Part Three


Chapter Thirty-Three

This is stupid.

It's been almost a week since we came to this temple, and do you know what I've spent the last five days doing? Watching a TV show.

That's right. A TV show.

Okay, fine, so it's an edited version of the security footage Koenma-sama apparently recorded during Urameshi's stint as Spirit Detective twenty years ago or so. But it's edited into an episodic format with introductions voiced over by a narrator and next-episode previews by the characters, and it even has opening and closing credits!

And seriously, why do we have to watch the credits every time?! Each episode is already 25 minutes long on its own, and there are 112 episodes. That's 47 hours of viewing. Add in all the credits and narration and that's a whole nine hours added!

This is stupid.

(Spoilers, btw.)


This is stupid

Eight hours of marathon watching for five days straight, and there were still two full days left. Kusuo stifled a groan as he climbed to his feet. They had just finished episode 80, Moving Target, and as annoyed as he was by being forced to binge-watch someone else's life, Kusuo had to admit Urameshi had lived an interesting one.

In a single year, only a few weeks after starting his senior year of junior high, Urameshi Yusuke had died, come back from the dead, become the spirit detective for the real-world equivalent of Limbo, fought and defeated a band of thieves, fought and defeated a technique stealing demon to become Genkai's apprentice, joined forces with Kurama and Hiei (the treasure thieves) as well as Kuwabara to fight and defeat the Four Saint Beasts (which was a Chinese legend, so what the hell?), fought and defeated the Toguro Brothers to rescue Yukina, found out the Toguro brothers faked their deaths and had to enter the Dark Tournament, fought and defeated their way through the Dark Tournament, lost Genkai, fought and defeated the Toguro brothers for real, got Genkai back after Koenma resurrected her only to return home where Urameshi was kidnapped by a bunch of psychic thugs on Genkai's orders so she could explain to him and the others what a territory was, how they came about, and what that meant for the world.

And what did it mean exactly? That someone was trying to open a portal to the demon world in Mushiori City, which pumped the citizens of the city, especially the younger ones, full of demon energy that triggered a mutation in their own natural spirit energy to create psychic energy. After learning from Koenma that they only had three weeks in which to close the portal for good lest the human world be overrun by man-eating demons, Urameshi and his friends were caught up in a bombing, Keiko was shot up with a psychically created poison, Urameshi had to kill his first human, Kuwabara was ambushed and kidnapped, and Urameshi hunted down by a deranged psychic sniper.

And there were still thirty-two episodes to go.

"Oh man, oh man!" Nendou said, swinging his hands around as if he held a sword. "Did you guys see that ji-go-to thing? That was amazing, man! Kuwabara-jiji is awesome!"

"Nendou!" Shun squeaked. "You can't call God 'old man'! What if he strikes you with lightning?"

"Can he even do that?" Hairo wondered, pressing a fist to his chin as he and the rest strolled the halls of the main house toward the room they had taken to using for evening meals. There were so many people staying at the main house, now, that they had to remove the inner doors from three different rooms to create one enormous space on the left side of the house. Finely crafted tables were set end-to-end, spanning the length of the room, with cushions set on the tatami mats for comfort. Yukina and, surprisingly, Urameshi did most of the cooking, but Keiko and her oldest son regularly helped when they weren't teaching Chiyo jiujitsu.

"No way!" Kuboyasu said, drawing his thumb across his throat for some reason. "If he could, why not use it against that creepy, water thing instead of that flashy sword?"

"It's been twenty years, man," Hairo said, pointing at Kuboyasu with one finger. "Who knows what crazy stuff he could have learned in the interim."

"Inter-what?"

Kusuo slid open the door leading to the improvised dining room, successfully diverting Kuboyasu's attention once he noticed that Mera—as usual—was already inside.

"Oh! Hey, Mera!" Kuboyasu pushed his way to the front and sat hard on the cushion beside Mera in his usual Yankee way. He grinned at her, blood lust in his eyes, as he said, "Learn anything new today?"

Mera nodded, smiling brightly. "Mitani-san and I learned that I don't absorb powers if I eat people."

Everyone stared at her as a cold, unsettling air filled the room.

Say what?

"Oh yeah?" Kuboyasu leaned forward, apparently the only one unbothered by what she had just said. "Who did you eat?"

Say what?

"No, no." Mera waved her hand as she munched on a whole turkey leg. Urameshi had gotten more and more creative with the meals after learning Mera metabolized food into spirit energy. The better quality the food, the more energy she had. Or something. Kusuo wasn't entirely sure as all his information came third hand from Kokomi.

"I didn't eat anyone," she continued. "I couldn't open my mouth wide enough."

Kuboyasu nodded as if that was completely normal. "I see."

More people filtered in, and Kusuo wandered to his usual spot. Urameshi and Yukina bustled in and out of the kitchen, flanked on every side by 'friends of the family.' Kusuo recognized a lot of them now, having seen many of them appear during the Dark Tournament Arc. Juri and her oldest daughter, Kin, carried in plates of sashimi while her youngest daughter—five-year-old Tsukimi—balanced a plate holding two perfectly formed rice balls.

Kokomi appeared amidst the helping hands—as usual—chatting with Chiyo with a brilliant grin on her face. She was less blinding now, having learned to temporarily turn off her territory. It was difficult for her, apparently. Since Kokomi was born with her territory open, it was less natural for her to close it than to just always leave it open. It seemed Natsuko had the same problem, which is why she rarely turned her territory off while at home. Everyone there was immune to her for various reasons. Some were too young to be interested in girls, some weren't interested in girls at all, and others were already in love with someone else.

When Kusuo learned that Natsuko's territory followed the same rules that Kokomi's did, he'd been surprised, at first, that he'd been immune to her. Of course, he'd been immune to Kokomi too, all the way back when, but he also hadn't gotten the full brunt of her territory until after he got rid of his powers and could see her. Because, apparently, Kokomi's territory was sight-based. If she couldn't be seen, her territory was ineffective.

"But even when you could see me, you still didn't offu," Kokomi had said one night as they readied for bed. "I wonder why that is?"

Kusuo had only shrugged, not venturing an answer. Though if he had to guess, it would probably be that he already fell outside the rules of her territory. And since he was neither too young to be interested in girls nor (obviously) disinterested in girls all together, (or unrealistically wholesome like Hairo) there really was only one explanation.

He had already been in love with her.

"Kusuo!" Kokomi beamed as she set a tray of grilled eel on the table in front of him. She sat on her usual cushion with Chiyo taking the seat beside her. "You'll never guess what happened today!"

Seeing as I'm no longer telepathic, you would be correct in that assumption.

Knowing better than to bait her out loud, Kusuo just said, "Oh?"

"I finished my territory training! I've been practicing on intensity levels with Natsuko-san, and she said I'm ready to start weaponizing it! I'm starting jiujitsu with Chiyo-chan tomorrow."

"Congratulations," Kusuo said, nodding as he set two pieces of eel on his plate and a third on the plate between him and Kokomi. Yuuta would come wandering in with his new friends in a few minutes, and Kusuo had to make sure his plate was full before the boy sat down or he would complain about the amount of food. He liked to eat quickly so he could run outside and play more after dinner.

Like Kusuo, Kokomi absently filled Yuuta's plate as she spoke. "Thank you! This whole territory thing is really amazing, you know? I cranked the level all the way up and made Rinku-san 'ng'!"

Kusuo frowned and cut a glance at Kokomi. "The yo-yo kid?"

"Kid?" Kokomi asked, tilting her head to the side. "Rinku-san our age, you know. At least, he looks like he's our age. He's actually a lot older, but I don't know by how much."

Kusuo sighed, not willing to admit that he wasn't thrilled by the idea of her practicing her territory on someone their age—someone he knew from Urameshi's Spirit Detective Documentary was a very capable and dangerous demon warrior. Still, nothing had happened, and he wasn't about to go around telling her who she could and couldn't practice with. She was his girlfriend, not his pet, and he had no right to control her.

That didn't make his stomach churn any less with irritation, but he was man enough to deal with it.

The kids arrived soon after, and Yuuta plopped onto his cushion between Kusuo and Kokomi while chattering a mile a minute. Kusuo was glad to see the boy was coping so well, especially after what Botan had reported to them yesterday via her husband, Kurama.

Apparently, Kurama—in his guise as Minamino Shuichi—was a highly renowned orthopedic surgeon at a well-respected hospital in Tokyo. He had called around looking for any information regarding Iridatsu Hitomi—Yuuta's mother. After almost four days of searching, he found her. Or, more specifically, he found what was left of her.

Hitomi was visiting her parents to help care for her sick mother, but there was a gas-leak, and the house exploded while everyone was sleeping.

Or so went the official story. Unofficially, Kurama believed the fire was actually the work of someone with fire abilities. Either a fire-based demon or a psychic with pyrokinesis. Whoever it was, they better pray Kusuo never got ahold of them. Strange as it may seem, he had learned a great deal about manipulating spirit energy just by watching the Ghost Files.

Which was probably Koenma-sama's intention, but whatever. It's still stupid.

Speaking of Koenma, the young deity was sitting at the head of the table with his daughter Yamato Nadeshiko to his left but the seat on his right was vacant. That was where his wife, Yamato Shizuru, always sat. Toritsuka hadn't arrived yet either. Kusuo sighed and ate a clump of rice. Considering how much Kusuo disliked the creepy perv, he was surprised by how sorry he felt for the guy. He always stumbled into dinner looking like death warmed over. Whatever sort of training Shizuru and Botan were putting him through, it was obviously intense. Toritsuka hadn't looked this run-down since those three days he'd spent fasting while Kusuo had (gleefully) tortured him psychologically.

Sigh. Good times.

Right on cue, the door slid open, and Shizuru stepped inside. Koenma looked up from his meal and smiled at his wife. It was a soft, pleased smile that made everyone in the room feel oddly warm. Even Kusuo. The god literally radiated love for his wife, and it made Kusuo's heart ache every time he saw it because that was the same sort of love and devotion his father had always shown his mother.

The same sort of love and devotion his father would never be able to show again.

Kusuo swallowed his rice hard as Shizuru knelt on the cushion beside her husband and grabbed the front of his robes.

"Shizuru, we're in public—" Koenma started but his wife cut him off with a searing kiss. Everyone looked away, embarrassed by the intimate display even though it happened every night. Kusuo looked down at his rice bowl, still half-filled with sweet rice, and couldn't bring himself to eat anything more.

His mother and brother had been relocated to the temple compound. Unlike his friends' families, Mom and Kusuke were directly in Akemi Homura's sights, and they needed to be protected lest she send some other minion to finish the job. Kusuo made sure to see her at least once a day, and Kokomi spent the evening talking with her on the engawa as they watched Yuuta play, but she wasn't the same anymore and probably never would be again.

Something inside of her had died with Dad, and Kusuo had no idea how to bring it back. He honestly doubted he even could.

Kusuke wasn't much better. Honestly, he was probably worse. Like Mom, he didn't come to the dining room for meals, but he also never left his room at all. He'd requested, and was granted, a small living space in the dead center of the main house. He had no windows and was so far from the outside that no natural light could reach him. Kusuo had stopped in to visit once or twice, but Kusuke didn't even acknowledge him as he sat at his desk scribbling in a notebook and muttering to himself endlessly. There was a plate of food beside him, but it had barely been picked at. Kusuo hoped that was because the plate had only just arrived and not because his brother was too wrapped up in whatever he was doing to eat.

Considering it had been almost midnight when Kusuo had checked in that last time, his hopes were undoubtedly in vain.

"Kusuo." Kokomi's hand settled over his, and Kusuo jumped. Even after all these months, sudden movements still surprised him. Especially if he was lost in thought. He glanced at her. She was leaning over Yuuta, who happily shoveled food in his mouth as fast as he could without choking or being scolded by Kokomi for being rude. She had that look on her face again. The one that said she knew what he was thinking and was feeling his pain.

Kusuo sighed and set his bowl down to rest a hand over hers. "I'm fine," he said softly. "Just…thinking."

"We'll figure this out, Kusuo," she said, lacing their fingers together behind Yuuta's back. "I know this isn't the sort of change we can fully recover from, but things will get better. Your father would want that."

Kusuo nodded and squeezed her hand. He felt the sudden urge to hold her. He wanted to stroke her hair and kiss her face and bury his nose in her shoulder. They hadn't been intimate at all since that afternoon five days ago, and Kusuo hadn't thought twice about it.

Well, that wasn't true. He'd thought about what they had done—it was a warm, gentle memory to keep him company during his long hours trapped in front of a television with four other guys—but he hadn't been interested in repeating the event. He liked to hold her as they slept—something Kokomi found adorable—but other than a few chaste kisses, that was it. He hadn't hated being with her, and he wasn't opposed to being with her again, he just hadn't felt that same driving need as before.

He was feeling it now. It was much softer than before—more of a gentle simmer than the roaring flame that had driven him to take her into his arms and make her his—but it was definitely there. Kusuo tightened his grip on Kokomi's fingers, his eyes roaming her face as he remembered that beautiful expression of ecstasy she'd worn as he—

"Ehem!" Natsuko's sudden cough jolted Kusuo from his thoughts, and he glanced over. The blind girl was blushing a brilliant red as she sipped her tea. Both of her hands were shaking slightly.

Kusuo blushed and looked away. Right. She can hear my thoughts.

He really needed to find a new germanium ring. And soon.

Beside him, Kokomi was blushing just as heavily, if not more so. Kusuo would almost swear he saw smoke coming from her ears. Still, she clutched his hand tightly with her own, and Kusuo almost smiled. It seemed they would need to put Yuuta to bed early tonight.

A sudden, brilliant glow slashed through the air—literally. There was a surprised shout as the space above the very center of the table split beneath a glowing, golden blade. Kusuo stared at the energy sword as it cut through space. He'd seen it before, of course. Natsuko had used her golden naginata to open that first doorway to the temple, and later that same day, Kuwabara had opened a door onto the school roof using his sword.

The same sword Kusuo had seen slice a water-monster in half a few hours before.

The same sword Kusuo was watching slice open the empty air right now.

Kuwabara fell through the dimensional gap dragging along a strange man with long, sapphire blue hair. They slammed onto the table, scattering food and crockery in all directions as shocked and panicked shouts rose around the table. Kusuo shifted himself so he had Kokomi and Yuuta blocked from the opening in space, and he didn't have to look back to know Kokomi had the small boy in a tight embrace.

The glowing gash was closing rapidly—too rapidly for anyone else to follow—but there was enough time for Kusuo to meet a pair of dead violet eyes that stared through the hole with a dark, writhing hatred. Her inky black hair fluttered about her in that same artificial wind that always seemed to follow her as she stared directly into Kusuo's eyes.

"I found you," she said just as the portal closed. The rest of her words stabbed through the remaining space, her ethereal voice seeming to echo through the room even as it pierced right through Kusuo's ears and into his brain.

"Wait for me," said Akemi Homura's disembodied voice. "Madoka."