Chapter 10

I had called mom on my way home and, needless to say, she was mad. Not you broke your curfew -kind of mad, more like you burned the house down –kind of mad... not that I've ever done that. Still, it had to be bad and I wondered if it was too late to turn back. Maybe I could go to Mitarai's for the night? ...Bad idea; he was in trouble too. I'd just have to put up with this like a proper adult. Taking a deep breath, I opened the door and went in, walking straight in to the kitchen where I knew my mom would be.

"...Hi mom" was all I said. I just couldn't come up with anything better or any excuses. Her back was to the door as she chopped vegetables, but she turned to look my way when I spoke.

"Finally home I see" she said, putting the knife down before turning to me fully, hands on her hips "And what do you have to say to defend yourself?"

"Well we got stuck in the basement-"I told, starting the story I had created together with Mitarai so that our stories would match. And I think I would've been able to follow the script perfectly had mom not interrupted me: "You already told me that in the phone. What I want to know is how did you get stuck in that basement?"

"We went to get some ingredients for dinner and Mitarai forgot to secure the heavy door" I said "It closed and we couldn't open it from the inside, so we were stuck."

"And it took three people?" mom asked. Oops, we hadn't thought about that. I need to think of something and quick.

"Fine" I muttered "We were actually playing hide and seek. I didn't know how hard the door would be to open and closed it, getting all three of us stuck."

Please fall for it.

"Hide and seek? In your age?"

"Yes"

Mom stared at me for a moment, clearly looking for signs that would tell if I was lying or not. I almost cracked, but right before it she sighed.

"Alright, I believe you" she said, smiling "I'm actually pretty relieved; I thought you two would've gotten stuck in the basement while doing something indecent."

Indecent? ...Oh hell!

"Mom!" I yelled, a slight blush making its way to my face "I've told you we're not like that! Besides, there were three of us in that basement!"

Mom rolled her eyes, saying: "Well, when your father and I were young we-"

"Aaah!" I interrupted her before covering my ears. Gosh "I really, really don't need to know!"

"Just messing with you honey" mom said with a laugh "But in all seriousness: the only reason I didn't inform the police was because I heard from Kiyoshi's mom that he wasn't home either, so we figured out you two were together somewhere."

"Does dad think that too?" I asked immediately. If he was thinking of something like that then I'd be in big trouble... which I shouldn't be since I'm already 18, soon turning 19 and am almost an adult but my dad was old fashioned.

"He doesn't know anything; by "we" I meant myself and Mrs. Mitarai" thank god "And we can keep it that way if nothing indecent happened."

"It didn't" I insisted, and while she probably believed me I had a feeling I'd be hearing about this for a while. Great, just great.

XXXXX

The next day I went directly to Mitarai's place after school, for I still had some questions. A lot of questions, actually; I felt like I didn't know him at all! I mean I know I didn't really have the right to be offended about being left in the dark about all this stuff since I did the same to him, but still! He just makes me so angry!

He was in bed, but managed to sit up without any help this time, even if he did seem to have some difficulties with it.

"So how'd you explain your condition to your parents?" I asked him after closing the door.

"I told them that I work as an assistant for a detective from time to time and said there was an accident with some unknown drug at work" he told me. I raised an eyebrow, but his face didn't change. I suppose he really did use that excuse, but how on earth did his parents buy that!?

"You actually got them to believe that?"

"I know an actual detective who's covering for me" he told, but I'm not sure if I should believe it. He probably saw my disbelief and added: "And that detective is friends with Botan and Koenma."

Okay, so maybe he did use that excuse, but that led to another question: "How come your parents let you work with a detective? Even if they don't know about demons they're sure to think it's dangerous."

"Well, that's..." he paused like he didn't want to say more, but I'd have none of it. Not anymore "It's what? Start talking."

He was uneasy, I could tell. Well, he usually was when I interrogated him, but this time there seemed to be something more to it. Then, he said: "It's not... an easy subject to talk about. Maybe I'll tell you some other time."

"Ri~ght" I said sarcastically. He glared at me after that, not liking my attitude apparently. Well, I didn't like his, either.

"Fine, I'll tell you what you want to know if you tell me what I want to know" he said suddenly, catching me completely off guard. There was definitely some kind of catch here; it couldn't be that easy. Well, if one does not play one cannot win.

"Then what is it that you want to know?"

"I want to know what happened that night" what night? "Back when you were standing on the bridge in high school."

My mind was blank for a good while before I realized what he meant. I mean, it was clear from the first second, but I just had a hard time believing that he'd really mean that night. Why would he want to know about it anyway? He hadn't asked anything since the night itself, he hadn't even brought it up. Why the sudden interest? Unless...

"You're only asking that because you know I won't answer" I concluded, glaring at him "That way you won't feel guilty about keeping secrets even though you know you're being unreasonable."

"How could I know if I'm being unreasonable or not?" he asked me "You never told me what happened, so how could I know how off limits the subject is?"

Is he kidding me?

"Shouldn't the fact that I haven't talked about it be enough of a hint?" I asked him, not bothering to try and control my anger. If he wasn't in such a bad condition I might actually punch him.

"And why do you think I don't want to talk about certain things?" Mitarai asked, lying back down "What makes you think that the things I am hiding are easier to talk about than the things you hide?"

I was about to yell at him, but stopped myself at the last second. I hadn't told him what happened that night, but he wasn't stupid. He must have put the pieces of what he did know together and gotten some kind of idea, probably close to the truth. But what did I know about what he was hiding? I know that he was bullied before he started high school, but not any details. Actually, I don't think I know anything about him aside from that fact that happened to him before we started going to the same school. While I know the basic methods of junior high bullying, there was nothing to guarantee that he hadn't been trough something worse. And whatever it was it seemed to have something to do with all the things he kept hiding. That would explain why he had insisted to stay quiet about it for so long.

"Takanishi?"

"Sorry" I said "I shouldn't press you about matters I know nothing about."

In the end, I knew nothing about him. I had thought about it before too, but in the recent days the idea had gotten clearer and clearer. Were we even friends?

"Apology accepted" Mitarai said, still lying down "And I'm sorry too; for bringing it up. I just didn't know how else to get the point across."

"Yeah, I get it" I told him, pulling a chair from under his table and sitting down "It was my fault."

"So we're good?"

"Yeah" I confirmed, and we fell in to more or less comfortable silence. I sat in his chair, wondering what I should say. I wanted to ask more about spirit energy, demons and such, but would that be counted as prying in to his personal business again? I don't want to anger him, but… ah, to hell with it, I'll try and see what happens!

"…So, is there something you can tell me about spirit energy or demons that I don't already know?" I asked. He was silent for a moment and since I couldn't see his face I feared I pissed him off again, but eventually he spoke: "The less you know the safer you are."

Ignorance is bliss, huh? I get that, but I've never been the kind of person to accept that, even though I know there have been times that I should have. I bit my lip, wondering how I should go about this to make him talk. Backing out is not an option unless Mitarai gets so angry that he'll kick me out of the room.

"But I suppose you aren't the kind of person to just drop something once it catches your attention" he said with a sigh, getting my full attention. Too bad I still couldn't see his face "If I don't tell you you'll just find someone else who will, won't you?"

"That's the plan" I said with a grin. Well, that or continue subtly trying to get the information out of him "You know me too well."

Far, far better than I knew him.

"Not really, you're just predictable" ouch. Well, at least I knew one thing about the blond: sometimes he could be a real asshole "What do you want me to start with?"

"Umm…" I suppose I hadn't thought things that far. What would be most important? It probably wouldn't hurt to know a thing or two about demons just in case, but at the moment information about spirit energy seemed to be more useful "How exactly does spirit energy work? I mean, I know I somehow make it work by concentrating on… something but… uuh…"

I definitely sounded like an idiot here. I could make it work, but I had no idea how it worked. I should've asked Miss Ushiro more about that.

"I'm not sure myself" Mitarai told, sitting up again "Every human has spirit energy, but only those with spirit awareness can use it, some more than the others. Sometimes spirit awareness runs in the family, and in those cases, it's usually very strong… come to think of it, have you noticed anything that would hint that your parents can use it? Your spirit energy is pretty strong after all."

I blinked, not believing my ears. This stuff was hereditary? That thought had never even crossed my mind. Could my parents know something?

"No" I finally said before he could say that I was spacing out again "But the thought never occurred to me, so it's not like I kept an eye out for things like that. I'll keep it in mind from now on."

A thought occurred to me, and I realized that it might be a forbidden topic only after I had said it: "What about your parents?"

Thankfully, Mitarai didn't seem to mind.

"They have no spirit awareness" he simply said "Believe me, if they did I would've noticed it by now."

As much as I wanted to ask about it, something told me that that was one of the forbidden topics… maybe. Maybe not, but I wasn't going to risk it.

"So what else do you know?" I asked, wanting to continue where we left off. Mitarai thought for a moment, either wondering where exactly he left off or how to put what he knew in to words. My guess was on the later.

"Spirit energy is strongly connected on emotions" he said "When feeling a strong emotion, like anger or happiness, it's easier to bring out, but there is a setback."

"A setback?"

"While it's easier to bring out the energy while being influenced by strong emotions, it is also harder to control it that way. That's why it's best not to use emotions to bring it forward despite it being easier, but just learn to focus." I averted my gaze when he told this. Oops, it seems I've made a rookie mistake. "Of course, everyone lose control sometimes and act on their emotions, but the best way is to separate them from the use of spirit energy entirely… or at the very least, it's the safest way."

Safest way, huh? Okay, no more using anger to bring out my spirit energy… but that might take some time to get used to. Suddenly Mitarai smirked, that annoying know it all -look rising to his face.

"That's exactly what you've been doing, isn't it?" he asked, not that he really needed to. He knew he was right. I stuck my tongue out at him, saying: "Oh shut up, it was just a beginner's mistake. Bet you did something similar when you first started."

He flinched, which was when I realized that that was the wrong thing to say. I suppose I can't ask him how he found out about spirit energy now, either.

"…Sorry. Sensitive topic?"

"It's okay" he said with a sigh, looking down "You couldn't have known."

Exactly, I couldn't have. I don't even know him, not really. It was pretty depressing… better change the topic before either of us gets too distracted. Hopefully this subject isn't off limits: "So what kind of things can one do with spirit energy? I get a power boost, but surely there are some other kind of powers, too, right?"

"Yes, many kinds" Mitarai told me "I know people with very simple powers like yours, but I also know some with very complicated ones. Some can even do many different things, but they are usually either very talented or have gone through a lot of training."

So, my power is simple? I looked down at my hands, feeling a bit disappointed… but it made sense that simply concentrating the energy on one spot wasn't the hardest thing. Looking at the blond again, I asked him: "So what can you do?"

He seemed to have been expecting this question, yet he took a while before answering: "Well, it's complicated. I'm one of the people with an ability called "Territory" that came to existence some years back. Those with that particular ability can more or less control things inside their own territory… but there are lot of different ones; it's rather hard to explain."

Naw, really? Like I didn't figure that part out from his explanation; I didn't understand the half of it. And if there really were many different ways to use this "territory power" then that didn't really even answer my question.

"Again: what can you do? That didn't really answer the question" I wonder if he was trying to avoid answering me for some reason.

"It really is hard to explain" Mitarai said. Then, I saw his face lit up, meaning he probably got an idea "How about I just show you?"

My first thought was "Hell yeah!" but if I think about it rationally, was it really a good idea? Was it safe? As I told my concern to him, he laughed and assured it was completely safe.

"I have this perfectly under control" he added. I wonder if he was trying to cease my worries or was simply bragging… maybe a bit of both?

"Just bring me a pair of scissors"

"Scissors?" I repeated, confused. Did he need scissors to activate his power? "Why?"

He shrugged, saying: "A knife would work too, but I have scissors somewhere back there on the desk, so…"

He trailed off, and I took it as a hint to just find what he asked for. I'd just have to see for myself. Luckily, he kept his desk pretty tidy and I found an old pair of scissors among some pens in no time. They seemed a bit dull, but maybe they'd work.

As I turned around to go give him the scissors, I noticed that he was holding a glass of water he had taken from his bedside table. Noticing my gaze, he simply said: "I need this, too."

I raised an eyebrow, but brought him what he wanted anyway. It seems he needs two things in order for his power to work: water and something sharp. Maybe he wasn't so good after all since he needed things to help him unlike I do?

…Yeah, way to make yourself feel better Yuri. You still suck.

Mitarai took the scissors looking at them with a frown. Were they too dull after all? …Apparently not since he sliced a small wound on his finger with them, letting a drop of blood to fall in the glass.

"Watch" he said. Wondering what he had thought I had been doing until then, I focused my attention on the glass. As the blood mixed with water I swear I saw something move in it. I glanced at Mitarai, who was staring at the glass with a frown. Looking back, my eyes widened as I saw the water rising, but I shouldn't have been surprised. Not about that, I mean. The fact that the water suddenly literally jumped out of the glass was definitely more surprising. I took a step back, not taking my eyes off of the little water creature that was now walking on Mitarai's bed and leaving behind small, wet spots. The thing had a shape of a human… sort of. It had a head attached to a torso, as well as two legs which it walked with and two hands. But there were no fingers or toes; it's limbs were kind of like Winnie the Pooh´s.

…Now it stopped walking and is just standing there. Mitarai did say this was completely safe, but I wonder if it was safe to touch it. I mean it looked harmless enough, but… am I just coming up with excuses here? Surely Mitarai would've said something if it was dangerous to touch it. That or he'll stop me from doing so once he notices. Yep, it was fine to try.

I went closer, slowly extending my hand towards the thing, but it didn't move. I suppose it won't bite… not that it has a mouth in the first place. I moved my hand closer, ending up poking it with one finger. It sunk in, but nothing else happened. As I pulled my finger out I noted it was slightly harder than if I'd just take it out of class of water, but I might have just imagined it as well. Deciding to try again, I attempted to touch it with my whole hand again, but as I did so it collapsed, turning back in to water and falling on the bed. Oops.

"Looks like I broke it" I said, smiling sheepishly as I hoped that my friend wouldn't get too angry with me "Sorry."

When the blond didn't answer I looked up, seeing him hunched over and breathing heavily. Something was wrong.

"Mitarai?" I asked. When he didn't answer I reached my hand over to him, but before I could even touch him he went slack, falling off the bed with a thud.

"MITARAI!"

A.N: I seem to have trouble sticking with the 2000 words -rule… well, no one probably minds as long as I keep going over it instead of under it. But then again if people tend to skip author's notes, which many probably do, they don't know about it in the first place, so no harm done? Lol.