Authoress here.

Ah, it feels GOOD to get back into the Speech season! Speech team is in full swing, now, and that means I have Saturdays in between rounds to ponder my story's plot. So, straight from the mind of a bored Speech teamer, here's chapter five!

Yujo Chronicles: The Final Chapter

Chapter Five: A New Case

Katsu opened her eyes groggily. The pain in the back of her head threatened to send her spiraling back down into unconsciousness, but a clamor of voices cut through the pain.

"She's awake!" An unfamiliar male voice announced from the blur hovering above her face. She blinked again, and her eyes slowly focused on the man who drove the bus to and from the area around S & R's. He peered worriedly into her face.

"Hey, honey, what happened?" The man held up two fingers in front of her nose. "How ma-"

"Two," Katsu said impatiently, getting up as quickly as the pain in her head would allow. The man supported her arm as her knees wobbled menacingly, and the crowd of four or five people sighed jointly in relief. She looked around, a little confused. It had been morning when they had reached the bus stop; now it was early afternoon.

"What happened?" The bus driver asked again.

"I-I don't remember," Katsu lied. She remembered perfectly. The woman catching her fall, the strange tingle from her Spirit senses, Yusuke's shout of warning, the painful blackout. But where was Yusuke! He wouldn't of just left her lying on the pavement; he would of done something, gotten her home or to a hospital, or something. But because he didn't, Katsu feared the worst. That woman must have done something to him!

"Uh, could someone give me a ride home, please?" She asked politely, keeping the panic out of her voice. "I'm feeling a little light-headed."

"Sure thing, missy." The bus driver helped her walk over to the large transit bus parked and idling by the curb. Katsu looked around as discreetly as she could for signs of Yusuke, but she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary.

Where are you, Yusuke?

Two hours later

The bell above the door rang shrilly as Katsu burst into the café. She looked around frantically, but none of the booths contained Yusuke, or any other of his friends. "Damnit."

"Oh, hey Katty." Katsu looked up as Emiko skated out of the kitchen, a tray of burgers in her hands. She set them down on a couple's table, and then went over to her friend. "What's wrong? You're breathing awfully hard."

"Miko, have you seen Yusuke at all today?" Katsu gasped out.

"No." Emiko took her friend by the shoulders, and guided her to an empty booth. "Tell me what's wrong, and don't you try to say nothing. I can smell the wrong on you."

Katsu shuddered a little bit, unable to stop feeling slightly uneasy when Emiko made references to her demonic traits. She shook it away and said, "I can't find Yusuke."

"What!"

"I've looked everywhere I can think of, and I can't find him. We were going to S & R's today, and at the bus stop this strange woman came and knocked me out. She was a demon, for all I can tell. When I woke up, he was gone."

Emiko stared uncertainly into Katsu's downcast eyes. "Wait here. I'll be right back."

The fox demoness turned and skated back into the kitchen. "Moshimu, I gotta go!"

The fat old cook looked at her quizzically. "Huh?"

"F-Family emergency!" Emiko concentrated briefly, and brought tears to her eyes with a well practiced air. Moshimu seemed tough, but any forlorn-looking young girl made him a subject of emotional empathy. Moshimu took her bait.

"Okay, I'll have one of the others cover your tables." Moshimu briefly touched her shoulder, and Emiko nodded her thanks, quickly removing her apron.

"Thanks, Moshimu." Emiko pulled off her skates and jammed her feet into street shoes before dashing out to get Katsu.

"What're you doing? Don't you have to work?" Katsu asked, following Emiko out of the café.

"This is a little more important." Emiko snapped. She immediately apologized. "Sorry, Katty, but anytime Yusuke, Kurama, Kuwabara or Hiei goes missing and no one knows where they are, it's either very dangerous or very important. I have the feeling that this time it's dangerous."

The pair rounded the corner, now at a fast jog. Emiko turned right sharply, going through an alleyway and crossing an empty lot to more hastily get home. Katsu followed her, breathing easier with a second wind.

Emiko reached her home and dug the keys from her pocket. She jammed them into the lock and twisted hard, popping the door open abruptly. "C'mon, Katty, we'll call Kuwabara and Kurama first."

Katsu nodded and followed her to the kitchen. Emiko grabbed the phone and punched in Kurama's number. The phone rang once before Mrs. Minamino answered.

"Shuichi!"

"No, it's Komiko. Is Shuichi home?" Emiko's brow furrowed slightly.

"I thought he was with you!" Mrs. Minamino sounded slightly hysterical. "He had called two days ago to tell me he was staying late with the chess club after school, and he never came home!"

Emiko's heart froze, and the air caught in her chest. "Oh no…"

Mrs. Minamino was speaking again. "Do you know where he could be!"

"N-No, I haven't spoken to him in a couple of days." Emiko managed to say.

"If you find him, call immediately. Now, dear, I need to hang up so if the police call…"

Emiko heard the dial tone ring in her ears, louder and harsher than anything she had heard before. She took a ragged gasp of air in, and placed the phone down on the table. "He's missing too."

"What?" Katsu felt her nerves mounting. She understood how Yusuke could be taken off guard, with seeing her get hurt. He would have gotten irrational, angry, and the demon was skilled enough to take advantage of that. But Kurama? She had never known him to be irrational, even under pressure. And Emiko hadn't been with him, so she provided no distraction. These demons must be very strong to get both Yusuke and Kurama!

"Emiko-" Katsu tried, but the demoness was busy dialing Kuwabara.

It was Shizuru who answered the phone. "Yep?"

"Hi, Shizuru, this is Emiko. Is Kuwabara there?"

"No."

Emiko shot a nervous glance at Katsu. "Where is he?"

"Dunno. I 'spect he's with Yukina. She randomly came t'the house yesterday and they left, hand in hand." Emiko heard her take a long drag from a cigarette. "So I s'pose they're off getting' reacquainted with one another."

"Yesterday?" Emiko frowned. "I didn't take Yukina as a girl who would spend the night, from what I've heard."

"No, she ain't the type. Maybe my baby brother tried to take her somewhere romantic, and they got lost and ended up staying the night on a park bench." Shizuru laughed a little, before her laugh turned to coughing. She sounded a little hung over.

"Did you notice anything strange about her?" Emiko asked. She groaned a little inwardly. If Shizuru had been drunk, then there was only a slim chance she would recognize an interloper acting as the sweet Ice Apparition.

"Yeah. Now that y'mention it, Yukina seemed, y'know, more powerful. But she get's stronger with healing powers every time I see her."

"Shizuru, I want to be absolutely sure that that was Yukina you saw. Yusuke and Kurama are missing, and Katsu had a nasty run in with a demon right before Yusuke went MIA. Kuwabara could be in trouble if that wasn't Yukina." Emiko said calmly, internally begging Shizuru to tell her she was positively sure.

"I wish I could say I was certain, Emiko, but I can't." A hint of worry was apparent in the older girl's voice. "Y'know, I'm gonna go check all his favorite spots to hang an' see if I can find him."

"Why don't you stay put," said Emiko firmly. "I'm calling Boton. She'll help us figure out where everyone is. And if she can't then, I'm going to go find them."

"Me too." Katsu interjected. Emiko looked at her, frowning.

"Okay, call me either way." Shizuru said, worry plain in her tone.

"Don't get too anxious, Shizuru." Emiko said, sounding a lot surer than she felt. "We'll find 'em."

"'Kay. Bye." Shizuru hung up abruptly.

Emiko set the phone down, and turned to Katsu. "What do you mean you're coming to look for them as well?"

"I want to help find Yusuke and the others." Katsu said.

"But-…" Emiko hesitated, and Katsu could almost see what she was thinking. Without demonic power or Spirit energy, you'll only get in the way.

"Listen, Emiko, that's my boyfriend who's missing. Just like yours. I want to make sure he's okay as much as you want Kurama to be okay."

Emiko smiled, and to Katsu's surprise, two tears raced their way down her face. She pulled Katsu into a hug, squeezing her friend to her to garner support as much as give it. "Don't worry, Katsy. I wouldn't make you stay behind, and I'll make sure you can do as much as you can to rescue Yusuke."

"Thanks." Katsu hugged her back.

"Okay, let's get Boton."

"How?" Katsu asked. She knew that the Grim Reaper appeared sometimes from nowhere, but she suspected that it was hard to get a hold of her when she wasn't around.

"Not too sure." Emiko cocked her head to one side in thought. Then, her face cleared and she shrugged. "I got an idea."

Katsu followed the fox demoness into her backyard, were a large garden sprawled. All the late summer flowers were in full bloom, nearing the end of their season. The winter greens were beginning to show their color, and the grass was cool and springy underfoot. A thin woods began at the base of Emiko's yard, and she walked into it, Katsu tagging along behind, utterly confused.

About six steps into the trees, Emiko stopped abruptly and threw her head back. "BOOOOOOOTTTTTOOOOOOOOONNNNNNNNNNNN!"

Katsu slapped her palms over her ears. "That's your idea! Just scream for her!"

The demoness shrugged. "It's worth a try."

Katsu sighed as Emiko bellowed Boton's name a second, third and fourth time. Finally, as Emiko turned back to her house, a tell-tale shape started to descend from the clouds above the treetops.

"It worked?" Emiko looked more disbelieving than Katsu, who laughed.

"Heaven knows you're loud enough." Katsu joked. Emiko shot her a dirty look as the pink kimono-clad figure on an oar landed daintily in front of them.

"Yes? You called?" Boton joked, and she frowned as the two girls in front of her didn't smile. "Whatever is the matter?"

"Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara are missing." Katsu said quickly. "Shizuru thought Kuwabara was with Yukina, but she wasn't sure if it was really her or someone in disguise."

Quickly Emiko filled in the details to Boton, whose eyes grew wider as Emiko continued. "That doesn't sound good." Boton said, gnawing on her lower lip pensively. "I'll go speak with Koenma. Meanwhile, you two stay put and keep your eyes peeled."

Emiko and Katsu nodded. Boton mounted her oar and kicked off, soaring back into the sky.

Wherever could they be?

Spirit World, Koenma's palace

"They're WHAT!"

"Missing, Koenma, sir." Boton said quickly. "Everything I told you is exactly everything Emiko and Katsu know. No one knows where Hiei is."

"That's normal," the toddler prince grumbled. "What isn't normal is them being whisked off without a trace. You'd think four fighters as skilled as they are would be able to fend off a few demons?"

"Depends on the demon, sir." Boton offered. "Remember? Yusuke got kidnapped just a short bit ago, and that was because he got caught off guard."

"That demon used a gas to make him fall asleep." Koenma retorted. "These demons don't sound like that's they're style, if that woman attacked Katsu. Why not put them both to sleep?"

"Good point, sir."

"And, I happen to know for a fact Yukina is not with Kuwabara." Koenma continued, gnawing on his Mafukon pacifier worriedly. "She's staying with Master Genkai, whom I just contacted her yesterday. Yukina hasn't left Genkai's temple."

"So Kuwabara is bona-fide missing as well?" Boton asked, horrified. "Even with his strong Spirit Awareness?"

"Apparently." Koenma said sagely. "But you know him. A pretty girl turns his head around, and if that girl is Yukina, well, he'd do anything for her."

"You have a point." Boton sighed. "What are we to do, Koenma sir? All of our Detecting team is missing, we don't know where Hiei is, and, well, I just don't see any options!"

"Well, I'm going to have to make a call." Koenma sighed. "Let's see if our friend Aya Fujimiya is still willing to help."

End Chapter

Authoress here.

Okay, we all remember that Aya's sister was woken up as payment for Aya helping our Fearsome Foursome conquer Queen Narrin, right? So, now that Aya's sister is awake, he doesn't use her name anymore. He's now Ran Fujimiya, and any reference to Aya (if not specified) is to Ran's sister.

As weird as that is, that's how it's gonna be. So be happy.

And review.