After School, Meiou
Kurama strolled leisurely down the halls of Meiou humming a lesser-known Makai drinking song to himself. Kuronue loved that song… It was one of the nicer songs, but it was rare to hear it now, as it had a lilting melody and was considered too light for a true Makai bar. In addition, it was a bit long to remember if you were properly drunk. Kurama had been singing it earlier, and he was surprised to get a number of compliments on how nice the song was. If only they knew…
A long weekend was coming up, and Kurama planned on spending it doing relatively nothing. Of course, three-day weekends were rare, and they most always managed to get filled up with some sort of long, boring job for Reikai. That or some highly dangerous mission that was probably unnecessary for one reason or another.
Kurama walked home wrapped in his own thoughts of missions and of Kuronue, of Shiori and of the two upcoming holidays. His thoughts drifted slowly to Yusuke, and he wondered if the vandalism reports were true. The police had been by all the other schools in the area, telling about how vandalism was wrong, disgraceful, disrespectful… Kurama had given up listening after the opening.
Lost in thought as he was, Kurama was a moving hazard for all the other people on the sidewalk. He'd almost toppled an old lady and her grandson as they were coming out of the store already, and things were looking worse. He narrowly missed stepping on dogs' feet and toddlers' fingers and toes as he swept by the shops. He got in the way of movers near the furniture and piano stores. He caused one young mother to nearly spill her cumbersome grocery bag as she tried to save her three-year-old from being run over.
Finally, Kurama made it home. Yusuke's laughter was loud enough that passersby looked in confusion and wonderment that the inhabitants of the usually quiet house were so loud today. Kurama groaned inside. That Yusuke was there meant that there would be something from Koenma, and that meant no long weekend.
Kurama walked slowly up
to the door, willing Yusuke to disappear.
Fortunately for Yusuke,
his mother was there. Fortunately for Koenma, he was far away.
Collecting his thoughts, Kurama opened the door.
Shiori heard the door open and went to greet her son. He looked a bit tired, but he had just come from school. Yusuke looked out of the kitchen too. Kurama did look a bit off, and his eyes flashed gold when Yusuke made eye contact. Bad sign. Maybe, Yusuke thought, he and Kuwabara could do the mission alone this time. They didn't need Kurama angry at them. Yusuke wondered to himself what he could have done. Maybe Kurama would yell at him for defacing property and trees or something like that. Maybe Kurama just had a bad day. In that case, Yusuke was fine. The problem was that Yusuke couldn't tell the difference.
Kurama was escorted into the kitchen and placed into a chair across from Kuwabara. Shiori smiled and asked him if he too was home early due to the vandalism. Kurama looked at Yusuke and told Shiori about the police visits to the schools, leaving Yusuke's name out. After Yusuke and Kuwabara had eaten, the three boys went to Kurama's room. Yusuke told Kurama the basics and asked if he could go with them to Kuwabara's house to watch the video. After Kurama told Shiori that he was going to tutor Kuwabara and Yusuke in math, they left.
At Kuwabara's house, Yusuke and Shizuru debated who would have to make the popcorn to watch during the tape. Kurama finally got up would have done it himself except that Yusuke complained that it would take the fun out of arguing. Ten minutes later, Shizuru came out of the kitchen with bags of popcorn. Yusuke put the tape into the TV and turned it on.
As usual, Koenma could have made it easier by explaining it in person, but between Yusuke and Kurama they knew enough of the situation to get a good idea of what Koenma forgot to mention.
"So?" Yusuke asked. He was on the floor looking pointedly at Kurama.
"So what, Yusuke?"
"So do you know where this Club W is? You're the only one here who's been in Makai."
"Actually, Yusuke, you have been as well."
"Missions don't count," interjected Kuwabara. "We weren't sightseeing or looking at scenery or buildings and stuff."
"Yeah, we were kinda busy fighting…"
"You have a point. I'm pretty sure where the club is, but I'll check again. How soon do you want to go?"
"I guess it depends on how important this is," said Kuwabara. "It sounds like this is just a weird, corrupt guy, but he's been that way for a while, right? A bit longer won't hurt. Did Koenma say we have to do this right away?"
"He said that we wouldn't have Hiei, which would slow us down since none of us has a jagan. Did he say how long Hiei would be gone, Yusuke?"
"He said that Hiei's been helping the ferry girls at a massacre in China. I don't know how long it would take to ferry all those souls… It can't be longer than a week, so he's probably expecting us to be done by then. How long will it take you to find out where the club is, Kurama?"
"If I use my plants to send a message that far, we might get an answer by tomorrow night. We could leave in two days."
"Wait, what are we going to do if we don't find out where it is?"
"I know the general area, so we'll just have to search for it."
"Hey, guys, I might not know you too well, but isn't this way more planning than you normally do?" asked Shizuru, who was sitting in the chair next to the TV. "I mean, I can see Kurama planning all this, but you two are more… impulsive."
"I would have said reckless…" added Kurama
"Hey! We come up with something before we get there!"
"Kuwabara, I don't think your sister is talking about the sort of plan that involves 'Kill that guy there!'"
"But this is the first time Koenma is leaving us on our own. Before, he's given us a way in that's nearby or a name to look for. This time we have somebody's alias and the name of a club. We don't even get Hiei."
"Good point, Yusuke, but this is also one of the first times that Ningenkai hasn't been threatened. They're after Reikai, specifically us. I guess it's not as serious."
Kuwabara was indignant. "Hey! Don't we mean anything?"
"Guess not, baby bro."
"Not compared to all of Ningenkai, anyway," added Kurama.
Yusuke summed up the situation: "So we go to Makai, but we don't know where this guy is. You have an idea based on your contact, but it's tentative. He'll be in the nicer areas of the larger cities. We don't get Hiei unless he finishes up in China before we're done. Since we don't have much information, we'll take a while. He's been picking off Tantei, so first priority is to bring him to Reikai alive, but dead is better than nothing. That right, Kurama?"
"Sounds good to me. From what I've heard, it's said that Mr. W is quite often seen in the north. He hasn't been seen recently, but there are several accounts over the past month that show him heading north-east. There is a large city in the area, so we should start there. I'll try to get something more recent before we leave."
The boys discussed the mission a while longer until it was time for Kurama to go home. Shiori would want him for dinner and he still had to get the message out asking for details on Club W and its owner. Since Atsuko would most likely be out drinking tonight, Yusuke stayed and talked some more, even offering to contribute some money to the pizza Shizuru was going to order. He had come across a young boy in the arcade who had been more than happy to share his money.
When Shizuru got back with the pizza, Yusuke and Kuwabara were playing video games, as usual. If Shizuru didn't know what they were capable of, she wouldn't trust them to take care of the world. The world wouldn't really need saving until Yusuke got his driver's license. She figured she could trust Kazuma with a car eventually, but Yusuke seemed like one of those people you really couldn't picture ten years later with a steady job and a wife and kids, let alone a car. She could see Kazuma all grown up for sure. Kurama had been 'all grown up' a very long time ago. Then again, Hiei was old too, but he wasn't very mature. Maybe she was seeing him in the wrong company. Yusuke could make anyone frustrated enough to act like they were eight. Sometimes he even flustered Kurama.
Yusuke ended up going home very late. His mother had been brought home drunk again, but this time the police officers had waited around just to talk to him. Yusuke groaned. Everyone was on his case for the vandalism thing, weren't they? Nobody would believe that he was innocent! Given his track record, Yusuke wasn't too surprised. If he hadn't been with himself all day, he wouldn't believe a word he said either. He had been there, though. They should believe him! He could prove it! With himself as witness… Right. They'd think he was crazy. If he added that the prince of Hell didn't believe him either, they wouldn't wait for a relative to commit him to an institution; they'd pack him off themselves. Joy. Yusuke just loved police, especially the way they listened to everything you didn't say, except when it would have been helpful.
Inside, Atsuko was flirting with a young police officer. His (much) older partner sighed. Getting through to her was useless, but that delinquent had to come home soon. Job or not, this was getting boring. Twenty years ago, it would have been him who was fending off the drunken women. Now they hardly glanced his way. They'd sing lovingly to a barstool before they'd talk with him. His partner (blast it all!) wasn't grateful for his youth.
The younger officer was confused. His partner had been glaring at him all day, especially since he was being… petted by this woman they'd brought home. He figured that his senior was angry because he wasn't handling the situation correctly. He tried asking her kindly to move a bit farther over, please, and not to cling, especially there. He tried to patiently explain why his shirt should, in fact, remain on, and he even moved away a few feet, but his superior officer's glare only deepened. What was wrong with these people?
Atsuko was confused as well. The cute young man who'd come home with her didn't seem to understand her! Seeing how well-muscled he was reminded her of Yusuke, who was…where? Atsuko couldn't remember if he was supposed to be here or not or even if he really was still alive. Her grip relaxed on the young officer's shirt, and he stepped aside quickly. Unfortunately, Atsuko was still attached to his shirt, so she came plowing into him. They fell over together, and Atsuko had enough sense of self-preservation left to put out her arm. This left her elbow over the officer's face, which left his nose a broken, bloody mess.
Yusuke walked up to the doorway still sulking to himself. At least a mission would get him out of the house for a while. Maybe Yukina would check on Atsuko every few days. Heck, she'd probably love to do something to help. She might even be able to get Atsuko to stop drinking altogether with those pleading eyes. You just couldn't refuse her anything when she looked at you like that. Maybe getting Atsuko to stop drinking would be a bit too optimistic. Maybe she'd just drink less. At least she'd promise to…
