PFcat slowly opens the door to a room filled with clutter, dust, and a pile of empty Pocky boxes.
Ummm…hi. Sorry I haven't updated sooner. College is not a place to sleep or slow down. And so, the only form of creativity I've been able to do is draw. I have that stuff up on deviantart, along with a drawing of Kaen in her youko form. It's so pretty!
This was one of those "how much should I give away?" chapters. The original chapter 6 was chopped into two pieces, the chapter 6 you see before you and chapter 7, because there was too much going on in the original. And I don't want to overwhelm you guys.
Yet.
Not to mention that I sorta forgot to update the version of this chapter on my computer, so I thought I had completely lost the file. Then, I remembered I had saved it to my U-drive at school, so really-long-story-short, I managed to get the file and there was much celebrating.
On with the story!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any other anime characters or series that happen to be mentioned. I only own Kaen, Suki, the Hitsuyukan students, and the orphanage.
From here on out, language gets a little harsh. Just to warn you. This fic is PG-13, after all.
"spoken stuff"
thoughts
telepathy
/location information or authoress intervention (rare)/
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/Last time…/
She shook her head, red hair swinging around her and lightly whipping at her face. No. Now's not the time, she silently told herself. She closed her eyes, feeling the sunlight that drifted through the window.
Opening her eyes slowly, Reia scanned the courtyard of the school. A boy in a green uniform stood at the gates, his hands hidden in his pockets. He looked up at Reia with dark-brown eyes, and turned his head to the side.
Is he calling me out? she thought, the kitsune inside becoming excited. Reia nodded and held up four fingers where the boy could see them, then two fingers, then a fist. The boy nodded in understanding, and went around the corner of the gates to wait.
Reia glanced back down at the poem. I guess some things will never change, she thought, smirking slightly.
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Yusuke nodded as the girl hand-signed to meet at 4:20pm. Forty minutes to wait…fun, he thought as he turned towards the brick wall of the courtyard.
Like most preparatory schools, the Hitsuyukan courtyard was filled with trees, bushes, and flowers, which were in turn filled with birds and squirrels. White stone benches and wooden picnic tables were scattered about, taking up every inch of shade that fell on the cobble-stoned ground. The grass that grew along the walls and threatened to overtake the cobblestones was well-kept and dark green, giving the entire courtyard the feeling of a walled-in garden instead of a schoolyard. A beautiful and peaceful place to sit and let one's mind wander into the world of fantasy and imagination…
…Not the sort of place to find the Number One Fighter of Sarayashiki Junior High hanging out in. Yusuke strode outside the wrought-iron gate, and sat down against the brick wall. He leaned back, hands behind his head, and closed his eyes. A forty-minute nap seemed about right to him at the moment.
Besides, if I take a nap here, Keiko won't be able to bitch at me about skipping classes… The Spirit Detective grinned to himself at that idea, and slowly slipped into the world of slumber.
/Meanwhile, at Sarayashiki Jr. High…/
The students of class 2-B were in the middle of another awe-inspiring and mental-gripping English class, practicing writing in Romanji. Needless to say, Kuwabara and a few other students were either sleeping or falling asleep, while the more diligent students were hard at work.
The lavender-haired Botan, Guide of the River Styx and Messenger of the Spirit World, was deeply absorbed in translating her writing assignment from Japanese into English when her superior, the Almighty Prince Koenma, softly called for her attention.
BOTAN!
The girl's concentration shattered and her pencil went flying before she answered her boss. Y-yes sir?
I need to speak with you immediately! Koenma demanded, shutting off the connection before Botan had a chance to respond.
"Botan-san, what's wrong?" Keiko whispered to her friend as she raised her hand.
"Uh, Mr. Takanaka? May I be excused for a minute?" Botan asked, standing up beside her desk after the teacher acknowledged her.
"Yes, but hurry back," the old man said, glancing back down at the stack of papers he had been grading.
Botan bowed briefly, and mouthed 'later' to Keiko, as she walked calmly to the door, opened it, and left the room.
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A few minutes later, the door to the roof of the school flew open as Botan, no longer caring about being conspicuous, ran out onto the roof while pulling out her pocket communicator. She quickly looked around to make sure no mortals or otherwise could hear or see her before she dialed the extension for Lord Enma, Jr's office.
"Sir? It's Botan. What's so urgent?"
"Where's Yusuke? He isn't responding to his communicator. I have some information for his current case," Koenma stated, looking into the communicator screen with as authoritative a posture as a toddler can manage.
Botan blinked a few times as she thought. Had she seen Yusuke today? No, as far as she knew, she'd been the only person to leave the classroom in the middle of a period today. "I-I don't know, sir. Knowing Yusuke, he could be anywhere…"
"He's at Hitsuyukan Preparatory."
The Goddess of Death squeaked in shock as she whirled around to see a short, black-clad demon standing behind her. He smirked at her surprise, and took a step closer to Botan. "I saw him heading that way about ten minutes ago," Hiei said nonchalantly.
"Hitsuyukan? Why would he be other there?" Koenma asked, masking his own surprise at Hiei's sudden arrival. Damn it all, why couldn't those two demons ever announce themselves before popping up like that! He chewed on his pacifier pensively while waiting for the ice demon's response.
"He's following a possible lead. According to Kurama, they met a girl who might be youkai a few days ago," Hiei stated matter-of-factly.
Botan blinked. "Eh? You mean…one of those girls from the arcade…is youkai?"
"Did you meet this girl, Botan-san?" Koenma asked.
"No. Keiko and I were in the bathroom when the girls showed up. I only saw them when they were walking out of the arcade," Botan said slowly, trying to remember what she could about that day. "One of the girls did have red hair with a white streak, according to Kuwabara, but other than that, I don't know. I felt no unusual aura, so the girls must be human."
The Jaganshi looked at Botan, an amused look on his face. "Since when did not sensing aura mean some one is completely human, Shinigami? If a demon has enough power, he can easily mask his aura." Hiei smirked, his sharp teeth showing. He knew exactly how easy it was to mask one's power. How else could he have snuck into the Royal Vault, even with Kurama's skills?
The Prince of the Underworld was silent for a second as he considered what should be done. First several holy weapons were being stolen from temples usually under the best security Reikai could provide, and then those same thieves had been found nearly dismembered without any trace of the weapons twice already, and now a possible new breach in the Makai-Ningenkai border. Could this month get any worse?
"Botan, contact Yusuke as soon as you can and inform him that I must speak with him," Koenma ordered, his messenger nodding in response. "Hiei, I want you to get Kurama and Kuwabara, and meet Yusuke at Genkai-sensei's. I have a feeling things are going to get extremely complicated before too long." The Prince sighed and ended the transmission without waiting for any sort of response.
"Oh dear…," Botan said, looking at Hiei as she closed and pocketed the communicator. "Things are going to get messy, aren't they?"
Hiei grunted and turned to leave.
"Wait! Hiei!"
The Jaganshi turned around and glared at Botan. "What is it?"
"That girl, from the arcade," Botan said cautiously. "Did…did Kurama mention what her name was?"
Hiei stared at Botan as though she had said something ridiculous, and then sighed. "Reia. He said one of the other girls called her Reia," he answered, vanishing before Botan could say anything else.
She sighed and shook her head. Well, at least he's being somewhat helpful, the Goddess of Death thought as she pulled out her Who's Who in Ningenkai guide and started flipping through to find anyone with the name "Reia."
A very odd name, I've never run across that one before..., she mused, as names flew past her eyes, yet not important enough for her mission. This is unusual, I can't find it anywhere! At least with Yusuke, I had his last name as well-…, she paused on the entry the book was displaying.
"There's no way this is right…" Botan closed the book and concentrated harder, then reopened the book. Pages went by in a blur, before stopping on the same page. She tried flipping it again just in case the book missed another entry with "Reia" in it. No luck. Nervously, Botan reread the page, her eyes growing wider the further she went down the page. She gasped, her eyes flying to the picture at the top left of the page which showed a red-haired girl with jade green eyes that looked about 18 years old.
"There's….no way….!" Botan stammered as shock overcame her and the book fell to the ground. Wheeling around, she ran down stairs to find Kuwabara and Keiko, leaving the book behind.
A strong wind tossed the book against the wall, the pages threatening to rip. As the wind died done, the Spirit Guide reopened to the same page that has caused its possessor to fly into action:
Name: Reia Hawagashi
Race/Gender: Human/Female
Residence: Tokyo, Japan
Date of Birth: September 26, 19xx
Personality: bright, friendly, no apparent problems with others
Appearance: hazel eyes, light auburn hair, slight build
Date of Death: April 12, 19xx (died from complications due to Leukemia at age 7)
Notes: Strong ESP for a child, allowing her to see and communicate spirits; was listed as a potential Spirit Detective; the Spirit Detection Office recorded unusual amounts of youki around her for several days before and up to her time of death; no record of resolution from the contact.
/To be continued…../
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You know what, this was a hard chapter to complete because of the Date of Death line. The date and age of Reia's death applies to my cousin's son who died from a tumor last spring. I started crying as I finished that line.
Anyways, to continue, a few notes:
1) Reia is my perversion of the word "rei" which is Japanese for "spirit". Quite appropriate in my opinion.
2) As far as I'm concerned, Botan's Who's Who book has a mind of its own. How else could it carry that much information in such a small size?
3) Hitsuyukan is an actual school in Kinomoto, Japan. My friend Christy went there when she was in Japan for the exchange program, and helped me with the name.
Oh, if you get the chance and like Yu-Gi-Oh, go check out Wingleader Sora Jade and AmunRa. They are both awesome!
Now then, I'm off to hunt for sleep and a muse that will stay here! My kitsune keeps hiding…
Ja ne!
