Because She Died
Dane Soar
Updating on time, surprise! This is the chapter were things make a particularly nasty turn, if it's possible to make the situation more a mess than it already is. But here's where two lines of communication utterly fail to meet. Oopes.
This story takes place right before the Dark Tournament, which would account for the disorganization and lack of power in our favorite team of Spirit Detectives.
Thank to reviewers and please drop one for this chapter!
Part 6
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"You're sure?" Yusuke demanded of the ghost. "The demon killed you?"
The man nodded.
"Did you see a guy with red hair?" asked Kuwabara. "You're sure it wasn't him?"
"The guy who was killing the… demons had red hair, yeah. But it wasn't him."
Both Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan sighed with much relief.
"So it wasn't Kurama," Yusuke said. "What now?"
Botan sat on her oar. "I'll take him to Spirit World, they can deal with him there. Hopefully while I'm there, I can fill Lord Koenma in on the latest development."
"And Kurama?"
She shook her head. "I don't know. He might get off. I don't know how it works in situations like this, but Lord Koenma probably does." And, after gathering up the spirit of the man, Botan took off.
Kuwabara looked at Yusuke. "So what do we do now?"
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Even though he had grown up around it in the Makai, Hiei was still not particularly fond of the smell of blood. In the past it had rarely been a smell that heralded anything pleasant. And the kitsune's home stank of it.
He had opened the window, but there was no relief from that sickeningly coppery smell. Finally, with one last glance back at the two sleepers to check that neither had woken, Hiei slipped out of the window and into the night.
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Both Yusuke and Kuwabara had left the hospital, dodging doctors and the inconvenient questions they were sure to have, on their way out. But they were drawn, like a magnet draws a piece of metal, back to Kurama's house and the wreckage that lay inside.
In fact when Botan rejoined them, only an hour or so later, she found them both sitting in the living room, resolutely not looking at the door to the kitchen. Where Shiori's body was.
"What did Koenma say?" Yusuke asked at once.
"Kurama's in the clear. He did kill the demons, but since they were the remnants of the gang he ordered you to go after in the first place, it all works out." Botan glanced toward the kitchen and sighed. "I'm supposed to take Shiori to the afterlife now."
She started toward the kitchen but paused when Kuwabara asked: "So what did he say to do with… you know, the body? And we can't just leave the place like this."
"Lord Koenma doesn't want any evidence of demon action to remain," Botan bit her lip, but then went on. "He said that after I take her spirit, you two should burn the house."
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TBC