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Chapter Three: Clerical Oversight

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In the weeks that followed, Kurama was both the most miserable and the happiest he had felt in centuries. On the one hand, Kurosaki had agreed to a partnership with his stepfather and Hatainsha's future was looking more certain and assured than it had been in years. On the other hand, Kurama wasn't able to convince himself that his outings with Kurosaki were just purely business anymore. And if Kurosaki's text this morning was meant to be taken at face-value, Kurosaki intended to keep pursuing Kurama.

During their negotiations, Kurama had found ways to keep their intimacy above the waist. But now with the deal finalized and Kurosaki becoming an official partner, there were no rules and regulations, no company boards to keep in the dark, and no need to exclude hints from his stepfather that Kurama and Kurosaki were hanging out after work—though his stepfather wasn't aware that anything romantic was going on between them and Kurama certainly hadn't told him about their kiss.

And while Kurosaki had no qualms with sparking a romance with Kurama, Kurama did. The fact that Kurosaki looked just like Kuronue was the ever-persisting concern keeping Kurama drawn to Kurosaki and yet cautiously distant. Kurosaki becoming his stepfather's business partner had just complicated matters more.

The matter was Kurama was worried that he didn't love Kurosaki and only loved him because he looked like Kuronue. If he gave into Kurosaki's advances, to what gain and end was Kurama seeking by starting a romantic relationship with Kurosaki? Was it love or was he living out a fantasy that his late partner and lover was alive once more?

There was no way Kurama was going to know the answers he was searching for in this world and it was doing him no good sulking and wallowing in uncertainty while stringing Kurosaki along. Especially when Kurama knew there was another world that could give him answers.

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The mountain of paperwork on Koenma's desk was only half as tall as it usually was, though if the young overseeing king of Spirit World did not return with news soon his steady stream of subordinate ogres were going to have a paper replica of Mount Fuji waiting for him.

Kurama waited patiently nearby. Having received a summons to Spirit World from Botan and, from her, word that Koenma had found some information regarding his inquiry request, Kurama was certain that it wasn't going to be long before he heard from someone. His patience was rewarded in time.

Finding the occasion important and solemn enough to necessitate the change, Koenma was in his teenage form as he entered his office with a closed file folder in hand. "Hello, Kurama, how are things?" he said, shooting a passing weary glance at the wobbly towering paperwork piled on his desk.

"Well," Kurama said cordially. "I've been told that you have news for me."

"Well, yes, that's true," Koenma said. "I'm not certain if it's the news you were hoping for."

Swallowing his nerves and doing away with his smile, Kurama steeled himself for the results of his inquiry.

"It seems that, according to our records, Kuronue was not reincarnated," Koenma said.

Koenma was right—that was not the result he was hoping for. But it was the answer he needed nonetheless.

"So that's it," Kurama said. He was unable to stifle all the disappointment from his voice. "Thank you."

"I wouldn't thank me just yet..." Koenma said and Kurama stared at him in puzzlement. "The thing is, when I found Kuronue's death certificate, it turns out that Kuronue was never sentenced and completely processed through." He opened the file folder out for Kurama to see. "See, we have his paperwork right here and his processing was clearly started. But here, on his judgment, there's no stamp or signature. Nothing."

Kurama's eyes darted across the files in hopes of finding out what had happened to Kuronue after his death but everything was exactly as Koenma had explained—there was nothing anywhere of what became of Kuronue after he had passed into Spirit World. "I'm afraid I'm not understanding what you're saying," Kurama said, his mind racing to factor in this new information. "Has Kuronue been waiting to be sentenced in some jail cell all this time?"

"Well, not exactly..." Koenma said, a nervous quiver shaking his voice. "Kuronue is certainly somewhere."

Both Kurama's voice and stare flattened. "You say that like you don't know where he is."

"At this very given moment, no, I don't," Koenma admitted. All of a sudden, the young king of Spirit World was not able to look Kurama directly in the eyes as he had been just a second ago. Instead, Koenma stared up at the ceiling, as if praying to Heaven, curiously enough. "But I've had ogres and ferry girls searching across Spirit World from the moment we knew of the oversight and they've been at it for quite some time now."

"Any news from them?"

"They've covered just about every inch of Spirit World," Koenma said, "but we've had no luck locating Kuronue's soul."

Koenma's face grew more worried, his eyes grew wider, his smile grew more pinched and placating as Kurama didn't say anything back at first. He really wasn't much relieved when Kurama finally did respond.

"You lost Kuronue's soul," Kurama said, his voice icily indignant.

"Not exactly. Sure, his paperwork slipped through the cracks," Koenma said, noticeably sweating and his voice rapidly speeding up. "But as for us losing his soul, well, souls are capable of moving on their own even when they're balls of fire. You can't entirely fault us for that…." Kurama was sure Koenma's panicked laugh was just to relieve tension. "I mean you and him made a criminal career of eluding Spirit World. His disappearance is kind of funny if you think of it like that."

Kurama didn't find the disappearance of Kuronue's soul funny.

He did, however, find his soul's inability to be accounted for in Spirit World far better news than he had initially.

After a deep breath, Koenma composed himself. "I'm so sorry, Kurama," Koenma said, bowing forward slightly in apology. "I can't explain to you how or why this happened or what happened to Kuronue's soul. For whatever reason, my father didn't complete Kuronue's judgment. I do not yet know what he may have ordered and done to him, but I will see to it that you'll have answers, and if possible, have prosecution for my father's actions."

Kurama nodded in thanks and then said, "Let me hypothesize something. Is it possible that Kuronue was reincarnated without Spirit Word's authorization or knowing?"

Koenma smiled. "Given what we know of him and of you and him, I wouldn't be surprised."

Neither was Kurama. If Kuronue wanted to come back, he'd move mountains, and Kurama was not about to believe that Kuronue was happy to lie in his grave. Kuronue was always too restless, always needing something to do. And Koenma was right—they had made a career of eluding Spirit World, why would death change that?

"Kurama, if I may," Koenma asked, "why did you ask me to look into if Kuronue was reincarnated or not?"

"Curiosity," Kurama said with an all-too-pleased smile and turned to leave. "My regards to you for your help, and give Botan my goodbye."

Koenma blinked in incredulity at Kurama's unsatisfactory and cryptic reply and immediate departure. "What? Wait, Kurama—Gwah!" And luck would have it, the precarious tower of paperwork piled on Koenma's desk fell over and onto the young king of Spirit World, silencing and stopping him from giving Kurama chase.