Chapter Two - A Message from Beyond
"What the hell was up with her?" Yusuke complained. He and Botan were flying over the River Styx and back to the Human World. "And what's with this paper thing she stuck on my back? Is it really going to do anything?"
"I told you that Miss Miyamoto isn't one to tolerate trouble. Though I supposed she is a bit on edge being called back to work after a long day." Botan replied, recalling Hinami running around the office earlier in the day. "As for the ofuda, it's one of her abilities as an onmyoji. It will ward away any malicious spirits and protect you from most exorcism."
"Is she really human? I mean how in the hell does a human get in a job like that? And in Spirit World, too?" Yusuke asked. It's one thing for psychics and mediums to have real powers but for humans to be working in other worlds like a crappy office job is another.
"Well, Miss Miyamoto isn't like most of your everyday psychics or mediums. She comes from a long line of onmyoji, priestesses, and monks. Her family had been serving Spirit World for hundreds of years." Botan explained. "Miss Miyamoto is considered the best onmyoji of her generation. So naturally, Lord Koenma hired her on as a Human Relations officer."
"Really? She doesn't seem like it." Yusuke stated, recalling her casual and sleepy appearance.
"Although she doesn't look like it, Miss Miyamoto is one of the hardest working people I have ever known!" Botan insisted.
The first thing Hinami did when she came home was fall face first into her bed, still dressed in day clothes and the files tossed aside on her desk. She buried herself into the pillows and took a deep breath. Finally I can go to bed. I'll just deal with that stuff tomorrow.
"My lady, at least take a bath before going to bed."
Hinami peeked from the pillow to see the shadowy silhouette of Akiko tutting at her. "Too much work." She muttered as she turned back to the comfort of her bed.
A sigh escaped from Akiko before she continued, "I will prepare your bath and have Mr. Asahi reheat your dinner." She melted away into the shadows.
"Thank you." Hinami replied, knowing that she would have heard her. As she waited, her thoughts began to linger on the case Koenma assigned to her. Does Koenma really think that kid can become the next Spirit Detective? He doesn't seem to be the type to take orders easily, much less bright enough to do actual detective work.
After reading up the information Ayame provided for her and after her brief but insightful introduction to Yusuke, she can conclude that he's the type to ignore authority and act rashly. If it was simply a revival, she would have cared less about his attitude and allowed him to choose his own fate. The fact that Koenma was considering this boy to be the potential protector of humankind was the issue for her. He may have (tried to) saved that boy from being hit by that car, but to defend mankind from demons is another. He won't survive by doing things half-heartedly.
Her eyes lingered on the files that laid on top of her desk. She sighed before letting her curiosity get the best of her, sat up and flipped through the files. The first file Ayame gave her, contained the information regarding the revival and brief observations of Yusuke's life. While the second file Koenma gave her contained a tasklist of information he wanted her to find to determine if Yusuke would be a suitable Spirit Detective. Koenma must be really pressed to find another Spirit Detective, considering it's been ten years since the last Spirit Detective retired.
Hinami's thoughts were disrupted by a knock on her door, she opened the door to only see a tray left in front of it. The tray contained curry with rice, roasted carrots, napa cabbage salad, and a bottle of fruit milk. She beamed at the food, "Thank you Mr. Asahi! It looks delicious as always." Asahi was another spirit who served her. He was one of the shyer spirits who preferred to remain out of sight but always left gifts behind or completed chores. In return Hinami always thanked him and left gifts of her own.
Work can wait after dinner, a bath, and some sleep. Hinami set the files aside, determined to rest up before another long day of work. Tomorrow, I'll check up with Urameshi and Miss Botan. Even if Koenma is determined to find the next Spirit Detective, it won't do anyone good if he stays dead. Hopefully he doesn't botch up relaying his revival to his family.
Hinami begrudgingly headed out to the city to check on Yusuke's progress. Unsurprisingly, the city was filled with life both living and dead. While it wasn't an unusual sight for Hinami, it can be tiring to ignore spirits because they had a habit of following (and pestering) people who can see them and they know when someone can see them. Not only that, it can be difficult to find a single soul among the sea of others like finding a needle in a haystack. With the ofuda tagged to Yusuke, it was easier to locate him among the many other souls.
He was hovering over a middle school, Sarayashiki Public Middle School, with Botan at his side. He doesn't seem to be the type to worry about academics, he must be following someone close to him.
"I didn't expect to find you floating around here, you look like you rather be hanging out at an arcade." Hinami commented, grabbing the attention of Yusuke and Botan. "How did last night go?"
"So you finally decide to show up? Some holy diviner you are! You didn't even tell me how to talk to them!" Yusuke complained. Despite Botan's warnings, Yusuke wasn't going to be pushed around by some cranky lady, holy diviner or not.
"To be fair, you aren't guaranteed to come back." Hinami replied. "So all this time, you can't even manage to tell your loved ones that you're coming back?"
"Hey, don't turn this on me! I DID pass the message on, no thanks to you."
Hinami tilted her head and turned her gaze to Botan floating on the side. "Thank you for making sure he made contact, Miss Botan."
"Oh, it was nothing, Miss Miyamoto!" Botan insisted. While Hinami was well known throughout the Palace of Judgement for her ruthlessness in crunch time, she is quite amicable to her co-workers.
"Please just call me Hinami and don't be so modest. It's the first time we are working together, so let's do our best to help each other out to finish this case." In a stark contrast to the attitude towards Yusuke, Hinami smiled kindly towards Botan. Yusuke could almost see the air sparkle around her and it made him cringe.
"Oh, of course! Let's do our best together! And you can just call me Botan." Together they shared an air of cheerful solidarity until Yusuke's sour expression cut in between them.
"If you're done with your girl talk, we still have a problem. My body is going to be burnt more than my mother's cooking, in a few hours if we don't do something."
"Ah, was there a problem in contacting the family?" Hinami asked, casually getting back to business.
"Ah, there was contact with a childhood friend, Yukimura Keiko. Although the message did get passed on, it seems she has some doubt in the validity of the dream." Botan explained. "I'm afraid that the twenty-four hours will end before Yusuke would have a chance to speak to her through her dreams."
"That's not too surprising, humans in general are losing their belief in the supernatural, nowadays. It doesn't help that revivals are so rare." Hinami scanned the crowd of students leaving the school. "Which one is Yukimura Keiko?"
"That's her over there, the girl with brown hair and pigtails." Yusuke pointed out a pretty brunette walking out in a group with two other girls, probably her friends. She wore a cheery, bittersweet smile that failed to hide the sorrow in her brown eyes.
"I see." Hinami pondered before turning her gaze to Yusuke. She doesn't look like she is expecting a childhood friend coming back to life. If there is already trouble this early into the trial, I might need to intervene. It really would be a pain in the ass if he doesn't have a body to return to. I already got the paperwork started.
"What's with that look for?" Yusuke asked warily.
"Just surprised someone like you could have a childhood friend at all." Hinami answered bluntly. "Especially with someone so pretty."
"Right?" Botan chimed in agreement.
"Look, do you know how I can talk to her while she is awake or not?" Yusuke barked, tired of her snarky comments.
"Of course." Hinami answered nonchalantly.
"Well, tell me already!" Yusuke commanded as he grabbed the collar of Hinami's navy blue sweater.
"Ugh, it's not going to be easy and let go of me. You're stretching my sweater." She complained. He complied, glad to finally hear a solution. "A way you can talk to her and convince her is to borrow someone else's body and speak with her directly."
"So I just need to possess someone's body right? Like in movies?"
"Not exactly, you are going to need to possess someone who is familiar with your spirit energy or just you in general and someone with high levels of spiritual awareness, high enough to regularly see ghosts." She explained, hoping he has someone, anyone in mind.
"Great, I don't know anyone like that!" Yusuke exclaimed in frustration.
"Actually, it appears you do." Botan chimed in as she looked through a small booklet, compiled notes of Yusuke's life and acquaintances. She guided them to a group of rather "tough" looking students, more particularly to a tall boy with bright orange hair styled into a pompadour. As they approached them, the boy shivered and began looking around.
"That's a surprise, Kuwabara actually has a purpose." Yusuke eyed him curiously as Kuwabara stared back warily.
"Ah, he definitely looks more like one of your friends and spiritually aware to boot. How lucky are you." Hinami commented, taking in the red-head's appearance. He looks a bit rough around the edges in both looks and energy. His spiritual energy is quite bright, unfocused but has some potential. It looks like his energy and looks need some time for him to grow into.
"It must be one of those low-class tanuki spirits following me." Kuwabara declared to his friends, causing Hinami to burst into laughter. Yusuke didn't take too well to his comment and swung at the back of his head only to phase right through it.
"You gotta be kidding me! There's no way I'm taking control of that lame-brain." Yusuke complained before pointing his finger at Hinami. "Why can't I just control your body? Aren't you supposed to be an onmyoji?"
"No way." Hinami replied, turning her nose up at his request.
"Why the hell not? Isn't this your job?"
"First of all, I would never entrust my body to someone as reckless as you. Secondly, have you not been paying any attention? My physical body isn't here anyway."
That statement tripped Yusuke's brain and sent it for a loop. "Wait, what are you talking about? What do you mean your physical body isn't here? I thought you were a human, a living human."
"Don't you realize how crazy I would look? Standing in the middle of the street and having a one-sided conversation with the air? You're talking to a shikigami, a paper doll, that I am projecting my will through. Most humans can't see me unless I want them to. My body is up at Spirit World preparing the paperwork for your trial." She explained. Her body rose off the ground and began to float alongside them as people continued to pass by without even noticing her existence. "But seeing how you refuse, I'll probably get to go home early."
"...Fine." Yusuke admitted defeat as Botan prepared Kuwabara's body for his entry.
"Keep in mind the possession is limited for only an hour. Your friend's body won't be able to sustain your soul and his any longer." Hinami warned as she checked her watch. It looks like he got until sunset to pass the message along, it will be a good chance to see how he deals under pressure and a time limit. "Don't screw this up, you won't have another chance until the end of the trial. So make it count."
"Yeah, I will." He replied with an unusually serious tone, surprising Hinami a bit. Looks like he's taking this seriously after all, I was expecting more complaints.
"Okay, he's ready for the taking." Botan announced. Yusuke nodded as he flew down to Kuwabara's body. With little trouble, he was able to take over the body before making a mad dash to who knows where.
"Hinami, if you're still busy at Spirit World, I can handle watching over Yusuke until the trial begins." Botan suggested but to her surprised, she shook her head.
"I appreciate it, truly, but I am curious to see what that knucklehead will do next. It is my job, afterall." Hinami gave an amused smile, before following Yusuke leisurely. Let's see how he is going to handle this.
"Right!" Botan followed after and they both caught up to Yusuke running into a modest ramen shop. He hastily requested to see their daughter, presumably Keiko, and claimed to be Yusuke, only to be chased out by the furious looking owners.
"How dare you play such senseless jokes on us! He is a close family friend!"
"Yusuke wouldn't be as ugly as you! And he just passed away this week!"
Hinami shook her head as they watched Yusuke dodge dinnerware being thrown at him. He's panicking and being too hasty. Now he only has forty five minutes to chase down Keiko, he needs to be careful and not waste any time.
Yusuke began changing courses and headed towards the shopping district, only to be stopped by four stereotypical looking delinquents. They cutted off his path, and were quick to surround him.
"Aren't you Kuwabara from Sarayashiki?"
"You've been pretty cocky lately, coming to our territory."
"Look, I don't have time for this, you can beat me up later. Just get out of my way!" Yusuke argued.
"Sorry but we don't take requests."
Yusuke growled in frustration. "Fine! Then take this!" He unceremoniously began fighting his way out of the gang. He charged forward only to be cut off by another larger group of delinquents. He proceeded to fight his way through, kicking the ass of anyone in his way. He's pretty single-minded but knows his way around a fight, I give him that. He might be able to handle weaker demons teaming up against him but it can hurt him if he's too stubborn to back out from the fight.
Finally, Yusuke made his way to the shopping district, not unscathed (unfortunately for Kuwabara who has to deal with that later). He happened upon the two girls Keiko was walking home with. He approached them only for them to scream at his battered appearance and ran away. That's a shame, he only has ten minutes. Even if he finds Keiko by then, he still has to convince her what he is telling her is true.
Fate seemed to decide to give Yusuke a break, as Keiko emerged from the store the two girls were waiting in front of. He froze, probably trying to rack up an idea to convince her he isn't a creepy guy who took too many hits to the head. I wonder how he is going to pull this off.
"Hey Keiko!" Yusuke then reached out to Keiko, but not in a way any one was expecting. Both hands reached around Keiko and gave her chest a playful squeeze. But that wasn't what truly surprised Hinami.
"Yusuke, you jerk!" Keiko reflexively (and impressively) slapped Yusuke and sent him to the ground. When she saw who she slapped, her fiery temper faded into confusion. "Who the heck are you?"
"I'm exactly who you thought I was, I'm Yusuke." Yusuke laughed as he nursed the cheek Keiko slapped. "I don't care what any tough guy says, your slaps hurt the most."
"Don't tease me, Yusuke." Her eyes widened in disbelief as she took in the sight before her. "Is that really you? It's too strange. Why do you look like that?"
"Look, I borrowed someone's body but only for an hour. So you have to believe me." Yusuke pleaded, getting off from the ground.
"Whether or not I believe, I knew it was you from when you first spoke." Keiko declared. "It's not just your antics or your stupid pranks but the way you move and speak, I could never forget in a hundred years." Tears threaten to spill from her eyes, making Yusuke flustered at her brazen vulnerability.
I can't believe it. He actually did it. She believes it's him, she believes in him! Hinami watched in wonder at the emotional scene before them. It was hard to believe the rude, combative punk was the same flustered teen asking his friend (probably love) to wait for him and to have faith that he is coming back.
Hinami gave a half-hearted sigh before resting her cheek into her palm. "I guess I better get going now." She announced as she turned away from the touching scene.
"Oh, right now?" Botan asked, surprised at her abrupt departure.
"Yes, I got a lot of work to get done after all." Hinami gave Botan an amused smile. "He made a promise to come back and if I learned anything from today, that boy is too stubborn for his own good. So I'd better be ready for whatever he throws at me during the trial. I'll see you guys later."
"You're leaving already?" Yusuke appeared, his time in Kuwabara's body expired and kicked him out.
"Yeah, looks like I won't be going home early." Despite her disappointed words, she gave him a small genuine smile. "The message from beyond was heard."
Yusuke shouted in surprise when Hinami's body suddenly exploded into a cloud of smoke and was replaced with a single shikigami. The shikigami raised one of its arms and waved goodbye before flying off into the distance.
"Damn it, are you sure she's human?" Yusuke asked in exasperation as Botan laughed at him.
The single shikigami flew into the realm of Spirit World, into the Palace of Judgement and past the waves of oni and shinigami. The shikigami made its way to Spirit World Archives, the seemingly endless library where Hinami sat on the floor. She was surrounded by mountains of books as several other shikigami flew over her head. Each shikigami either gathers or returns documents and books to various piles around her. It was one of the major reasons why Koenma tends to drag Hinami into helping complete paperwork. Her skill in manipulating shikigami allowed her to multitask at an incredibly efficient rate.
Hinami sat in a meditative concentration, eyes skimming books, one hand wrote reports and the other rose to receive the shikigami that flew in from the Human World. The shikigami fell limp into her hand, transferring the information to her, completed with its objective. She paused in her work as she processed the information.
I really got my work cut out for me. She gave a heavy sigh, her body slouched forward, tired from working on the floor for so long. It's good to know the day spent won't be wasted. The revival forms are all in order, I just need to monitor Yusuke's progress. All that is left to do is formalize Yusuke's background analysis.
She stretched her body, tired but determined to complete her last task of the day. She readjusted her body, pen at one hand and her eyes lingering over the pages of Yusuke's family tree.
I have to admit, Uremashi Yusuke isn't quite what I expected. I guess I'll carry on and see what fate has in store for you.
Thank you wordsflowfreely, xenocanaan, and Guest for your reviews! Your reviews really inspired me to write up this chapter as quick as I could. I actually would posted this sooner but work schedule was really weird this past week. Sorry, if this story feels like it's starting out slow, I have much plot on the way. I also have to get used to editing and formatting on . I also post this story on if you are interested to read there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter and leave me a review of what you think.