Musical Espionage

Disclaimer: I do not own YYH or any of its characters being that they all belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. The only things I do own in this story are my OCs including Jasmine and Christine.

Chapter 22: The First Recording Session

The gateway sealed shut behind them and Jasmine looked around her new strange surroundings with curiosity and awe. This was her first time ever visiting Demon World. She blinked her large brown eyes and asked her boyfriend with curiosity, "Where are we? There doesn't seem to be any signs of civilization nearby."

Koenma chuckled at his human lover's naivety, "Just be patient, my sweet Jasmine. Our escorts will be here to greet us any minute now."

Bringing his hand up to her red painted lips, kissing it, Jasmine sweetly giggled. Before she could say anything in response, she suddenly detected demon energy heading their way. Taking Koenma's hand away from her mouth, Jasmine could sense that the demonic individuals had the same strength in power as her grandparents.

She could only just stand there, tightly holding onto her lover's hand in comfort as what she could see was a couple of dust clouds emitting demon energy came rushing towards her and Koenma. Debating whether or not she should take out her fans and fight what she perceived might be a threat to her and the prince, Jasmine was prepared to fight them even if they might outclass her.

She had to at least try even if she had to die in the process. All that mattered to her was Koenma's safety and she was ready to sacrifice her life for him if she so needed to. The demonic dust clouds inched closer and closer to them and once reaching their destination, the dust had cleared and revealed two bald men dressed as monks.

Jasmine blinked her dark brown eyes in confusion. Despite detecting their demon energy, the two men looked relatively normal to her. The two bald monks politely bowed to Koenma and Jasmine and one spoke in a calm and diplomatic demeanor, "Greetings your highness, my name is Hokushin and this is Touou. We were sent by King Enki to be your escorts to the palace."

Koenma let go of Jasmine's hand and he too politely bowed before saying in his calm and diplomatic demeanor as well, "It's a pleasure to meet you Hokushin and Touou. I thank you for your service in keeping me safe." The prince then shifted his attention to Jasmine and placed a gentle hand on the small of her back, "May I introduce Miss Jasmine Elizabeth Black, a powerful psychic who represents the Human World. She's here as a form of emotional support for me."

Touou and Hokushin both gave her polite smiles and bowed to her. Hokushin offered his hand to her, "Pleasure to meet you Miss Black. We don't get very many humans, even if they have psychic abilities coming here to attend to matters involved with the Spirit World."

Touou put in his two cents, "We have heard about you. Aren't you Lord Koenma's lover?"

Jasmine took Hokushin's hand and the demonic man softly kissed it. Her mouth hung open not really knowing to how to reply. Still speechless and nervous, she replied, "Y...yes. So, rumors from Spirit World travel to here too?"

Hokushin let go of her hand, "Yes they do. Your highness, I apologize for my colleague bringing up your personal life..."

Koenma chuckled, "You don't have to apologize. I would have wondered the same thing if Enki or any of the former kings showed up to Spirit World with a partner as well."

Not wanting to waste any more time on talking about Koenma's personal life, Hokushin then changed the subject, "We better get going. Enki is expecting you but, seeing as we have a human amongst us, it wouldn't be right if we run the way there seeing as how it's hard for them to keep up with a demon's pace."

Jasmine began to laugh in agreement, "You got that right. I always had difficulties keeping up with my childhood demon friends when they started running somewhere. Both Sandy and Kalem, may he rest in peace, always felt bad whenever I lagged behind them."

Hokushin gave her a kind smile, "Well, for you madam, we will walk."

As they began to walk the path the two demonic monks were guiding them down, Touou then mentioned, "Don't feel bad Miss Black, from what we heard, Lord Koenma cannot really keep up with us either."

Glancing over at the prince, Jasmine sweetly giggled and asked him, "Is that true?"

Sucking on his pacifier for a moment, Koenma looked at his feet and looked back up at Jasmine laughing like a total dork, scratching the back of his head, "Yeah, I'm afraid these two are right, I can never keep up with a demon's running pace."

Looking over at Hokushin and Touou, he added, "I guess that's another rumor about me that's spread around Demon World like wildfire."

Both Hokushin and Touou started cracking up laughing. After the two monks regained their composure, Hokushin answered truthfully, "Indeed your highness. Most if not all demons hear about all kinds of things about you, whether they're true or not. The Spirit

and Demon World Rumor Mills tend to intermingle with each other."

Adjusting the straps of her duffle bag, Jasmine added, "That makes perfect sense. What about Human World stuff? Do you guys get any gossip about us?"

Hokushin glanced over his shoulder at her, "Sort of. It just depends on what it is."

Kind of sizing her up, despite being at least a foot taller than her, Hokushin eyed Jasmine with curiosity and asked her with genuine interest, "You don't mind if I ask this but, are you a member of that powerful freelance demon hunter family, what was their name? Oh yes, I remember, the McAlpin Clan, by any chance?"

Wondering how he knew about her family, Jasmine blinked her eyes and replied, "Yes I am. Why do you ask...Hokushin right?"

Hokushin nodded, "Yes. I met some of them. There was a group of women that came here to train under our former king about a decade ago. The oldest one had the power of an S Class while the younger ones were A Class level. But, gauging your power level, I can detect that you're a B Class human or more precisely, nearing A Class level."

Jasmine smiled, "Oh that was my mom, grandma and my aunts. I remember my family was working on a difficult case that came out of Anchorage at the time. It was just a few years before me, my parents and my siblings moved to Mushiori City. I remember at the time, myself, my sister, brother, and my cousins were too young to come here. My grandparents were in communication with one of the kings here and he was a good help to my family. If it wasn't for him and our family demon friends, we wouldn't have been able to save the city of Anchorage from the threat we were dealing with. What was that demon king's name? Shit, why can't I remember his name? I remember my grandpa saying it once."

Hokushin warmly smiled watching Jasmine continue to wrack her brain on trying to remember. He then cleared his throat and responded, "I believe the name you are looking for is Toshin Raizen."

Jasmine blinked her dark brown eyes and twirled one of her brown curls around her index finger. The name "Raizen" then rang a few bells in her head, "Oh my god, Urameshi's ancestor? My family knew Yusuke Urameshi's ancestor? Oh..." She suddenly began to feel awkward remembering that he had just recently passed away, "Oh...man. Um, I uh, I'm so sorry for your all's loss."

Touou muttered, "May his royal majesty rest in peace."

At his fellow monk's words, Hokushin nodded. He shifted his attention back to Jasmine, "Thank you for your condolences. If you would like, you're more than welcome to visit his grave and pay your respects if you and Lord Koenma have any time before you two leave."

Jasmine gave him a polite smile and nodded, "I would like to. What about you my

prince?"

Gently taking her hand, Koenma nodded, "I would like to as well my queen. I was meaning to after the Demon World Tournament last spring but, it totally slipped my mind. We'll get some flowers when we arrive in Gandara."

Speaking of their destination, Hokushin then cleared his throat getting the lovers' attention, "Your highness, Miss Black, we are here."

Koenma and Jasmine then took a look at their new surroundings. They were now approaching what looked like a city. Walking into the outskirts, Jasmine looked around. She began to feel some familiar vibes, despite this being her first time being in a demon city. Breaking the small silence, she mentioned, "This place kind of reminds me of Anchorage."

Hokushin gave her a curious expression, "What is this Anchorage you keep speaking of?"

"It's a city in the Human World in a place called Alaska. I used to go there once a year when I was a kid when my parents got their dividend check in the mail so they can stock up on groceries and buy us kids school clothes and school supplies. They also gave me, my brother, and my sister some spending money so we can buy what we wanted at the mall."

Looking at the looks Hokushin and Touou were giving her, not knowing what she was talking about, Jasmine then started to laugh like a total dork, "Sorry, I didn't mean to blab."

Koenma just cutely giggled thinking of how adorable she was acting right now, "She likes to reminisce about her childhood. It's quite adorable actually."

Hokushin chuckled, giving Jasmine a warm smile, "That is quite alright. I too like to reminisce with past memories." He then paused and sighed, "I still don't really understand why it was agreed that all elected rulers of the Demon World have to reside here. Our king's territory, Tourin, is just as good if not better than here and Alaric."

Just as Jasmine was about to say something, Koenma gently nudged her on the shoulder. He leaned down and whispered, "It's just best not to say anything. The last thing you want is to offend anyone here."

Whispering back to her lover, Jasmine asked, "Why is that?"

"Because, some of the followers of the three former kings are still loyal to them. They're still adjusting to having just one singular ruler while the ones who supported Yomi and Mukuro are still bitter about the outcome of the tournament."

Beginning to catch on, Jasmine nodded, "Oh I see. They really wanted their former rulers to win so badly that one of them will solely run Demon World while the other one can't do anything about it."

Koenma winked at her, "You got it."

Heeding Koenma's warning, Jasmine then decided to butter up the monks a bit, "I'm sure your territory, Tourin, is a beautiful place. I wouldn't mind checking it out."

Hearing Jasmine say that, Koenma just stared at her awkwardly, hoping she didn't say anything that offended Hokushin and Touou. But, that worry quickly went away when both of the monks just gave her sweet smiles. Hokushin then offered, "Would you and Lord Koenma like to see it? King Raizen is buried there but, we wouldn't mind if we gave you two a quick tour."

Jasmine politely nodded and replied, "Sure, I would like that."

Sighing with relief, Koenma spoke, "I don't see why not."

Arriving at the palace gates, Hokushin responded, "Wonderful. Perhaps we can go pay our respects to the late king tomorrow morning. How does that sound your highness?"

"That sounds great. Jasmine and I will see you then."

"Delightful. Forgive me for cutting our conversation short but, this is where Touou and I leave you two. King Enki and his wife Kokou awaits."

Koenma politely bowed to the monks, "Well, thank you for safely guiding Jasmine and myself here. We'll see you tomorrow morning for our little outing to Tourin. We are looking forward to paying our respects to the late King Raizen."

Bowing with respect in return, Hokushin replied, "Very well. We look forward to it your highness."

Standing upright again, Hokushin and Touou then left Koenma and Jasmine to their own devices. Following her lover into the palace, Jasmine then asked him, "Do you know where we're going?"

Koenma nodded, "Yes I do my queen. We'll be meeting Enki in just a minute."

Not long after he said that, Jasmine then detected some demon energy as they approached a set of double doors. Koenma knocked on them and a friendly sounding male voice responded, "Come in."

Offering his hand to her, the prince warmly smiled behind his blue pacifier, "Ready?"

Jasmine nodded despite being a bit nervous, "Yes my love."

Gladly taking his hand, she took a deep breath and followed Koenma inside the room. Walking in, they were greeted by a large red demon man with a kindly face, two horns on his head with short curly hair and a goatee and an attractive woman with long green hair, a beautiful pale complexion, with a nice figure and sparkling yellow eyes seated at a long table.

The large red demon man spoke, "Ah Lord Koenma, welcome. We've been expecting you."

Letting go of Jasmine's hand, Koenma greeted the man with a short bow, "It's an honor to be here Lord Enki. Oh, may I introduce Jasmine Elizabeth Black? She's here representing the Human World and as my form of emotional support."

At her boyfriend's introduction, Jasmine gave a short polite bow as well, "I'm pleased to meet you King Enki and...um, sorry, I didn't get your name."

The demon woman then huffed, "I didn't give it."

Enki chuckled, "Oh how silly of me, this is my lovely wife, Kokou." He shifted his attention to her, "I'm so sorry dear, I should have introduced you."

Kokou rolled her eyes and took a swig from her canteen, "Whatever." Placing the drinking flask down on the table in front of her, she looked back up at Jasmine. Sizing the young demon hunter up, she spoke breaking the brief silence, "You're a human but, I can sense your power level isn't anything too special. Nothing compared to mine."

Jasmine shot Kokou a death glare, raising her brown eyebrow, "Excuse me?"

Stepping in just in time, Enki placed his hand on his wife's shoulder and said apologetically, "You have to forgive my wife; she's normally not like this. Sweetie, be a good girl."

Kokou was tempted to slap him, "You behave." Looking back over to the lovers, she shook her head, "So the rumors are true, you are fucking a human female. Does King Yama know about this?"

Before Koenma could say anything, Jasmine then interjected seeing how red her boyfriend's face was getting, "Listen here, the things that go on between Koenma and myself aren't any of your business. Just what is your problem anyway?"

Before Kokou could retort, Enki played the mediator again, "Settle down ladies." Gently touching his beautiful wife's shoulder again, he said in a comforting voice to her as he tried to relax her with a massage, "Dear just relax. We can trust Lord Koenma and Miss Jasmine here."

Still feeling a bit uneasy, Kokou turned her hard gaze over to Koenma and replied to her husband, "Don't be too sure of that. These days, you don't know who you can trust."

Koenma and Jasmine both took a place across from King Enki and Kokou. Getting an idea of what was going on, Koenma cleared his throat, shaking off any embarrassment that he just endured, and spoke in his calm diplomatic manner hoping to break up any tension, "Let's focus on the task at hand shall we? What is the first objective?"

Still gently massaging his wife, Enki nodded, "Of course, your highness." He stopped his gentle massages on Kokou's shoulders and cleared his throat. Picking up a piece of parchment that sat in front of him, he spoke breaking the brief silence, "As you know, there has been some mysterious disappearances not only in the Human and Spirit Worlds but, here as well. When we did find the missing demons, most of which were lower class ones, well, it wasn't really a pretty sight."

Jasmine blinked her dark brown eyes. This sounded familiar to her. Her family was also dealing with the same problem for months. She then spoke putting in her two cents, "Wait a minute, this sounds like the exact same thing with what's going on with my family in Valdez. Are you saying you guys had to kill those demons not being able to help them?"

Enki and Kokou both just stared at her awkwardly. They just sat there breathing heavily until Kokou spoke breaking the tension, "Y...yes but...but, we didn't..."

She trailed off feeling as if she was going to cry. Overwhelmed with sadness and sympathy towards the demons, Kokou, not wanting to show any hint of weakness turned around and snuggled against her big red husband burying her face into his chest.

Hearing his wife beginning to softly cry into his chest, Enki looked down at her and wrapped his long meaty arms around her slender body in an effort to comfort her. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head and asked, "Do you want me to take over?"

Still sobbing, Kokou nodded. Holding her body close which gave her some comfort, Enki shifted his attention back to Koenma and Jasmine, "Many of those demons were friends of ours. If only Raizen were still here, he would know what to do."

Looking up at her husband, Kokou sniffled, adding, "R...Raizen would have protected them. He would have destroyed the jerks responsible for the brainwashing."

Rubbing her back, Enki nodded in agreement, "Indeed, my dear. So far, since I enacted my one law, everyone has been abiding by it. It doesn't make sense why our low level friends are being forced to cause trouble in the Human World."

Looking back at Koenma, he asked, "So have you found any information on those that are responsible? I know you are dealing with something similar in Spirit World as well."

Sucking on his pacifier for a moment, Koenma debated whether or not to tell Enki about the information he found about his father. Enki was right about not trusting the old tyrant. The prince bit down on the round blue object and just looked at his hands that were placed on his lap. What was he going to do? Enki and Kokou had the right to know but, he was so afraid of the consequences if he were to say something. Koenma felt as if the weight of the world was coming down on him and he needed to think of a solution to this and quick.

Later that evening, Koenma and Jasmine were getting ready for bed in the guest bedroom they were staying in. Jasmine couldn't help but notice that there was something off about her lover's behavior. Since their meeting with King Enki and Kokou, she noticed that her prince seemed quiet and solitary.

Jasmine wanted to know why he wasn't completely open about their findings earlier and she felt if he didn't say something soon that there was going to be bad consequences to follow. Not wanting to put too much pressure on him but, still wanting some answers, Jasmine sat down on the bed and asked her lover, "Koenma why didn't you say anything about those files we found months ago in the Spirit World Records Department?"

Unbuttoning his white shirt, Koenma gave her a nervous look, "I...I...just can't."

Sighing, Jasmine shook her head, "Why not? Koenma if you hide something from them, you know it could destroy the trust they have for you."

Slipping off his shirt and sitting down on the bed beside her, he then began to spill the beans, "If I do say something, there could be a chance that it could lead to a full scale war."

"Well, if you don't what's to say that it won't lead to a war then? Come on Koenma. Don't be like your father..."

Hearing that, Koenma glared at Jasmine and snapped at her, "I'm not my father, how dare you compare me to him!?"

The young demon hunter sat there stunned. This was the first time Koenma had ever yelled at her. Usually when he got mad at her for something, he usually spoke to her in a calmer manner. Seeing the look of disappointment and nervousness etched on her lovely face, immediately Koenma felt terrible. Hoping she wasn't mad at him, he brought one of his hands up to Jasmine's face, leaned in and gently touched his forehead to hers.

Gently stroking her soft skin, Koenma apologized, "I'm sorry Jasmine, I shouldn't have raised my voice at you. You're right...I...I should..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence as Jasmine brought their lips together and deeply kissed her prince. Kissing her back with the same deep passion, Koenma ran his long fingers through her soft brown curls. Jasmine purred at the feeling of him gently massaging the back of her head and deepened the kiss by slipping her tongue in his mouth gently caressing his with hers.

Koenma did the same lowering her onto the bed. Breaking the kiss, the prince trailed soft kisses along his lover's neck making her lowly moan and gasp as she felt him lick and suck on that sensitive spot.

He stopped sucking on her neck and looked down at her. Koenma sighed with love and adoration gazing down at her, "Alright, I'll inform Enki about the files we found after we come back from Tourin."

He paused momentarily and chuckled, "Why do you always have to be the voice of reason?"

Jasmine sweetly giggled and replied in a seductive manner, "That's because I bring out the best in you my prince."

"That you do my queen. When I finally take the throne from my father, it'll be so wonderful to have you at my side." Koenma knelt down and kissed along her neck and whispered huskily into Jasmine's ear, "You and I will rule Spirit World together. Mmm...I love you Jasmine, my beautiful queen, my future bride."

Arching her back as he slipped his hand underneath her nightgown and massaged her breast, teasing and pinching her pink nipple that hardened at his touch, Jasmine closed her eyes and replied loving what he was saying and the way he was touching her, "I love you too Koenma."

Jasmine opened her eyes and looked up at her lover's handsome face. Gazing into his beautiful brown eyes, she added, "I would be honored to rule Spirit World with you, but, as long as I don't have to drop any of my dreams and goals. I'm not going to medical school for nothing, you know?"

Koenma chuckled, "You don't have to cancel anything for me. You can be both a doctor and the Queen of the Spirit World. My mother was a professional opera singer and a librarian while she ruled with my father. Like I said before, I don't want to be the guy that screws up your future plans."

"I know. Koenma, I see you in my future. I cannot picture you not being in it. I will gladly help you overthrow your father."

Not saying another word to each other, they brought their lips together in another deep, fiery and hungry kiss as Koenma continued to play with her breast. Minutes later, the lovers held each other close, naked and writhing in pleasure.

"Oh Koenma."

"Jasmine."

Thrusting his hot throbbing cock deeper into her, Koenma carefully watched Jasmine's reactions. He sighed lovingly seeing how she was enjoying herself being lost in her pleasure. He kissed her again earning a deep moan from her in response. Jasmine wrapped her legs around his waist and ground her hips and pelvis against his, meeting his deep and slow thrusts.

Jasmine broke the kiss to arch her neck back. Her breathing grew deeper and labored and her moans grew louder and lewder. Tightly gripping onto Koenma's shoulders, she dug her long fingernails into his skin making him hiss and groan at the small amount of pain it brought him.

Small droplets of blood gushed out of those tiny wounds. Koenma increased his pace going deeper and harder into his lover. Trying to keep up with him, Jasmine just gasped, her cries growing louder. Forming a sly smirk on the corner of his lips, Koenma knew that the other occupants of the castle can hear them, not that he really cared. Right now, he wanted everyone to know that he loved this woman and enjoyed pleasing her.

"Fuck, oh god, Koenma...so good."

Jasmine moved her neck back to its normal position and they shared another deep and loving kiss. Breaking their brief lip lock, the prince trailed soft kisses on his lover's neck again. He whispered lowly into his human lover's ear, "Mine all mine. I love you."

He bit his lip momentarily and let out a loud moan feeling a surge of pleasure hit him, "Shit...oh Jasmine...ah...yes!"

Hearing him pant in her ear, Jasmine breathed in response, "I...I belong to you...you're...m...mine...t...too."

Slowing down his thrusts for a moment and taking her by surprise, with his cock still inside her, Koenma slowly rolled over onto his back with Jasmine's legs still wrapped around him. Moving her head to face at her lover, Jasmine breathed in deeply gazing into Koenma's lovely brown eyes. Gauging the smile on his face, Jasmine darkly smirked and asked in a seductively low voice, "Do you want me to ride your big cock?"

Getting an ego boost from her complimenting his hard dick, Koenma slowly licked his lips. Cupping her beautiful face in his hands and gazing into her dark brown eyes, he nuzzled his nose against hers. With their lips so close to each other's he nodded with enthusiasm, "Yes my queen. Ride me. Make me cum hard."

Jasmine kissed him hard in response and sharing another hot and fiery kiss, she adjusted her position by unwrapping her legs from around him and into her normal cowgirl position. She began her slow pace making her man moan into the kiss. Their lips soon parted and they gazed into each other's brown eyes once more. Koenma held her close as Jasmine sped up her pace on his cock.

Their breathing grew deeper and their cries and moans grew louder. Jasmine's voice went up an octave when Koenma thrust his cock up into her, keeping up with her pace on his dick. Carefully watching her, he could see that Jasmine was nearing the finish line witnessing her body tremble and feeling her vaginal muscles begin to contract around his penis.

Still looking deeply in her eyes, Koenma asked her, "Are you close?"

Breathing in, Jasmine just simply nodded. Speeding up their movements, the lovers kissed each other again and parted shortly after. Moments later, Jasmine's release finally came; her inner muscles contracted around Koenma's cock, milking him and squirting her juices all over his dick and balls as her orgasm finally came, crying out her lover's name and Koenma's own orgasm following not long after hers, his hot thick seed filling her up.

Jasmine rested her head on Koenma's bare chest panting from the intense orgasm she experienced. Watching her catch her breath, Koenma kissed her sweat drenched forehead. Snuggling closer to her lover and finally able to speak again, Jasmine sighed, "I love you."

Withdrawing his cock from her cum filled pussy, letting his seed drip out of her, Koenma sweetly smiled, "I love you too." He held her close, not wanting to let her go and added, "Thank you for helping me come back to my senses. I don't know what I would do without you."

Jasmine looked up at him returning the sweet smile, "No problem my love." She slowly started to kiss along Koenma's shoulder and up to his neck. The prince shut his eyes and purred enjoying the feeling of his human lover's soft lips brush against his skin.

Licking his ear, Jasmine spoke in a low and husky voice, "Please make love to me again."

Koenma snapped his eyes open. He squealed in delight feeling her warm breath ghosting along his ear. Trying to maintain his self control, he took a deep breath and asked, "Y...you're not too...tired?"

Jasmine darkly smirked and shook her head, "No. Make love to me again. Please my prince. Please..."

"Are you sure?"

Jasmine smiled and nodded, continuing with her pleas that sound like whines, "Yes. Please...I want you Koenma."

Seeing her pleading look, how could he turn her down? Koenma brought his hand up to Jasmine's lovely face and softly ran his fingers along her cheek, "Yes my queen, as you wish."

Not saying another word to each other, the lovers deeply kissed each other as Koenma slowly lowered Jasmine onto her back eager to continue their night of passionate lovemaking.

The following afternoon, the lovers had just returned from Tourin after touring that territory along with visiting and paying their respects to the late King Raizen's grave with Hokushin and Touou. After bidding the two demon monks goodbye and saying that they will see them again Monday morning when they were set to go back to the Human World, Koenma and Jasmine entered the palace conference room to continue their meeting with King Enki.

Hearing the large double doors opening, Kokou took one look at the couple and gave them a sly smirk, "It's about damn time you get here. Did the two of you enjoy some more lewd fun like last night?"

Immediately realizing what she was talking about, both lovers blushed a deep red. It dawned on them that there were those that did hear them make love to each other. Still looking down at her feet trying to think of something to say, Jasmine was then snapped back to reality when Koenma glared at her and retorted, "That is none of your business Kokou. I do not want to hear another word about my personal life while Jasmine and I are still here. Keep it up and there will be hell to pay. Do you want to ruin relations between the Spirit and Demon Worlds, Kokou? If you do, then keep on talking. I refuse to be displayed like those trashy human socialites in those disgusting Human World tabloids."

The lovers then took their place at the long table and the prince continued, "Now, that we agreed to stop messing around and embarrassing myself and Jasmine by bringing up my personal life, let's go ahead and continue on what we were focused on yesterday."

Kokou sighed and huffed not wanting to deal with Koenma's attitude and just dropped it. Enki chuckled at his wife's behavior and he and Koenma then picked up where they left off.

Monday morning had finally rolled around. Janine, Caroline, Shizuru, Koashura, Kotennyo, Shunjun and Genkai were patiently, awaiting for Koenma's and Jasmine's return. Shunjun and two other SDF soldiers were keeping the gateway open for the couple to step through.

Checking her watch, Caroline asked the other backyard occupants, "What time did they say they would be stepping through the gateway?"

Fiddling with her paint covered paintbrush, Kotennyo shrugged her slender shoulders, "Shit, I don't know. Koashura, didn't they say they would be back around nine?"

Koashura looked at his watch, "Yeah, I think so. It's like 10:30 now. What's keeping them?"

Kotennyo shifted her attention to Janine, "You don't think something happened to them do you?"

The middle aged demon hunter then spoke trying to remain calm, "Just relax and have patience Kotennyo. Knowing Koenma, his meeting probably ran late or something else important probably came up."

Staring at the open gateway, Genkai added, "I really hope so. The last thing I want is for something to happen to Koenma and Jasmine. Yes, your daughter is a very capable and trained fighter but, her power level is nowhere near S Class."

Both Kotennyo and Shizuru looked down at the elderly psychic. Caroline on the other hand just sighed, "Madam Genkai, I don't mean to be rude but, now is not the time to be thinking of the worst case scenario..."

The blonde's sentence was cut short when the silhouettes of two people, one tall, the other short could be seen approaching from the other side of the open gateway. All of the backyard occupants waited with baited breath until it was revealed to be Koenma and Jasmine.

The couple was unharmed but, they did look a bit tired. Sealing the gateway shut, Shunjun greeted the prince and the demon hunter, "Welcome back your highness and Jasmine."

Jasmine gave him a small smile and curt nod. Koenma patted him on the shoulder, "Thank you Shunjun for your assistance. You're dismissed."

The blue haired soldier bowed and keeping a tight lip about the upcoming recording sessions for the band's album in front of his fellow defense force members, he stood back up and ordered the other two soldiers, "Alright men, you heard the man. Let's move out."

Shunjun gave Koenma a small nod, which the prince knew what it meant and he and the other two soldiers then quickly left for Spirit World. Their friends and family ran over to greet the couple. Caroline hugged her sister which Jasmine returned the same type of affection, "I'm so happy you're back, Sis."

Jasmine chuckled, "It feels great to be back."

Breaking their short embrace, Kotennyo surprised her best human friend with a big bear hug, "Shit, what kept the two of you? We were so worried."

After hugging her for a minute, she and Jasmine parted. Jasmine sweetly giggled before Koenma replied, "We needed to take care of something at the last minute. Yomi wanted to speak with us some more before he left to go train his son. It wasn't like we bumped into anything dangerous."

Both Genkai and Janine chuckled. The middle aged demon hunter hugged Koenma and said, "Whatever the case, why don't we all go inside and enjoy a nice good brunch with some Belgium waffles?"

Parting from the woman he considers his future mother in law, Koenma felt his stomach rumble, "I am hungry."

As everyone followed Genkai inside the compound, the small elderly psychic said, "Good, I'm going to be making more than enough, eat to your heart's content."

Moments later while everyone was enjoying their waffles, the conversation had turned to discussing the band's upcoming recording sessions with Koashura informing the prince, "Now that you're back, Mr. Nagisa called and informed us that we're going to be starting on the record earlier than we thought."

Holding his glass of orange juice, Koenma eyed him with a curious expression, "Really? I thought we weren't supposed to start recording until next Monday."

Koashura sipped from his coffee, "No dude, not any more, the band that was supposed to record before us...well, they had to postpone because their shit got stolen."

The prince and everyone gave the red haired love god a look of surprise. Caroline picked up a piece of her bacon, "Seriously? What happened?"

Koashura began to play with the eggs on his plate, "Well, the thing is, they were almost finished with their album's completion and what not. They only had one more song to go before the final mixing and mastering but, some shady motherfuckers broke into the studio and straight up stole all of their recordings. I'm telling you, humans man, I don't understand them sometimes."

Shizuru served herself another helping of waffles. While she poured some syrup onto them she shook her head, "Damn, that sucks. So when do you guys have to go in?"

Everyone waited for Koashura's response until he finally said something after swallowing his eggs, "We've been bumped up to this Wednesday."

He then shut up hoping Koenma wouldn't start freaking out over it. All of the kitchen occupants shifted their attention to the prince. Koenma was just sitting there enjoying his brunch. Taking a bite from his peanut butter and syrup covered waffles and washing them down with his chocolate milk, he looked up at everyone and blinked his beautiful brown eyes.

"What?"

Koashura took a deep breath hoping his childhood friend wasn't angry with him, "Are you okay with going in on Wednesday?"

Holding his glass of chocolate milk, he nodded before smiling behind his pacifier, "I am, unless it isn't okay with everyone else."

Genkai chuckled, "I'm fine with it and so everyone else in the band. We were just waiting for your response being that you're the heart and soul of this whole shindig."

"Okay then, if everyone is fine with it, so am I. Besides we already agreed on which songs we're going to use and Ogre already finished up the musical compositions. All we have to do is get everyone over here to rehearse them and we'll be...somewhat prepared but, it's better than nothing."

Jasmine sweetly giggled. She sipped from her chocolate milk before adding, "My love, you do know that there will be multiple takes of your song recordings right? Even if you flub up the first few, they'll use the best recordings and master those for the album right?"

Sipping from his glass of chocolate milk again, Koenma sweetly smiled and nodded, "Yes my queen, Genkai and Mr. Nagisa already informed me of that." Cutting up his waffles, he added, "I'm really looking forward to this. It's going to beat working on backlogged paperwork that's for sure."

Hearing that, all of the breakfast table occupants groaned in annoyance at King Yama and his laziness along with how he treated his son in general. Jasmine stabbed her peanut butter covered waffle with her fork, grumbling, "Your father is such an ass. You spent the entire weekend in Demon World to attend to some really important business with some very important people and he expects you to come back to some heavy backlog to work on. Ugh, the more I think about how much of an incompetent, abusive, corrupted, pompous asshole he is and so much more than that, it just makes me want to kill him more and more."

Koenma chuckled and gently took his lover's hand to help relax her while her mother and sister both gave her blank expressions with Janine saying, "Jasmine, take a deep breath and relax."

Caroline nodded in agreement, "He's not worth getting yourself angry and worked up over."

Koenma kissed Jasmine's hand, "My queen, I appreciate your concern but, they're right. My father isn't worth your time and energy to get upset over."

Setting down her fork with her piece of Belgium waffle on it, Jasmine took a deep breath and counted to ten, letting her anger and rage dissipate for the time being. Her lover and her family were right; King Yama is not worth getting upset about, no matter how much she wanted to cause him such agonizing physical pain. She just has to wait until the right moment, when the time comes for her and Koenma to finally overthrow him.

Still holding her prince's hand, she looked over and gazed at him. Jasmine lovingly sighed as he kissed her hand again; feeling his soft, smooth lips on her skin. Oh how she loved this man and would do anything for his happiness and wellbeing.

As she formed a bright, happy smile on her pink lips, Koenma grinned and placed his other hand on hers, slowly running the tips of his fingers along it, "There's that beautiful smile of yours."

The other table occupants all either smiled or chuckled shaking their heads at the lovers for their adorable display of affection. Wednesday finally rolled around with Shunjun helping Jorge and Koenma sneak out of Spirit World to make it to their recording session appointment.

Feeling relieved that they got a couple of Jorge's ogre buddies to cover for them, the trio stepped into the gateway to the Human World. As it sealed shut behind them, Koenma sighed, "I still can't believe I finished that entire backlog. I thought it was going to take me over a week to complete."

Jorge chuckled from underneath his surgical mask, "It was a new record. I'm so proud of you, Koenma Sir. You did it all with little to no complaining."

Removing the Mafukan from his mouth as they approached Genkai's Compound, Koenma smiled, "Thank you Ogre, I greatly appreciate that. Thinking about my music and getting to see Jasmine for a short time before we head into the city, kept me motivated to complete it."

The prince knocked on one of the large oak doors before Genkai answered dressed in a nice cream colored women's pantsuit. Gazing down at his longtime friend, Koenma gave her a sweet smile, "Looking good Genkai."

"Yeah, Madam Genkai, you look hot", Shunjun piped in.

The small old psychic chuckled with amusement taking the compliments, "Thank you. I thought I would look presentable for our appointment today." Letting the three into her residence and shutting the door behind them, she continued, "I am your band manager and pseudo-grandma after all."

Koenma chuckled at her words, "We appreciate your help. You're a good friend."

"Are you going to say hi to your lover?" said a voice that made the prince's heart skip a beat.

He turned around and was pleasantly greeted by Jasmine. Koenma thought she looked absolutely adorable in her pajamas with her brown curls currently in disarray. He approached her, taking her slender body into his long arms, "I apologize my queen. I did not see you there."

Jasmine sweetly giggled, "I'm just messing with you. I know you're busy today." She stood on her tip toes and gave him a sweet and loving kiss, parting seconds later.

Gently resting his forehead against hers, Koenma asked, "So what do you have planned today?"

Gazing into his lovely brown eyes, she replied, "Well, since Genkai is going out with you guys, being your band's manager and all, it's just going to be my mom working with me and Caroline today. Koashura and Kotennyo will pick up with their stuff when you guys come back."

Speaking of, Koashura entered the shrine room carrying the case that contained his cherry red guitar and joined the rest of the band. Shunjun fiddled with his wooden drumsticks, "What kept you?"

Before he could answer, Jasmine broke hers and Koenma's tender embrace before answering for him, "He and Kotennyo were up late last night "having a little bit of fun", if you know what I mean?"

The red haired love god blushed as red as his hair, "Don't be a fucking hypocrite Jasmine, what about you and Koenma the other night? We have every right to fuck wherever and whenever we want like you two."

Jasmine bit her lip to keep herself from laughing remembering the things she heard from her godly roommates. Hearing her snort, Koashura glared at her, "Stop laughing."

The young demon hunter couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing, "Sorry but, holy crap."

"Hey, Koenma is louder than I am...oh for fucks sake, stop laughing you stupid bitch."

The prince shot him a death glare, "Don't call my girlfriend a bitch."

Before Koashura could retort, Genkai rolled her eyes and snapped at Jasmine and both gods, "Knock it off dimwits! We have more important shit to worry about than the love lives of horny gods!"

Jasmine stopped laughing and Koenma and Koashura backed off each other at Genkai's words. The prince exhaled, "Sorry Genkai."

Tightly holding onto his guitar case and flipping his long hair over his shoulder, Koashura too apologized, "Yeah sorry about being an airhead."

"Same here," Jasmine interjected.

The small old psychic gave a small smile and said, "Good, I'm glad we settled that. Jasmine, you and Caroline keep up the good work. I'll let your mother decide on when you girls deserve a break."

Jasmine nodded with understanding and gave Genkai a bow in respect for the old woman who has become hers and Caroline's fighting mentor in recent months, "Yes, Master Genkai."

Once standing upright, Jasmine stood on her tip toes and gave Koenma a deep and loving kiss, "You guys have fun and good luck with the recording session. I know you'll do great."

Koenma kissed her back, grateful for her love and support, "Thank you, my queen, you with your training as well."

"I love you, Koenma."

"I love you too."

After sharing another loving and passionate kiss, the lovers then went their separate ways as Koenma, Jorge, Genkai and the rest of the band left the compound to head to Mushiori City for their first recording session for the album. A bus ride and a short walk later, the band and their manager walked into the Sunset Records Building and took the elevator up to the tenth floor.

Moments later, they approached their album producer, Hiroto Nagisa III's office. Koenma brought his hand up and knocked on the wooden door and the voice of Mr. Nagisa spoke from inside it, "Come in."

The four men and the elderly psychic walked inside to find the man organizing some paperwork on his desk. Mr. Nagisa looked up from the neat paper stacks and greeted the group with a warm smile, "Welcome back, it's a pleasure to see all of you again, Mr.'s Loveless, Smith, Marsh and Doomass and you as well, Madam Genkai."

Genkai returned his cheerful, polite smile, "Likewise. My "son" and "grandsons" have everything prepared."

Koenma handed him the binder that contained the songs he, Jorge, Koashura, and Shunjun organized to be recorded and possibly make the upcoming album's final cut, "I think you'll find all of this to your liking."

Mr. Nagisa opened up the binder and glanced at the sheet music that contained all the vocal and instrumental parts to each song. Flipping through each one after he finished reading the lyrics of one after the other, he brightly smiled, flashing his straight white teeth, "Brilliant, simply brilliant. I hope all of you are looking forward to the recording process of each of these."

Each member of the band including Genkai felt they couldn't contain their excitement, mostly Koenma anyway. The prince couldn't wait for more people to hear his music, both the retooled older songs and the newer ones. Koenma eagerly nodded and said with enthusiasm, "Oh yes, very much."

The other three members of the band and Genkai all chuckled at Koenma's eagerness. Jorge gently patted his hand on his boss's back, "Sir...ah, Korrie, relax, we'll get started soon."

At his servant's words, Koenma brought his hand up to the back of his head and laughed like a total dork, "Sorry about that."

Mr. Nagisa couldn't help but, chuckle as well, "That's quite alright. Your enthusiasm is contagious." Gesturing the group to the recording booth so they can begin their session, he then added staying on topic, "Gentlemen and Lady shall we?"

Koenma put his hand down and stopped laughing though, his pale cheeks were still a bit pink. The prince followed his fellow band members, Genkai and Mr. Nagisa to the recording booth feeling as if butterflies started flapping around in his stomach.

Stepping inside, the three instrumentalists of the band began to set up their instruments while Koenma set up their sheet music for each of their parts. Jorge picked up four sets of headphones and handed a set each to Koenma, Koashura, and Shunjun, "I have no idea why we're using these but, this should be fun."

Koenma chuckled at that while he slipped his over his ears. Koashura tied his long red hair into a ponytail and said, "They're going to be used during our recording process."

Getting the idea, Jorge slipped his headphones over his ears, careful not to knock his hat, sunglasses and surgical mask off his blue face. While Jorge and Koashura were hooking up their bass and guitar to their amps, Shunjun taking his place behind the drum kit and Koenma warming up his voice, Mr. Nagisa spoke into his microphone from outside the recording booth, "Ready when you are."

Genkai stood beside him and nodded to the four men, three gods and one disguised ogre. Catching that, Shunjun and Koashura gave her the thumbs up, Jorge nodded and signaled "ok" as Koenma finished up his vocal warm up and returned his longtime friend's nod. Koenma then asked the other three members of the band, "Which song do you want to do first?"

They all thought about it for a minute until Shunjun piped up, "I think we should do one of our newer songs first and make our way to the older stuff."

Koenma brought his hand up to his chin and began to contemplate what the new captain of the SDF suggested. The prince then looked at Jorge and Koashura, "What do you two think?"

Jorge strummed a couple of notes on his royal blue bass, "I think it's a good idea. What about you, Koa...Kyle?"

Koashura nodded tuning up his cherry red guitar, "Sounds good to me."

Finally finished with that, he slung the sling over his shoulder and asked, "So which song do you want to sing first?"

Getting an idea, Koenma drew in a slow breath and then exhaled, ""Where Are You?""

Jorge slung his bass's sling over his large shoulder. From beyond his sunglasses, his eyes widened in surprise. He gestured for his boss to come over to him. Koenma gave the ogre an odd look and did just that. Jorge then whispered, "Sir, are you sure? I thought you wanted to save that song for last. The subject matter...I know is quite painful for you to share."

Thinking about his servant's words, Koenma shut his eyes and then opened them. He whispered back, "It is, Ogre but...for some reason, I feel like I should start with it. I don't know what it is but, I just have a feeling, that's all."

Still unsure if he should or not, Jorge knew better than to argue with him especially since he and the rest of band along with Genkai were supposed to keep their cover. The disguised ogre nodded in compliance. Koenma smiled and gave him a reassuring nod in return before returning to his place at his microphone.

Mr. Nagisa watched that and asked, "Is everything alright, Mr. Loveless, Mr. Smith?"

Koenma and Jorge both nodded with the prince saying with a smile on his face, "Yes, we were just discussing a personal matter, that's all."

Not wanting to pry, Mr. Nagisa then changed the subject, "So, which song have you gentlemen decided on should be recorded first?"

Koenma replied, "A new one called, "Where Are You?""

Mr. Nagisa gave the prince a thumbs up to signal that he was okay with his song choice. The ordinary human man was excited and curious to hear this new song. Genkai slipped her small wrinkled hands into the pocket of her cream colored blazer. She only heard this song once during the band's rehearsal and remembered the song's dark subject matter.

The small old psychic wondered why Koenma picked to record this one first over the others. Genkai was sure to find out as the prince signaled to the other members of the band to begin their instrumentation. Taking the hint, Koashura and Jorge began their slow guitar and bass riff while Shunjun waited, counting the rests on his sheet music before he came in with his drum beat.

The prince took a deep breath and began to sing the first lyrics of the song as his beautiful and enchanting voice rang out around the recording studio:

I wish you were here with me

Instead of gone

If you were here, you'll know of the kind of things he's done

Would you approve or would you die from the disgust?

Koenma shut his beautiful brown eyes remembering the same dream he had since before he, Jasmine, Botan and Jorge found those incriminating files on his father. The images of his mother, Kuroko, Sensui, Team Urameshi and the Jasmine phantom came flooding back to him. The voice of the late Queen Sakura rang in his ears of her begging for someone to save him. He still didn't quite understand what she was referring to and whenever he tried to speak to Jorge about it, the blue ogre usually pretended to not even hear him.

Jorge, Koashura, and Shunjun picked up their instrumental riff as Koenma broke out into the first chorus:

Where are you?

Can you hear my song?

Can you see my pain, sadness, and anguish?

I need you now more than ever

It's not fair you're gone forever

Koenma opened his eyes. From outside the recording booth, Genkai and Mr. Nagisa could see the somber look on the prince's face as Jorge, Koashura, and Shunjun slightly slowed down the song's tempo as he continued:

If you were here, you would lend me your support

I heard of your love and kindness

How I wish I was able to experience it

Your face and your voice are forever burned into my mind

Where are you?

Can you hear my song?

Can you see my pain, sadness, and anguish?

I need you now more than ever

It's not fair you're gone forever

Continuing on with his bass riff, Jorge just glanced over his shoulder. He prayed that Koenma wouldn't have a breakdown before the end of the song. He, Koashura, and Shunjun were hesitant about putting this particular song on the album for that very reason. Shifting his attention back to his sheet music, Jorge changed keys to help Koenma and the rest of the band progress into the bridge:

I feel so alone, I feel so lost

Why were you were taken away from this world?

You're still loved, you're still adored

Koenma stopped singing as the instrumental interlude broke out. He took a deep breath and used all of his self control to keep himself from crying. Still keeping up his bass riff, Jorge noticed how his young boss seemed to distract and self soothe himself by tapping his fingers against his leg to Jorge's, Koashura's and Shunjun's instrumental riff. Once the instrumental interlude had ended, Koenma then picked back up with the next verse:

I wish you were here with me

Instead of gone

If you were here, you'll know of the kind of things he's done

Would you approve or would you die from the disgust?

How could someone like you love a monster?

And leave someone like me behind?

Where are you?

Can you hear my song?

Can you see my pain, sadness, and anguish?

I need you now more than ever

I apologize for how you're gone forever

It was my fault that you left

I love you and I am sorry

The rest of the band finished off their instrumentation with Jorge strumming the final notes on his royal blue bass. Mr. Nagisa then paused the recording and spoke into his microphone, "Well done, gentlemen. Should we continue with another take?"

Noticing how rigid Koenma seemed, Mr. Nagisa looked at him with concern and spoke into the microphone again, "Are you alright, Mr. Loveless?"

From inside the recording booth, Koenma gave the ordinary human man a blank expression and responded back by shrugging his shoulders. Catching that, Shunjun and Koashura didn't know what to say him but, Jorge did. Slipping the sling of his bass off his large shoulder, he then approached his boss.

Knowing of how personal this song was for Koenma, Jorge then spoke to him, "Sir?"

He glanced over at the current disguised ogre and opened his mouth to speak. Nothing came out. Feeling so much sympathy for her longtime friend, Genkai felt that she should intervene, "Mr. Nagisa?"

"Yes, Madam Genkai?"

The small old psychic tore her brown eyes away from the recording booth as Jorge tried to console Koenma with Shunjun and Koashura looking on and trying to think of what to say to their royal friend, "I think you should give my grandson a break. This song was so personal and painful for him to share."

Mr. Nagisa nodded with understanding, "Of course."

Genkai tapped on the glass to get the band's attention. All four members heard that and looked up to see her gesture at them. Getting the idea, they all decided to rest until Koenma felt he was ready to jump back into it. Unbeknownst to them, the ghostly woman in white watched the group from a safe distance. Her gaze stood fixed on Koenma for a just a moment until she turned around and vanished before anyone of the band, Genkai or Mr. Nagisa could notice her.

Later that afternoon at Genkai's compound, music played from a boom box as the demon hunter sisters both stood in a fighting stance, their weapons drawn. Both young women flared up with their spirit energy, coating their weapons with it as the song, "The Look" from Roxette began to play.

Kotennyo and Raito Akashi sat on the sidelines. The young war goddess glanced up from her sketchbook holding an orange colored pencil. She blinked her beautiful brown eyes fixing her gaze onto her human friends waiting for them to start their little battle. Raito crossed his meaty arms over his large chest feeling his nervousness creep up his spine.

The ordinary human man hoped Caroline would win this round and put Jasmine in her place. The brunette got lucky with the last one and took her beautiful blonde sister down. The sisters stared each other down waiting for their mother's instructions.

Janine McAlpin Black held her spear in between her two daughters who still kept their fighting stance. The middle aged demon hunter looked over her meaty shoulders at them both as the song on the boom box switched to "Footloose" by Kenny Loggins. Staring straight ahead to where Raito and Kotennyo were seated, Janine spoke in a loud clear voice, "Begin!"

She moved her spear out of the way. Jasmine and Caroline stopped flaring up with their spirit energy and they both let out a battle cry charging towards each other. Getting cocky, Jasmine folded up her black fan and tried to strike Caroline on the temple with it. Caroline dodged her sister's assault in the nick of time by doing a backwards summersault in the air and used her right foot to kick the folded up fan from Jasmine's hand.

The fan flew out of the brunette's hand. Jasmine twirled around and caught it. Caroline stood upright and a smirk formed on her naturally full red lips. Raito could be heard cheering his attractive wife on from the sidelines, "Go Carol! Take her down! Kick her ass!"

Getting a boost in confidence from her husband, Caroline quickly charged toward Jasmine making slashing and stabbing motions with her silver sais. Jasmine quickly dodged her assaults. Caroline began to taunt, "Fight back, Sis! Quit running away!"

Jasmine opened her black fan and hopped back. She then flared with her spirit energy and retorted, "Who said I was running away?"

Caroline charged over to her again and began the same assaults with her sais. Before any of them can hit Jasmine, she brought up her fans in an effort to create a barrier against them. Sadly, since her spiritual ability is "Healer" and not "Barrier/Shield Expert" like their older brother, Niles, Caroline broke through sister's energy and landed a blow on Jasmine using the blunt end of her sais.

Jasmine reeled back from being struck in the gut with it. She fell to her knees and doubled over trying to catch her breath. She dropped her fans on the ground making a loud clacking sound. Janine raised her hand in the air and declared, "Jasmine is down, Caroline wins this round. Stand down, now girls."

Caroline stopped flaring up with her energy and smiled. Raito then howled, "Yes! I knew you could do it, dear! I LOVE YOU!"

Caroline chuckled at that and shifted her attention to him, "I love you too, Raito."

Kotennyo eyed the couple and laughed, "Settle down."

Hearing the young war goddess's words, Raito looked over at her and laughed like a total dork, "Sorry but, this is exciting. I love watching Carol in action. She's my beautiful American Warrior Goddess."

Kotennyo just laughed in response thinking that her human friend's husband was such a cheeseball like Koenma. Catching that, Raito too laughed in response. Looking at Kotennyo's sketchpad, he eyed her current project with interest, "Hey, that's a pretty cool drawing. What are you drawing it for?"

Immediately, Kotennyo shut her sketchbook and gave the overweight ordinary human man the stink eye, "You best forget what you saw, fucker, unless you want a black eye."

Raito raised an eyebrow at her, "Hey, I don't want any trouble. I just complimented on your drawing and wanted to know what you're working on it for."

Still giving him a nasty look, Kotennyo retorted, "Look, Koashura is the only guy I trust to look at all of my in progress art projects. Fuck, not even Caroline, Jasmine and Shizuru are allowed to look at them. Ask Koenma. The last time he tried to peak at a project I was currently working on, I broke his nose and gave him a black eye. The only other people who are allowed to see them before they're finished are my art professors at the university but, it's different for them because they're my teachers and mentors."

Curious to know why she got violent with those that weren't her boyfriend whenever they tried to see them before they were completed, Raito asked, "Why is that? Are you afraid of harsh criticism or something? From what I just saw, I can't really think of anything wrong with it."

Kotennyo sighed. Raito just didn't get it nor did he know. He and his current living family members didn't exist back when she first developed this hang up. If Raito was a god and was around for Spirit World Kindergarten, he would have witnessed the incident that caused Kotennyo to become overprotective of her art. It took her hundreds of years to finally trust Koashura with them and it will be even longer before she could trust anyone else.

She tightly held onto her sketchpad and gritted her teeth grumbling thinking of her so-called friends that used her until her graduation party from Spirit World Kindergarten, "Fuck you, Aphrodite. Fuck you and the rest of the girls."

Hearing that, Raito blinked his dark eyes confused, "Who's Aphrodite? Did she fuck up some of your projects or something?"

Not wanting to keep up with this conversation, Kotennyo stood up from where she was sitting and said in a cold and emotionless voice still thinking of the love goddess who was the bane of her existence, "Nonsense."

Just as Raito was about to ask more about Kotennyo's past, the aforementioned war goddess, then felt something odd. Kotennyo felt someone's energy draining and she dropped her sketchpad and colored pencils on the wooden porch of the compound. She felt a feeling of dread deep in her gut.

Catching that, Raito gazed at her with confusion, "Kotennyo...?"

"Raito did you feel that?"

Confused, he shook his head. Having no psychic ability or any spiritual awareness to speak of, Raito didn't detect anything, "No, nothing. We Akashis have no psychic or any spiritual abilities. Why?"

Before Kotennyo could say anything, Caroline let out a loud shriek in agony. Hearing that, Raito felt his heart sink, "Oh no. Carol! I'm coming, Caroline!"

He rushed over to the clearing where Jasmine, Janine, and Caroline were training with Kotennyo following at his heels concerned for her human friend as well. Caroline sank to her knees and dropped her silver sais in front of her. She burst into tears and buried her beautiful face in her hands.

Jasmine stopped flaring up with her spirit energy and lowered her fans. Her dark brown eyes just stared at her weeping sister and she began to panic not being able to sense Caroline's energy at all. Janine dropped her spear and knelt down to her oldest daughter taking her into her meaty arms trying to comfort her even though she felt the same panic Jasmine does.

Raito and Kotennyo arrived at their destination. Kotennyo began to worry, "Who's energy did I feel just disappeared?"

Jasmine looked over at her best non-human friend, "Caroline's. Oh god, I don't know what happened." She then began to breathe short labored breaths and asked her mother freaking out, "Mom, what the fuck happened? Mom..."

"Jasmine, hush!"

Jasmine immediately shut up. Raito too began to panic, "Janine, what happened? Please tell me Caroline is okay. Caroline? Caroline, my love, please talk to me."

Caroline continued to cry as Janine then shifted her attention to her son-in-law, "Raito, Jasmine and you too, Kotennyo, I can see it in your godly eyes, now is not the time to panic. I...I...don't know."

Immediately she broke her embrace and tried to get Caroline to calm down, "Caroline, Caroline Alexis Black-Akashi, look at me. Look at Mommy. Carol, take a deep breath. Get a hold of yourself."

Caroline drew in a deep breath and took her hands away from her face. The blonde demon hunter hiccupped and tried to regain her composure but, all she wanted to do was just sit there and cry. She then spoke, "M..my energy...it's gone. It's all gone. My powers...they disappeared. Oh god, why? Just why? WHY?!"

Kotennyo was stunned. It didn't make a lick of sense to her at all. Everything was fine up until this point. There was no reason why Caroline's powers had to disappear. Raito then knelt down to his wife. Caroline turned her gaze to him and looked him in the eye. A tear slid down her pale cheek and she began to apologize, "I'm so sorry, Raito. I'm so sorry."

Raito took her into his arms and replied trying to soothe her, "You shouldn't have to apologize. Please don't cry, Carol. It'll come back."

As Caroline buried her face in her husband's meaty shoulder, he looked up at Janine and asked hoping, "It will right? Sh...she'll get her powers back right? Janine, please tell me. Will she?"

Janine gazed down at Raito. She could see the look etched on his features. In truth, she didn't know. In fact, since Caroline was a child, it was hard to determine what her spiritual ability was. She clearly wasn't a Healer like Jasmine or a Barrier/Shield Expert like Niles. For years, she suspected that Caroline might be a Dimension Cutter/Manipulator. It was the rarest spiritual ability in the family. Janine sighed, she wished her mother and father, the girls' and Niles' grandparents where here in Japan. They would know what to do in this situation. Her oldest brother, Joseph faced the same problem many years ago.

Still thinking about all of this, Janine then decided that since her parents and her five siblings were thousands of miles away in Alaska, Genkai was her best bet at trying to figure out how to handle this situation and figuring out with what happened to Caroline.

Janine hoped that her oldest daughter will regain her energy and her spirit awareness before the tournament rolled around. Breaking the brief silence between them, she said, "Let's go back inside and wait for Master Genkai. She'll know what to do. My parents and siblings can't help her from all the way in Valdez, Anchorage, Juneau, or the Kenai Peninsula."

With Caroline still weeping, Raito grabbed her sais and slowly guided her to her feet before he walked her back into the compound. Jasmine bit her bottom lip to keep herself from crying. Seeing that, Kotennyo put her hand on her best human friend's shoulder, "Jasmine, please don't. Be strong for Carol. She needs you."

Jasmine drew in a deep breath. Catching that, Janine fixed her gaze onto her youngest daughter. Her expression stone cold, "Jasmine, don't you fall apart on us. I know you're fearing for your sister but, like Kotennyo said, be strong. You're not a little girl anymore."

Jasmine tightly gripped her fans in her small hands and grits her teeth, "I know, Mom."

"Good, go back inside the compound."

Several hours later, Genkai and the guys returned to the compound with now completing the recording session for the day. Upon walking into the shrine, the small elderly psychic stopped in her tracks at the sight before her. Just as she was about to ask Janine why the sisters' training stopped at a grinding halt, Janine looked up at her from where she was sitting.

"Janine, what is going on? Where are the girls?"

Janine stood up from her sitting place. Genkai and the band could see the look of fear and uncertainty plastered on the middle aged woman's face. Seeing the looks on the faces of Koenma, Koashura, Jorge, and Shunjun, she said, "I need to speak with Master Genkai alone."

Getting the message, Koenma nodded to her with understanding. Speaking in his authorative tone, he said, "Ogre, Koashura, Shunjun, let's leave them alone."

The prince gestured for the other three to follow him to the kitchen. Jorge, Shunjun, and Koashura followed Koenma without question or argument leaving the two psychic women alone in the shrine. Now that Genkai and Janine are now alone, the small old woman broke the silence between them, "Janine, can you explain to me why the girls aren't training?"

Janine looked down at her feet for just a moment. Using all of her self control to not break down and cry, she looked back up at Genkai and replied, "It's...it's Caroline. Something's wrong with her. I don't know how to help her and my parents and my five siblings are all the way in Alaska and they can't do anything all the way out there. Master Genkai...I...I...please help. M...my daughter..."

Seeing that Janine was falling apart, Genkai approached her and gently grabbed the middle aged woman by her forearms, "Janine, look at me. Slow down and breathe. What happened to Caroline? Is she and Jasmine alright?"

Janine took in a slow and deep breath. She slowly exhaled out and said, "Jasmine is just fine. A little shaken up by what happened to her sister but, fine. What happened with Caroline is a rare occurrence in our family. The last time it happened, it was with my oldest brother Joseph. You see, Caroline lost her...her spirit awareness and all of her energy. Her powers are gone...and...and I don't...know what to do. My baby, my little girl...oh god...it's...it's probably my fault. I didn't train her properly. Caroline..."

She sank to her knees and burst into tears. Genkai still gripped onto her forearms and said maintaining her cool, "Janine, get a hold of yourself. Stop blaming yourself, you didn't do anything to cause this. Where is she? I need to speak with her."

Janine wiped her tears away with the sleeve of her shirt and hiccupped, "She...she's in one of the guest rooms with Jasmine, Raito, and Kotennyo."

Genkai let go of the middle aged woman and helped her to her feet. As Janine guided Genkai to the guest room, there was a long pause between them. Standing outside the room, Janine knocked on the door and stepped inside the room. Jasmine and Kotennyo gazed the two older psychics as they walked in.

Caroline still wept in Raito's embrace as he tried to comfort her. He didn't like to see his wife so miserable. He tried everything and nothing seemed to cheer her up. Raito kissed the blonde's forehead and spoke while rubbing her back, trying to cheer her up, "Caroline, it'll come back. Please, stop crying. I don't want to see you cry anymore."

Caroline snuggled up to him and sniffled, replying, "I...I failed you...I'm sorry."

Their little love fest was interrupted when Genkai cleared her throat. Raito, still rubbing his wife's back shifted his attention to her, "Master Genkai..."

Before Jasmine and Kotennyo could get a word in edgewise, Genkai spoke to the young women in a harsh tone like a mother asking her daughters to do their chores, "Jasmine, Kotennyo, leave. Go to the kitchen. Koashura and Koenma are waiting for you both."

Without argument, Kotennyo gathered up her sketchpad and colored pencils, "Let's go Jasmine. We need to give Carol and Raito some space."

Still feeling concern for her sister, Jasmine hesitated for a moment. Catching that, Caroline looked over at her, "Sis, go. Please. I...I need to speak with Master Genkai alone."

Jasmine was about to say something but, Kotennyo hushed her by gently grabbing her hand, "Jas, leave her be. I'm worried about her too but, we have to leave her to figure this out on her own."

Jasmine just silently nodded and followed Kotennyo out of the room. Still not wanting to let Caroline go, Raito looked up at his mother-in-law and Genkai, "I don't have to leave do I? Please let me stay. Caroline is my wife. She means so much to me. I love her and I will do anything to help her get her powers and her spirit awareness back. Please. I took a vow. "In sickness and in health", I will always be by her side. Let me stay."

Genkai and Janine both could see the pleading looking in Raito's brown eyes. Janine wanted to say something but, seeing how genuinely sincere he was, she sighed. Before she could say something to Genkai, the elderly psychic said, "Alright, you can stay but, only you. Raito, I can see how you genuinely care about Caroline and have her best interests at heart. Men like you are becoming increasingly hard to come by. Well, in my experience anyway. Caroline is a lucky woman like how Jasmine is lucky to have Koenma."

She shook her head thinking about the life she could have had with Toguro. Genkai would never admit it, but, after all these years, she still harbored romantic feelings towards him and since their volatile breakup over 50 years ago, she tried really hard to move on. The only thing she could do to survive the aftermath was to take it one day at a time.

Banishing those thoughts from her mind she shifted her attention to the depressed looking blonde demon hunter, Genkai asked her in a gentle voice, "Caroline, do you feel comfortable having your husband here? If not..."

She didn't get to finish her sentence when Caroline answered, "Y...yes, Master Genkai, I want Raito here. I...I really need him right now. He...he may not be able to restore my powers and my spirit awareness but, he's a wonderful man who will always lend me support when I need it."

Genkai nodded in understanding, "Very well."

Both she and Janine pulled up a couple of chairs to sit in. Janine cleared her throat, "Okay, Carol, now explain to Genkai with what happened during our training session today. She might be able to figure out how to restore your spirit awareness and your powers. She's the best person who can help you. Your grandparents and your aunts and uncles can't do anything with being all the way out in Alaska."

Raito gently rubbed his hand, moving it up and down along her shoulder giving his attractive blonde wife the comfort she needed. Caroline took in a deep breath and sniffled, "T...today while Jasmine and I were training with Mom, everything seemed to go great. I knocked Jasmine on her butt several times. It was going great until...until it happened. All the sudden...my spirit awareness and my powers...just...just...d...disappeared. I don't know how it happened."

Genkai sat there and listened intently to what Caroline just explained to her. After taking a minute, letting the words sink in, she made an audible noise, "Hm."

Janine, Caroline, and Raito all eyed her with a curious expression. Janine then asked her, "Master Genkai, what are you thinking about?"

The small old woman blinked her brown eyes. This situation sounded familiar to her. It didn't take her too long to figure out why. Snapping back to reality hearing Janine's question, she replied, "You know, this sounds familiar."

Shifting her attention to Caroline, Genkai added, "Caroline, this same thing happened to someone I know not too long ago. I believe that person can help you with your problem. I'm not saying that I can't but, I myself never experienced what you're going through."

Raito hugged his wife closer to his large body, "Well, who is it?"

Caroline felt like she was on the verge of tears again and seeing that, Genkai said, "Please don't cry again, Caroline. You do know that person I am referring to?"

Using all of her self control, keeping her tears at bay Caroline asked, curious to know, "Who is it?"

Only one word left Genkai's lips in response, "Kuwabara."

Meanwhile in the kitchen, all four members of the band all sat huddled around the wooden kitchen table. Before they could begin their discussion, Jasmine and Kotennyo entered the room. Koenma and Koashura along with Jorge and Shunjun all shifted their attention to the two lovely women.

Noticing his girlfriend's sketchpad, Koashura asked her, "Dearest, what are you working on?"

Opening up the refrigerator to grab a soda for herself and her loving boyfriend, Kotennyo smiled, shutting the fridge door behind her, "It's my design for the album cover. Do you want to see it?"

Looking at the faces of Koenma, Jorge, and Shunjun, she sighed, "I meant just Koashura. You goobers are going to have to wait until I unveil the finished product. I nearly decked Caroline's human husband today because he was such a snoop about it."

Hearing that, Jasmine choked on her water. Koenma rose from his place at the table and rushed over to her side. He gently rubbed her back, "My queen, breathe."

When Jasmine's coughing fit finally dissipated, she then eyed her best non-human friend with wide eyes, "You what? Please tell me you didn't punch Raito. He may look like a big hulking guy but, he can't handle the punches of a war god, demon or even an ogre. Thank god most ogres are normally docile creatures."

Kotennyo chuckled, "Jas, relax, I didn't deck Raito. I only let him off with a warning. The next time he sticks his nose where it doesn't belong, I'm kicking his ass. I don't give a shit if he's an ordinary human."

Koashura got up from his seat and joined Kotennyo at the kitchen's island. She passed him his soda. Popping open the can's top, he chuckled, "It's good that you didn't. I don't want to deal with his walking rat of an uncle."

Jasmine sipped from her water and rolled her large brown eyes, "Mr. Ratface wouldn't give a crap. Now, his parents, Kikyo and Jiro, they would freak if something happened to their only son. Raito is the youngest of five children and the only boy so, they're overprotective of him for that reason and for the fact that he was bullied and kicked around a lot in school, poor guy. I can totally relate."

Koenma sighed, feeling sympathy for Raito. He could relate to him in that aspect too. The kids in Spirit World Kindergarten were ruthless on him and not even his title, power, and status of being the Prince of the Spirit World did jack shit for him. In fact, it made things worse. Still, to this day, Koenma was still puzzled for some of the other reasons why the rest of the student body bullied him, pushed him around and just plain abused him.

The prince was snapped back to reality as Koashura spoke, "May I take a peek at your project?"

Kotennyo nodded, smiling, "Sure."

She opened up her sketchpad to where only she and her red haired lover can see. Koashura's red eyes bore into the drawing and he smiled liking what he was seeing. Sipping from his soda, he said in praise, "I love it. You have something awesome and kickass going on. Keep up with this killer idea."

The other kitchen occupants all looked at the godly couple with curious expressions etched on their faces. Jorge spoke breaking the silence, "Kotennyo, Koenma, Jasmine and myself all know that you don't trust others, well besides Koashura, that's something new to me, to see your in progress projects but, why not just drop all that and let us take a look at it?"

Kotennyo shut her sketchpad and gave the blue ogre the stink eye, "Do you want me to give you a black eye, Jorge? Because, I'll fucking do it."

Jorge rolled his eyes at that and shook his head at her. Shunjun returned her expression, "Wow Kotennyo, way to be a bitch. I have to agree with him. Just let the rest of us see it. It's going to be our album's cover anyway and Jorge and I both think that as a band, we all, not just Koashura, should have a say in it."

Koenma nodded in agreement, "He's right, Kotennyo. Just let us see it."

Kotennyo narrowed her beautiful brown eyes at them. Flipping her long strawberry blonde braid over her slender shoulder, she hugged her sketchpad closer to her body, "No. You assholes are just going to have to wait. If you guys try to snoop like Raito did, I swear..."

Koenma glared at his ex, "You'll what? You'll kick our teeth in? Please, if you lay a hand on me, I'll just get Jasmine or Yusuke involved."

Jasmine sighed at her lover's words, "Yeah, no. I'm not going to fight one of my best friends. You know the saying, "chicks before dicks". Koenma, I love you with all of my heart and soul but, you're not going to drag me in to fight Kotennyo, sorry, my love."

Koenma gave her the puppy dog pout. Jasmine chuckled. Even though she thought he looked absolutely adorable like that, she replied, "Koenma...no, just no."

Kotennyo shook her head at that display and added salt to the wound interjecting, "What Jasmine said, "chicks before dicks". Sorry Koenma, you can't break the bonds of sisterhood. I know I sound like a human sorority chick but, she's right. Besides, I doubt Yusuke Urameshi would fight me under your orders either. Aren't you and him not speaking to each other right now? As I recall, since the fight between him and Jasmine, you and Urameshi aren't on good speaking terms. Plus, he's not even taking your calls."

Jorge shifted his attention to Koenma, "Sir, have you been trying to get in touch with Yusuke?"

Koenma sighed at his servant's question, "Yes Ogre, I have. I only called him once to check on him. You know, to see if he's cooled down since the fight between him and Jasmine. He didn't even give me a chance to talk. Yusuke called me a "toddler", cussed me out, told me to go fuck myself and Jasmine while I'm at it and hung up on me. I just hope Atsuko caught him doing that and gave him a good talking to."

He shifted his attention to Kotennyo, "Thank you for bringing that up."

Still hugging her sketchpad, Kotennyo gave him a smirk seeing a chip in his armor, "Serves you right. See you jokers later. I'm going to work on this in peace. If anyone besides Koashura bugs me, I'll kick them in the balls or the pussy if you're a woman like me."

Jasmine burst out laughing, "That wouldn't be the first time you kicked me there." She paused as she and Kotennyo laughed together at that memory. Regaining her composure, she continued, "It didn't really hurt mainly because I guarded myself with my spirit energy. Besides, I know better now than to try to look at your unfinished projects."

"That you do but, if we were a lesbian couple, it would be a different story." Kotennyo winked at her and then departed to the guest room where she and Koashura were staying in.

Jasmine chuckled at that and sipped from her water. Changing the subject, Koenma asked her as they and Koashura sat down at the wooden breakfast table, "So what happened with your sister?"

Staring at her water glass, Jasmine bit her lip. The thought of her sister suffering through her current predicament made her want to cry. Seeing that, Koenma gently placed a hand on her shoulder. Jasmine drew in a deep breath, "During our training session today, Caroline...she...her spiritual awareness and her energy just up and poof, gone. Oh Koenma, I really want to help her but, I don't know how."

The prince softly kissed her cheek to kiss away the tears that dropped down her lovely face. Letting the words sink in for just a moment, he blinked his beautiful brown eyes. This sounded familiar to him like it did for Genkai. As Jasmine snuggled up to him, resting her head on his shoulder, Koenma held her close to his body, slowly running his hand along her arm trying to keep her calm, "Jasmine, there really isn't anything you could have done to prevent it."

"Why not?"

Kissing the top her head, Koenma said, "If Carol has the ability that I am thinking of, this thing that she's going through was bound to happen to her anyway."

Jasmine lifted her head off his shoulder. She stared at her celestial boyfriend with a confused expression, "What do you mean by that?"

Jorge popped the top of his soda can and took a sip, "This sounds like something that happened over a year ago."

Giving Koenma and Jorge her attention, Jasmine sat there and listened intently to what they were going to say. Koenma nodded at what his servant just said, "It does Ogre. In fact, it was what happened with Kuwabara during the Sensui Case. He lost his powers around the time of the Dark Tournament wrapping up."

Jasmine's large dark brown eyes widened at that, "Wait, what? That happened to Kazuma? How? Why?"

Koenma popped the top of his soda can and sipped on the sweet tasting liquid before replying, "From what I understand, his body sensed the upcoming danger of the tunnel opening and began to prepare for it. That's what Genkai told me anyway. She has a knack of understanding people's powers, abilities and such. Kuwabara, with how young he is, wow, he has really accomplished quite a feat for someone his age. In fact, the only other person in Japan to accomplish his power level before the age of 35 was Shinobu Sensui."

The young demon hunter was interested. Tracing her index finger around the rim of her water glass, she eyed the prince and the blue ogre with interest, "What kind of ability did Kazuma develop out of it when he got his spirit awareness to return?"

Koenma and Jorge both sipped from their sodas before the prince said, "The Dimension Sword also known as the Jigen Tou. Kuwabara used that to open the Kekkai Barrier, which is still down by the way, to go after Sensui after Yusuke's second death. With Sensui now dead, Kuwabara is now the most powerful human fighter in Japan and all of Asia, possibly Europe too but, I'm not too sure of that yet."

Jasmine sipped from her water glass, "Makes perfect sense. My grandparents are the most powerful human fighters in North America." Sipping from her water again, she nearly choked on it when the words Dimension Sword sunk into her brain, "Wait, so...could my sister wind up developing the same ability? I mean, my parents, grandparents and my aunts, uncles, and cousins were stumped for years on what her spiritual ability might be."

Finishing off his soda and crushing the can in his blue hand, Jorge asked, "When you say spiritual ability, what are you referring to?"

Playing with her water glass again, Jasmine replied, "Well, in my family, we have a total of three natural spiritual abilities that each member is born with. Mine is "healer". It's the second most common ability while my brother, Niles, his is "barrier/shield expert". The third and the rarest one is "dimension cutter/manipulator". The last person in my family to develop that ability was my Uncle Joseph. My mother, Aunt Theresa, and Uncle Roland III are healers while Aunt Demetra and Uncle Marcel are barrier/shield experts. My cousins, Aunt Demetra's kids, Julia, Wendy, and Demetri are all barrier/shield experts while my Uncle Joseph's teenage sons are both healers. Go figure. We'll have to wait on my two toddler cousins, Uncle Roland III's kids, Selena and Roland IV because they're too young to determine what theirs will be."

Shunjun crushed his soda can like Jorge did and tossed it into the trash bin near the kitchen island, "So the members born with what they have cannot learn the ability that they weren't born with?"

Jasmine pursed her pink lips and began to talk with her hands, "Eh, kind of. If they ask to learn the healing technique while being a natural barrier creator, it's more difficult for them to learn it as opposed to those that are born to learn it. It's the same way the other way around. Does that make sense?"

Shunjun scratched the back of his head and shrugged his broad shoulders, "Kind of. Humans always seemed complicated to me anyway."

Not wanting to keep discussing this said issue, Jasmine wanted to take her mind off of it for right now. Even though she was still worried about her sister's wellbeing along with being afraid that she might not be able to compete in the Alaska State Fair Tournament due to her spirit awareness and her energy being AWOL, she then changed the subject, "Shifting gears, how did the recording session go?"

Realizing that his lover needed her space with the issue of Caroline, Koenma looked at his soda can for a moment and replied with a grin forming on his handsome face doing his best not to think about the depressing song about his mother and his breakdown over it, "It was amazing."

Jorge watched his boss's behavior and chose not to say anything about the said incident either. Koashura got up from the breakfast table and began to rummage through the cupboards to look for a snack, "Despite Koenma's breakdown, we made such amazing progress. We're going to go back in to work on the album some more tomorrow if Koenma, Jorge, and Shunjun can sneak out of Spirit World on time."

Jorge shot the redhead a death glare, "Koashura, I thought we agreed to not speak of it."

Koenma sighed with annoyance at Jorge's overprotectiveness, "Ogre, chill."

Finding some cookies and a big bag of barbecue potato chips, Koashura then began to get defensive, "Whoa Jorge, relax. I'm not trying to be a dick."

Jorge still gave him the stink eye. Even though he and Koenma ended their 500 year long feud, Jorge still felt like things between Koashura and Koenma could go south again. He would do anything to keep that from happening. The last thing he wanted was for the band to breakup over petty stuff.

Still being annoyed, Koenma grit his teeth and reached over, slapping the ogre upside the back of head, "Knock it off, Ogre. I mean it. Stop treating me like a child. For fucks sake, I can take care of myself."

Jorge rubbed the sore spot on his head, "Ow, that hurt, sir. Okay, then explain with what happened during the first recording with "Where Are You?". You had another emotional breakdown over it. I knew we shouldn't have picked the song out for the album. It was just too much for you to sing it at this point in time. Koenma sir, it would have been better to sing it for the Spirit World Opera House. It's not an Exit Strategy song."

Koenma sighed and stood up from his place at the table. He walked over to the island and placed his hands on the counter. With his back turned to the other three members of the band and Jasmine, he bowed his head and said in a low voice feeling as if his patience were beginning to wear thin because of Jorge's behavior, "I wanted something in the album to honor my mother. Ogre, you don't get it. You have a mother that can listen to your musical compositions anytime. I don't. It is an Exit Strategy song. If I were to sing it for the Spirit World Opera, my father would punish me severely for its lyrical content. With it being on the album and using my human alias, my father wouldn't know it's me singing it."

Jorge tossed his crushed soda can into the trash bin near the island and got up from his seat. Standing beside his boss's side, he said, "No matter your reasoning for it being on there and having Koashura and Shunjun agree with you, I still stand by what I said. It doesn't belong..."

"SHUT UP OGRE! IT DOES BELONG ON THERE!"

Jorge wanted to throttle Koenma at this point but instead, he threw up his arms in defeat, "Fine whatever. I'm just trying to look out for your mental and emotional wellbeing, Koenma sir. If you breakdown onstage during our upcoming concert to promote the album, you're on your own. You want me to treat you like an adult, fine. I'll treat you like one."

Jasmine slammed her water glass on the table nearly shattering it, splashing water onto herself, Koashura and Shunjun in the process. Getting the attention of all four members of the band, she then spoke raising her voice, "What the fuck, Jorge? I can't believe you. I never thought I would hear those words come out of your mouth."

Shunjun and Koashura both nodded in agreement trying to dry themselves off with napkins, with the blue haired SDF captain saying in agreement, "Yeah, way to be an asshole, Jorge Saotome."

Opening up the bag of barbecue potato chips, Koashura shot the ogre the stink eye, "Dude, you just pulled a King Yama. Let Koenma honor his mom. The album already has a shit ton of anti-King Yama songs, anti-Spirit World Corruption songs, and love songs for Jasmine on it."

Shunjun reached inside the chip bag grabbing a handful of potato chips, "Don't forget that one about Team Urameshi, Sensui, and Kuroko. Fuck, that one is the best one."

Koashura popped some chips into his mouth and washed them down with his second soda, "That one is also a love song for Jasmine too but, it still kicks ass."

Koenma smiled thinking about that one, ""Angel with Broken Wings", I love that one. One of the best songs I've ever written." Shifting his attention back to Jorge, the prince stared at the ogre with a blank expression that turned into a look of anger. Jorge's words stung him like a bad bee sting, "I can't believe you would say to me, Ogre."

Jorge stuffed his blue hands into the pockets of his trench coat, "Sir, I had to get you to listen to me to one way or the other."

Jasmine rose from her seat and jumped to her lover's aid, "By acting like the jackass king? Jorge, for fucks sake, if Koenma has a breakdown onstage it'll fuck everything up and it would be your fault for not giving him the support, love, and encouragement he needs."

The room was dead silent. Koenma, Shunjun, Koashura, and Jasmine all gave Jorge intense looks waiting for a response from him. They hoped that everyone's words to him would knock some sense into his brain. Jorge sighed and looked over at Koenma.

He took a deep breath and decided to swallow his pride, "Even though I don't agree with you, sir, I apologize for what I said. May I ask you to not sing "Where Are You?" during the concert? We have plenty of songs to choose from instead of that."

Koenma crossed his long arms over his chest. Even though he wanted to sing it for the band's first major performance, he too swallowed his pride, "Okay, if it's to keep you from being such a worry wort, we won't play it for the concert but Ogre, it stays on the album and I will sing it for any future performances."

"Okay, sir, do whatever you want."

Grabbing her glass off the table, Jasmine walked back over to the kitchen sink to refill it, "So what about this concert? When is it?"

Koenma walked up behind her and took her slim body into his strong arms. He kissed the back of her head and held her close, "Mr. Nagisa informed us that it'll be on Christmas Eve, 7pm at the Mushiori Event Stadium. It's going to be the biggest gig we've had since your birthday bash last February."

Cuddling up close to his warm body, Jasmine glanced up at him, "That sounds great, I'll be there. Do you guys think you'll get plenty of rehearsal time before then? It's like, what, almost two weeks away?"

Kissing her cheek, Koenma nodded, "Yes, you needn't worry. It's going to be great, no matter how much practice we get."

Sitting back down at the breakfast table and opening the box of cookies, Jorge said, "Now we need to figure out which songs will be on the set list. We already agreed that "Where Are You?" won't be on there."

Koenma slipped his arms away from Jasmine's slender waist. He sat back down at the table, grabbing the box of cookies out of Jorge's hand, "I know, Ogre. I already have an idea of what to open with first."

~To Be Continued