Warnings: None
Lucky Child
Chapter 39:
"Tell Me a Story"
The next day—Tuesday, one day before Kurama intended to use the Mirror—I attended class like usual.
Of course, today was anything but usual…especially for Minamino.
He didn't know that yet, though.
I didn't see him before school, of course. I didn't seek him out. Truth be told, I wasn't even sure he'd come to school that day, or if Yusuke's Unexpected Scheme was going to fall flat in Minamino's absence. Only after lunch did I catch glimpse of Minamino's rubicund hair, strands gleaming bloody in the light streaming in the classroom windows.
When I walked in, he sat reading at his desk—ignoring me, clearly. I ignored him right back and sat down at my own, even though we were the first two there and snubbing him would normally be considered rude.
It's not like he greeted me, either—his eyes merely flickered in my direction before darting away again, back to his book. So much for civility, not that it mattered. I was too nervous to talk to him. Too scared I'd give everything away.
Distance was definitely best, especially now that I knew The Scheme was on.
The classroom soon filled; the teacher began her lecture on cellular division. I barely heard a word, though. Was too busy looking out the window, trying to affect a bored, I'm-just-daydreaming stare—but that was a ruse covering the laser of my focus. I stared at the school gate below so hard, I feared the thing might catch fire. Nothing absent or daydreamy about me today. No fucking way. But it would be just like him to be late and mess this whole thing up. I glanced fervently at my watch, sneaking peeks at it beneath my desk so the teacher wouldn't see.
Luckily it didn't take long for him to appear. Good thing, too, because I was about to chew my own arm off with impatience. When I saw him I sat up straighter, pulse lurching in my throat like a rickety rollercoaster.
Two stories below, green jumpsuit clashing horribly with the brick pavement, Yusuke had appeared beyond the slats of the gate.
I'd told him which window I'd be sitting in. His dark gaze raked the side of the building, connecting with mine as though drawn there by a tractor beam. Yusuke smirked; I smiled back, then gave him a nod.
Yeah, the nod said. He's here.
Yusuke's smirk morphed into an outright grin; he covered the expression by running his hands over his gelled hair. He did his best to smooth the smirk into a look of haughty confidence before returning my nod, shoving his hands in his pockets, and walking out of sight behind the wall encompassing our secluded private school.
I knew where he was going, of course.
Minamino, however, had no idea what was coming.
I didn't dare sneak a glance at the fox, even though I wanted to. I merely waited, agonizing seconds turning into agonizing minutes, until I wanted to jump up and run screaming from the room.
Lucky for me, Yusuke was a fast worker. It didn't take long for the assistant principal to show up at the door to the classroom. Our teacher stopped talking when the door rattled open and the principal scanned the room.
Her eyes, of course, alit on Minamino.
"Minamino, come with me, please," she said.
Because everyone else was doing it, I looked at Minamino at long last. Would've seemed suspicious if I didn't. Even though I knew his mother wouldn't die today, the bolt of panic striking through his verdant eyes made my heart hurt. He didn't spare me a glance as he gathered his things and walked from the room, eyes tight and hard like he meant to fight the world and win.
After his disappeared, I sagged in my seat with a relieved sigh.
All had gone according to plan. So far, at least.
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
The day before, Monday, started off uncertain.
It definitely didn't end that way.
Despite telling Junko to spread the word of Yusuke's return, I spent most of the breaks between classes assuring my peers that yes, Yusuke was alive. No, he was no a zombie. No, he hadn't actually died—the medics had made a mistake. Yusuke had been in a coma. No, his brush with death hadn't made him a better person overnight. Why would you even ask that?
When rain fell that afternoon, the accompanying thunder mirrored my darkening mood.
To keep up appearances, I went home directly after school and helped out in the restaurant. Yusuke, as predicted, did not make an appearance. Recovering after his first altercation with Gouki, no doubt.
Or was there any doubt?
Had everything gone as canon predicated, or had Kurama—given the conversation we'd had the day before—changed his fate, somehow, and acted beyond the scope of expectation?
Only one way to find out.
Because the alternative was worrying myself into an anxious mess (which would do no one any good), and because the only consequence I could see was Keiko becoming more aware of her best friend's activities, I put on my raincoat and trekked to Atsuko's apartment once the restaurant closed.
To my surprise, neither Yusuke nor Atsuko answered when I rang the bell. An unexpected party opened the door and stared at me, eyes wide, mouth parted, fingers of one delicate hand pressing at her open lips. The girl looked more than a little horrified to see me, not that I blamed her. Meeting me tonight definitely hadn't been part of the plan—especially not for the grim reaper who thought she had a handle on fate.
Well. Surprise, I guess?
"Oh," said Botan. She looked me up and down, eyes growing progressively wider. "Oh! Um—?"
"Botan, right?" I said.
Her eyes went even wider still, if such a thing were possible. "Y-yes, I'm—" But then her eyes narrowed; she leaned toward me, comically suspicious. "Wait. How did you—?"
"Blue hair, bubbly personality, pretty face." I shrugged, smiling. "Your type isn't exactly a dime a dozen."
And that was no exaggeration. Botan was without a doubt one of the prettiest people I'd seen in this life—in a way I admit was almost unsettling. Pores tiny in her alabaster complexion, powder blue hair glossy and thick as it tumbled over her slender collarbone, Botan's facial features had the wide-eyes, full-lipped, delicate look of a high fashion model, or a famous cosplayer who hadn't yet changed out of her wig and rich magenta contacts (which, despite their color, suited her as naturally as breathing). Even without mascara her lashes threatened to brush her eyebrows. She wore plain, high-waisted jeans and a sweater, but when she moved the clothes draped her body as if they'd been made for her. Perhaps they had. Perhaps Spirit World had a good tailor tucked away somewhere.
Truth be told, the grim reaper looked like a photoshopped doll come to gorgeous, perfect life. The kind of girl I'd have become a stumbling mess in front of in my old life—the kind of girl I doubtless would've had a crush on for her looks alone.
Luckily Keiko's nerves were steadier than mine. Although the shock of Botan's looks certainly struck me, I didn't find myself a babbling idiot, either. Good. I couldn't afford to break down just then.
Botan looked at first shocked, and then pleased by my earlier statement. "Yusuke said I was pretty?" she asked, amazed.
"Of course," I said—and, feeling playful, I tipped the grim reaper a rather flirty wink. "And he was right, if I'm allowed to say so. You're gorgeous."
Ivory cheeks flushing, Botan waved a dismissive hand and laughed, a charmingly embellished "oh ho ho!" Even though she didn't have a British accent (this wasn't the English dub of the anime, after all) her inflection sounded appropriately poised, formal, and sophisticated. Very Botan. I liked the sound of her voice at once.
"Oh, stop it!" she said, playfully shoving my shoulder. "You charmer, you!"
"Yup. Charmer. That's me!" I dipped a bow with a touch of Western flourish. "I'm Keiko, by the way. But I figure you already know that."
"Well, yes," Botan admitted—and then her pleased smile melted, as dramatic as a popsicle liquefying under a blowtorch. She stepped toward me, apartment door falling shut at her back. "But Keiko, you can't be here right now! Yusuke, he's—"
"If he's hurt, then this is exactly where I need to be."
"I understand the sentiment, but— "And then she stopped talking. I think my words caught her quite off guard, if her fluttering eyelashes and gasp of surprise were any indication. "Wait. What makes you think he's hurt?"
"We planned to go to karaoke tonight. It's not like him to ditch me without calling." (I'd disabused him of that bad behavior years before.) "With this new Spirit Detective gig, it wasn't hard to put two and two together." Botan's jaw dropped. I smiled. "Something happened on a case, didn't it?"
Botan stared at me for a second.
She then let out an enormous shriek of rage, pivoting on her foot and kicking in the door before she marched inside.
"Yusuke, you little—" Botan screeched. "What, precisely, did you tell Keiko?!"
I almost laughed out loud. Botan was just as spirited in this life as she'd been in the anime, flipping between comical rage and charming, bubbly dramatics at the drop of a hat. I followed her into the house, locked the door behind us, and trotted down the hall to Yusuke's bedroom.
Yusuke lay on his bed, front of his pajamas clutched tight in Botan's slender hands. She was shaking him, of course, kneeling on the mattress at his side as she pried him from the grip of sleep. Bandages adorned his cheeks and peeked from the top of his shirt, I noticed. Seemed he'd fought Gouki today, after all.
Good. Right on schedule.
"Wake up!" Botan hollered. "Wake up, Yusuke! I have a bone to pick with you!"
His eyes finally fluttered open. "Wh-what—?"
"You told Keiko!" Botan said. "I expressly told you to keep Keiko out of it, Yusuke, but you told her anyway!" She gave him another hearty shake. "Yusuke, how could you?! Koenma will be furious!"
"Hey, ouch, watch it!" Tired of being shaken like a ragdoll, Yusuke wormed out of Botan's hold and swung his legs over the edge of the bed. His knees buckled when he tried to stand, however, so he flopped back down and glared at the woman next to him. "I didn't survive getting pile-drived by an ogre so you could kill me all over again, dammit!" The boy fell quiet, blinking in sudden realization. In a very small voice, Yusuke said, "Oh, damn. I was pile-drived by an ogre." He looked down, touching the bandage on his cheek. "Well, that explains why I feel like I got hit by a car."
"Really?" I said. "Another car?"
Yusuke's eyes jerked up, meeting mine with a panicked gleam. "K-Keiko!?"
"Yes, Keiko! And that's the problem!" Botan said. Her arm flung out in my direction. "She can't be here, Yusuke! And for heaven's sake, you can't talk about ogres in front of her!"
"Oh, can it, Botan!" Yusuke groused. Botan started to argue, but he held up a hand and ticked off numbers on his fingers. "I talked to her in dreams, she saw the fire turn blue when I saved her, she helped me come back to life, and she's definitely smart enough to realize when I'm hiding shit from her. She's clearly clued in about the whole spirts and magic crap, so what's the big deal with knowing about demons, too?!"
Even I felt surprised by Yusuke's well-formed outburst. I mean, his logic was sound, and Botan's inability to speak just then indicated she felt the same way. After everything Keiko had seen during Yusuke's resurrection period, it was ludicrous to think Keiko didn't have at least some inkling that the supernatural existed. What was the point of pretending none of it was real when she had firsthand evidence to the contrary?
That had always bothered me about the manga. Keiko wasn't a dumbass. There was no way she could forget everything she experienced, but in the beginning, Botan and Yusuke acted like Keiko had no idea the supernatural existed. They'd kept things from her for an unbearable amount of time, endangering her very life in the process.
Clearly this version of Yusuke had a different opinion about what Keiko should and should not know about his role as Spirit Detective. For that I felt immeasurably glad.
"And besides," he continued. "It's not like Keiko is helpless. She can fight." His smiled was as proud as it was peeved. "Even I can't hit her when she puts her mind to dodging. At least if she knows what's up, she can protect herself if anything ever came after her." Yusuke crossed his arms over his chest, shoving his nose resolutely in the air. "Keeping her out of it is pointless, so I ain't gonna do it."
Botan considered this, mouth screwing up as she mulled it over. She shook her head. "But Yusuke, Spirit World's secrets aren't supposed to be heard by mortals. You are an exception. You can't just drag everyone you care about into Spirit World affairs!"
"That's exactly why I have to drag her in, Botan—because keeping somebody I care about in the dark would be dangerous." He looked at me, apparently not at all perturbed that he'd just said he cared for me out loud. Too distracted to realize he was being embarrassing, no doubt. Yusuke certainly looked serious just then. "You should've seen it, Keiko. Big red ogre with horns and teeth, sucking kids' souls with this Orb thingy. Demons are a thing, apparently, and they're gross." He tapped the bottom of his fist again his knee, eyes widening. "Oh. Right! My first big case started! There was a big break-in in a Spirit World vault, and now I've gotta track down these criminals who stole some treasures, and—"
Botan's magenta eyes nearly bugged out of her skull. Grabbing his collar again, she shrieked a furious, "Yusuke!"
"Botan," I said. "It's OK."
Midway through shaking the teeth out of Yusuke's skull, Botan looked up. Yusuke took advantage of this distraction and wriggled from her grip again, scooting away across the bed until he hit the wall. I offered Botan a sincere smile and placed a hand over my heart. While the gesture felt dramatic, something told me the reaper would appreciate the sentiment behind it.
"I won't get involved," I assured the reaper. "I will not tell anyone about Yusuke's role as Spirit Detective, or about—what did you call them? Demons?"
"Yeah," Yusuke said, playing beautifully into my feigned ignorance. "Apparently there's a whole world full of 'em somewhere. I don't have all the details yet, but they're a nasty bunch."
"Well, I will definitely need the rest of those details soon, because you just talked about another literal world and a race of literal supernatural monsters in the same breath, and that's some big-ass shit right there," I said (Botan looked positively green just then), "but in the meantime, Botan, I just want to say that I won't mess this up for anyone, I promise. I'm a great secret-keeper. The secrets of Spirit World are safe with me—certainly safer than the treasures in that busted vault of yours."
Yusuke snickered at my jab at Spirit World. Botan's angry grimace diminished somewhat, but she still looked uncertain. Lucky for me, Yusuke is a great character witness.
"Keiko always means what she says," Yusuke piped up. Botan shot him a sharp look. "She never breaks promises. We can trust her not to blab, I swear."
Teeth worrying her lower lip, Botan looked at Yusuke. She looked at me. She looked back and forth, ponytail whipping behind her head, teeth gouging deep into her pink mouth, hands coming together in her lap so she could pick nervously at a cuticle.
"Oh, this is not adhering to protocol," she muttered. "Koenma will be furious!"
I suggested, "You can always blame this on Yusuke's big mouth."
Yusuke nodded. "Yeah, you can always—hey, wait a second!" He turned to me and raised a fist. "Watch it!"
"You watch it," I shot back. "You're the one who got the shit kicked out of him today."
"I could've taken that ogre!"
"The evidence," I said, with a pointed look at the bandage on his cheek, "suggests otherwise."
Yusuke slapped a hand over the bandage, which agitated the cut or bruise beneath. He flipped back on the bed and rolled across it, groaning in pain—and then Botan's laugh puffed into the air like the fluff of a startled dandelion.
"You two are quite the odd couple," she said, as if discovering something delightful. Her eyes rolled skyward, helpless and resigned. "Oh, I know I'm going to regret this, but—welcome aboard, Keiko!" A conspiratorial smile crossed her lips as she rolled to her feet, extended a hand toward me, and offered up a chipper wink. "Knowing Yusuke, he needs all the help he can get from smart, sassy ladies like ourselves!"
Oh my god, she was adorable. I took her hand and shook it, unable to keep the smile off my face. "You said it, Botan."
Yusuke—who had fought hard for this alliance—suddenly looked uncomfortable. Eyeing us with obvious suspicion, he asked, "Why do I feel like introducing the two of you was a terrible idea?"
"Because it was," I deadpanned. "You just signed your death warrant."
"Yes, Yusuke, your death warrant," Botan agreed. "Soon we'll be giving you makeovers!"
We commenced with giggling at Yusuke's expense. He sulked.
"Oh, man. This sucks," he said.
"You brought it on yourself," I told him.
"Don't make me regret bringing you in, grandma!" he said—but then his combative look turned solemn. "Keiko, since you're here—you're smart. Smarter than me, though don't let that go to your head. What's your take on this Gouki guy?"
"No idea yet, since you haven't told me anything about him," I lied. Sitting on the chair by the door, I said, "Tell me a story, Yusuke."
Content to sit back and play the role of ignorant newcomer, I let Botan and Yusuke spin the tale of demons, Spirit World, the vault, and the thieves who'd breached its walls. Watching the pair snark and bicker as they recounted the facts was honestly more entertaining than hearing the facts themselves. As far as I could tell, nothing about the Artifacts plot had changed in this rendition of Yu Yu Hakusho. The ogre Gouki, the mysterious Kurama, and the cutthroat Hiei had stolen the Gakidama, Ankokukyō, and Kōma no Ken (or the Rapacious Orb, Forlorn Hope, and Shadow Sword as I knew them from the English manga), and then absconded with the treasures to Human World. Gouki had been actively stealing the souls of children since earlier today. I acted appropriately stunned by the revelation of Demon World (and appropriately neutral when I heard the names of the demons), of course, but Yusuke and Botan barely noticed. They were far too wrapped up in their retelling to judge my acting ability.
"So kids started collapsing and it wasn't hard to find the demons," Yusuke said. "Hiei and Kurama ran, but Gouki stuck around, and we fought. He almost got me but Botan chased him off and brought me back here." At that he grimaced. "And from what Botan tells me, I can't afford to mess up again. Those kids' souls'll get digested unless I beat the guy, and fast. But after today, I don't know how the hell I'm supposed to beat him. My Spirit Gun barely made a dent."
"About that, Yusuke," Botan said. She lifted a finger. On it gleamed a golden ring with a thick band and small tines extending over her knuckle. "I have something that might just help."
It was the Concentration Ring, naturally, to turn up the volume on Yusuke's Spirit Gun—only once he used it, he'd be down for the count. He put the ring on his finger and stared, grim lines etched into the skin between his eyes.
"Thanks," he said. "But that Gouki thing has stone skin. Even with this, how am I supposed to beat him?"
Botan—who had looked quite triumphant at the revelation of the Ring—slumped slightly. I cleared my throat. Yusuke looked at me with hope in his eyes. Keiko to the rescue, he clearly thought.
"I'm not sure, Yusuke," I said (I hated watching his hope pop like a punctured balloon, but I couldn't spoon-feed him all the answers if I wanted him to grow and develop the way he was meant to). "All I can say is that you should try looking at it from a different angle. Try looking at the problem from the inside out. It's amazing what new perspective can do when you're trying to solve a problem."
Yusuke considered this, gazing at the ring on his finger in silence. Despite the ache in my chest demanding I tell him what to do, 'inside out' was the only clue I felt safe enough giving him—but something told me I needn't have given it to him at all. Despite his claim that I was smarter than him, Yusuke was intuitive in ways few rivaled. He didn't need my help defeating the demon Gouki. Yusuke could do that all on his own merit.
"I'll think about it," he said. He clenched his fist, looking up with determined eyes. "Maybe I'll have to improvise. Who knows? But whatever happens, I'm going to track that demon down tomorrow." His fist clenched a little tighter, muscles quivering in his taut forearms. "I'm going to fight him, and I'm going to win."
"That's the spirit, Yusuke!" Botan said, smacking his back with her open hand. "But while we're making plans, tell me: What do you plan to do about the other two?"
Yusuke frowned. "The other two what?"
"Why, the other two demons, of course!" The grim reaper looked utterly appalled. "Surely you haven't forgotten about them already?!"
Yusuke flushed. As he babbled something about Botan being an enormous nag, Botan reached into her shirt once more and produced a manila folder (one that could not have fit in there given the way the garment outlined her chest so thoroughly, but that's neither here nor there; I wasn't staring, no way, who, me?).
"Here, Mister Lazy," Botan said. "This is the complete dossier on the demons, the treasures, and your recovery timeline. I suggest you study it!"
Yusuke took the folder with a grumble, shoving it under his pillow and out of sight—where it would doubtless remain, and remain unread, knowing Yusuke.
"Sorry, Botan," I said, "but you'd be better off asking a puppy to study. Yusuke isn't the studious type."
Botan's crestfallen look (followed swiftly by her kitten-like rage at Yusuke) made me laugh. I carried that laughter with me when I left that night and trudged through the rain toward home.
Botan didn't know it, but she had no reason to worry.
Yusuke would recover the treasures just fine. I had every faith in him.
Not two seconds after I got home that night, and only a moment after the bedroom door shut behind me, my phone rang. I lurched across the room to grab it before it woke my sleeping parents. "Hello?" I hissed into the received.
"Hey, Keiko?" came Kuwabara's gravelly voice—a voice that sounded even rougher than usual. "It's, uh. It's me."
Yeah, it was him—but why? The clock on my desk proclaimed midnight was fast approaching. Voice low, I said, "Are you OK? It's late."
"Oh, were you asleep already? I can call back tomorrow, or—"
"Nah, I was awake." I sat on my bed and reached for the lamp on the bedside table. "You usually don't call so late, that's all."
Kuwabara said nothing.
I waited a beat.
More nothing.
"So…what's up?" I asked.
"Um." He paused. Something rattled, maybe his breath or a sheet of paper. "Could you just…talk, for a little while?"
"Uh, sure?" What an odd request. "What would you like to talk about?"
He drew in a breath. "No, no, not like—not like us talking." Another long pause, and then his voice came harsher than before. Raspier, sort of, like he was trying really hard not to sound winded after running for miles. "Can you just talk?" he asked.
"Oh. Um." I stood, walking until the phone's cord stretched to its full length and back again. "Sure. But why?"
"I—I can't say."
It wasn't like Kuwabara to stammer and stutter like this—not with that agitated tremor in his voice, nor the crack at the end signaling unspoken anxiety. My fingers clenched the phone a little tighter.
"Kuwabara," I said. "What's wrong?"
The words came out like they'd sprung from a lanced boil. "Nothin', Keiko, nothin'. I just need you to talk, OK?!"
My feet stopped pacing. Kuwabara gasped, falling silent in the wake of his own outburst. It also wasn't like him to raise his voice at me, nor was it like him to snarl as if I'd said something mortally offensive. Normally so gentle, so kind, this out-of-nowhere aggression rendered me silent.
We sat on the phone together for nearly a minute. I watched the hands go around my clock, marking the time as it passed between us.
"Sorry," Kuwabara blurted. "I'm…stressed. But I'm fine. And I'm sorry." His voice cracked again, wheedling and small. "Can you just talk to me? Please?"
While saying "please" was in character for the polite Kuwabara, I still felt unsettled. Clearly something was wrong with him. Why was he lying to me? Or did it even matter? Nagging wouldn't get him to talk to me. Best just do what he asked and trust he'd come to me if he really needed help.
"Say no more," I said, affecting a breezy tone of voice. My pacing resumed, though, betraying my mounting nerves. "What are friends for but to talk on command?" Tension struck through me like an awl through a pierced ear. "But, um…let's see. What should I talk about?"
"Anything," Kuwabara grunted.
"Well…" Wracking my brain produced only one option; it was getting late, after all, and I was too tired to be creative. "I could tell you a story, if you'd like. Maybe in English, test your knowledge?"
"That's—that's fine," he said. Now he sounded positively strangled. "Just talk."
Because I could quote all the funniest parts from both the book and the movie (and because it had been on my mind recently), it should come as no surprise that The Princess Bride began to pour out of my mouth. At first Kuwabara listened to the tale of Buttercup and Westley in sphinxlike silence, but when I got to the part where Westley died, he let out a small gasp.
"That's awful," he said. "They were so happy."
"They were very happy," I assured him, "so it should bring you no comfort that Buttercup eventually found herself to be married…to a man she did not love."
My heart soared when Kuwabara sounded appropriately appalled by this, grateful that he didn't reject the romantic parts of the story the way Yusuke probably would. He reacted to everything with shock, appreciation, or horror where appropriate, laughing out loud when I got to the parts with Fezzik, Inigo, and Vizzini. Sometimes he asked for translations in Japanese, but I used simple English so he could follow as easily as possible (Kuwabara was getting good at English, but he wasn't that good yet). He fell into an apprehensive hush when I told him about the screeching eels, the Cliffs of Insanity, the tale of the Six Fingered Man and Inigo's quest for revenge. He outright cheered during the mysterious Man in Black's duels with the sword-fighting Spaniard and the jolly giant Fezzik—because those parts were badass, and why wouldn't he get invested? This story truly had something for everyone.
I confess I got really, embarrassingly into my storytelling. It helped that I'd mimicked all the actors' voices and acted out scenes from the film approximately ten billion times, which made the Battle of Wits between Vizzini and the Man in Black particularly amusing. Kuwabara ate up Vizzini's convoluted logic about the iocane powder's placement in the goblets, and he made a noise of muffled horror as the Man in Black fell for Vizzini's obvious trickery when Vizzini exclaimed, "What in the world could that be?!" and swapped the cups when the Man's back was turned.
"That lying cheat!" Kuwabara said.
"Yes," I agreed—and then I launched into the Sicilian's monologue, after the men drank and the mastermind revealed his dastardly plot.
"'You only think I guessed wrong!" I crowed in a terrible imitation of Wallace Shawn's reedy voice. "That's what's so funny! I switched the poison when your back was turned! You fool! You fell victim to one of the classic blunders—the most famous of which is 'never get into a land war in Asia'—but only slightly less well-known is this: 'Never go in against a Sicilian, when death is on the line!' Ha! Ha ha! Ha ha ha ha ha—!"
Because the moment required it, I threw back my head and laughed like an absolute loon—but just before I could dramatically fall silent and describe the Sicilian's sudden death to Kuwabara, the door to my room burst open. I shrieked and jumped two feet in the air as my mother marched in, hair tucked under the blue mushroom of a sleeping cap, and glared as ferociously as one of my story's screeching eels.
"Keiko, honey?!" she said. "What are you doing awake at this hour?"
"Mom! Sorry!" I said, trying to collect myself (Kuwabara definitely said something into the phone; I pressed my hand over the receiver to muffle his deep voice). "Was I too loud?"
"Yes, Keiko, you were indeed too loud," she said with a roll of her sleepy eyes. "What in the world are you doing?"
"Just…just on the phone, is all!" I said, pointing at it with an awkward laugh.
"Well, you'd better hang up and get some sleep. It's very late!"
"You're right, Mom, I'm so sorry."
"Uh huh. Sure." She turned away, hand on her forehead. "I don't want to know…"
I waited until she left the room to lift the phone to my ear. "Did you hear that, Kuwabara?"
"Yeah." He sounded like Droopy Dog when he lamented, "You have to go?
"Looks like it." I'd never been given a curfew because I'd proven myself trustworthy enough not to need one, and I didn't want that changing now (not when the Plot was here and sneaking out had become a more distinct possibility). "I'm sorry."
"It's OK. I knew you'd have to go eventually." Nothing could hide the morose resignation in his rocky voice. "I'm just sad you didn't even get to finish the story."
Laughing, I said, "Leaving you with quite a cliffhanger, I am. A veritable Cliffs of Insanity moment, huh?"
"Yeah. But I don't mind. It'll make the rest even better." He paused for a second, and then with earnestness apparent told me, "Thanks, Keiko."
His somber attitude made my breath hitch "Did I…did I help?" I asked. "With whatever it is that's bothering you?"
"Yeah. You did." While he sounded calmer than when he called, he still radiated melancholy; I hated that I didn't know why. "Call you tomorrow? Maybe hear the ending?"
"Of course." I thought about prying. Decided against it. "Night."
"Night."
He hung up first. Moving through syrup, I set the phone in its cradle.
What in the world had that been about?
I confess I worried more over Kuwabara's odd behavior than I did the plot of Yu Yu Hakusho that night—because only one of those things could be explained by canon.
Mom's voice sounded as uncertain as it did muffled when she spoke through the bathroom door the next morning, Tuesday.
"Keiko, honey?" she said. "Yusuke's here. Were you supposed to walk with him today?"
No, we were not. We had made no plans to do so the night before. I pulled the toothbrush from my mouth and spat into the sink. A glance at my watch told me it was barely 6:30 AM—far earlier than Yusuke liked to get out of bed, and long before we would meet each other for a morning commute. In fact, I'd gotten up earlier than usual despite my late conversation with Kuwabara, unable to sleep due to sheer restlessness. But what had driven Yusuke from his cozy bed at this hour?
"No?" I said. "Did he say what he wants?"
"Sorry, I didn't ask. He's by the back door. Should I tell him to wait for you?"
"Yeah, two minutes!"
As her feet padded away down the hall, I entered panicked-preparation-mode, scrambling for my hairbrush and the tie of my school uniform as I tripped my way back to my room to dress. Luckily I didn't wear makeup in this life, same as my old one, so that didn't factor into my morning routine. I managed to make it downstairs in the two minutes I'd quoted, even if my hair still stuck up a little in the back.
"Yusuke, it's early," I said when I went outside and saw him lounging against the alley's wall. "What's up? Beat Gouki already?"
He looked around as if scanning for eavesdroppers. "Shhh, keep your voice down!" he said. "And no, not yet, but it's on my To Do List." The boy shook his gelled-up head. "Look, I really need to talk to you."
"Something to do with the case?"
Another glance around the deserted alley. "Not here. Wanna get breakfast? I know a crepe place." His eyes bored into mine, accusing. "You love crepes."
"True." I pretended to consider the offer even though I'd already made up my mind to take it. "Your treat?"
"…sure."
"…I'll bring my wallet, anyway." Yusuke's delayed answer did not bode well for that promise.
In a surprising show of foresight, Yusuke had indeed chosen a spot for breakfast just a block and a half from my house. The sun had barely risen, but he still insisted we sit on the brick patio away from the rest of the patrons (they stayed wisely indoors, away from the misty morning chill). I ordered banana and chocolate crepes; Yusuke didn't order anything. Another surprise from his this morning. Normally he ate everything in sight. Now, however, he sat in his seat with hands jammed in his pockets, slouched over and jiggling one of his knees up and down, up and down. So he was anxious about something, then. Interesting.
Once the server brought my food, I unwrapped my utensils and tucked in. "Now can you tell me what this is about?" I said when the server was gone.
Yusuke shifted in his seat, still jiggling that restless leg. "So…you know that file Botan left me? The one about the case?"
I lifted a brow as I lifted a fork to my mouth. "Don't tell me you actually read it."
"Honestly, I was chucking it in the garbage," he admitted. "But a page fell out, and things just clicked."
I frowned. "Things? What things?"
Yusuke took a deep breath. "Don't freak out, OK?"
I put down my fork. "Well. That bodes."
"I'm serious. You are not allowed to freak out."
"You know that's the worst thing to say to someone before telling them something freaky, right?" I said. "You know that it basically guarantees a freak out, right?"
"Keiko. Please."
My snarky comebacks died at once. It was not often Yusuke said 'please,' nor did he often wear the expression of grim intention he donned just then. He swallowed, sitting up straighter so he could pull the manila folder from the night before out of his jacket.
"I have a favor to ask," Yusuke said.
I did not like the look in his eyes. I did not like it, not one bit. But Yusuke might feed off my unease, so I pushed the feeling aside and kept my tone neutral when I spoke. No sense spooking Yusuke at this crucial point in the timeline—but what the heck was he so worked up about?
I hid it well, but my heart began to beat a hurried tattoo against my ribs.
"You want my help? That's rare," I said. "But sure. What is it?"
He took a deep breath, eyes closing. His knee stilled beneath the table. My heart beat a little faster. Clearly he was prepping himself for something. Something big. But what could—?
Yusuke opened his eyes and said, "I need you to introduce me to someone at your school."
And with that, my heart near 'bout stopped.
Because it was obvious were he was going with this, now wasn't it?
I didn't know how he figured it out, and I didn't know why this change had happened—but it was obvious what Yusuke was about to say.
And I had no idea if I was prepared to hear him out.
"Oh?" I said. Somehow my voice held steady. "And why is that?"
His leg resumed its frantic bouncing. "It's…well…"
"Yusuke." I leaned toward him, banana crepe forgotten. "Tell me."
My best friend took another deep, bracing breath, cheeks puffed out and eyes closed tight. When his eyes opened, they held the plea from earlier: Don't freak out, OK?
Wishful thinking, on his part. But I didn't tell him that.
"One of the perps—one of the demons who broke into Spirit World," Yusuke said. "Well…"
My patience frayed when he stalled again. "Yusuke."
The boy shook his head. For a moment I thought he might not have the wherewithal to speak the truth aloud—but then he found the words at last, and when he spoke them, he confirmed my budding fears.
"It's just…well, Keiko," Yusuke said.
He leaned toward me, eyes intent on my face.
"I think one of the demons goes to Meiou," he said—and then he waited for me to freak out.
NOTES:
In the manga and anime, Yusuke was confused when Kurama's mother called him "Shuichi" and was similarly confused that Kurama had a human mom. This leads me to believe Spirit World did NOT know of Kurama's secret human identity, and somehow only knew him by his demon name (probably because the case arose too quickly for them to do proper research). If they'd known about Kurama, I think they would have told Yusuke about it ahead of time. His surprise at Kurama's human name said a lot of about Spirit World's incompetence.
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