Catse: Hiyya everyone! Chapter numbah twelve here! Yays! Again, sorry it took so long. I actually tried uploading this yesterday, but the computer wouldn't let me (dratted computer...) Anywho, here is the next chapter. I'm sorry if you were disgusted with the last chapter, but even so, you now know how crazy and weird Yoru is. She's really sick isn't she? Hope you like the chapter so please R&R. Thankyou!
00000000000000000000
Disclaimer: See chapter one...
00000000000000000000
An hour later found the entire group of detectives in Hiei's living room, tension in the air as the children waited for the reason they were all gathered.
Their parents had all apparently gone to this mission: even Kuwabara himself after he had returned home from his job.
All were pale as well, as if there was something wrong but they didn't know how to acknowledge it.
Kenya and Seika had explained everything to Hiei about Yoru and what she had done, and about thirty minutes after, he had marched up the stairs and dragged her back down, stating that this little "meeting" involved her too.
Of course, she now sat across from Kenya and Seika, her arms crossed with a quick bandage dealing with the blood from her nose. She wouldn't even look at them, and probably wouldn't for days.
The adults were waiting for something, or perhaps someone, and it made they entire group uneasy in curiosity.
"Hey Kenya." He heard Katai whisper, leaning over to him from his right. "What do you think this detective meeting is about?"
Kenya glanced at the adults before answering.
Hiei sat in the brown lazy-bow of the living room. His wife, their mother Suta, sat next to Kurama and Satou, her discussing a few students she had at the Dojo and how well things were going so far.
Kuwabara was playing a small game of Hide-and-go seek with Tsuki, in which she would hide noticeably and he would find her after pretending he couldn't see her.
Haku stood next to the doorway leading to the kitchen, Yusuke lounging lazily in a seat next to the television set, scanning through a manga he found sitting on the top of the coffee table.
He would crack up laughing every once in a while, and when Kenya saw the title of the book, he knew why.
It was an Inuyasha manga, one of his mother's favorites, around the time Inuyasha met Kouga and Kouga had the liking for his best friend, Kagome.
It was a crazy book, Kouga kidnapping Kagome first for her ability to see jewel shards, then he tried keeping her as his "woman". Kenya couldn't help but laugh every time he read it.
"I'm not sure, but maybe it has something to do with the latest case they had to go to." Kenya replied, sighing.
Who were they waiting for anyway?
"Oh yeah! Mom did say Dad went on a mission, but she didn't know who they were going against. Back rather early though for a mission so urgent." Katai whispered back.
"Perhaps it has something to do with the disappearances of children lately." Haku whispered to them from their backs.
Kenya turned to see the blue-eyed boy standing right next to the couch.
"Disappearances?"
Haku nodded gravely.
"Have you not heard?"
"Nope. Rarely watch TV." Kenya replied drily.
"Hey! You mean that case they had on the news earlier!" Katai added, her eyes lighting up. "That case in which twelve children went missing from the same school! Right?"
Haku nodded again. "Yes. It is an unusual case, and the more unusual was that not a single one of them had any clues to their disappearances. It was as if they merely vanished into thin air."
"So there is nothing? No news whatsoever?" Seika inquired curiously, leaning over to talk.
"No. No evidence that they disappeared, no bodies, no troubles that would make them run from home, and not a single item missing from their rooms or closets. Some people are saying that aliens dropped down to scoop them off, but I really doubt that." Katai answered, smiling.
"Yes. But the part that disturbs me, is that each one disappeared within a day of each other. None of them were twins, and all of them had parents that were important to Tokyo. One had the governor for a father, another the chief of police. That, and each child stated that they were in touch with a new friend at school, and yet, once they all disappeared, so did this mysterious friend." Haku informed, leaning down so his chin lay softly on his arms. "Rather strange yes?"
The small group nodded, thinking quietly to themselves.
Why hadn't Kenya heard of this? Of course he didn't watch the television, but still, there would have been rumors or something before hand, right?
Unless....
"Haku, when did this come on the news?"
"This morning."
"This morning? Where at?"
Katai and Seika shrugged, but Haku paled slightly and stared at the ground, looking as if he wanted to become invisible to the world.
"Haku?" Kenya urged, becoming suspicious.
Haku looked up, and showed them a slight wisp of regret before hiding it behind one of his masks.
"It was at your sister's school."
"What? How? I never heard of it.... Satou didn't say anything..."
"Of course not. They're keeping it quiet at the school for the children. They were trying to keep it quiet from the media too, but I guess that didn't work out. Apparently the first day of school lost the district that many kids, and so they're investigating the teacher's and the students themselves. Never seen anything like it I guess."
Kenya sighed. "This has been the weirdest dang day of my life—"
Just as he was finishing the sentence, a knock rang at the door, and Kuwabara was the first to reach it and open it.
In the doorway stood Koenma in teenage form, a small box in his hands.
He nodded to Kuwabara and entered, handing the box to Suta as she walked to him from the couch.
Then, with an air of elegance only the Junior Ruler of Spirit World had, he stepped into the living room and took a seat at one of the couches.
"Hello everyone." He began, dark rings under his eyes showing a lack of sleep. "I'm sure you know why I called this meeting."
"We don't!" Satou acknowledged, sitting right next to Koenma. "No one wanted to say anything!"
Koenma nodded weakly to her, and they could all see his stress in his eyes.
"I know. That's why I'm here. I'm sure you all already know that I sent the full detective force on a mission earlier?"
He looked at Kenya and the others as he spoke, watching them nod in unison.
"Lord Koenma, how about some tea. It may help you wake up a little." Suta offered, stepping towards the kitchen.
"Thank you. I would like some. The reason I sent everyone on a mission is because a new demon has arrison in the deepest nets of Demon World. He's been picking at the energy field seperating the worlds, and seems to be looking for a way in. Now, I'd like to ask a question or so first before I explain."
The children nodded again.
"Have any of you been sensing anything...out of the ordinary? Say...something following you or an unknown burst of energy anywhere?"
Everyone shook their heads, except for Kenya.
Kenya felt the hairs stand on the back of his neck.
"Kenya?"
He sighed, and sat up straighter, prepared to tell the junior ruler what he could.
"I've a demonic stalker sir."
"Demonic?"
Kenya nodded and sat up in his chair, thoroughly intrigued. How did this question pertain to anything weird happening to them?
"She is a young demonic female, of whom's description I have yet to ascertain sir." Kenya replied, making a breif report as he thought was necessary. He wanted to be like an official, so he made sure everything was professional.
"How long has she been stalking you?" Koenma asked, leaning towards Kenya.
"Since yesterday night sir, although her presence wasn't as strong then as it was today."
Koenma nodded his understanding and sat back on the couch again, rubbing his chin in thought.
"You've had someone following you and you didn't say anything?" Seika inquired before Katai could, causing the female junior detective to glare at the other.
"I did not want to raise suspicion. I was trying to see what she was up to." Kenya answered, also leaning back in search of a little more comfort.
Everyone in the room nodded, in which was followed by another giggle from Yusuke as he continued to read the manga undisturbed.
Katai smacked her forehead as she stared at her father, a little embarrassed over her fathers antics.
"Yusuke. Koenma here..." Kuwabara murmured to him, receiving no reply.
"Yusuke!" Kuwabara kicked his feet and suddenly received a glare from the once occupied detective.
Kuwabara's only answer to Yusuke's glare was to nudge his head in the direction Koenma was sitting.
Yusuke followed the gesture, saw Koenma, shrugged, and returned to reading his comic.
Again Katai showed her embarrassed anger on her face, looking as if she would kill her own father for being so rude.
Yet she acts just like him when he's not around... Kenya thought to himself, smiling.
Her mother probably had something to do with how she was acting now: polite before the Junior ruler of Spirit world.
"I see." Koenma acknowledged, not even noticing the giggle Yusuke gave off before. "Kenya, you will have a slightly different mission compared to your comrades. I want you to keep your eyes open for this demon, and if possible, subdue and bring her to my office in Spirit World."
Kenya nodded briefly, almost unable to control his excitement.
He was getting his first mission! Perhaps it was small and on the lacking side of adventure, but it was a mission all the same.
"How about now you tell us why you asked?" Seika inquired, shifting to get comfortable.
Koenma nodded again as Suta walked in the living room with a tray of several cups and a large kettle of tea. She served everyone that wanted some, and then settled on the couch one more time, right next to Koenma.
A sigh escaped Koenma lips as he began to explain.
"The question I asked adds into the mission you may have if everything doesn't go as planned. A new demon has arisen in the North of Demon World. Slowly, bit by bit, as he opens the field, his demonic servants hunt out children and bring them to him. You know of the case of the twelve or so children that disappeared, yes?"
The group nodded. "They were the first of those he is taking. We are not yet sure why he is kidnapping human children, but we know they are the only youngsters he is taking. He will not accept a demon child or a spiritual child from Spirit World."
"Where are you going with this?" Yoru asked rudely, not allowing Koenma to finish his statement.
Koenma nodded with a sigh and answered. "I need you all to keep your eyes open. You may see something. That fact of the matter is, the children that disappeared claimed they saw a being that went to their school, but not a single new student had come in these last few days. Parents have not seen this child they befriend, and so we get the idea that perhaps only children can see it. If that is the case, then maybe you all can also. If there is anything noticed out of the ordinary, I am to be told. Understand?"
The group nodded.
"There is also something I would like to give you all." Koenma nodded to Suta, who immediately stood and brought him the package he had brought in the first place.
Once Koenma had the box, he opened it up to produce a set of what looked like watches. He handed one to each of them, even Yoru, before explaining their uses.
"These watches are the latest technology in Spirit World. They will send messages through their speaker and microphone system, open files on convicts from the Spirit vault for identification, trace demon energy, and bring up maps to any area you are in no matter the world. Each of you must where one at all times, so that we can keep track of your progress. Tonight I would like you all to work with them and learn how to use them."
Each of them picked up a watch, and considering Tsuki was busy investigating the home, Kuwabara took the one that was to be given to her.
As soon as the watches were worn, they identified the user, downloading their information and profiles onto their screen, which was amazingly like a computer monitor.
"Cool..." Katai murmured, hitting buttons like the others to check out what the watch contained.
"With all this stuff, are you sure there is even enough room to tell the time?" Seika asked, drawing up a picture of what looked like a snake with cat paws in holographic form. "Neato!" He shouted, searching the archives from Spirit World.
"Use these as best you can. I hope they will give you everything you need. Everyone else, you too keep an eye out."
He adressed the adults in the room, excluding Yoru who was flashing through the archives on the watch same as Seika.
"Watch the news and visit schools if you have time. Make sure that any unusual happenings here in the human world are reported to me on your recievers." The group nodded, each of them already owning a compact shaped communicator from their earlier missions.
The only person that still wasn't responding was Yusuke, in which another giggle escaped his lips because of the manga.
Katai's eye twitched as she sat, and finally, after another giggle, she stood up, grabbed her fathers arm and hauled him out of the room, promising to be back in a minute.
There was a loud ruckuss that echoed from the kitchen, and then both of them returned, each with a swelling knot on their head.
Apparently Yusuke wasn't about to let his daughter beat him so easily without returning the damage.
Katai sat back down again, her arms crossed as Seika looked at the bump with a smile.
Kenya sighed and flashed through the device on his wrist.
Perhaps, considering that he was being followed, the watch would be able to track and identify the demon on his tail.
"Daddy!" Tsuki exclaimed with excitement, running to her father. "Daddy! You know the new friend I made at school today! She's here!"
Kuwabara nodded with confusion as his daughter grabbed his hand and tried to haul him from his chair.
"Wait a minute Tsuki. This new friend: what is her name?" Kurama inquired, watching the little blue haired girl pull on her father's fingers.
"My friend's name? My friend's name is Arune. Want to meet her? She's really nice!"
"Arune. When did you meet her?" Koenma inquired, standing up from his chair once he finished his tea.
"I met her yesterday! Come on! She's here."
Kenya's mind began to turn at the mention of the name. There was just something about the name...It was dragging at his conscience.
Only one thing went through his mind, and he had to check just to make sure.
Using the dial on his watch, he typed out the name on the screen and let the search engine file through the demon archive of Spirit World.
Sure enough, a young hanyou girl popped up in a holograph on the glass of the watch, a her appearance drawing Tsuki to it.
"That's her! That's Arune!"
The girl in the holograph had wide pink eyes, her body slender in the warriors white kimono she wore. The kimono, only reaching the knees, was decorated in an array of colorful butterflies lying on Sakura blossoms around the bottom and sleeve edges. The obi was a brilliant red, decorated in white scribbles that reminded Kenya of lightning dancing across a dark sky. It hung down to her ankles, a little too long for a kimono so short. Her hair was long and violet in color, contrasting deeply to her pink eyes as an elaborate style at the back of her head, and her hands, small as they were, were gloved in a red silk like material, her wrists and neck surrounded in gold rings. All in all, she was beautiful, her face round and delicate, matching her outfit. The only piece unusual to this picture, was that she held a dangerous wooden spear in her hand, a blade at each end.
"Arune Mitaki. Age: eleven. Class: B. Arrested for theft and withholding of a museum artifact. Held for two months in the prison of Spirit world before being released under parol. Disappeared and has yet to be found." The watch said in a monotone voice, reading the profile from the archive.
"So...she must be working for the dark lord of the Northern lands of Demon World. Interesting." Kurama mumbled, rubbing his chin.
"She's a bad person?" Tsuki asked, her eyes watering in disbelief.
Kuwabara nodded and picked up his daughter, trying to sooth her.
"Well I'm going out to confront her." Katai acknowledged, standing up from her seat.
"No! Wait!" Koenma shouted, but the junior detective ignored him, opening the front door to step out onto the lawn.
"Hey! Arune! Get your ass out here so I can finish this once and for all! Come on!" The other's followed her out the door, doing their best to keep her from scaring away the one link they had to finding the demon lord.
"Come out and fight me! I know you're there!"
Tsuki stepped up to Katai, a pudgy finger in her mouth, and pulled on her pants gently, trying to gain the older girls attention.
"Not now Tsuki! I'm calling out the hanyou." Katai whispered back, not even looking at the little girl. "Arune!"
Her call was followed by another tug on her pants, in which, in frustration, Katai finally turned to the younger girl. "What?"
"She's not here anymore. She had to go." Tsuki whispered, smiling as she reveal all of her baby teeth.
Katai's cheeks flushed red in embarrasment, as she thought of the stupid move she had done in order to make herself look tough.
Kenya slapped his forehead in disbelief as Seika stuck his hands in his pockets with a smile.
"Well, at least now we know what to look for." Yusuke smiled ruefully, his hands in his pockets same as Seika.
"Yes well. All of you keep an eye out. I came merely for the explanation. Remember, tell me if anything strange occurs, or if any of you sense demon energy. We have to stop this demon lord before he can perform whatever operation he has in mind. I must return to Spirit World. Take care." Koenma told them, stepping by Katai towards a portal he had opened up.
"Um, wait a minute!" The heard Haku call, stepping up to his friends from the house. "Lord Koenma, what is this demon lord's name?"
"The demon lord? The demon lord's name is Rioko. Good night all." And Koenma walked through the portal and disappeared, leaving no trace that he had actually been their except for the watches he left behind for the children.
00000000000000000000
Catse: There you go. What did you think? Please review! Oh, and tell me what you think is happening! I'd like to hear your ideas. I've already got what's going to happen in my head, but I want to hear from you on your ideas. You never know...some of them might actually be used in the story. I like to make this story a sort of reader interactive if you know what I mean. Well, until next time! Ja Ne for now!
