Insaneningen14: yay! I got five reviews for chapter three! (seven new ones since I last updated total though). And I'm sorry I didn't update, because I was somewhere else with my friends for around five days. Hehe.

Chapter 4:

-(With Yuki)-

'Maybe they're not that bad after all…' She shook her head to clear her thoughts then went out to join Botan and Jiro.

When Botan saw her, she jumped up. "Let's go enroll you!" Before she could bounce out the door with Yuki in her grasp, Jiro grabbed her by the collar of her shirt and unhurriedly locked the door, preventing the ferry girl from escaping with Yuki. Making them all walk a normal pace, they chatted, talking about themselves.

She found out that Botan worked for Koenma, as well as those four other boys. She was their assistant, opening portals for them, summoning them to Koenma's office, the list ran on. She was also a ferry girl, one who guided the spirits of the dead to Reikai to be judged- Koenma's best one in fact.

Botan's communicator started ringing, and she jumped. "Oh dear! Duty calls, there seems to be more spirits to guide! I have to go! Jiro, do take care of Amaya." She left, summoning her oar and flying away.

"Hm." Jiro glanced down at the scrap of paper. "Sarayashiki High. Koenma made an interesting choice. Same as most of the Tantai."

"…"

He glanced over at her. "So where'd you come from, Makai?"

"Yes. Are you…?"

"Nah. Half demon. I work for Koenma, which is probably why he chose me to be your guardian."

"Are you a Reikai Tantai? Like the four who took me to Koenma?"

He chuckled to himself. "No. There aren't many people with the roles of those four. I have a less taxing job. I'm a Reikai Karyuudo."

"… What is that?"

"It's half desk work, half action. I find information on the people or demons Koenma wants me to- I supply information for him." He turned his head. "Here it is."

Yuki observed a large building. Plain and boring. "Is this it?"

"Yup. Don't worry- it's not supposed to be impressive. All you do is learn about boring stuff." He snorted gently, reminiscing his own days spent at this school. He walked in, Yuki following. Passing down hallways which voices could be heard from, he opened a particular one.

"May I help you?" A lady in a business suit sat in the chair, raising an eyebrow at this intrusion.

"I'm here to speak to the principle."

"He's busy right now..." Muffled yelling could be heard.

"Too bad." Jiro swept right in, leaving an astonished secretary in his wake.

Opening the door, they shouting became more prominent. "Yusuke! If you continue to put up with this behavior I will have no choice but to suspend you!"

The boy scowled. "Yeah, well-" Jiro cleared his throat.

"So sorry to interrupt your conversation, but I'm here to enroll a student."

The principle straightened. "Where is he?" Yuki peeked around her guardian, recognizing the boy being yelled at. It was Yusuke, the one who had tried to get her name.

"Ah." He smiled sheepishly at her. "What's your name sir?" he asked Jiro.

"Aki Jiro. I do hope you remember me, my old sensei," he said, grinning.

"Yes, of course, worse then Yusuke here." On his name, he jabbed a finger at the said person.

"Worse than me? No way!" Yusuke protested.

"Better believe it kid." Jiro smirked. "I nearly got expelled." The young punk grumbled to himself, glaring at the floor in front of him.

"This is Aki Amaya. I want to have her join this school." The principle raised his eyebrows at the name. "I'm her legal guardian," he explained.

"How old is she?"

"Fifteen. Yusuke's grade."

"Humph." He glared at the delinquent sitting in his office. "Alright." The principle smiled warmly at Yuki. "Welcome to our school Amaya." He shook hands with her. "She'll get a uniform today in the mail and start tomorrow. She'll take a test or two in the morning to decide her placement."

"Fine with me." Jiro nodded, strolling out. Yuki bowed halfway and hurried after him. Once the door closed behind him, the noise continued. Jiro chuckled. Yuki looked at him expectantly, puzzled.

"I graduated from Sarayashiki High School ten years ago," he explained when his laughter subsided. "Yusuke acted like the punk I was a fourteen years ago."

"Is school hard?"

"Nah… 'Course, I never was in it long enough to tell." He grinned. "But you'll get used to it." He checked his watch. "So, what do you want for dinner? The last time I tried to cook I burned the eggs."

"I don't need to eat anything."

"Don't eat? What did they give you?"

"Nothing."

"…" He stared.

"Well, I got my nutrients from the water vapor in the air-"

"Doesn't count." He waved her off. "We're definitely ordering in. I don't want your first encounter with food to be disastrous." They walked into their house.

"Go take a shower," he commanded, pushing her in the direction of her bathroom. "Towels are in there already." She nodded, gathering a brush and a new set of clothes.

Undressing and going into the shower stall, she began to experiment with the knobs of metal. She gasped as hot water splashed down on her, and hid behind the curtain. She turned it the opposite way, and the water stopped coming. She turned the right knob, and cold water began to shower on her.

'What strange contraptions…' she thought, coming out from behind the shower curtain. She tried to wash out the knots in her hair, using the syrupy stuff from the bottle. '… but efficient.' After finishing, she dried herself off with the supplied towels. She slipped on an overly large dark green t-shirt and a pair of white shorts over her undergarments. Her long hair hung behind her, wet and dripping.

'I should cut it,' she thought idly, brushing it. Giving up, she went outside, allowing the steam to vent out of the open window. "Jiro?"

"Yes?" He came into the hallway. "Need something?"

"Can you help me? I want to cut my hair."

"If you want. How bout after dinner? The food is nearly here." Yuki just noticed that it was around seven. "I thought you would be hungry." He clapped his hand to his ear. "Ow!"

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Fine, fine," he grumbled. "What do you want Koenma?"

Muted talking could be heard. Yuki was completely bewildered. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go after him in about an hour, okay?"

More talking, this time louder. "Well, Amaya and I are ordering in dinner, and she wants to cut her hair." Jiro scowled after more outbursts. "Dude, how bad can this demon be?"

This time screaming; he winced. "Keep it down- I have a permanently installed communicator in my ear. Can't you send the Tantai after this guy? I mean, they're right there." His response was just as loud. "Okay, so am I, but they didn't just become a guardian!" He glared at the space in front of him. "Just ask Botan!"

'Who is he talking to?' Yuki stared at her guardian.

"Well 'scuse me if I forgot there was a shortage of ferry girls! Just call the Tantai yourselves!" Jiro huffed. "Goodbye."

"Um…"

"Heh, sorry about that." He rubbed the back of his head. "Koenma tracks and communicates me through my earring." He pointed to his ruby stud. "It gets hot when he's trying to contact me. Dang annoying… So don't worry."

"Okay…" The doorbell rang, at which Jiro perked up.

"Food's here." He went out to the hallway, opening the door to greet the delivery boy. After taking the bags and handing over the money, he closed the door behind him.

"What is it?" Yuki tried to peer into the bags.

"Our dinner." He set it out on the table. "I thought that we'd start out with more traditional food. Here." He began to open the boxes, naming each food he uncovered.

"Rice." A strange mound of white colored grains.

"Sushi with eel in it." Some of this rice and 'eel' wrapped up in dark green stuff.

"Miso soup." Cloudy brown liquid that gave off steam.

"Ramen with… vegetable stuff in it." Long brownish things that were peppered with multiple green (sometimes orange) stuff.

"And you use chopsticks to eat it with." He handed her a pair of sticks and showed her how to use them. Dinner consisted of tasting foods, and learning school material (once he found out that she didn't even know how to add and subtract).

"So, unit value multiplied by the number equals the total value?" Yuki asked several minutes later. She was a quick learner, taking in and absorbing facts in minutes that had taken others years.

"Yeah. On to simple geometry and variables."

-(An hour later)-

Jiro leaned back, tipping his chair back. "Well, now that you've learned algebra geometry, the works… Do you want to learn another language?"

"Really?"

"It's dead though."

"…?"

"Never mind. Okay, it's called Latin, and most western languages are based on it…" The studying continued on through the night.

"You'll be fine for tomorrow," he assured her another hour later. "You'll probably get into some advanced placement classes. Moving on, you want to cut your hair you said?"

"Yes."

"Understandable. It must take forever to brush and dry."

"Mm-hm." After setting her up with newspaper on the floor, they began the job.

"So tell me, what's your real name? I mean, Amaya just doesn't seem to really suit you," he said, breaking the silence.

"…How did you know?"

"Half demon." He tapped his temple. "I can tell whether you say the truth or not. Most demons can."

"…I really would prefer not to tell."

He chuckled. "Still don't trust us?"

"You can't blame me for not doing so."

"Of course. But where did you come from? Somewhere in Makai or Reikai- definitely nowhere in Ningenkai if you never had food before."

"…Makai. I was part of a lab experiment."

"Do you know the reason? I won't tell Koenma."

"I honestly don't know."

"So your father was Lord Osamu?"

"I don't know if he was. He never had a name, to me at least. I only saw him several times."

"I see. So what can you do? What are your abilities?"

"I don't know. But Koenma's machine said that I was an elemental demon."

He whistled. "Nice. Those are more rare, I do believe. What kind?"

"Electricity, water, and something else."

"Hm." He now concentrated on making the hair cut straight. "How long do you want it?"

"Um…" She made a vague line around her hips. "There I suppose."

"Okay." He continued.

"How do you know how to cut hair?"

"Cutting hair isn't that hard, but I'm a jack of all trades. Didn't really decide my major in college, so I kept on moving in and out between them. Since I'm paid for working for Reikai (that's my main job) it all works out, but I do own a small shop a couple of blocks away."

"What do you sell?"

"Stuff," he replied pensively. "So, you met the Reikai Tantai? The four who brought you in?"

"I didn't really get to talk to them. Koenma named them, but still…"

"I'll tell you about them," Jiro said, snipping away. "Kuwabara- he's the tallest of them. Curly orange hair, goofy face, you know?"

"Yes." You don't even know your own name!

"Well, he's a human. He has a high sixth sense for his race, and can manipulate his energy into solid forms, such as a sword. He lives a pretty much normal life in the Ningenkai with his sister."

"Yusuke is the leader. The boy with black buffed up hair? Probably wearing a green uniform?"

"Yeah." I just asked a friendly question.

"He died at one point in his life, and he came back to life after promising to become a spirit detective for Reikai. He's a half demon- his ancestor was a ruler in Makai. I know his mom, Atsuko."

"Kurama, the redhead with long hair?" I nod.

We're here to save you.

"He's the reincarnation of a kitsune thief, Youko Kurama. He was reborn in a human body, and has the power to manipulate plants. His human name is Shuiichi Minnamono. He came into Reikai service because he stole from Reikai, and had the choice between the role of spirit detective and prison."

"The last one. Hiei."

Move, unless you want to get shot.

"Well, I don't really know about his past. But he's a fire apparition, like an elemental, and has the Jagan Eye. He also was forced to become spirit detective- in fact, he was partners in crime with Kurama."

Jiro chuckled. "How convenient. Finished all of their stories and the haircut at the same time. Go check in the mirror." She went to the bathroom, leaving him to clean up the leftover hair.

He had given her bangs that almost went into her eyes, fringing her view. On the side, he had also made another layer of hair, shorter, that ended several inches below her shoulder, ending with the bottom layer that ended just above her hips. It was rather… becoming, so she herself thought. (1)

"It looks great!" she called to him excitedly.

He laughed. "Thought you'd like it. Now go to bed. It's getting late."

"Eh?" She looked out the window. "It's dark!"

"What, did you expect the sun to stay out all day?" She could tell he was grinning. "You just lost track of time." Indeed, to her time had flown by. It was now dark, around nine o'clock.

"Okay. Good night Jii-san."

"Jii-san?" He laughed again. "Strange, but I guess it suits. 'Night!"

"Ja." She closed the door behind her, falling into bed, welcoming sleep instantly.

: End Chapter

(1) I based Yuki on the appearance of a girl in some picture. I think I will give the website on my profile… either way, I will put something up online. My description can't really describe it.

Insaneningen14: now I want four to five reviews for the next chapters. Your reviews have spurred me on. (strikes corny pose)

Miharu34: get a life loser.

Insaneningen14: go away. (stuffs her away into closet) and Katie, that's where she was. ehehe…