"Some days you're the dog, some days you're the hydrant."
- Unknown
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The Good Dog
Chapter #14
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Sometimes Koenma just knew certain things. Perhaps it was due to his status as a demigod, or maybe he was just blessed with an uncanny instinct. Regardless, the moment George's static filled voice announced he had a visitor over the intercom, Koenma knew his day was going to be off to a very bad start.
The wide double doors of his office opened before he even had the chance to respond and the spirit prince inwardly flinched when a certain red headed detective he had been avoiding walked in. Immediately he was fixed with the fox's sharp intelligent gaze and Koenma struggled not to wilt under it while the heavy doors closed with a heavy, foreboding, thud. It was definitely going to be a bad day.
He had known this day would come, how could it not? One of Kurama's best qualities was his intellect, his ability to calculate and fit little facts together to create a whole picture. It had been only a matter of time before he would be forced into the discussion he knew was coming. Still, Koenma knew that telling the detective the truth wasn't an option in this particular scenario. Problem was, lying to someone as sharp-witted as Kurama wasn't much of a viable option either. If only Kuwabara had come in to do the interrogating...
"Ah, Kurama, it's been a while. How have you been?" Yes, that's good! Just act normal and deflect the conversation. Distract him with pleasantries. That should work right? At the very least it should at least stall the inevitable.
Kurama's eyes narrowed in displeasure, mouth tightening in what was clearly an unamused frown. "Yes it has. It seems that every appointment I scheduled to meet with you has been either canceled or rescheduled." The avatar's head tilted, gaze sharp and unyielding. "It's strange though, I don't recall you ever having an appointment policy."
Damn it, he had hoped he wouldn't notice that. So much for stalling. "Ah yes, well, things have been so hectic around here - you know, paperwork and mission assignments and," he searched his desk for inspiration but it was barren other than a blank document that he had taken the liberty of doodling on, "stuff."
When Kurama's expression failed to lose its serrated edge Koenma felt a touch of panic grip his heart. Palms sweating, he slid the doodled page closer to him as if it were something of importance. He had to get the detective out of his office, there were too many burning questions in his gaze and too much suspicion in his voice for any discussion today to go smoothly. "In fact, as you can see, I have a very important document that I need to go over, so perhaps we could catch up at another time?"
The detective's frown only deepened. "I saw Keiko this morning."
Crap, he wasn't leaving. Why wasn't he leaving. "Well that's nice. Perhaps we should all get together another day, you know, when I'm not incredibly busy -"
Kurama ignored him, taking a couple steps closer to his boss' oversized desk. "Apparently Yusuke never told her he was leaving," his gaze hardened, "that's a bit odd - don't you think?"
"Odd?" The spirit ruler echoed, feeling sweat beginning to collect at the rim of his cap. "Yes I suppose so, but you know Yusuke!" he chimed, awkwardly, "He can be rather inconsiderate with those kind of things."
By the stony look that clouded over the detective's face, Koenma knew he wasn't buying it. "You owe us all an explanation, Keiko especially."
A drop of sweat ran down his temple and past his ear. "I already told you, Yusuke is on an undercover mission."
"A mission that he didn't breath a word to Keiko about and has lasted over a month," Kurama deadpanned.
"Because it's top secret!" Koenma wailed, pulling his blue and pink cap over his eyes. Damn it, he needed to get Kurama out of there - he was asking too many questions that he couldn't give the answers to.
Suddenly, like an angel from Heaven, George's voice materialized over the intercom. "Uh, Koenma sir? You have another visitor."
Immediately the child ruler jumped on the excuse to get the nosy detective out of his office. He held the intercoms red button down as he replied back earnestly. "Yes! Of course! Please send, uh -" Crap, who else would be stopping by his office?
George's voice saved him, "Er, it's an old lady sir."
Koenma blinked. Old lady?
An elderly woman's voice floated through the speaker after a short scuffling sound and George's meager, muted protests. "Junior, dear, you really ought to teach your lackeys some respect." In the background he could hear her muted scolding, "Really now, didn't your mother ever tell you not to go around calling women old? It's quite rude."
Koenma's blood froze. Only one person in the Spirit World had taken a liking to calling him Junior and that happened to be the one person he really didn't want to see right now. His eyes slid over the the stewing kitsune already in the room.
"Junior, I'm waiting." The disembodied voice twilled. "Don't make me break down the doors."
Damn it. Damn it, damn it, damn it! This whole thing was going completely, utterly wrong. He forced out the words "come in" from behind gritted teeth and swiveled his chair back to Kurama. If there was any good thing about his new visitor's arrival it was that it might be the only thing to get Kurama out of his office. He tried his best to sound sincerely sorry, but he wasn't quite convinced that he nailed the performance. "Gosh darn it, I guess we will have to continue this conversation some other time!" If the avatar's expression was anything to go by, Koenma could assume his acting needed some work. Still, he made a shooing motion towards the door. "Go on then! Don't worry about calling me, I'll call you!"
A low growl rumbled in the red head's throat, "Damn it Koenma, Keiko thinks Yusuke abandoned her! Do you really want their broken relationship on your conscience?"
Koenma faltered. He didn't want to break anything - had no intention of breaking anything. He just wanted to do his part to save the world. He didn't want anyone getting hurt, whether it be physically or emotionally. He was just doing what he had to do. He was just playing his meager part in the whole drama. He had expected the suspicion that would arise from Yusuke missing, and even the quiet distrust that would grow the longer he was gone, but - something in his chest twinged guiltily - he hadn't ever really considered Keiko's feelings on the matter. Their relationship had already been through so much strain, and Yusuke had only just come back from the demon world a few months ago. What if this really did ruin them?
The creak of the door opening seemed loud in the tense silence and it only seemed to increase Koenma's sudden nausea. It was then followed by the echoing clack of a wooden cane against his bamboo floors, a rhythmic reminder of how quickly his day was being shot to hell. He suppressed the shiver that ran down his spine as the woman came to a stop and gave him a knowing, wrinkled grin. "Kurama, I'm afraid I will have to speak to you about this later."
The detective looked between himself and the newcomer with distaste. "I will figure this out Koenma. Whether you give me any information or not." He stormed out, leather shoes slapping angrily against the floor as he went through the open door where he paused. Turning on his heel to face him, he gave the spirit ruler a mock bow, "Good luck with your work," he said, before silently swinging the heavy door closed. Koenma cringed. This whole mission seemed to be costing him and his team more and more.
Heedless of his growing trepidation, the old woman standing in front of his desk snorted, the sweet grand motherly voice that was heard over the intercom quickly fading. "Wow, some kitsune. He didn't even try to trick you into giving any information." She tsked, tapping her cane on the floor and recklessly tossing it onto her shoulder like a soldier would his rifle. Koenma almost wished it was; he could have asked her to shoot him with it. "What have demons come to these days?"
Koenma, feeling the not-so-sudden onslaught of a headache blooming in his right temple, dropped his head in his small hands with a groan. "Why are you here?"He paused briefly before adding, "And in that form of all things."
She waved a wrinkled hand, "Oh this old thing? This is the form I picked for that mutt of ours. I thought that he might have some reservations about tearing into an old woman's throat -"
Koenma scoffed, "You would be wrong."
She frowned, the wrinkles along her mouth deepening. "Ya, I caught onto that. I wasn't kidding about teaching your crew some manners. Or some self control for that matter. Bastard tried to maul my face today," she huffed, arms crossing over her chest. "Right in front of Kagome too. Can you imagine?"
The information was slow to sink in (he blamed the headache) but when the words finally registered Koenma's head snapped up eagerly. "Wait, you saw Yusuke today?" Seeing the elderly face nod, Koenma snapped in irritation, "For the love of - will you get out of that form already?!"
She pouted, but it turns out old women jutting out their wrinkly bottom lip only comes off as creepy. "You don't like it? Maybe if I baked you some cookies -" At Koenma's frosty glare she rolled her eyes, "Fine, fine. How about this one?" A snap of her fingers and a puff of smoke later, a tall stern faced man in a blue animal control stood where the elderly woman was. He smirked, shoving his hands in his pockets. "How about this one?"
Koenma groaned, giving up. The man would only feed on the attention if he insisted on using his true form. "Whatever. When did you see Yusuke? You made it very clear at the start of all this that we weren't to interfere -"
"Ah ah ah," the taller man chided, wagging a finger mockingly. "I said you aren't to interfere. I never said I wouldn't."
The spirit ruler scowled. "And we're just suppose to trust you to make the right decisions?" His fists landed on his desk with an angry thud, "Damn it, you're risking not only the life of my detective but the entire world!"
Instantly all amusement drained from the man's face, a dark scowl growing in its place. "Yes, because unlike you I know how this is suppose to go." When Koenma opened his mouth to argue the man snarled, mask slipping and revealing dark green eyes and clawed hands that dug deep into the wooden edge of the prince's desk. "Do you think you're the only one in danger of losing someone close to you?"
Another poof of smoke and a woman was glaring heatedly back at him. Young face, long dark hair that tumbled down past her shoulders, blue eyes rimmed with thick lashes - Koenma recognized her immediately. The fury behind her iris's made him swallow and he leaned back in his chair to put just a little more distance between them.
"This is the face of Kagome Higurashi, but all you know her as is the protector of the Shikon No Tama," her voice was soft and Koenma imagined that without the taint of malice from the man underneath she would have quiet a beautiful voice. "To me she's more. She's the bravest, most selfless person I've ever known. She took me in with open arms even after I did her wrong." Blue eyes sharpened, dull fingers still gripping the desk where claws had left puncture marks only moments before. "This is the face of the woman who raised me."
Another puff of smoke and Koenma wasn't sure whether to be relieved or concerned that the true form of his acquaintance now stood in front of him. By the way his green eyes darkened and the long auburn hair seemed to bristle, Koenma quickly determined that his change in appearance wasn't reflecting a change of heart. His eyes darted the clawed hands that were still splayed across his desk and encroaching on his personal space, noting with some relief that they had at least stopped maiming the surface of his favorite desk.
Koenma swallowed, trying to wet his painfully dry throat. "Of course, I understand - "
The kitsune scoffed, hands slowly removing themselves from the spirit ruler's property. "No. No you don't." His gaze was sharp, but seemed to lack any lingering anger. "Kagome was like a mother to me. You will never understand what it would mean to me if I lost her, and you can't even begin to imagine what five hundred years of preparation feels like, so do us both a favor and stay the fuck out of my way."
Koenma bristled. This whole mission was bogus, all the girl needed was a couple guards to keep an eye on her around the clock and she would be fine. He didn't understand how all the extra drama that Shippo had created could possibly do what a team of trained detectives couldn't. He wanted to say so, wanted to point out how this whole thing was completely idiotic, but he didn't. His father had given the kitsune full reign of the operation and had been quite insistent that Koenma follow any instructions that the fox gave him. Koenma made a point to never disobey his father unless the occasion truly called for it. He thought the mission was being handled incorrectly but, he had to admit, he didn't doubt that the mission would succeed.
So, with his pride taking a silent blow, Koenma grudgingly nodded his acceptance.
Seemingly satisfied, the young demon departed without another word - his cream colored tail twitching in aggravation behind him as he opened the door without bothering to close it behind him. Koenma watched him go, irritated at the entire situation and his place in the middle of it, when he noticed a familiar scarlet haired man leaning against George's desk and staring blatantly at him with green eyes that knew way too much. With his gut twisting in his stomach, Koenma wondered how much could possibly have been heard through those solid doors. Surely not enough for him to worry, right?
It wasn't until George scrambled to close the door with a loud echoing thud, successfully severing Kurama's knowing gaze, that Koenma realized with growing horror that he had never heard the door close when the detective left.
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Author's Note: Well, for those who haven't read the update on my profile: We got the house! We are still in the process of getting it remodeled so we can move in so that has been sucking up approximately 99.9% of my time lately. Hoping to have it in move in condition in the next few weeks.
Any of you who want to follow along for the ride and see where we are in the home renovation can do so on my blog: building castles in the air . com
And as always, thank you for your continued support! I will try to make the next chapter more timely!