Disclaimer: I still don't own anything.
Revelations
Yusuke stumbled back in shock and, quickly regaining his composure, grabbed Kurama by his shirt and slammed him into the wall with such force the hangings shuddered, threatening to fall off due to the vibration.
"What do you mean she was murdered, plant boy?" Yusuke hissed through clenched teeth.
Kurama tried to reply but Yusuke was pushing against Kurama's throat with so much pressure, that the one time kitsune's face was beginning to turn purple from the lack of oxygen. Kurama knew Yusuke would let up in a minute as soon as the news digested, but at the moment his lungs were screaming for air and he began to hear an all too familiar voice.
Go ahead. It's the perfect time. Fight him and beat him into a pulp or accept me again and use the strength you know I can provide.
Kurama shook his head violently in rejection to Youko's temptation. No Youko. I rebuke you and I won't give in. Kurama mentally argued back.His pastor had warned him that temptations would come, but he didn't realize it would be this soon. Mustering enough strength, he pushed Yusuke away from him.
Yusuke took a few steps back and sank to the floor, his knees to his chest and face buried in his hands. Looking up at Kurama through tear-filled eyes, he gasped, "How? How did this happen? Why couldn't I prevent it? Why would anyone have a reason to hurt Keiko?" Yusuke paused to think about what he just said, then jumped up in an exploding fit of rage and rammed his fist into his wall, making a sizable hole, the pieces of white plaster dropping to the floor. "Why!" he screamed. "Why would Keiko be murdered?"
Kurama's hand shot out to Yusuke's shoulder in a comforting gesture. "I don't know, Yusuke. The past can't be changed and nothing could have been done to prevent it. Keiko's death, or even murder happened for a reason according to God's sovereignty."
Yusuke's fist came out of nowhere and Kurama didn't see it until he was lying on the ground, tingling sensations coming to surface on his face from Yusuke's punch.
"What did I tell you about talking religion around me Kurama? That stuff is a bunch of bull crap and I'll kill you if you don't quit!" Yusuke screamed his rant anger and rage, causing him to turn red in the face. He paused and leaned over slightly, gasping to get enough air. Looking up at Kurama, his eyes steadily rolled back, and as he began to fall into a state of unconciousness, the redhead caught him in his arms and laid him down on the floor.
Kurama jumped up in a hurry and ran into Yusuke's kitchen, all the while fearing for his friend's mental stability. After all, Yusuke was still in shock from Keiko's death and now evidence showed that she may have been murdered. Kurama stumbled around the kitchen looking for a rag to run under some cold water. He grabbed one from under the cabinet, then ran water from the sink, feeling its ice-cold touch against his skin. It should be cold enough to wake him up... Kurama thought.
He ran into the entryway where Yusuke still lay and wrung some of the cold liquid on the top of his face. Yusuke jerked with a start as the chilling liquid hit him square in the face, causing him to sit up abruptly and collect his thoughts once again. This was all too much to deal with at once; Keiko's sudden death, her possible murder, and then of course all his friends turning on him to this so-called God. Looking at the floor, he said rather hoarsely, "So they want me to take the case?"
Kurama nodded sternly and replied in a compassionate tone, "They said if you don't want this one, it's fine, but they would really appreciate it if you took it on."
Yusuke snarled, bearing his teeth, his face registering total anger and rage. "Yeah, heck right. They want me to take it cause Keiko was my girlfriend so I'll be able to solve it faster. Never mind what it does to me mentally."
Kurama looked steadily into Yusuke's eyes, never letting his gaze waver. "I understand, Yusuke. I'll tell them you decline." He got up and started to go out the door, but was stopped when a hand grabbed his shirt. He turned to Yusuke, his face full of questions.
"I never said I wouldn't take it, Kurama. It'll hurt to know why Keiko was killed, but if there's one thing I want," Yusuke paused and cracked his knuckles for emphasis, "it's to pound her murderer to a pulp and taste the sweet revenge for what he's done to me."
Kurama nodded then put a comforting hand on Yusuke's shoulder. "Just don't let your want and desire for revenge make you turn into a murderer."
Yusuke smirked. "Kurama, just when have I ever let that happen to me? I know my limits and I intend to press them as far as I can."
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Yusuke burst through the door of the police headquarters that afternoon in a frenzy the crash of the doors jolting everyone in the office from their afternoon dozing session.
Takeda, the police chief, rose and graciously offered his hand out to Yusuke. "I see you've come in. You are accepting the case, am I correct?"
Yusuke ignored the politeness the chief offered to him and instead decided to get down to the point. "I'm accepting and I want to know everything that's been found out and I'll take it from there. Don't pay me a cent, this case is mine and mine alone and the only payment I want is revenge."
Takeda's face brightened into a smile, that to Yusuke, seemed too big and his eyes held a strange look that Yusuke found unsettling in the pit of his stomach. "I'm glad to hear that Mr. Urameshi. Keiko always spoke very highly of you when she worked here. She was, in fact, one of our best secretaries. When do you want the facts?"
Yusuke glared at the police chief. "Are you that freaking brainless, baka? I know she worked here but I don't want to hear any of that. There is no time to waste cause there's a crazed murderer running around out there and I don't intend on leaving until I have everything!"
Takeda nodded in consent appearing nervous though he shouldn't have been. "I just thought that you might have wanted a couple days to fully digest what you've decided to take on." He pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and began mopping the insane amount of sweat on his brow.
Yusuke raised an eyebrow at him then said harshly, "Give me the records and files. Now."
Takeda swiftly turned and opened the door behind his desk leading into the room where all records from all cases were kept. He started to shut the door behind him but not before Yusuke put his foot in.
"I'm on this case so I have a right to follow you." Takeda nodded at this statement a little to quickly for Yusuke's liking.
They walked into the room and Yusuke noticed how drab the room looked. The floor was a layer of cold, gray concrete, dust filtered into the air, mkaing him cough. The room was lit with a few dim light bulbs, whose chains swung carelessly in the air. Yusuke caught a glimpse of a few dirty windowpanes, that caused him to feel even more on edge. Takeda shuffled around in a few boxes before looking up Yusuke confused.
"Mr. Urameshi -," he began but was suddenly cut off by Yusuke's angry tone.
"Look, Takeda, the name's Yusuke."
"My apologies, Yusuke. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to come back tomorrow because not all of the data has been collected. I'll have it all for you tomorrow though."
Yusuke glared at Takeda and then, so overcome with anger at the shabby and disorganized manner of the place, turned on his heal and stormed out.
Takeda didn't like his attitude one bit and caught Yusuke by his arm. "Look, Yusuke, I know you're upset but how about you tell me what you're going to do and I assign some men to do it for you?"
The dark-haired young men wretched away from the man's grasp and glared at him. "Let me make one thing clear. I'm a detective. This is my investigation, my case and I don't want anyone interfering unless I ask. All I need you to do is be ready to call the courts and have them make up an arrest warrant, you got that?" Yusuke glared at him and was ready to punch him into the wall but thought better of it. "I will tell you where I'm going once."
Takeda's attention was immediately pricked. "Where?"
Yusuke smirked. "I'm going to Keiko's to see if I can find anything at all. I don't need to wait on your stupid records to start looking."
Takeda nodded his consent. "Very well. Get out and start digging around."
Yusuke was more than glad to hear those words and left.
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Kurama walked into his and Botan's small apartment looking downtrodden. He was greeted, however, by the odor of bleach hanging in the air and knew Botan was working on cleaning.
"Honey? Where are you?" he called hanging his jacket up on the coat rack in the entryway. He walked through the hallway his footsteps echoing off the linoleum flooring.
"I'm in here, dear!" Botan's cheery voice rang out. Kurama followed the voice into their bathroom where he observed Botan scrubbing the floors.
"Cleaning, eh? Would you like to take a break with me to the kitchen?" he asked while bowing and holding his hand out to his wife's.
"Of course my prince charming," the blue-haired lady said curtsying.
Kurama and Botan made their way into the kitchen where Kurama busied himself with fixing some tea for them. He bustled around the kitchen getting out the honey, lemon and other necessities of tea making. The green tea's fragrance soon filled the kitchen drowning out the still strong bleach.
"How did it go today with Yusuke, Kurama?" Botan asked concerned for their friend's well being.
Kurama's features changed to that of great worry. "He blew up at me when I first said she may have been murdered. He flung me against the wall and tried to choke the life out of me. And then while he was doing that I heard and almost felt Youko's spirit against my back. It was very strange. I'm also very concerned for Yusuke. He's never looked into a murder of one he loves. I'm afraid he may do something he's not allowed to do. He might not be able to control his raging emotions."
Botan's amethyst eyes welled up with unshed tears. After thinking a moment, she stood up a declared; "He's not going to go through this alone. We are all going to help him. You, Kuwabara, Yukina even Hiei and myself if things get bad enough. Genkai and Shizuru are sure to help as well. And I'm going to start by finding Yusuke and talking to him and then I'll probably talk to Genkai. Would you mind calling Kuwabara up? He's known Keiko almost as long as Yusuke has and I'm sure he'd help as well!"
Kurama put his hands on Botan's shoulders. "Slow down a little bit. Are you sure you want to do this?"
Botan nodded her head up and down quite vigorously. "Speaking of which, do you know where Yusuke might be?"
Kurama laughed. "I don't know. He may be at police headquarters, Keiko's grave, Keiko's home, I don't really know. How about you rid yourself of that bleach smell and go find Yusuke while I call Kuwabara?"
"Ok!" Botan replied.
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Yusuke walked up to Keiko's apartment and let himself in with the spare key she had given him. It had been two weeks since he had been in there and he wasn't at all looking forward to going back in. Last time he had been there, the place had been full of life, full of laughter.
Now all that was left was his echoing footsteps.
He walked into her room to see if there was anything that could be of any use to him. He spotted a few things on her nightstand beside her bed and he looked at them. The book on top was a black leather-bound book that had 'Holy Bible' and 'Yukimura Keiko' engraved in gold letters. He gingerly picked it up and blew the small amount of dust of causing his eyes to water resulting in a sneeze.
Yusuke gently rested himself on the edge of Keiko's bed and opened the front cover to where her name, date of something called 'salvation', and presented by spaces were written in. Turning the pages, he saw different spaces for births, marriages and deaths. Flipping through, he saw many passages underlined and phrases written throughout. He set it down thinking it wouldn't be of any use to him.
Underneath where the Bible was sitting was Keiko's diary. It struck a familiar chord in him as he recalled the times he would see her sitting out by a lake writing in it. He never picked it up to read it nor had he ever asked. He picked it up and turned to the most recent entries from a week before she was killed. Yusuke mentally debated about reading it, after all it housed all her private thoughts and feelings. He read the entry she recorded the night she died.
Dear Diary,
Why does Yusuke have to be so stubborn? I know he knows the change in me, I know he knows the truth but I just wish he would accept it. I love him so much but I would love him even more if he would come to accept the truth. I cry so much for him and it stings even worse when he refuses church. And the Truth is so beautiful and moving. After all, who are we to ask for forgiveness and mercy after all that we've done? But it says so many things in the Bible showing God's mercy.
John 3:16 - For God so loved the World that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
I love this verse so much. We humans are so sinful and rebellious that it's horrible. I'm just so glad that God gave us a second chance.
Yusuke stopped reading for a moment to digest what he had just read. People like him were sinful so God gave us a second chance. A second chance for what? Yusuke continued to read.
Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God.
Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
It's so amazing to me. Here we humans are, sinful and rebellious to God. We can't go to Heaven when we die so God sent his son Jesus to die on the cross and give us everlasting life! All we have to do is confess our sin and accept him into our hearts.
I John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness
I only hope that one day all my friends will come to know Christ. I love him and have never regretted it.
And now, I can only pray that God will convict my friends. And also, I pray that he'll give me the wisdom to know what to do with the information I have. I'm starting to run scared because I don't know what to do. If I keep it a secret, I may regret it. But if I don't, it may turn out even worse, God, give me the courage.
Keiko
Yusuke dropped the book into his lap with tears streaking his face. The words and phrases from her Bible struck something down in him and made him feel uneasy. Is this what Keiko felt when she first told him she had become a Christian? But why would he feel a sudden urge to become one if all it had done was get Keiko killed? He held back. He wasn't going to fall into the praying trap.
The last part of Keiko's entry had him confused. What kind of information on what? Yusuke began to think but he couldn't come up with any suitable answers. He did know one thing though. Someone had a motive for murder.
"Ahhhhh!" Yusuke cried out suddenly. He dropped to the floor all of a sudden grasping his heart and gasping for breath. There was pain in his heart so unbearable it wasn't even real. He thrashed about, yelling and painfully kicking the walls and furniture.
It was these cries that grabbed Botan's attention from the sidewalk. Alarmed, she ran into the house and followed Yusuke's cries to Keiko's bedroom. She walked in to see Yusuke lying on the floor thrashing around like a wounded animal; he was obviously being tormented by something unseen by human eyes.
"Yusuke!" Botan cried running over to him and sitting him up.
Yusuke looked up at Botan his eyes glazed with fear and instantly, his body became petrified.
Botan's eyes searched the room for the invisible threat praying all the while for God to spare Yusuke of the pain he was going through. She felt a calm peace sweep over her and Yusuke suddenly sat up coughing and gasping for air.
"What - are - you - doing - here? What - happened - to - me?" Yusuke gasped between coughs.
Botan shook her head. Looking at Yusuke with love and care, she asked tenderly, "What happened?"
Yusuke shoved Botan to the floor and stood up. "There's foul play going on in that police station. I told myself I was going to figure this out and then I felt this crushing weight on my chest. I don't know what it was but I scared. I was scared Botan! And I don't get scared! I thought I was going to die." Yusuke put his hands to his head and sunk to the ground showing he had indeed been defeated.
Botan's hand rested on Yusuke's shoulder. "What do you feel it was?"
"It felt like something unnatural. Something... I don't know."
"You think they were spirits? Good and evil?" Botan asked quietly.
Yusuke's eyes wandered to window and he could have sworn he saw the bushes moving but decided it was his imagination playing with him. "I think it may have been that. Is it something from that religion thing of yours?"
"I don't know Yusuke. I don't have the answers for it. But... that may have been God's angels fighting the Devil's demons. You ever think about that?"
Yusuke glared at the amethyst-eyed beauty. "Does that mean I'm a demon?"
Botan shook her blue ponytail. "No, possibly demon-possession. But do you think God might have been trying to get you attention to come to him?"
Yusuke growled. "Look, if you want to talk about God, do it in a non-direct way, all right? Talk about to anyone except me, ok?"
Botan nodded. "It's ok, I understand. Is there anything you want to talk about while I'm still here?"
"Yeah, why do I feel so guilty? I read Keiko's last diary entry and... I just don't understand why I hurt her so."
"None of us understand it Yusuke. It's just normal for us human beings."
Yusuke broke up crying once again and crumpled onto Botan's shoulder his self-control breaking in a dam of tears.
Botan helped Yusuke to his feet. "Come on, you can stay with Kurama and me."
Yusuke was too grateful to reply and absent-mindedly followed her out.
8 hours later...
Kurama looked at his couch where Yusuke still slept. "How long's he been asleep, Botan?"
Botan sighed while looking at Yusuke's peaceful form. "Quite a while. Poor guy hasn't slept for who knows how long. I think sleep is the only peace he has because he can forget about everything going on. He doesn't even know Genkai has cancer."
Botan's comment was suddenly interrupted by Yusuke thrashing awake and rolling onto the floor providing a comical scene to Kurama and Botan. He stood up, a wild look possessing his eyes. "I have to get back to Keiko's! I have to get the diary!" Yusuke leapt over the couch and ran out the front door, Botan following.
Kurama grabbed her arm to stop her. "No, I'm faster, I'll go." Kurama sprinted after the black-haired man in an effort to catch up but didn't until Yusuke stopped in Keiko's doorway.
Kurama ran up to Yusuke's side panting. "What do you need the diary -?"
Kurama's question was left in the air as he and Yusuke stared at the sight in front of them.
The house was a shambles.
AN: Another cliffie indeed! I just love doing those. Oh, and sorry for the Nancy Drew spoof there. I don't know how many chapters in those books I read where the chapter ended with that line. lol! (I don't own Nancy Drew either). Anyway, please take the time to review if you can!
