Chapter 20: "Mine Your Own Business"

Daphne's grip wasn't strong enough to stand up to Yusuke's, but she sure did try to hang onto the chain connected to the chandelier suspended above their heads, which was something. Yusuke rather admired her gumption in that respect. She was as much of a spitfire as her red hair suggested, which was cool and all, but he didn't want to see her head get smashed in when this… when this weird machine-thing the gaijin were building inevitably malfunctioned. For Pete's sake, they'd made it out of rope and rotten floorboards and the goddamn wire from Velma's bra; no way was this thing safe, Daphne's minefield temper and defense of it notwithstanding.

Which is why it surprised Yusuke as much as it did when Kurama stepped forward and put his hand on his arm. "Yusuke," he said, voice low but full of warning. "Let them work."

"Say what?" Yusuke stared at the fox in utter disbelief. "Are you serious right now?"

"Very serious." Kurama took the chandelier chain from him and passed it back to Daphne, who was looking at Kurama with outright suspicion and open hostility (probably because as far as pretty redheads went, Kurama was giving her stiff competition). Kurama's polite smile didn't falter, though, as he drew Yusuke aside and away from Daphne. In Yusuke's ear he muttered, "After all, Yusuke—we agreed to let Mystery Inc. work their magic, did we not?"

Daphne apparently had very good hearing because her eyes flashed with satisfaction. "That's right!" she said, glaring after them. "So mind your own business, mister!"

Kurama smiled at her again, but she'd gone back to work with Fred and Velma (who kept one arm over her chest since they'd had to dismantle her goddamn underwear and whatnot) and didn't seem to notice his attempt at civility. Yusuke, meanwhile, glared hard enough to drill holes in Kurama's smug face.

"What gives?" he griped. He pointed over his shoulder with his thumb at the damn gaijin. "They're gonna get themselves killed!"

"I'm not so sure," Kurama said.

"But why not?" said Kuwabara, who'd followed them off to the side of the room. They were in the front entryway of Onigumo Manor, a two-story atrium with broken windows and a grand staircase set toward the back. Kuwabara wrung his hands together and danced nervously from foot to foot, rotten floorboards creaking under his weight. "That demon is huge, and these gaijin are, well, not?"

Kurama's brow furrowed. "So you haven't noticed."

Yusuke threw up his hands. "Noticed what?"

"Yeah, Kurama," Kuwabara said. "Quit being vague and just spit it out already!"

"Very well." Kurama angled his feet toward the center of the house, from whence Scooby's yowls and the demon's bellows echoed. "Observe the demon's energy very closely, and I believe you'll see what I'm getting at."

Kuwabara (knowing Kurama was worth listening to) shut his eyes at once. A bright wash of his energy passed over Yusuke as Kuwabara extended his awareness into the depths of the house, and soon after Yusuke shut his eyes, too, and allowed his energy to follow Kuwabara's down the hall. The rush of power swept over cracked floorboards and walls riddled with rot, pinging against the dim energy signatures of the unpowered gaijin as it passed over them, and then it continued onward, aiming for the roars of the distant demon. Soon Yusuke's power passed over Shaggy, human and pulsating (it was also the color of fresh pot leaves, Yusuke noticed with a chuckle), and then it encountered the electric zinging zip of Scooby's demonic energy, and then it suffused the room where Scooby currently kept the demon trapped—

Yusuke's eyes snapped open.

Kuwabara's followed suit.

Yusuke and Kurama and Kuwabara exchanged a Look.

"Oh," Yusuke said. "Oh. I get it."

"Huh." Kuwabara frowned in the direction of the unseen demon, Shaggy, and Scooby. He knotted his fingers behind his neck as his frown deepened. "Wasn't expecting that."

"Neither was I," said Kurama, and his luminous eyes began to twinkle. "But I think you'll agree that the gaijin should be able to handle this themselves, yes?"

As one, Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded, and then the three of them stepped aside to let Mystery Inc. do what it did best—namely catching the shit out of monsters, and look groovy doing it.

NOTES: The YYH crew is catching on… secrets will be revealed soon enough.

Also, unless I split one particular chapter in half, this fic will likely be a total of 23 chapter PLUS two epilogue chapters. At most it'll be 24 chapters and two epilogues. WE'RE ALMOST DONE WITH THIS GARBAGE, OMG.

Also-also this chapter title isn't a typo; it's the name of an OG Scooby Doo episode.