After Akane had calmed down from her hysterics over her dead pig and had done enough to at least get Ranma to quit blaming himself, Yusuke approached her to ask her what was going on. She told him all she knew. Yusuke was somewhat surprised, 'Gee... All this fuss for some little black pig... I've never seen anyone get so emotional over a pet... Wait... Nevermind... Kuwabara has that stupid soft spot for his kitten, Ik... whatever its name is...'
He wondered sometimes about Akane and Ranma. Many times before he had seen them fight and argue, but now he was seeing a different side of them. A side where they were actually acting like a couple, supporting each other in their time of need. Yusuke grumbled and put his hands in his pockets, 'Everybody around here acts so weird... I...'
He stopped when he heard a familiar giggle. A frown crossed his face, 'Oh, great...'
The source of the giggle was just as he suspected. It was his mother... and she was drunk... again.
'How could this happen? I didn't give her any money to buy anything... She isn't working... and... Wait... What's that on her...'
Yusuke's eyes glinted madly with anger. He ran into the room and pried Happosai off his mother's chest, "JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?"
"Hey! Let go of me! We were just having a little fun... Let go! Let go! How can you be so mean to your elders? Hasn't your sweet mother taught you anything?" Happosai shouted.
"Blah... Yushuke! Yushuke! Lookie... I'm a biiirrrddd," Atsuko hiccuped.
Yusuke's eyes narrowed at the diminutive pervert. Then, his eyes found their way to three suitcases that were open and scattered inside them was sake.
'What? That's impossible! I threw those out! Grrr! I hate this place! Nothing ever makes sense around here!' he thought.
Then, he was whacked upside the head with a pipe. Happosai laughed, "Ha! That'll teach you to mess with the Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts! Oh, and to keep your guard up, too! Ha ha ha!"
He bounded off and Yusuke, becoming even more irritated, chased after him. Happosai was incredibly fast. Yusuke sped up a bit more; he almost couldn't believe how fast the little pervert was and at such an old age, too. Yusuke screamed after him, "Come back here, you sick freak! I'm not going to hurt you too much! I'll just break your arms! And then your legs! And then, maybe for a little fun, I'll see how hard I can squeeze your head without crushing your skull!"
Happosai continued running with a satisfied look on his face, "You're going to have to catch me first, slowpoke!"
Yusuke chased the old man all the way out of the Tendo Dojo and down the streets. He ran faster, reaching up to sixty miles per hour, and was pleased to find he was gaining on the old Master of Anything Goes Martial Arts. Happosai certainly looked surprised to see that Yusuke was catching up to him, "Not bad, kid! Not bad! But I'm still better!"
Happosai suddenly became so fast that he was a blur of motion and finally just disappeared. Yusuke was stopped in his tracks and he blinked, 'Whoa... That's... I think he went even faster than Hiei...'
"HAPPOFIRE BURST!" a voice yelled.
Yusuke quickly turned around and caught an unknown projectile that was aimed at him. He looked down at it with an uncomprehending look, 'Just what in the world is this thing suppose to be...?'
He blinked again and it finally set in, 'Oh... It's a bomb... Wait a minute... A BOMB?'
BOOM!
When the smoke cleared, Yusuke was singed head to toe. He couldn't remember the last time he was as annoyed as he was at that moment. He twitched as he held what was left of the bomb, 'I'm going to get him...'
"You there! Boy!" a female voice called.
Yusuke scowled, 'Oh no... Not HER...'
He turned around again and glared at the girl that was Kodachi Kuno, "What do you want?"
"I am Kodachi Kuno, the Black Rose... The beautiful flower of St. Hebereke...," Kodachi began.
'Must she do this every time she talks to me?' Yusuke wondered.
Kodachi threw a bouquet of black roses at him, "And I need you to deliver this to my darling, Ranma Saotome!"
Yusuke glared at her, but Kodachi seemed unaffected. She jumped onto a rooftop and hopped away, "Oh ho ho ho ho ho!"
Yusuke shuddered. He didn't think he would ever get used to that creepy laugh. He started walking back home and just as he was about to abandon the black roses as he always did, he had to catch yet another bouquet. This time they were red roses. Yusuke tensed up as he stared at Tatewaki Kuno in rage.
"You there! Boy! I am Tatewaki Kuno, the Raging Storm of Furinkan...," Kuno began, but Yusuke cut him off.
"I know who you are! The junior high isn't that far away from the high school!" Yusuke snarled.
"Oh... Right. Very well. Those roses are for your older sister, Akane. I want them delivered promptly and in fair condition. After all, it won't be too long before we'll be brothers. It's only right to treat an older brother with respect," Kuno told him.
'Respect! Ha! Like I know the meaning of the word,' Yusuke thought.
Kuno walked off, "Fare thee well, young brother."
"Idiot," Yusuke muttered under his breath.
Once again, he headed on his way home and started to abandon both set of roses until yet another voice called out to him, "RANMA SAOTOME! PREPARE TO DIE!"
Yusuke had about all he could stand, 'That's right, Mousse... I'm Ranma Saotome... Come attack me... I'd just LOVE to beat you to a bloody pulp...'
Suddenly, Mousse stopped charging at him. He looked at the roses in Yusuke's arms, "Since when did you run a baby-sitting service, Ranma?"
He paused, "Oh well... I can't attack you right now, then... I wouldn't want to hurt the infants... They can't help that they have such an incompetent baby-sitter..."
Yusuke's face was turning red in his fury, 'Rrrrrrr... Must hurt... something...'
Mousse smiled at the babies fondly, "Cute little guys..."
He put his glasses back on to get a better look at the 'babies', "Hey! Those aren't babies! You tried to... Oh wait... You're not Ranma."
Yusuke punched Mousse in the face and stomped off. He began tearing the roses to shreds, laughing maniacally. In the distance he could hear Mousse screaming, "AHHHH! You broke my glasses! You're going to pay for this, Tendo!"
Yusuke winced at the 'Tendo' part. He still preferred Urameshi as it was what he had always been called and it wasn't like his mother had actually married Mr. Tendo. He entered the Tendo residence, still frustrated with all he had been through. Akane came to greet him, "Hey, Yu... Hey... Are you all right?"
"No," Yusuke grumbled.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Akane asked.
Yusuke scowled, "No."
Akane shrugged, "Well, okay. Suit yourself."
Yusuke headed for the bathroom, 'Maybe a shower will calm me down...'
As he walked towards the bathroom, he heard a very, very familiar female voice who sounded like she was talking to herself.
"Well, it is going to be a while until night time, you know. If someone were to get knocked out, you could possess them and try to communicate to someone that way, but that could take even longer to happen," the voice explained.
Yusuke found the monologue intriguing. He approached the area he was hearing the voice and found the owner. It was Botan.
'Why is she talking to herself? And what is she doing here? Oh, don't tell me it's another mission... As if my day couldn't get any worse,' Yusuke thought.
Botan noticed Yusuke and her eyes widened, "Yusuke! What are you doing here?"
"What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Yusuke queried.
Ryouga looked at Botan and then at Yusuke, "Uhh... Who is he, Botan?"
Botan turned to Ryouga, "He's the spirit detective..."
Ryouga blinked, "Can he see me?"
"No, he can't see you or hear you," Botan replied.
"Well, how come he can see and hear you?" Ryouga asked.
"I think the most likely reason would be that he's accustomed to my spirit energy like this and like the way it is when I appear to mortals who are living. So, it doesn't matter whether I'm in this state or not," Botan answered.
"There's some dead person next to you, isn't there, Botan?" Yusuke remarked.
"Yes. Hopefully, he won't be dead for too much longer," Botan responded.
Yusuke grinned, "What? You mean he's getting to come back to life? Heeeey... Does that mean I can retire?"
"No, of course not! You're the spirit detective and until Spirit World is done with you, that's the way it's always going to be. It's just, like your death, the circumstances of his were unusual. We didn't expect him to die... Some unknown being killed him... On accident or on purpose, we don't know. It'll be something for you to investigate once we get enough information," Botan informed.
"Great," Yusuke mumbled.
"Now, what are you doing here?" Botan asked.
Yusuke explained his situation, shocking both Botan and Ryouga. Ryouga had no idea that Akane had a younger half-brother, 'Maybe if I can get along with him, Akane will like me even more... and maybe he'll give me his blessing to... ahh... umm... Well, I'm getting ahead of myself...'
Yusuke looked in the direction Botan had been looking in before, "Well, whoever you are... Good luck. Being dead is a pain in the rear... Hey, if you guys ever need my help..."
He paused, thinking of a way to say something that was nice, not so nicely.
"If you ever need my help, I MIGHT help you. You know, if I'm not busy. Because if I am, too bad," Yusuke said.
Botan smiled, "Thanks, Yusuke."
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever," Yusuke muttered.
He walked out of the room, feeling less frustrated. It had been good to see a familiar face like Botan's again. Little did he know, that he'd be seeing more familiar faces...
Kuwabara's eyes snapped open and he stood, breaking his meditative pose.
"I finally found him! After all this time of searching, I found him!" he shouted.
Shizuru took a puff on her cigarette and glanced at her brother with a deadpan expression on her face, "I'm so happy for you."
She sounded sarcastic, but Kuwabara didn't care. He immediately rushed to his room and began packing a bunch of things. Then, he came barreling out of his room, bags and all, straight to the front door, "BYE, SHIZURU! I'LL BE BACK... Ummm... WELL, I'LL BE BACK!"
Shizuru sighed, "Bye, Kazuma."
It was a few minutes later that Kuwabara came back. Shizuru gave him a funny look, wondering why he had come back so soon. Kuwabara looked around the house, "Ikitichi! Here, girl! I no wanna weave you awone in the house... Not after what happened last time... C'mere, my widdle girl..."
Shizuru sweatdropped. Granted, she was used to him baby-talking the cat, but it was still just as ridiculous as the last million times she had heard it. She knew Kuwabara was really attached to the cat and she remembered how angry he was with her when he came back from rescuing the cat from some punk boys. Really, if she had been there, she would've stopped them from taking Ikitichi, but at the time of the catnapping, she had been grocery shopping. It seemed like it took forever for Kuwabara to realize that she wouldn't have let anything happen to the cat. Still, it didn't look like Kuwabara was going to take any chances, either. After picking Ikitichi up, Kuwabara resumed his way to Yusuke's location.
Shizuru put out her cigarette. It wasn't even a minute later when Kuwabara came back again. Shizuru stared at him. Kuwabara looked at her sheepishly, "I forgot the cat food..."
He headed into the kitchen and stuffed his bags full of cat food. It was quite a feat he was pulling off. He was carrying many bags, Ikitchi, and stuffing the bags full of cat food.
"Well... Now, I'm off!" Kuwabara announced.
He rushed out the door. Shizuru sighed, 'That's my baby brother...'
Kuwabara was hurrying towards Yusuke's energy signature. He figured it might take him a few days to reach the place on foot, but he was determined to figure out why Yusuke skipped town. He came to a halt for a moment.
'Hey, wait... I might be gone for a while... I better tell Yukina. That way she won't get worried when I don't come visit her...' Kuwabara thought.
He merrily set off for Yukina's location with a big, goofy smile on his face. He always enjoyed going to visit his one and only love, Yukina. Needless to say, it didn't take him very long to get there. Yukina was sitting outside and had been feeding some birds. The birds took off the moment they spotted Kuwabara's cat. Yukina stood up and smiled at Kuwabara, "Why, hello there, Kazuma, that's a lot of stuff you got there. We aren't going on another picnic, are we?"
Kuwabara's goofy grin didn't leave his face, "Nah... Nothing like that today... I just came over to say hi... Hehehe..."
A look of confusion crossed Yukina's face, "With all that stuff?"
Kuwabara suddenly remembered all that he was carrying, "Oh yeah! Umm... Yeah... I'm going to find Urameshi... He took off somewhere with his mom and hasn't come back, yet... I got to make sure he hasn't gotten himself in trouble and all... I'm good like that..."
"Yes... What a good friend you are, Kazuma," Yukina commented.
Kuwabara's heart fluttered, "Yeah... but enough about Urameshi... How have you been, Yukina?"
"I've been all right," Yukina sighed.
Kuwabara frowned in concern, "Are you sure? You don't sound very happy..."
"Well... I am... I'm pretty satisfied here... It's just I... I really wish I could find my long lost brother... I know he's out there... somewhere," Yukina mumbled.
Kuwabara put his arm around her shoulders, "Aww, Yukina..."
He patted her on the back gently, "Listen, you'll find him someday! I know you will! But don't worry about it, right now... Okay? Just keep on hoping and keep on smiling... Because you know... You have a pretty smile..."
Yukina laughed, "Oh, you're so silly, Kazuma. Thanks for your support. I'm going to miss you while you're away."
Kuwabara blushed, "Hehe... Don't worry, Yukina. I'll be back. The power of our love can't keep us away from each other for long!"
Another puzzled look appeared on Yukina's face, but she continued to smile, "Well, you know where you can find me..."
Kuwabara nodded and, even happier than he was before, went back to his quest of finding Yusuke. Yukina sat back down when he left, 'He knows just how to make someone feel better... Hmm. He can be so silly, sometimes. I wonder what he meant by the power of our love? It must be another one of those human jokes... like on the television...'
Kuwabara halted in his running; this time because a little old lady had gotten in his way.
"When you find the dimwit, tell him that just because I'm not within a reasonable walking distance from his place, doesn't mean he can be a slacker!" Genkai declared.
Kuwabara rubbed the back of his neck, "Uhh... Okay. Yeah. I will."
Genkai began to walk away from him, "Good. Also, tell him if he doesn't visit me every once in a while, I won't hesitate to come find him."
"Uhh, sure," Kuwabara replied.
He blinked a few times before he started running again. Hiei had observed all of this (watching Kuwabara with his sister, Yukina always made him feel angry) and was curious as to where Kuwabara was going in such a hurry, as he was too far away to hear any of the conversations. He sped off after Kuwabara, keeping up rather easily.
'The human doesn't even notice me... Hmph. Guess he's lucky I'm not out to attack him. Not yet, anyway...' Hiei thought.
It wasn't long before nightfall came and Kuwabara set up camp in an open area in the woods. It might take him a few days before he would be able to reach Yusuke's location. He smiled as his pet cat kept close to him and the warmth of the small fire Kuwabara had started, "Isn't it nice out here in the open? Can't you just smell the fresh air, Ikitichi?"
"Meow."
Kuwabara squealed (much to Hiei's annoyance) and hugged his kitten carefully, "You're so precious... Yes, you are... Yes, you are..."
Hiei sat down on the tree branch he had been standing on and put his face in one of his hands, 'I cannot believe this moron...'
Kuwabara laid out a can of cat food for Ikitichi and fixed his own dinner out of the non-perishable food items he had taken with him. He looked up at the very tree Hiei was sitting in, "Hey, runt! You hungry, yet?"
Hiei nearly fell out of the tree in surprise, "W-wha..."
He regained his composure quickly enough and glared down at Kuwabara, "I don't need any food from you, fool. I can get my own..."
Kuwabara shrugged, "Whatever... Fine. If that's the way you want it..."
"It is," Hiei grumbled.
There was a long silence. Then, Kuwabara looked up towards Hiei again, "So, why have you been following me, shorty? What happened? Did you get lost?"
Hiei didn't dignify Kuwabara with a response. It was bad enough a mere human had caught him off guard like that.
'I didn't think he had done enough training to accomplish such advanced sensory... Oh well. It doesn't matter. It's not like I really care,' he thought.
Kuwabara decided a conversation with Hiei wasn't one worth having and it wasn't long before he took to the sleeping bag for the night. He was sure to craft Ikitichi her own little bedding next to his, so that he could be certain that a wild animal wouldn't try to make her its meal. Hiei just continued sitting in the tree, pondering things such as his sister, Yukina and what Kuwabara was running around for.
Back at the Tendo Dojo...
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! I HAVE TO GET OUT OF HERE!" Ryouga screamed.
Of course, no matter how loud he screamed, no one living would hear him. Ryouga had truly tried to get into Akane's dreams to speak with her, but becoming lost as usual, he had wandered into the guest room and had gotten into Genma's dreams. There was pork, everywhere...
Pork that was just being inhaled by Genma's mighty mouth. Ryouga felt as if he was in one of his own nightmares, which involved him turning into a little black piglet and getting eaten by someone with an enormous appetite.
"How do I get out of here?" Ryouga shouted.
"Well, Ryouga, you should've listened to me... I didn't mean enter their dreams like that! You didn't have to actually go inside his body... That's only when you want to possess someone... Now, just calm down and allow yourself to float out of that dream and back to me," Botan instructed from outside Genma's dream.
Ryouga closed his eyes and relaxed himself. He pictured in his head getting outside the dream and being near the guide known as Botan. Botan giggled, "Okay... You're safe, now... You can open your eyes."
Ryouga opened his eyes and sighed in relief, "I'll be more careful next time..."
"I would hope so. But I think you better wait until tomorrow before you try to communicate with the living again. It looks like it took you enough energy just to get out of that dream," Botan advised.
Ryouga nodded, "Yeah... Yeah... I'll wait until tomorrow..."
Hopefully, he would have better luck tomorrow.