Disclaimer: I do not own any of the original Yu Yu Hakusho characters, but only Ynn, Kurisu, and any other characters that may happen to appear in this fanfic.

Review Replies:

To: Mystikl Sushi

Thanks so much! I can't tell you how much that means to me! I aspire to be an author (well actually I am, I was published in the UK in a book called Colours of the Heart but that was a poem, I want to be published as an author of novels) so your encouragement means a lot to me! And as for the spelling of Boutan/Botan's name, I shall change it, because many people seem to have a problem with it. Again, arigatu!

To: YokoYami

Hai, Ek sal. But you need to update as well, baka! See you at school!

Ch. 7

When the After Life is Quite Literal

Kurisu lay in the dirt of the alley, holding his stomach. Yusuke stood above him, his fist planted in the air directly where Kurisu's stomach had been just moments before. I stared down emotionlessly at my half-brother. He had my father's name, his dark hair and bright eyes, his thin mouth and gangly form. However, I felt no compassion for him. I cannot say why I did not at that point, but I can say that I am now glad I did not. If I had known what his past held I would have killed him upon sight, no questions asked.

"You're never gonna give up, are ya?" asked Yusuke imperiously.

"I won't….I won't…I fight until your death!" Kurisu shouted, lunging at Yusuke.

I had had enough. Yusuke was ready to kick Kurisu in the ribs, sending him flying to the other side of the alley, but I moved infront of him, causing him to fall over because of loss of balance. I just stood there and cast my spell ( "Delirium!" ) and he suddenly stopped. He stared at me with tears in his eyes and then immediately grabbed onto my leg, sobbing into it. I rolled my eyes, but then took him by the hand, helping him up. He looked at me with such love in his eyes that I wondered if he truly loved his mother that much, for the illusion I gave him was that of his mother.

"Come now," I said softly to him, "I'll take you home."

And with that, I took him to Koenma's office, followed by a gawking Team Urameshii. When we reached his office, Koenma just stared at Kurisu as he was still crying and holding my hand tightly. What was even odder was the fact that I was only half his size.

"What's wrong with him?" asked Koenma curiously. "Don't tell me that he's sorry for all he's done and wants me to forgive him?"

"No." I said simply.

"Er…ok. Ynn, you do realize that he is your—"

"Yes, I know that he is my half-brother. But that doesn't matter to me."

"Why?" asked Kuwabara.

The question had taken me by surprise. Why? I didn't know why, it just didn't matter. But shouldn't it? He was related to me…Shouldn't I care about him? These thoughts and more bombarded my mind as I just stood there, staring at Kuwabara as if he had just told me that I was standing in boiling lava with no chance of escape and I would soon burn to dry, black ash. Suddenly I was thrown back into the past.

I was standing in the kitchen with my mother. She was making something special for me. It was after she had put the cookies into the oven that she bent down to me and looked me in the eyes with her smiling ones, playing with my hair happily.

"You know, darling, whether you know someone or not, I want you to take care of them, all right? You never know what reasons a person has to be the way they are. Understand? Be kind to everyone, even if they are not kind to you."

"Yes, mama." The little form of me replied.

"I had promised…" I heard my voice say, as if from far off.

"What?" Yusuke's voice brought me back to reality.

"What do you want me to do with him?" I asked differentially to Koenma.

"Er… Don't worry about that, just leave him here with me."

"Fine."

I pulled my hand out of Kurisu's and felt a growing sickness with every step I took away from him. When I reached the door, I performed the countercurse to return Kurisu to normal ( "Dismissal." ) and left. I don't remember how I got home, only that when I realized I was hungry, I was already in my apartment. I walked into my kitchen and made myself a sandwich, wondering dismally what everyone else was doing. I sat down on my moth-eaten couch and tried to watch the television, but nothing was on. Besides, if something was on, I probably wouldn't be able to concentrate on it. Kuwabara's question kept echoing through my mind. Why? Why don't I care? Is there something wrong with me? I finally escaped my thoughts when I slumped against the arm of the sofa and fell asleep.

They were dead. They were all dead. Thousands of bodies, each having died in a different way, bore the face of my mother. They stared at me pleadingly. I felt the tears, like fire, pour down my cheeks. I wanted to cry, but my voice would not come out. I tried to turn away but there were more of them behind me. They were everywhere, some hanging from nooses from lampposts, some having been shot and now laying on the street, some crushed between two cars. I backed away but bumped into something. Frightened, I turned around to see my mother's bloody face staring down at me.

"Life…Life…" she said, the blood pouring into her mouth.

What could I do? There was nothing I could do. They were dead, and death was final…wasn't it? No…no, there was necromancy! I quickly cast the spells necessary for bringing the dead back and—

I quickly awoke from my dream as screams split the night outside. I walked over to the window to see a scene that was quite confusing. There was nothing that was really out of place, people were walking around, some were crying tears of joy, hugging each other. I wasn't quite sure why someone had screamed. Then I looked closer. Most of them had that red-pink look as if they had just scrubbed really hard in a shower, or rather the red-pink look of newborn babies. But…why? I turned around and came face to face with Botan.

"You've gone too far this time, Ynn!" she said. "Bringing back all of the dead! Koenma's going to put you in a cell and throw the key away!"
"What do you mean?" I asked calmly but curiously.

"What do you mean, 'what do you mean'? The earth is overflowing with what the ningens see as miracles! Some of them think it's the end of the world, the Final Ressurection! The cities are so crowded, people are beginning to have to stay outside! What have you done?"

And without even waiting for an answer, she grabbed my wrist and mounted her oar. We flew to the Spirit World and into Koenma's office. I was still quite aloof as to what in the world Botan was talking about. Me? Bring back all of the dead? But that's impossible, Necromancy required enough concentration (an lack thereof) that I would definitely remember bringing someone back to life, much less all of the dead. My thoughts were interrupted as Koenma began shouting at me as he stood on his desk to make himself more intimidating.

"HOW COULD YOU BRING ALL THE DEAD BACK TO LIFE? THIS IS ONE OF THE WORST – NO, MOST LIKELY THE WORST THING EVER TO HAPPEN TO THE SPIRIT AND NINGEN WORLDS! WHAT IN THE NAME OF DADDYER KING YAMA POSESSED YOU TO BRING THEM ALL BACK? DID I NOT TELL YOU YOU WERE ONLY TO BRING BACK THE INNOCENT? I HARDLY THINK—"

"I hardly think shouting will solve the problem." I said calmly. "Perhaps there is a more constructive way?"

Koenma looked like he could punch me, but in his form even if he had, it would probably not have hurt in the least. He then took a deep breath to calm down, then began speaking again, but this time not as loudly.

"Since you caused this mess, you need to clean it up. You and Team Urameshii will each take on one section of the world at a time, as well as a few of my other employees. You must cut down all the dead."

"How will I know if they are dead?" I asked.

"You won't have to. The weapons I will give you can only hurt the dead, they will simply pass through the living harmlessly. What is your weapon of choice?"

I didn't even need to think about it. "A scythe."

Koenma motioned someone forth from the door and I heard a lot of clanking before I saw a large ogre come in carrying a great deal of weapons. He had obviously been listening to our conversation because he fumbled through the mess of weapons until he found a scythe, and then handed it to me. I took it in hand and stared at the many carvings and smiled. It was quite beautiful. It seemed to be made just for me; for a normal person, a scythe would be about six or seven feet tall, however for me it was only five foot seven, just the right size for me. Its blade was quite different than normal ones; it had a double sided end and it was quite erratic, but sharp. I grinned, and accepted the job with gusto.

Koenma seemed surprised. "I thought you would try and resist the order."

"When the after life is quite literal…" I said and Koenma smiled and sent me away.