Chapter four : Shock Values

Part one

And we're back ! In this new arc, a late phone call throws Yuusuke in the middle of a political crisis.

Answer to guest review : Thank you for your compliments ! I do have a tendency to rely only on verbal cues rather than background. I kept your remark in mind while writing the rest.

Enjoy ! And please, leave a review !

All this. For this.

All this plotting and backbreaking labour. All this backstabbing and privations. To hoist oneself onto the pinnacle of the world only to find the world you knew shift and disappear beneath your feet. There was an allegory for the harsh mistress that was glory if there even had been one. And now ? Back on the ground, with the rest of them. Better for them, maybe. Better for him ? He smiled. Trying to decide what you wanted was so much more fun when you weren't sure if you could get it.

He reached for the liquor cabinet. Humans did at least that right. Who knew how much he'd wish he had drunk more when it would all start tomorrow. He had thought it would be easy. Now, after briefly meeting them, he wasn't so sure. Facing a giant, puny insects would always find a way to worm their way under its skin. Another life lesson for the greats of the world.

The door to the adjoining suite opened. A smaller version of himself appeared on the doorstep. The boy was troubled. Something was wrong.

"Yes ? What is it ?"

"Dad… I think I did something bad."

~ 9:47 PM ~

Ring. Rrrrring.

Rrrm. Phone. Where was that damn phone ? Fumbling in the dark, he finally managed to grab the receiver and mumbled a "what". Only silence welcomed him at the other end of the line. Then what the fuck was still ringing ?

He turned on the lamp on the nightstand and followed the sound. Which seemed to come from deep within his storage closet. Pushing blindly between months-worth of unsorted clothing, he got a hold of a handle. Which came out of the closet followed by a briefcase. Yuusuke stared at the ringing suitcase as if to convince himself it was real. Then, he settled it on the bed and opened it. Inside was a large screen currently being occupied by a tiny toddler.

"Yuusuke ! Remember when you walked into my office, told me you wanted to be a detective again and then I haven't heard from you in a month ?"

"Huh ?"

"Get your ass on the very first train to Tokyo. Or better yet, run the whole way here. Go up to the Mandarin Oriental hotel as discreetly as you can. I need your help."

11:16 PM

He had never been to Tokyo. This was corny, but he always had this idea of first going there for his honeymoon. Shibuya. The Skytree. Rolling his eyes as Keiko was dragging him through Ginza and making him carry her purchases. Of course it was Keiko. It had never not been Keiko. But what that meant for the time being, was that he had no idea what qualified as a normal Tokyo ruckus. He had to believe this wasn't one.

The night was cut with camera flashes like a surgeon's laser through flesh. Under the neon-coloured rain, hundreds of moving trench coats and umbrellas clogged the pavement. The hazy pouring gave it all a feel of unreality, the way a movie looked if you blinked very fast while watching it. The rhythmic noise of the windshield wipers of the cars lined up on the concrete, the moving reflections of the light on the pavement, everything hit him at once, and for a moment he just stood there, unable to process this deluge of information.

Then he briefly closed his eyes, and the world settled back in place. He pulled down the hood of his drenched sweatshirt and made his way to the foot of the Nihonbashi Mitsui tower. From down there, it seemed to run its mirrored walls from earth to sky.

Armed military-type guys were surrounding the entrance. There was no way he could get in through the main gate without attracting the attention of the crowd that seemed to intently wait for anyone to step in to strafe them with their flashes. Eyeing the tallest building adjoining the tower – which still barely reached out to its tenth floor – he swiftly jumped on its roof then, walking back to gain momentum, projected himself onto the higher tower. He landed on the edge on an unlit window and, after checking there was no one in the room inside, broke in and strolled the hallway in search of an elevator, which took him a good five minutes of walking around the luxurious hallways – why did rich people like beige so much ? The hotel occupied the top nine floors of the tower, Koenma had told him. He pressed the highest available button inside the copper-platted elevator. When the doors opened with a melodious ding, he found himself nose to nose with another guard dog, this one considerably more packed than the ones at the foot of the tower.

"Hotel's closed to the public, sir."

"Okay, one, call me sir again and I'll make you swallow your submachine gun. Two, his royal binky is expecting me."

"I am sorry to insist that you go back downstairs, sir."

"Look, people often try to get me not to go where I want to go. Usually does not end up well for them."

"The entire hotel has been reserved for the event. There is no available room."

"I'm gonna make space then. What room are you occupying ?"

"Or, you could just give the guard your name, seeing as that's obviously what I communicated him."

He hadn't seen Koenma approach on his right. The armed mountain straightened up as the human version of the toddler walked up to Yuusuke.

"Took you long enough."

"Had to look up directions at the station. It's not like there's a device that would give me directions to whenever I want to go at any given time."

"Less elucubrating, more walking. Come with me."

They walked around the entrance lounge with its illuminated waterfall pouring uselessly behind the black wood desk that costed probably more than a year of his rent, and made their way to yet another glass door that seemed to end on some sort of lobby.

"I hope you've got a good reason to drag me out here in the middle of the night."

"I called you at nine thirty."

"When I do a night shift at the stand, I take a nap beforehand. You have no idea how many people suddenly want ramen at two AM."

"Good, then you'll be well rested." Koenma said as he pushed the doors.

"Again, and sorry if you've heard this one, but what is this abou…"

They were everywhere. In the room traversed by an inexplicable chill, dislocated puppets spread on the floor, above the stairway's ramp, on the sand-coloured sofas, tainting them with red. Most weren't all there. For some, it was hard to believe they'd even been together at all, forming some sort of cohesive whole. How many were there ? Forty ? Fifty ? Hard to tell. Some were pouring on each other, like melted ice-cream. Some had fallen on the spot. Others had been dragged by various parts across the room, in a sharp smear of red paint. A few had come crashing against the panoramic windows, and were now forming a curled up mess under them.

"Who…"

"That's what you're here to find out."

Yuusuke slowly walked around the room, leaving Koenma behind. He was taking in whatever was remaining of those faces.

"I appreciate the vote of confidence but… between you and me, you know I've never been a detective-detective, right ? I fight stuff. This is an actual crime scene. Shouldn't some actual detectives be here ?"

"Trust me, if I had any other choice, you wouldn't be here. But unfortunately for both of us, that's where we are."

Yuusuke kneeled down near one of the corpses. Head had been ripped off. No… bitten off.

"A youkai did this." He mused.

"Or someone worked really hard to make it look like it."

"Are you finally gonna tell me what's going on ?"

The prince exhaled loudly. Yuusuke noticed the circles around his eyes. That was the first time in a long time he'd seen him so beaten up.

"You don't read the news much, do you ?"

Koenma sat down on one of the sofas that had been miraculously spared from the carnage.

"Tomorrow at seven starts the first round in a series of negotiations between humans and youkais on everything from passage between Makai and the Human world, to integration, to even trade opportunities. Ambassadors from the UN and the Makai presidency respectively will be kicking off the discussions tomorrow in this very hotel. The goal is to reach some level of harmonizing between all the individual measures that have been taken by Makai and human countries in order to adopt a global sense of direction. If this goes well, we could be seeing official passageways to Makai hatch all around the globe in two to three years. I've been designated to act as a mediator between the two parties."

"I'm guessing this little sideshow right here wasn't part of the plan."

"After the ambassadors arrived at seven pm, the hotel went on lockdown. Military surveillance as well as barrier spells. As far as we can tell, no one went in or out. A security round at nine found nothing suspicious. A little after that, one of the ambassadors discovered… this. In the entire hotel. The only people who weren't killed were myself, and the four ambassadors."

"What about my friend Fido back there ?"

"All the guards who survived were positioned in the lower stairs. We had to make a few of them come up here to keep assuring security."

"Are you certain no one could have slipped out ? I mean, I think I could have done it pretty easily."

"If it had only been the security we'd installed, I would have agreed with you. But we have someone else here whose word bears a lot more weight."

"Urameshi."

He pivoted. It had been a while since he'd seen him last. In fact, he could remember the exact moment. He was on the stage, announcing the winner of the Makai tournament.

"Yomi ! You're the ambassador from Makai ?"

"It is a pleasure to meet you again. Your face has healed, I can tell."

"After the beating you submitted me to last time, I was the first surprised."

"It seems we were destined to converse atop a pile of human corpses eventually. It was only a little later than I expected."

"I wouldn't have thought you'd agree to do something like this. Aren't humans just food ?"

"The wind had changed, Urameshi. For now, Enki's word is law. After that… we will see."

"So you're saying no one came in or out of the hotel to take a bite out of the staff ?"

"Yes. I sensed no change in the energies that surrounded those floors from seven until you came in here."

"Yomi was the one who found them." Koenma added.

"I was in my suite with Shura. The smell of blood became overwhelming."

"Shura ? He's here ? Is it take your son to work day ?"

"He begged me to come. He wanted to see the human world."

"Okay, one last thing, and sorry if I'm being blunt, but you're kind of a lying son of a bitch. How can we trust you're telling the truth ?"

"That's the thing, Yuusuke." Koenma cut in. "In this particular case, it wouldn't make sense not to trust him."

"What do you mean ?"

"Think. You said it yourself, these attacks look like the work of a youkai. At the moment they happened, Yomi and his son were the only youkais in the entire hotel. Tomorrow kicks off a wildly-publicized negotiation that might determine how the world perceives youkais in the foreseeable future. If there's the slightest hitch, it will throw a wrench in the relations between the two worlds for perhaps decades. Imagine what will happen if in ten hours, journalists and officials from the whole wide world open the doors of this hotel… to this."

"So you think this is a setup ?"

"The UN ambassadors were the only humans left untouched. We have multiples people confirming that no one came in or out of the hotel. And now we have two youkais supposed to represent their entire race, and seventy-four humans murdered."

"That's why you said you believed Yomi… He had no interest in insisting nobody came in or out."

"I see no point in lying. If someone is trying to sabotage this meetup, it is better to nip it in the bud."

"Now you understand why I can't involve anyone else, Yuusuke. As sad as it is, this isn't just a crime scene. This is also a symbol. If we do not shine a light on what really happened here tonight, what we see right now will be but a fraction of the disaster to come. We need answers, we need proof, and we need them by tomorrow morning. Your word carries weight in both worlds. Humans, the ones who matter, know what you did for Earth, just like demons know what you did for Makai. They'll listen to you."

"And if I can't find who's responsible ?"

Koenma and Yomi remained silent.

"Geez, I get it. It's gonna be a long night."

~ 11:31 PM ~

"Don't trust Yomi."

Koenma and Yuusuke were walking down another luxurious hallway of warm-toned wood and ceiling-high windows.

"I thought it didn't make sense not to trust him ? Also, you realize he can probably hear you, right ? Guy's got like three pairs of ears."

"I'm smart enough not to trust him anyway. And he's too smart not to know I don't trust him."

"So you think he did kill all those people ? He'd sabotage his own negotiations ?"

"You said it yourself, he's a lying son of a bitch. If this gets out, the entire power dynamic in Makai might get turned upside down. Enki has made peace with Earth the mantra of his reign. But Yomi and Mukuro remain the two major military forces in Makai. If war breaks out, Yomi will be in the forefront of his world again."

"So if that's what you think, why am I here ?"

"I don't know for sure. Some things do not fit. Why not kill the ambassadors too ? And why remain here if you're going to make yourself look like the main suspect ? And most importantly, why make yourself the culprit when you could use a pawn ? That places him in the difficult position of being the one responsible for conflict breaking out. The other youkais might not follow him after that. I need to see more clearly. That's where you come in. You can help me look for alternative explanations, while also buying us some time to figure out a plan B."

Yuusuke caught the prince by the arm.

"Okay, stop. Koenma, I told you I wanted nothing to do with all this political stuff !"

"You also told me you wanted to help. This is how you can help."

"This requires being subtle and diplomatic and a bunch of other things I probably suck at. What if I do more harm than good ?"

"You underestimate yourself. No one knows both the human and the demon mind like you do. And like I said, I was out of options."

"Fine, I get it. So, what's the plan ?"

"The UN ambassadors want to meet you. Getting them to agree to call you wasn't an easy sell. They only know you as a youkai. You have to convince them you're on their side."

"I'm not on anyone's side."

"Then find out what happened here, or you'll have to pick one very soon."

Koenma pushed another door. How on earth could he tell all these identical doors apart ?

"Yuusuke, meet Amelia Bancroft and Rohan Singh, the negotiators for the UN."

He saw her first. It was hard to miss her. Model-tall and thin, with wavy Venetian blond hair flowing freely to her waist, a healthy Californian tan and a long balloon-sleeved white evening dress slightly pooling at her feet, she looked like what you'd get if you asked any random fourteen years old boy off the street to imagine the next cover of Vogue. This was the kind of woman to whom men said "you have bewitched me" when really, she was just obviously really hot, in that conventional way that landed straight between a man's fantasy and a women's inspiration. In either case, not a real person. The only hint that she hadn't indeed been made on purpose in some kind of lab was an impressive set of freckles that covered her nose and cheekbones, like residues of an eraser over a perfect drawing.

As for him, he looked like her clone from bizarroworld. Only as tall as Yuusuke, but considerably older, he would have bet there was some article out there describing him as having "an air of quiet dignity". He was dressed entirely in black, with a formal Mao jacket complete with a white pocket square. The only other speck of white on his person was his elegant moustache and gelled to the side hair. He actually looked the part of a lifelong diplomat, in that same kind of too-obvious-for-the-role way that she did a lifestyle model. If there was a lesson there, it was that most people looked exactly like you'd think they would. Or maybe the job was turning them into what others thought of them.

"So here is the man of the hour ! His highness Enma speaks very highly of you."

Of course, she spoke flawless Japanese.

"He's twenty inches tall. He speaks very highly of everyone."

"Do you speak English, son ?"

And he called everyone son. Just perfect.

"Not really. But if you want I can nod really hard when you talk so it looks like I get it."

"You're funny. Rohan, he's very funny."

"Um. Do you find what happened here tonight very funny, son ?"

"Of course he doesn't. Yuusuke is here to help."

"Don't answer for me, Koenma. That's the best you can do, I-already-forgot-your-name ? On a scale of one to ten, how funny do I find human murder ?"

"I see nothing to convince me that such a test is not necessary."

"My fist on your face is starting to feel very necessary."

"Oh, stop, both of you if you please."

Her tone was tentative in the same way a mom's with her four years old was. Only giving you the illusion of a choice.

"We are already on a deadline here. So maybe we should let dear Yuusuke get to work, no ?"

'Dear Yuusuke' would have gladly continued his little explanation with Moustache, but she was right. The longer he dawdled, the longer it would be before he could get out of there.

"What can you tell me about what happened ?"

They briefly exchanged in English. They weren't shy about excluding him from the conversation.

"Very little, unfortunately" she finally said. "The last time we saw another human soul was when we were brought room service in my suite. It must have been fifteen minutes later that Enma ran into the room to make sure we were unharmed. We did not hear anything go down. Which is curious, such a massacre, you would think it would have made quite a peep."

He couldn't be sure, but she seemed to speak with a slight British accent.

"Did you… see the remains ?"

"We did. I assisted on quite a few UN peacekeeping missions. I've never… seen anything like this."

"In your opinion, son, could a human have done this ?"

"Oh ! Deadline !" the woman exclaimed as if she'd just shocked herself by putting her finger in a socket.

He turned to her with a quizzical expression on his face.

"Deadline ! And there are all these dead people around ! This was so insensitive of me to say that !"

"Err… To answer your question" Yuusuke said after electing to ignore the remark, "it does look like the work of a youkai. But at this stage, nothing is certain."

"We're going to have to do much better than that. We are under the unblinking eye. What looks like it happened is what did. We should stop wasting time. And son ?"

"What ?"

"The world is counting on you."

~ 11:46 PM ~

"So that's the situation. I checked every floor, didn't feel any kind of energy anywhere. Nothing left on the corpses either. I've got no idea what to do next. And everyone is twiddling their thumbs waiting for me to miraculously solve everything."

Kurama's chuckle was warm on the other side of the line. Yuusuke would never understand anything to his sense of humour.

"So you've called me to solve another one of your cases in your place ?"

"That happened once. And sorry if I'm calling one of my friends for help."

"Don't get upset, I was joking. In my opinion, there aren't that many possibilities. Either the culprit is still in the hotel, or he isn't. If he is, there is an unneglectable chance that it might be Yomi. If he isn't, it means Yomi lied. Either way, I'd say you should talk to Yomi again. One to one. He respects you. And perhaps more importantly, he doesn't understand you. Someone like you, who has power but doesn't want domination, is something that is profoundly foreign to him. Which renders you quite unpredictable."

"Why do I feel this is just an elaborate way of saying he can't outsmart me because I don't actually think ?"

"Whatever you feel comfortable with. Keep me updated." Click.

There was something comforting in knowing he wasn't the only one whose night had been ruined. He put back the receiver from the lobby desk, then asked his new best friend Fido the guard for directions to Yomi's suite. When he entered, Yomi was facing the panoramic window, a drink in hand.

"There are not that many times I regret having had the light stolen from me, but this is one."

"If that makes you feel better, the view's not that impressive. It's mostly squares of light on squares of black on a bigger square of black."

"You are lying, aren't you ?"

"Yeah. It's fucking gorgeous."

"From my point of view, this is just an ocean of invisible waves. Sound, heat, movement, all slowly coming and receding from me in an unending tide of boiling life."

"Where's Shura ?"

"Confined in his room. This is the first time he comes in contact with the smell of human blood. It is disturbing for him. I think we should try to avoid any further incident."

"Yomi, you need to tell me you did not do this."

The former king turned to face the man who had refused to be king.

"And what would telling you I did not actually accomplish ? If I was culpable, I would have no reason to tell the truth, and even if I was innocent, you would still be a fool to believe me."

"I'm a fool anyway. Koenma and Kurama suspect you because it's rational to. But I'd rather trust what my gut tells me. And my gut tells me you didn't bring your fucking son to this damn meeting so he could watch you fuck it up on purpose."

"You would trust me over your friends ?"

"I'd trust myself."

He could almost see Yomi's exquisite mind at work.

"Let's say I did kill them. What would you do now ?"

"I'd wonder why you're lying."

His gaze shifted to the door leading to the adjoining suite.

"And I think I just figured it out."

Yomi's aura had changed.

"Careful, Urameshi."

"This isn't the answer. We can figure it out."

"I told you. I killed them. Go report to them."

"For someone so smart, you can be a terrible liar."

He had started walking toward Shura's door.

"Urameshi !"

The image of someone so powerful, feeling powerless. There was nothing scarier. The doorknob clicked.

The young prince was sitting on his bed, holding his knees. His face was still drenched in blood.