Disclaimer: Don't own YYH...
A/N(1): Thanks for reviews! Final chapter is up! For real this time...laughs Sorry it took so long. Unfortunately, I lose interest in many things I write. Fortunately, though, I finish everything I start. Thanks for being patient.
A/N(2): If you forgot what's happening in the story, here's a slight recap: Yusuke went to find Botan. It turns out Kano has captured both Keiko and Botan. Hito makes a deal with him--the Shikasta jewel for one of them. Yusuke picks Keiko, but then foils Kano's plan by firing a shot to free Botan. Shikasta is thrown to floor, but is picked up by Kano's henchman. Hito stops him, but Kano now has his eye on the jewel. What will happen now?
Title: To Catch a Thief
Chapter Nine: Caught a Thief
"It's over," Yusuke said, towering over Kano. "You lose."
"NO!" Using his energy, he threw Yusuke back, and ran toward Shatsu. "The Shikasta is mine!"
Meanwhile, Botan looked at the scene from above. Yusuke was on the floor. Kano was running toward Shatsu. Hito was threatening Shatsu not to give Kano the jewel. "This has to stop. The Shikasta has to be....destroyed."
That's when an idea came to her head....
"I have to get to that jewel before Kano!" Gripping her oar tightly, she flew in the direction of Hito and Kano. 'Hito still has the jewel, I still have a chance to get the jewel.'
Meanwhile, Kano was getting angrier by the minute. He hated the fact that his plan was being ruined by a dumb spirit detective, a ferry girl, and a mediocre BOA investigator. That was it. He needed to get the jewel back--NOW! "I won't let you send me to Siberia again, Hito! NEVER!" Throwing his hand up, he blasted his remaining energy into Shatsu and Hito. The jewel was still in Shatsu's grasp, though. "No problem, I'll just take it from him."
Stepping forward, he was about to grab the Shikasta when he heard the building of wind currents behind him. Something was moving...in the air. Before he could react, his instincts told him to duck. Throwing himself on the floor, he heard something fly past him.
It was then he realized what--rather, who it was. "Botan!"
"That's right Kano," stepping off her oar, she reached into Shatsu's hand and obtained the jewel. "And next time, don't move. I was aiming for your head." She laughed to herself, knowing that was something Yusuke would say. She had been hanging around him too much.
"SISTER!"
Her eyes shifted on his. "What? Afraid to admit defeat?"
"I do not lose. You know that from Siberia. I escaped the portal before the portals of Earth and Spirit World collided. Though I was still isolated in Siberia, I found a way out....and now....YOU WILL NEVER DEFY ME AGAIN!"
Botan prepared herself for one of Kano's attacks. It didn't come from him, though. It came from "KEIKO!" Botan yelled, dodging a kick to the stomach. "What are you--" She dodged another kick to the stomach.
"How does it feel? It hurts having a person you love go against you, huh?"
Botan would have replied, but she was preoccupied by Keiko's countless kicks and punches. 'Yusuke was right. This girl does hit hard' Botan thought, once Keiko did connect a punch. 'I have to stop her....even if it means hurting her.' Grabbing her wrist before Keiko could punch her in the face, Botan twisted it and kicked her on the side. This caused Keiko to drop on the floor.
'Sorry Keiko,' the blue-haired girl said, now staring at Kano. "You will be defeated. It's only a matter of time before it sinks into your head." She looked down at the Shikasta, then her pocket. 'Maybe it will sink sooner than he thinks...' Her eyes shifted on Kano, worried that he'll be able to read her thoughts. 'No, he's controlling Keiko. He can't possibly read my mind.' She gave a sigh of relief. 'Great. When he's reading my mind, I have a plan. When he's not, I don't have one.'
Too busy arguing with herself, she didn't notice someone sneak behind her and grab her. Keiko. Pushing the Shikasta into her pocket, Botan struggled out of Keiko's grip. 'Alright Keiko, now you're annoying.' Materializing her oar, Botan lifted herself off the ground.
"Now sister, you're not playing fair." the thief yelled, using his energy to throw a series of spirit bullets at her. One particular bullet caught her oar, and the contraption disappeared completely.
"AH!" Botan screamed, gravity taking effect. "NO!" As she was falling, her mind drifted off to the time her oar disappeared last time. 'Why couldn't Koenma make ferry girls fly instead of their oars!' Before she could dwell on Koenma's stupidity, she heard a voice from under her.
"Botan!"
Though she couldn't distinct whose voice it was, she knew that she was safe. And she was. The owner of the voice had caught her. 'I must have nine lives,' Botan thought, her eyes closed due to the recent events. That's when she felt something squeeze her--"YUSUKE!" Opening her eyes, she smacked him over the head. "You seriously have groping issues!"
He winked at her. "I was only trying to wake you." She growled.
"Ahem."
They both looked at Kano. "Sorry, did we forget about you? Aww! Do you want a hug?" asked a very perverted detective. Kano was not amused. He seemed angry at Yusuke for ruining his plan to destroy his sister once again.
"Why won't you stay dead?!" Kano yelled, his voice booming off the walls.
Yusuke frowned. "You don't like me around? I'm hurt."
"Enough of this!" Kano glanced from one side to the other. "You have no idea the world of hurt you will be in!" Smiling, he added: "Mind slaves, attack these fools."
'Slaves? I know Keiko was one, but--' Botan gasped. Shatsu and Hito were now under his control. 'Oh crap, now what?' She slowly took steps backward.
"Don't worry," said Yusuke, fists raised. "We can take 'em."
Kano laughed. "We'll see about that. Shatsu....change!" As Kano barked his orders, Shatsu, the shapeshifter, changed into Yusuke. Botan went wide-eyed, and Yusuke stood his ground. Then,"Kill them!" was yelled from Kano's mouth.
Shatsu, Hito, and Keiko circled the two. "Why does this always happen to the good-looking guy?"
"Yusuke," said Botan, rather calmy. "Remind me to smack you if we get out of this."
"Right, but in the meantime, we need to fight them. Even if two are our friends, and one is trying to confuse us." He held his fist low, then thrusted it forward to emit spirit bullets. He was using his Spirit Shotgun.
The three hesitated, but remained standing. Yusuke's mouth dropped. "Your feelings for your friends.....they're making your energy confused. Even if you try to attack, your energy won't emit as much as you want it to."
"Are you serious?" Yusuke yelled, running away from Hito. "That's stupid."
Botan frowned, but didn't reply. She was too busy with Shatsu. "Alright, I know you're not Yusuke! I can do this!" Breathing in, she materialized her bat. "HIIIIIIIIIIIIYA!" She started swinging her bat at the imposter, but she couldn't land a hit. "Damnit!"
"Botan watch out!" Yusuke yelled from the other side. "Keiko!"
Before Botan could react, Keiko had scratched her across the face. Shatsu then kicked her with spirit energy. Botan fell to the floor, eyes closed. "Botan!" yelled Yusuke, punching Hito in the face. "That's it, you two need to be stopped!" He ran forward, arm pulled back.
It was then that Botan regained consciousness. She looked at the scene before her. It looked like the imposter was trying to use his spirit punch on Yusuke. She had to stop him. Grabbing her bat, she ran forward. "Take that, you jerk!" Smacking the bat into the imposter's back, Botan smiled triumphantly.
"OUCH! BOTAN! Why did you do that for?"
Botan's jaw dropped. "Yusuke? OH, I thought you were.."--He glared at her--"umm..nevermind."
"Ha! You're pathetic!" Kano laughed. "I can't believe the chief of Spirit World picked you two."
"Sometimes I wonder the same thing," whispered the detective, still glaring at Botan.
Botan cleared her throat. "Well, I'd love to have a staring contest, but we're in danger. Get your lazy ass up." Yusuke cocked an eyebrow up at her use of the word "ass," but got to his feet nonetheless.
"Not my fault one of my teammates knocked me to the floor."
Botan didn't pay attention to him. Instead, she looked at the three enemies, now cornering them. "We can't do this. We have to surrender." Her eyes shifted to Yusuke, who was looking at her.
"Well, uhh.....we might have to. I can't feel my back."
"YUSUKE!" yelled the ferry girl. She couldn't believe that he did not notice the three mind slaves trying to kill them. Did he actually think that Koenma would bring him back a second time?
"Did I hear surrender?" Kano skipped over to where they were. "As in, give up?"
"Yes, stupid."
Kano ignored Yusuke; looking at his sister. "Well, will you give me the Shikasta?"
"Yes."
As if on cue, Yusuke sent Botan an appalled gaze. 'What are you thinking?,' the detective thought, now gazing into her pink orbs for an answer. 'I still have some energy to beat these three.'
"I can't stand to see you use my friends like this." While she was talking, she forced herself not to roll her eyes. After all, she had other reasons to give the Shikasta to her brother. Since the jewel was in her pocket with the glass sample of Mertion, she could fuse them together with some of her energy and give it to him. 'The book I read to Yusuke said that if the other two jewels are fused with Metrion, it's death to the possessor.' She winced at the word death. Did she really want to kill her brother?
"You were always weak, sister." Kano smiled.
Yes, she did.
"Now, give me the jewel."
Botan only nodded. Searching in her pocket, she located the Shikasta and the Metrion. Gripping the two together, she fused the Metrion into the jewel. Then, pulling the jewel out of her pocket, she held it out for him.
"Yeah right!" Yusuke yelled, eyes glaring daggers. "I won't let you--"
"Yusuke, don't!" Botan pleaded. "We can't stop him!"
Kano grinned. "Thank you, sister." He took the jewel from his sister. Then, he pulled the other two jewels out. "Now, I need your spirit energy, Yusuke. My energy will not be enough to bring the jewels together."
"Why don't you look up your--"
"Yusuke," whispered the blue-haired girl. "Don't. Let him take your energy."
He growled. "No refunds," Yusuke said, holding his hand above the jewels.
Once the transfer was complete, Kano held the jewels above his head. "Utatane, the Hiroyuki, and the Shikasta........unite to form the Signet Ring!" Yusuke and the others only watched as the jewels started to glow. "Yes, make me demon!" As the glow of the jewels made his body turn the same color, one could only surmise the pain Kano was now in. His veins were popping out of his forehead, and his face was contorted painfully. "FORM THE SIGNET!" he shouted again.
Shielding her eyes, Botan watched Kano fall to the floor, hands still holding the three jewels above his head. "Does Kano realize what--?" Her train of thought came to halt upon hearing the painful screams of her brother. She closed her eyes to ease her own feeling of guilt, but opened them again upon feeling the warm presence of Yusuke's hand on her shoulder.
She felt the urge to turn around and embrace him, but she refrained. For one, Keiko was there. Secondly, she wanted to see if her plan worked. If Kano had taken her bait. Smiling weakly, she placed her hand on top of his to show that she appreciated his support.
But, before she could embark into the waters of Utopian waters, she was jolted back into reality by a moribund scream. It had come from her brother. 'He's in denial. He doesn't realize yet that I--'
"What have you done, Botan?"
She cleared her throat. "Brother," she started. Then, looking at her dying brother, she said: "You have committed many crimes in your lifetime....but you have never paid for any of them. I knew that if you were sent back to Siberia, you would find a way out....just like last time. I had to....end it." Taking a deep breath, she continued, "when I took the Shikasta from you, I....used my spirit energy to fuse the glass sample I had in my pocket with the Shikasta."
Yusuke's eyebrow raised. "What is she talking about?" As he thought about it, it was then he realized what Botan had done. Since the glass sample had the poisonous Metrion on it, she fused the Metrion with the Shikasta.
"Botan, you...poisoned your brother with the Metrion," whispered the detective. Then, soon after, he added, "once the jewels are combined with the Metrion substance, it poisons the possessor." His eyes wandered to Kano's form.
"No," the thief breathed. He had finally met his match. "I never knew it would be my own sister." Coughing, he lifted his body to his knees. "I won't let you defeat me that easy....I won't...." He coughed again.
"You're dying," Botan said, eyes gazing into her next soul to take to Rekai. "This is finally the end."
He laughed. "You....have...no...i-idea..."
"What are you--?" She stopped; letting her eyes travel to where he was looking at. Keiko. He was going to use the last of his energy to kill Keiko."Yusuke!" she yelled, now running toward Keiko. Then, "he's trying to use his energy to--"
It was then she heard the sound of Yusuke's spirit gun. Upon turning around, she found her brother face-down on the floor. "Stupid bastard," the detective commented. Then, "even when he's about to die, he wants to wreck the lives of others." He turned to Botan. "Your brother wasn't even human."
Botan didn't answer. She was looking at the dead body on the floor--her brother. "How can I still love him when he's committed so many crimes and has even tried to kill me?" She bit her lip.
"He was family. You always forgive family."
She looked up. Not because of Yusuke's words, but because of his tone. It sounded emotionless. "Yusuke? What's wrong?" His bangs were covering his eyes, so she couldn't see his face. But, she saw a tear slide down. "Yusuke?"
"I'm fine. It's just...I killed...a person..."
Botan shook her head, now walking up to him. "No. Don't think like that. You even said that he wasn't even human." She stared at him. Her words didn't penetrate him. "Yusuke, he was about to kill Keiko." Yusuke slightly looked up. "Yes, you did the right thing." She wrapped her arms around him tightly. She hated seeing like this. She remembered when he killed Toguro. "Oh Yusuke.."
As she held him, she felt his hands drop down and grope her. Before she could materialize her bat, he whispered something to her. I love you. She froze. There was no way he had said what she had heard.
He then pulled away. "What's wrong?"
"I...thought...I-I..."
"Yusuke?"
Botan's eyes averted from Yusuke's to see a cheerful Keiko. "Oh Yusuke!" She pulled him into a hug. "I knew you would come! Oh! It was so horrible! He kidnapped me...and..." Going on about her struggle, Yusuke only held her. He wasn't listening, though. He was looking at Botan.
Meanwhile, Botan was thinking about what Yusuke said. 'Could he...?' She frowned, then shook her head. Upon doing this, she felt the hand of someone rest on her shoulder. She turned around to meet the eyes of Hito.
"You did the right thing. Now the case is officially closed."
"What about Shatsu?"
"Unconscious. My BOA team will come soon and put him in jail."
Botan nodded. "Right."
"HEY! WHAT'S WITH THE DEAD BODY ON THE FLOOR?"
Everyone's eyes widened. It was Koenma.
"Sir, you should take a nap. You're fussy."
"I'm NOT fussy! SHUT UP OGRE!"
"Yes sir."
"Now, would someone please ANSWER my question."
Yusuke stepped forward. "Weren't you spying on us with your big plasma?"
"I would have been, but OGRE lost the remote."
"Koenma sir," Botan started. Then, "Kano had to be stopped. He was going to kill another person when Yusuke used his spirit gun to destroy him. Your father would be angry if he knew a Spirit World criminal had killed a human."
Koenma bit his pacifier. "Indeed. Alright, everyone leave. I'll have one of my ferry girls bring Kano to Rekai."
"No, I'll do it." Everyone grew quiet.
Koenma cocked an eyebrow up. "Are you sure?" She nodded. Yusuke opened his mouth to speak, but Koenma beat him to it. "Yusuke, Keiko, go with Hito. He'll bring you home."
"Looks like someone was potty-trained recently..."
"GET MOVING!"
"Oh Kano, I hope you will learn from your mistakes. Please use this life as a lesson for the next." Sighing, she let a few tears drop on his face. "You were good. I don't know what went wrong. I just hope that you'll find peace in whatever rotted your good soul."
She cried harder. "Goodbye brother. I will always love you."
It was then she released his soul into the next world...
"Well Hito, it's been fun." Yusuke said, shaking hands with the BOA chief.
Smiling, Keiko added: "Yes, and thank you for bringing us back home.
Hito nodded. "It was good to have you on our side."
"So, what will you do now?"
"Well, my next case is about a Spirit Detective who broke into a man's hotel room."
Yusuke laughed. "Hey, you were under mind control. I had no choice."
"Yes, but I'm missing a pair of pants and a shirt."
Yusuke's mind drifted to when Botan had come out of the shower. "I don't know."
"Well, anyway, I hope to work on another case with you soon."
"Me too," Yusuke affirmed.
"Thanks for walking me home, Yusuke."
He nodded. "It must look different. You haven't been home in awhile."
"It is awkward, but it's more awkward having you so distant from me. What's wrong?"
He didn't answer. "Things have changed."
"Not between you and me," she leaned in to kiss him, but he turned his head. "Yusuke?"
"I don't love you anymore, Keiko."
Keiko's face dropped. "What? Is it because you didn't get my letters? I told you that my parents didn't give them to you--"
"I'm not that stupid, Keiko. You wouldn't send letters to your parents to give to me. Why can't you just tell me that you found NY to be more interesting than me? OR that you found a guy? OR how about that a dog ate your letters? God Keiko, why can't you just be straight with me?"
She froze. "I didn't know that's how you felt. I would never--"
"Tell me what happened then!"
"When I went to New York, I....started falling out of love with you. But, now that I'm back in Japan, I remembered why I loved you so much. You always protected me. You were always there for me. You always....loved me."
"I can't take you back, Keiko."
"What? Why?!"
Yusuke was shocked by Keiko's pleading, but he stayed strong. "I fell out of love with you, too."
"No Yusuke! You still love me! I know you do!"
"I'm sorry, I don't." He turned away from her. "You will still always be my best friend."
"Yusuke!"
"Goodbye." Without taking another glance, Yusuke walked back to his apartment.
"Well, today was stupid." Flopping on the couch, he sighed aloud. "I can't believe I told Botan how I felt. She looked so shocked, like if she didn't feel the same for me. I'm so stupid."
"You are stupid. Not because you told me, but because you didn't wait for my answer."
He jumped off the couch. "Botan! How did you...?"
Botan rolled her eyes. "You always leave your stupid window open."
He didn't respond.
"What's wrong?"
"Do you....love me?"
She smiled. "Yes, I love you...and I want to be with you."
"That's the best damn thing I heard all day," he whispered. Then, walking toward her, he wrapped his arms around her slender waist. "Botan, you're so beautiful." Without hesitating, he kissed her. She then pulled away.
"What about Keiko?"
"Screw Keiko," he found her lips again. "I want you and only you." As he carressed her face, she stared into his loving eyes--almost hypnotized by them. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing. It's just....my brother..."
Yusuke's eyes shifted on her. "Did you....ferry your brother's soul?"
"Yes. It was hard, but I'm glad that he'll be finding peace now." Her eyes then found the floor.
"I'm sorry...that I brought it up.."
"No, it's okay." She smiled. "I like you being straight with me."
"Well, in that case, Hito wants his shirt and pants back."
She smacked him over the head. "Oww...that one really hurt..."
"I'm sorry, baby. How can I make it up to you?"
"My room. Now."
"First one there gets to take the other's clothes off."
"SEE YA!"
She laughed as Yusuke ran toward the stairs. "Oh King Enma, thank you....for him..." She smiled, now knowing what it felt like to be in love. She hoped that the feeling never went away.
"I'm halfway there, Botan!"
"Ha! Does he realize that I'm the one with the oar?'
DONE!! WOOOOOOOO! Thanks for everything!