"You're Amon-Shinpi?!" Koenma yelled, pointing a small finger at the cold eyed girl. "How is this possible?"
"We've all asked that but she refused to speak about it until we were here," Kurama lounged in an arm chair while Hiei and Yusuke leaned against a wall. The pile of goods they'd retrieved sat beside the large desk of the toddler god's work station. Kuwabara took the other chair, leaving Iruni to stand alone in the center of attention.
"You were supposed to be keeping me informed!" the child shrieked.
"Calm down," Iruni demanded softly. "Do not blame them, they all just found out. This is my burden and mine alone."
"I see," he sat back more relaxed and watched her. "So why don't you begin?"
"That's a broad questions Prince Koenma," Botan saw the girl's hesitation and turned to her boss with imploring eyes. "Maybe you should narrow it down. She doesn't seem to know where to start."
"Why not start with how you are able to use that sword?" Hiei suggested, eyeing the blade. It alone wielded a strong energy, and he wanted to know why. "You said only a Takani could wield it?"
"Oh yes, this," she lifted the sword with happy eyes that swelled with pride. "This is the Takani family sword, crafted centuries ago and passed through the family from first born male to first born male."
"Which explains nothing, because you aren't a boy," Yusuke pointed out.
"Try to keep up," she told him, turning to the big screen. "Koenma can you bring up a picture of Lord Amon-Shinpi?"
"Sure thing," he pressed a button and the eye screen was filled with the image of a red headed warrior dressed in white. The only facial features visible were large blue eyes, the nose and mouth were both covered by a metal mask. Iruni stared at the picture for a second then turned back to them.
"Really? No one sees the resemblance?" she asked, and they all crowded forward, staring at the picture with their noses nearly pressed to the screen.
"I guess I can see it," Botan blinked before squinting.
"Yes, a little in the hair," Kuwabara nodded.
"You morons, she means the eyes. The overall size of the body." Hiei pulled away from the group and studied the human in front of him.
"Thank god someone has a brain worth saving," she sighed. "Look, I'm Amon-Shinpi incarnate you dolts. As in, my soul is Amon-Shinpi but my body is Iruni Mikamoto. This shouldn't be too hard, you've faced this concept before."
"Well yeah, but we thought Kurama was special," Yusuke eyed the red headed demon at his side then the girl. "I guess saying I expected you to be taller would be rude huh?"
"I should cut your shins off," she rolled her eyes. "I've always been this tall. This body isn't much different than my old form at all actually. The hair is really the only change."
"I see, you do look very alike," Kurama glanced back at the picture. "But this picture has you looking very masculine."
"Because I wanted to be masculine," she explained coolly. "Look, in Makai it was hard enough keeping the family from war without the addition of not having a son. So I decided to take up the role."
"But you have boobs," Yusuke pointed out before getting smacked in the head by Botan.
"Don't be such a pig!" she yelled.
"I had them then too." Iruni shrugged. "I got very good at wrapping my torso."
"So you flattened yourself out?" he guessed.
"Please tell me thinking isn't part of his job," she turned to Koenma with pleading eyes. He stifled a laugh then turned serious.
"Why would you do this?" he asked instead of laughing.
"Because my father and mother wouldn't be around forever and if I was their daughter I'd be weak. If I was their son I'd be taken more seriously." She explained. "When Kin Jiro, my younger brother, was born I considered reverting to the daughter figure, but my parents were killed before I got the chance."
"You had to stay this way to keep him safe," Kurama nodded.
"Exactly. Kin was my life, he was the son I'd never have so I treated him as such. He became my prodigy, my priority and my only connection until I took in some students." She told them seriously. "My brother was my life and I would have died for him twice if I'd been given the choice. But I wasn't. He died, and that's something I still crave revenge for."
"What do you mean, son you'd never have?" Koenma asked curiously.
"I couldn't very well get married or mate and have a child if I was supposed to be male," Iruni pointed out awkwardly.
"Who killed him?" Kuwabara asked as a picture of young, bright blue eyed dark headed boy, Amon-Shinpi and a girl who looked just like him except with gold eyes stood together somberly. "Who are they?"
"The boy is my brother, the gold eyed girl my sister Kuya. She married a human later on, and that's the second half of my explanation about the sword. The Mikamoto family are descendents of my blood line, born of my sister's children. It wasn't an accident I found this child," sighing Iruni rubbed her neck. This next part was her least favorite. "And Hiro is the one who killed him. He killed my whole village."
"Why?" Botan asked, leaning forward. Iruni raised her eyebrow dangerously, making the ferry girl retract her steps.
"Because he couldn't get what he wanted," she sneered. "It's a bitter story."
"Might as well spit it out," Hiei warned her, hand on his sword. "Or we'll force it out of you."
"Your attitude is as outrageous as you hair," she insulted bitterly. Talking about Hiro always did this to her, angered her, frustrated her. Just as their last meeting had.
"Please," Botan asked and the girl weakened.
"Fine. It's an awful story though and it puts me in a bad mood." She warned. Everyone nodded and she went on. "After I gained control of our territory when my father and mother died, I spent most of my time raising and training Kin Jiro and Kuya. I became the parent to them both, despite me and Kuya being twins in age. She was the dutiful daughter that I had never been.
"Well, when Kin Jiro got older I took on some apprentices. See I was quite the fighter, the warrior, but when Kin came of age I was going to hand the land over to him and pretty much do whatever the hell I wanted to. So every year he got more and more involved in ruling and that gave me more and more time. The only batch I ever took was of five boys. The only one who survived was Hiro.
"I remember the smallest died the first day because he hadn't listened. His blood is on my hands, but if he'd paid attention it wouldn't have happened. I claim no fault in that. Well, as time went on I pushed harder, and finally Hiro was the last who could take it. So he was the one I chose.
"I taught him everything he knows, from harnessing his energy to controlling his temper."
"Which is why he's so formidable," Koenma blanched. "Should I thank you for that now or later?"
"Thank me when he's dead." She hissed. "We got too close to each other and I told him the secret only my siblings knew. He used it against me. It broke me apart and I kicked him out of my life and my land. He came back with a vengeance and stripped me of everything. I got what I deserved for such weakness."
"You two were in love," Kurama surmised, nodding slightly.
"I was in love with him," she corrected, "he was in love with my power. It was a mistake that I'll keep with me forever, to remind me why trusting isn't supposed to be in my vocabulary."
"That isn't the whole story," Koenma pressed, waving a thick files of papers at her. "After all, you did jump into a human body and there are countless crimes against you before your brother died."
"Damn," she gave him a half smile, "I was hoping you weren't paying attention."
"Get on with it," he demanded and she shrugged.
"Well, when my father was in charge and I was training, I caused trouble. Loads of trouble." She smiled at some of the memories flooding her mind, enjoying the experiences over. "I challenged anyone I could and I'd fight hard and to the death. Few walked away because I was the best. I stole what I really wanted, if I wanted it. I made alliances with anyone who I didn't want to fight, for fear of losing, and I was just in summary a holy terror.
"But I wasn't a senseless killer Koenma. I didn't walk around looking for someone to kill. All I wanted was a worthy fight with someone who wasn't my father or my mother. I wanted a challenge that never came. But I'm guessing one of the high crimes against me is the aiding and training Hiro?"
"It is now," the baby prince narrowed his eyes. "And massacring a whole village of humans. And stealing that damn sword from its protector. And hijacking a human body. And crossing the barrier between Human and Demon world."
"Okay, well I trained Hiro because he was the strongest fighter I'd ever met. He learned fast and adapted even faster, it was like fighting myself sometimes. That's what drew me to him. He had all this power, and he just needed to learn how to utilize it. I taught him, even though electricity isn't in my bag of tricks, I helped him harness it into his specialty.
"So we trained, for years we stayed together and we fought together and it was all about getting stronger and doing what it took to be the best we could. I mean, we both breached our limits so many times in those years, looking back, I'm shocked we didn't trip any sensors. Seriously. There was this one fight were Hiro called in the power of lightning and literally disintegrated our opponent. I mean, it left him useless for days, but the sheer shock of energy was enough to make me proud.
"Well, Hiro wanted to learn some of my more powerful techniques and I wanted to know he wasn't going to be brash before teaching him. Then he went and killed some human child who'd somehow or another crossed over to our plane and I realized he was too volatile and I refused to continue his training. He hadn't demonstrated the grace, honor or restraint necessary to mimic me. I sent him away heavy hearted and it bit me in the ass.
"He came back, and we fought outside my land, not too far from the village but far enough. It was an earth quaking battle. Lasted for hours. He'd attack and I'd dodge, and vice versa, like some beautifully morbid dance we'd created. Then I heard my brother yelling for me and I dropped my guard. That's when Hiro performed his then incomplete but still powerful Binding Net of Lightning technique. I remember screaming his name in anger because I'd taught him that skill. Then my world went black, and I woke to a body of singed fleshed, and a destroyed home.
"I was just happy Kuya had already crossed over to Human World to be with her husband and children. Well, that and she was already dead, had been for a while too, killed for being a demon. So I awoke as Amon-Shinpi Demon Lord and last Takani."
"Wow, how horrible that you've lost everyone!" Botan squealed. "You poor darling!"
"Please don't pity me, it makes me itch," Iruni shook her head, letting her tied back black hair sway down her back. "No, it wasn't fun, but it gave me time. I was a little over four hundred years old when this happened. My parents had been dead for two hundred years, my sister for seventy. It was just how things worked and I decided dwelling on revenge would be my most productive avenue."
"But you disappeared right after the fire," Kurama offered. "What happened between then and now? That was almost seventy years ago."
"Yeah, it was." She nodded. "Well I was injured, and weak, and had nowhere to go so I traveled. I traveled a lot. Crossed all over Makai, trying to avoid any major power if I could, because with my reputation and my injuries I knew I wouldn't have survived a single scrimmage. Finally I came up with a sort of half assed plan and I started to put it into action."
"And that's when I met Amon-Shinpi for the first time, because the demon needed a human's favor," Genkai walked into the crowded room and spoke with her gravelly voice, looking at Koenma.
"I was wondering when you'd figure it out," Iruni stared.
"Yukina freaked out about you going with Hiei and the group after your fight and told me what I'd already suspected." Genkai shrugged. "I'm surprised though, I remember even when you were weak you had more of a power radiating from you than you do now. I didn't even notice."
"I learned to suppress that," Iruni nodded. "Well, Master Genkai was my next stop. I crossed to Human World and met her, asking her to remember me if she could and then I gave her something very special to me."
"Her sword," Genkai nodded, eyeing the scabbard in question. "I didn't get it at first, because she asked me to hide it in my temple. Then she said one day she'd be back to reclaim it, of course she looked like a he then, but whatever. I did as she asked because she promised to repay however I wanted."
"A promise I'll keep," Iruni reaffirmed. "I always keep my promises."
"Alright, so when did you break in and retrieve it?" Koenma asked.
"When I was twelve," she shrugged. "I just wanted to have it in my hands again, and then Shikari stole it."
"Wouldn't your parents notice a sword?" Yusuke asked, then thought of his mom and her inability to see what he was doing most of the time. "Well, maybe not…"
"My mother, a single woman, died that same year. Right before I retrieved it actually. I've been alone since," Iruni stared at the weapon in her hands sadly, as if seeing the image of her dead mother was its fault. "She was a good person and as much as I didn't want to, I loved her."
"How did she die?" Kurama asked, reminded of Shiori and her time in the hospital. "My mother nearly died a few years ago herself, and I'm very sorry you had to deal with that alone."
"Yeah," she just stared. "Car accident."
"I'm very sorry," he offered and she looked up at him with a puzzled look on her face.
"Why? It's not your problem." She blinked, head tilted to the side.
"Well, that doesn't mean I want you to feel pain," he watched her accept that then stare at him. She wasn't sure if he was lying or not, that was obvious, and she really didn't understand the concept of someone else caring about what happened to her. She must've been a lone for a very long time. Or betrayed completely enough to damage all her future relationships.
"At any rate, she's dead, and I got my sword. I would've told Genkai, but I wasn't ready to repay her. I wasn't strong enough." Iruni watched them all with blue eyes, carefully assessing each of them. They all had similar looks of sorrow and determination on their faces, as if they could right her wrongs. She would have scoffed if she hadn't been so curious about it. "About the barrier thing and the human body, that's simple. I had to do it, and I didn't cause any harm. The spirit of Iruni Mikamoto was supplemented with Amon-Shinpi, not eradicated. Makes it almost like having two souls, but really, it's just one. Always one."
"So if you turn back into Amon-Shinpi what will happen?" Yusuke asked. "Because Youko referred to Shuichi as a separate person and when he came around, Shuichi didn't exist anymore."
"Same deal," she told him. "If I ever get the chance to revert, it'll just be Amon-Shinpi in her own skin again. But for now it's both of us."
"Interesting," Botan put her finger to her chin and looked up in thought. "So all this time we thought so many demons were you, you were in school with one of our assets."
"Notice how many of them didn't make it," Iruni pointed out dangerously, studying her sword again. "Like I said, I don't like impersonators, especially bad ones. Those weaklings taking my name was an insult and I dealt with it as much as I could, as fast as I could, without drawing attention. I've managed to not even use my energy in over two years in the presence of others."
"You killed them?" Kuwabara fell backwards at that thought. "But you're so tiny, and thin, and well, a girl."
"Want me to demonstrate?" she offered with an evil grin.
"No, no that's alright," he laughed nervously, a bead of sweat appearing on the side of his forehead. "I believe you."
"Good," she narrowed her eyes.
"So what are you?" Koenma leant forward when he asked, and everyone else around her mimicked the movement except the closed eyed demon against the wall. He didn't seem in the least bit interested. "I mean, there's no real record of your breed of demon."
"You can go screw yourself if you want that information. I've kept that safe for over three hundred years, I'm certainly not revealing it to a full house," she snapped at him dangerously. "Send me to prison I don't really care."
"It can't be that important," he pressed.
"Is it worth your life?" she asked seriously, straightening into a stoic faced stance that was as dangerous as unyielding.
"Well of course not!" he moved backwards away from her intimidation and she nodded.
"Then don't ask about it," she argued.
"Wait, how old was Genkai when you met her?" Yusuke asked, looking from the old woman to the young demon.
"It was the year I won the Dark Tournament," Genkai clarified for him. "Before we went for it."
"By the way, amazing job with him," Iruni gestured to Yusuke, "He's an amazing fighter, and I can see a lot of you in his style."
"The dimwit has a style all of his own, I'm just trying to get him to realize his full potential."
"It's a challenge I bet, with that hard head."
"You have no idea."
"Hn. You'd be surprised."
"I'm right here damn it!" Yusuke was on his feet shaking his fist at his mentor.
"Can we get back on topic here?" Koenma requested aggravated with his team.
"We're done aren't we? I mean, what else do you want to know?" Iruni furrowed her brow, trying to come up with more details.
"After you met Genkai what happened?" he sighed, pointing her in the direction he wanted her to go.
"Oh. Well, I returned to Makai. You know, there are a lot of holes in that barrier I think, because it wasn't too hard to jump through. Of course it took me a few years, and in that time on this plane I found my descendents and my plan deepened." She stood thoughtful for a second before continuing. "I went back, and I guess I got knocked off course because I ended up with the koorimes. That's when I met Yukina for the first time. There were others but I don't remember them. The green haired ice maiden was the only one that stuck really because she was the sweetest. She was so tiny and she realized that I was weak and offered to take me to the other women because she figured they could help me."
"Really?" Hiei blinked open his eyes wide, crimson irises staring at her harshly. "Just like that?"
"Well no, it took some convincing, but then finally one of the elders decided to give me this tea that eased my pain a bit." She smiled softly. "Not the injuries, the internal stuff. It was very nice to not feel burdened for a few days."
"Uh huh," Kuwabara nodded.
"Then I hunted down Hiro." She eyed Koenma seriously, a fire in those dark blues warning him this topic was not her favorite and that she'd only say it once. "It was the showdown of a lifetime. Me, him, and army, a village. I destroyed all of them that I could, wiping out the entire village and half the wave of warriors. Then it was me and Hiro and I could hardly stand. It was his goal to wear me out first, to make me use as much energy as possible."
"Why kill the villagers?" he asked.
"Because it was me or them and I always win," she stated simply. "Look, don't get me wrong, my loyalties are iron-tight once given. But it takes a long time and an act of god to get that far. I had no connection to those casualties. I didn't care. I still don't. You try to kill me and you die, that's how I fight," she explained.
"What happened when you two clashed?" Kurama thought back to some of his own battles. To his old allies.
"I was weak, I didn't have my sword and I was having to use energy just to stay on my feet." She shook her head angrily. "What a coward. I regret ever knowing him, ever teaching him. No real fighter works that way. He waited until everyone else was down or dead to face me himself, acting cocky as all hell when he did.
"'What's the matter Ichi?' he said. 'Kin got your tongue?' Oh god I'd wanted to rip his tongue out through his throat. We fought hard, harder than I'd ever had to fight for anything and then he shocked me, sending me to my knees. Then his damn net of electro-energy strangled me and I collapsed. I got up after that, once, and we fought again, hand to hand. He pushed his hand through my chest and bam.
"I jumped into the just recognized body of Iruni Mikamoto six months before her mother gave birth. It's funny, but apparently I was timed perfectly for the first ultrasound. But anyways, that's how I got here, that's why, that's Hiro, and do not ever ask me any of this again."
"Wow," the group collectively let out, making Iruni's eyebrows twitch.
"So what now?" Botan turned to Koenma. "I mean, what do we do?"
"Well, I need time to decide how to proceed and since I can't very well let her going walking around, send her to a hold in Spirit Jail. Then when I decide what I'm going to do, we'll go get her for sentencing." Koenma nodded as a blue ogre walked in with a stack of papers up to his nose. "Ogre! Can't this wait? I'm about to sentence Amon-Shinpi!"
"Is he here?" the blue man looked around, confused. Iruni's mouth moved at the corners as she tried to suppress a smile.
"By the way, that's another good reason why I chose to pretend to be a man," she pointed to the ogre with a grin that wide open and friendly. "Makes it a lot easier to confuse people and swoop in under the radar."
"That's because they have no reason to be afraid," Hiei pointed out.
"When I want your opinion I'll beat it out of you," she shot back, still smiling. "Alright, so who's going to escort the most wanted man down to the holding block? Kuwabara? Kurama? Yusuke?"
"We have our own guards, and their coming now. I need to speak to the team. Botan, Hiei, can you go with her? Supervision purposes," Koenma looked between the ferry girl with blue hair and the short man. She bounced to the doors and he shrugged off the wall, sluggishly letting out a sigh.
"As if I get a choice," he muttered walking to Iruni. "So, do we call you Iruni or Amon-Shinpi?"
"Don't really care, just as long as you don't let my secret out," she shrugged. "Not that it's much of a secret now anyways."
"Yeah, yeah, just don't get yourself killed until we can find out how to deal with you," Yusuke waved at her as she was escorted out, three demons on each side and Botan and Hiei right behind her. "Man, she's one badass little girl."
"I heard that," she shouted from outside and he rubbed the back of his neck with a covering smile.
"Her friends seem to call her Ichi," Kurama noted. "Maybe one day that'll be our title for her."
"That's what I was afraid of," Koenma sat back in his chair as if under a great deal of pressure. He looked out at them all over his pacifier and flitted his eyes around the room. "I have no idea what to do with her. She doesn't seem like a danger, but she's capable of a great deal of things. If she can access her powers that it."
"It's highly likely she can, after all, she slew the imposter with no problem and she's already very quick." Kurama commented looking at the overseer of Human and Spirit Worlds. "But she seems harmless enough towards us."
"The 'us' part is what bothers me," the child rubbed his eyes and blinked. "What if she's unstable? She could go power crazy any moment and kill everyone. We might be dealing with another Sensui or Toguro."
"Nah, I don't think so," Kuwabara stared at the door after the girl. "She's not like them. She has a real fighter spirit and she's dangerous and all, but listen to how she describes people. She likes to be honorable and strong, but she's not blood thirsty. That guy in the woods really pissed her off with his killing spree."
"That's a good point," Kurama acknowledge, sounding only mildly surprised. "And I've known her all my school career. She's never stepped out of line."
"You're all missing the big picture," Genkai voiced, her eyes closed.
"And what's that grandma?" Yusuke asked tensely.
"It's not how she is now, but what she might become that's the issue. She's still young and maybe powerless, but if she reverted to her old ways she could be the reckoning force to end all reckoning forces. The demon I dealt with was weak, but still influential and strong willed." Genkai stated, staring at them in turn. "What she needs is a cause to side with."
"What do you suggest?" Koenma asked from behind his desk, leaning on it with his hands splayed wide.
"I say give her some community service," the old woman told him. "Let me handle Iruni or Amon-Shinpi or whatever the hell she wants to be called. She can live in the temple and I'll train with her and see what's going on in that head of hers. If she can't keep herself controlled after one month, you can do whatever you like."
"You like her," Yusuke accused, a bit bitterly.
"She has the ability to be great just like you. She can be one of our greatest allies. Forgive me for being the one who thinks ahead," she swirled around and faced the nineteen year old. "One of us should."
"Oh great, another immaturity pun, you old bat. Get some new material," he scoffed, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I use what you give me," she retorted quickly.
"You're all forgetting that she doesn't trust us," the deep voice from the corner made them realize Hiei had already returned. "But the psychic is right. She can be of some help, if she's willing."
"You of all people want her to stay?" Yusuke asked dumbly.
"Man shorty, what's gotten into you?" Kuwabara asked standing to close to the fire demon. Hiei's red eyes rolled to him and he dropped away.
"Like I've said before, I prefer powerful allies to powerful enemies."
"So it's settled." Koenma took out his gavel and a stamp for a piece of paper in front of him. It had appeared like magic. "She'll stay here for the night, just in case, but her sentence will be to live under Genkai for one month and to do as she says as a probation, then if she can handle that we'll throw her on community service duty for a few years and have her help you guys."
"Sounds good," Yusuke punched the air. "Oh man, I can't wait for her to meet Keiko. That's going to be rich!"
"We'll come back tomorrow," Kurama told the child prince in his smooth voice. "To be at her sentencing and to take her back."
"Fine with me," Koenma stated, taking more papers out and stamping them without reading what they say. He looked up when he realized no one had left. "What?"
"What if this goes bad?" Yusuke was the first to ask, cautiously trying to guard himself from enthusiasm.
"Then you have to handle it," he signed a little dismally. "I'm sorry but it's part of your job."
"Yeah, that's what I was worried about," the dark headed teen let out a deep breath. After a moment of silent contemplation he brightened up with a wide grin. "No worries though because that shrimp can't help but accept a challenge I think and she likes Kurama so we shouldn't have any issues. Alright, no more moping. Let's get home and we'll be back tomorrow."
"Wow, he's excited," Kurama said blankly as Yusuke walked out of the room still yelling about tomorrow. "I wasn't expecting that."
"That's the dimwit for you, always being spontaneous," Genkai shrugged her tiny shoulders. "I admit I'm interesting in how this is going to go."
"I have a feeling," Kuwabara started, "that we're going to be surprised."
"Hn. You always think that," Hiei pointed out.
"Yeah, well, I'm probably right." The carrot top stated simply. "Don't be so sour Hiei, you'll always be our favorite little demonic pip squeak."
"I hate you."
"Yeah, love you too buddy."
