on his rugged face. The bratty ruler of the three worlds shook his head disdainfully.
"It may occur if something powerful, such as an evil spirit that refuses to leave the scene where he or she had died, begins to pinpoint people, many of them ningens, at random and starts a massacre, which is usually thought out. That's how my ferriers rarely learn when people are about to die," he explained slowly and quietly as he remained eye contact with the group.
"So then, brat, explain how the Detective had deceived your little process of dying with no one knowing," Hiei demanded in a calm voice as his beady crimson eyes gleamed at the toddler. The insult went by Koenma smoothly, seeing as the crack hadn't fazed the usually impatient boy.
"Simple; no one had planned on killing him. The driver wasn't going to harm the boy Yusuke had 'saved' too badly, and Yusuke wasn't thinking. Does that answer your question, Hiei?" The fire youkai grunted quietly and looked away as he maintained his temper, doing his best not to retort with an insult. Kurama blinked, and warily raised his left arm up as a question had formed in his mind.
"Excuse me, but how will we know when this spirit will strike, if she hasn't already?," asked the kitsune smoothly as he tucked a fiery red bang behind his ear. Koenma brought up his shoulders, making them broad as he glanced down on the messy desktop, staring at a familiar scented piece of paper. The ogre cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. The beast nudged at the piece of paper the tot was staring blankly at.
"From the directions Ayame-chan had given us, we were able to know who, when, and where the people were going to die," he piped up. Yusuke, who was still in denial that the legend he was told when he was a mere child was actually real, shoved his hands into his pockets with force whilst a grunt made its way out of his mouth. Kurama had picked up the delicate note and crisply folded it before putting it in his shorts' pocket.
"Hai, hai, we'll work on this case first thing in the morning. Right now, I think we all need our rest," Kurama stated in a sleepy tone as his entire body began to swagger lazily around and, by reaction, grabbed onto Kuwabara's elbow to steady himself. He yawned very loudly once more, nearly snorting in air as his head grew heavy. Koenma nodded and pointed towards the opened doors, where many homely ogres ran about as they made sure that their papers and documents wouldn't fall out of the grip.
"Then out. Botan-chan, Hinageshi-kohai," he addressed his two ferry women as the men stormed out, except Kurama, who lagged behind the rest as he yawned again into his fist, "stay at Genkai-sama's temple, with Yukina. Make sure that the Tantei is there by 7:30 am, sharp." The two women bowed as they agreed to his orders.
"Fret not, Koenma sir," Botan piped up as she and the silent redhead began to exit the huge office, "we'll all get to the bottom of this case! You'll see." Then, the two young girls left the room, leaving Koenma to sit back down into the comfy chair and sulk. The blue ogre looked curiously at his boss, but remained silent, knowing well that that tiny tot wanted to be left alone. With that knowledge, the ogre slipped out of the room, before his already frustrated lord wanted to release his anger out on him.