Bittersweet Romance-Jurisdiction

by the Rurouni Idoru

Rurouni's note: Just as spoilery as the last, but nowhere near as good. Baika's my own personal original ferrygirl. I figured there had to more than the four they show if they lead every human who dies to Reikai. Wanring: Contains my silly interpretations on Reikai processes. And I'm sure the ending is confusing. Go with it.

Disclaimer: Okay, Baika's mine, and this interpretation of Naru is free to use. But I own nothing related to YYH except some merchandise. ...hugs DVD collection to chest

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Itsuki had lost track of time since he took Sensui with him. Had it been an hour, a day, a week, even? What was happening in Ningenkai? Did the Reikai cronies ever seal the rupture between Makai and Ningenkai? Or was there mass carnage and panic on the once organized streets of Japan? Were the humans still pondering what all the strange happenings were about in the past week, or were they praying for their lives? Either way, Itsuki didn't care. Sensui was with him for good. All he could have asked for was for Sensui's heart to still beat. Of course, he would never get this, and so settled for hanging on to his remains instead. It wasn't exactly a normal burial of any kind, but Sensui would have appreciated it. And Itsuki was sure that nothing could possibly ruin it for him.

She sped nervously through the streets of Mushiyori, close to the ground so she would make it there faster. It was situations like these that made her glad that the living could not see, hear, or touch her. Because she was in a hurry, and no human was going to stand in her way. Her short, mousy brown hair whipped around uncontrollably in the wind. She lost count of the number of times her narrow oval glasses fell off of her nose.

"I hate it when they request things like this and he accepts it! It would have been so much easier just to take all seven immediately instead of filling out those forms...." She came to a sudden halt and accidentally somersaulted through the air off of her oar. She shrieked, and landed on her posterior outside the entrance to the cave. She caught her breath while materializing a tiny laptop computer in midair. Her fingers flew across the keys until she reached a conclusion. She looked from the screen to the cave and back again. She closed the laptop and it disappeared in a small flash of light. This was definitely the place.

It took her another twenty minutes to get to where she was intended. When she reached the heart of the cave, the path for the rest of the journey was obvious. She slipped into the other dimension with ease. How did she manage that? She asked herself this question, and then came to the realization that one of the many forms she had to fill out must have had something to do with it. Her bright red kimono with its sunshine orange obi stood out like a sore thumb in the dark, cool bowels of the Uraotoko. Itsuki glared up at her. Her full-length kimono was a clue. The fact the she was sitting on an oar, however, gave it away. There was a ferrygirl staring at him and Sensui.

"And what are you doing here?" He cocked his head in indignance.

"With all due respect, sir, my job." She began to slowly hone in on Sensui, but Itsuki would not have that.

"I told your pacifier-sucking boss to leave him with me." She closed her large blue eyes and straightened her glasses.

"Koenma-sama explained to me that I was to leave Shinobu alone."

"Then leave us alone, ferry-wench." The ferrygirl threw her shoulders so far back that her back arched.

"First of all, my name is Baika, and I am a ferrywoman of the dead. NOT a 'ferry-wench.' Secondly, you did not allow me to finish." Itsuki tightened his grip on Sensui's body.

"Then by all means, continue." Baika beagn smoothing her hair down, looking as professional as possible.

"Koenma-sama and the rest of Reikai respect the final wishes of Sensui Shinobu, and we understand that you would not let us take his soul. However, the will of the other six cannot be determined." Itsuki furrowed his brow in confusion.

"Other six?" Then it dawned on him. "Oh. The other six." He looked away for a moment, considering what to say next. He finally came up with his argument. "But technically, they are a part of him, so they should all stay here with me." Baika shook her head.

"In most cases, when a human dies, a ferrywoman is sent to collect their ghost and soul, and take that person to Reikai for judgement. However, this is a significantly odd case." Her spectacles slid down to the tip of her nose. She unconsciously pushed them back up to the bridge of her nose with two fingers, and continued speaking. "For one, you, Itsuki the yaminade, have established it that Sensui Shinobu is to stay here with you. And Koenma-sama is willing to allow this. But, as I have mentioned, this particular case is very unusual. Due to severe psychological damage, Sensui Shinobu's soul was spilt into seven pieces, and seven different people. You of all people should understand this." Itsuki nodded. "As such, had you not intervened with Reikai business, then there would in fact be seven souls to collect and pass judgement on. You did, however, and refused to allow Koenma-sama to take Shinobu with him to Reikai. You said nothing about the other six. Because of this, they fall under our jurisdiction." Itsuki's mouth fell open slightly. The way she put it, it all fit together. But he would not allow it.

"I don't care. They are all staying here." Baika suddenly became much more forceful than she had been before.

"Excuse me, Itsuki-san, but do you have any idea what I went through to get here? I had to fill out so many forms I lost count of them all. Why do you think it took so long for me to get here? It's been several days since Sensui's death, I normally would have come to collect in an hour. If you do not allow me access to those six souls, being that they are without ghosts, they will disappear for good soon, destroying any and all chance for any possible redemption. If I do not complete this job by the end of the day, I will be fired. Honestly, I don't want to be Reikai destitute." Itsuki simply squeezed Sensui's body protectively. Something within Baika seemed to snap. She pulled a pink umbrella from one of her long sleeves. "You really only have two options." Itsuki began to feel some instinct telling him something important. "Either you allow me to take these souls, or I take this, and shove it up--"

"Fine. Take them."

"...And open--...Excuse me, did you just say what I think you did?"

"I wouldn't want the rest of them to disappear." Baika put the umbrella back in her sleeve and shook Itsuki's hand, smiling.

"Thank you very much, Itsuki-san. You've been very kind." She made a sweeping gesture, obviously collecting the souls that he could not see. She paused, perhaps checking to see if they were all there, and sped away on her oar.

Redemption...? What did Baika mean by redemption? That was what Naru began to wonder.