A/N: Sadly, I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Spirit Detective Saga
Chapter Eleven - The New Mission
Keiko closed her eyes and breathed. Ghosts had no need of air, of course, but the act centered her. Prepared her. This was never a pleasant experience. And, in truth, it helped remind her that breathing wouldn't be optional for her soon. Her hand rose to scratch Mei behind the ear. Then at last she gave the nod. She was ready.
That familiar yank pulled her into her body. A sharp jolt ran through her as soul and flesh melded together once more. Her physical eyes snapped open as control returned to her. She felt Mei emerge from within, her spirit beast's now physical weight soon settling atop her chest. She brought a hand up to offer Mei a head pat in thanks for the assistance. Most of her muscles continued to twitch for a few moments longer, but that would die down soon enough. It always did.
At last, Keiko took in her surroundings. Everything felt more…real, she supposed, had more weight, when she had a physical shell. The morning sun cast rays through the gaps in her bedroom window's curtains. A glance at her alarm clock told her that she'd overslept. Then again, perhaps that was open to debate. If she wasn't in her body at the time, did it count? Maybe it would be more appropriate to say she was tardy.
Meanwhile, Botan drifted into place at Keiko's bedside with a curious expression. Spirit energy emanated from her hands as she carried out their morning routine. The glow spread until it suffused Keiko's body. Time passed in peaceful quiet while she conducted the examination.
Soon enough, Botan withdrew her power. Her smile brightened. "Good news! You're in tip-top shape! Spiritually, at least," she added as an afterthought.
As if to emphasize the point, upon Keiko's first attempt at sitting upright, a spark of pain surged through her back.
Botan frowned and proceeded with a second examination. In moments, Keiko moaned as relief came. A cool, pleasant sensation smothered the cries of her angry, atrophied muscles. Without that to ruin her concentration, she fed her body a trickle of spirit energy and instantly felt that much lighter, that much stronger. Not so much as to set back her recovery, of course. She had a long enough road to return to full strength already. Just enough to get by without crutches or a wheelchair for now.
And now came the real test. Keiko swung her legs over the side of her bed and tested her weight on them. She wobbled as she fought her old friend gravity for her balance and ultimately triumphed. She was getting better at that.
"Well," Keiko said, "I believe today marks another successful experiment." A warm smile spread over her face. Between Sayaka's ability to pull her soul out of her body and Mei's talent at putting it back in, she could move between worlds as she pleased. "Thanks for the checkup, Botan."
"Oh, it's no trouble. Wouldn't want you to keel over after all the work we put into getting you back on your feet. Anything else troubling you?"
Keiko stretched to experiment with her range of motion. Some of her former flexibility had been lost, but she felt sure she could get it back. Nothing hurt, though, at least not beyond the expected aches and pains of recovery, and she said as much.
The next test saw her hold out her hand and reach for her spirit energy. Returning to life hadn't lessened it any, exactly, but a physical shell made it harder to reach. It was somewhat like wearing oven mitts while trying to slice vegetables: doable, but a huge pain.
Even so, her power moved toward her wardrobe. She gently pulled on the knob with her telekinetic grasp and maintained her concentration. It slowly swung open under her direction and then came to a stop. She nodded to herself, pleased with the result. It wasn't the casual, effortless level she wanted to be at, but it was better than all the times she'd slammed the door against the wall. Her clothes for the day floated out next one by one until they'd gathered in a neat little pile upon the corner of her bed. Lastly, she closed the wardrobe, again without breaking something.
When finished, Keiko finally allowed herself to breathe out a sigh. She was getting better. Not nearly as good as she was as a ghost, but better.
"Well done!" Botan cried. "A perfect score!"
Keiko cracked a smile. "Hardly perfect. But thanks for the encouragement."
"So modest. Any side effects I should look into?"
After a few moments inspecting her body, Keiko shook her head. She felt fine, or at least as fine as she could expect.
"Curious. Everything I've read about resurrections left me expecting a rougher recovery."
Keiko shrugged and then pet Mei. "I suppose you can tell the prince this new method of works much better." Spirit World, she was sure, would put what they learned from these little experiments to good use. Even if she hadn't been interested in participating (and who with an ounce of curiosity wouldn't be?), it was the least she could do after bringing her back to life.
"Guess so," Botan said. "I'll be taking off for the day, then. Prince Koenma wants to speak with me about a few things. I should be back by tonight. Please don't do anything crazy without me, okay?"
Keiko promised she wouldn't. She knew better than to play with life and death without someone qualified to watch over her.
The two said their goodbyes and parted ways. Botan flew out through the wall, while Keiko gathered her clothes and left through her bedroom door. Right outside, she found Sayaka waiting for her. This hadn't quite been what they'd meant when they'd asked her to step out while Botan gave Keiko her checkup, but it was fine. Sayaka looked her up and down and then nodded, apparently satisfied with what she found. She then eyed the clothes in Keiko's hands and thereafter wandered off without a word. Sharing a lazy morning bath wasn't much fun or very relaxing as a ghost.
On the way to the bath, Keiko encountered her mother bringing a clean load of their personal tableware up from the family restaurant below. "I thought I heard your voice," her mother said. The pitter-patter of furry paws drew her attention down as Mei ran ahead between her legs. "Breakfast will be ready soon. Is, uh, anyone joining us today?"
"Just Sayaka," Keiko replied. Her parents weren't fools; beyond the very visible and currently physical arctic fox of all things which had taken a liking to her out of nowhere, Kuwabara and Maya had kept Yūsuke up to date on her test, and Yūsuke had of course kept her parents in the loop. There was no hiding the supernatural from them. The sound of morning anime suddenly came from the sitting room down the corridor. "That's her now. Hope you don't mind."
"Of course not. Your father and I will be downstairs preparing for the lunch rush. Enjoy your bath."
Keiko thanked her mother and proceeded to do just that.
Keiko eventually made her way downstairs and, with great reluctance, left Sayaka to finish watching an episode of Dragon Ball with Mei. That girl had too much fondness for energy beams. At any rate, on the restaurant floor she found the boy that she'd come to expect sitting at the counter eating either lunch or brunch. Probably brunch. He was chatting with a few fellow regulars and her father while the latter prepared customer orders. Yūsuke, it seemed, hadn't even bothered to pretend today and had eschewed his modified school uniform in favor of a more comfortable green jacket and jeans.
As Keiko sat herself in the free space beside Yūsuke, she said, "You should be in school," out of obligation rather than any desire to chase him off.
"Yeah? Well, the class rep isn't there, so who's to say I'm not?"
Keiko rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure they replaced me at some point."
"Pretty sure we spent the last couple months proving no one can replace you," Yūsuke shot back.
A warm smile emerged onto Keiko's face. She'd missed Yūsuke, at least when he wasn't being a jerk. He'd been kind of clingy lately but also sweet in that awkward way boys were because feelings were dumb. Her attention drifted to her father then, and she caught him watching their little back and forth over his shoulder with a knowing look. She blushed and quickly placed an order for her own lunch with the implicit admonition to mind his own business. He chuckled before turning back to his work.
"So have you decided when you're going back?" Yūsuke asked.
Keiko shrugged. "Sometime after exams. I think I know the material, but I don't want to risk tanking my grades." It wasn't like the school cared that she'd missed two months of lectures, anyway, frustratingly enough. What would a couple more weeks cost her? She'd move up a grade either way. "In the meanwhile, I'll just continue studying on my own." Whether that meant from books or on the other side of the world while everyone in Japan slept through the night, who could say?
"What's with the hair?"
"Sayaka decided she wanted to braid it. It's not strange, is it?" Keiko hadn't remembered to look in a mirror before heading down for lunch. She knew Sayaka had pulled it all up past her shoulders but had forgotten to check what style the girl had settled on.
"Kind of," Yūsuke answered bluntly, much to Keiko's eavesdropping father's amusement. Between bites, he added, "Less childish than the pigtails, though."
A couple of the nearby regulars who knew Keiko weighed in and said it looked fine. One even mentioned that short hair might suit her better. That was an idea worth considering; long hair was a lot of work to maintain. Perhaps when she next visited Kuwabara, she'd ask his elder sister what she thought. Kuwabara Shizuru worked as a beautician, if Keiko recalled correctly.
Shortly, Keiko's father placed a katsudon bowl in front of her. It was a bit greasier than she should probably be eating just yet, but the cravings she'd gotten ever since waking from death would not be denied. She dug in with more gusto than grace, and it was so good.
As Yūsuke finished his lunch and Keiko started hers, they exchanged idle chatter. This was too public a place to share any of the stories he'd really be interested in, but extended conversation about nothing had a redeeming quality of its own in good company. Even after they both finished, they lingered together at the counter with nothing else in particular to do.
A few hours passed this way, Keiko would later realize, with her parents dipping in and out of the conversation. The crowd of patrons slowly dwindled to just one man reading today's newspaper in a corner until their peaceful time together came to an end. As they shared a cup of hot cocoa (Keiko's third or fourth; she'd lost count), a new guest arrived. She heard him before she saw him, and she'd sensed his agitated aura long before she'd heard him. Kuwabara burst into the restaurant with a frantic, desperate energy about him.
"Keiko! Keiko, there you are. I need your help. They've got Eikichi!"
Said girl blinked as Kuwabara rushed toward her. Slowly, her brain managed to parse that but came up with several questions. Who had his pet kitten? Why? Moreover, why did he need her help?
"Um…" Keiko began uncertainly. "Why don't you start over from the beginning? What exactly do you need me to do?"
Kuwabara clenched his fists and grimaced. "Some punks from Kasanegafuchi got together to make a turf grab. They're trying to take me out first all indirect like. Make me get myself in trouble, 'cause they know I'm the toughest punk of Sarayashiki Jr High."
From the other side, Yūsuke bristled and cranked up the sarcasm as he said, "Right."
Both other parties ignored him while Kuwabara carried on with his explanation.
"They nabbed Eikichi while I was at school today. They told me to do horrible things or else they'll never let her go." The words clearly pained him as he forced out, "But I just can't do it. I thought if I distracted them, you could—" He mimed using the Force with one hand. "—you know, do that thing you do to get Eikichi to safety while no one's looking. I can take care of them from there."
And now it all began to make sense.
"Of course I'll help."
Yūsuke, naturally, butted in. "Like hell you will! You're barely out of the hospital, and I'm not gonna just let you march straight into a fight."
He had a point, Keiko admitted. And her father agreed with him. But that only meant that she had to get creative. Besides, she had the big bad Urameshi Yūsuke on her side if something went wrong. He just didn't know it yet.
On a warpath, Kuwabara took the lead with a paper bag full of 'shoplifted' manga in hand and his friends following in his wake. He marched across the river dividing Sarayashiki turf from Kasanegafuchi territory. They were en route to a cafe just on the other side where they were to meet Sakamoto, the new boss of the rival delinquent gang.
Meanwhile, Keiko trailed behind at a distance with her own party. A grumpy Yūsuke, his hair in a cute, clean mess in a token effort to pass unnoticed, walked at her side. Sayaka rode piggyback on her with Mei, having predictably refused to stay behind. And to facilitate communication between the living and the dead, Maya had joined them.
"So who is this Eikichi chick anyway?"
"Oh," Keiko said in some surprise. She'd thought Yūsuke knew. "She's Kuwabara's kitten."
When Maya relayed the message, he missed a step and stumbled over a low brick fence encircling a bush.
Keiko pressed a hand to her mouth and giggled at the gaffe. It was probably for the best that he couldn't hear her.
Their group followed Kuwabara's gang through town to The Far Cry. Maya, surprisingly, recognized it. Apparently, she'd gone there with Yūsuke and Kuwabara a while ago. It wasn't much to look at, but Yūsuke gave it a good review. Sometimes, the best cafes were those one would least expect.
A couple minutes after the distraction team entered, the rescue team followed. Yūsuke donned a pair of sunglasses to complete his disguise while Maya wrapped an arm around his and lightly placed her free hand atop it. To a casual observer, they appeared as nothing more than a couple out for an afternoon snack. They veered off to a free booth near the door in case they needed to make a hasty retreat with Eikichi.
They failed to notice the company they'd left behind.
"Sayaka…"
The girl in question wrapped her arms tight around Keiko. She leaned closer and whispered, "I feel it too."
A faint otherness hung in the air. It was not — could not be human. It felt nothing like Botan or Prince Koenma. Even spirit beasts were ruled out; Mei gave off the same aura as Keiko. That left only one type of being unaccounted for: the soul-eating monsters who, according to Botan, preferred ghosts to the living.
Keiko's eyes scanned the room for the source of the energy. It was hard to get a lock on, as weak as it was. She hoped that meant she and Sayaka were stronger than it, especially since it hadn't already attacked, but she wouldn't put it past something that ate souls to want to play with its food. Her only comfort was that Mei, while alert, remained unperturbed.
Then she saw it. In the center of the Kasanegafuchi gang sat a tall, thin boy in glasses with horns coming out of his head. He appeared to be their leader, the rumored Sakamoto. He replied coolly to the heated words Kuwabara threw his way with something that only pissed her friend off more. In all ways but the obvious, he looked perfectly human, and from Kuwabara's lack of reaction, she assumed the living couldn't see the horns. A glance at Maya's wide-eyed stare in his direction over her menu made her revise that conclusion slightly.
Keiko bit her lip and made a decision. "Keep an eye on him," she directed.
Sayako and Mei made no response as she entered the cafe. The soul-eater had to know they were there. She only hoped if they played it cool, it wouldn't come after them while Kuwabara had it distracted.
"Damn. No wonder I've never heard of this Sakamoto guy," Yūsuke said half to himself as they approached his table. "Probably can't throw a punch to save his life. Too busy scheming to bother."
Meanwhile, Keiko hissed, "Stop staring," into Maya's ear.
Said girl jumped in her seat but quickly got her act together. "Is that what I think it is?" she whispered back.
"Soul-eater," Keiko confirmed.
Maya gripped her menu too tightly, and if that wasn't enough, her little gasp definitely got Yūsuke's attention. His eyes narrowed. "Okay, what am I missing?" he asked, his tone serious.
Maya filled him in with a few well-chosen sentences.
"Keiko—"
Before Yūsuke could say something stupid, Maya told him, "Keiko says no," for her.
He blew air past clenched teeth in a huff.
If this were a physical brawl, Keiko wouldn't have protested. She knew her limitations there. And while it might turn into one, and in all honesty probably would, it might just as easily become a spiritual battle. For that, she and Sayaka would be needed if they all wanted to get out of this one with their souls in one piece.
Keiko breathed deep and steadied herself. "Maya," she said. "Please tell Yūsuke that he absolutely cannot hold back against you know who if this becomes a fight. Consequences be damned."
Not long after her resurrection, Keiko had discovered that Yūsuke and Kuwabara had some rudimentary control over their spirit energy. They used it to move faster than they had any right to, endure hits that would knock anyone else out, and punch far above their weight class. Stupid boys doing stupid boy things with their spiritual powers. She hadn't had the heart to tell them they weren't naturally as tough as they thought they were, as all three of them had unknowingly grown up believing was completely normal. She regretted that now, because a properly executed spiritual blow might be what saved their lives in the next few minutes.
Before they could formulate a proper plan, Kuwabara's punks and the Kasanegafuchi gang moved to leave the cafe. One of the thugs held Eikichi by the scruff of her neck. Their leader's eyes shifted as he exited to glance straight at Keiko. They held a sharp glint that made her stomach turn. But he made no further motion toward her and left with the others.
Keiko breathed a sigh of relief as the otherness in the room departed with him. Kuwabara was still in danger, but at least he wasn't a consequence-free treat. People would notice if someone tore him open to rip out and devour his soul. But a ghost? Who would care? Botan, sure, but what deterrence was Spirit World when this Sakamoto was already moving about under their radar?
Without a word, Yūsuke rose to follow the monster. Which, Keiko admitted, was what they should be doing anyway, but honestly, he could give a girl a chance to catch her breath, couldn't he?
All three groups moved through the streets at a casual pace, the Kasanegafuchi delinquents leading. Keiko's group fell behind to hopefully avoid detection. They were headed to a vacant lot not far away. It was wide, open ground with only one way in and one way out. And Kuwabara of course went right in in pursuit with his gang.
As they followed, Keiko's team discussed strategy. Yūsuke wanted to go all in, fists swinging, to knock out the soul-eater first. Keiko couldn't argue with that, but she did convince him to wait until she had a chance to steal Eikichi back. If they coordinated their assault, the element of surprise would sow real chaos into the enemy ranks. Or at least that was the plan.
Sayaka poked her head over the fence around the vacant lot. It was her job to tell them when to strike. Maya, with more than a few grumbles, braced herself against the fence. They would strike hard and strike fast, which precluded casually walking in through the metaphorical front door.
Then came the signal. Yūsuke burst into motion toward Maya. With a little ghostly help from Sayaka, he leapt. The first jump put one foot onto Maya's shoulder. The second put him atop the fence. The third, together with his momentum and Sayaka's telekinetic push, carried him flying forward toward the monster, his fist perfectly aligned to connect with the creature's face.
Meanwhile, Keiko pried open the hand holding Eikichi. It hadn't been that difficult since the thug, although visibly strong, hadn't seen it coming. She caught the kitten in her spiritual grip and hurriedly passed it off to Sayaka so she could join the fray.
Except…she kind of didn't need to. Both sides of the crowd stood stunned. Yūsuke's sudden entrance had knocked the soul-eating monster down for the count, and it didn't appear to be getting back up anytime soon. The mysterious flying cat probably hadn't helped anyone recover, either. And Yūsuke? He looked like someone had taken the wind out of his sails.
That was when Kuwabara grinned. The hostage had been freed. He didn't know the truth of what had just happened, but that hardly mattered to him. He exchanged a few words with his gang and then sprung into motion. The four moved in sync to put the hurt on their rival Kasanegafuchi delinquents. The initiative gave them a chance to even the odds, and as soon as their opponents moved toward Yūsuke, he snapped out of his stupor and joined the brawl.
"Huh," was the only word that came to Keiko. That had gone a lot better than she'd anticipated.
Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the horns disappear from the overblown monster's head. Was that bad? Was this not his final form?
Indeed, not. Something squirmed out of Sakamoto's mouth. It was tiny, blue, and humanoid. It had wild hair of a darker blue than its skin and two massive horns (for its size) jutted out of its head. It wore only a ragged loincloth.
Keiko thought it looked rather harmless.
But just to be careful, she reached out with her power and snared the creature in her telekinetic grasp. It struggled, surprised, and demanded she let it go, but that certainly wasn't going to happen anytime soon.
A glance up at the battlefield revealed that her boys were doing perfectly fine on their own, no supernatural assistance required. Without a hostage, the Kasanegafuchi were only so much wind. So she went to join Sayaka and Maya on the other side of the fence. Curiously, the little blue monster couldn't (or perhaps refused to) move through solid objects, but that hardly prevented her from keeping hold of it.
On the other side, Maya held Eikichi cradled in her arms and offered cooed words of affection and comfort. Were Keiko in her body at the moment, she would to. The kitten was absolutely adorable, but then that was hardly news. It was a kitten.
At any rate, the three girls (four counting Eikichi) soon turned to examining the creature in Keiko's custody.
"Kinda looks like an oni," Maya commented. "But teeny-weeny."
The tiny thing shrieked in protest that it was a fearsome demon. And that living humans shouldn't be able to see him, but as with all things supernatural, Maya seemed to be the exception.
"What do we do with it?" Sayaka asked. It was the question they were all wondering.
Keiko shrugged. "Wait until Botan returns, I guess. She'll know what to do."
"Correct as always, dear Keiko," came Botan's sudden voice. The ferrygirl dropped down from above to join their circle. "Sorry I'm late. I came as soon as we got word what you all were getting into."
"Well, better late than never," Maya allowed. "You were saying?"
"Oh yes. This is Jyaki. He has five previous convictions and has another warrant out for his arrest for obvious reasons." Botan raised a skeptical eyebrow at the demon. "He burrows into the evil portions of the human soul and makes his host do his bidding."
That sounded…unhealthy. Keiko asked if the boy Jyaki had been inhabiting would be all right.
"His reputation will take a hit, I'm sure, but he should be okay eventually. But if you don't mind…" Botan held her hand out expectantly, palm raised.
Keiko passed Jyaki off to her.
"Perfect. A job well done, Keiko. I think this concludes your trial run as our spirit detective."
Keiko blinked. "My what now?"
"Ah, His Highness will be joining us shortly to explain further. But the appointment is mandatory, I'm afraid."
Well, that was…news. Although it did also sound a bit exciting. Uncovering clues. Following leads. Interviewing witnesses. Interrogating suspects. Delving further into the supernatural. That could be fun. Whether or not she had the qualifications for the job, however, was a bit of a sticking point. "You're not appointing me just because I can move between the world of the living and the world of the dead, are you?"
Without warning, Prince Koenma's voice boomed, "Not at all, Keiko."
The group started in surprise and then turned to the source of the voice. The prince loomed large in the air, seemingly more a projection of himself than actually present. Keiko heard Maya mumble something about a pacifier, which she considered an entirely fair reaction, while Sayaka outright called him a toddler.
Prince Koenma's eye twitched, but he ignored the reactions. "We don't hand the role of spirit detective out to just anyone, though I will admit your awareness of the supernatural is a prerequisite for the position. I'm sure you can imagine what it will entail. Your work today before you even knew you had a case clearly demonstrates why you're perfectly suited to the role."
A little ember of pride lit within Keiko's chest. She'd mostly been scared out of her mind, she thought, but…she had done well, hadn't she? They all had.
"Botan will be your liaison with Spirit World. She'll supply you with equipment and information on your cases and can submit research requests to the records department and our library."
Keiko wondered if a perk of the job would give her access to the afterlife's library, because that might very well sell her on the job all on its own.
"If you care to recall," Prince Koenma continued, "Botan is also a fully qualified healer if the need arises. I wish you luck on your investigations. They won't be easy."
With that, the prince faded away.
Botan spoke next. "I'd better head out as well." She flashed Jyaki still in her hand. "I'll see you tonight as usual, Keiko. I'm sure you have questions."
Understatement of the century.
"Oh, we're going to have so much fun working together!" Before she left, Botan turned to Maya and Sayaka and cleared her throat. "To be clear, the position is Keiko's, but His Highness is aware she has a support network. You may choose to be as involved as you wish to be." She booped Keiko on the nose and added, "That goes for your boyfriend as well."
Keiko blushed but didn't bother responding. It would only give Botan more to work with.
Then with one final wave goodbye, Botan set off into the sky. She faded into the distance as she returned to Spirit World with her prisoner.
That left Keiko alone with her friends. She had a million questions, but not one of them was if she would be tackling these cases on her own. While she didn't really think she was the best woman for the job, she didn't exactly want to try turning it down, either. This might actually be a lot of fun!
A/N: Ah, poor, naive, innocent, Keiko has no idea what she's in for.
Also, raise your hand if you thought it was weird that Keiko (and Atsuko) conveniently forgot/didn't ask about ghosts and such after Yūsuke came back to life despite the obvious supernatural events that occurred.