Authors' Note: Yoko and Kurama are separate people, not to confuse anybody. We were running out of characters with at least half a brain.
Disclaimer: Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or Yami no Matsuei. ;sniff; Wish we did.
Chapter 1 - Nagasaki File
"This is the most recent victim. As you can see, practically all the blood has been drained through puncture wounds on the neck," Botan concluded, snapping her fingers, "In other words, it's a bloody vampire case!"
Sighing, Koenma leaned back in his chair. He glanced over at the red-headed shinigami at the end of the table. "All right, Kurama. I'm putting you on this one right away."
"Right away chief?" Startled, Kurama looked up from the cinnamon bun he was eating. "I thought I had at least another week of break time!"
Koenma's eyes narrowed into a glare. "If you don't like that, I can fire you right now. You're only a worker with a mere seventy years service," he said calmly, only a hint of malice was in his voice.
Kurama swallowed nervously. "Y-yes sir. Oh!" he added after a pause. "What about a partner? Shinigami have to work in pairs, you know..." His voice trailed off as he sensed Koenma's growing irritation.
"You have already been assigned a partner. He'll meet up with you in Nagasaki. Until then Gushoshin will go with you," Yoko muttered, pushing his glasses higher onto his nose with a soft 'click'.
Hearing the secretary, Gushoshin hovered off his chair. "I'm honored," he said dryly.
"Oh, before you go!" Koenma (apparently having reined his temper) pushed 2500 yen towards Kurama.
"A gift!" the shinigami squeaked, turning into a little inu.
"I hear they good cinnamon rolls in Nagasaki!" Koenma said with a grin. "Get me one."
Kurama collapsed onto the table.
"Oh, and don't forget to keep your daily food expenses down to 3000 yen," Yoko added.
"What! How will I afford desert!" Kurama cried despairingly.
A chill shot through the room. "What's decided is decided." Yoko glared down at the red-head.
Feeling dejected, Kurama turned away. The chill vanished. "Don't eat too much now, big fella!" Botan called cheerily at his retreating back.
Kurama landed softly on the slanting roof of a church over-looking Nagasaki. Gushoshin floated down beside him.
"Vampire case, eh?" the red-head mumbled to himself.
Gushoshin nodded. "Yeah, as you saw, the victims had been virtually drained of blood. Hmm, we should probably find somewhere to wait for your partner."
"Probably... Hey!" Kurama exclaimed, clapping his hands together, "While we're waiting, we should fortify ourselves with a meal!"
"Aww Kurama! Don't you ever think of anything other than food!"
Jumping off the roof, Kurama grinned. "Of course I do." As he stood up, a young lady ran into him. "Whoa! Are you okay?" he asked anxiously, grabbing her wrist.
She glared at him. He was amazed to see that she had blood-red eyes, hidden partly behind long white hair. Wrenching her hand from his grasp, the girl turned and continued to run.
"What was that about?" Kurama murmured, confused. A slight blotch of red on his shirt collar caught his eye. Her lipstick? he wondered.
"K-Kurama!"
The sudden shout caused the shinigami to whirl around. Behind him, in an alleyway, Gushoshin was staring wide-eyed at a crumpled figure on the ground. Kurama stepped forward to get a closer look, when he noticed something that stopped him dead in his tracks.
Upon the victim's neck were two puncture wounds.
"That girl!" Kurama growled, racing after her. That's not lipstick on my shirt! It's the victim's blood!
He knew he wouldn't be able to catch her after finding he had run in a circle around the church, ending up where he had started. Gushoshin made an attempt to follow the shinigami, but got stuck between the bags of women going the other way.
Kurama stopped in front of the church. Could she have possibly have gone inside? But what would a vampire be doing in a church? he asked himself. He shrugged and climbed the steps.
When the shinigami's eyes had adjusted to the pale dusty light of the church save for a woman kneeling before the altar.
"Excuse me? Have you seen a young woman?" Kurama asked the kneeling woman.
Slowly the woman got to her feet and turned to face the shinigami. Surprisingly, instead of a woman, a man with black hair that reached below his waist and strange purple eyes stood before him. A single tear slid down the man's cheek. He covered his eyes with his hand. "How embarrassing."
"Don't worry about it-" Kurama started to say.
"Can I help you?" asked the man.
"Oh, yes. Did you see a girl? She has long white hair and is around 5'10''." said Kurama, remembering the reason he was there in the first place.
"No, no one," the man drawled.
"Well, I'm sorry to bother you." The shinigami sent the man an apologetic smile and left the church. He could feel the man's purple eyes on his back and barely supressed a shudder.
After closing the church door behind him, Kurama stared around in exasperation. That little detour had gotten him nowhere. Where could the vampire have gone?
A sudden flash of white caught his eye. It was her! He dashed off in pursuit as she disappeared down a nearby alley.
The alley was so dark, Kurama instantly lost sight of the girl. Damn, he snapped to himself, I thought I had good night vision! Preoccupied, he didn't notice he had reached the end of the alley until he had exited.
The shinigami blinked, surprised at the britghtness assailing his eyes. Where'd she go now? He took a few steps forward, glancing around for any long white hair.
Something cold and hard pressed against his back. Kurama froze.
'Click'.
"Don't move," a voice snarled from behind him.
