Subject: [FFML] [Fanfic][YYH] PPF Memories - Chapter 3
From: "W. Siew Lee" <wsiewlee@tm.net.my>
Date: 5/14/1998, 3:14 AM
To: ffml@fanfic.com

Please give C&Cs directed to <wsiewlee@tm.net.my> as I'm not subscribed to
the ML. This will be the finalized version and I'm going to post this up
soon. Please give comments. 

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		~~~The Past, The Present And The Future~~~

       		   ~~~The Past - Memories~~~

			Part 3 - Sweet, Sour, Then Bitter

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It was a bright day. 

Misuko found herself standing in mid air. She was staring at the bloody 
scene below her. She was there, lying on the ground. The evil Crowned 
Prince was also dead, by her feet. Wait a second, she was there, on the 
ground, a pair of scissors protruding from her belly.

"Why am I here?" asked Misuko silently to herself. She closed her eyes 
momentarily, trying to recall what had actually happened. Recollections 
began to stream back into her mind. The prince... lunged at her... a pair of
scissors... killed the prince... killed herself... The searing pain of the 
stab burned away the last few seconds of her life. The pain was frightfully 
real, even now.

Misuko sat down in mid-air, wrapping her arms around her knees. *So I'm 
dead now. What am I going to do?* 

"Yes, you are," said a voice behind her. Misuko quickly turned her head to 
look at the owner of the voice. A girl with an oar was standing behind her. 
The girl was dressed in a pair of traditional leaf green kimono with 
sparrows embroidered all over. Her black eyes and equally black hair had a 
serene-like effect. 

"What am I suppose to do now?" asked Misuko, getting up. Tears already 
forming in her eyes. Being dead wasn't exactly a nice thought nor dream, but 
it was true this time. Misuko had never thought of death before this. It was 
so... frightening. 

"I'm a ferrygirl assigned to you from Reikai, where you are suppose to go 
for registration before going to your last destination. Come, sit on my 
oar," said the ferrygirl gently. 

For the first time, Misuko was addressed and comforted by someone. Someone 
who was a friend. Someone who treated her like a friend. That feeling was 
very special, a warm and happy feeling. Someone who cared about her plight. 
A friend in need is a friend indeed. 

"I'm really dead," said Misuko softly, as she sat on the flat part of the 
oar. The ferrygirl got onto the oar too and started sailing through the air.

Misuko closed her eyes, feeling the cool breeze caress her face and whipping
her hair all around. The wind somehow calmed down her boiling and unhappy 
feelings. Misuko herself was never prefect, although it may seemed that way 
to some people. Misuko shoved that thought aside. She would never want to 
think about that anymore. It was simply too painful. An agonizing touch in 
her life. A black spot there. 

The ferrygirl put a comforting arm on her shoulder, assuring her 
that nothing will happen. 

*What was done, was done.*

At last, the pair reached the mist shrouded building. An air of mystery 
surrounded it. 

"That is the Reikai Imperial Palace. This is also where all the souls of 
Ningenkai were judged and assigned," explained the ferrygirl.

"What's your name?" asked Misuko cautiously. All her life, she had never 
been out of the palace. In a way, she had no idea how to make a friend. 

"Hanna." answered the ferrygirl simply as she led Misuko into the vast 
building. "Because your case is a special one, our Enma wants to meet you 
personally."

"A special case?" repeated Misuko curiously. A lump formed in her throat...

"Yes. Let's go." said Hanna.

Misuko nodded and ran into the division office with Hanna. The extremely 
busy office was filled with running onis and other unrecognizable creatures.
Hanna knocked on the door of a room located at one corner of the vast 
office. A voice answered, requesting them to go in. Misuko looked at the 
wooden door, half afraid of what lies beyond. Her first thought was those 
of an evil-looking executer waiting to punish her for the crime she done.
Misuko couldn't hide from herself anymore. She got to accept the truth. 

Hanna cautiously opened the door and walked in. A boy in his late teens, 
about 17 years old was sitting there, sucking his pacifier; furiously 
signing documents away. Another huge blue oni was standing beside him, 
passing him papers to sign.

"Good morning, Koenma-sama," said Hanna, bowing slightly. She gave Misuko a 
small nudge, asking her to do the same.

"Good morning," said Misuko as politely as she could.

Koenma looked up at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. "Good morning," he 
greeted back, fixing his gaze at Misuko. In fact, he stared at Misuko for 
quite a long time, without paying any attention to the puzzled glances his 
blue oni and Hanna were exchanging. Koenma looked at her for such a long 
time that Misuko began blushing and tugging at Hanna's sleeve.

"Um... Koenma-sama, this is the girl you wanted to see," began Hanna 
cautiously seeing that Misuko was already tugging furiously. 

"Oh! Your name is..." Koenma flipped through a few papers and glanced at 
them. "... Misuko. You had committed suicide, right?"

"Well, I guess that's the only way to get myself out of this mess," said 
Misuko dejectedly. Reminiscences began flooding back to her head. The stab 
was still painful, though. Not only it was painful physically, but 
mentally too. 

"Your place should be in heaven since you didn't do anything bad, but you 
committed suicide. Why? That is against the rules of living," said Koenma,
looking at Misuko straight in the eye.

"I had to. I have no choice. Think what would have happened sooner or 
later. The death of the prince... King Shu won't let me off that easy. I'd 
rather commit suicide than been executed in the public," explained Misuko, 
tears starting to well up in her eyes. She had never felt so guilty in her 
life. Not just she had disappointed her country, she had ended her own life 
herself. Of all, she had failed miserably. 

"Just because of this point, the Reikai division office has decided to let 
you choose your own destination. You will have your fair chance of 
reincarnation, but which do you prefer? The first is to incarnate in three
years time after a year of suffering in the first floor of punishment or you
can work here as a ferrygirl for one hundred years," offered Koenma, giving 
her a choice. 

"We are lack of workers here, you know," continued Koenma. 

Misuko was dumbfound at the offers Koenma had made. To incarnate or work as 
a ferrygirl here? Misuko considered. *The world is in such a bleak state 
and I was just sitting in otousama's palace without doing anything. Fifteen 
years of my life were wasted just like that... I'm a girl. I can't do 
anything in the world of feudalism...* 

But... she would have to wait for a long time to live again... Misuko 
considered and reconsidered. Making decisions were very difficult... 

It would take all her determination to do this. Misuko took a deep breath 
and voiced out her choice. 

"I think I would be a ferrygirl here. I'm tired of seeing all these wars and
fighting in the world. I suppose that would be better, since I could help 
and comfort souls in despair rather than seeing them suffer in silence," 
said Misuko, making her choice. She had truly made up her mind this time. 
One hundred years may seemed a long time, but at least she could do 
something meaningful. 

"Fine, than that it will be," said Koenma, smiling at her. "Hanna, show her 
around and get her an official uniform of a ferrygirl."

"Thank you," said Misuko as she smiled back. *Koenma seems to be a very 
friendly person,* thought Misuko as Hanna led her out. Misuko was thankful. 
Very thankful that she had been given a chance to start a new life. 

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"Hanna, is being a ferrygirl very hard?" asked Misuko as Hanna showed her 
the ferrygirls' sleeping quarters.

"Well, depends on how you divide your time. Sometimes, you can suffer from 
an overload of work if you were to linger from jobs to jobs," answered Hanna 
as she opened a closet full of uniforms of my sizes and cloth patterns. 
"Choose a pair you like."

Misuko went through the clothes and looked at them, hoping to find something
she would really like. Pair after pair of uniform, but she still couldn't 
find one that caught her attention. 

"Why all these kimonos have some type of flower or bird embroidered on 
them?" asked Misuko curiously as she fingered one of the beautiful roses 
sewed on one of the kimonos.

"Well, Reikai has a certain rule that the ferrygirls should have an identity
of themselves by putting on a certain type of insignia on their kimonos. 
Most of them were flowers or birds anyway. Mine are sparrows," said Hanna, 
crossing her arms over her chest. It was a long time already before Reikai 
had recruited any new ferrygirls. 

"I think I would like a crane as my insignia," said Misuko as she picked up 
a pair of dark blue kimono with a pair of white cranes embroidered at the 
front. She touched the head of one of the cranes lovingly. *Since the crane
is graceful and slender, it will look good on me...* thought Misuko 
silently. 

"I think you might be able to start work tomorrow," said Hanna. "I'll leave
you settle to down in your room." Hanna pointed towards a room in the far 
end of the corridor.

"Thanks anyway," said Misuko as she clutched the kimono tightly. What lied
for her in this place? One might never know. 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Misuko got up early next morning. *I'm now a ferrygirl in Reikai,* said 
Misuko aloud as she hummed her favorite tune to the rhythmic splashes of 
water around her in the bathtub.

Slowly, she washed herself thoroughly and got into the her new kimono. *I 
look good and refreshed.* Misuko admired herself in the full length mirror 
as she tied the peach colored sash around her trim waist.

She combed her waist length hair and tied it up in a braid. Misuko took one 
last look at her outfit, making sure that the kimono was straight, and 
walked out of the room. As she expected, Hanna was waiting for her outside.

"Come on, let's hurry or we will be late for work," said Hanna as she took 
Misuko by the arm and ran in the direction of the division office.

"Wow, are we suppose to ferry all these spirits before noon?" asked Misuko
as she was handed a sheet of paper about her assignment today. "There are 
about twenty names on that list," said Misuko in awe.

"I guess so..." said Hanna, looking at her own list.

"Where am I suppose to get my oar?" asked Misuko.

"Just reach out an open palm and say 'oar'," instructed Hanna.

Misuko did as what Hanna instructed and an oar slowly materialized in her 
palm. 

"That oar is yours now and you can control it with your thoughts. Just 
think. When you want it to fly, just think of it flying the way you want. By
the way, here's a map of routes to Reikai," Hanna handed Misuko a piece of 
paper. "One more thing, if you were ever lost, you can command the oar to 
get you back here." 

"Okay, thanks," said Misuko as she set off with her oar, looking at the 
first name on her list. For a while, she was at a lost for what to do. 

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"What a day!" said Misuko as she touched down to join Hanna in the Imperial 
Reikai Palace.

"What took you so long?" asked Hanna, crumpling her list into a ball and 
throwing it into a wastepaper basket nearby.

"I wasn't sure how to get to places and my oar was a little disobedient," 
answered Misuko, also throwing her list into the wastepaper basket. In fact, 
today was disastrous. Misuko was supposed to ferry an old man's spirit but 
the oar flew her to some remote land in Africa instead... A sweatdrop formed 
on Misuko's temple as she thought of that. 

"Gods, I'm exhausted," said Hanna, stretching a little. "I think I'm going 
to bed early today."

"I'm going to relax a little tonight," said Misuko, walking off in an 
another direction.

"Goodnight," said Hanna, her hand stifling a yawn.

"You too," said Misuko from a quite far distance away. *I'm going to sit in 
the Imperial garden I have seen from my window - that garden is actually 
quite nice,* decided Misuko. Her head was throbbing slightly as she had 
never really did hard work before. Misuko sighed softly. She had never 
expected to end up here... 

Misuko strolled down the path winding through the beautiful landscape. 
Flowers were blooming at their fullest and their sweet scent filled the air.
At last, she reached a secluded place in the garden. She sat down on the 
soft green grass and drank in the sweet scent of flowers around her. Misuko 
closed her eyes and listened to the constant singing of a lone nightingale. 
Enjoying the soft sweet music. Misuko wasn't quite sure now. She was tired, 
tired of life. What had made she such pessimistic? She had negative traids 
in herself, but she had never looked at them carefully. Never bothered to... 

*It felt so much like home.* As Misuko thought of that, a hollow feeling 
began to take its place in her heart. Home sickness. Misuko missed her 
father and other people around her very much. Maybe a week ago, leaving home 
was totally alien to a princess who had lived her all life in a palace. 
Never going out of the forbidding walls. 

After a while, Misuko could feel someone sat down beside her. "Is that you, 
Hanna?" asked Misuko with her eyes still closed.

"No. It's me." A squeaky voice answered. Misuko opened her eyes look at 
Koenma, this time without his pacifier.

"I'm sorry... Koenma-sama," stammered Misuko as she got up hastily.

"Never mind, sit down again," answered Koenma, closing his eyes. 

Misuko also sat down again, setting her mind into a peaceful state.

"Why are you here? I thought I'm the only one in Reikai who actually enjoyed
sitting in the garden during evenings," began Koenma, his voice was in quite
a low tone. Misuko looked at him in surprise as that wasn't his normal 
high pitched voice. 

"I love gardens, especially such a beautiful one like this. It reminds me of 
home," said Misuko dreamily.

"Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" asked Koenma, plucking a 
stalk of grass and began twirling it around his index finger. 

"No," answered Misuko simply, on other hand, Misuko was also curious what 
Koenma wanted to ask. *Could it be...*

"How is Ningenkai? I have never been to Ningenkai before, because I have 
just got this post from my otousama a few years ago," asked Koenma, his 
eyes shining full of hope to see Ningenkai one day. 

"Ningenkai is fun, full of interesting things and beautiful scenes like a 
typical sunset. Unluckily, the country my otousama is ruling was 
jeopardized. I don't know whether the state of Shu will attack after I 
stabbed their Crowned Prince," said Misuko with a plaintive sigh. Now, 
Misuko felt a tiny stab of regret. Maybe she shouldn't have killed their 
crowned prince. 

"Why did you stab him?" asked Koenma, opening his eyes to look at Misuko.

"The state of Shu tricked my father into giving me as a 'so-called' prize of
harmony, but it was a conspiracy in order to get me. I was so angry when I 
heard that from the Crowned Prince's mouth. He even tried to rape me... I 
somehow got hold of a pair of scissors and accidentally killed him. I didn't
mean to end my life like that, but I had no choice," said Misuko, two drops
tears rolling down from her eyes. Memories were so painful for her. Misuko
shoved that thought away as it was ripping her sanity apart. 

"It's not much your fault. Humans make mistakes," consoled Koenma, patting 
her on the shoulder. Koenma felt true sympathy for this girl, who came to 
Reikai yesterday. Koenma himself had seen such cases before, but this had 
left him with a strong impression. 

"Koenma-sama, do you think that I really did the wrong thing?" asked Misuko. 
She was still confused now. She was guilty, guilty of not bringing harmony 
to her people. 

"No. You did the right thing to protect yourself," said Koenma.

"But what will my otousama think? I'm his only child," Misuko said as she 
broke down into sobs.

"Don't worry, I think he would understand," said Koenma.

"I'm really unkind to my father. I brought disgrace to my people. I 
heralded war cries..." cried out Misuko, burying her face into Koenma's 
shoulder and sobbed out her heart. 

Koenma cautiously put a hand to comfort her, hoping that she would 
eventually calm down. Slowly, a few stars shone down at them. At last, 
Misuko's sobs died down.

"I'm sorry to break down like that," apologized Misuko as she wiped her 
tears away with her kimono sleeve.

"I hope that you have finally calmed a little," said Koenma, smiling gently 
at her.

Misuko got up. "Thanks for listening to me." In her heart, Koenma was 
already a friend. Someone she could lean on when she needed a mere person 
to listen to her. 

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[Koenma was leaning over her, whispering the magical three words into her 
ears. Misuko smiled up at him, Koenma bent down and kissed her lightly on 
the cheek...]

*Oh no... This is the third time I'm dreaming about him in a night...* 
thought Misuko in shock as she sat up on her bed, sweating profusely. She 
shook her head, trying to clear the image before her.

She took a glance outside the window. The sun was already halfway up the 
horizon. She got up quickly and dressed. 

"Hanna must be wondering what had happened to me." thought Misuko as she 
brushed her hair hurriedly. She took her oar and ran outside. Hanna was 
there pacing impatiently to and forth. 

"What were you doing inside?" asked Hanna, wondering why Misuko was late.

"Oh... I just had a dream," said Misuko quickly. She didn't want Hanna or 
anyone else to know that she had a crush on their boss. Besides, what will 
Hanna think if she knew about her crush? 

"What dream? A nightmare?" asked Hanna.

"Um... no," said Misuko. "Let's get going."

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Koenma groaned for the 50th time as George brought in another stack of 
papers. Work at Reikai was so demanding and tedious... Koenma had never 
chosen to work in Reikai; but he had no choice. He was the only heir to 
Reikai, so he had to do so; whether he liked it or not. 

"Koenma-sama, these documents have to be signed by 1.00pm today," announced 
George, also obviously a little burned out from the heavy workload. 

Koenma nodded as George set the pile down in front of him. *Koenma-sama 
seems to be quite distracted this few days. I wonder why...* George pushed 
the thought away and went out of the door. *Koenma-sama never tells his 
problems to anybody.* 

On the other hand, Koenma was having trouble concentrating on the office 
papers spreaded out before him. His mind was wandering elsewhere, unable to 
make a comeback. He shrugged a little and forced some work. 

*I love being in this form...* thought Koenma on another of his occasional 
stray periods of daydreaming. *That is my actual form, but otousama wants me 
to go back to that smaller form. Speaking of pacifiers and Reiki...* 

*She had a very special self within her...* said Koenma aloud this time, but 
he quickly clamped his hand over his mouth. He didn't want to think of that 
anymore, work was more important to him now. 

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Misuko sat in the garden again, for two consecutive weeks. The night air 
seemed to calm her, but her mind was still confused. She had even went 
avoiding Koenma whenever she saw him. The dreams were painful, especially 
when she woke up. *It isn't the reality,* said Misuko sadly to herself every 
time it happened; but she simply couldn't control herself. 

She breathed in sharply and leaned back on the tree. She closed her eyes 
began fantasizing about a night together with Koenma. 

"Why are you here?" a voice asked suddenly.

Misuko's eyes flew open and looked straight into a pair of brown eyes. "Hi, 
Koenma-sama." Misuko's face was already blushing furiously when she said 
that.

"You are always here," said Koenma, sitting down beside her. "How come I 
didn't see you the last few days?" 

"Yeah. I have something to tell you," said Misuko suddenly. Her mind had 
sub-consciously made a decision. Misuko never imagined that she would say 
such a thing, but she did. 

"Me too," said Koenma eagerly, getting up on his knees to be by her side. 

"Why not you say it first," offered Misuko, also eager to hear what Koenma 
had to say. *Besides admitting first wasn't normal for a girl like me,* 
Misuko added to her herself.

"Well, um... this is a problem between us. Are you ready to hear it?" asked 
Koenma.

"Yes," answered Misuko as she took a deep breath.

"I had been dreaming about you this few days. At first, I couldn't make any 
sense out of it since I was always er... kissing you," said Koenma, pausing 
a while; half expecting Misuko to get up and slap him across. Instead, 
Misuko just looked at him with no obvious facial expression.

"Finally, I had came to a conclusion." Koenma breathed in before blurting 
out the rest of the sentence. "I had fallen in love with you secretly."

Misuko kept quiet, looking into Koenma's eyes. "It really hurts to dream of 
you every night, but just to wake up and find that isn't real." continued 
Koenma, watching closely for Misuko's facial expression.

Misuko suddenly got up and hugged Koenma. Tears of joy already streamed down
from her eyes. She tried opening her mouth to say something, but she had 
just only managed to whisper the words: "Thank you. Thank you for saying 
this to me."

Misuko let go of Koenma. "I had been thinking to tell you this too, but 
since you said it out, I might as well tell you my own personal experience,"
said Misuko, her pent-up emotions gushing out.

Misuko finished saying what she wanted to say. Koenma looked at her, his 
face filled with new found delight. Koenma got up suddenly and pinned her 
down on the grass. 

"Since we are having fantasies of each other so frequently, why not we try 
this once for real?" suggested Koenma.

"Hold on. What if some other people find out?" asked Misuko worriedly. She 
was already mentally forming a scene where Hanna accidentally walked in on 
them. 

"Don't worry," said Koenma as he kissed her gently on the neck.

"Great," said Misuko as she slowly kissed back...

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"Misuko!" yelled Hanna outside Misuko's assigned room. Five minutes passed 
but still no sound. 

*Has something happened to her?* thought Hanna anxiously.

After a little while, she heard sounds of footsteps walking up the corridor.
It was Misuko. Her face and hands were smudged and bits of grass were 
sticking to her hair and kimono. Her hair was disheveled and her kimono was
crumpled.

"What happened to you?" asked Hanna as she took Misuko's hand and took a 
close look at her.

"Nothing. I just fell asleep in the Imperial garden." answered Misuko 
happily.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Get cleaned up and dress neatly."

Misuko smiled and walked into her room. "Ah... I'm taking a day off today. 
You don't need to wait for me."

"Okay," said Hanna, walking off with her oar.

*My, my. She sure is acting strange today...* thought Hanna.

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"Koenma-sama, how good it would be if we can live together like this 
forever," whispered Misuko on the second night.

"Yeah, but we could only do this in the garden." joked Koenma, putting an 
arm to caress her.

"What will your otousama react if he knew about this?" asked Misuko, feeling
his neck with her little finger.

"I really don't know," answered Koenma. That very frightened him... Enma 
Daiou had a very notoriously hot temper. "Don't care about that now. Let's 
continue."

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
On the third night...

"I have something for you." said Koenma as he reached inside his robe to 
produce something.

"What's that?" asked Misuko as she saw Koenma was grasping something in his 
palm.

Koenma showed Misuko a pendant handing from a gold chain. "This pendant is 
made from the best bloodstone I could find."

Misuko looked at it closely. The pendant was cut into an oval shape. The 
texture of the stone itself was smooth, cut to perfection. The color of the 
stone was in a very deep brownish color. A line of blood red was sprinkled 
across the main surface. Its tranquillity was pleasing to look at and the 
glossy surface reflected the full moon very well.

"Thank you. It's beautiful." said Misuko happily, leaning against Koenma.

"Misuko, this is for you. This pendant shall represent my eternal love 
for you. The speckles of red will forever remind you of me." said Koenma as 
he handed out the pendant. "Do you want me to put it on for you?" asked 
Koenma.

"Yes." Misuko smiled as Koenma slipped the chain around her neck. The 
pleasantly cool stone excited her.

"Koenma-sama, I shall wear it everyday of my life and never leave you." 
answered Misuko gratefully. She had never expected Koenma would do 
something that nice towards her.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Why is Koenma that careless over his work nowadays? He has wrongly judged 
spirits and sent them to wrong places..." grumbled Enma-Daiou to himself as 
he went through the monthly reports from the Reikai information database.

"What could possibly made him that distracted from his work? That day I saw 
him, he was even a little pale, like he was suffering from lack of sleep," 
wondered Enma-Daiou.

"Lack of sleep... what is he doing? I'll find out," said Enma-Daiou loudly,
making his decision.

"Will, can you please call George over?" said Enma as he flipped on the 
intercom.

The voice acknowledged and minutes later, a blue oni stumbled into the 
office room. 

"Yes, Enma-Daiou. May I be of your service?" said George politely.

"Do you know why Koenma is acting so strange this few days?" asked 
Enma-Daiou.

"He seems very distracted and kept looking at the time. He seems impatient 
waiting for night time," answered George truthfully.

"Night time," repeated Enma-Daiou slowly.

"Yes, night time," said George.

"Thank you, George. You may go now," said Enma-Daiou.

George gave a little bow and walked out of the room. Enma-Daiou stopped 
writing to ponder on for a moment. Then, he summoned a detective he had just
appointed a few days ago into his office.

"I want you to spy on my son. I suspect he has something behind him," said 
Enma-Daiou to a figure clad in a trench coat. The mysterious figure gave a 
sound of acknowledgment and went out.

"That will teach that fellow not to slacken in his work," smirked 
Enma-Daiou, continuing his paperwork.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Koenma-sama! Lord Enma wants to see you now!" yelled George as he slammed 
the door with his fist.

"Yeah! I'm coming!" said Koenma opening the door. "Do you know why otousama 
wants to see me?" he asked George. George shrugged and Koenma ran off 
towards the direction of the throne room.

"Otousama, is there anything?" asked Koenma innocently as he walked into the
throne room.

"Ask yourself," said Enma-Daiou coldly as he threw an envelope at Koenma. 
Koenma caught it deftly and tore open the cover. His eyes widened in shock 
as he looked at the pile of photos.

"Explain these photos," said Enma-Daiou. Koenma rubbed his eyes and looked 
at the photos again. Sure enough, there were photos of him and Misuko 
during their late night meetings.  One photo showed him and Misuko engaged 
in a really passionate kiss. Beads of cold sweat began to form in his palms 
and forehead.

"Who is that girl?" asked Enma angrily.

"Enma-Daiou, she is Misuko, a ferry girl," answered Koenma weakly.

"Tell me now! What had you done wrong?" roared Enma-Daiou.

"I... I had fell in love with her. Please, otousama, I really love her with
all my heart and soul. We are bonded physically and mentally. I can't live 
without her. Let us be together..." pleaded Koenma.

"You know the rules of Reikai," answered Enma. "You must never ignore them. 
You are Prince of Reikai and you are my successor," continued Enma.

"I know..." said Koenma.

"Since you know, why did you break the rules?" demanded Enma.

"Please... otousama. Please change the rules for once," pleaded Koenma 
again. He knew the consequences of this act, but he had never brought it to 
light... To the light of reality. 

"No. You are suspended from work today onwards and your sweetheart will be 
thrown into prison until further orders," said Enma. Two guards turned up 
and took Koenma by his arms and dragged him away.

"No! Please!" shouted Koenma. Enma-Daiou just looked away, refusing a grant.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Enma-Daiou had locked up Koenma in a room and had Misuko thrown into prison 
for having secret affairs. Koenma was depressed. Everyday, he will try to 
think out a way to get out this room and see Misuko. Finally, he found a 
hairpin (goodness knows where he found it) and he pried open the lock with 
it.

"Come on... You can do it!" mumbled Koenma to himself as he dug around the 
keyhole. Suddenly, the locked responded with a soft click. "Eureka!" shouted
Koenma but quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.

Koenma peeped out from his room. "Good, coast's clear." He tiptoed out 
silently and looked around. *Blast! I forgot which direction is the 
dungeons!* cursed Koenma mentally.

Koenma was at a lost for a way to get to the dungeon. At last, he found a 
maid walking nearby and he forced her to tell him where the prison was
located. Quickly, he rushed to the prisons and began looking for Misuko. 
Cell by cell, he went through all of them but he still couldn't find where 
is Misuko. 

"Where is she?" thought Koenma frantically. At last, he reached the last 
cell and he looked into it and saw a weak Misuko lying there.

Koenma hugged her and heard her groan. When he reached down to carry her 
out of the cell, he felt a warm and sticky liquid. He looked down and saw it
was blood. He looked at Misuko wide-eyed and he was devastated when he saw a 
dagger sticking out of her belly.

"Koenma-sama. Thank you for all the love and care you had given me all the 
time. I couldn't repay it all. Here, I want to give you back the bloodstone 
that you had given me on that memorable day," said a dying Misuko in his 
arms.

"No!!! You are not going to die!!! I will find the best doctor in Reikai to 
heal you!" screamed Koenma, Misuko's hand already pressing the chain into 
his palm.

"No, Koenma-sama, I'm going to die soon, so let me finish my last words. 
You know that our love could never be together again. Why not I end my life 
as to end your love? And to end our suffering? When I die, forget about me 
and continue your life normally..." As Misuko said that, blood spluttered 
out of her mouth and her eyelids closed.

"Why! Why must this happen to me? I'm the one who dragged you into this 
mess..." Then, Koenma's voice lowered to a soft tone. "I'll never leave you.
You will be the only girl that I will ever love and I'll wait for you 
forever..." After saying these, Koenma broke into heart wrenching sobs. The 
bloodstone chain slipped from his hands and fell onto the stone floor with a
clink. A sound of an everlasting flame dying... 

The next day, Enma-Daiou had asked for Koenma again and there, they had 
their negotiations again.

"Koenma, my son, I express condolence on the death of Misuko; now, I felt 
that maybe I had been too harsh on both of you. Let me give both of you a 
chance..."

"What chances or possibilities are there? Misuko is already dead, no one 
could change that!" said Koenma bitterly.

"No, you're wrong, my son. Misuko still has a chance to incarnate. If you
could find her ever again, I'll give you my approval."

"Otousama, Misuko's chances of reincarnation are very slim, people that died
once mustn't die again, or they will simply cease to exist. Even though she 
could have escaped that fate, but chances are very slim. I doubt I'll ever 
find her again..."

"A chance is still a chance, but you must promise me one thing, that is to 
keep this incident a secret for the sake of me, you, Misuko and Reikai."

"Alright, anything..." As Koenma said that, he burst into tears and ran out 
of the throne room. Tears didn't come easily for him, but tears of grief 
streamed down uncontrollably... Devastated and broken, Koenma hid in a 
dark and seclusive world of his own. 

Ever since that incident, Koenma had buried himself in work and refused to 
give himself anytime to relax. He had even began turning back into his 
toddler form to avoid any more girls being attracted by him. Deep down 
inside his heart, Misuko will be an eternal flame burning inside him. He 
would never be the same again. Never ever.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------
The pain inside him was still fresh; even until now. Koenma had never told 
these things towards anybody else, not even to Botan. Until now, he had 
nothing that belonged to Misuko except the pendant and her prized kimono. 
The dreams of Misuko still haunted him. Misuko will belong in a secret part 
of him. In his darkest and most hidden corner in him. He had never thought 
of her for a long time. Was he too scared to face the truth and reality set 
before him? It was sweet, then sour. At last, it turned bitter. 

When he heard that familiar voice, he was dumbfound. Koenma turned around 
towards that voice's direction. There, he saw a teenage girl with big 
beautiful brown eyes and perfect complexion. She was dressed in a typical 
schoolgirl uniform. She was there, chatting and laughing away with her 
friends.

A raw recognition overcame him. Sentimental feelings overwhelmed him in
waves at once. Koenma stood there as if he was struck by lightning. A 
hoarse word escaped his throat and he cried out: "Misuko..." 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

First version: December 1997
Second version: March 1998

Copyright reserved 1998 W. Siew Lee 

All standard YYH disclaimers apply to this fanfic. 

E-mail: Siew Lee <wsiewlee@tm.net.my>
URL: http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Pagoda/3638/fanfic.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

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You got my bodyshakin'
Sends a shiver to my soul
I didn't get no warning
You got me shaking to the bone
I got my secret weapon
I'm gonna get you all alone 
So let your body lose control

Excerpt from 'Bodyshakin'' by 911 

Siew Lee --- 911 rulez! 

YYH fanfics --- http://members.xoom.com/hiei/yyh.htm 

=======================================