Chapter 49
The sisters were waiting for Koenma to explain, but he hesitated as he had lost his nerve. He grabbed a drink from the table, opened it, quickly drank it, placed the empty can on the coffee table, and looked down as he lost himself into thought.
'Who am I kidding? I can't tell them,' thought Koenma. 'They'll hate me for not telling them sooner.'
Koenma looked back at his sisters to notice that they were getting impatient, but they forced themselves not to snap at him as they could tell that he was nervous.
"Koenma, please tell us already," said Etsu.
"Yeah, don't leave us in the dark," Kiyoko agreed.
'I've already said something about it, so I can't back down now,' thought Koenma, sighing. 'They'll drag it out of me if I don't tell them.'
"Girls, it's not easy for me to explain," Koenma sighed. "But it needs to be done."
Koenma cleared his throat.
"Do you girls remember when you came back from your training in Demon World?" asked Koenma.
"Of course," the sisters replied.
"Well, you girls didn't start getting sick until shortly after you came back," Koenma explained. "And you don't remember because your fevers were so dangerously high."
"But that doesn't explain how we caught a virus in Demon World," said Kiyoko.
"Yeah, what exactly happened?" asked Etsu.
Koenma groaned as he really didn't want to relive the awful memory, but knew he had to explain everything to them of what happened instead of half-assing it.
"You girls were supposed to get something to eat after getting cleaned up, but you went to bed instead," started Koenma.
"Hey, we hadn't slept for the past few nights prior so we were tired!" Kiyoko protested.
"Yeah, and not to mention the years of grueling training we went through!" Etsu added.
"Yes, I took that into consideration so I let you nap for a few minutes," said Koenma. "I gave you at least 20 minutes to rest up a little before going to wake up so you could eat."
"And we did eat when we were woken up," Kiyoko recalled.
"Yeah," Etsu agreed.
"Girls, that was after you were given your very first vaccination," said Koenma. "When I went to wake you from your nap, I found you shivering in fetal positions and discovered that you were both burning up."
The sisters were shocked as Koenma continued.
"I alerted the medical staff in the hospital wing and they came straight to your room," Koenma continued. "You girls woke up, but at the time, you didn't seem to be all there. You fought the medical staff, but you were too weak and your Spirit Energy was out of sorts. You were given fluids, but you weren't able to keep anything down so you were put on a drip."
The sisters were surprised and confused as they scratched their heads. They had dozens of questions running through their minds, but they decided to let Koenma finish.
"The medical staff were stumped so they had to tell our dad what was going on and had to get his permission to run some tests in which you had to be sedated for," Koenma explained. "I had to leave the room so they could start the testing and went to my office to wait for the results, but they never gave me the results. It was dad that told me later that you girls had contracted a virus from Demon World. He told me that it wasn't curable, but a vaccine was being made to subdue it and the whole ordeal was ordered to not be mentioned."
"Why wasn't it mentioned to us?" asked Kiyoko.
"Yeah, didn't anybody think we deserved to know?" asked Etsu.
"Well, you girls didn't seem to remember anything so I didn't think I should tell you, and dad didn't want you to worry about it," Koenma replied. "Botan didn't blab about it because she wasn't told about it herself."
The sisters turned from upset to angry. Koenma gulped as he prepared himself to be lashed out at.
"It's one thing to not tell us that we have an incurable illness, but to use our PTSD as an excuse to give us those vaccines is very low!" Kiyoko snapped.
"Yeah, you have no idea how terrible it makes us feel to get our hopes up thinking that our nightmares would go away to only relive our nightmares over and over!" Etsu stated. "Of course there are times they're not as bad or occur at all, but most of the time, they're pretty damn bad!"
"Girls, it wasn't my idea to use your trauma as an excuse for those vaccinations, I swear!" Koenma protested. "But I do apologize for thinking lightly of it."
The sisters just crossed their arms as they sighed angrily.
"Listen, girls, the reason why you weren't vaccinated sooner was because I didn't know where you girls were, and when we made up, I completely forgotten all about it," Koenma explained. "Since you girls seem to do so well along with all of your achievements, I tend to forget until I'm reminded to give you your vaccinations."
The sisters sighed as they knew it would be pointless to stay mad at Koenma.
"Botan should've made it to Spirit World by now, getting the vaccine," said Koenma. "Anyway, Etsu, I was told that you were suffering from extreme headaches."
"Yeah, I'm still having them a little, but they're not as grueling," said Etsu. "It was probably all of those stupid demon fans cheering so loudly or something."
"Well, they were pretty loud and annoying," Kiyoko remarked.
Koenma thought about telling his sisters that they shouldn't have gone out and about while they were sick, but decided against it as he didn't want to be bitched at.
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Botan had arrived at Spirit World and was now in the medical wing of the castle. She asked about the medical vault that contained the sisters' vaccines and was led to it without question. As expected, Captain Otake was guarding the vault but with a sour expression on his face.
"Uh, Koenma sent me to get the girls' vaccinations," said Botan. "They're very ill."
"I need proof that Koenma sent you," Captain Otake requested. "This is a serious situation and it can't be trusted with just anybody."
"Yes, I understand," said Botan.
Botan took Koenma's letter out and handed it to Captain Otake who turned over the envelope to see Koenma's personal seal stamped on it.
"It's from Koenma alright," Captain Otake verified.
Captain Otake broke the seal as he opened the envelope, took out the letter, and became alarmed when he read it. He opened the vault and prepared the vial with a couple of syringes for safe travel as he muttered to himself, too low for Botan to overhear what he was saying.
"I just don't understand why King Yama keeps avoiding the inevitable," Captain Otake muttered. "They may be his daughters, but they're dangerous to Spirit World and Living World."
'What in the world is he muttering about?' thought Botan.
When Captain Otake had the vial and syringes packed into a travel safe container, he shut the medical vault and handed the container to Botan.
"Be very careful with this and be sure not to drop it," Captain Otake cautioned. "Tell Koenma that the vaccine was strengthened."
Botan nodded in response and left back for Living World to Hanging Neck Island.
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The sisters were each drinking bottled tea as Koenma tried to convince them to eat something regardless of being told that they both weren't hungry.
"Girls, you have to eat something," Koenma insisted. "You may not feel like eating right now, but you need to eat."
The sisters were about to tell Koenma that they already ate awhile ago until Etsu dropped her bottle of tea and grabbed at her head as her grueling headache had returned. Kiyoko had instantly set her bottled tea aside as she and Koenma went to Etsu's side.
"Sorry if this sounds like a stupid question, but are you alright?" asked Kiyoko.
"No, my head feels like it's going to explode," Etsu whimpered.
"The Spirit World Tylenol should've eradicated your headache," said Koenma. "Kiyoko, did you suffer from any headaches?"
"Not lately," Kiyoko replied.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Koenma. "When was the last time you had a headache?"
"About a couple of weeks ago," Kiyoko replied. "They weren't as bad as Etsu's, though."
"This isn't good," said Koenma. "The virus is evolving."
"If the virus is evolving, I would be having them right now, too," Kiyoko pointed out.
Koenma opened his mouth to reply when Kiyoko cut him off.
"We need to give Etsu some medicine to take care of that headache," Kiyoko interrupted.
"Yes, you're right," Koenma agreed, searching his pockets. "I know I've brought some Spirit World Instant Headache Relief with me."
Sure enough, Koenma took out a bottle of Spirit World Instant Headache Relief he often used whenever he received headaches from doing his numerous amounts of paperwork. He got out a couple of pills and handed them to Kiyoko to give to Etsu.
"I'm surprised they're not the chewable kind," Kiyoko remarked.
Koenma was about to protest, but Kiyoko held up a hand to let him know to not start as she handed Etsu the medicine and something to drink. After taking the medicine, Etsu sighed in relief as her grueling headache had faded away.
"Thanks," said Etsu.
It took Koenma a second to respond as he shook the empty pill bottle upside down, tossing the it into the wastebasket afterwards.
"It's no problem," said Koenma. "You needed it more than I did."
'It's not like I'll be doing paperwork while I'm here anyway,' thought Koenma.
"Exactly when did your headache start, Etsu?" asked Koenma. "Was it the cheering demon fans that caused it?"
"No, it started when I was in the Team's suite with Yusuke and Kuwabara before going with them to see Toguro's fight," Etsu replied. "The rowdy demon fans just made it worse."
"Well, considering that your headache had returned, I still stand by my belief that the virus is evolving," said Koenma.
Kiyoko was about to reason with Koenma until Botan came into the suite without knocking.
"I've got the vaccine, Koenma," said Botan. "Cap-"
Botan was about to mention Otake until Koenma shot her a look as he knew that his sisters wouldn't accept the vaccine if they knew that Otake guarded the medical vault, Botan getting the hint.
'Oh, that's right,' thought Botan. 'The girls don't trust Captain Otake.'
"I was very careful with it," Botan continued, handing Koenma the travel case. "I was told that it was strengthened."
"Yes, I can tell," said Koenma, opening the travel case. "The color is slightly different."
The sisters didn't have a good feeling about the vaccine as they felt that something was telling them that the vaccine wasn't as it seemed, but they decided to take it anyway. After Koenma gave his sisters their vaccines he and Botan noticed that they seemed troubled.
"What's wrong, girls?" asked Botan.
"What are we supposed to tell the others?" asked Etsu.
"Yeah, telling them that we have an incurable virus just makes it seem like a bad soap opera," Kiyoko remarked. "Like: Hey, everyone, we were recently told that we have an incurable virus. But don't worry, it can be subdued by occasionally taking a vaccine, so all's good!"
Koenma didn't know whether or not to be amused by Kiyoko's remark as Botan thought about it.
"Now that you mention it, it does, doesn't it?" Botan agreed.
"It's going to bring out two reactions: acting as if it's a sick joke or freaking out," Etsu stated. "Not to mention, the whole thing's so damn cliché, it's ridiculous!"
"As cliché as it seems, it's real," said Koenma. "The best thing to do is not to tell the others so they won't be concerned."
The sisters were about to argue with Koenma about leaving the team in the dark as it didn't feel right until he snapped at them.
"Girls, their entire focus needs to be on the tournament in order to win so that means they can't know!" Koenma snapped. "And if they're told, they'll end up worrying, lose their focus, and wind up losing the tournament which will doom us all!"
"We get it already!" the sisters exclaimed.
Koenma was about to snap at his sisters for raising their voices at him until Botan stopped him. Botan whispered to him to not be so hard on his sisters as they weren't looking too well. He look at them to realize that she was right as they seemed stressed out, frustrated, and sluggish.
"I'm sorry, girls," Koenma apologized. "It's obvious that you need some rest."
The sisters wove Koenma off to let him know that it was alright as they didn't feel up to saying it themselves. They were starting to feel weird from the vaccine they had just received, feeling drowsy, nauseated, and looking pale.
"Oh dear, they look absolutely awful!" Botan exclaimed. "You two should go lie down."
The sisters nodded.
"It must be side effects from the strengthening of the vaccine," Koenma assumed. "And it's getting late anyway. Girls, do you need help getting to bed?"
"Nah, that's okay," said Kiyoko.
"We can take care of ourselves," Etsu agreed.
The sisters attempted to get up, but ended up falling down onto their knees and each had to have help from Botan and Koenma to stand up.
"What was put into that vaccine?" asked Kiyoko. "Because I don't recall feeling this bad after the other vaccinations."
"Neither do I," Etsu agreed.
"I don't know what's in it, but I'll be sure to ask dad when I get the chance," Koenma replied. "You girls will probably be able to sleep it off."
Botan went ahead and helped Etsu to her room as Koenma did the same for Kiyoko. When Etsu got to bed, she fell asleep before she hit the pillow as Botan tucked her in.
'I hope she'll be alright,' thought Botan.
Seeing that Etsu was sleeping soundly, Botan decided to see if Koenma got Kiyoko to bed alright. In Kiyoko's bedroom, Koenma had tucked Kiyoko in as she had quickly fell asleep when she got into bed.
Koenma had crossed his arms as he didn't understand why the vaccine had to be strengthened until a thought crossed his mind that it was necessary since it was possible that his sisters were becoming immune to it. However, he didn't like how it affected his sisters and was convinced that it was ordered to be put into the medical vault without testing for side effects first.
'Why would dad have the vaccine strengthened and sent to the medical vault without it being tested for side effects?' thought Koenma. 'It doesn't make sense.'
Koenma snapped out of his thoughts as he noticed the stab marks on Kiyoko's bed next to her pillow and were examining them when Botan came into the room.
"How's Etsu?" asked Koenma.
"She's fine," said Botan. "She's sleeping soundly."
"That's good," said Koenma.
"How's Kiyoko?" asked Botan. "Is she alright?"
"She's sleeping soundly, too," Koenma replied. "Did you see any attack marks on Etsu's bed by any chance?"
"No," said Botan. "Why?"
"Kiyoko has attack marks on her bed and my guess is that she had a traumatic memory dream recently," Koenma explained. "Etsu may not have had a traumatic memory dream yet, but these things are so unpredictable that they may come at any time."
Botan took a look at the attack marks on Kiyoko's bed and gasped.
"Oh dear," Botan gasped.
Koenma suddenly felt worse for making light of his sisters' PTSD as he had no clue that they were hiding most of it to themselves.
"I knew that they had nightmares from their traumatic experiences, but I didn't think it was this bad," said Koenma. "They always seem to cope with it so well, but I guess they learned to hide their trauma too well and suffer in silence."
Botan was about to ask a question, but Koenma told her that they should continue discussing it in the living room area of the suite so they won't wake Kiyoko. They quietly left Kiyoko's bedroom, shut the door behind them, and sat down in the living room area as they continued to talk.
"Why would the girls pretend that they're coping well and suffer in silence?" asked Botan. "Wouldn't it be better if they talked about it whenever their Post Traumatic Stress bothered them?"
"Maybe they didn't want to bother anybody about it," Koenma replied. "Or it could be that they didn't want anybody thinking that they're unstable and weak."
"Why would they assume that?" asked Botan. "And they wouldn't be bothering anybody."
"Botan, would you have really understood if they confided in you about it?" Koenma pointed out. "I know I just brushed it off when I first learned about it and kept brushing it off thinking it was just them being melodramatic. Not to mention, being royalty and fighting for Spirit World, they wanted to keep up with appearances since there were high expectations of them."
"Yes, but they question and argue Spirit World about a lot of things," said Botan. "They seem to disregard the high expectations sometimes."
"I never said that they're completely devoted to Spirit World and their expectations," said Koenma, suddenly thinking about his first two Spirit Detectives. "It's good that my sisters question and aren't too devoted to Spirit World. They're intelligent, open-minded, and strong willed. They know how to handle things."
"Are you alright, Koenma?" asked Botan. "You seem a little distressed."
"I was just thinking how I took my sisters for granted," Koenma replied. "I really lucked out with Yusuke when it comes to Spirit Detectives, but nobody can do a better job than my sisters."
Botan didn't know anything about Koenma's first two Spirit Detectives, but understood what he was saying how he valued his sisters.
"Oh, Koenma, why don't you tell them that?" asked Botan. "They'll appreciate it if you did."
"I would, but I don't want to make it seem that I'm guilting them back to Spirit World," Koenma replied, suddenly changing the subject. "Anyway, it's getting really late, and we need to get back to our rooms. Tomorrow is the team's next fight, and I need to talk to Yusuke about his Spirit Egg."
Botan thought Koenma's reasoning was silly, but decided not to press the matter as she agreed that it was getting late and should go back to their rooms so they could get some rest for the next day. She went ahead back to her hotel room she shared with Keiko and Shizuru. Koenma put the bags of food and drinks he brought along into the mini fridge, left a note about it on the coffee table, and left back to his suite.
