Chapter Twelve: Impossible to Replace
"Yusuke, what was that thing?" Keiko sat within Yusuke's bedroom, in his metaphorically empty house. Her legs were curled up on the mattress, and he had draped his blanket around her shoulders to help her keep warm. He'd also managed to scrounge up a mug and a packet of hot chocolate, which she was now sipping. It wasn't particularly cold out, but she was shaken up by the mental invasion that had pre-empted her meeting with Yusuke, and keeping warm was a good way to keep from shivering.
"A ghost," Yusuke responded carefully. "That thing is my newest case. Dead guy named Tsarakino. Professional asshole. What happened back there, Keiko? I mean, when did he nab you?" Yusuke was worried for Keiko, but also wanted to know just how long he'd been speaking with Tsarakino without knowing it.
Keiko brought her free hand up to her forehead, while the other steadied her mug of hot cocoa. "I was coming to meet you, like we'd promised. I missed you a lot, I was in a hurry, and then...this thing showed up. I started hearing whispers in my head, and then my body stopped moving. It felt like my brain was being torn apart, and then the whispers turned into voices. I tried to fight him, but he was too strong. I mean, really, really strong."
Tsarakino had taken her before the bridge meeting. Yusuke felt sick inside when he thought of how long that creature had kept her captive inside her body, and felt disgusted when he realized that had been Tsarakino he had embraced back there on the bridge, Tsarakino playing the role of Keiko. He tried to think of something to tell her, something to calm her, but his own mind was racing. Tsarakino had gone after him through Keiko. What if he came back for her? Tried to use her again? How was he going to protect her from something that struck invisibly to the mind?
Hardening his resolve, Yusuke swore internally once again to take Tsarakino down and make him pay for the things he'd done. But something was nagging at his mind. "Keiko, you said he came for you when you were coming to meet me? While you were still awake?"
Keiko nodded her head in confirmation. "Yeah, while I was awake. Why? Is something wrong."
Yusuke scratched his head, trying to think. "I don't know. It's just that...I mean, when I died, Botan told me I couldn't do that. I could only take over bodies that were either asleep or unconscious. I couldn't even do more than portray a simple concept to anyone, and even then, only to Kuwabara because he's got a really strong sixth sense. Tsarakino shouldn't be able to take over a body that's awake, that's like...changing the rules in the middle of the game!"
Keiko wasn't sure what to say. She didn't really understand what Yusuke meant; she'd never been dead before, so she wasn't sure how it worked. But Yusuke sounded genuinely confused, so she tried to offer a suggestion. "Maybe it's like you and Kuwabara, where you have that gun thing you do and then he's got a sword?"
Yusuke shook his head. "I'm pretty sure it doesn't work like that. Hmm...but maybe he's got some kind of government job that gives him special privileges, or something." Even to Yusuke that sounded stupid. Why would the Reikai palace have hired Tsarakino? And if they had, they'd have told him when they first started going after him. "I don't know."
"Or maybe," came a young, feminine voice from the doorway. "Just maybe, he's not actually a ghost." A young woman stood in the doorway, dressed in a black kimono with a dark violet siding around the edges. She stood at 5'3" and had black hair that came to midway down her back, which she kept long and straight. She also had the creepiest of violet eyes which, coupled with her pale skin, gave her a sort of undead vibe.
Before Yusuke could even respond, the woman stepped forward, holding her hand out to him. Her voice was direct and to the point when she spoke, without even an ounce of friendliness to it. All that seemed to matter to this girl was getting straight to business. "Detective Urameshi? My name is Megumi. Lord Koenma has assigned me to the position of assisting the Spirit Detective, and I've been informed that is you, no matter how...unfurnished you may look."
Yusuke's hair bristled at the comment about his looks. He had to say, this was a first. He'd known the woman five seconds and already disliked her. That was a new record. "Where's Botan?" he asked her, that question taking more importance than any other in his mind at the moment. "Why isn't she here, and why are you?"
Megumi scoffed at the question. "I am here because I can do the job. Because I understand the job better than any of the lackwits under Lord Koenma's guidance. As for the sentimental girl, she is not here because she has proven herself incapable of maintaining a professional distance from her people."
Yusuke opened his mouth to question, but Megumi shut it down with more words. "Not here. If you must know, then I am sure the rest of your...and I use this word loosely...team...will be dying to hear it too. Besides, I have information that Lord Koenma wishes me to share with you. Assemble the men at whatever wrangled excuse for a meeting hall you children have and I will speak to everyone."
He had known this woman half a minute, and he outright hated her. Definitely a record.
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Kuwabara sat solemnly atop the rooftop, looking out at the city below. He was seated atop the apartment complex where his sister and he lived. The sounds of the city rushed by below him, but he paid them little attention. His mind was too distracted to worry about them. Somewhere out there, perhaps, or in Makai, Tsarakino was laughing at them. The invisible creep thought he was invincible, but they would see. I mean, this guy was sloppy. Even Kuwabara could tell that. He either didn't know how to do what he was trying to do, or he just didn't put much effort into it. He was really sloppy, and he made mistakes too often. He'd probably give himself away, and when he did, Kuwabara'd beat this guy down himself.
Kuwabara rose from his seat, getting restless. He wanted to be in Makai looking for this guy, but the others had agreed that it would not be a good idea to rush headfirst into unknown enemy territory. They had done it plenty of times before, though, hadn't they? When they had gone to fight the four Saint Beasts of Makai, they had dove in headfirst. When they had rescued that beautiful blue-haired demon girl, his precious Yukina...the icy-blue haired maiden whose tears turned to precious gems, an aspect that vile man Tarukane had been exploiting to make himself rich...he and Yusuke had gone to rescue her, which was where they first met the Toguro brothers they had fought in the Dark Tournament. Yukina...she was the most beautiful girl Kuwabara had ever seen, and every time he thought of her, it made him feel warm inside. Precious Yukina...wait, what was his point again? Dammit, every time she came up he lost his train of thought.
Oh, well. He started for the stairs leading down from the rooftop. Might as well head in. Maybe there was a fun game to play on his computer or something. He started down the stairs, but then he started to feel a sensation of uneasiness creep over him. He felt something strange, although he wasn't quite sure what. Something was starting to unnerve him, and it made him walk faster. However, by the time he'd reached his apartment, the feeling was gone. Whatever it was, it had left.
He opened the door and stepped inside, and for a moment, he thought he heard his sister's voice. Creeping carefully to her closed bedroom door, he pressed his ear gently to the wood, and confirmed that she was definitely speaking. "Don't go!" she said to the thin air. "Come back! Dammit, come back here!"
Kuwabara knocked lightly on Shizuru's door, wondering what was going on. "Go away!" she snapped, and he decided it was better of not knowing. Taking off for his room, he decided to leave her to whatever psychosis had her talking to herself. He only stopped for a moment, to scoop up his precious kitten into his arms, before heading for his room to lose himself in that computer of his. But before he even managed to turn it on, the phone rang.
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Botan rolled over in her bed when she heard a light knocking on her door again. Ayame was back. Botan ignored the first knock. When the second came, she ignored that as well. However, on the third knock, she reluctantly climbed out of her bed and walked over to open the door. Fine, she decided, if Ayame really wanted to watch her sulk, then so be it. She opened the door, but was surprised to see Koenma standing in the hall, rather than Ayame. This was a surprise. Not a pleasant surprise, but a surprise, nonetheless. "Koenma," she sighed, her voice lacking both the usual respect she carried for him and the 'Lord' prefix. "What do you want?"
"Botan," the toddler started. "Listen, I know you're upset right now. Ayame's really worried about you. I just wanted to tell you that–"
"You know what?" Botan snapped. She was more angry than she'd ever been. The stress had been piling up. She had enough trouble dealing with the nightmares of Tsarakino, she didn't want to deal with this too. "We're not going to do this. Okay? I'll do my job, and I'll follow whatever stupid orders you give me. But this? This is my time. If I want to spend my time sulking in my room, then I am going to. If I don't want to speak to Ayame, then I'm not going to. And you? Again, this is my time, and y'know what? You have lost the right to speak to me on my time." With that, she slammed the door in Koenma's face and turned back for her bed. Part of her couldn't believe she had just done that to the prince of Reikai, but her day was too darkened to care. Like all days before this since that horrible incident with Tsarakino, she laid herself down in her bed, pulled her knees up to her chest, and tried to make the world go away.
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School had finally gotten out, and Kurama had headed straight home immediately. He didn't want to leave his mother alone, not with Tsarakino still out there somewhere, and possibly still fixated on him. "Hey, Shuichi!" Maya called to him as he passed her, but he didn't even look back. He was in too much of a hurry.
He'd spent every day worrying since the day Yusuke, Kuwabara, and he had gone to the Tsarakino residence. Wondering who would be Tsarakino's next host if he came for him, or really, any of them again. Wondering why a ghost like that hadn't been picked up and taken for judgment a long time ago. Something just seemed wrong about it, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
He couldn't help but wonder where Botan had disappeared to. It wasn't like her to up and vanish in the middle of a case, and he doubted Tsarakino and Fjerin had been dealt with already. Where could she be? The absence unnerved him, and only served to make him worry more about Botan's plight.
Kurama arrived at his front door quickly, having gone on foot and cheating a little with demonic speed. He opened the door carefully, checking around to make sure nothing was out of place before he entered. "Mother?" he called, and smiled when he heard her respond.
"I'm in the kitchen, Shuichi!" Kurama breathed a sigh of relief. She sounded normal, he wasn't getting any warnings off her. Hurrying into the kitchen, Kurama gave his human mother a hug, just as he did every day after school. "Dinner will be ready in a couple of hours," she smiled. "By the way, there was a phone call for you a couple of minutes ago. Your friend Yusuke. He said it was important."
Kurama sighed inwardly. Important from Yusuke meant it had to do with the case, and that so rarely carried good news with it. "Thank you, mother," he responded, "I'd better go see what he wants." He slipped out of the kitchen and headed for his bedroom. He could use the phone from his bedroom to call, to keep his mother from listening in on things she was best off not hearing.
Kurama stopped for a moment just before he reached his room. That's strange...the door was closed. He had left it open when he'd left for school, and his mother didn't really go in and out of there much at all. This was out of place, and he decided to be careful. His right hand gently traced the knob, twisting it slowly, quietly, before easing it open. His left hand reached down into the pocket of his uniform, wrapping slowly around a slender, cut rose. He knew he couldn't envoke his Rose Whip here without attracting unwanted attention from his mother, but it was best to be as careful as he could, nonetheless. He took a deep breath, and then he pushed the door open quickly, to surprise any intruder that may be inside.
Kurama started breathing again as soon as he saw his room. That's why the door was closed, he realized. Tsarakino had him on the edge, and was making him paranoid. He smiled, closing the door behind him and hoping his visitor hadn't noticed him making a fool of himself. He doubted it, though. Hiei sat perched on the windowsill, gazing out into the distance. He hadn't even moved.
"You startled me," Kurama chuckled. "I thought for a moment that he had come back." Kurama didn't have to specify a he. There was only one he that held his concern, and Hiei knew it. Hiei was silent, however. Not even acknowledging that Kurama had spoken. This was more stoic of Hiei than Kurama was used to, and that was saying something. Hiei was typically fairly stoic, but this seemed even more than usual. Something was wrong, something he was trying to place.
Hiei sat there in silence, his mind going over the same details he had gone over for days. Those same three words cycled in his head, "I love you," the heartspoken, tearful words of a girl who had almost lost everything. He had fought for her, done everything he could to protect her, and for what? Why had he done it? She appeared to see something in him that he was certain wasn't there. What did she see? What did she believe he was? Why? That was the question that had haunted him over and over and over again. He was a demon. She was a spirit. He had threatened her with death on several separate occasions. Of all the men in the group, of all the men she knew...
Hiei didn't even move his head. He kept his windowsill perch, while he looked out at the sky above. "Why me, Kurama?" Those were the first words out of Hiei's mouth, finally speaking. Kurama was confused by the question, he didn't understand what Hiei meant. But he listened, nonetheless. "Why would she choose me?"
