[FFML] [yyh][ry][xover] Demon Sword Chapter 22: Smile Bomb (Part 4)

[Chester Castañeda]

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Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/~abdiel

Confused yet? Pay close attention.


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Chapter 22: Smile Bomb (Part 4)

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Nearly two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the Shinjuku
Yamabuki High School Library...

"...Finally, the victim's name is Kishida Miki, age sixteen. Her sister,
Kishida Katsumi, age fifteen, was the one who went to the police to
report a possible rape and murder in the hands of the Shimamura
quintuplets after she was informed of Kishida-shi's death," Likka
concluded.

"Okay, so only _three_ of them are telling the truth, right? That was
what the victim's ex-boyfriend said after just one glance at the police
report." Natsuki exhaled. "That's our foremost lead, huh?"

Likka nodded to Natsuki. "Yeah, that's what the one other witness said
before he died."

Natsuki rolled her sleeves and nodded to herself. "It's time for us to
use Occam's razor to cut through all the nonsense and discover the
single truth."

Likka slammed her fist into her palm. "Right, Occam's razor! I heard
about that during our logic lesson. Um, that's the one that says that
the simplest answer is usually the correct answer, right?"

"Well, not 'simple' in layman's terms, but simple in the sense that it's
the solution that has the fewest new assumptions. 'Entities must not be
multiplied beyond necessity' and all that."

Likka put her hands on her hips. "Okay, now you just lost me, Tsuki-
chan. Speak in plain Japanese, please."

Natsuki chuckled as she did her best to express her ideas to Likka in
the simplest terms possible, even to the point of representing Occam's
razor the way laypeople understood it. From there, the young girl's
analytical mind concluded the following things that she immediately
wrote down on a piece of paper:

Akahito: Ennosuke is guilty.

Katsuhiko: I did it.

Doi: It was either Katsuhiko or Houjo.

Ennosuke: Bunjiro isn't telling the truth.

Fumio: Katsuhiko is guilty.

Goemon: It was not Katsuhiko.

Houjo: It was neither Katsuhiko nor I.

Ippei: Houjo is telling the truth. And it wasn't Ennosuke, either.

Bunjiro: It was not Ennosuke.

"Oh yeah, now that you've listed them up and all, it does make it easier
to pick their confessions apart," Likka observed while scratching her
chin. "Then again, that's not saying much. It's still a mess of
contradicting confessions. How are we supposed to find the killer using
these?"

"Well, we have to keep in mind that only five of them are the suspects,
so we can narrow down the possible killer fairly easily. Either that, or
depend on the 'Only three of them are telling the truth' premise. Either
way works." Natsuki underlined the names of Akahito, Katsuhiko, Doi,
Houjo, and Ennosuke with a red pen to indicate that they were the
quintuplets in question.

"Now I'm even more confused. Do we _only_ take the words of the
quintuplets as truth or something? How about the other brothers? I mean,
look at this mess! Just look at it! It's a jumble of names and
accusations! You might as well have cut up a phonebook's residential
listings and pasted them together!"

The unflappable Natsuki disagreed. "Not at all. It's a rather simple
premise. Three of these people are telling the truth, and the rest of
them are lying. We can use the process of elimination to pick out the
liars from the ones who are saying the truth; we only have five options,
after all, and not all of the quintuplets are being accused."

"Okay, fine. Let's put that theory to the test, shall we? Akahito says
that Ennosuke is guilty, but then Bunjiro says Ennosuke is not guilty!
They can't be both lying, and they can't be both telling the truth! I
don't understand this puzzle at all!" Likka nearly tore at her braided
hair in frustration. "Look, and Katsuhiko and Fumio are doing the same
thing! Oh, even Houjo's and Doi's statements are contradicting each
other! These confessions were intentionally made to confuse people,
Tsuki-chan!"

Natsuki then narrowed her eyes and bit her lip. "Actually, if the
deceased witness were able to identify that only three people were
telling the truth right away, these confessions might as well have
spelled out the killer's name on them."

Likka tilted at the list again, unused to thinking of people as mere
names with no faces or personalities. "So... Katsuhiko is the murderer?
I mean, he himself confessed, Fumio corroborated his story, and Doi is
saying it was either him or Houjo, so that makes three! Katsuhiko is
the guilty one!"

Natsuki scanned her list before shaking her head. "Nope."

Likka pouted while stomping her foot loud enough to nearly catch the
librarian's attention. "Why? It checks out with what the ex-boyfriend
says. Only three people are telling the truth, and Katsuhiko himself has
confessed, so I'm right! He's been betrayed by a gold digger before, so
it's more than likely that once he found out that the victim was also a
gold digger, he killed her immediately because of his previous trauma.
My reasoning is flawless! Why do you think I'm wrong?"

"You said so yourself: Akahito says that Ennosuke is guilty, and Bunjiro
says that Ennosuke isn't guilty; if it were Katsuhiko who did it, then
that means Bunjiro is telling the truth, which also means that _four_
people are telling the truth there, not just three," Natsuki
systematically broke down Likka's theory with one shot.

"So who did it? It doesn't even matter that there are only five
suspects; all nine of these children have mucked up their confessions so
thoroughly that nobody could be implicated by them!" Likka blinked as
something occurred to her. "So is this a trick question or something?
None of them are actually guilty and they've been leading on the police
all this time because they're a bunch of rich, spoiled brats?"

"Relax, Likka-tan. Occam's razor, remember? Let's talk about the
possible motives later; we need to solve this puzzle first." Natsuki got
out another piece of yellow pad. "Let's round up all the conflicting
confessions, remembering that at least one in a given pair of opposing
statements is true... like so." The girl rearranged the names so that
the contradicting confessions came one after the other, pair by pair.

"Hey, there are two people against one who are saying that Katsuhiko did
it: Fumio and Katsuhiko himself against Goemon. How do we pair them up?"

"This actually helps simplify our case further. Because only three
people should be the ones telling the truth, and there are already two
people who's vouching that Katsuhiko did it, then Katsuhiko is more
likely not the killer because too many people are vouching for him for
the 'only three people are telling the truth' factor to work. That means
that the first true statement we have is that Katsuhiko didn't do it."

After a few hours of intense debate and using the process of elimination
to narrow down the true suspect, Natsuki underlined the final solution
Likka came up with. "You're right. Now that you've eliminated all of
the possibilities and established which statements are irrevocably
false, finding out the truth is quite easy," the girl with braided hair
cheered.

Giggling, Likka bit her thumb's nail as she looked at the completed
list. "They might as well have confessed who it was after the ex-
boyfriend told the police that three of them were telling the truth. We
have to show this to the police. You'll be coming with me, because I
won't be able to explain things are clearly as you just did."

"What? _Again_? Civilians aren't supposed to do police work!" Natsuki
protested, remembering how hard it was for her to get the police to
take her seriously without the help of Likka's detective brother-in-law
to help.

"Nonsense. Amateur detectives have always been asked to help the police
with crimes! Don't you watch TV? The Zodiac Killer case also used the
help of amateur detectives as well as the professionals, I'll have you
know!" Likka blabbered, which made Natsuki bead up perspiration large
enough to possibly leave her dehydrated. "Besides, I want to see the
look on Uncle Jiji's face when he finds out that we've beaten him to the
punch and discovered who the killer is before he did!"

'Heh. It's more than likely that Daiji-sempai had already figured out
the whole thing as soon as the ex-boyfriend confessed and is now looking
for evidence to back up that one lead.' Natsuki's lips shrunk into a
moue of consternation.

'He probably _didn't_ tell his fellow officers what he found out because
of the lack of evidence. Even if I were able to convince the police to
agree with my solution to this puzzle, it's still the ex-boyfriend's
word against the brothers' words; just another statement added to nine
others. There has to be some way I can make the true killer slip up and
confess to his crimes...'


===


One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Human World, at the
Minamino-Hatenaka residence...

Kurama grabbed hold of his head as his eyes struggled hard to focus on
the double image before him while his head throbbed inside his skull
like a second heartbeat. Meanwhile, flashes of silvery hair that
glittered gold in the light danced in front of his mental vision, a
clawed hand grabbing hold of the toddler-like ruler of the Spirit World.

"Oh, good! You're finally back! Thank Izanagi, I thought we'd have to
leave you here all asleep until your folks came back!" came the relieved
exclamation of everyone's favorite blue-haired, red-eyed, and pink-
kimono-wearing goddess of death.

"Botan! Wait, I'm _back_? Where was I?" Kurama winced and palmed his
face as a renewed wave of nausea overwhelmed him. 'Where am I?' The
rose-haired teenager took stock of his surroundings, which then eased
his trepidation; the pencil cases, pen containers, bookshelf, bed,
cabinet, curtains, and potted plants were all his, or at least the
property of his other self, Shuichi Minamino. He was back home at the
shared residence that his stepfather and, well, "foster" mother were
currently sharing at the moment.

Out of the blue, Kurama stood up in automatic readiness--an instinct
born out of his seasoned experience when it came to handling sneak
attacks back when he was still considered a powerful bandit king of
sorts--when he felt movement at the corner of his eyes, his dainty hand
already holding the stem of the rose hidden in his long hair. He
afterwards blanched at the person before him.

"K-Kenshin!" the young adult with rose-red hair exclaimed at the not-so-
young spirit guardian with the orange-red tresses. "W-What are you doing
out of your sword? Shouldn't you be...?"

"K-Kurama-dono! Ah... I'm glad that you're back," Kenshin mumbled, his
purple eyes darting back and forth at the floor and at the teenaged
half-demon.

>From there, it all came flooding back to Kurama--or, at least the part
where he went to the Spirit World to fetch the Youtou Shinnoken and then
unsheathed it at the request of the long-dead specter of his former
ally, Kuronue.

Because the half-youko tended to be a quick study when it came to
puzzles and secrets, he promptly put two and two together and figured
out that Kenshin was currently in the possession of Botan, which was why
the spirit guardian managed to have a corporeal form. At that point,
Kurama confronted the shinigami outright, his human heart palpitating
with an inexplicable feeling of dread.

"What happened to me after I pulled the Demon Sword out of its sheath?"
was the question Kurama asked that Botan and her "tenant", Kaoru Kamiya,
had a very hard time answering.

"Y-You don't remember what happened at all, Kurama?" Botan ventured, her
eyebrow raised more in wariness than in suspicion.

Kenshin was the second to speak of the "trio". "Well, you went a little
berserk after drawing the sword, Kurama-dono. Apparently, our mind-meld
was just part of the effects of the Youtou Shinnoken on you. By
unsheathing it altogether, you were able to completely unleash the
powers and original form of the fox demon you once were."

Kurama's face drained itself of color until it was as white as freshly
plowed snow. "The youko returned when I pulled the Demon Sword out?
That's the reaction that my body got from the weapon when I did that?"

Botan waxed contemplative as she remarked, "That's actually the main
function of the Youtou Shinnoken, isn't it? Like Iehik said, it's
supposed to be like a magnifying lens that enhances your powers to
greater heights." She gulped, remembering that she actually checked the
redheaded fox demon avatar's power level with the spirit energy tracker
she had on hand.

Seemingly reading Botan's mind, Kurama questioned, "What was my power
level at that point? You were able to scan it at the time, weren't you?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Botan revealed, "It was over S-Level.
S-Plus, to be exact; upper echelon, conqueror class. You were around the
same power level as Raizen, Mukuro, and..."

"...Yomi," Kurama finished for Botan as he sat back down on his bed and
contemplated the implications of this latest event. Had he lost control
of his senses after brandishing the naked blade of the Youtou Shinnoken?
Furthermore, wasn't this what he wanted from the start eighteen-odd
years ago? To gain power comparable to that of the Three Kings of the
Demon World?

'I did. I went to the Human World to hunt for a prize that would've led
to the next evolution of Youko Kurama's legend. Had I possessed the
Demon Sword, the balance of power between the Three Kings of Makai
would've shifted and, with any luck, I would've ended up becoming
supreme ruler. That very dream had been handed down to me on a silver
platter a few moments ago, but do I still want that dream of mine? Is it
still my dream?'

Unbeknownst to the half-youko, Botan refrained from revealing to him
that the S-Plus rating she got was the base level of his power and, had
he unleashed even more of his magnified potential, he could've went way
beyond that threshold to the point of reaching the power known only to
entities like Yakumo, Enma Daio, Amida Nyorai, Daruma, Susanoo,
Tsukiyomi, Amaterasu, Uzume, Tenjin, Fujin, Raijin, Ryujin, Izanami, and
Izanagi: The Power of the Gods and Goddesses, the Alpha and Omega Class,
X-Level.

That made sense, after all--a D-Class can turn into a B-Class thanks to
the sword, so it was only natural that an S-Class half-youkai like
Kurama could go even higher than that. Had the Youtou Shinnoken reacted
to Yusuke normally, then he would've acquired the same type of power as
well.

Of course, Kurama's instincts flared with all the usual warning signals
that something was amiss. "What happened after the youko inside me
awakened?" he picked his words carefully, alarmed by the fact that when
he transformed back to his fox demon self, he couldn't remember a thing.

This hadn't happened before; this hadn't happened in a long time,
actually. The last time he transformed into his former glory was when he
fought against Shigure in the Demon World Unification Tournament.

This harkened back to the time when Kurama's youko self was fighting
against his adopted human form's self. His biorhythm indicated that the
"real" Kurama was slowly but surely taking over "Shuichi's" body ever
since the Dark Martial Arts Tournament where "he" first appeared, and
his condition even worsened after meeting with his old comrade, Yomi.

Like a schizophrenic or even a sufferer of bipolar disorder, the
intervals between Kurama acting more like his demon counterpart and
behaving like his human self had shortened to the point that he could've
"snapped" and changed back to the legendary youko at any time.

He never did, though, thanks to his decision while fighting the surgeon
behind Hiei's third eye--to seal his demon self and live the rest of
Shuichi Minamino's life as a normal human being. Had he made the right
decision, though? Should he have abandoned his mother, stepfather, and
stepbrother in order to become truer to himself? He had no idea.

Kurama was roused from his deliberations once Botan mustered the courage
to talk. However, his senses indicated that someone else had taken over
the ferry-girl's body judging by her atypical body language, gait, and
swagger more reminiscent of a sporty, tomboyish girl than the fun-loving
shinigami.

"Y-Your other self... the tall one with silver hair and narrowed golden
eyes... almost finished off Koenma, the Lord of the Dead, using the
Demon Sword," Botan disclosed before backtracking and muttering, "Don't
listen to what I'm saying, Kurama! I'm a bit frazzled and confused by
the events! Kaoru, it's... t-too soon, you blabbermouth!"


===


Two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, inside the Metropolitan
Police Department's Shinjuku Police Station during the afternoon...

"Okay. It looks like there isn't much we can do now," the fifty-two-
year-old Inspector Masaya Taniguchi of the Criminal Investigation Bureau
groused as he took one more look at the "confessions" presented to him.
The siblings' outright attempts at perjury and obstruction of justice
grated on his nerves, but then again, none of the Shimamura brothers
were of legal age and they were all considered, under Japanese Law,
juveniles.

Therefore, any offenses outside of the very serious crimes like rape and
murder would be dealt with through Family Court and protective measures
that, when used on an adult, would be considered as mere slaps on the
wrist. 'They can lie and give false testimony all they want, but once
one of them is proven guilty of killing both the rape victim and her
former boyfriend, then the kid gloves are off.'

"Where the hell is Detective Matsudaira? We haven't gotten a
breakthrough since the victim's ex-boyfriend waltzed in here as a
witness of sorts," the rotund, tomato-nosed, and tan-skinned inspector
grumbled as he filled his lungs with smoke from his stogie.

Akio Oogata, the victim's ex-boyfriend, had arrived in a pompous and
blustery fashion along with the victim's fifteen-year-old sister,
Katsumi Kishida, a week ago. Then, just a few days later, he was found
dead and mutilated in an alleyway within Kabukicho, sporting the very
same "Hon" markings as Miki Kishida.

With that said, police suspected that one of the quintuplets perpetrated
the second murder as well, save for the fact that the murder weapon used
on Oogata was starkly different from the weapon used against the
deceased Kishida--a katana instead of a kitchen knife.

'It seems awfully convenient that once Oogata-shi introduced himself to
the Shimamuras, he got himself killed by the Kanji Killer.' With that
said, the Shinjuku inspector had a hunch why his best detective was
distracted by the recent turn of events.

"I'm afraid Matsudaira-kun had gone off to further investigate the
circumstances behind the murder of Oogata Akio-shi, inspector," the
buxom, thick-lipped, and sultry-voiced Detective Aiko Tsunemoto informed
with a smile that belied the seeming concern of her question. 'First
come, first served, Matsudaira-kun. I hope there are no hard feelings
once I crack this case,' she purred to herself.

Taniguchi rolled his eyes. It was as he suspected. "We have no time to
cater to personal vendettas. We have a case to solve right now." The
inspector harrumphed.

A crisp slap was heard inside the interrogation room wherein the entire
Shimamura clan, their attorneys, the last surviving member of the
Kishida family, and her legal representative stayed.

Both Inspector Taniguchi and Detective Tsunemoto hurried into the middle
of the commotion, only to see the smarmy Officer Shigetaka Uye bowing
and apologizing to the Shimamura lawyers while the tall Officer Takumi
Hamada held the crying Katsumi back as she attempted to slap Kunihiko
Shimamura, the Shimamura patriarch, for a second time.

"How dare you? How dare you sully the good name of my sister and our
family with your lies? The Shimamura quintuplets' identities are
protected by law, so the media can't even publish their names! There was
no point in defaming my sister!" the fifteen-year-old Katsumi screamed
while Officer Hamada maintained a firm grip on her.

The more Katsumi thought about the Shimamura clan's absolute betrayal
of her sister's memory, the angrier she got. Because Japanese law
protected juvenile delinquents' identities yet didn't extend the same
courtesy to their victims, her sister Miki was currently being
victimized by the sensationalist media and a patriarchal society that
forbade its women from being able to call for help while being molested
inside public transportation because they might cause a ruckus and
disturb other passengers.

"I'm really sorry about this, Mister Shimamura! I didn't expect her to
make a scene," Officer Uye assured the Shimamura patriarch as he
interposed himself between the livid Katsumi and the disheveled-but-
complacent Kunihiko. Even though the officer attempted to straighten the
forty-two-year-old tycoon's business suit, he was brusquely brushed away
by the older man.

"Please. Can you even prove any of the accusations you're hurling at me
and my family? Your actions are unbecoming of a lady. I should've
expected as much from the sister of a loose woman." Kunihiko flinched as
Katsumi took another swing at him, but the facemask-wearing Officer
Hamada deftly intercepted the attempt.

"More rumors and lies! It was the teachers at school that tried to take
advantage of the fact that my sister was a working student and she was
struggling in her classes because of her work schedule!" Katsumi ground
her teeth and tensed her body.

Screw social expectations; her sister had been victimized enough by
society looking down on her and her actions! Katsumi wouldn't let the
sacrifices of Miki to get her a better education go in vain.

His nose upturned, Kunihiko straightened his collar and sneered at the
young girl. "Is that what your sister told you? You're too naive. That's
not what my researchers discovered. She's a social climber who wanted to
sleep with men who had significant influence in order to improve her lot
in life."

In the background, the eldest quintuplet--Katsuhiko--winced and looked
away. "Unfortunately for her, her plans all backfired in her face.
You're still here to cash in, though, which is something that I won't
let happen."

"Your researchers...? Then you _were_ feeding the media with all that
bile, hate, and half-truths, you SNAKE IN THE GRASS!"

Katsumi screamed while also demanding Officer Hamada to release her. The
lanky, face-obscured cop that kept the rape-slay victim's sister from
tearing Mister Shimamura's eyes out sniffled and cleared his throat,
which prompted Inspector Taniguchi to warn him about his recent cold and
to take things easy.


===


One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Human World, at the
Minamino-Hatenaka residence...

Kurama licked his lips and grabbed hold of half of his face. "I did
that? I can't believe that I... and I don't remember at all? But why?
I'm him! He's me! And I've decided to... not be him any longer." He
realized that he'd just answered his own question as to why Youko
Kurama did what he did; he betrayed his other self in order to live out
the rest of his life as a human.

Kurama repressed a shiver as his blood turned cold at the thought that
the person he once was--the man he swore was a part of him, his dark id
and Mister Edward Hyde of sorts--had finally been unleashed without him
being the wiser; an independent personality separate from his present
consciousness.

The rose-haired redhead felt the comforting grasp of a fiery redhead's
hand. "Don't worry, Kurama. I understand," said Kenshin.

"I guess you'd have to, since we were one and the same man for at least
a couple of minutes," Kurama remarked with a smirk, remembering that
Kenshin and he had shared one mind, body, soul, and consciousness at one
point.

"Well, yeah... _that_ and the fact that I myself have gone through the
same thing you've experienced when it came to dealing with your shadowy
self. I'm sure you remember the Battousai, correct?" Kenshin replied in
kind at the man who shared his voice, his effeminate face, and his
methodical countenance.

Kurama looked down on the floor and nodded slowly in agreement,
remembering that Kenshin himself had his own problems with his other
self: the supposed Hitokiri Battousai (who eventually became the Youkiri
Battousai if his revived rival Hajime Saito were to be believed). In
many ways, Youko Kurama and Battousai Himura were very much alike.

However, shouldn't Youko Kurama be considered as Doctor Henry Jekyll,
and Shuichi, the human version, Mister Edward Hyde? Kurama wasn't
sure... or perhaps the mere notion frightened him too much to even
acknowledge it.

After a short while, Kurama clarified, "Unlike Battousai, who was born
out of Himura Kenshin, Minamino Shuichi was born out of Youko Kurama and
not the other way around. You're looking at the shadowy self of my true
self. I've become the mask."

"I don't know about you guys, but I have no idea what you're talking
about. Shadowy self? You've become the mask? Are you trying to tell me
that the scary, white-haired demon I saw just hours ago is who you
really are, Kurama-san?" the Kaoru inside Botan commented as she palmed
her forehead and tried desperately to sum up in her head what was being
discussed.

Kurama raised an eyebrow at Botan and blinked. "What are you so confused
about? You should already know all this by now. You were there when my
demonic self first manifested itself after decades of dormancy,
remember?"

"Ah! No, you don't understand, Kurama! That wasn't me talking just now!"
Botan stammered, inwardly glaring at the stowaway spirit residing inside
her shinigami soul. "That was... Kaoru. Kamiya Kaoru. A... good friend
of Kenshin. For one reason or another, when I take possession of the
Demon Sword, she pops up. No idea why, but that crazy artifact reacts
differently to different people every time anyway."

Kurama sighed with a half-smile of sorts. 'Oh great. All three of us
here have split personalities.' To Botan, he reiterated, "Okay. Settle
down. I believe you, Botan. So your, uh, new friend isn't up to speed in
regards to who I am and who Kurama, well, Youko Kurama is, right?"

"Don't worry. I'll explain everything to her," Kenshin piped up before
turning towards Botan and addressing Kaoru. "From what I can glean from
the brief 'bonding' time I had with Kurama, this human form of his is an
avatar for his wounded kitsune soul."

"K-Kitsune? You mean like... M-Megumi-chan?" Kaoru queried, remembering
Megumi Takani's alias among their group. She almost scoffed at the idea
that legendary creatures truly exist even though she herself was stuck
in even more unbelievable circumstances. "I mean, so he's a demon? How
did he get a human avatar? Why was he wounded? Is this a normal
occurrence for kitsune?"

"Whenever a kitsune spirit manifests itself into physical form, it has
three options. He could go into animal form, the demonic form you say
you've seen earlier on, or by possessing creatures. Some kitsune can
even change form at will, but that comes at the price of not having an
identity to call their own," Kurama said, somewhat fascinated with the
idea of "meeting" someone without seeing them.

Her curiosity piqued, Botan pushed Kaoru back into the back of their
shared consciousness and asked Kurama, "Come to think of it, I never did
learn what's the deal with your kitsune avatar and the baby possession
thing. Don't get me wrong, Kurama; I still think you're one of the good
guys, but please do tell us how you came to be."

Kurama obliged. "I've been human for nearly two decades now. A kitsune
can take over the body of a child or a fox--either very young, or even
the unborn. This method is the least difficult way for a kitsune to
manifest, plus it's useful to me because I was at death's door at the
time I was forced to manifest in some form other than my original self."

Then, Kurama stared straight into Botan's pink eyes up until he could
see a hint of blue fire in them. "In regards to 'murdering' the soul of
the possessed creature, there have been instances where the kitsune and
his avatar merged into a hybrid creature of sorts. Whether you want to
view my relationship with Minamino Shuichi as symbiotic or parasitic is
wholly up to you."

"This is the first time I've encountered a real-life kitsune myself,
Kaoru-dono--and one that possessed the body of a human child, to boot!
It was fascinating to pick through the brain of a demon turned human and
seeing firsthand the battle between good and evil inside of him!"
Unbeknownst to Kenshin, he'd said the exact wrong thing to Botan's and
Youko Kurama's respective alter egos.

Simultaneously, Kurama and Kaoru exclaimed the following statements:

"It's an oversimplification to label my demon side and my human side as
'good' and 'evil'. It's a lot more complicated than that, Kenshin!"

"You mean that monster who almost killed Koenma actually took over an
unborn human baby like some sort of body snatcher too?" asked Kaoru.

A half-second later, the two "alter egos" faced each other and demanded,
"What did you say?"

Kenshin dove in between both the fearful Kaoru and the flabbergasted
Kurama even though he didn't have a clue on how to defuse the
potentially explosive confrontation.

"I did _what_ now?" Kurama couldn't help but yell at Botan--or Kaoru.
Whoever she was at the moment. "You've got to be kidding me. I almost
killed Koenma as the youko? Why would I do such a thing? What would
that accomplish?"

The ferry-girl visibly winced at Kurama's display of aggravation, and
the rosy redhead couldn't tell which "personality" of hers compelled her
to do so. However, did it really matter?

If what she said was true, then all he was doing was confirming to her
that he was the monster that tried to assassinate the Lord of the Dead
himself. "I'm sorry for my outburst. Is there any proof of what you're
saying, Bo... Kaoru? That's your name, right?"


===


Two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, inside the Metropolitan
Police Department's Shinjuku Police Station during the afternoon...

"As for you two, you should both calm down! The death of Oogata-shi
changes nothing in this case. In accordance to all the testimonies given
to us, Katsuhiko is our number one suspect because most of his siblings
testified against him. We'll handle Oogata-shi's murder as a case
separate from Kishida-shi's rape-slay because of evidence linking the
actual Kanji Killer to the crime," came the inspector's ultimatum.

"But Inspector, how about Oogata-shi's testimony?" was what Detective
Tsunemoto brought up, remembering what her fellow detective was
preoccupied with before the grim specter of the Kanji Killer reared his
ugly head and murdered the police's one other witness. "He took a look
at the testimonies and declared that only three of the nine brothers
were telling the truth."

"That's a non-issue. What Oogata-shi said merely confirms our earlier
suspicions, and it even fits perfectly with what he confessed in regards
to the rape-slay case," Officer Shigetaka interjected as he looked at
Detective Tsunemoto as though he were talking to a child. "He said that
only three of the nine brothers were telling the truth, right? Well,
those three are Fumio-kun, Doi-kun, and Katsuhiko-kun himself. We
already have our suspect."

"Like hell you'll get my Katsuhiko! He'd already been burned by a gold
digger before, so there's no way he'll even touch that money-grubbing
whore!" Kunihiko pledged as he pushed his team of lawyers forward.
"Well? What am I paying you clowns for? Defend my son!"

The Shimamura family's head lawyer shuffled forward and declared in
monotone, "We will cooperate with the authorities, but the bottom line
here is that there's little to no evidence linking _any_ of the
Shimamura quintuplets to Kishida Miki-shi save for her sister's
accusations and testimonies that amount to nothing more than
speculation from all nine siblings. We still haven't gotten the whole
picture yet, but we're confident that in the end of the day, this case
will be dismissed."

"I don't know about that, honey. From our own research of the Shimamura
family, Mister Shimamura has had a penchant for collecting mistresses on
the side, and quite a lot of the boys hardly have stellar disciplinary
records as well. Even if they're to be tried as juveniles by Family
Court, the apple probably doesn't fall far from the tree, as evidenced
by the fact that your quintuplets are all bastard children," Katsumi's
court-assigned legal representative countered. If they wanted to play
hardball, then so be it; let the airing of dirty laundry commence.

It was at that point that the self-assured smile on Kunihiko's face
warped and distorted into a frothing, jowl-flapping mess that compelled
him to "switch roles" with Katsumi this time around and attempt to
strangle Katsumi's lawyer in cold blood. Of course, Inspector Taniguchi
immediately held the fuming businessman back.

"Who the hell are you? Damn ambulance chaser! Know your place, harlot!
You know nothing about me and my family! You'll rue the day you've
messed with the Shimamura Zaibatsu! There will come a time when I'll do
serious harm to your career."

"Your idle threats mean nothing to me, Mister Shimamura. Your attitude
towards women... your outright misogyny, even... must've carried over to
your sons from the way you raised them. I don't care if you have an
entire conglomerate and unlimited resources to back you up." Katsumi's
attorney rolled her eyes and stood her ground, her hand finding its way
to Katsumi's and squeezing it encouragingly.

"I'm sick and tired of having an outdated system of law that sides with
the rapist instead of the rape victim more often than not. Even though
it's already too late for Miss Kishida, I will at the very least be on
her sister's side in honor of her memory, fighting the good fight until
the end."

Kunihiko growled, "Idle threats? You have no idea what you're talking
about. You've made a big mistake. Watch your back. Your comeuppance is
at hand. Once you end up jobless and with a broken reputation, I will
call you and tell you it was me." Subsequently, the unmistakable peal of
womanly laughter was heard from behind the arguing parties of Mister
Shimamura and the last surviving Kishida. "What's so funny, Hikaru?"

Hikaru Shimamura (nee Shinohara) held her palm perpendicular to her chin
as she laughed to her heart's content over her husband's flabbergasted
state. "OHOHOHOHOHO! Well, you are, my dear! You're simply hilarious.
You're actually threatening a lowly prosecutor's career just because she
said the truth about your past indiscretions. I haven't seen you so
beside yourself with fake rage and obvious defensiveness since I last
caught you cheating with your favorite tramp."

"I don't want to talk about the past, most especially inside a police
station!" Kunihiko hissed, his right hand twitching as he gave his wife
a warning glare before he backed down once he came to his senses and saw
all the cops surrounding him. "You weren't the one who supplied this
bitch with all that information about our family, were you?"

"I can't say I did, although I am glad that this happened to you even
though I played no part in it," said Hikaru with a disdainful sneer.
"And don't you dare use that tone of voice on me. The Shimamura
Financial Group wouldn't have gotten as big as it is now without my hand
in marriage and the merging of the Shinohara Corporation with your
failing zombie firm. As I've expected, your quintuplets have proven
themselves as nothing but trouble, just like their mother."

"Don't you dare talk about our mother like that," the long-silent eldest
quintuplet of the Shimamura family (and the police's prime suspect in
the rape and murder of Miki Kishida)--Katsuhiko Shimamura, age sixteen--
finally spoke up. "Don't you have any respect for the dead, Hikaru-san?"


===


One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Human World, at the
Minamino-Hatenaka residence...

"We don't have much in the way of proof, but I can confirm that we all
witnessed you transforming into... Youko Kurama, is it? Yes, we
definitely saw that," Kenshin interposed, leaving out the part where he
was half-impressed yet half-intimidated by the fact that Kurama wielded
the Demon Sword's power in an even more efficient manner than Yusuke
did way back when.

"No, no! I know I'm the relative newcomer of this group, but isn't this
guy someone we should be wary of?" Kaoru insisted, and Botan herself was
powerless to stop the stubborn girl's flare-up of sorts. "Am I missing
something here? He took over the life of an unborn child like some sort
of wolf in sheep's clothing! He almost killed Koenma Daio with Kenshin's
sword! I don't know what he did to earn your trust, Botan, but maybe
he's showing his true colors right now!"

Botan decided it was her turn to berate the person residing inside her
mind. "Now look here, missy! Don't you dare bad mouth Kurama like that;
he's been through a lot. He's no murderer of babies. Look in my memories
and see the truth! He loves humans, especially his mother! Kurama may
have struggled to do the right thing before when Yusuke and I first met
him, but he always came through with good intentions behind his
actions in the end."

The ferry-girl paused and waited for a response. Getting none, she
continued. "Didn't you say that Kurama reminded you of Kenshin? Well,
like Kenshin, he also had a shady past but has now reformed himself to
be a better member of society! I'm sure he has a perfectly logical
explanation regarding the incident. Isn't that right, Kura...?"

The trio--technically a duo if you count only Botan and Kenshin, or even
a foursome if you count Kaoru, Botan, Kenshin, and Battousai--afterwards
saw Kurama collapse on his knees, his body shuddering from the weight of
his own realization.

>From within Botan's mind, she felt Kaoru metaphorically backpedal, a
wave of nostalgia that wasn't her own filling her insides, the visage of
Kenshin juxtaposed yet again to Kurama's own face. 'I guess that scary
man with silver hair isn't anything like Kurama after all... just like
Battousai is to Kenshin, huh?'

"This isn't supposed to happen. I've abandoned that life. I've decided
to live my life as a human. The dream I had a while ago showed me
merging with the youko, not breaking myself apart from him. This doesn't
make any sense."

"Then you shouldn't consider your youko self to be your other you or
even the original you," Kenshin reasoned. "He's a part of you, and he is
you. There's darkness in all of our hearts, demon or human alike, and
the reason why you feel like the youko is separate from who you are now
is because of how much you've changed while living your human life; I'm
merely presuming, of course. We've only bonded for a short time, so I
can only guess what you've been through."

It was Botan's turn to feel sheepish over her actions--or, in this case,
her lack of action. In one paragraph, Kenshin was able to sum up who
Kurama was in terms of light and darkness; something that she should've
done, considering that she'd been around the red-haired teenager longer
than either the rurouni or the kendo master living inside her brain.

Kurama couldn't help but chuckle at Kenshin's elaborate theory. "Huh.
You do understand." Smiling, he plopped his back on the side of his bed
while sitting on the floor before his expression turned ominous.

"Kenshin, how would you react if your other self became a separate
personality altogether instead of being a facet of you? What if
Battousai the Manslayer... or even Battousai the Demon-Slayer... lived
outside of your consciousness?"

Kenshin stared at Kurama for what seemed like forever before answering,
"I'm not sure. I guess I can accept my other self, but if push came to
shove and he went against the principles I hold, then he must be dealt
with. Why do you ask? Do you want to deal with your demon self before he
hurts anyone?"

Kurama's crooked mouth and razor-sharp green eyes spoke volumes. "Didn't
I just tell you? I'm the other self in this scenario. I was just
wondering what Youko Kurama would do to me now that he's... well, I've
become a separate entity altogether from him. He's already made his
move. Just how were you able to stop me... him... from harming Koenma
anyway?"

At that moment, for one reason or another, both the faces of Kenshin and
Botan--or probably Kaoru, Kurama wasn't sure--turned beet red as they
faced opposite directions. This baffled the kitsune quite a bit, which
was a feeling he rarely ever encountered.

After a few minutes, Kenshin managed to squeak out, "The sword switched
owners. From what I can gather, you can only turn into the silver-haired
fox demon after you've unsheathed the Youtou Shinnoken from its
scabbard. Now that the sword is in Botan's possession, I'm now in my
physical form."

"I... I see," Kurama reluctantly acknowledged even though he was still
deathly curious about Kenshin and the twin-personality ferry-girl's
reaction concerning his question. "Fine, you were able to take the sword
and give it to Botan. So why do you have the Youtou Shinnoken within my
arm's reach? Shouldn't you have locked me away instead and put that
artifact as far away from me as possible?"

"Well, I for one have the same question!" was the quip Kaoru never had a
chance to say thanks to Botan's force of will. At any rate, the trio or
duo looked at each other in stunned silence before facing the half-youko
and bracing themselves for the subsequent response.

"I'm afraid after the attempt on his life, Koenma specifically ordered
us to help you out with the mission _with_ the Youtou Shinnoken in tow,"
the ex-vagabond informed.

Kurama was beside himself with lividness. "WHY? That doesn't make a lick
of sense, Kenshin! According to you, I almost murdered Koenma. If
anything, I should be in lock and key by now."

"...Not that _that_ would've made any difference, knowing your legendary
thievery skills," Botan innocently noted.

"...That's beside the point! Keep the Demon Sword away from me!
Regardless of whatever magic was put in there, it's quite obvious that I
couldn't handle its might and it makes me drunk with unmitigated power.
I can complete any mission Reikai gives me just fine without having to
look after an artifact that could kill us all! I don't even know why
Koenma would even order such a thing!"

Botan furrowed her eyebrows in concern over Kurama's uncharacteristic
overreaction. However, she herself was having second thoughts about
Koenma's plans as well. "Actually, Koenma-sama was very... excited about
you reacting to the Youtou Shinnoken the way you did. He even shielded
you from getting tackled and vaporized by Captain Ootake of the Bouetai
after you transformed back to your human self. He says that your
ability to merge with both the personalities of Kenshin and the
Battousai will help a lot in the upcoming battle against the Overfiend
down the line."

Kaoru chose that instance to put her two yen in the conversation. "He
almost assassinated the Lord of the Dead! How sure are we that he can
control his bloodlust? I know that he is your friend and all, but can we
really trust him when it comes to handling the power of Kenshin's sword?
You do realize why this is a bad idea, right?"

"I do," Kurama himself agreed with Kaoru's reasoning. "Although the
Chojin is nearly approaching X-Level now thanks to the large amounts of
unused negative energy his minions are gathering from the Human World,
that doesn't justify letting me get taken over by the corruptive power
of the Demon Sword. Kenshin and his weapon must be taken as far away
from me as possible despite Koenma's orders."

"I disagree with the both of you," Kenshin declared with gravitas born
out of his decades of human and demon assassination experience. "Koenma-
dono believes that you'll someday find a way to take control of the
Demon Sword without losing yourself to its power. Kurama, don't you
trust yourself enough to be able to handle having the Demon Sword at
arm's reach? He essentially gave you the same responsibility that I
bear. He trusts you as much as he trusts me."

Kurama turned towards Kenshin and breathed a belated sigh. "With all due
respect, I'm not sure if that's such a good idea. I mean, there must be
a reason why you were sealed in a shrine for decades' on end in the
first place, correct?"

Just then, they heard an enthusiastic series of knocks on the younger
redhead's door. It then swung open and revealed the presence of an
excited woman in her forties who sported slight scars on her forearms. A
fourteen-year-old boy that shared the same first name as Kurama's human
alter ego was with her.

"Shuichi! Your stepfather and I brought back some beef sukiyaki yes...
Oh my." Shiori Minamino looked at Kurama and the people around him with
a half-amused and half-bemused stare as she covered her mouth and
shielded Shuichi Hatenaka's eyes from the scene. "I didn't know you
had... company. Would either of you two like to join us for breakfast?"

Numbly, both Kenshin and Botan (as well as Kaoru, presumably) shook
their heads at the same time, unable to explain themselves, their
presence, or even their antiquated getup. Even Kurama appeared
flabbergasted by the turn of events.

Nodding primly, Shiori Minamino cooed, "I understand. Um, could you
please keep things quiet, Shuichi? Your little brother is home for the
weekend. If you want to go out and eat with your lady friends instead,
please remember to take your key with you. We can leave some leftovers
for you in the fridge if you want."

Even though Kurama was usually the sharp-witted sort, it took him about
a minute after his foster mother shut his room's door--murmuring
something about boys being boys--before the full implications of what
she just assumed of him dawned upon him with the force of a slap to the
face. "No, mom! You misunderstood! It's not what it looks like! I'm
not... that's not the relationship I have with these people at all!"

And although Kenshin was quite quick on the uptake like Kurama, he also
came to a belated realization of Shiori's suppositions as well. "ORO?
Lady friends? Dating? Wait a minute... I'm not even a girl!" For her
part, the ferry-girl could only blush and giggle in sheepish delight or
gleeful embarrassment; she wasn't quite sure which one she actually
felt.


===


Two weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, inside the Metropolitan
Police Department's Shinjuku Police Station during the afternoon...

>From behind Katsuhiko Shimamura, the rest of the quintuplets... Houjo,
Akahito, Doi, and Ennosuke... congregated together, as they tended to
whenever the subject of their legitimacy as family members was brought
up by their father's legal wife.

"That's quite funny to hear from the person who may actually be a
_murderer_ and a _rapist_; a criminal through and through, if you will."
Hikaru snorted at how the bastard sons of her husband huddled together
and aimed identical looks that ranged from pleading to hatefulness; she
never actually bothered to know which quintuplet was which anyway.

Katsumi Ishida tugged at her lawyer's vest, her eyes swirling with
confusion and hesitation over what was happening, but her legal
representative merely smiled and gripped her other hand tighter. "Let
them fight. They may blurt out something we can use later. Remember,
this is all for the sake of getting your sister the justice that she
deserves, okay?"

"Like Miss Kishida's gung-ho attorney says, the apple doesn't fall far
from the tree. I wouldn't expect anything less from that homewrecker's
son. Karma works in a straightforward fashion, doesn't it? You five
killed your mother during childbirth, and now you're living up to your
mother's infamy as well by showing your true colors as criminals and
delinquents!"

"Leave my brothers and my mother out of this, Hikaru-san!" came
Katsuhiko's stern yet somewhat respectful warning. "You're free to call
me whatever you want or even disown me for my actions, but please...
don't involve my brothers and my mother with this crime. I'm willing to
do time, if that's what it takes."

"HIKARU, THAT'S ENOUGH!" Kunihiko boomed in no uncertain terms. "You
will not talk to any of my sons like that! Nothing has been proven yet,
and that one other witness they have is already dead. They have no case,
and if worse comes to worst, I will bail out whichever of them gets
jailed. Katsuhiko, you're not going anywhere except home. I promise you
that."

It was Hikaru's turn to spew out a tempest fueled by an injustice of
love. "NO! No. You listen to ME! I am sick and tired of you playing
favorites with that bitch's sons over the sons I've given you!
Legitimate sons of your own flesh and blood that deserve the fortune
we've both accumulated far more than those bastards ever will!"

"Stop acting so jealous, Hikaru! It was you who I married, right?"
Kunihiko gestured in a not-so-reassuring manner, especially considering
the fact that Hikaru just mentioned earlier that they were married out
of convenience's sake "Besides, can't you even let bygones be bygones?
What's past is past. The quintuplets are here now, and they're not going
away if I have any say on it. They're my sons too, even if they aren't
yours!"

"If it were up to me, they're not going to get a single yen out of the
great steel and textiles fortune I've built thanks to the merger we
made! The fact that I'm a majority shareholder and Executive Vice-
President of this damn conglomerate shows that I _do_ have a lot of say
in it!" Hikaru retorted.

"It's an empire we've _both_ made, and I'm the CEO of this company!
What I say goes, and I can veto whatever decision you make at my behest!
Don't try my patience, Hikaru!" Kunihiko warned.

"I've seen the will and the way that you treat my sons. Instead of
preparing Ippei as the successor of the Shimamura Zaibatsu's steel and
construction division, you've instead chosen that bitch's son instead!
You might as well have slapped me on the face by doing that, as though
Kazuko-chan's children are somehow superior to your actual _legitimate_
sons!"

"Who is Kazuko-chan?" Katsumi, who had long ago been released from
Officer Hamada's clutches, whispered to her attorney's ear as they (and
the rest of the people who were crammed inside the interrogation room)
backed away from the ruckus that the arguing old couple created. She
didn't know what to feel about the present turn of events. More to the
point, it confused her.

"Hikaru-san is referring to Ichijo Kazuko-chan, her best friend and her
husband's mistress," Katsumi's lawyer notified, her eyes gleaming with
barely contained glee. "When it comes to powerful people like them, it's
best that we fight fire with fire. If they want to sling mud at your
sister's good name, then they should be careful, or else some of that
mud might end up on themselves as well. Zaibatsu or no zaibatsu, they're
as human as the rest of us are."

"Ippei? HA! That slacker? He's more interested in being a leech and
spreading his seed than actually manning the company! You have it all
wrong; if he only showed the slightest bit of responsibility or business
acumen, then I would've gladly handed the company to him. Unfortunately,
he's the very definition of a trust-fund baby, so of course I have no
choice but to depend on the responsible one among our sons."

"RESPONSIBLE? You're actually calling that suspected rapist and murderer
_responsible_? The only thing he's responsible for is the crimes he
confessed that he committed! You must be out of your mind! You're having
another bout of temporary insanity, like the time you 'spread your seed'
into some other woman from behind my back!" was Hikaru's incredulous and
hoarse riposte.

To Kunihiko's consternation, Hikaru's mascara began to run as tears
flooded her eyes. "More importantly, DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT MY SON LIKE
THAT! He's the oldest of our children, and he's a _legitimate_ heir to
your business at that! If you don't want me to insult your
_illegitimate_ children, then I expect _at least_ the same treatment
when talking about your _legitimate_ sons!"

"Mom, stop ragging on both dad and the Japanese Jackson 5. It's not
their fault that their mother was some social climber who had her plans
of wrecking our home backfire on her at the last minute. They're all
cool otherwise," came the backhanded compliment of the Shimamuras'
eldest son, Ippei, as he combed his gelled hair back and smiled the same
smug grin his father gave Katsumi a while back.


===


To be Continued...

Next: More Shimamura Family drama.

Fast Fact: The Shimamura parts were originally reserved for later
chapters.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro
Togashi, Shueisha, Fuji TV, and St. Pierrot. Rurouni Kenshin is
the rightful property of Nobuhiro Watsuki and Sony. This
disclaimer also covers all the other copyrighted material that
are far too many to mention here. Don't sue me please, I'm very
poor.

We're off to find our dreams,
Abdiel