Chapter Two
Yusuke watched the two souls he'd punched out of Gohki fly back to their owners, then turned back to look at the floored demon. This had actually been a lot easier than he'd thought it would be.
"No offense Gohki, but that was pretty pathetic," Yusuke said. "I know I'm badass and all, but going down in two hits? That's just disappointing."
Yusuke's taunts were cut off by the demon chuckling where he was lying on the ground. "Is that so? Well, I hate to disappoint your expectations. Here, let me make it up to you," he said, picking himself up off the ground, looking far too confident for someone who'd just been laid flat on his ass.
Gohki's muscles began to bulge and expand, tearing through his shirt and pants as his skin grew darker, while his nails grew into thick, short claws. His teeth grew long and pointed, with short tusks jutting out from his lower jaw and several horns growing from his forehead: one large one in the center of his forehead, two of similar size at his temples, and another, smaller pair just above each of his eyes.
"Aw, crap," Yusuke muttered, taken aback by the already tall man's transformation into a nine-foot dark red ogre.
"Hehehe, what's the matter, runt? Don't feel like talking tough anymore?" Gohki asked mockingly. "Come on, make a move! Or maybe you want me to make one for you?" Not waiting for an answer, Gohki swiped at Yusuke with his clawed hand. The Spirit Detective only barely managed to jump away, his jacket getting slashed in the process. Gohki's hand kept going until it hit a small tree, which he gripped in a meaty fist, crushing the trunk into splinters.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me!" Yusuke yelled. If that blow had hit him, he wouldn't have fared any better than that tree.
"Yeah, that's right, human. You're starting to realize the difference between you and me. That's good," Gohki said. "Fear and pain are the best seasonings for a soul. Now that I've put the fear in you, I can start sprinkling in the pain!"
The soul-eating demon charged Yusuke, drawing back a mighty fist and throwing a rock-shattering punch at Yusuke's chest. The instincts he had honed in dozens of street fights served him well, and Yusuke managed to jump back to lessen the blow's impact. But even with that, and with his spirit energy unconsciously reinforcing his body, he could feel his ribs fracturing from the force of the blow. Yusuke dropped to his knees, a hand to his ribs as he let out short, shaky breaths, gasping in pain.
"Oh, I'm sorry; did I put too much force into that punch? I always forget just how frail you humans can be," Gohki mocked. "Don't let me hit you too hard, now! I'd hate to bruise the meat!"
Gritting his teeth, Yusuke put his hand into a "gun" shape, pointing his index finger at Gohki's chest. 'This "Spirit Gun" thing better actually work or I'm gonna kill that fucking toddler,' he thought. Gathering his spirit energy into his outstretched index finger, he condensed it into pure energy and fired it as a bullet-like projectile, hitting Gohki square in the chest.
"Ahh!" Gohki yelled, taking a step back as the energy bullet struck him. The skin where it struck was singed a darker color than the surrounding skin, and a bit of smoke came from it, but otherwise the soul-eating demon seemed unharmed.
"Oh… fuck…" Yusuke breathed. The only weapon left in his arsenal, and it hadn't so much as broken the skin.
Gohki charged Yusuke again, this time grabbing the arm he'd fired the Spirit Gun with and lifting him up to eye level. "You little punk!" he growled. "You're going to pay for that!"
With that, Gohki began to squeeze Yusuke's arm. The spirit detective screamed in pain as his bone was crushed beneath Gouki's massive hand. That done, he let go, and Yusuke fell to the floor, sobbing and cradling his ruined arm.
Not giving him more than a moment to recover, Gohki started literally kicking the fourteen-year old while he was down, knocking him around the forest clearing. Yusuke's cries of pain rang out through the forest.
Yusuke was on the ground now, pain searing through his entire body. His eyes swimming from pain and unshed tears, he saw Gohki's massive foot looming over his head. 'It's… over," he thought to himself. 'Shit… and I just… got back…'
"Spirit Gun!" yelled a voice, and a projectile much like the one Yusuke had failed to hurt Gohki with punched a hole straight through the monster's trunk-like thigh. Gohki howled in pain and dropped to his knees, gripping his injured leg with his arms.
"Playtime's over, big guy," the same voice rang out through the clearing again. Yusuke was fading fast, the pain of his injuries overwhelming him, but he couldn't help but feel like he knew that voice.
Out of the corner of his eye, Yusuke saw Gohki rise to his feet. "Another human!?" he snarled. "You're going to pay for that, you little shit!"
"Sorry, I'm kind of short on cash at the moment. Do you take IOUs? I'm good for it, honest." Yusuke recognized who it was now. That new kid at school! What the hell was he doing here!? And how had he fired a Spirit Gun like that?
"N… New guy?..." Yusuke mumbled. He couldn't complete the thought; his vision was fading, and everything went dark.
Yusuke jolted awake, bolting upright. "What the… isn't this my room?" Yusuke thought aloud, looking around. This was indeed his room, and he was in his bed. Even stranger, he only felt about as bad as he did the few times some punks managed to hit him with a bottle or a bat or something once or twice, even though Gohki had given him the beating of his life. Flexing his previously-broken arm, Yusuke grimaced at the pain, but noticed that it didn't seem broken (well, shattered, really) anymore. "How… was that a dream or something?"
"Yusuke!" his mother called out from the doorway, dropping the towel she'd been holding and running to his bedside and embracing her son. "You're awake!"
"Wha- mom?" Yusuke asked, surprised. "Uh, yeah, I guess-"
Atsuko Urameshi cut off her son by punching him upside the head. "You idiot!" she yelled. "I was worried sick, Yusuke! You wouldn't wake up at all, and your clothes looked like you'd gotten attacked by a wild animal! You're going to… going to get yourself… killed…" Atsuko trailed off, bursting into tears and sinking to her knees at her son's bedside.
"Mom! Come on, mom, it's okay, I feel fine, see? I've been hurt worse tripping over your empty bottles," Yusuke said, trying to reassure his crying mother as she scooped him up into her arms. Ever since he'd won his trial and come back from the dead, his mom had been acting like this a lot: she'd sometimes wake up in the middle of the night and stand at his bedside just to make sure he was still breathing, and if he didn't get up the second she started trying to wake him up in the morning she'd start bawling her eyes out. Part of Yusuke was secretly touched to see how much she cared; the rest of him was just annoyed at all the blubbering and confused about how to handle it.
'Actually, how am I not hurt more than this? I distinctly remember Gohki handing me my ass on a plate,' Yusuke thought, as his mother's sobs started to die down. 'And did the new guy at school seriously come in from out of nowhere and save my bacon?'
"Oh, good, you're awake, Yusuke," came the same voice from the clearing. The new kid, Ha… something, Yusuke hadn't really paid attention when he was introduced yesterday, came into the room, wearing (what Yusuke assumed was) his old school's uniform. He was about Yusuke's height (okay, maybe a little bit taller), with messy blond hair that reached the nape of his neck, bright blue eyes, and a slim build. Standing next to him was a pretty girl with long baby-blue hair tied into a ponytail and purple eyes, wearing jeans and a sweater.
"Hel~lo!" Botan chirped brightly. "Glad to see you're alright, Yusuke. You had us all rather worried!"
"Wh-Botan! Did… the two of you get me out of that clearing?" Yusuke asked, glancing at his mother. The real question on his mind, of course, was "Is the new kid in on this Spirit Detective stuff?" but he couldn't exactly ask that in front of his mom.
Atsuko, having stopped crying, pulled herself out of her son's arms and rubbed at her eyes. "Yeah, they did. Tenchi here brought you back home asleep in his arms, and Botan helped get you through the door and into your bed."
"Oh, that's… great," Yusuke said, now wondering how his mom could see Botan. He was also more than a little creeped out at the thought of being carried around in a guy's arms while unconscious.
Atsuko stood up and headed for the doorway. "I'll make you three some tea and snacks, alright? And Yusuke, introduce me to your friends properly later, okay?" With that, she headed for the kitchen.
"Alright!" Yusuke called after her. "Now I just need to figure out how the hell to do that. What the hell happened while I was out, Botan? How come my mom can see you? And how exactly is the new guy here involved?" Yusuke asked, pointing at said new guy as he did so.
"Well, I told Koenma I'd probably serve better as your assistant if I could talk to you in public without people thinking you were crazy, so now I've got a proper physical body that can be seen by normal humans!" Botan said. "But as for him… I have no idea. He said he'd explain when you were conscious."
"And I will," Tenchi said. "I just hate repeating myself, you see. It's useless, useless, useless."
"Alright, well we're all ears, so explain away. Who the hell are you?" Yusuke asked.
"I am who I said I am: Tenchi Higashikata, 14 years old, new student at Sarayashiki Jr. High. It just so happens that I'm also a powerful psychic with training in harnessing my spirit energy through an ancient martial art called Sendo," Tenchi said.
"Wait, psychic? Sendo?" Yusuke asked, already lost.
"Psychic can mean one of two things, actually," Botan explained. "It's a general term for any human who can perceive spiritual phenomena, like your friend Kuwabara, but it can also mean humans whose spiritual abilities manifest in the form of unique powers, like E.S.P. And there are actually a number of martial arts designed by the spiritually aware to harness their spirit energy into greater power. Such people often become demon slayers or exorcists. I guess this 'Sendo' thing is one of them?"
"Right on the money," Tenchi said with a nod. "I don't exactly have any E.S.P., but my training in Sendo has allowed me to hone my spirit energy and become powerful enough to take on minor demons like Gohki."
Yusuke nodded. "Alright, but what were you doing in that clearing in the first place?"
"Simple," Tenchi said, shrugging his shoulders. "Like I said, I'm spiritually aware. I saw and heard that floating toddler that appeared when Iwamoto was trying to frame us. I heard him say that three demons had stolen dangerous artifacts from Spirit World. That's the kind of situation where a demon-slaying martial artist can come in handy, you know? So I followed you, saved you, kicked Gohki's ass, used a Sendo technique to heal you, and then brought you here with Botan's help."
"You followed me? Then why the hell did you wait until my ass was already good and kicked before bothering to step in and help!?" Yusuke yelled.
"Because I kind of… got lost for a bit," Tenchi admitted, rubbing the back of his head and wincing. "I managed to detect your spirit energy, though, along with three sources of demonic energy, and ran towards it, but by the time I got there Gohki was already about to cave your head in."
"Okay, so you're not an asshole, you're just a dumbass with no sense of direction," Yusuke summarized.
Botan nodded energetically. "Bingo! I tried giving him directions, but he still almost took a wrong turn twice on the way here! If I hadn't gone with him he'd never have found this place."
"The hell did you just say!?" Tenchi yelled, pointing a finger at Yusuke. "What kind of a thing is that to say to the guy who saved your ungrateful ass, then healed it, then dragged it all the way back here!?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Yusuke said carelessly, waving his hand at Tenchi, who started silently fuming. He turned back to Botan. "So that's him covered, but what about you, Botan? How'd you find me?"
"Oh, I just used this!" Botan said, whipping out what looked like a compass. "It's the Demon Compass; one of the Seven Spirit Detective Tools. It can detect the location and distance of a demon that's already been identified. I just used it to look for Gohki. I'd meant to give it to you today, but this case came up so suddenly…" She handed it to Yusuke, who looked it over.
"Okay, that's all well and good, but I think my main problem is actually fighting them once I've found them," Yusuke said. "Gohki was a lot stronger than I thought he'd be; I couldn't even hurt the bastard once he transformed."
"Um, I should probably be encouraging you, but…" Botan trailed off, unsure of what to say to salve his wounded pride or put an optimistic face on his failure to beat Gohki.
"But as you are right now, you don't stand much of a chance, and all three of us know it," Tenchi cut in bluntly. No hard feelings there, not at all.
"Yeah, well why don't you handle this, then, Mr. Big Shot!?" Yusuke demanded.
"Because Gohki was the weakest of the three thieves," Tenchi replied. "He was strong and tough, sure, but he was also slow and stupid; nothing but dumb muscle. Guys like that go down like a sack of bricks. The other two are on a different level, and I'm not sure I'd be able to handle them on my own. If I implied otherwise, I'm sorry, but I'm not some hardened demon-slaying badass. I'm still just a rookie."
"And besides that, we have a time limit on getting those items back," Botan interrupted. "I didn't want to tell you this, Yusuke, since it would just be more pressure on you, but we have to get all three back within the week."
"Well we already figured out I'm just the north side of fucking useless, so what the hell am I supposed to do about it!?" Yusuke spat.
"Simple. You need to get stronger," Tenchi said. His bluntness snapped Yusuke out of his growing irritation.
"And how exactly am I going to do that?" Yusuke asked skeptically. "We've only got a week to get those items back!"
"Don't worry, you'll see results very quickly. We can get started on it right now," Tenchi answered. "Stand up and face me, and I'll use a technique that will help you harness your spirit energy."
After a moment's hesitation, Yusuke stood up and faced Tenchi. "Alright, I'm up. Now what? This better not involve me holding some fruity pose or whateve-"
Tenchi cut him off by jabbing a glowing energy-infused finger into his midsection, driving all the air from his lungs. Yusuke doubled over, wheezing and hacking as he temporarily lost the ability to breathe.
"That's it, make sure you expel every last bit of air from your lungs," Tenchi said.
Botan grabbed Tenchi by his shoulder and turned him around to face her. "Just what the heck do you think you're doing to Yusuke!?" she demanded, making sure to keep her voice down to keep Atsuko from becoming suspicious.
Tenchi was unfazed. "I'm helping him," he said coolly.
By this time, Yusuke had managed to start breathing again, and put his hand on Tenchi's other shoulder, drawing back his other arm into a fist, ready to punch his lights out. "Help me how, jackass!? By letting me choke to death and saving those other two demons the trouble!?"
"Yusuke, is your right arm still hurting?" Tenchi asked, still completely calm.
A look of shock crossed Yusuke's face, and he let go of Tenchi in favor of staring at his arm. "No, actually, it feels good as new," he said. He continued to look himself over. "In fact… I feel amazing. Like I'm surging with energy."
"That's because you are," Tenchi said. "The technique I used has changed your breathing pattern. Sendo is a martial art based on breathing."
"Based on breathing? The hell's that mean?" Yusuke asked.
Tenchi turned to face Yusuke and clasped his palms together in front of him, taking a meditative pose while standing. "Energy comes from breath, Yusuke. Spirit energy flows through the bodies of humans, but only spiritually aware humans can perceive it. Only through training or special methods can you exert more than just basic control over it. The breathing technique of Sendo is one of the methods that can be used to control it." As he spoke, he channeled glowing golden-white energy into his hands, demonstrating his point.
"By altering the way you breathe, you alter the way your spirit energy flows. Sendo is also called Hamon, or the Ripple, because when you utilize this technique your spirit energy flows in ripples throughout your body, empowering you and giving you far greater control over your spirit energy than most psychics can achieve even with years of study. A master of Sendo can do almost anything with his spirit energy: they can heal almost any sickness or wound, destroy the most powerful demons with a single blow, or channel their energy into objects to empower them.
"What I've given you is the most basic application of the Ripple's power: the ability to channel the ripples of your own spirit energy through your body to enhance it more efficiently. You'll be stronger, tougher, and faster than you were before. You'll heal more quickly, and once you get the hang of using it and get a feel for the flow of energy, you'll be able to empower your blows with powerful ripples of energy to deal even greater damage when you strike, especially against demons… just so long as you keep up the rhythm of your breath and don't let anything disrupt it. A big part of Sendo training is conditioning to make sure you always keep up the breathing, but we don't really have the time right now."
Yusuke and Botan both had looks of awe on their faces. "So with that one little poke, you gave me the power to do all that, huh?" Yusuke asked.
"Bingo," Tenchi said, unclasping his hands. "Like I said, though, if you wanted to learn anything more, you would need training, but we don't really have time for that. Until we manage to pinpoint the remaining two artifacts, it will have to do."
"Great! We've got the Rapacious Orb safe and sound, Yusuke's got a power-up, and we've made a strong new ally!" Botan summed up, shaking Tenchi's hand. "Glad to have you on the team, Tenchi! Sorry for not trusting you earlier."
Tenchi stepped back a bit, seeming a little embarrassed. "Oh, no, it's fine Botan, I understand completely," he said, avoiding eye contact with the girl. "I mean, I was kind of suspicious."
"Yeah whatever, welcome to the team, yadda yadda. So what's our next move?" Yusuke asked.
"Well, you're fully healed now, but you both need to give your spirit energy time to recover," Botan said. "Tenchi's right; the other two thieves will be a good deal stronger than Gohki, so it's best if we wait until you're in top condition to go after them. Tomorrow after school would be the best time to start; we can try combing the city with the Spirit Compass to try to find them."
"Which brings us to our last piece of business," Tenchi said.
"Yeah? And what's that?" Yusuke asked.
"Explaining why exactly we skipped out on half the day's classes."
"Pft, is that all? Don't worry about it, I ditch all the time."
"Yes, well that's all well and good for you, but I don't really feel like getting in trouble any more than I have to," Tenchi griped.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Yusuke said. "Just come up with something. He may get on my case all the damn time, but Takenaka's not too bad, for a teacher. He'll cut you some slack if you think of a good excuse."
"Alright, I guess that works," Tenchi said. "Of course, a lie is much easier to get away with if it's got elements of the truth. So I'll just say that you ran out, I followed you to try to keep you out of trouble, you picked a fight and got your ass kicked, and I bailed you out and dragged your sorry ass home."
"Wait, what!?"