FW: ….
Reader: (glares)
FW: Ok, ok. So I've screwed up my "guarantee"-
Kurama: Again.
FW: Yeah, again. Sorry! Time to change my policy, I guess. For the MOST PART, I'll update every other day, but sometimes, things come up.
Genkai: Slacker.
Yusuke: What?
Genkai: I wasn't talking to you!
Yusuke: Really? You gave my nickname to someone else?
FW: Oh joy. I'm the "new slacker"….
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho
START
"Come on Hiei, it's not THAT bad…." Kurama tried to reason with him as they got ready to continue practice.
"Hn." As far as he was concerned, which wasn't far, Kurama WAS still his best friend, even if he didn't remember why.
As for after the hime-lick (FW: Still can't spell) incident, Hiei had just narrowed his eyes, wiped off the nasty piece of food, and walked down the bleachers, leaving a stunned and angry Mij. Honestly, the spirit detectives were impressed that Hiei had held his temper and NOT just fried the human there!
So it led back to here. Back to practice. The students were allowed to keep their memories unshifted, as Hiei couldn't do 200 people in a few minutes.
The only thing that changed with this new event, was Mij was even more irritable. "Hurry up!" He called down to them, "we've got ALL night, and if you can't figure it out, we'll TAKE all night!"
"He can't do that, can he?" Kuwabara questioned, but like everyone else, he wasn't willing to find out.
They got back to their spaces, and the practice continued for several more long hours.
Finally, they all gathered at Kurama's house, what they had once thought of as their meeting place for the mission, now just a convenient place to talk and relax.
The practice had ended with few injuries, at least on their side, but all of them were exhausted.
"I can't keep this up until the end of the season!" Botan groaned, flinging herself onto the bed.
"You shouldn't complain!" Yusuke shot back, "at least you had a clue what you were doing!"
From here, it became almost a competition of who had the worst experience.
"Well I got trampled!" Kuwabara stated proudly, showing off his numerous bruises.
"A fat man spat in my face," Hiei said flatly, as custom for his voice.
"I marched behind Tac," Kurama said thoughtfully, realizing his session hadn't been too bad.
"You got to hit her a lot though!" Yusuke added. Noticing how Kurama looked shocked, "don't think I didn't notice!"
"I didn't mean to…."
"Hey, that's not a BAD thing!" Yusuke laughed, and his friends followed suit.
Botan sat up as she remembered she hadn't told the others about Joane yet. "Oh, um…" she stumbled, rembering Kurama no longer knew anything.
Luckily, the doorbell rang. Kurama smiled good naturedly and left to answer it. As soon as he was gone, she leaned closer to the others. "I have something to tell you," she whispered unnecessarily.
So they waited. And waited. "Spit it out!" Yusuke finally yelled, losing patience.
"JOANE'S A GIRL!"
"…What?"
"Well, he, er, she's, IT used to be a girl, but it got plastic surgery to become a man!" She explained quickly, using interesting word choice.
"Why do we care?" Hiei asked coldly.
"Yeah, aside from that being really creepy, does it matter at all?" Kuwabara rephrased his sentence.
Botan quickly nodded, sure that what happened to the flutist was important. "When "he" was a freshman, "his" family was murdered, in front of "him". "He" faked death, and changed everything about "his" appearance, but not "his" name, instrument, or high school," she quickly filled them in.
Yusuke caught something faster than the others. "Hold on, his name and high school are the same?"
"Yes, but for some reason, no one remembers anyone with the name "Joane Resserd"," the ferry girl said, knowing where his thoughts were headed.
Hiei realized now too. "Memory blocks," he assumed, noting that whoever had done this four years ago had the same tricks, demenstrating them on a certain fox earlier.
"But why wouldn't someone want anyone to remember…" Kuwabara asked the big question.
There was silence, as no one knew how to answer.
Kurama returned then, walking in the room when they weren't paying attention. Without realizing it, he still had all his abilities, including stealth.
"We have a problem…" he spoke up, and the focus turned to him.
And the body he held.
"JOANE!" Botan cried, hurrying over to his still form. "Is he…" She asked softly.
"No," the fox assured her gently. "He must have rang the doorbell, but passed out before I opened it," he reasoned.
"Seems there's always someone out cold in here," Kuwabara muttered, watching the redhead place him on the bed.
Yusuke walked closer, examining him, "Unlucky basta- he's bleeding!" He yelled, noticing the red liquid oozing through his shirt.
The boys hurried out to get various medical supplies. Botan had started to follow, but Hiei roughly shoved her back into the room.
"He'll have something to say," he said, letting her know that this wasn't disputable.
So now she was alone with him. For a while, nothing happened, and she was forced to just sit by his side, waiting for them to return. She took off his worn shirt for him, and to make the others' cleanup easier.
Upon relaxing, however, she noticed faint traces of demon energy on him. Her heart sped up as she leaned closer, trying to get a better reading on it, when his hand shot up and grabbed her wrist painfully.
She yelped, and his eyes opened, bloodshot, staring dazedly at her. "Botan," he rasped.
"Yes?" She said, anxiously. True, she was nervous, and he reminded her of a zombie, but if he would tell her anything, she would listen, and maybe find a way to connect it with the case.
"Why… did you do this to me?" He asked, pained, before collapsing again.
She looked at him in disbelief. "I didn't do this!" She exclaimed. "But whoever did must have overheard him telling me… he must have realized he didn't finish the job four years ago, and decided to end it now!" She understood. She stood, knowing that she was right instinctively.
"Hold on, then whoever did this would have to have been in that room with us… and, it must be a girl, or he wouldn't have thought it was me, that or Kurama, but he wouldn't have done this either…" she puzzled for a few minutes, unable to piece the puzzle together.
For some reason, the blood flow was slowing, maybe even coming to a stop. She looked at it absently, and realized that it had been a shape. She leaned forward, wondering what it was, and recoiled in shock.
The boys returned them, and saw Botan in that state. Curious, they set down the supplies and came closer. "Botan? Hey, Botan," Kuwabara tried to wake her up, shaking her lightly by the shoulders.
"She's in shock, moron," Yusuke stated, looking at the body of Joane and quickly understanding her horror.
Carved into his chest, were two words: "RIVER STYX".
END CHAPTER 16
FW: Shorter than usual, I know. But I think this is kinda important.
Hiei: You think wrong.
Yusuke: I'm surprised she thinks at all.
Kurama: Agreed.
FW: Yeah yeah. Well, I think this has reached past its prime, so I'm gonna end it as soon as I can. Don't know how long that'll take yet…. Well, review if you want, don't if you don't, and if you flame, ok. I'll take it in stride!
