Chapter Eight
Botan returned in the afternoon the next day, only to find everyone in the living room. Jake and Tonya were on the couch, curled up together and talking. Sari and Hiei were in one of the chairs, Sari on the fire demon's lap. Not to anyone's surprise, they were kissing. Kurama was in the other armchair while Yusuke and Kuwabara leaned against the wall. The three single males were having a conversation (Yusuke and Kuwabara were lucky enough to actually be able to talk), although what it was about, the ferry girl didn't get to find out. They stopped talking as soon as she entered the room.
"Good afternoon!" the bubbily girl called out, smiling.
Sari broke away from Hiei for a moment, raising an eyebrow at Botan. "Okay... why exactly are you here? I remembering Jake saying something about you wanting to take us to Koenma."
"Baka ferry girl." Hiei looked annoyed, probably because Sari was no longer paying full attention to him.
Botan nodded. "Koenma-sama wants to talk to you and Tonya-chan," she replied. "You both will be free to leave the safe house soon."
"YES!" Sari exclaimed, face lighting up. "I can't wait!"
Tonya turned her attention from Jake to the rest of the room at that shout. "Oh, hi, Botan-chan," she said cheerfully. "I didn't see you come in. Are we going to leave now?"
"Well, I'd like to," the ferry girl replied, summoning up her oar. "If you two would get on, we could leave." She glanced at each of the males. "I'm assuming the boys can find something to do while you both are gone."
Sari was the first on the oar. "I hope you know I'm only going to give Koenma a piece of my mind, the stupid toddler."
"Hn. That doesn't surprise me," Hiei commented. He loved his mate's attitude.
"I have a few things to say to him too," Tonya agreed. "But, I don't think they'll be near as bad as what Sari-chan has to say." She gave Jake a quick kiss. "I'll see you later." Then, she climbed onto the oar as well.
"Hold on tight!" Botan advised. The girls did as ordered and then they were gone.
Jake smiled softly. "Kuwabara, remember you asked about water wars a while back?"
The carrot top nodded his head. "Yeah."
"I'm curious too," Yusuke added.
"Well, if you want the answer, grab Tonya's laptop. I'll give you the internet address to go to if you want to read her stories," the neko youkai continued, looking over at Hiei. "You might be interested in this too, considering Sari is a character in one of them... and so are you. All of you are characters in some of them."
With everyone's interest peaked, they retrieved the laptop and began reading.
In Reikai, Botan ushered Tonya and Sari into Koenma's office. They found the toddler sitting behind his unusually clean desk. For the first time, he had no papers to go through.
"Have a seat," Koenma said, gesturing at the chairs in front of his desk. Tonya took a seat, but Sari remained standing. "I have a few things to say to you two, and then you can go back to the safe house and pack. You're going home tomorrow."
Tonya's eyes lit up with joy. "Yea!" she cheered. "It's going to be so much fun... although I will miss the guys." She paused for a moment. "Now, just why do we get to go home now?"
"Well, some of our agents caught the demons who were after you, so it's safe for you now. No one is hunting you anymore," the toddler replied.
"That's great and all," Sari began, eyes like fire. "But I want to know what the fuck you were thinking when you stuck Tonya in a house with five guys when she was in heat! And you had better explain the purpose behind keeping me there! You could have just asked me not to talk!" She continued to yell at him, calling him quite a few degrading names in the process.
"Forcing you to stay with Tonya was merely a safety precaution. You wouldn't want to have caused your friend's death, now would you?" Koenma stated as soon as Sari quieted.
She glared at him. "No, I wouldn't, which is why I would have kept quiet for however fucking long you needed me to," she retorted. "Now, I want to know why Tonya was trapped in a house with five guys while she was in heat!"
Tonya sighed, keeping silent. 'This is insane. Sari is demanding answers from Koenma! The ruler of Reikai! It's unbelievable... although, I would like to know why I had male guards as well.'
Koenma fidgeted for a moment. "Well, I didn't know she was in heat. If I had, I would have certainly tried to come up with a female guard."
Sari frowned darkly. "I don't fucking think so. You knew good and well that Tonya was in fucking heat. For heaven's sake, Tonya found out from Botan, and I know that Botan tells you fucking everything!" she shouted. "So don't give me that bullshit! I want an explanation... right now!"
He sighed. "We have no female spirit detectives... or at least ones strong enough to protect her. All of them would easily be defeated by the weakest class of demon."
She mused over that response for a while, trying to decide whether or not to accept it. 'It does make sense,' she admitted to herself eventually. 'Although, I still don't like anything that's happened. Stupid Koenma.' "Very well. I'll accept that excuse... however grudgingly."
Tonya smiled. "Alright, I have a few questions, like what am I supposed to tell people and exactly what kind of powers do I have?"
"It's simple, you tell people that the FBI put you in the witness protection program by mistake," Koenma answered.
Sari and Tonya stared in shock. "That's it?" Sari wanted to know. "That's the best fucking cover story you can come up with, you perverted toddler?"
The ruler sighed. "It's a simple one that is as close to the truth as you can get. Considering how badly Tonya lies, I figured it would be for the best."
Tonya hung her head, her cheeks pink. 'This isn't fair. I can't believe my inability to tell lies is actually causing problems. Isn't it good that I have to be honest?'
Sari laughed. "You do have a point there." Of course, she quickly caught herself, not liking the fact that she was acting friendly with a guy she had a serious grudge against. She was NEVER going to like Koenma, not after all the crap he had put her through.
"What about my powers?" Tonya inquired softly.
Koenma shrugged. "I don't know. No one knows," he answered. "You'll just have to discover them as you go along."
Botan barged into the room right then. "Um... sorry, Koenma-sama, but you have some important business to take care of. Can I take the girls home now?"
"What?" Tonya shouted, surprised that they had had so little time. "Already?"
The ferry girl nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so."
Sari rolled her eyes. "This is pathetic."
"Not really," Botan replied as four ogres came in, each carrying a huge stack of papers. "It's nearly midnight back at the safe house. Time passes here rather quickly."
Tonya's jaw dropped. "Dear Kami!"
Sari nodded in agreement. "You got that right. I wasted half a fucking day just so I could yell at stupid Koenma for a measly few minutes." Growling, she half-stormed out of the room.
Sighing, Tonya stood up. "Thanks, Koenma-sama." Then, she left.
Tonya and Sari arrived back at the safe house to find all the guys in the living room, gathered around Kurama, who was sitting in a armchair with a laptop. Poor Hiei seemed to be in a state of shock, Yusuke, Jake, and Kuwabara were laughing their heads off as Kurama read something out loud, a strange expression on his face. He seemed like he was between laughter and shock.
"What's going on?" Sari asked, hugging Hiei around the shoulders from behind.
"Yeah, what's so funny?" Tonya wanted to know.
Yusuke and Jake froze, fear in their eyes. Kurama looked up from the computer screen, obviously surprised. Hiei moved only to pull Sari in front of him, his arms wrapping around her waist possessively.
Kuwabara, on the other hand, could barely stop laughing. "Give us a moment, we're on the last chapter of Vacation Time," he said before noticing exactly who was talking to. "Uh-oh."
Tonya narrowed her eyes in anger. "You're what?" she growled out, her whole body tense.
"Nothing!" the carrot-top replied quickly, waving his hands in front of him to try to ward off her fury.
"Nothing?" she repeated in a pleasantly dangerous tone, raising an eyebrow. "But I could have sworn you said you were reading Vacation Time."
Sari chuckled, leaning back against Hiei's chest. "This is going to be good. Tonya is far beyond protective over her stories, so stand by for minced Reikai Tantei. Would you prefer fried or baked Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama?"
"None." He paused. "So, Cassie, did you have a hand in writing that story?" the fire demon asked as Tonya in her demon form began chasing all the boys around the room. Even Kurama was running from her, the laptop still in his arms; although, he didn't seem frightened in the least. Jake, Yusuke, and Kuwabara, on the other hand, looked downright scared. They didn't want to find out what else she could do with her powers.
"Maybe," Sari teased, grinning as her eyes lit up playfully. "I'm not telling."
"I'll make you tell," Hiei stated firmly, narrowing his eyes slightly. He liked a challenge, which Sari always presented.
She laughed. "You're more than welcome to try. I wish you the best of luck, even though I must warn you that I'm not an easy person to crack."
"Don't worry, I'll succeed." Then, without another word, he slung her over one shoulder and carried her off, Sari grinning evilly.
No one else noticed their departure. They were all too busy running away from the rampaging demoness who was spouting rather violent, curse-filled threats. She seemed to mean what she said as well, which bothered even Kurama. He had only heard such threats coming from his most hated enemies, not from a girl he was supposed to be protecting.
Unfortunatly for Jake, Tonya caught him, pouncing on him like a cat would. She pinned him to the ground as the others ran outside, Kurama leaving the laptop inside.
"What the fuck do you guys think you were doing?" she snarled, her chest heaving from pure fury.
Jake laughed nervously. "Well, nothing much," he answered.
Tonya continued to scowl, but she relieved enough pressure from him so he could roll over and face her. She wanted him to see the anger in her face. As soon as she could look him in the eyes, she sat down on his stomach, her hands on his shoulders to keep him from moving. "Nothing much, huh?" she repeated dangerously, her tail swishing vigoriously behind her as her fury rose.
He nodded. "Yeah, exactly," he replied, smiling slightly. 'I need to find a way to difuse her anger before she does something with her powers again,' he thought, furiously trying to think of something. When he saw her ears twitch, his smile grew. Without warning, he reached up and began rubbing them, earning a sensual purr from her in response.
She instantly relaxed, moving her head so he could scratch the base of her ears. The rubbing felt so good, and she could slowly feel her demon instincts rise up. At the moment though, she really didn't care. 'Now I know how Jake felt when I rubbed his adorable ears,' she mused absently, still purring.
Jake chuckled, a true smile on his face. She was obviously no longer angry, which he thanked Kami for. The only question was how long she would stay calm. He didn't know the answer to that, but he was hoping she would remain calm.
When she leaned down and kissed him, he mentally sighed in relief, wrapping his arms around her. 'It seems things are going to be okay.'
Then, they let things take their natural course... straight to the bedroom.
The next day, Koenma watched the screen that showed the group leaving the safe house. Hiei was going with Sari, while Jake was leaving with Tonya. Sari wanted to finish up school before she left anywhere with the fire demon, so he had decided to stick around ningenkai long enough for her to do that. Jake was planning on remaining in Tonya's town until they both graduated. Then, they were going to marry.
Kurama and Yusuke had already returned to Makai, and Kuwabara was preparing to leave for home. Of course, he had to take a few parting shots at the short demon, which ended up causing Hiei to draw his sword. Sari simply watched the whole situation, enjoying it. After a few minutes, though, she diffused it by kissing Hiei. Then, Sari and Hiei left in her silver-purple mustang as Jake and Tonya left in his beat-up truck. Kuwabara was the last to leave, but eventually he headed for home.
Koenma sighed in relief right as Botan walked in, dressed in her normal pink kimono, a large smile on her face. "Good afternoon, Koenma-sama," she greeted him brightly.
"Yes, it is," he agreed. "Mukuro is going to be most pleased at this turn of events. She was wondering when Hiei was going to settle down."
"What?" Botan didn't quite understand what was going on. 'Shouldn't Koenma be talking about the demons that were just captured?' she wondered.
"And remind me to send a thank-you note to Raizen. The threatening notes he sent about Tonya were brilliant," Koenma continued.
The ferry girl, of course, grew even more confused. "Are you saying that the notes weren't real?" she inquired.
"Of course, silly," he replied. "Do you honestly think that I would simply stuff Tonya in some safe house if some demons really wanted her? It'd be more logical to bring her here to Reikai."
Botan blinked. "But then... what was the deal with everything then? Why'd the guys have to protect her?"
"They didn't have to protect her," Koenma answered. "Mukuro, Yomi, Raizen, and I simply wanted to stick the detectives in a house with a demoness in heat so at least one of them would settle down. We picked Tonya because we knew she liked both Kurama and Hiei. Of course, none of us were expecting Sari to suddenly show up, but she turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Personally, I expected Hiei to take Tonya as a mate instead of Sari, but it all worked out in the end."
"WHAT?" She almost fell over. "You mean to tell me you staged this whole thing?"
He nodded. "Duh. Tonya may be powerful, but no one outside of Reikai, the three demon rulers, and the spirit detectives know that fact. How could an evil demon want her if he doesn't know about her?" He leaned back in his chair. "Anyways, both Hiei and Jake have settled down, which is a definite improvement. Now... what to do about Yusuke and Kurama? Although Yusuke does have Keiko, for that they tend to be on-again off-again."
Botan did fall over. "You've got to be joking. You're actually trying to play matchmaker?"
Koenma didn't pay much attention to her. He merely nodded absentmindedly as he flipped through a file. "Here we go. Here's another demoness about to go into heat, and she's quite the looker. Botan, tell Kurama, Kuwabara and Yusuke that they're about to go on another protection mission, and here's the girl they're supposed to look after."
He handed the picture and data to the shocked ferry girl, quickly moving on to different business. "Now, where's my stamp?"