Yu Yu Hakusho: Dead or Alive

Chapter 5: Human

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There was a gloomy air in Koenma's office. The Reikai's best detective, a fugitive. How did this happen? Koenma asked himself, resisting the urge to pound his head against the desk in front of him. Why, why, why, why?

"Um, Koenma, sir?" Botan asked timidly, poking her head into his rather large office.

"Yes, Botan?" Koenma replied wearily.

"May I ask you something?"

"Sure. Make it quick."

"This question has been bugging me for a while now. Why are we after Yusuke?"

"He's a Tantei, Botan. He's our responsibility. And he's murdered someone."

"Yes, buthe's human, sir. The humans deal with their own affairs. Why would we be after him if he's not a demon?"

Koenma opened his mouth to reply, but closed it. Why were they after a human, besides the fact that he was one of their Detectives? Yes, the fact that he was indeed a Reikai Tantei was hardly a matter to forget, but if they fired him, then that got rid of their problem. It would be the Ningenkai's problem.

"Why, indeed?"

Yusuke ran and ran and ran until he couldn't run any more. Then he continued to stumble on, trying as hard as he could to get away from the people. Even when he was miles away from the most crowded places in Tokyo, he kept going. He finally collapsed under a tree, letting the shade cool him down. He was exhausted, but didn't want to sleep for fear of another dream.

"What's happening to me?" Yusuke asked himself quietly. "Why am I acting like this?"

He received no answer. Not that he was expecting one, anyway.

After a few minutes' rest, Yusuke forced himself to his feet and trudged onward. Where he was going, he didn't know. Where he'd end up, he wasn't sure. All that was certain was that he couldn't stay in Tokyo; he couldn't be around people.

He needed to leave.

"Koenma-sama! I found the folders you asked for!" Botan bounced into the room, her blue pony-tail bobbing along behind her. She lay the folders on Koenma's desk, and he opened the first. After flipping through it, he opened the second. He read the contents of the first page, and looked up at Botan.

"Botan, find Raizen's file, around 17 years back. I need to double-check something."

Botan complied and came back with another manila folder. "Here, sir."

Koenma flipped through the large file until he came to the page he was looking for. Then he picked up the first folder and compared something between the two. Then he double-checked something in the second folder, and asked, "Botan, why didn't we do a full background check on Yusuke?"

"We did, sir."

"Did you find anything unusual?"

"No."

Koenma looked up at his assistant. "It seems our detective isn't quite human."

Botan blinked.

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A/N: I know, I know! It was really short and took way too long in coming. I apologize. I must honestly blame this on laziness. And the fact thatthere is no other fact. I'm just plain lazy. So flame your heart out! I like flames. Very humorous, they are.

Ah, and the poll? The winner is no shonen-ai. Sorry, Dani-chan. If I slip-up and write something that hints, please, tell me. Or ignore it. Or both.

One last thing, I'm starting a mailing list. If you want to be on it, please e-mail me at k9pupsyahoo.com or leave a review. Thank you.

Yami no Ryu