"Obligation and Duty"

Chapter 18

.oO{I own Rei! Yeah! And Ishida! Kinda! Yeah! And this story! Uh-huh!}

#Duo grins hugely# Yeah! Someone as hyper as me! #He runs over to Author and plows her down with a huge hug#

#Author is now laying on the ground with Duo on top of her# Well... {heheheh...} Let's get to the story. ^x^ #Scene fades out#

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Hiei, Kurama and Kuwabara. She was Yusuke. Odd as it sounds, it was true. Her brain must've been on too much medication. They were standing there. The seaweed men in their path. Hiei pulled out his katana, Kurama; his whip, Kuwabara; his spirit sword. They started cutting the seaweed men.

She was looking at a window. She called the guys over. She couldn't hear what she said, though. The sounds were all still fuzzy. The guys nodded. Kuwabara started running to the wall. Kurama followed. Hiei after that.

Rei started running towards them. Kuwabara stopped suddenly. Kurama jumped onto his shoulders and Hiei onto Kurama's. Rei jumped as hard as she could and landed on Hiei's shoulders and pushed herself off towards the window. She didn't look like she was goind to make it, but she did. She pulled herself up into the window and started running up the stairs.

She found a door at the end of the stairs and ran through it. Botan and Keiko were in front of her. At least, they were on the big screen in front of her. Standing-- really in front of her-- was a blonde guy with red streaked front bangs. He was dressed in white and red and he was holding what looked like a whistle.

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Rei sat upright as she awoke from her dream.

"Holy shit... that was freaky..." she gasped. The dream was a little too real for her taste and it had upped her adrenaline. A little sweaty, she got out of bed and walked to the living room. It was 3 o'clock in the afternoon the next day.

"How the hell do I keep sleeping for so long?" Rei asked no one. But, surprisingly, she got an answer.

"It's because you've been so tired. Everything that has happened to you in the past few months has come out of nowhere and bit you in the butt."

Rei whirled around towards the voice and saw Ishida sitting on the porch by the door.

"Where's Botan?" Rei asked. Ishida shrugged.

"She said she had to go out."

Rei lifted an eyebrow, "How do you know what all has happened to me?"

Ishida stood up, "I know a lot of things about you, Rei. Not only because Botan told me some, but I had known a bit to begin with."

Rei felt quite small under his gaze and she started to get dizzy. Ishida quickly wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling. Slowly lowering both of them to the ground he asked, "Did I scare you?"

Rei pressed a hand to her forehead. "Not really. Maybe. Kinda."

Ishida laughed. "Sorry. Maybe I should explain?"

"Yes, please do."

"Okay, how do I say it... I've had connection with Spirit World for a while. It was because of my brother."

Rei nodded, but motioned for him to go on.

"My brother died a few years ago and he came to me one night and told me about the Spirit World. He wasn't supposed to do that, though. Since he had committed suicide, Botan couldn't take him back right away. He had to apologize to me for some things."

Concern filled Rei's eyes as he continued.

"Since I had found out about a few things, Koenma let me become a Spirit Detective, sorta."

Rei was a little confused now but Ishida didn't continue.

"Why 'sorta'?" she asked, leaning towards him.

He leaned back and said, "It's hard to explain. I'm not really a Spirit Detective, but I am able to help with little things."

"So that's why you seem to have more time around here," Rei said as her lips curved into a pout.

"Are you talking about Yusuke?" Ishida asked. Rei was a little caught off-guard but he said, "Botan told me about him and your... um.. involvement."

"What all did she tell you!?" Rei asked, a little startled.

"Just that you and Yusuke... well, you know," Ishida blushed. Rei breathed a sigh of relief as she asked, "She didn't tell you how I met him, did she?"

"No. How did you meet him?"

"It doesn't matter, I was just wondering."

"No. You brought it up, now tell me," Ishida said, unrelenting.

"I said it doesn't matter," Rei said as she tried to stand up but Ishida grabbed her hand and pulled her back.

"Fine! I'll tell you!" Rei gave up. "Botan kinda played Cupid."

Ishida raised an eyebrow. "Is that it? No affairs? No murders?"

Rei leaned away from him, "Did you WANT that stuff, pervert?"

Ishida laughed at her and said, "No, but the way you wouldn't tell me made me think it was something terrible."

.oO{You really have no idea...} Rei thought as she stood up. Ishida was still laughing so he let her go. Rei walked to the kitchen and decided she was in a mood to cook so she pulled out a cookie sheet.

"Time for biscuits. That's like the only thing I make," Rei muttered to herself. She had measured out all the ingredients when Ishida came into the kitchen. Rei scowled at him and he smiled back.

Pulling a chair out and sitting on it backwards, he rested his arms on the back and watched Rei. She decided to ignore him; it would only make things complicated if she didn't. She finished cutting out the biscuits when Ishida asked, "How many people usually live here?"

"Three including me," Rei answered nonchalantly as she put the cookie sheet in the warm oven.

Ishida nodded, "Does Yusuke live here?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because he lives with his mom. Are you done yet?" Rei asked a little impatiently as she leaned against the counter. Ishida smiled and stood up.

"Just call me if you need me," he said before he left the room.

Rei breathed a sigh of relief and then laughed. "He's fun to be mean to!" she thought aloud.

Rei was pulling the cookie sheet out of the oven when she stopped dead in her tracks. Botan and Yusuke. It was almost as if they had both called her. Racing through the halls, she found Ishida in the yard.

"Where is Botan? Did she tell you where she went?" Rei asked breathlessly.

Ishida looked up from where he was sitting by the garden. "No. Is something wrong?"

Rei didn't answer as she ran back through the house to her room to get her shoes.

"Where are you going?" Ishida asked, leaning against her door frame.

"To find Botan," Rei answered as she walked out the door.

"How're you going to do that? Are you going to run all over Tokyo looking for her?" Ishida asked, grabbing her by the arm.

"Let go," Rei said as she tried to pull from his grasp.

"At least let me help," was all he said. Rei nodded and they ran off towards town. Rei tried to remember where they were in her dream as they ran.

Moving towards the Sarayashiki Junior High school, Rei stopped short. This was where they were.

"C'mon," she said as she pulled Ishida behind her. Walking through the gates she noticed some bug-infected teachers lying on the lawn.

"Oh dear. What happened here?" Ishida asked absently.

"I have no idea," Rei answered as they heard a faint scream. It sounded a little too much like Botan. Rei ran through the school doors and up a flight of stairs.

"Gracious, you seem a little too much in shape," Ishida panted. Rei barely nodded as she searched the hallway. No sign of them on this floor. So she started up the next flight of stairs.

How long had it been since her dream? A few hours? And she had been asleep for more than 15 hours that night. There was no telling where Botan was now.

Arriving at the next floor, Rei saw some movement at the end of the hall and heard a scream. Ishida was right next to her and she almost took off running down the hall.

"Stop. What if we make more trouble for them? Let me go first," he said as he held her arm in his tight grasp. Rei stepped back and let him go first. They slowly walked down the hall and turned the corner. Sure enough, there was Botan with Keiko. There were at least 15 bug-infested teachers around them, but that wasn't too much for Ishida and Rei to take out. Using nothing more than their fists, Ishida and Rei cleared a pathway for Keiko and Botan.

Rei looked to Ishida, who was busy knocking one of the teachers out. Nodding towards him, he punched the last teacher and they ran back down the stairs and outside. Botan and Keiko were hiding behind a few bushes and Rei walked over to them.

"Hey, come to my house. I doubt those guys would come after us there," she said as she reached out her hand to them. Keiko took it and Botan and Rei helped her up.

"I don't get it. Why is this happening?" Keiko asked. Rei and Botan gave a side-ways glance to each other as Ishida walked up to them.

"I suggest we get going. Like, right now," he said as he ushered them along. Keiko was kinda lagging behind so Ishida carried her on his back the rest of the way. Rei quickly opened the door to her house and Ishida set Keiko on the couch.

"Hold on a sec, I'll be right back," Rei said as she quickly walked to her room. She grabbed her bottle of hydrogen peroxide and a washcloth and towel. Walking back into the living room, she helped Botan and Keiko clean their cuts they had gotten. Ishida sat there patiently until they were done. Rei laughed, "Alright, we're done now, you can use it."

She handed him the washcloth and peroxide-- which he took happily-- as Botan asked.

"Could I get a bath? And maybe borrow something clean to wear?"

Rei nodded. "Sure. You can take a bath, too, if you want," she said to Keiko. Keiko looked like she didn't know what to do so Botan pulled her along.

"Oomf, what a day," Rei sighed as she plopped onto the couch. Ishida was still cleaning his cuts, but answered, "Yes. It has been a day."

Rei glared as she rolled upside-down on the couch so that her head was near the floor and her feet at the top. Ishida raised his eyebrow and asked, "What's wrong with you?"

"Bahh... everything. Yusuke's 'girlfriend' is in my house, I lost my kid, I've got so many problems it's not funny."

"No one was laughing," Ishida said as he closed the peroxide and set it on the floor. Rei tilted her head and saw him looking at her with sympathy again. Looking away, she said, "I hate it when you look at me like that."

Ishida was taken aback and asked, "Why?"

Rei sat back upright on the couch and yawned, "Because. You make me actually want to be your friend."

Ishida rolled his eyes and stood up, taking the towel, washcloth and peroxide with him.

"I'm going to put the peroxide in the main bathroom because it seems we have to use it a lot."

Rei nodded and walked into the kitchen. She heard Ishida in the laundry room and couldn't help but smile. .oO{He even does the laundry. Ha, I can't help but think of Kurama. I wonder what those guys are doing right now...}

***

"Ahh... I feel a lot better now," Botan sighed as she sat down on the couch. Both she and Keiko had taken a bath-- at different times-- and were dressed in Rei's pajamas. Rei came out of the kitchen and asked, "You guys hungry?"

"Yeah!" Botan answered.

"Um, kinda, but you've already done so much, I wouldn't feel right eating your food, too," Keiko tried to resist, but Botan and Rei absolutely wouldn't let her.

"If you don't eat by your own choice, they'll pry your mouth open and force-feed you," Ishida mumbled as he walked into the room.

"Shut up, Ishida," Botan and Rei laughed at the same time. Rei stood up and asked, "Whatd'ya wanna eat?"

"Biscuits and gravy!" Botan laughed. Rei couldn't help but laugh, too.

"You're lucky I made biscuits before I came looking for you guys. Is that alright with you, Keiko?" Rei asked. Keiko looked a little surprised for a second that Rei knew her name, but she nodded anyways. Rei made some gravy quickly and told everyone it was time to eat. Ishida showed Keiko where everything was and helped her get her food as Rei walked into the living room where Botan was still sitting. Sitting next to her on the couch, Rei asked, "Aren't you hungry?"

"Yeah, but I have a question. Does it bother you that you're healing so quickly?"

Rei raised her eyebrow and answered, "No. I'm half 'restorative' demon anyways. It's only natural, don't you think."

Botan nodded, "That's the exact reason. I just wanted to know if you had any questions." She stood up and walked into the kitchen.

Rei couldn't help but think there was another reason, though.