Roses and Regrets

Roses and Regrets

Chapter 07

It was late afternoon when Yusuke and the others got back to the temple. Keiko was on her cell phone. "Yes mother. We are fine. I'm sorry I didn't call to tell you. No it wasn't as bad as the tv news made it sound. Yes, I guess Yusuke was a hero. Kuwabara too. Beth fainted. I guess it brought back bad memories of Uncle Paul's death. Yes, that's a good idea. No, Genkai won't mind. She already suggested it. I was about to call and tell you when you called me. I will. Goodbye mother." She snapped her phone shut with a sigh.

Yusuke gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Your mother?" "Yes. It's all over the news. She was worried." "We've got Koenma getting us some information on Beth's nightmares. Hopefully we can find some answers. How is she?" "Still sleeping. We're staying here tonight. Genkai suggested it and Mother thought it would be a good idea."

"Yeah. I think so too." He looked up to see Yukina putting plates on the table. Keiko followed the direction of his interest. "We thought you guys might be hungry when you got back." Kuwabara grinned. "I'm starved. We never got lunch." He went to help Yukina set the table.

Kurama slipped unnoticed down the hall. He pushed open the door to Beth's room. She was lying on her side. Her even breathing told him she was sleeping deeply. As the sun was beginning to set, the air had gotten a little chilly. He pulled the blanket up to cover her.

She stirred slightly and rolled to her back, her hair covering most of her face. Kurama brushed it back gently with his fingers. She nestled into his hand and made a soft noise. Almost a purr. She mumbled something he couldn't quite make out. A small smile came to her lips and he heard, "Daddy." He pulled his hand back. At least these dreams appeared to be good ones.

He closed the door softly behind him. He was not surprised to find Hiei leaning against the wall beside the door. "How is the woman?" "She is apparently having a pleasant dream about her father." "I could verify that if you like." Kurama shook his head. "We may need you to use the jagan during one of her nightmares, but there is no reason to invade her normal dreams." Hiei nodded and they walked back to the others.

When dinner was finished, Keiko and Yukina gathered up the dishes. Genkai lit her pipe. "So what did Koenma want?" Yusuke snorted. "The usual doom and gloom about demons invading the human world and we gotta stop 'em." She blew a smoke cloud at him. "Sometimes you take your missions too lightly, dimwit." "Watch it, Grandma."

Kurama chuckled. "Someone has apparently found a way to slip high powered demons past the safeguards. Purpose unknown. The Reikai has no other information except the entry point. Hiei and I will be keeping up surveillance on it for the foreseeable future. We hope to get lucky and follow one of the demons as he passes through."

Genkai blew another cloud of smoke at Yusuke. Yusuke coughed and fanned at the cloud before moving away from her. Had he been that annoying before he quit? "Well if it had been easy, Koenma wouldn't have called you." "Yeah. We're just too damn good." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Don't get cocky, dimwit. Someday it will get you killed." "Yeah. Like that's a new experience."

Later that evening, Kurama was sitting on the steps with his hands folded under his chin. Yusuke wandered out to join him. "Hiei gone?" "Yes." "I thought you were going with him." "Not tonight. He can handle the watch alone. I wanted to be here when Beth woke up. I still have questions about her dreams. "Hopefully Koenma can give us something helpful."

Koenma had just finished with the last of his paperwork. He sat back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose. Sleep sounded good. He had to be up early tomorrow. His father wanted a progress report on the demon smuggling. He'd only just put Yusuke and the team on the problem. How could his father expect a progress report when there hadn't been any progress yet?

Botan came in with a folder in her hand. "Whatever it is Botan, can wait until morning. I'm calling it a night." She fidgeted. "You might want to look at this now, sir." He sighed. If it made his assistant nervous with all she had seen, then... "Very well. Give it here." He took the folder from her and began to read. "Damn it! I should have known that nothing to do with Yusuke is ever simple. Are you sure this is correct?" She nodded. "Yes sir. I double checked it myself."

He tossed the folder onto his desk. "I'm going to get some sleep before I spring this on them. And then figure out how the hell I'm going to keep them on their assignment when I know they will want to make this a priority." "Shouldn't we tell them now? This could be important." "WE will tell them nothing. I will tell them tomorrow as promised." She opened her mouth to say more. "No. Now go home." He softened the order by saying, "You need to get some sleep too. Yusuke will want your help in this matter."

To be continued….