Disclaimer: Don't own YYH! Katrina is mine and so is the storyline!
Chapter 64: The End?
I pant, watching the building collapse. A sudden thought occurs to me. "Did Botan get out all right?"
"Yes, we saw her out through a window, and as she has excellent navigation, she'll be fine."
"Katrina, what about your father?"
"He's alive. Or he was. He wanted to shut down the machinery, so he stayed behind. I don't know how he is now. Don't really care. He's probably alive, though." It's a somewhat-hope.
"I imagine so," said Kurama. "He likes late dramatic appearances. What about Lahri? She didn't…"
I sigh. "That girl was not Lahri. She was Beauty."
"What?"
"Beauty was just possessing a dead human's body, which she dubbed Lahri. But…she's dead now. It's all okay." It's not okay. But I can't tell him that now, can I?
Kurama whistles. "We can discuss this later, at the headquarters, if there are any left." He sees my questioning look. "They were attacked a few hours ago. But, now that the leader is gone, they should be crushed by now."
"Yes," says Hiei in a strained sort of voice. "Now then, can someone help me get this goon off me before my spine buckles?" He asks, gesturing to Kuwabara.
Kurama puts down Genkai, and helps him out. I look away, and I notice Jin is standing by himself, holding Mie. I go over to talk to him.
"She still isn't responding. She's alive, but only just."
"As you said, it was her choice, Jin." I say, trying to comfort him.
He just stares at her body. "I wonder…I just wonder what I did to make her feel so much…hatred."
"She was corrupted. It wasn't your fault. A little jealousy did that to her."
"I should have…I should have let her join the Shinobi…" His voice wavers on the last word. I leave, to give him time to cry. I get the feeling he wants to be alone.
So I walk over to the ruined building, and start peeling apart boards, for any remnant of my dad. I can't bear to wonder what happened the rest of my life, despite what I just said.
My headache worsens as I work. What is wrong with this? I was just completely healed, and I still have a headache. I feel…cold. Cold, inside. I shiver. This never happened before. It…it feels…emptier.
I feel a hand on my shoulder, and I jump a foot in my air. It's my dad. The feeling of chill recedes into me, leaving me warm again. It's like I just absorbed an ice cube.
I shake his hand off. He simply says, "It will never be over."
I just sigh.
"As Sensu said, it can never be destroyed. It will move on to more and more hosts. The battle will never end. We can prevent it from winning, but we ourselves cannot win."
I sigh again. "Did we win?"
"Yes. For the time being, we beat evil."
"Are we all okay?" I suddenly remember the autograph, and I change my question to, "Am I okay?"
"He was probably just bluffing. He just wanted to do some last thing to scare you."
"Good. I needed to hear that from someone." I push past him, but he catches me. "Here is your friend." He holds out the body of Lahri.
I stare at her eyes, eyes that will never come out of the lids again. I glare at her body, trying so hard but failing to hate her. I can't believe I didn't figure it out—her identity, her motives, her lie. Why couldn't I see? Did some part of me want to believe in her good side? Did I deliberately overlook the wicked demon parasite inside her because I felt some kind of…of affection for this girl?
I want to believe it's preposterous, but I can't lie to myself any longer. In my mind, I know it's true—every bit of it. Beauty's invented personality, Lahri, was just like mine. I always thought of her as my opposite, but yet, we were really exactly the same. We were both determined, shrewd, sarcastic, strong, and willing to do anything for any purpose. My subconscious really saw her as a kind of…friend. I didn't want to see the evil, so I didn't see it. Could I have saved Lahri if I weren't so incredibly naïve and sentimental? Could I have saved myself from watching her die?
And the horrible thing is, it was all a lie. Lahri herself was nothing more than a character created by evil. Evil isn't always obvious. Evil itself was just like me. I was that attached to something as transparent as air.
I break down, despite everything I did to stop it. "Why should I feel this way? There never was a Lahri. She was a total act." I scrub away the tears in rage. "I shouldn't care. I shouldn't. She was not my…friend." The words fly out before I can stop them.
He looks sad, but then his mouth hardens, and using his power, he burns her. I watch those eyes shrivel up into a fine ash, which starts to fall like sand through his thick fingers.
"Why did you do that!" I ask in shock, watching her ashes fall. This is too much. I just want to run away from everything. It's all too much.
He adjusts his thin black clothes. "She was never there. She must be forgotten, for this event to be forgotten. Do not mourn for her."
"I—I just really…"
"Forget about this character. I know you can. You're my daughter."
At this point, the shock wears away, re-exposing my rage towards him. "Yeah, it must not be hard. You forgot about your entire family, why can't I forget about Lahri just as fast?"
He flinches as though I threw something at him. "I left you all to help save the world from Tigoro."
"I don't want to hear it." I shove past him, but he grabs my shoulders.
"What? What, damn it?" I half-shriek. "Can't this wait?"
"No. This…is really important. Do you want me to live with you when you get back to the Spirit World? Answer honestly."
I think, then say quite clearly with all disregard for politeness, "No. My mom and I are not ready for you, and we won't be for a long time. That is my honest thought. I cannot forgive what you did to my mother and I, no matter what the reason. You took my brother so you could—so you could use him as some kind of demon warrior. Why? He wasn't even your biological son!"
"I needed help. Shuuichi was the most obvious choice. The world came before my family."
My distaste in him turns to hate in that instant, and I fire off, "You coldhearted scumbag. You mean that you came before Mom. Do you have any idea what taking him did to us? Mom still thinks about her son, and she'll never see him again, now that he's a part of Team Urameshi! Or did you only think of yourself back then, too? Forget it. Where you're concerned, you are not my father. I—I never even want to see you again." Some part of me is dying at these words, but I said I wasn't going to lie to myself anymore. This is what I want. And this—this is what he deserves.
He bows his head in a defeated way. "I respect your decision. I do not deny what I did to my family."
I bow quickly, for some reason, and go past him successfully, but I stop. "I—" Damnit, I have to say it. "I'm…sorry. For everything you went through."
"I'm sorry that you can't forgive an old man's mistake."
My heart wrenches, and my eyes feel with tears. I look away quickly. No. This is not what I want. I didn't want things to go this way. This is what he deserves, but it's not what I want. I want my family to be whole again. How I wish we could.
But I can never get what I want. We can never be a family ever again. Not after all that's happened. He made his decision 14 years ago. And I just made mine.
All torn up inside, I yell to the rest savagely, "Well, let's go already!"
Jin conjures up a windstorm for quick travel.
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Back in Koenma's office, I have been supplied with my spare school uniform and I'm all clean. Yukina worked wonders on my body, and now I feel fine in body, if not in spirit, which feels like it was ravaged by a bear.
I have just finished telling everyone every minute detail of the battle. It's a day after we got back, because last night, since Jin was so tired, it was late in the night when we were blown in. I had to sleep in the hospital section, with Yukina and Keiko hovering over not only me but Mie, Genkai, Yusuke, and Kuwabara all night.
Even though I have relieved myself of the burden, I feel strangely heavy as I leave. I guess I sort of hoped that this would all work out. But happy endings are false. They never happen.
On the good side, Genkai, Yusuke, and Kuwabara all healed perfectly fine.
But…as for Mie…Koenma said that she definitely could not recover from such huge mental strain. For once he was right. She died last night, and that's one of the reasons that Jin decided to leave with Touya for the Shin Obi again. Jin said he missed the adventure the Shinobi had in store for him, but I really think that it's meant as a last tribute to Mie, who was never strong enough to join. She really meant a lot to him. I no longer feel hatred for her. I just…pity her. Her family, her insecurity, her anger, her jealousy, everything. Maybe it is good that she's dead, in a way. She can no longer suffer.
I walk out, and quietly enter her room. My room. Keiko's room.
Keiko has been sitting in her bed, eyes very bloodshot. When she sees me, she gestures to Mie's dead body, without saying a word. Mie's death has hit her hard. It has hit everyone hard. She…it just wasn't fair to her. She could have changed so much, and Sensu took it all from her.
I stare down at the small figure, lying perfectly straight in the bed. I feel a small twinge of rage and pain, but it's very small. I'm not sure if I wanted her to live or not. When I said goodbye to her at school when it was time for us to leave for the portal in our two separate ways, her with Botan, me with Hiei, I had no idea I was truly saying goodbye to Mie forever. Rhiharl corrupted her in the spirit world. If I had only realized her corruption…I might have been able to stop it. That's the source of most of my sadness – my own stupidity. If only I had seen! She wouldn't be dead.
I need to see her again. I need to say I'm sorry. Even if she can't hear me, I need to say it.
I dive my spirit into her head. I swim through the empty walls, now not pulsing with life. I need to get to the soul room. Maybe there's some remnant of her.
It's probably a false hope, but maybe…
It takes forever. I'm anticipating it too much. I travel down long dark passages. No memories litter the halls. There's no throb of life in the brain. And it's very cold.
Finally, I see the room. I pass through it. It's so dark. And cold. I see or hear no one, and feel crushing disappointment. I thought for a moment I could talk to her…
But then, I hear an echoing voice of Mie.
"Katrina?"I jump. "Mie?"
"Wow, hi! I didn't think you'd actually come!"
"What? Why?"
"I thought you were with Keiko." I can catch a snobbish air in her voice.
I growl into the darkness. "Shut up. I already told you—"
She takes a deep breath. "I…I know. I'm sorry…I'm just having a hard time accepting all this. I don't know…why me?"
I sigh. "It's…it's in the past. Don't think about it. Mie…" I wonder if she knows. "Mie. Listen to me. You're…you're kind of…well, dead."
"I know that! Thanks, though. But only in a sense."
"Either you're dead or you aren't!"
"It's not that simple, damn it! Why do you sound so upset about it?"
"Sorry. That came out wrong. I meant…why are you still here?"
"Oh, yeah. I was just waiting to give messages to the first person I saw. I-I wanted…you to know…you were always my best friend."
I swallow hard. I won't cry for her. She's alive. "How ARE you even here, if you're dead?"
"I'm not dead, per say!"
"What?"
"I'm alive…somewhere. I'm just in a really dark place in my mind. When I tried to fight Sensu out of my mind, he did something to me before leaving. And now, the corruption traps me here. I already tried to escape. But I keep getting more and more tired. Now, I know why."
"What does that mean? Can't I break you out?"
"No, I have to do it. Not even you can erase insanity. This is one of those things that I know. I'm going to sleep for a very long time to get back the strength to break this prison."
"How long?"
"Seventy years, maybe."
My heart breaks for her. "Seventy years?"
"I will seem dead, but I'm not. Don't let them burn me. And my other message was to tell Jin that…I love him."
"Okay."
"And I'm sorry for all the hell I put you guys through." She adds quickly. She always was bad at apologies.
"That wasn't your fault. Mie, listen, sometimes…sometimes we need to give people hell. You were no different. It's called puberty."
I hear a little laugh. "Thank you." I see a shadow of her face out of nowhere, smiling for once. "Thank you all so much." The vision fades.
"Goodbye, Mie," I whisper. NO! I will not cry!
Dejected, I reenter my crumpled body, to find Keiko shaking me.
"What happened? Bitch, don't DO that!"
"I…I just wanted to se if Mie was still in her mind."
She gives me a questioning look. "I thought you'd just passed out or something. Was she there, by any chance?"
I look down at Mie and sigh. "No. She…wasn't. Can you tell Koenma not to burn her though? It…has sentimental reasons."
"Okay." She wipes her eyes and leaves the room. "Everyone else wants the exact same thing." She calls. "She doesn't deserve to be cremated."
Barely hearing Keiko, I continue staring at Mie. She really will come back.
I won't be alive when she does, but she will come back.
I smile shakily at her small body. If hope could be a person, it would be her. She's dead, and she's still going to try to come back to life. That takes a kind of courage stronger than the courage needed to fight the most powerful demon of them all.
And I know she won't let us down.
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Two days later…as Katrina wakes up…
I hear my dad walk past as I wake up, and feel a surge of anger, and pain, and self-rage. I sigh. I've given up on thinking about him. My mind is so deadlocked. What I want is also what I dread. His coming home. I'm completely at a very painful standstill. It's eating me up, so I'm refusing to consider it.
Again, my mind settles around to Mie and Lahri both. I don't know what to make of this feeling. As my dad said, I'll just have to forget about it. I'm glad he cremated Lahri. Now I can forget in time. I can grow. I can heal around the gash. And as for Mie…her memory just makes me smile. She'll come back one day. She is not gone. I'll see her again…when I'm ninety.
I will not let sadness about them all take me down. Not today. This is my last day here.
I get up and dress quickly, and charge out of my room and into Jin's across the hallway. I need to pass on Mie's message.
I'm surprised to see that Touya is in there with him. They're both all dressed, and the window is opened.
"Shhh." Hisses Jin when he sees me. "We just…want to leave discreetly."
"But this is really important." I tell him Mie's message. His eyes overflow instantly, and he jumps out the window with Touya without a word to anyone, except they both wave to me. I watch them disappear into the much thinner fog on their journey to God-knows-where.
The Spirit World is not totally empty of green fog, but it will be in several short weeks. The Spirit Army or whatever is going to tackle the remaining demons that are indirectly producing it. The good guys recognize that there will be another Sensu born from that evil shadow, which I am glad about. Next time, we will be prepared. And also, Kurama, my dad, Hiei, Kuwabara, and Genkai are going to go back to fighting demon scum, and Yukina will be coming along to serve as their healer. They can forgive my dad a lot easier than I can, as they're letting him come. That's one reason why I'm not going with them.
But also, I need to see my mom again. Keiko and I will go back to the real world for the time being, and Botan will go back to the position of Not-So-Grim Reaper. For Keiko and I to get to the Spirit World, Hiei is going to take us down through another portal, ignoring my protests about my feelings for portals. They must be doing it solely to spite me.
And we all decided as a group that it would be better in the meantime for my mom not to know anything about my dad initially, or my brother either. I'm going to tell her slowly about Spirit World crap, and then I'll tell her about them. And I am not becoming Spirit Detective; they seem to have finally accepted that. Yusuke can keep his job. We're both happy about that.
Then is my brother's goodbye. Kurama hugs me outright, and leads me into a corner to talk to me, away from everyone else, preparing for a huge speech.
"Katrina…"
"You know what, save it, you liar."
"What?" He asks, startled.
"Don't pretend like you don't know about this little secret."
"What little secret?" But I notice he has a particularly big sweatdrop clinging to his hair.
"You tell me what your little secret is." I glare.
He sighs dejectedly. "I—I wanted to tell you before…I thought you could accept me better if you didn't know…Katrina, sexual orientation isn't that big of a deal—it's true I like both sexes, but I hope you can see past that—"
"WHAT? Kurama, are you—a bi? I was just talking about the fact that you're my half brother!" I start to get hives on my face. Apparently I have bi-phobia as well as homophobia. I back up a little.
His mouth drops open, and he starts coughing really hard. Wow. Kurama actually slipped up. This should be documented in history, under subtitle AMAZING BLUNDERS.
"Which guy do you like?" Now it all makes sense. The flower-power, the pink suit, the long hair, the long legs, the girly face. "Actually, no, never mind. That's your business. I don't care that you're a bi. It's perfectly all right with me." But, against my will, I start to back away even more, feeling…fear. Real, horrid fear of my own brother who helped me through this. Oh, why did I have to be homophobic?
He sighs in relief, not seeming to notice the fact that I'm about to wet myself. Or maybe he's just politely ignoring it. Thank you, Kurama.
"Now, I was going to yell at you, but now I don't have the heart to. I'll just ask you nicely. Why did you tell me my dad was your dad?"
"Uh…"
"Why? I need to know! Was I not mature enough?" I feel like I'm going to start crying any second. Too much has happened. I don't need him lying to me.
He takes me into a nearby room and shuts the door. "Katrina, listen, I know that this is probably eating you up, what with everything else…"
"Yes, it is!"
He looks at me sadly. "That was why I didn't tell you."
"Huh?" I back away more.
"I thought you wouldn't accept me because you're a homophobe, and I guess I was right."
Damn it, he DID notice my fear! "Why are you so worried about what I think of you?" I back away further. Man, I hate myself.
"You're my sister, Kat. I wanted to seem like the perfect person to you. I had to make you trust me early on, so you'd be easier to handle."
"What? That's not true!" Hah. I'm shriveling up out of fear as we speak. I'm the worst liar ever.
"Isn't it?"
I look at him closely. "No, it's not. Kurama, I'm just mad that you lied. I don't think of you as no longer a brother!"
"Well, it certainly seems like that."
"No, it's just that…" I'm terrified of you now. Yes, Katrina, say that! Go on!
"Katrina, you can admit it."
"YOU HAVE IT ALL WRONG, KURAMA! WRONG! I still consider you my brother, okay? I just wanted to be able to trust you." I twitch, and walk closer. I have to get over this homophobia. I edge closer. He looks at me strangely. I inch closer and closer, and then, I wrap my arms hesitantly around his waist in the first hug I've ever given my own brother. I start quivering at the fact that I'm HUGGING a BI, but then, I suppress it into my mind viciously.
He looks very taken aback, but he hugs me back, and I let go as soon as he does. "Kurama…you're my brother, all right? That should be enough for me, and it is. I don't care that you're a—you're a—you know."
He is silent for a moment. "Want to know the other reason that I didn't tell you?"
"What?"
"I was…embarrassed."
"Embarrassed? Are you kidding?"
"Of who my real father actually is."
"Who was it? Tell me." I add as a warning.
He stares at me. "I don't know…"
"I do. Who was it?"
"Uh…well, it was…you know him…"
"Is he a human? Is he at my school? Does he look like you?"
"Very much, yes, to all of those question."
Who is tall and has red hair at that school, then?
Suddenly, the door pops open.
"I hope I'm not interrupting anything, but you need to leave now, Katrina!"
She practically dies at the look on my face, but I follow her anyway. Ugh. She never did have a sense of timing.
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Then come all the goodbyes. They are all very painful, but natural. I always expected them sometime, and now is that time. Yukina starts crying, while Yusuke and Kuwabara say goodbye pretty easily. (They healed perfectly fine, thank god, after starving for so many days). Koenma smiles at me at every given chance. Kurama maintains a safe distance so I can't ask who his dad is (damn it!). Genkai tells me she enjoyed training me, as well as a final half smile, which is big, major stuff coming from her, and Botan goes crazy and hugs and swings and jumps – all carrying me, so it's more like a strangulation than a sign of friendship. And she tells me that she is regaining her old self, and is re-imprisoning all of the memories she hates. I shouldn't be glad for it happening all over again, but I am. Now I don't have anything on my mind. Right?
The most painful is the one from my father. He simply bows to me, and I do the same. He smiles a little, but I can't manage one. Part of me is sad that neither my half-brother nor my father will ever truly be coming home, but there's nothing that can be done to stop it. I think it's probably better this way. My mom would probably go into cardiac arrest if I brought them home. I know I would.
I finally give up and ask. "Tatewaki, who is my brother's real dad? I know you're not. Sensu told me. I was a bit surprised to hear that. Do you think you can clear that up for me?"
"Oh, you heard about that? Well, I guess it couldn't last forever." He kind of winces at the fact that I refuse to call him Dad to his face.
"Yes, I have. Who is he?"
"Hi, guys! I'm going to draw up the portal now, okay?" Says Botan cheerily, popping right up among us again.
I glare at her again. "Stop popping up! I was just about to ask my dad who my brother's biological dad is!"
Botan goes bright red, and starts to laugh, high-pitched and nervously. "Uh…I don't think you want to know that one."
"You know what, Botan's right. None of us exactly keep in touch with that man." Says my dad, also going red—well, okay, pinkish.
"Who is it already?"
"Trust me, you don't want to know. You don't want to know."
"Yes I do! Who is it? PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"No." Says my dad with much formality.
And that was the end. I couldn't get another word out of them.
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I'm not sure I'm ready when Botan gets her paddle and uses it to open a portal that is different from the one Hiei and I initially took. It's in Koenma's office, and I'm at a loss as to why we couldn't have just used that one. Koenma will not answer, so I guess it slipped his mind too. God damn that God.
Hiei shoves me down it because I was trying to get out of it at every chance.
But actually, I don't mind it so much this time. The portal is much cleaner than I remember it, (no icky fog), and Hiei gets us down in no time at all with help from his "idiosyncratic alacrity". And when we are in the real world, Keiko and I notice he has finally managed to drive a car, so when we get out of the stolen Sedan, Hiei puts on his stilts, and I walk in with him. Keiko will sneak in through the window, because since her guardian is not here to check her in, she is not technically allowed in the school yet.
Before I get inside, I start to try to talk to Hiei.
"Hiei, I've had a really great time." Well, don't I sound sweet. As if I just went to the movies with him or something. Sheesh.
"Yeah, me too."
And so ends our long, interesting conversation.
I walk into the principal's office with my "dad." And I see a truly horrible sight.
My mother. And she's standing next to Mr. Spinach-Jelly. Who, I've just realized, looks an awful lot like—shut up. Shut—up. There's no way in hell.
She stares, then screams, and runs to me. "YOU'RE SAFE, YOU'RE SAFE, OH, THANK YOU GOD!"
She swings me around in a semi-circle, and then growls at me. "Where were you?"
I gulp. It's going to be hard to change back to English from talking Japanese for so long. "Um, I were on wrestle trip." I say, using the first thing that pops into my head. I hope she buys it, otherwise I'm officially toast.
"Really? Because this guy says your father took you out for a vacation! Oh god, I was so worried! I thought maybe Mr. Spinacheli had taken you!"
Wait…Spinacheli? He's not my dad—NO, SHUT UP!
I hate lying, but I'm glad she's so clueless. "Oh, that principal is an idiot. C'mon, we go then. I think…you are here to get me?"
"Yes, of course! And who is this?"
Even with his stilts, he's only as tall as my mom, in all of her 5'4".
"Oh, him? He is my boyfriend, Hiei."
Instead of flipping out like I thought she would, she shrugs. "Well, nice to meet you, Hiei." In disjointed Japanese. To me she says in English, "Let's go home. I've missed you so much!" To Spinacheli, she says loftily, "See you, Shuuichi. I hope you have a nice time here. I'm sorry for suspecting you. Good day."
"Thank you, Shiori. If there's any chance I can call you…I'd like to re—"
"No." She answers flatly. "Good day to you all."
That was awfully odd, wasn't it? First-name terms? And why does he have the first name as my brother? I must be imagining things. Maybe he wants an envelope from my mother's packaging business, and he wants to call Mom to order one. Wow, that was pathetic.
As we walk out the door, I wave at Hiei, and he smiles and waves slightly, looking amused at my broken English. I motion for him to come over, and he shakes his head fervently. Then he swivels, nearly falling over, and walks out the other entrance. Then, want to bet that he used his speed to get out? Too bad I didn't get a better goodbye. Why didn't he come closer? Shyness of my mom?
When we are almost to her car, I jump. "Mom, me say goodbye to friends before we go?"
"Oh, sure. Just make sure you are back in a half hour." She hugs me again, smushing me against her.
"Okay, bye."
I run back in school, (Hiei is nowhere to be seen), run up all the flights of stairs, and up to my dormitory. I stop outside the door. I feel a little happier.
I open the door.
Flo's eyes go as round as her face. Kanerusa could have passed for a da Vinci sculpture. Akane is speechless. Keiko grins. I guess she snuck in successfully.
Suddenly, I am engulfed by a mass of rapidly bowing girls. They are all apparently really happy to see me. When I finally ask to be given oxygen, Kanerusa asks, "What happened to you?" In a loud, squealy voice.
"Had to get a checkup." I say, with the first thing that comes into my head. Oh my god, I really do suck at lying.
"For THREE MONTHS?"
Oh damn. Then, Flomiki unknowingly saves me saves me. "Hey, where's Mie?"
"…She…" I pipe up quickly. I almost forget to speak Jap.
"…Got…" Says Keiko.
"…Hit…" Me.
"…By…" Keiko.
"…A…" Me.
"…Rampaging…" Keiko.
Rampaging? She couldn't have just said a car? "…Rhinoceros." Me.
"Yeah, that's it!" says Keiko, putting on lots of sadness.
"Yeah, it was so tragic."
We both launch into this huge fake story about the 10,000 pound bull rhino that escaped from the Tokyo zoo, and at the end, everyone is in tears, including us. We made ourselves cry.
Once everyone has calmed down, and I can speak above Flo's nose blowing, I say, "Well guys, my mom is here to pick me up. I'm going back to the States for good."
They all gasp, bow some more (they are seriously exercising their abs today), and beg me to come back soon. I say I will once I can breathe, and with a final wave, I shut the door and run out to the parking lot. I want to go back home. I need to be away from everything for a while.
My mom smiles, and motions for me to get in the passenger seat, for us to drive to the airport. I give my large school a final look, and as we are about to pull out, Keiko runs out.
"Yes? And you are?" says my mom politely; though I can tell she is itching to go.
"Yukimura Keiko."
"Oh wow, I knew your mother! Tell her Shiori said hi, honey!" Wow. My mom has a good I'm-so-happy act. I seriously doubt she knew Keiko's mother.
"I will." She bows quickly. "Katrina left this in our school dorm." She says with emphasis, and holds out my Commir and winks at me. I roll my eyes.
I roll down the window, and take it. I jump out, hug her one last time, and go back in.
"Well, Mom, go." I sigh at the thought of leaving.
"NO! I've waited for this for too long! How was it?"
"It was nice!" We pull away from the school, and I watch it vanish.
"Did you make any friends?"
"You have no idea how many." I say. She really doesn't. She just sighs happily and refuses to gun the engine. "Now I am complete." She leans over and hugs me again.
I hug her back, but then I remember her first husband. Who was he? I break the hug and make direct eye contact with her.
"Mom, ask you a question?"
"Sure!"
"Why did you thinks that Mr. Spinacheli had taken me? He is not my father."
My mom goes white. "Well, he's not a very nice guy. Back then, he was a bit forward with children…" She still doesn't start up the car.
Whoa. TMI there. I remember how he used to make some perverted comments in English class. Now I see those weren't just flukes. "You were married—?"
"Let's not talk about the past! Katrina, how did your wrestling trip go?" She asks quickly.
"Oh, it was pretty fun…" I eagerly take up her subject change. I'm quite willing to forget what she just told me.
She finally starts up the car without me even asking her to. Apparently she wants to forget about it too.
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It's 12:02.
I'm in my bed. My nice, clean bed. All alone. Just like I wanted. Right?
Hah. Yeah right. I feel very lonely.
No one to talk to or…talk to…
I guess I got used to the commotion of the Jun Ladies Boarding School. Maybe I even liked it. In any case, it was a great experience.
But now one of my friends is dead. She was dragged into it because of me…because Beauty thought she was me. That's what it comes down to, right? If she hadn't been stabbed, we wouldn't have found out she was a wind demon, and she wouldn't have ever known there were other demons like her.
And she wasn't the only to die. I am a killer of three. Beauty. Mie. Sensu. Lahri. Wait, that's four, isn't it? Damn it, even my math sucks today.
And yet, it will never be over. I became a murderer, and it will never be over. It's not fair. There'll be another Sensu one day. We won't know who it is. We'll have to fight them all over again.
I get up and stare out the window at the stars. The American stars are a lot shinier than those of Japan. I…I really like California. I really, really, really do.
Damnit, who am I kidding? I really, really, really miss Japan. Miss my friends, teachers, even the adventure. But only a little. I will never become spirit detective. I refuse to. Yusuke can keep his damn post.
California just doesn't compare. And my mom couldn't be happier that I'm not going over to Japan again, since it was only a one-year thing. She wouldn't let me even if I could because she's so afraid of her first husband, Spinach-Jelly, nabbing me like Tatewaki nabbed Kurama. I wonder what both Spinach-Jelly and Tate did to her. Well, she hinted that SJ was perverted, and I guess Tatewaki was just too weird and macho for her. I could go on about that man, I really could.
And the school won't let me come back ANYWAY because I missed most of ninth grade. They figure that I wasn't serious enough about it to return.
I sigh. I'm never going to see any of my friends again, because they can't come over here. All my school friends are pretty poor. And Mom'd die if she saw Kurama, and Hiei would probably kill her anyway, and Koenma is God, and Kuwabara and Yusuke and Genkai are working for God, so they don't have a whole lot of time.
I sigh, and go over to touch my Commir. If only I could just go back. If only I could have another adventure. If only…
OW! "Damnit," I hiss. What the hell just burned me?
Could it be?
I pick up the Commir.
"Speaking."
"Leopard." It's Hiei. He must have heard about the whole dilemma between my brother and I. "How's the U.S.?"
I grin from ear to ear. "Hey, Shrimp."
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A/N: And so it ends. I hoped you liked this a lot, I tried not to make it have a stupid fairy tale ending. The next chapter is reviewer thanks. How do you feel about the way I wrapped this up? It's weird how it's ended though. I've been so attached to it for so long…oh well. I can still talk to you in Kara and Everything He Knew.