[FFML] [yyh][ry][xover] Demon Sword Chapter 21: Smile Bomb (Part 3)

[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

What's with the whodunit? You'll see.


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Chapter 21: Smile Bomb (Part 3)

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One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...

Kurama brushed his bangs ponderously as he struggled with Botan's
epic of a story. "So let me get this straight: A warrior from the past
was actually assigned by Reikai to guard the Youtou Shinnoken, and he
woke up because of Yusuke's unique energy signature. Then, after meeting
with Botan and checking with you, Koenma, here in the Spirit World, they
went straight to Genkai's temple with Keiko and was ambushed by Rando,
the demon thieves who tried to steal the sword but turned out to be the
guardian's old enemies reincarnated as youkai, and three of the four
Saint Beasts. Am I following this story correctly or am I mistaken?

"W-ell, that's the gist of it. The actual story was so long, involved,
and complicated that even I'm having trouble keeping up with it, _and
I was actually there_!" Botan sheepishly confessed.

"I see." Kurama couldn't say anything more than that as he tried to
replay the events in his mind. From what he heard, had this "Saito"
person not appeared to finish Seiryu off, Keiko would have become
unsalvageable while Genkai and Kuwabara would've died. Had Botan not
managed to bring Keiko back from the dead to talk Yusuke out of
succumbing to the Kugai's insanity-inducing abilities, then Yusuke
would've jumped off the deep end while taking the Guardian of the Demon
Sword along with him because of their bond.

Even Byakko's and Genbu's roles of being mere cannon fodder were
carefully utilized to bring about the most devastating result possible.
The half-youko was particularly amazed at how this so-called Kenshin
Himura managed to defeat his old enemies, the Hiruma brothers, even
after his host, Yusuke, ran out of spirit energy, and he even had to
deal with battling Genbu _and_ Saito beforehand. With that said, Kurama
couldn't make heads or tails out of Saito; was he an ally or an enemy?
What was his agenda? In any case, whoever this Chojin was, he was a
formidable opponent and a diabolical genius.

Once he was done examining the situation, Kurama took a page out of
Yusuke's book and straightforwardly questioned, "I'll ask again; what's
the _real_ reason why you called me here, Koenma?"

"As you've just heard, Yusuke is out of sorts right now. Right after
Yukimura Keiko-san was put into a comma that no human doctor could ever
comprehend, Yusuke was put in the unenviable position of explaining
everything to Yukimura-san's parents without revealing the mystical
truth about ghosts, demons, and humans, which they wouldn't have
believed anyway." Koenma faced the wall and clenched his fists tight,
remembering that he had still had to face Yusuke sooner or later in
regards to the ultimate fate of Keiko's soul.

The baby-faced leader of the ghostly realm turned, raised his head up,
and looked Kurama in the eyes. "That, coupled with the fact that he has
no spirit energy left in his system, has compromised his mission to take
care of the Demon Sword and keep it away from the Chojin's clutches."

Kurama raised his pencil-thin eyebrows way up as his eyes widened into
saucers. "Wait. You don't mean...?" He pointed to himself tentatively.

Koenma nodded once, his squinted eyes mere lines at that point. "Yes.
For the time being, I want you to be the one to guard the Youtou
Shinnoken and keep it safe from harm. As you can see, the Chojin is
almost as good a chess master or shogi expert as Sensui when it comes to
plans and contingency management. Like before, I want no less than
_you_, the smartest of my four spirit detectives, to handle the more
complex Chojin cases while also safeguarding Himura-san and one of our
most precious Reikai artifacts along with the three sacred treasures."

To both Koenma and Botan's surprise, Kurama chuckled at the childlike
emperor's revelation. "Isn't that ironic? I, who once helped steal the
three sacred treasures of the Spirit World, am now tasked to guard a
similar artifact? It's like letting an inmate run an asylum."

"Well, with all due respect, I'm going for the 'It takes one to know
one' principle. Who better to guard a treasure than the person who knows
how to best steal it?" Koenma reasoned equably, but the way he was
tugging on his stuffy uniform's collar exposed his real feelings on the
matter.

"How about the saying, 'There's no honor among thieves'? Are you working
under that principle as well?" Kurama teased, although he had to admit
that his innate inquisitiveness would soon get the better of him. He
certainly was curious about how the Youtou Shinnoken would react to
him--whether it was innocent or morbid curiosity, he couldn't tell.

Botan and Koenma exchanged knowing stares for a minute before regarding
Kurama in mild amazement and wonder, which served to pique the red-
haired, green-eyed young man's natural-born curiosity some more. "What?
Why are you both looking at me like that?"

"You really are the spirit and image of Himura Kenshin! The pensive
personality, sarcastic wit, general friendliness, feminine features,
and dangerous past you two share are just uncanny! Were you guys
separated at birth through time and space or does the Minamino family
tree have ties to the Himura clan?" Botan marveled in spite of herself
and her own Kaoru-related problems, much to Kurama's bafflement.

Speaking of which, Kaoru gave Kurama a good look from inside Botan's
subconscious using the ferry-girl's own eyes and concluded, 'I don't see
it. Kenshin doesn't look anything like him. Besides, Kenshin tends to be
a lot more girly than this guy... although not by much.'

'On the contrary, watch my memory of Kurama fighting Roto, where he got
a cross-shaped scar on his left cheek, just like Kenshin!' Botan
countered as she dug deep into her memories for that particular Ankoku
Bujutsukai episode and replayed it for Kaoru's benefit like a VHS tape.
'See? See? He's practically Rurouni Kurama there! Their regular outfits
are even in the same shade of pink!'

Kaoru viewed the blurry memory for a couple of minutes, still believing
that it was a stretch to consider the effeminate, redheaded, long-
haired, pink-wearing, and sharp-tongued Kurama to be anything like the
effeminate, redheaded, long-haired, pink-wearing, and sharp-tongued
Kenshin. 'Who's the shrimp with the skunk hair?' she inquired after
watching the first couple of minutes of Botan's old memory.

'Focus, woman! FOCUS!' Botan berated without a hint of irony. Kaoru
wished she could palm her face, but she couldn't because the astral body
she presently occupied wasn't really hers, so to speak.

"Himura Kenshin? You mean the guardian of the Demon Sword?" Kurama
queried while Botan got distracted by whatever personalities were
inhabiting her mind. "I've never even met him. Where is he, anyway?
Isn't he still with Yusuke?"

"Actually, he's with her," Koenma notified, pointing right at the
rambling and crazy-looking Botan as she debated about semantics and
opinions concerning Kurama's Kenshin-ness (or Kenshin's Kurama-ness)
with a woman who seemingly came straight back from the past.

"After forcing himself to use his own sword energy to fight the
reincarnated Hiruma brothers, he was ultimately forced to recharge his
metaphoric batteries by remaining inside the Demon Sword like a genie in
a bottle. Yusuke himself hasn't recovered his spirit energy yet, so that
leaves you as the designated caretaker of this important artifact."

"Oro?" came the muffled voice of a slightly frazzled and barely awake
Kenshin as he voiced out his concern from within the dormant Youtou
Shinnoken that was hidden within the spacious folds of Botan's kimono
sleeves after being roused by Kaoru and Botan's silly bickering as well
as Koenma's announcement.


===


One and a half weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, at the
Shinjuku Yamabuki High School...

"So whatever happened to the Kanji Killer's latest victim? I heard that
she fit all the descriptions in regards to the serial murderer's usual
victims," Natsuki interrogated in earnest so as to seize the moment and
not let her attention-span-deprived friend get distracted by most
anything on their path.

"It's been a month since the body was first recovered outside an
abandoned lot, and many things have happened since then. I was able to
rifle through Uncle Jiji's files and find out that the sister of the
victim informed the police that it wasn't the Kanji Killer who did her
sibling in; it was instead someone else. My brother-in-law wasn't at all
surprised by that development because..."

"...The perpetrator carved up the victim's body using the 'Hon' kanji
from the word 'Nihon', which is a common mistake of copycat murderers
following the Kanji Killer's modus operandi," Natsuki finished for
Likka, much to the surprise of no one. Likka only _wished_ that this was
the first time Natsuki had ever done this. "I myself have suspected as
much, but seeing that I don't have the police reports on hand, I
presumed it was just the newspaper's mistake when they ran that item."

"Yeah, Uncle Jiji said as much. Instead of writing 'Hon', the true Kanji
Killer tended to write 'Ichi' 'Hachi', and 'Ju' together. He might as
well be called..." Likka left an intentionally long pause to make it
easier for her friend to interrupt her. Not that Natsuki cared, because
she would've ended up involuntarily completing the sentence herself with
or without Likka's help.

"...The One-Eight-Ten Killer. I've run ciphers and code breakers on this
bozo and his obsession with those three numbers, and I still don't
understand the rationale behind carving his victims up with kanji number
strokes."

The auburn-haired girl bit her pouted lip; her latest lead turned out to
be just another dud. The police had been trying to pin the Kanji Killer
for years now after chopping up a multitude of victims, and they only
ended up getting chopped up cops and increased number of murders for
their trouble.

Just like Likka's brother-in-law, Natsuki suspected that the large
increase of Kanji Killer cases rooted from the fact that the murderer's
distinct modus operandi was so easy to follow: Disable the victim in
such a way that there would be no sign of a struggle, then cut him or
her up using a sword and kanji strokes for one, eight, ten, all three,
or any combination of them herewith.

Because of how high profile the Kanji Killer's case had become,
murderers nowadays were now following the serial killer's choice of
random victims and slashing techniques in order to 'frame' the notorious
killer for their own crimes.

As far as the half-Chinese girl was concerned, she went all the way to
Japan to hunt down this outlaw because there was something startlingly
similar with the Kanji Killer's tactics and a certain someone's own
schemes and ploys, particularly the choice of victims. "So who was the
real culprit?" she asked with significantly less enthusiasm than before.

"That's kind of the problem the fuzz are facing right now. According to
the victim's sister, the victim admitted to being raped by one of the
Shimomura brothers, particularly the Shimomura quintuplets. The sister
claimed that she didn't know which quintuplet did it, and she decided
to go public with her story because of what happened to the victim in
the end."

Natsuki tapped her fingers on the table as her interest in the case
returned; it had nothing to do with the man she was hunting down, but
she would be damned before she ignored a case like this one. "The
Shimomura quintuplets? As in the sons of the founder of the Shimomura
Zaibatsu? So the news item I saw on TV about Boy A to E the other day
was about them? There were so many suspects, I initially thought it was
a gang rape."

"Jeez, don't be so vulgar, Tsuki-chan!" Likka berated before confirming,
"It's the same case. They're all minors, so the media had no choice but
to hide their identities, much to the relief of their father. However,
those in-the-know are aware that Shimamura Kunihiko-san is still doing
damage control by hiring the best lawyers in town and having them launch
a nasty smear campaign against the girl, just in case his sons got
convicted and their identities revealed. It's pretty nasty." Likka held
herself and shivered as her spine tingled with indignant revulsion.

"Apparently, Shimamura-san's private investigators had discovered rumors
that the girl wasn't the straightest of arrows and slept with teachers
and delinquents before she ended up with one of the Shimomura
quintuplets. The victim's sister and women's rights groups were
naturally livid and up-in-arms with their lawyers' dirty tactics, even
though the public at large aren't privy with the fact that it's him
who's doing it. In any case, the sons apparently issued their statements
to the police from behind their daddy's back for some reason."

Natsuki blinked at that last statement, surprised by the turn of events
of the case. She was just about to take note that she saw the smear
campaign Likka was referring to in a tabloid earlier on when her fickle
friend sent her a curve ball in the form of the Shimomura quintuplets
confessing to the authorities. "So they confessed? Did they do it out
of guilt? Is the case already over and is the real culprit behind bars?"

"They were screwing with the cops, naturally. They didn't care if they
were committing perjury or whatever; for shits and giggles, they issued
contradicting statements that left the officers angry and cross-eyed."
Likka laughed bitterly, shaking her head and making her braided hair
whip around like a horse's tail.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Aside from the quintuplets, the siblings had
four other brothers, so that's nine of them in total. Only the
quintuplets were suspects based on the testimony of the victim's sister,
but the testimony of the other brothers were also taken into
consideration."

Natsuki let Likka's words sink in. "What statements have they told the
police?"

"Oh, it sounded like a confession of guilt from some of them at the
beginning, but once they'd all released their statements, it was
complete bedlam! One brother says that the so-and-so quintuplet did it,
but then another brother says that so-and-so didn't do it. Almost all of
their statements contradicted each other, so it was an absolute mess to
sort through. But that's not the end of it, Tsuki-chan."

"What else happened?" Natsuki inquired. "I'm all ears."

"W-ell, remember the smear campaign that the father started? Well, some
sleazebag suddenly came out of the woodwork and claims that _he_ knows
which of the Shimomura quintuplets actually killed the victim because
he was one of the girl's many ex-boyfriends. He's obviously after money,
because I've heard from Uncle Jiji that after the man confirmed his
identity to the police and to the brothers, he took one look at the
gathered statements, chuckled, and said that only three of the brothers
were telling the truth."

Natsuki's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets before she squinted in
comprehension. "He didn't say anything else, huh?"

Likka crossed her arms and harrumphed. "Yep. The scumbag probably did
his little stunt for the benefit of the quintuplets present, as though
telling them that the only way to shut him up was to stuff his mouth
with yen notes. He'd only release his info if his life were threatened
to boot, so he's likely feeling invincible or something, the dunderhead.
I'm kind of hoping that Uncle Jiji will solve the case soon so that the
slime ball gets zilch in hush money."

"Do you have the testimonies of the brothers? Or perhaps any profiles on
them?" Natsuki asked as the wheels inside her head turned.

"Uncle Jiji has them, so I'll have to sneak his papers out of the house
somehow." Likka tilted her head to the side. "Are you sure you want to
know more about this case? Like I said, a potential witness has stated
that the Kanji Killer has nothing to do with the murder, and the
forensics lab confirmed that the slashes were too ineptly done to be
consistent with the more methodical cuts of your serial killer."

Natsuki shrugged. "I'll take any lead I can get, because they don't
exactly grow on trees." The girl leaned on a nearby wall, put down her
metal walking stick, took out a notebook and pen from her purse, wrote
something on one of the notebook's pages, tore the page out, and handed
it to Likka.

"If you don't mind, I'll be using your 'ninja' skills once more. Since
tomorrow is a weekend, can you please get me the names, profiles, and
statements of the Shimomura brothers from Daiji-sempai as well as the
names of the two sisters and the man claiming to be the dead sister's
ex-boyfriend? It'll help me tremendously."

Natsuki smiled one of her rare, genuine cat-ate-the-canary smiles that
scared Likka witless for some reason. "After you've played pretend
shadow warrior and gathered all those materials, we'll be playing
another round of amateur detective." She winked. "It'll be fun."


===


Three weeks after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...

It was at during that juncture that Koenma summoned Ayame. "You may
commence your report, Ayame. Naturally, I will need Yukimura-san to
corroborate your accounts in regards to her misadventures in the River
Styx."

Ayame stood up and bowed to everyone present. Despite the intense look
that her supposed employer aimed at her, she began her report
undeterred. "Because Koenma-sama was busy with a top secret assignment
that few in the Spirit World knew about, he temporarily assigned the
ferry-girls to handle the traffic of dead souls during that ill-fated
Wednesday three weeks ago. It's also why Koenma-sama was far too late
in learning about the Shisejyu's attack at Genkai-shihan's temple."

Yusuke checked Koenma's reaction for any sign of regret or anger after
Ayame's seeming potshot, but he found none. The out-of-school youth was
normally quite dense when it came to recognizing the signs and symptoms
of a Japanese-style squabble, but even he could recognize the air of
unacknowledged animosity and mistrust between Ayame and Koenma right
then and there. Unsurprisingly, both Keiko and Sayaka had been feeling
the change in atmosphere way before Yusuke did; as soon as Koenma
shifted his attention towards Ayame and her reports, in fact.

Ayame continued. "Because of my familiarity with Yusuke and company
_and_ because Botan was indisposed at the moment, I elected myself to be
the one to ferry Keiko's recently ejected soul through the River Styx."

"Oh, so you knew who Yusuke and the others are? Then you must be the
shinigami friend that Botan talked about! I mean, other than Hinageshi!
Wow!" Keiko cheered in spite of herself and the fact that Koenma and
Ayame weren't exactly in pleasant terms at the moment. "Why didn't you
tell me...? Oh, I'm sorry for interrupting your story. Please go on."
The ghost-girl realized too late that she'd just stoked the flames of
hostility between the two celestial beings.

Before Ayame could resume, Koenma interjected, "That's actually a valid
question. Why didn't you tell Yukimura Keiko-san that you were close to
the Urameshi Yusuke faction and not just another friendly ferry-girl
who's guiding a lost soul around the river of the dead?"

"I'm familiar with them, but I wouldn't say I'm close to them. Also, as
you can see, they're not very familiar with me either." The expression
on Ayame's face remained neutral and flat; almost robotic. "At any rate,
although she had already forgotten about it, she asked me that very same
question about my connection with Botan without me bringing it up, so
it's a moot point."

Not knowing what else to say to that, Koenma eased his belabored
breathing and murmured, "Okay, your story checks out. Proceed."

Unnoticed by the rest, Keiko did her best to reminisce past events even
as the persistent haze of the lotus blossoms prevented her from
completely remembering the circumstances surrounding her spirit's
separation from its mortal body. At the back of her mind, she recalled a
kaleidoscope of indecipherable sights, a cacophony of indescribable
sounds, and the tang of forgotten smells. All she knew was the
instinctive memory wherein the afterlife took her nonexistent breath
away as soon as she first saw it.

She then gasped as the sudden vision of her walking across a squall of
cherry blossoms at the entrance of the Elysian Fields was unexpectedly
interrupted by an abrupt blast of bitingly cold water. At the time, her
mind made her instinctively struggle through the suffocating liquid even
though no actual harm befell her.

She saw endless clouds of billowing mists in an empty backdrop with no
horizon, but she couldn't exactly place which of these events happened
first or last. Indeed, the lotus blossoms worked like a charm when it
came to keeping her memories of that fateful, horrible day completely
chaotic to the point of disbelief in their very existence; barely any of
them made sense to her frazzled mind.

"Yukimura Keiko had already crossed over between the boundaries of the
world of the living and the world of the dead by the time I found her in
the mouth of the River Styx; however, the faint link between her ghost
and her body was still present, so it's conceivable that her ghost was
merely an astral projection of sorts, otherwise known as an out-of-body-
experience usually seen by the dying or spiritually adept," Ayame
theorized as she scanned through the notes she'd made. "Nevertheless,
since her ghost was able to reach the Spirit World in the end, I made
the call to bring her back to her ancestors, since the Book of Fate
decreed that she deserved that much."

"I see." Koenma looked back and forth between Keiko and Ayame while
Yusuke squirmed in his seat. Despite being annoyed at how slow the
conversation was going, the half-demon held his tongue. As for Sayaka,
she hummed a slight ditty as she busied herself by taking down as many
notes as she could with a pen and crayons. Meanwhile, the Prince of the
Spirit World announced after a minute of reflection, "The mere fact that
Yukimura Keiko had hovered--and is still hovering--between life and
death has a lot to do with what Seiryu did to her."

"I don't understand. What exactly did Seiryu do to her that's so
difficult to handle? Can't we save her? Is she dead or alive?" Yusuke
questioned with a touch of impatience in his voice, which earned him a
timely nudge from Keiko.

"Back in the Warring States Era of Ancient Japan, demons 'ate' humans in
a variety of ways. In the case of Yusuke's ancestors, they usually ate
human bodies like wild predators to prey. However, there are also other
demons who subsisted by corrupting the hearts of men to do hurtful or
malicious deeds to one another, hence the many legends we have of
demonic trickery and manipulations."

Koenma grasped his hands together and donned an expression no mere child
should ever wear. "The metaphysical power these youkai gained from doing
so is incalculably huge, since quite a lot of unused spiritual energy
unwittingly produced by man remains untapped to this day. Based on
Kurama's recent reports, we have reason to believe that the Chojin's
minions are using that very modus operandi to tap into that large power
source, which in turn could be used to launch an assault more
devastating than the localized attempts that Yakumo did to conquer the
Human World."

Without giving Yusuke the chance to contemplate his words and then
hijack the conversation with needless interruptions,  Koenma turned
towards Keiko and asked, "Is what Ayame is saying true? Can you confirm
it or do you not remember?"

"A pink forest," Keiko murmured to herself, brushing her short, pageboy-
style brown hair to the side. "I remember a mist-filled swamp at the
mouth of the River Styx that Ayame-san and I encountered as we flew
above its waters. Before that, I woke up from a dark haze and realized
that I was underwater... or was it after? I'm not sure. I thought I was
going to drown, but I didn't. Somehow. After I managed to get back to
the surface, I saw a woman wearing the black version of Botan's kimono;
I realized just now, as Hinageshi-chan was giving out her report, that
the first person I met then and there in the Spirit World was Ayame-
san."

Koenma did two small nods as he deliberated over Keiko's account of her
journey through the River Styx, identifying the misty third fork of the
Sanzu no Kawa as the one that leads straight to the pink-forested
Elysian Fields and the dark waters as the veil separating the living
world from the nonliving realm. He prompted Ayame to continue her story
in order to better interpret Keiko's jumbled memory.

"Yes, sir. In accordance to the Spirit World's standard operating
procedure, I went ahead and attempted to ferry Yukimura Keiko across the
Sanzu no Kawa so that she could unite with her ancestors at the Eternal
Paradise Section of the Spirit World; it was the best-case scenario for
her in light of her tragic twist of fate."

>From beside Ayame, Keiko nodded in confirmation of the cheerless
shinigami's assessments.

"Of course, as typical of recently deceased ghosts like her, she was in
staunch denial of her death. She wasn't the first ghost to deny the fact
that she was no longer one of the living, and she won't be the last."

"Be that as it may, it still doesn't quite explain the fact that
Yukimura-san somehow ended up in the Purgatorial Sector when she was
supposed to go to the Eternal Paradise Sector regardless of the carte
blanch I gave all shinigami that day." Koenma leaned back his office
chair, his infantile arms crossed over his chest and his diminutive feet
propped right on the table.

"The level of incompetence you displayed that day is inexcusable, Ayame.
Like you said, we've handled stubborn ghosts who believed they shouldn't
die before. As a professional shinigami who's been doing this job for
decades, what's your excuse for letting Yukimura-san go to a place she
wasn't supposed to be in?"

Ayame didn't even miss a beat as she answered, "Her free will."

"What in the seven hells are you talking about?" Koenma blanched as he
straightened up his posture and demanded, "What does free will have to
do with anything?"

"Every human has the ability to choose their own fate while they're
alive. Every living being has the right to follow the destiny that the
Spirit World has chosen for them, or chose their own. Once a mortal
dies, his fate is left in the hands of the Reikai, but while there's a
hint of life in them, they still have a say regarding what's going to
happen to them."

Ayame turned to look at Keiko. "She decided that the middle fork of the
River Styx--the one covered in mists and haze and reserved for spirits
who are tainted but still redeemable--was where she wanted to go. Isn't
that right, Yukimura-san?"


===


One week after the attack at Genkai's temple, in the Spirit World...

Because the situation called for it, Koenma posed dramatically and
beckoned to the blue-haired and ranting ferry-girl, "Botan, give Kurama
the sword, and let him get acquainted with Himura-san. As of now, he is
the caretaker of the Demon Sword."

However, nobody was listening to him.

"As soon as Koenma-sama gives me that meeting he promised to give me,
I'll be kicking you out of my mind! Go invade some other shinigami's
head for once, you time-displaced basket case!"

"It's not as if I asked to be in the body of some blue-haired floozy
wearing a novelty kimono for an outfit and a paddle for an accessory!
And you call yourself a grim reaper! You don't look anything like
death!"

"Oh, so you want to go the formulaic route, huh? Well, with all due
respect to shinigami like Ayame-chan, I'm the perky type of death
bringer that demonstrates to people how death doesn't necessarily need
to be 'The End' or anything dreary. Death can be something to look
forward to, like a new life of sorts."

"Yeah. With that sort of speech, I'm sure people will be flocking
Aokigahara in no time at all."

"That's it! You've really crossed the line this time, y-you... mortal!
If you weren't already dead, I'd let you feel how terrible dying can
be!"

"Maybe we should just leave the sword to them for the time being?" an
amused Kurama suggested to a bemused Koenma.

"Kaoru-dono! Botan! Please, let Koenma finish what he's saying," a voice
from the blue requested in an authoritative tone. It was Kenshin,
speaking on behalf of the Demon Sword and sounding very much like Kurama
for some reason.

The warring personalities inside the ferry-girl's head reluctantly
obliged, handing the sword over to Kurama. The shinigami even posed in
the traditional submissive fashion, presenting the Reikai artifact with
both hands for added flourish.

"Please, handle this sword with care... uh, what is your name?" the
sword-trapped Kenshin inquired.

The redheaded kitsune avatar hesitated for a moment. "K-Kurama. In the
Human World, I am also known as Minamino Shuichi," he supplied.

If Kenshin's bodiless form could make the sword nod, he would've done
so. "Kurama-dono or Shuichi-dono? I hope you don't mind my calling you
Kurama-dono, then." The former hitokiri laughed. "This lowly one had
many names as well, back in the day." A pause. "Is there something
wrong, Kurama-dono? Why are you hesitating?"

"Oh, pardon me. I've heard so much about the Demon Sword and its ability
to augment the powers of those who wield it. So I..."

"It kind of reacted differently to Yusuke-dono. Maybe you'll get a more
positive reaction?" Kenshin hopefully suggested, but that was only
because he was unaware of Kurama's history. Had he known that his fellow
redhead was actually a centuries-old demon thief with powers comparable
to that of a Makai overlord, then he would've understood Kurama's
hesitation.

All the same, Kurama took hold of the strange artifact and observed it
closely. Nothing happened. The redhead relaxed slightly before a vision
from his latest dream came back to haunt him.

"Now don't go stealing that sword the same way you stole the Three
Reikai Treasures, or else I'll sic some new Reikai Tantei after you,"
Koenma joked, but then realized that his comrade was in no joking mood.

"I owe you and Yusuke a lot, Kurama. I realize that there's no reason
for you to give me all the help that you've provided so far, but please
do realize that we're fighting for the same thing. We must avoid letting
this Chojin and his minions succeed in building an army powerful enough
to take down both Makai and Reikai together."

"Huh? Oh, no; I knew at least that much, Koenma. I'm not getting cold
feet or anything. It's just that--" Kurama blinked as he felt the
stares of everyone around him. "What's wrong, everyone?"

"You didn't change at all," Botan blurted out straightforwardly. "Or
maybe you did, but we couldn't tell because you and Kenshin basically
act the same way anyway."

"He's not saying 'oro' and he's not referring to himself as 'this lowly
one', so I'm not so sure about that," the Kaoru inside Botan's head
observed.

"Oh, the author stopped doing the 'lowly one' shtick because it made the
prose sound awkward," Botan explained.

"What?" Kaoru deadpanned using Botan's voice.

Kurama did his best to make sense of the ferry-girl's rants, unaware
that his hand had started to travel towards the Youtou Shinnoken's
inviting handle. He curbed his growing eagerness to unsheathe the
hallowed weapon at the last minute. "So the sword reacts differently to
every person who wields it, correct?"

"Yeah. Yusuke served as some sort of battery so that Kenshin's ghost can
become tangible, and every time they weren't within each other's
vicinity, Kenshin's temporary body disappears. Oh, and they even have
this thing where they share the same bond, so whenever Kenshin gets
hurt, Yusuke gets hurt as well. I think they also had a telepathic
connection, but you'll have to ask Yusuke about that to confirm it."

"No, I believe it. I know so," Kurama reassured, which gave both Botan
and Kaoru pause.

"How'd you know about it?" Kaoru asked as she rubbed Botan's eyes; for
some reason, the kendo instructor was beginning to see the resemblance
between her long-lost vagabond protector and this handsome rogue with
rose-red tresses.

"I... just do." At that instant, a hodgepodge of memories from the four
personalities residing within Kurama's body at the moment: some from his
life as Shuichi Minamino, some from his career as Youko Kurama, some
from Kenshin's stint as the Hitokiri Battousai, and some from Kenshin's
experiences as a repentant wanderer. The mishmash of recollections
would've overwhelmed the youko-possessed redhead had his synchronization
with Kenshin's soul been less than perfect.

'So you're a very old kitsune... oh, excuse me... _youko_ who probably
existed even before I was born; a powerful being that could've ruled
over the entirety of Makai had the mysterious entity known as the
Reikai Hunter not shot you down and forced you to hide inside the body
of a human boy about eighteen or so years ago,' Kenshin telepathically
conveyed with a slight hint of reverence and awe in his voice. 'No
wonder you have two names. It's a pleasure to meet you, my new
caretaker and sempai.'

'Er, please don't call me sempai,' Kurama beseeched before appraising,
'You were a mere human with the strength and killer instinct of a demon.
Even before your soul was merged into this Reikai artifact, you were a
formidable enough opponent to go against most demons rated Class-B and
below. Now, with the assistance of your shinigami-like abilities and the
Youtou Shinnoken's might, your potential power is incalculable.'

Kurama and Kenshin mentally exchanged bows and shook hands. 'Were I
still Youko Kurama today, I would've stolen you and your sword as soon
as I knew about its location. No wonder the Chojin wants to have you, to
corrupt you, or both; you're a great find!'

'Please don't refer to me and my sword as one and the same,' Kenshin
pleaded to his closest equivalent in this modern world, which earned him
a hasty apology on Kurama's part. Koenma then asked, "So what happened,
Kurama? Do you feel any different?" which caught the attention of both
consciousnesses and made them turn towards the Reikai Prince as one.

Kurama gazed at Koenma and related, "It's a bit more complicated than
that, Koenma-dono. I... we're now one and the same, for all intents and
purposes; the same way Battousai is a part of Kenshin or Youko Kurama is
a part of me. As long as we hold this sword, we are in perfect
synchronization, which is an understatement of the highest magnitude, to
say the least."

Both Kurama and Kenshin shot Botan a glance, which earned a blush from
either Botan or Kaoru; they couldn't tell. 'I still don't understand how
someone in your past ended up in the body of a shinigami I know,
Kenshin,' Kurama asked, and Kenshin responded, 'I'm not quite sure how
it happened myself, but I have the suspicion that it has something
specifically to do with me and my awakening. Koenma-dono himself
promised to shed light into this event right after I help you with your
latest mission.'

Koenma's eyebrows formed a crease above the bridge of his nose as he
pondered over what just happened. While he _was_ fascinated by how
effective the random effect curse he used to seal the sword worked, he
also felt rather disappointed that Kurama's reaction to the sword was
so... uneventful.

Sure, the result of Kurama wielding the Youtou Shinnoken--perfect
synchronization between the kitsune-turned-human and the human-turned-
guardian--was captivating in and of itself, but it remained less
promising than the haphazard link that Yusuke and Kenshin shared when
they were bonded through the Demon Sword. Even though Kurama's link with
Kenshin was more stable, Yusuke's chaotic link allowed Kenshin to gain
numerous immeasurable upsurges of energy care of Yusuke's emotion-driven
outbursts of power.

'It's such a shame that Yusuke had to be stricken by Rando's Kugai
technique. He would've helped Kenshin realize the true, unlimited
potential of the Demon Sword care of his 'Never say die' attitude and
his overwhelming willpower, but now his positive attributes have been
turned against him. I should remember to tell Yusuke to go give Genkai
a visit in regards to his condition.'

Koenma nodded to himself. 'Oh well. Controlled power is better than
uncontrolled power, I guess, even though I do wish that Kurama could
somehow help Kenshin realize the full capabilities of the Youtou
Shinnoken.' In any event, the toddler king was about to discover that he
had better be careful what he wished for.

Just then, the visage of the long-deceased demon known as Kuronue
appeared in Kurama's mind's eye, which startled Kenshin. 'Who are you
really, Kurama? Who have you become? Do you honestly think that you can
merge your two selves into one body the same way this cross-scarred
assassin merged with you? Draw that sword out and observe your true self
from the surface of that weapon's bladed edge.'

Seemingly hypnotized by Kuronue's words and despite Kenshin's unheard
warning gasp, Kurama did as his old partner told him to do, unsheathing
the Youtou Shinnoken's metal edge and using it as a mirror to see for
himself who he'd truly become.

Golden eyes hidden behind glistening silver bangs stared back at Kurama;
at that very instant, the youko regained his former glory and perhaps
far beyond even that.

He hemorrhaged so much power, it was almost indecent. Abominable.
Terrifying. Magnificent. Incomprehensible. He felt every metaphysical
component of his soul tremble with delighted excitement he hadn't felt
in a long, long, time; even in the afterlife, the sheer, unbridled power
that he represented could not be contained.

It swallowed nature, glared fire, shrieked thunder, redefined reality,
perceived forever, and sabotaged everything in sight. Even ogres, the
gods of death, and their ruler were at his mercy.

Koenma, Botan, and--to a certain extent--Kaoru Kamiya didn't even know
what hit them then and there.


===


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

"I hope you appreciate this, because Uncle Jiji certainly won't." Likka
might have been pouting, but the sparkles in her eyes was unmistakable.
"I'll also remind you that we're in the library right in the middle of
school break, Tsuki-chan."

"Fine. I'll treat you out with ice cream for the rest of the break,
okay?" Natsuki promised the shorter girl with a slight smile while
ignoring the annoyed shushing sounds of the librarian and a few students
who had to do some extra credit work.

Inwardly, the slender, gazelle-built tomboy recognized that her light
teasing of her overly cheerful acquaintance looked almost normal and
trite at first glance to passersby, which sickened her a bit. How
twisted and warped must her life be in order for her to act so eager
when it comes to obtaining the gruesome details of a rape-slay murder
case? She didn't really care, she eventually realized.

Natsuki pushed her chair forward, put her hands, knees, and eyebrows
together, and did what she could to not sound _too_ interested about
this admittedly disturbing case. "Tell me what sempai knows, Likka-tan.
And just the facts, please."

"Okay. You had me at ice cream. But first off, an update. Last time, you
heard from me that the scumbag ex-boyfriend of the victim knew who the
perp was, but then stalled at the last minute in front of the
quintuplets, their parents, and their siblings... probably to milk some
cash out of their father, most likely. Well, guess what?"

"He spilled the beans?" Natsuki queried as she covered her mouth and
moved her head to the side, unable to conceal the sound of
disappointment in her voice despite her best efforts to hide it. She was
looking forward to solving this crime with the least amount of clues
possible, which was in direct contrast to the investigative modus
operandi of Likka's brother-in-law, which involved charts, calculations,
possible theories on motivation, and whatnot.

'They call it deduction because you're supposed to _deduct_ all the
extraneous information off of a given occurrence to reveal the truth
behind the whole matter; Occam's razor is still the best way to solve
cases,' Natsuki reckoned.

"Oh, no! He's _dead_. The Kanji Killer got him! I heard it on the radio
just this morning! His name was Oogata Akio, eighteen years old, a third
year high school student in the same school as the victim he used to
date," came Likka's trademark rapid-fire delivery, which Natsuki was
thankfully used to at this point. "Isn't that horrible? Some of the
police are now reconsidering to file this rape-slay case as part of the
Kanji Killer case if a breakthrough isn't established soon. The only
remaining witness is the victim's sister, and she's now fearing for her
life."

Natsuki didn't like the sound of that. She theorized that this
relatively simple case was getting muddled and complicated by either the
perpetrators in order to cover up their tracks or the Kanji Killer
himself who, by either his own volition or some crazy coincidence, had
joined the fray. "Was Oogata-shi mutilated using those kanji strikes
again? Did it form the character 'Hon' or spell out 'One-Eight-Ten'?"

Likka shrugged. "I don't know. He just died this weekend, so autopsy
reports will only be released at a later date." She blinked, then rubbed
her chin. "I did hear Uncle Jiji mumble this morning, 'Why 'Hon'? Why
was it 'Hon'?' so maybe it's 'Hon' instead of 'One-Eight-Ten'."

Natsuki rubbed her throbbing temples. She reckoned that if Likka's
brother-in-law detective felt troubled about seeing the "Hon" character
on Oogata's corpse, then he must've noticed something amiss that led him
to conclude that the body should've sported the "One-Eight-Ten"
characters together instead; that was also rather strange, because it
made more sense if any of the Shimamura family orchestrated the second
murder.

'The police must've noticed something One-Eight-Ten-like about Oogata's
alleged murder for them to start reconsider filing the Shimamura
quintuplet case as part of the Kanji Killer crime wave.'

Natsuki slammed her forehead right on the hardwood desk in front of her,
much to Likka's consternation. "Now, don't act so desperate, Tsuki-chan;
were you to bang your head too hard, you might become deranged enough to
be one of the criminals my brother-in-law hunts down for a living."

"Hardy-har-har," Natsuki responded as she rubbed her sore cranium. "I
almost fell into the same mental traps sempai regularly gets ensnared in
whenever he investigates tough cases; he over-thinks issues that
shouldn't be over-thought." She took a handkerchief on her pants' pocket
and dabbed it on her achy brow. "Let's disseminate the info sempai has
gotten and think of the solution afterwards."

Likka gave Natsuki a cross look. "You know, this is kind of like
cheating. These _are_ Uncle Jiji's notes."

Natsuki shrugged the accusation off. "It's his fault that the answer is
already staring him right in the face but still he hasn't figured it
out. Now, tell me the statements that the Shimomura quintuplets released
to the police."

"Actually, all nine brothers released statements, so it's a lot more
complicated than you're making it out. Oogata-shi saw all nine
statements before declaring that only three of the brothers were telling
the truth."

Natsuki shook her head. "I disagree. It's a lot simpler than you think.
In fact, that one statement from the ex-boyfriend serves as a clue in
and of itself already."

"Fine. Let's get this over with."

As Likka rifled through her handbag, Natsuki reminded her, "Tell me
which one of the brothers are part of the quintuplets and which aren't
so that we can weed out the relevant information from the irrelevant
ones."

"That's a bold, if sweeping statement. You generalize too much, Tsuki-
chan." Likka took out the scores of yellow pad paper with soft drink
stains and chicken-scratch notations. Fortunately, one of the braid-
haired girl's specialties aside from costume-related antics was
deciphering the handwriting of her brother-in-law.

"Shimamura Akahito, sixteen, one of the quintuplets, said, 'I'm not
sure, but by my estimation, Ennosuke-kun is the most likely suspect. I
wouldn't want to snitch on my fellow quintuplet or anything, but he's
been giving Kishida-san (the victim) the eye for quite sometime. He acts
like her white knight too, claiming that the rumors surrounding her
promiscuity were nothing but rumors. I'd hate to snitch on family, but
if you were to press me for answers, then I believe Ennosuke-kun did
it.' Akahito-kun is mostly obsessed with cartoons, model kits,
figurines, and..."

"Let's skip the profiling for now," Natsuki requested as she took down
notes on her handy memo pad. "Can you please leave out the frills and
summarize who they're accusing of what and so on? Thanks."

Likka rolled her eyes. "You just want the facts, right? Then I'll just
tell you their statements, nothing more."

"That suits me fine. Please and thank you, Likka-tan."

"Shimamura Bunjiro, thirteen, the youngest in the family, not part of
the quintuplets, said, 'I don't think it was Ennosuke-niichan. I know it
looks bad for him because he's been taking a lot of pictures of Kishida-
neechan, but I swear on my mom's grave, Ennosuke-niichan would never
harm Kishida-neechan. She's his first love, and her death is tearing him
apart.'" More scribbles from Natsuki's pen were heard.

"Shimamura Katsuhiko, sixteen, the eldest of the quintuplets, said, 'I
did it, but I didn't rape her. It was consensual. However, the little
bitch then admitted that she got herself pregnant with my child and if I
didn't take responsibility for the kid, she'd claim that she was raped.
Well, I beat her to the punch and made her into a fake Kanji Killer
victim. However, the jig is now up, so I have no choice but to turn
myself in."

"That almost sounds like a confession," Natsuki remarked while Likka
nodded.

"Katsuhiko-kun was actually the prime suspect up until the time Oogata-
shi showed up at the station and implied that the siblings were
protecting each other using contradictory testimony."

"Okay, I got it. Please continue."

"Shimamura Doi, sixteen, one of the quintuplets, said, 'I'm not sure who
did it. If you think about it, there are many sides to a story. For
example, Houjo-kun could be accused of doing it because he's a ladies
man and he probably doesn't want to get tied down to anyone, just like
Ippei-aniki. As for Katsuhiko-niichan, he has been used by a woman
before. He once tested her love by declaring that our father had
disowned him. She left him quicker than you can say 'compensated
dating', and he's been distrustful of women ever since."

"Two this time, huh?"

"Shush, it's just getting interesting. Shimamura Ennosuke, sixteen, the
youngest quintuplet, said, 'Whatever Bunjiro told you, he's lying.
That's all I have to say.'"

"So Ennosuke is saying that he did it because Bunjiro told the police
that Ennosuke didn't, but Ennosuke is saying that Bunjiro is lying?"

"Wait, I'm getting cross-eyed."

The two girls giggled, which earned them hateful glares from the
assigned librarian. "Anyway, Shimamura Fumio, fifteen, not one of the
quintuplets, said, 'I think Katsuhiko-niichan is guilty because he has
become intolerant of women. He hasn't been dating for quite a while,
and it looks like he has jumped the deep end and assaulted an innocent
woman. He needs medical help.'"

Likka flipped a page. "Shimamura Goemon, fourteen, not one of the
quintuplets, said, 'I don't think it was Katsuhiko-nii. He hasn't been
dating, and he hates women too much to even be associated with them,
much less have sex with them. I don't know what's going on, but aside
from his anger for his ex-girlfriend's betrayal, he's a pretty standup
guy. He'd do anything to protect his siblings.'

"Shimamura Houjo, sixteen, one of the quintuplets, said, 'I can vouch
for myself and I can vouch for my brother. Katsu-niichan is the kindest,
most generous, and most selfless brother I could ask for, and he
deserves better than these gold diggers. I myself understand that there
are too many fish in the sea for me to obsess over just one girl. She
was probably lying about being raped anyway. Katsu-niichan is right; she
was just after our money.'

"Shimamura Ippei, seventeen, eldest of all the brothers, said, 'Houjo-
kun is a good kid. He's probably telling the truth. He looks up to me,
and I do my best to set a good example. To tell you the truth, women are
cockteasers who dress up prettily and then complain when you react to
their charms. If they don't want some manly attention, then they better
start wearing potato sacks! Oh, and I don't think it's Ennosuke-kun
either. That kid is still a virgin; he still has mom's milk in his
mouth!'"

"Are you sure it wasn't the eldest that did it? He sounds like the
guiltiest one of all the brothers, quintuplets or no quintuplets,"
Natsuki deadpanned as she gripped her pen tightly.


===


To be Continued...

Next: The investigation of unsolved mysteries.

Certain sites don't really consider Yakumo to be as powerful (he
barely makes it to A-Level) as this fic portrays him, and with
good reason: the "Poltergeist Report" movie is theoretically set
before the Black Chapter Saga, so it'd make sense that Yusuke was
far too weak to really give Yakumo a run for his money.

Still, I'd like to contend that analysis with the fact that Yusuke
had to artificially power himself and his comrades up with the
Meikai Crystal to fully defeat the Demon God. Furthermore, I'm
following SNES canon, where Yakumo was the final boss of the game
"Yuyu Hakusho 4 Final". A final boss cannot possibly be weaker
than regular, selectable players (which Raizen, Yomi, Mukuro, and
Sensui... four infamous S-Levels... were).

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.

May kailangan pa ba akong sabihin?
Abdiel