Chapter 10

Koenma's eyes scoured the room as he turned over Ren's words, the challenge Ren posed as well as how best to deal with the current predicament (or as he called it, Ren's mess) as he sucked on his dummy. While trying to think of a solution that would be favourable to Miss Haruko, Koenma couldn't help but take a moment to think about just how stressful his life was. Yes, he was aware that he was royalty and therefore was rather spoiled. He always got what he wanted when he wanted it, was waited on hand and foot and never had to lift his finger and do anything physically gruelling. However as King Enma's only son and heir, and therefore the Crown Prince of Reikai, his father had stressed upon Koenma the importance of becoming a strong, powerful, decisive and wise ruler.

It was known in certain circles of Reikai that the King and Queen Consort of Reikai had been estranged for many centuries and so another royal child was incredibly unlikely. So while King Enma's rule had never been questioned and was quite secure, it meant for Koenma that he had to be "perfect" as the only prince in Reikai. He had to ensure that should he ever spend time with the other nobility in Reikai, his mannerisms and words had to be careful and perfect. Scandals and mistakes could not be afforded by Koenma because should he make any mistakes that were known to the apparitions that populated Reikai, then it would reflect badly upon King Enma's ability to raise his son.

A part of Koenma had always believed that had his parents stayed together, had a happy and love filled marriage; they would have probably had more children. Koenma would have had some sibling to play with, spend time with. Having sibling would probably ease the pressure of being the prince a bit because he would be the prince of Reikai, just a prince of Reikai. Or maybe if his mother didn't look at his father with a certain level of contempt at times and spent more time with him and his father, then maybe family meal times wouldn't be so quiet and uncomfortable. Or maybe if his father spent more time with him, wanted to spend more time with him (other than asking for Koenma to report about his job or how his studies were progressing) he would feel like he was alone and stressed in this job.

Despite these family issues were an issue and something that would possibly take years to fix, Koenma felt that they was not as headache inducing in comparison to his job. Yes his family issues should really be addressed, but really as he got older, his parents spent less time with one another, so any feelings of animosity between the King and Queen shown to servants and guests at the palace were now quite rare. Honestly going to work was a reprieve from all of that and Koenma had been honoured when his father offered him the position of Chief Administrator of Reikai. He really was. It made him feel less like a useless and spoiled fop who thought and knew nothing of the other realms he was to one day rule. But the feelings of honour and pride faded when the stress of the job had kicked in. Often Koenma felt that his father had done nothing to prepare him for this; having to make correct and impartial judgements for everyone who dies and trying to ensure peace between Reikai, Ningenkai and Makai, all while trying to hide the presence of both Reikai and Makai from humanity.

In the grand scheme of things, Koenma knew that feelings of stress and being overwhelmed was natural since he was still rather new to it all. Even after his failure with Sensui, the biggest and possibly worst blemish on his record, his job was still manageable. However, since chosing Yusuke as the new Reikai Tantei and being giving Ren's case, Koenma's stress levels went through the roof. Koenma couldn't afford another of his detectives or his team to go rogue. While Kuwabara and Yusuke would be left alone should they successfully disappear, Kurama and Hiei would be hunted down and killed and Koenma wouldn't be trusted to choose another Spirit Detective. It would be another failure, another blemish on his record. However should he fail to "bring Ren to heel" as his father put it, it could very well mean that he would no longer be Chief Administrator because he would have failed to anticipate Ren's actions, incapable of dealing with forces like Ren. It could call into question Koenma's ability to judge spirits and maintain Reikai.

King Enma had never made it a secret just how much of a danger he considered Ren to be by keeping him on ice, incarnated but couldn't be executed, but never really told anyone just why Ren was kept on ice other than the fact that he was too dangerous to be released or executed. Knowing this and having the stress of his job and Ren's challenge of his authority made Koenma wonder, rather bitterly, if this case was a test from his father, to see if he truly was capable of the job. Part of Koenma felt as though his father didn't expect him to be capable of his job and Ren was sent as an example for that, a lesson from the King of Reikai.

Taking a deep breath and shoving aside his bitterness towards his father, Koenma scolded himself for thinking so much about it, telling himself to not show weakness in front of Hana Haruko and Ren. Despite telling himself to think solely of what to do and nothing else, Koenma could still feel everyone's eyes on him, waiting for his judgement of this case and Ren's felt the heaviest.

The weight of his knowing gaze made Koenma want to squirm in his seat. He hadn't believed Ren's earlier claim to Sousuke Haruko, that he could weigh and judge the worth of someone, of their soul just by looking at them. But now, feeling Ren's gaze, Koenma began to believe it. Koenma dared to glance at Ren and felt his body tense at Ren's penetrating stare. It was as if Ren was gauging his strength of will and leadership, weighing and calculating his worth and judging him. Koenma's hands tightened and he bit down on the inside of his check to concentrate on what really mattered, how best to proceed with Hana Haruko's case?

As Koenma considered what he could do, he admitted to himself, in the comfort in his own mind, that there weren't many he could think of and of the options he could think of, he didn't particularly find them to be good options. Koenma pursed his lips as he began to question his options, trying to find a way to possibly convince Hana that trusting Yusuke and the others was best for her. This was despite Yusuke and Kuwabara being rather brash and not being the best at understanding how best to act around girls without scaring them and Hiei being well…Hiei. While Koenma was left in an endless loop of questions and trying to make his options appear more appealing to everyone, including himself, he thought he could hear Ren's voice in his head, taunting him and his possible decisions.

"What will you do now?" 'Ren's' voice whispered. 'What can you do now?'

'I have different options to choose from.' Koenma thought back curtly.

"But are those options in Miss Hana's best interest?"

'Of course.' Came Koenma's immediate thought. 'I wouldn't decide something that didn't take Miss Haruko's best interests into consideration.'

"But is it really in Miss Hana's best interests, or have you convinced yourself that the best interests for Reikai, yourself and Miss Hana are one and the same?" 'Ren's' voice replied. "Would you force your will, Reikai's will upon her when it has the potential to harm her?"

'Of course not!' Koenma thought back hotly, offended that 'Ren' would think that he would do such a thing. 'I, no, Reikai would never do anything to needlessly harm innocents regardless of who or what they are!'

"The Reikai you know doesn't appear to anyway."

"What?" Koenma asked 'Ren' in confusion. 'What are you-'

"But what would you do if you found a way to enforce Reikai's will without losing Miss Haruko's tenuous trust all while you let her choose what she thinks is best for her?" 'Ren's' voice asked Koenma halting his confusion.

"You want her to trust you, trust Reikai don't you?" 'Ren's' softly asked Koenma. His whispered words like a seductive hiss. Koenma had remembered his father's warning about Ren, that his words could sway a person with ease, lead a righteous person to sin. "You want her to believe that Reikai is more than capable of protecting her, don't you?"

Koenma twitched as he listened to 'Ren's' words, half-heartedly trying to ignore Ren as he voiced Koenma's wishes, what Koenma wanted to do.

"You can do all this you know." 'Ren' said to him. "You can let Miss Haruka decide what she believes is best for her while you do what is actually best for her."

Koenma was starting to become frustrated by Ren's taunting voice telling him what he already knew and then making him listen to thoughts that he didn't want to think about and now he was telling him that he could do both to protect and help Hana Haruko all while not actually telling him how he could do it.

"And how could I do that? What do you actually mean Ren?" Koenma asked aloud in frustration.

After such a long and slightly awkward silence in the office, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Bota and Hana had all been startled by Koenma's sudden and frustrated question. It was clear that Koenma wasn't answering Ren's earlier question, but they weren't quite sure just what Koenma was saying.

"Um…Ren hasn't said anything." Yusuke told Koenma a little uncomfortably. Yusuke, despite being aware that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, was still quite aware of certain things, not a lot but his awareness did perk it's head up when he needed it to…most of the time. In this case Yusuke, despite his teasing was aware that a job with the title Chief Administrator for all of Reikai had to be stressful and annoying and would lead to Koenma not getting much time out of the office. Honestly Yusuke was worried that Koenma was starting to lose it.

"Are you alright Koenma sir?" Botan asked the prince in concern.

"Yes, I'm fine." Koenma replied reassuringly as he thought over Ren's words, and eying the Sacred Spirit suspiciously. Ren's expression hadn't changed that indiscernible look in his eyes, and the upturned corners of his lips.

Once Koenma ignored the fact that Ren may or may not have spoken to him in his mind, Koenma began to turn Ren's words over in his head, thinking about the logic bhind some of his words, the reasoning behind Ren's suggestion about what he could do. Koenma was aware that Ren could be trying to sabotage him and, to an extent, Reikai, but Koenma ignored that for the moment as he reasoned with himself. Koenma began wondering what if he did what Ren had implied/suggested. What if he did and it worked?

As Koenma began mumbling slightly around his dummy and thinking up a plan, Kurama watched Ren and Koenma carefully. Kurama had watched the scene unfold, scrutinising Ren's actions and the stress and tension in Koenma as it slowly dissipated. It was clear to Kurama, and he was sure that it was clear to the others, the difference in authority and power between Ren and Koenma and although Koenma appeared calmer now, more in control of the situation, it was obvious to Kurama just who of the two was the one who had the upper hand and authority in this situation.

Koenma had been and still was tense and appeared hesitant, unsure what he should do, didn't know what to do. This uncertainty and hesitance made Koenma appear to have less authority, power and influence than his position actually means he has.

Ren on the other hand had remained calm and collected and although Koenma was the one with the title and official position, just by using a few choice words, Ren was able to be in complete control of the situation. To an outsider, in fact to most, if not almost everyone in this room, it would appear that Ren had who exuded power and authority was challenging Koenma. But Kurama didn't believe that Ren was challenging Koenma's authority. While it did appear as a challenge on the surface, to Kurama, it looked more like Ren was trying to educate Koenma, nudging him towards the solution he wanted but couldn't think of on his own.

However this belief led to Kurama to the question: What does Ren gain from this?

Even if Ren had just challenged Koenma, he would have gained nothing other than an opportunity to make an empty power play since Reikai was more than aware of what Ren was capable of and the dangers of him being free, as he was now, to do as he pleases. Seeing as Ren had nothing to gain, Kurama began to wonder just what Ren was thinking and planning. Educating Koenma just didn't fit into the mental profile Kurama had made for Ren. Doing so would be out of character for him. Ren has demonstrated, if the case with the Saint Beasts and the Makai insects and the conditions he had set with Koenma, that unless there was something for him to gain or benefit from, Ren wouldn't lift a finger to help. Since Ren didn't and doesn't just help on a whim, especially not Reikai, why was Ren doing this? Just what exactly was he planning?

Everyone waited for Koenma to speak and tell them their next assignment and since Koenma was carefully mulling everything, his plan over and since half of the room (Botan, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei) weren't the most patient people in the world (some more than others), Yusuke and Kuwabara started grumbling to each other and Botan about how long it was taking while Hiei silently huffed. Yusuke was just moaning at how it was wasting his precious free time and Kuwabara was adamantly saying that all of this was Ren's fault. Botan on the other hand was scolding the two of them, arguing about how Koenma's job was difficult and that decisions such as these actually take much longer than they think.

Hearing this, Yusuke just none committedly mumbled, "I guess. At least we've got a reason not to go to school now and Keiko isn't gonna nag at us for it."

"You got that right." Kuwabara mumbled in agreement as Koenma sat up a little straighter having finally thought of a suitable solution for the situation.

Looking at Hana, Koenma cleared his troat a little before speaking calmly, confidently, but also kindly.

"Miss Haruko," Koenma began carefully. "What do you want?"

"Oh…er…" Hana mumbled in a little confusion.

"What I mean is what would you like Reikai to do for you?" Koenma asked her, rephrasing his question.

Hana began nibbling on her bottom lip in thought, her brows furrowed as her hands played with the hem of her shirt.

"I don't know." Hana admitted after a few minutes. "I haven't really thought about it."

"That's alright." Koenma told her reassuringly. "Take as much time you need to think it over."

Hana nodded thankfully as Ren walked over and leaned against the wall near Hiei, having apparently grown bored of the situation. While he was leaning on the wall, Yusuke thought he saw the top of Ren's hood moved by itself, but was convinced that he was seeing things, until he saw Ren's hood move again by itself.

Seeing…something move under Ren's hood was far more…interesting, so Yusuke tapped (hit) Kuwabara's arm until he too was focused on the fascinating, also freaky sight of something moving on top of Ren's head and underneath his hood. Noticing that Yusuke and Kuwabara were staring intently at him, Ren looked at Yusuke and Kuwabara with a raised eyebrow, silently asking why they were staring at him. It wasn't until the…thing under Ren's head moved, so that a very noticeable lump was protruding from Ren's head.

"What the hell is that?!" Yusuke and Kuwabara shouted, blurting out their surprise at the quick movement from the lump on Ren's head.

"What is what?" Ren sighed a little impatiently.

"What is that thing on your head?!" Yusuke shouted even louder. Ren's eyes narrowed slightly as he reached into his head and gently pulled out Miffy-Chan and cradling her in the crook of her arm, stroking her soft white ears.

Seeing the cute and fluffy animal Botan squealed loudly and bounded over to get a better look at Miffy-Chan, startling the snowball shaped rabbit, making her huddle deeper into Ren's arms and stomach area for protection. Ren frowned at Botan for startling Miffy-Chan as he gently petted and comforted the quivering and whimpering rabbit in his arms.

"Do you have to go everywhere with that thing?" Yusuke asked, scoffing at Ren.

"Do you have to bring a team with you to help you do your job for you?" Ren retorted quickly, making Yusuke scowl at him.

Hana watched the exchange, and began to think about what Koenma said as well as just what she knew about the Reikai Tantei. Even though Hana had met Ren first, she barely knew any of them and although none of them had done anything to harm her (aside from Ren killing her brother and thus leaving her without someone to take care of her), Hana found Ren to be the one she could say she trusted the most because the rest of the Reikai Tantei scared her. Yusuke Urameshi, who she thought looked like a thug greaser, and his friend Kuwabara were loud and scary, not to mention the fact that they always seemed to be arguing with each other and everyone else as well. Botan, seemed nice enough, but she was, or at least she seemed to be to Hana, a bit too eager to be her friend. Part of Hana figured that Botan was just very friendly, but after living with her brother and meeting the people Sousuke had brought home, she was wary of overly friendly people. Kurama seemed nice, genuinely nice and didn't scare her, but the one standing near Ren, Hiei Hana recalled, scared her. He was too quiet and didn't seem very nice. Hana decided that Ren, after watching him gently care for the rabbit in his arms, and despite killing her big brother and his body guards, had been kind to her, had been considerate. Ren had been nice, seemed genuinely nice like Kurama, and he was honest, telling her and her brother why he was there, what he thought about himself (not that she believed that Ren was actually that bad of a person) and he made her feel safe, like nothing would be able to hurt her. It was a feeling that Hana hadn't felt in quite some time ever since her parents died.

Pulling herself away from these thought, Hana thought about what Koenma was asking her. It sounded like such a simple question. What did she want? When she had been trapped by her brother in the house (mansion) she had been able to answer it easily. She wanted to be free from her brother but now that she was free from Sousuke and his tyranny, she didn't know what she wanted to do, what she should do. She was all alone now without anyone to care about or want her. Again she could feel the icy fear form in her abdomen, but she tried her best to push that feeling down and furiously wiped her teary eyes, biting her bottom lip, feeling thankful for the pain that helped her focus on Koenma's question.

Koenma had wanted some of his team to care and look after her while he tries to find her relatives, hadn't he? Ren had said that Reikai would look after her, and if he works for them, surely that would mean he trusts Reikai, right? If Ren trusts Reikai, then should she, could she trust Reikai? Part of her said that yes, she could because her saviour trusted them, but Hana pushed down that childish voice. No, Hana decided, she couldn't fully trust Reikai because how did she know if they would turn out like her brother had? The only one she could trust, if tentatively was Ren.

Again, Hana asked herself what she wanted. She wanted to feel safe, wanted someone to care about her. Ren made her feel safe and she sort of trusted him. She wanted him to protect her, at least until Koenma found her relatives anyway.

Looking up at Koenma and taking a deep calming breath, Hana's eyes flicked over to Ren before speaking.

"Um, Your Highness, I would like-I want one of the members of your detective team to act as my guardian while you look for my family." Hana told Koenma calmly, her previous emotions of fear bred from uncertainty had been washed away once she had made her decision and realised what she wanted.

"And who would you like to protect you? Or would you like me to assign you a protector?" Koenma asked Hana, a little surprised by Hana's maturity.

"I want Ren to protect me." Hana replied.

Hearing this, Koenma was both pleased and displeased by Hana's decision. On one hand if Ren agreed to this, then Ren would be taking (some) responsibility for what he had done. On the other hand, Koenma didn't trust Ren at all, and couldn't guarantee that Ren would actually accept the assignment; furthermore, he had hoped that Hana would choose Yusuke or, better yet, Kurama who Koenma knew for certain would not do anything to harm Hana, and would do everything in his power to protect her.

"Ren, this will be your next assignment, should you accept." Koenma said to Ren, his eyebrow twitching when Ren didn't even look up from petting his rabbit. "You will act as Hana Haruko's guardian, protector and companion until Reikai locates and contacts Miss Haruko's relatives and guardians. Will you accept this assignment?"

Ren slowly looked up at Koenms emotionlessly, apparently in disinterest as he considered the situation. Ren could always refuse and say no, and doing so would mean that he could go back to Genkai's so he could continue to read that tome. However if he did say no, then it would simply fall upon the rest of the Reikai Tantei to protect her, Kurama and Hiei appeared to be competent enough to do that, Yusuke and Kuwabara on the other hand…their competence outside of a fight still remained to be seen. Now that Ren thought about it, he had heard something of interest about the Haruko's and he could use his time acting as the 'guard dog' would mean more than enough time to do some digging. Plus agreeing would mean that Miss Haruko would trust Reikai, or at least trust Koenma and his judgement. Ren idly wondered if that would be enough to make him want to accept, what was essentially a babysitting job.

Seeing that Ren was taking so long (a few minutes) to consider the situation, Koenma couldn't help but sneer at him. 'What will you do now, Sacred Spirit?' Koenma sneered at Ren, feeling a slight malicious joy at seeing Ren at such a crossroads (in Koenma mind).

Kuwabara didn't think that Ren would even bother considering to accept the assignment/case, and was mostly sure that Ren wasn't going to accept. In comparison to Hiei and Kurama, not that Kuwabara knew either of the two personally, Hiei and Kurama was trusted by himself, Yusuke, Botan and Koenma. They may not like Hiei very much, and Kuwabra doubted that many people liked Hiei, but the fact was that Hiei and Kurama didn't set off his tickle feeling like Ren did. Ren seemed to have a weird aura about him that Kuwabara did not like. It felt like there was something lurking under Ren's skin, waiting to get out. Kuwabara wasn't sure what it was if it was good or evil, and wasn't sure if he even wanted to know.

After a few more moments of consideration, Ren turned to Hana, the corners of his lips upturned slightly as he formally bowed to Hana (Hiei and Kurama noted that Ren refused to show Hana his neck, so this bow wasn't a sign of submission, just a façade of formality).

"Miss Haruko, allow me to formally introduce myself as Ren, Sacred Spirit and the most recent addition to the Reikai Tantei." Ren said formally and courteously as he straightened up. "I will do my best to protect you during this time as your temporary guardian. Of course, I will need to inform my housemate and technical landlady, and ask for her permission to house you at her temple compound."

Haba hastily returned the bow with a small smile and a slight blush, saying that she hoped he would take care of her. Hana's smile growing as Ren introduced her to his Miffy-Chan, who looked up at Hana from the crook of Ren's elbow with one dark blue eye. The others looked on in shock and slight disbelief by Ren's decision. Kuwabara had been so sure that Ren wasn't going to accept, Hiei had been the same because he thought that such a task would be considered by Ren to be below his notice or care. Yusuke muttered about how Ren could turn up the charm when he wanted to, especially with that 'silver tongue' of his. Kurama's eye had narrowed slightly when he heard Ren introduce himself as a Master of Darkness, keeping his calm and not letting his thoughts show on his face.

Koenma blinked in surprise and cleared his throat before dismissing the three of them, including Miffy-Chan, telling Ren to watch over Hana. Just as the three of them turned to leave Botan suddenly had a moment of realisation that Hana wouldn't have any spare clothes to change into and it was highly unlikely that Genkai would have anything that would fit Hana. Nearly jumping on the spot, she loudly volunteered to go with Ren and Hana, saying that she would help Ren get Hana comfortable and situated in Genkai's compound, half running over to Ren and Hana when Koenma agreed with her.

Once the four of them had left Koenma's office, Koenma looked to the remaining members of the Reikai Tantei and beckoned them closer.

"The four of you have another case." Koenma announced much to the boys' surprise.

"What are you babbling about?" Hiei said curtly, glowering at Koenma in impatience and anger.

"I will only say this once, so pay attention." Koenma began seriously placed his his arms on his desk, leaning forward and holding his hands as he looked at his team. Hearing this, Yusuke and Kuwabara perked up, focusing on Koenma's words. "As you may already know, Reikai doesn't know the full specifics of Ren's job, other than the high possibility that it has something to do with the human underworld."

"Well, yeah we kinda figured since that Sousuke guy looked like some hotshot in some mafia." Yusuke quipped. "What about it?"

"Well, if he's workin' for guys like Sousuke, that makes him a bad guy, right? Just like he told Hana?" Kuwabara said, his eyes narrowed, his brows knitting together as he thought. "I mean, doesn't that just make him a hypocrite? He says that he's qualified to judge people and their souls, when he's no better than people like Sousuke."

"Anyway, can he even "see" souls when they're in a body and the person ain't dead?" Yusuke asked scratching his head. "Hey, Kurama can people actually do that 'cause if they can, that'd make 'em even weirder than Kuwabara."

Hearing Yusuke and Kuwabara's babble (valid and understandable questions), Hiei scoffed, looking to the side muttering about how Yusuke and Kuwabara were just children. Although, in Hiei's eyes (and in comparison to how many years they had lived) they really were children, naïve and foolish in their youth (not that Hiei's seen 100 years yet). Yusuke and Kuwabara bristled at Hiei's mutters ready to argue with the short demon, however fate, by the way of Kurama, intervened saying that whether Ren could ee souls or judge them did not matter at the moment. This seemed to appease them for now (they decided to ask again later, or find the answers themselves) and focused once more on Koenma.

"Now that you are listening, I will debrief you on your next case." Koenma began. "The four of you know first-hand, or have had a taste, of how…unpredictable Ren can be and paired with the knowledge, or suspicion that Ren is working for the human underworld, I need the four of you to watch Ren and if you need to, protect Hana Haruko from Ren."

"From Ren?" Yusuke and Kuwabara exclaimed in surprise.

"Why would we need to do that?" Yusuke asked incredulously. "Ren doesn't look like the type to hit girls."

Kuwabara agreed with Yusuke on this. Despite his reservations towards Ren and whatever it was he stood for, Ren didn't strike him as a person who would just attack an innocent girl like Hana. Yeah, Hiei had said about how Ren had killed before, but the image of a crazed killer that Hiei had proposed (imagined in Kuwabara's mind anyway) didn't quite fit the person he met. That being said, he wouldn't be that surprised if he did (he would still be surprised, not that he'd admit that to himself.).

Yusuke, despite not being able to envision Ren hitting a girl, let alone Hana, also wanted to see Ren in a fight. Preferably against himself, or Hiei or Kurama, or both. That sounded like a great idea to Yusuke, that and he wanted to ask how Ren was able to rip out a person's beating heart and rip off a giant demon's head. Yusuke had to admit that that was some Mortal Kombat finishing move shit right there.

Kurama pursed his lips as he thought over this case and could see that their case was Koenma's way of exerting some kind of attempt to control Ren. If Kurama was brutally honest (not that he wasn't always brutally honest about serious things like this) he doubted such a plan would work, and he was almost certain that their combined power would be incapable should they even be so deluded as to attempt to bring Ren to heel as if he were some mindless beast.

Hiei, like Kurama knew that such plans to "bring Ren to heel" would ultimately fail. Hiei understood that Ren, like Kurama acted and appeared to be "domesticated"; however Hiei also knew that underneath both their veneers of civility, polite curtesy, Ren and Kurama were still the same as they were once before when they were both demons, unsullied by human blood wild, cunning and violent. Although, Hiei would admit to himself that Kurama had been tamed by his human mother and so was not completely the same as he once was. Either way Hiei knew such plans were pointless, but he would play along (not that he or Kurama had much of a choice) if only to see how it would all play out.

All four members were silent, which was shocking considering who half of them were, and Koenma took their collective silence as acceptance of this case (not that they, sans Kuwabara had a choice in the matter.).