In Reikai
Koenma stood, his back facing Yusuke, trying to look intimidating. Unfortunately, Yusuke knew Koenma too well. Oh well…
"Yusuke, I'm sure you know why I've called you here."
"You lost your nightlight?"
"No."
"You lost your pacifier?"
"No!"
"You left something really valuable where some thief could steal it? You really should get better security. At least don't have huge signs every hundred feet showing a map."
"What's wrong with a map?"
"Last time I looked, the maps listed the vaults and their contents. You're saying, 'Hello, thief. You are here. Treasure is here. Exits are here, here, and here. Guard shift schedules posted below. Have a nice day!'"
"It is not!"
"Is too!"
"It is not!"
"Is too!"
"Yusuke! I can't believe you. What are you doing here anyway?"
"You don't know? You're the one who wanted me here! Did you mess up really bad or just sorta bad?"
"NO, you moron! You trashed your school!"
"I did not!"
"You signed the walls, Yusuke! In paint!"
"That doesn't mean it was me! Can't you, like, rewind your T.V. thingy so you can see? I wasn't even near school today!"
"That's not a good thing!"
"It is when it proves I didn't do it!"
"Who did it then? Kuwabara? Hiei?"
"Actually, that's not too bad, Junior."
"Don't call me that! Those two couldn't have done this. Kuwabara actually cares about his grades, and Hiei has been in China."
"China?"
"Don't ask. Now explain what possessed you to do such a thing!"
"Hey, now that I remember, there was something in the alley by the ice cream shop. I thought it might have been some low-class demon. They've been bothering me a lot lately."
"So you think they'd try to frame you for this…"
"I didn't say anything, but I got this threat letter this morning from some guy who calls himself Mr. W."
"You probably wouldn't know this, but Club W has been around from the beginnings of Makai history as an anti-Tantei group. What did the letter say?"
"Just the usual threats against friends and family, you can not trace us, you can not find us, signed Mr. W."
"I may have a mission for you after all, Yusuke. Wait a few minutes."
Koenma rushed into an adjacent room, and Yusuke heard mumbling and a few clicks. Koenma came out with a video cassette in hand.
"This is your mission," he said, "Get everyone else and watch this informational tape that I, Koenma, have made!"
"Can't you just tell me?"
"No! That ruins the surprise!"
Yusuke grabbed the tape roughly and stalked out of Reikai, muttering about stupid toddlers with oversized egos.
"Yusuke! Remember that Hiei's in China, so he won't be there with you!"
That made finding everyone a whole lot easier. Hiei did tend to show up on his own, but it was disconcerting to wonder how you were going to find him if he didn't. Still, Hiei was dead useful when things got dirty. His physical strength wasn't amazing, but his speed more than made up for that. At least Kurama would be there. If they ended up having to search the Makai for Club W, he wouldn't get very far even with Kuwabara's senses. There were just too many demons!
Reaching for his communicator, Yusuke tried to contact Kurama first, but he wasn't getting anywhere. After a few more tries, he gave up, figuring that he'd at least find Kuwabara so he wasn't bored out of his skull by himself.
Not ten minutes later, Yusuke and Kuwabara were making their way to the arcade to meet each other. They kept trying to reach Kurama in between beating each other at Tetris (at Kuwabara's insistence) and Street Fighter (because Yusuke wanted to win some of the games).
When they got too loud for the arcade manager's liking, they found themselves walking to Kurama's house. For some reason, they hadn't been able to talk to Kurama yet. They rang the doorbell, and they waited for two good minutes before Shiori opened the door. She apologized for the delay; she had been putting the laundry into the dryer.
"Hey! Is K- "
Kuwabara stopped Yusuke's near-miss with a loud cough.
"Is Shuichi here?" asked Kuwabara, "We wanted to talk to him."
"Are you his friends?"
They nodded, and she pressed further,
"Maybe you can help me. I was getting his laundry when I found a makeup compact in the pocket of a pair of his pants. I mean, he might not… Well, do you two know why he carries a flashing makeup compact around? He's always been so careful about how he looks, but I don't want to jump to conclusions. I want him to know that I'll support him no matter what, but I don't want to sound like I'm assuming too much. He's never brought girls home. I know they all love him; they send him all these letters, but he doesn't answer more than is necessary."
By this time, Shiori was near hysterical. How would they explain that 'Shuichi' didn't like girls a mere fraction of his age without making him sound like he was some demon who 'happened' to be in her son's body? Kuwabara had it covered.
"Maybe a girl gave it to him as a gift and he didn't want to seem rude? He probably took it and forgot about it. He doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd just leave important stuff in his pocket."
"No, he isn't…"
She gestured to his closet, to the clothes he'd fought in during the Dark Tournament.
"These just seem a bit feminine. Is he a cross-dresser? I heard him talking with his friend Hiei, and Hiei said something about a dress."
Right. That had been one of their stranger ideas. Hiei had never played Truth or Dare before, and it seemed wrong to let him live his life and not know of such games! Yusuke remembered how good Hiei was at thinking up dares. He, along with Kurama on a subsequent dare, had been dared to go into a strip club, in drag, and kiss at least five drunk men.
"I'm sorry, boys. Shuichi is still at school. Speaking of that, why aren't you two in school?"
"Our school was closed," said Kuwabara, "There was pretty bad vandalism. They're doing cleanup."
"Would you two like some lunch at least?"
Yusuke's eyes grew wide
"You're amazing, you know that?"
Shiori smiled and led the way into the kitchen, asking the boys what they'd like to eat. Yusuke was happy with the prospect of food, but Kuwabara was planning out what he'd say in case Shiori asked some other questions that might pose problems. ("Where does he go? You're gone at the same time, I've noticed.") She probably wouldn't notice, but it would be good of him to think ahead and be prepared, especially since Yusuke wouldn't be any help there.
In China
"Man, that massacre was brutal! I'm glad you came to help us, Hiei."
Hiei forced a smile. Koenma would have called for him by now if he'd found out, right? Koenma would have suspected Yusuke first, probably. Not risking Koenma noticing his probe, Hiei lightly touched Yusuke's mind, trying to find out Koenma's reaction.
Hiei smiled for real this time. He'd noticed the veiled threats from Club W as well as their letter. Off the hook from one thing did not mean he could relax, however. If only he'd gone to train in the Makai or something instead of coming here, he wouldn't have had to deal with Botan thinking that he loved her. Of all things he could have said… In any case, he was in the present, and she was his very real problem.
Botan noticed Hiei staring off into space with a faraway look on his face. He was smiling now; did that mean that he was thinking of her? He was probably thinking of her. In his mind they would be running across a field, holding hands, making their way to a picnic that Hiei had packed. They would sit by the sparkling blue water, gazing into each other's eyes, and she would whisper sweet nothings into his ears.
In Hiei's mind, he was dreaming of freedom from Koenma's silly rules. Clothed in the shadows of night, he roamed Makai, terrorizing the denizens of the deep, robbing and killing, coating the fields with the blood of his victims. Even King Enma would bow to him. He ruled Makai through fear, and none dared to oppose him.
Botan and Hiei sighed in unison. They turned and looked at each other, and looked away again. As Hiei turned toward the distant mountains, he scowled again. How could he get rid of Botan? Killing her would bring more trouble, which was too bad; that was an easy way to bury problems.