Disclaimer: I do not want to spend the effort to come up with individual, witty disclaimers this year, so this one lasts for the entire fic. Don't like it? Make up your own.

Quote of the Week: "The Polish man who won a Gold Medal in pole vaulting was so happy, that he went home and bronzed it." -Roadkill, WZLX rock

Well, this is all fine and dandy, isn't it? Who's in school already? ::counts number of raised hands:: I feel for you guys...

::coughs:: Yes, well, I know I got this started a little late, but this will be one of the few (if any) delays for this fic. I swear. No more moving, and my laptop shall be on the road to recovery soon, so there will be no month-long breaks. If I begin to lag to less than one update a week, or skip a week or two, feel free to verbally abuse me (as long as you have a reason!).

Now... where were we? Ah, yes... the tantei, with help from their friends, had been sent to Cumulus Academy, and who should be behind the entire undead army in the making, but the headmaster, Givanni. Ain't that a kick in the crotch? ... moving along... Not only had Kurama found a potential girlfriend during his stay, but the entire group has made some rather unusual accomplices. Still, life has been a bit boring since their return home - with no sign of Givanni in any of the three worlds. Maybe all that will change...

Rain splattered the window, smearing the grays of an overcast, starless sky. Thunder rumbled in the distance, although there was no flash of light to accompany it, and Yusuke sighed in unison with one such rumble.

So far, Koenma had gotten nothing ever since Givanni had escaped from the academy last June, and even the mail from his friends overseas had diminished. Not that he really could complain; he supposed it was his fault for telling Chrysanthemum to skip on the big words when she wrote, since dragging out the dictionary was certainly not how he wished to spend any afternoon. And after Justin's first (disastrous) attempt to call his house, word had passed along that it was a bad idea.

Of course, the memory of when the teen had tried to contact him always brought a chuckle... Yusuke bet it had taken all of Justin's willpower to keep from snapping while on the phone.

Now, he was stuck inside during a rainstorm in late august. For the last week it had been nothing but scattered storms and unbearable humidity, and he had even been so bored as to crack open the book Kurama had leant him.

"Yusuke, stop moping." Keiko's voice snapped him out of his reverie of last year's school days. "You should try to look over our work from last year - you're going back to that school, right?"

Yusuke had to admire Keiko; she had been unnaturally patient and understanding when his mission last year had whisked him away to another land - the barrier worlds - for nearly nine months. During that entire time he had missed her -- although he would never admit it in front of his other buddies-- and coming back had been a relief for him.

But the studying...

"Yeah, yeah... I know." He rolled his eyes and turned back to the window, pupils shrinking as the lightning finally kicked in. He had almost gone back into his stupor when Keiko's voice once again interrupted him.

"You are going to come home every once and a while this time, hm?"

"Of course... whatever." He shrugged, running hand through his hair, which for once wasn't slicked back. If he had bothered to look, he would have noticed the narrowing of the girl's eyes, but the tone of her voice gave indication enough. "It's not just a "whatever". You can at least come back for Christmas."

"Uh..." the delinquent tensed, expecting a sharper retort to follow, but relaxed and turned to Keiko. "Fine, I'll come back for Christmas, happy?"

"Don't make it sound like a chore, Yusuke."

With a sigh, the teen stood up from the windowsill and stretched, wincing as his neck cracked. The lightning illuminated the room, and through his open door, Yusuke could see the entire apartment go black. An impossibly loud bass tone reverberated through the floor, and he groaned.

"Great - the power went out." He glowered over at the floor lamp in the far corner of his room, as if to blame it for the lack of electricity, and walked out into the kitchen. "Hey, Keiko, is there a flashlight in there?" He called over, pulling one from a cabinet next to the refrigerator, and clicked the button, sweeping the narrow beam of light across the floor. There was a muffled "yes" from his bedroom, and the brunette came out with an identical flashlight, which she annoyingly shone in his eyes for a second before turning it away and apologizing.

"Well, this bites." Yusuke caught himself looking at the clock on the microwave, then hastily pressed a button on his wristwatch, instead, making the digital face light up an eerie green. It was nearly one in the morning. If it still wasn't summer vacation, Yusuke knew that Keiko would have been home well over three hours ago, and he was glad she had stayed to keep him company - even though it was mostly a shared silence.

Another deafening crash of thunder, almost at the same second as the lightning, and Yusuke faintly recalled sound traveling slower than light, so if the two were that close together...

Well, there was no doubt the lightning had hit close to home, perhaps even the roof of the apartment building him and Atsuko lived in. With an unintelligible grumble, the spirit detective sprawled out on the couch and set the flashlight down on the floor beside him. Keiko wasn't far behind, and she set herself on a cushion on the floor next to the coffee table, reading over her notes with the flashlight in one hand.

The lightning flared up again, and before the thunder, Yusuke heard a loud thunk as something hit the living room window, and managed to spot a large black shadow with the beam of his flashlight before the offending (and blind) bird flapped off into the storm. Keiko had jumped considerably from the sudden noise, and scooted her cushion and notes closer to the couch, the hand holding the flashlight still trembling a little as if she expected something to crash through the window at any moment.

It was then that Yusuke realized what a toll his entire affairs with the underworld must had taken on her mostly normal life, and inwardly cringed in guilt as he remembered what a target she'd been in his past escapades. Suzuka and the saint beasts were always a good example... and almost any of the thugs he had beat down knew that Yusuke had some sort of connection with the top student at Sarayashi high.

He was jolted out of this current train of thought rather rudely, as another thump, this time from the front door, filled the airspace. The two teens, about ready to ignore it and go on to their own doings, stiffened as the sound of the doorknob slowly grinding broke the silence. There were a few faint clicks, and Yusuke silently got up from the couch, motioning for Keiko to stay quiet, as if she could really see him through the darkness, and hefted the metal flashlight for use as a club. Even then, in the dark, a faint collection of blue energy radiated towards his fingertip.

Lightning crashed again, and the door slowly swung open. Yusuke threw it open expertly, his rei gun instantly targeted at the victim's chest, then paused.

Whoever was in front of his door was vaguely familiar; he had a lean frame and was nearly taller then Yusuke, his light unruly hair and his leather jacket drenched from the rain, a soaked backpack slowly forming a puddle on the carpeted hall. From the instant the young male gave a wry grin and a casual "Hey..." Yusuke knew exactly who had come visiting at such an unusual hour, and quickly moved to catch the young man as he fell forwards, gray-green eyes half-lidded.

"Y-Yusuke, who..?" Keiko had suddenly appeared next to him in the dark, a hand on the shoulder of their guest's rain-washed jacket; the back of her hand instantly brushed away the blond hair from his forehead, and her brown eyes softened. "Oh, he has a fever..."

"Keiko, get his bag, will'ya? And maybe could you get an extra set of clothes from my room?"

Shouldering his load without difficulty, Yusuke gently set the soggy mess that was Rogerik down on the floor.

A short chapter, I know. But, I'm happy to get back on track. Review if you wish - and I'm hoping to see a few new faces as well.