[FFML] [yyh][ry][xover] Demon Sword Chapter 31: Homework Never Ends (Part 6)

[Chester Castañeda]

The following was a conversation among old (and new) friends as they
went home together...

"I should've paid more attention to Suzuka-chan. If I had, then none of
this would've happened. I abandoned her when she needed me the most. I
only wish that she could forgive me from beyond the grave," said
Natsuki.

"Natsuki-chan, you're the person who's the least at fault among us
three. Stop saying such silly things," said Miyako.

"But I'm the one who hurt her the most, Miyako-san! She would've never
considered harming herself if I'd been there for her. I wouldn't be
surprised if that's the real reason why she...!" trailed off Natsuki.

"No. No, that's not it. I assure you that it's not the reason," said
Miyako.

"Natsuki-chan, I shouldn't have driven her away from you. I'm sorry I
acted so cold towards Suzuka, even though she was your best friend for
the longest time. I'm sorry for bullying her all that time too," said
Hiromi.

"But you changed so much, Hiromi-chan! And you never bullied Suzuka-chan
since then," said Natsuki.

"It's all my fault. I've been bullying her all throughout grade school.
You two were her closest friends. I shouldn't have said such a thing to
her while she was at her lowest," insisted Miyako.

"So you're not going to pull crazy stunts like that anymore, right?
Jeez, Miyako-chan, you've always been such a drama queen. How the heck
will I be able to face your parents the next time we meet if they found
out I almost let you hurt yourself with that box cutter?" asked Hiromi.

"I'm sorry I dragged you into this. You were always there to look out
for me, weren't you, Hiromi-chan?" said Miyako with a half-joking eye
flutter that made Hiromi gag.


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


Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction
By Chester Castañeda
chester.castaneda at gmail.com
gabriel_gabdiel at yahoo.com
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/223441/
Original concept by Chad Yang
chadjill at ms3.hinet.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/u/56473/

Everything has come full circle.


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

Chapter 31: Homework Never Ends (Part 6)

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


At the Shibuya Station, after Hiromi, Yusuke, Natsuki, and Keiko stopped
Miyako's suicide attempt caused by her guilt over driving her classmate
Suzuka to the edge...

"Thanks again, Urameshi-san!" Natsuki waved back at Hiromi and Yusuke
before the doors of her train closed, the late Suzuka's worn, dog-eared
diary tucked safely underneath her armpit.

Even Puu waved back at the bespectacled female with his tiny flippers
while he was cradled by an unseen Sayaka.

On that note, the ferry-girl trainee also bid the nerdy teen farewell by
waving her clipboard around... although Natsuki never really met Sayaka
and the little girl was invisible anyway.

Miyako had already left long ago, promising to go straight back home to
her parents and facing whatever punishment they had in store for her for
running away.

Yusuke made it a point to make sure they didn't pass through any art or
office supply stores in case the blonde girl considered purchasing
another box cutter... a fact that led Hiromi to kick his shin as soon as
she found out what he was up to, but better be safe and insensitive than
sorry, he always said. At least Miyako got a laugh out of that.

"I guess it's time for you to go too, huh?" Yusuke said to Hiromi for
the sake of breaking the ice. After that non-argument they had regarding
art supplies, Keiko's friend had been strangely quiet in seeing both her
friends off. "Which train will you be taking?"

"Yusuke..." he heard Hiromi beckon.

"Eh?" That was odd. Why was she calling him by his first name? Granted,
he only knew her by her first name, but... "What is it, Hiro...?"

His head reeled from the gunshot-like force of the megaton smack that
came out of nowhere. The world spun around him, his neck craning as far
as it could before he did a midair tumble and landed face-first on the
train station platform.

The only other times he experienced such vertigo was when he was
punched to near oblivion by Toguro Ototo after killing Genkai, got into
a mountain-breaking fist fight with Sensui after he turned into a demon,
or when Yomi blasted him with an unnamed youki technique that
disintegrated his shirt and nearly broke the floating island they were
fighting on at the time in half.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT FOR?" Yusuke screamed minutes after the fact; he
only regained his bearings that exact moment. "You're not still mad
about the box cutter thing, are you?"

"You're insufferable, you jackass! Who the hell do you think I am?"

Wait. Something wasn't right. Hiromi had already hit him before, and she
hit like a girl (Well, duh). The slap he received just now didn't come
from any ordinary girl. That forehand that won many a volleyball game
was unmistakable.

"KEIKO! When did you possess poor Hiromi's body?" exclaimed Yusuke
before he glared at the innocently whistling Sayaka and the ear-flapping
spirit beast. "And you! Why didn't you tell me what was going on?"

Sayaka made an apologetic chopping motion with her clipboard. "Big Sis
gestured at me to keep quiet, Big Bro! Sorry!"

"Hiromi" squeezed her face as though she had sucked a lemon and shook
her throbbing hand around as if she were swatting imaginary flies. "Man,
that hurt, but it felt good too! It's been a while since I was able to
do that."

While pokerfaced, Yusuke quipped, "I hope you realize how perverted that
sounded," as he got up.

He promptly went down again after his girlfriend used Hiromi's knee to
crush his testicles. It didn't matter if you were A-Level and above, a
groin attack _hurt_. This was a universal truth. In order to not get
sidetracked any further, Keiko went straight to the point with her
ensuing tirade.

"You have some nerve acting all nonchalant after ditching me and
Natsuki-chan back at the cafe! What's the big idea? How can I not be
angry after what you did earlier? Isn't my getting good karma by
helping all the poor unfortunate souls out there the whole point of our
ghost-busting missions? Even if what we dealt with earlier wasn't
technically 'supernatural', you could've at least told me so instead of
leaving in a huff with one of my friends!"

Oh. So that was what she was angry about... Of course, Urameshi knew
_exactly_ why he left Keiko alone with Natsuki and Puu to finish a
mission that turned out to be a non-supernatural-related wild goose
chase by himself. It was because of what Gein, one of the Chojin's many
lackeys, told him at the roof of the hospital where Keiko stayed.

Gein claimed that the missions they were going through at present were
all for nothing. The circumstances behind Yusuke's death and Keiko going
comatose were totally different, and exposing Yukimura's tainted astral
projection to other ghosts would only help spread her bad karma and jaki
everywhere.

"That was a pretty good slap. It really woke me up. It's been a while
since you gave me one of those whoppers, Keiko. It _really_ takes me
back."

"What? _That's_ your answer? I demand an explanation, mister!" Despite
herself, Keiko blushed through Hiromi's puffed-up cheeks. 'Has it really
been that long?'

"What's there to explain? I'm a dumbass. I'm a leap-before-you-look kind
of guy."

He was an idiot for believing Gein's lies. Although the path to
recovering Keiko from the brink of death and despair was fraught with
peril, she never once gave up, and somehow, she was able to fulfill her
missions regardless of their challenges.

"Bad karma" his ass. If there was anyone who could get out of this
predicament and turn around her misfortune into something positive, then
it was Keiko Yukimura.

Yusuke got up on shaky legs and dusted himself off. "I thought you
couldn't handle yourself with your missions to collect good karma, but
you proved me wrong twice already. I'm glad you're acting more like
yourself. Let's keep on doing our best from now on so that you can
finally wake up."

For a couple of minutes or so, Keiko was at a loss for words. "W-What's
with this change in attitude? And wipe that stupid grin off your face!
Are you making fun of me? Are you some sort of masochist?"

Yusuke chuckled. "Oh, Keiko, can you please leave Hiromi's body already?
It's already dark, and she should be home by now."

"F-Fine."

Hiromi blinked. "What just happened, Urameshi-kun? Where are we? Why
does my hand hurt?"

"You blanked out there for a couple of minutes, Hiromi! You must've had
a lot on your mind. We've already sent Miyako and Natsuki off. It's
about time you got home too."

"Yeah, you're right. My head feels light and warm. I hope I'm not coming
down with anything."

"Well, a lot of things happened today. It must be stress-related."

"Why are you acting so happy all of a sudden? Did something good happen
while I was out of it?"

"Heh. You could say that."

>From behind Hiromi and Yusuke, Keiko's skin glowed like a neon-pink
fluorescent bulb while Sayaka hid her giggles by pressing her face
behind Puu's back.


===


Early Friday morning at a small apartment tucked away somewhere in Ueno
District's Taito Ward...

He was in his room, staring at a door with a 1989 anime wall scroll
calendar he wouldn't throw away and replace with a newer one because of
how well-made it was (or so he told himself). His odd job as a
convenience store clerk wouldn't start until the nightshift, and the sun
was still up.

He didn't even bother looking at the clock hanging to the left of the
door because it was broken, its face perpetually stating it was eight
o'clock. Not that he needed to know the time anymore, but still. Besides
which, at least it told the correct time twice in a given day.

'Stupid clock. I should fix that,' he always noted to himself even
though he never did. He never bothered with clocks or watches. He just
went to his nightshift work at the convenience store when nighttime
came and lounged around until his shift arrived. He had nothing better
to do.

"What had become of my life?" was what he would've asked had he still
cared about the current state of his so-called existence. At the far
left of his basement was a wall full of scholastic relics from his
childhood: Spelling bee trophies, books about Turbo Pascal and Turbo
Basic, a retro Epson QX-10, his three-year-old MSX TurboR, stacks of
three-inch floppy disks filled with programs and games, and so forth.

On his immediate right were cartridges full of Famicom and Super Famicom
games as well as imported NES and SNES games; an entire library of them,
in fact. At the center of the room was his television set, a Betamax
unit, a VHS player, a Laser Disc player, and a CD player as well as his
Famicom, NES, Super Famicom, and SNES gaming consoles.

Below that were a variety of wires, a surge protector, and octopus
connections galore linking his different consoles and video players
together. Tucked away in the far left corner of his room was a cupboard,
fridge, electric oven, stove, plates, cups, tray, and sink; a kitchen
that barely took up a fraction of the space that his collection did.

Behind him were stacks of comic books and volumes of manga series
featuring lighthearted romantic comedies. The remaining nooks and
crannies of his room including the uppermost shelves were filled with
VHS tapes, Betamax tapes, and laser discs of his favorite animated
series, with a small portion of them housing live-action films both
local and foreign.

'Speaking of which, I haven't contacted the Twin Otaku yet. Then again,
after that scandal their family went through because of their brother,
I'd rather not.'

By "Twin Otaku", he meant the two rich high school kids from Shinjuku
Yamabuki High who shared his interests in computers, gaming, and anime:
Akahito and Ennosuke Shimamura. They were two of five quintuplet
brothers, in fact.

He wasn't privy with the details surrounding the incident, but he did
watch the news coverage and the case's supposed connection with the
infamous Kanji Killer. Even though the suspected boys' names weren't
publicly released by the media because they were minors, most of the
people who knew the Shimamuras figured out that it was the quintuplets
who were involved.

The Shimamura Brothers were among the mainstays of the Akihabara (also
known as Akiba) scene, and they had an even wider collection of otaku-
related goodies that put his to shame because their father was a steel
and construction magnate; they had an unfair advantage in disposable
income and all that.

Even if he were to sacrifice food and rent for the sake of games, tapes,
and software (and he already was doing just that anyway), he still
couldn't match their gigantic collections.

Akahito was arguably the nerdiest and most dedicated of the three otaku.
He particularly specialized in collecting Gundam series garage kits
(also known as resin kits that were basically do-it-yourself
polyurethane scale model figurines portraying various living creatures
or other pop culture icons that need to be assembled and painted by
hand) and the latest anime shows available.

The largest tape collection Akahito ever had were of the different
Gundam shows (a must for any avid Japanese animation fan), or at least
the serious ones not featuring the "Super Deformed" style. He had been
looking forward to taping the latest Gundam series to be shown in the
coming month because it had been roughly two years since the last show
was broadcast, and it was going to be directed by his favorite director
to boot.

Nevertheless, the Shimamura quintuplet whom the store clerk could relate
to the most was Ennosuke. It was simply because, like him, he was (at
least, until recently) more interested in animated love comedies and
harem anime, which were shows that the far too serious and Char-obsessed
Akahito would usually scoff at as garbage that was "killing" the local
animation industry.

"The only worthwhile anime shows right now are the best of the Gundam
series and Legend of the Galactic Heroes! You're collecting stuff made
for little kids and girls!" Akahito would insist. However, his fellow
otaku brother paid him no heed.

>From Urusei Yatsura to Kimagure Orange Road, Ennosuke had them all,
tirelessly compiling every animated romantic comedy known to man and
buying the official release VHS tapes whenever possible.

Meanwhile, half of the tapes that the Taito resident had were loaned,
borrowed and never returned, or otherwise recorded and pirated on a
separate videotape from the Shimamura quintuplet's own respective
collections.

'Akahito typically looked down on our obsession with 2D Love... and he
shouldn't be one to speak, seeing his own protectiveness of the
character Sayla Mass when we speak ill of her. What was there to _not_
like about two-dimensional fictional women who didn't exist in the
real world?'

It was this air of whimsy that attracted Ennosuke and the store clerk to
such perfect girls in the first place. They were unlike their flesh-and-
bone counterparts who could never be as cute, stunning, flawless,
ageless, demure, beautiful, shy, fanciful, quirky, and perfect as they
were.

If it were only possible to marry 2D Girls, he would do so in a
heartbeat.

The doorbell began ringing. Dammit, he didn't want to get up. His head
was throbbing from last night's overnight Sailor Moon marathon. Could
they just go away? Maybe if he kept quiet, they'd leave...

As his eyes traveled to the floor, he saw the brochure regarding a
special gathering place in Aokigahara he got from Ennosuke's other
quintuplet, Houjo, and a business card belonging to a certain "Earth
Club" organization.

Where did it all go wrong?

When he was a child, his life was filled with disappointments. His high
expectations and the disappointing reality never ceased to cause him
grief. He wasn't able to get great grades. He barely made any friends.
He fell in love with his Science Club advisor ten years his senior
although she already had a boyfriend and she was a grunge chick who was
out of his league to boot. His childhood crush was taken away from him
by a far superior rival as well.

Were those valid enough reasons for him to get stuck in this goddamn
rut? Whatever happened to his intentions of going to Tokyo University?
Whatever happened to cram school? Whatever happened to getting a job in
the promising field of information technology? When was the last time he
went out aside for part-time work?

Maybe it was after his parents cut him off their will upon discovering
that he had long abandoned his dreams of entering any university and had
become a NEET (Not in Education, Employment, or Training) subsisting on
cup ramen, anime, and lies.

When exactly did he start getting obsessed about anime love comedies
anyway? It all started because the girl who dumped him for a six-footer
hunk of a man with deductive skills to rival that of Sherlock Holmes
incidentally watched those shows quite a lot, and it became a habit of
his as well. Yes, it was as pathetic as it sounded.


===


As the trio of an astral projection, a half-mazoku, and a spirit beast
(Sayaka had already gone back to the Spirit World to report their
latest exploits) made their way back to the Urameshi ramen cart in order
to handle the deluge of late-shift, drunkard customers...

"Ah, Puu! Don't eat that ramen! That's for the customer, you stupid
bird!" Yusuke berated his spirit beast as he made another fresh batch
of ramen anyway. "Go play with Keiko for now!"

"Yusuke, you should go home and rest. Skip the late shift. Don't overdo
it," Keiko said, her anger at her boyfriend's earlier transgressions
replaced with worry over his health.

"I don't feel tired at all," reassured Yusuke as he turned his back on
his customers and talked to his girlfriend's ghost. "Stop being such a
worrywart. Those hospital bills won't pay themselves, y'know."

"Oh. Is that so? Excuse me then." Keiko bowed her head and smoothened
the last dress she wore before she was attacked and rendered a vegetable
by Seiryu. "I'm sorry to be a bother."

Yusuke patted Keiko on the head and ruffled her hair... or at least the
area it occupied, since she was untouchable. "Some people don't die even
if they're killed. I believe you're one of those people. I wasn't able
to kick Seiryu's ass for you, so the best way to pay him back is to make
sure you lift his curse!"

Keiko hid her face away from her boyfriend and grabbed her warm cheeks.
Who knew Yusuke could be so... dependable? Then again, wasn't he the
person who was always there to rescue her whenever her life was in
danger? He never really changed in that regard.

He then grabbed hold of the area her ghostly butt occupied, which
prompted her to lift a rock and pummel him with it. After Yusuke
climbed to his ramen stand's counter with a bloody grin on his face, his
customers started paying their bills.

"We'll be going now. Keep the change."

"Thanks for your generosity, Mister Customer! Come again!"

"Who was he talking to back from behind the counter anyway?"

"Who knows? I don't care. His ramen is delicious."

"What a weirdo."

"Excuse me."

"Welcome to our humble establishment! May I take your order?" greeted
Urameshi automatically while wiping his bleeding face with a towel. His
eyes then bugged out at what he saw.

Who was this svelte woman with thin-rimmed glasses that made Natsuki's
spectacles look like binoculars? She looked around Shizuru's age or
maybe older, Yusuke reckoned.

Although dejected, stressed-out office drones serving as Yusuke's
customers were par for the course at this late an hour, working girls
wandering around in ramen shops in their lonesome was a rare or even
nonexistent sight. 'Or maybe she's a streetwalker...?'

"Would you mind if I just hang out here for a bit?" asked the
bespectacled beauty with a wink. "I'm not really hungry right now."

"I don't mind at all. What's a pretty young lady like you doing out here
so late in the evening?"

"'Young', eh? You're too kind, kid."

Yukimura sighed, her arms crossed as Urameshi talked to the mysterious,
purple-haired woman with cute glasses.

"Aloise."

"Eh?"

The junior-librarian-looking female put her elbows on the counter, then
put her hands on her cheeks. "My name is Aloise."

"Alice? Sounds foreign," remarked Yusuke. If that was the case, then
this was the second gaijin-looking girl he'd met in one day. Where were
all these tourists coming from? However, she didn't look anywhere as
foreign as the blonde, blue-eyed, and nuttier-than-a-fruitcake Miyako.

"No, no. It's Aloise."

"Eloisa?"

"Aloise."

"Elisa?"

"Aloise."

"Louisa?"

"Yes."

"Really?"

"No."

Aloise giggled, and Yusuke followed suit. 'What are we laughing about?'
he thought. He then felt a chill down his spine from behind him. "Ah,
Keiko... It's not..."

"It's _Aloise_, Yusuke. You know, like the name of the girl Nello fell
in love with in the Dog of Flanders series," informed Keiko while
pinching her boyfriend's ear.

After recuperating from the aural assault, Yuske confessed, "The only
thing I remember about that cartoon is the dog and the boy both died. So
sad... Poor Patrash and Nello," as he wiped a tear from his eye.

"It's not just an anime! The story came from a book, you illiterate
boob!"

"What are you doing there, all huddled up and whispering at the
darkness?" Aloise asked with a smirk.

"Oh, just thinking aloud, Lisa."

"Oh, we're back to _that_, huh?" Aloise's lips curved upward.

"So tell me, why is a teenaged brat like yourself working at a ramen
cart during the midnight shift? Don't you have school tomorrow? Did you
impregnate your girlfriend, so you're now forced to support your love
child?"

Keiko's face turned as bright as a train station light, as though she
were warning pedestrians of an approaching train. "L-L-Love child? I-I-
Impregnate?"

"HEY! Knock it off. I don't go to high school because I chose not to go.
I'll have you know that I learned more from the school of hard knocks
than nine years of sitting around in boring, old, and dusty
classrooms!" Urameshi retorted.

"So you _chose_ to become a ramen cook? Well now, that changes
everything! Congratulations on your career in the food service
industry."

With flared nostrils and a scowl, Urameshi yelped, "What's it to you?
Cooking is a noble profession, and I'm not the bookworm type. Got a
problem with that?"

"Not at all. Lower your expectations, find happiness, I always say."

As Yusuke cocked his fist back at the woman with tears in his eyes (the
same reaction he had when Botan revealed that his self-sacrifice to save
a boy from being run over by a car was pointless because the child was
fated to remain unharmed with or without his help), Keiko spoke up.

"Yusuke doesn't need to finish high school or college to be a
contributing member of society! Don't you dare look down on him because
he isn't going to some fancy high school and has no plans of going to
college! There's more to a person than his grades!"

Even Yusuke was moved by the impassioned outburst Keiko gave. The ghost
girl then covered her mouth and slinked away from the scene. 'Ah, what
am I saying? Of course she can't hear me.'

The bright glint on Aloise's glasses hid her facial expression from the
couple. "Well said. I get it now. I apologize for being so facetious.
I'm sure you're a wonderful cook, Yusuke-kun."

His mouth flat and his face frozen, Yusuke uttered, "What. Faucet?
Delicious?"

"Please don't prove your girlfriend wrong," berated Aloise with narrowed
eyes and a scowl.

"Yusuke, facetious means she didn't mean what she said right now,"
informed Keiko, which prompted Yusuke to nod and say, "I see."

A pregnant pause occurred. It was so quiet that the flap of moth wings
could be heard all around as the insects flew towards the nearby lights
of buzzing streetlamps. A dog also howled from a distance.

The pair did a spit-take as pots, pans, and other cooking utensils
clattered everywhere. "Eh? EH? You can hear Keiko talk?"

Aloise shrugged. "Yeah. I heard her talk. She can hear me talk too, so
why can't I hear her?"

"B-But she's a..." Urameshi trailed off.

"It's perfectly all right." Aloise grabbed Yusuke's hand and thrust it
straight into her heaving breasts. Instead of grabbing anything soft
and plump, it instead passed right through her, as though he were
stabbing her chest. "See? I'm a ghost too."

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" screamed Keiko.

"Don't feel insecure. It took me a while to get them as big as this."

"IIYAA!"

Then, for the first time ever, a pot and a kettle joined forces to
defeat a common foe instead of bickering over their own faults and
hypocrisies, clanging repeatedly on Urameshi's head as though it were
New Year's Eve and they were out to scare off (ironically enough) ghosts
with loud noises.

"LET HER GO! LET HER GO NOW!"

"Dammit, Keiko, I'm not really touching anything but air! Technically
speaking."

"Ouch! Keiko-chan, that really smarts!"

Surprisingly, Keiko was fair but firm in the sense that she also slapped
Aloise for pulling such a lewd stunt. Ghost-to-ghost contact proved
possible, so her slap made impact. To Keiko's chagrin, the glowing hand
mark on the mischievous spirit's face didn't faze her one bit.

"You two are so cute! Ah, young love," the glasses-wearing, bobcut-
sporting soul drawled at the lively couple, specifically at Urameshi.
"Hey, Keiko-chan... Can I borrow your boyfriend for a little bit? I
have a favor to ask him."

"NO! ABSOLUTELY NOT! Only heaven knows what you're going to do to him!"
was Keiko's instantaneous answer as she grabbed hold of her significant
other, unaware that she was separating soul from body by doing so.

Consequently, Yusuke's flame-like soul began leaking out of his mouth.
The black-and-blue teenager then grabbed and stretched his face as
though it were a rubbery mask. "Don't you think you've already caused
enough trouble, Elise?" he weakly asked.

Aloise exhaled through one of her nostrils despite having no actual,
functional lungs to speak of. "You're never going to get my name right,
are you?"


===


Early Friday morning at a small apartment tucked away somewhere in Ueno
District's Taito Ward, around noon or so...

That doorbell grated on the store clerk's nerves, so he picked up the
Aokigahara brochure and looked sightlessly at it while his mind wandered
elsewhere.

Then again, in retrospect, it was no wonder he was desperately clinging
to the ideal of pure love from a fictional character who always had the
purest of intentions, an innocent outlook, and a untainted heart that
appreciated every gesture of kindness provided to her by the
protagonist.

A 2D girl was never uncouth, ugly, plain, vengeful, disgusting,
imperfect, scary, or petty, and even if she were, she'd do it in a
manner that made her quirky instead of flawed.

She was never driven by lust, and even if the protagonist wasn't the
most handsome or dashing of heroes, she'd still fall for him because of
how much he loved her and how much he was willing to sacrifice to be
with her.

What a bunch of bull.

'Purity of love? Virginal, perfect, and immaculate girls? Don't make me
laugh. Girls are just as immature, petty, and flawed as boys in more
ways than one.'

What was love anyway? Not the song, but the concept. This so-called
thing called love was either driven by the universal instinct of humans
to mate for the continued survival of the species or was nothing more
than the effect of dopamine that came from A10 neurons.

Anyway, the purity of the store clerk's love for 2D was quickly exposed
as false as soon as a depressed Ennosuke started collecting cuckolding
adult animation videos, novels, and comics while he was having girl
troubles with one of the students at his school.

After the store clerk watched a cuckolding adult anime about a girl who
got caught cheating with another man she had sex with every weekend by
her childhood sweetheart made him realize how shallow his affections for
these fantasy females were. He hated them since then.

The way she ground her hips as her lover thrust himself into her was in
stark contrast to how listless and stiff she was when having sex with
her actual boyfriend.

The bitch, after getting caught, even had the audacity to whine and cry
about how her lover never smiles at her like her boyfriend did. The
ending wherein the girl killed the boyfriend after discovering she was
pregnant, only to find out later that it was the baby of her other
lover, which prompted her to live happily ever after with him,
practically made his heart sink right into his stomach.

Before he noticed it, the doorbell had stopped ringing. 'Finally. Some
peace and quiet.' His mind wandered again as he tossed the brochure and
business card aside.

The cuckolding genre of erotic anime and manga was a controversial
topic among the Akiba denizens. Those virgins claim that it was somehow
wrong and disgusting, even for a medium that encouraged such bizarre
fetishes as tentacle rape and plain-old rape. Provoking sexual jealousy
among a crowd of losers that had no right to feel such things made him
laugh so hard, he could cry.

After watching the notorious cuckolding tape, he completely understood
why it had such an impact on him. It was a lot more brutally honest
than his previous escapist experiences with childish 2D Love. It made
the concept of pure love a joke that he could never take seriously. The
pain of betrayal was a lot more real to him than flights of fancy over
girls that didn't even exist.

For one thing, how many times had he masturbated to the 2D girls he so
adored, imagining them turn into sex-crazy sluts desperate for his
attention? This wasn't the first animated dirty movie he watched. For
another thing, why did her betrayal of the main character turned him on
so much when he first watched it?

He voraciously consumed each and every cuckold anime, manga, light
novel, and not-so-light novel he could get his hands on, which meant
reading several (Japanese-translated) works that probably started the
whole movement, such as "Venus in Furs" by Leopold Ritter von Sacher-
Masoch (the Father of Masochism) and "The Confessions of Wanda von
Sacher-Masoch" by Sacher-Masoch's wife, Aurora von Rumelin, who revealed
how her husband made her do forced cuckolding sessions with various men
while he watched.

One positive thing that these cuckolding videos, comic books, and books
had on him was how they helped him get out of his shell and start
talking to real-life, three-dimensional women. Why be afraid of getting
your heart broken when your fetish was exactly that?

He reveled in talking to and chatting up women, particularly those who
were out of his league or already attached to someone else. He entered
the so-called friend zone with ease and willingness. He even cleaned
himself up and attended group dates.

He met and befriended many girls with boyfriends, got rejected by them,
stalked them, watched them have intimate relations with their lovers,
and pleasured himself to the forbidden private scenes while remembering
the innocent conversations he had with them earlier.

If the mere sight of him creeped them out enough before he could get to
steps two to five, all the better; he had his heart crushed from the
start. Before long, he craved the feeling of having his feelings
trampled by others.

He had become a masochist, and not the kind who was into bondage and S&M
play; the pain he longed for was emotional, the kind that made his heart
sink and exposed how much of a worthless, pathetic worm he truly was.

He always knew that there was something wrong with him. But it was okay.
It was a victimless crime, wasn't it?

Whoever it was that rung the doorbell was knocking at his door this time
around.

"Go away. I don't want any." He picked up the brochure and business card
with his forearm and frowned before stretching his long sleeves to hide
the multiple scars.

"Please open up." It was a small, gentle female voice. "I need to talk
to you, Kurogane Makoto-kun."

How did she know his name? Curious, he opened the door.

A chestnut-haired angel with fierce, sharp brown eyes, a gentle smile,
and a stuffed penguin with spiky hair and flopping bunny ears appeared
before him.


===


"You want me to do _what_? That's a rather tall order, ghost lady. All
this after insulting my choice in careers, no less!" said Yusuke with a
smirk and a shake of his head while he went about closing his ramen
stand after the nightshift was finally over.

Aloise bowed low on the ground, taking care not to pass through the
concrete because of her ghostly constitution. "Please accept my humble
apologies for my terrible joke earlier, Teenaged Ramen Cook Supreme,
Master of the Culinary Arts!"

Urameshi's eyebrow twitched. Why were her apologies pissing him off even
more than her direct insults? "Now listen here...!"

The proposition that the bespectacled Aloise offered to Keiko and Yusuke
entailed helping her save the life of a grown man... a ronin who failed
his university exams and had turned into a reclusive hikikomori NEET at
that... who contemplated suicide because of her dumping him for another
guy, or so she claimed.

"He already attempted to take his life twice. I don't want it to become
three times the charm," Aloise said.

She'd heard about Reikai's spirit detectives and ghosts doing good deeds
for other ghosts in order to get a chance at revival or redemption.

Coincidentally, a few months later that year, the movie "Hearts and
Souls" starring Robert Downey Junior would tackle that same premise.

However, in order for Yusuke to somehow keep Makoto from intentionally
kicking the bucket, he had to dress in drag and pretend to be a woman
because... Aloise apparently hated his guts at first sight or something.
He had no clue.

"Why should I dress in drag? Why can't I just pummel this creep you
dumped until he begs me to spare his life?" asked Yusuke. "Why do we
even need a girl?"

"Because he's taken a dark turn, and the only people he's been
responding to positively these past few weeks were women. It can't be
helped," explained Aloise.

"Why couldn't Kurama be the girl? I bet he'd be better than me at cross-
dressing. He already halfway looks like a girl," said Urameshi.

Keiko reasoned, "You saw how scary Kurama got the last time the topic
came up. Besides, he's kind of busy with Chojin-related stuff right now,
isn't he?"

Yusuke grumbled; the last time someone was required to cross-dress for a
mission, he was the one who ended up doing it (see Yuyu Hakusho Volume
19 Chapter 171 for further details).

"I don't want to dress up in drag... again," Yusuke stated plainly.

Keiko tugged at her boyfriend's sleeve and, as soon as he turned towards
her, looked at him with wide, moist puppy-dog eyes. "Can you do this for
me? Saving a person's life will get me good karma, right?"

Dammit, Keiko. "Okay," Yusuke grumbled before something important
occurred to him. "Wait. We can't do this."

Keiko pouted. "Why not?"

"If I'm the one who saves this guy's life, then you're not the one
who'll receive the good karma, right?" he pointed out.

"Oh." The couple had already explained the details surrounding their
good deeds to ghosts (gather good karma for Keiko to overcome the
negative energy surrounding her astral body), although they didn't
reveal the cause of it (an old enemy of the Spirit World came back from
the dead blah, blah, blah...).

After a few minutes, Yusuke grabbed Keiko (or beckoned her to follow
the direction of his closed fist lest it passed through her wrist) and
said to Aloise, "I guess that's that. It was nice knowing you, Aloe
Vera or whoever. Good luck saving that guy whose life you ruined!"

"H-Hey, wait a minute! At least get my name right!" This time it was
Aloise who had a pair of googly eyes.

Yusuke "let go" of his girlfriend and harrumphed. "I'm just kidding.
There's a way for me to help out while letting Keiko gather positive
karma for herself... and it's called spiritual possession."

Aloise beamed. "That's right! She can possess your body for about thirty
minutes and talk Makoto-kun out of committing suicide! That's brilliant!
As expected of our resident Einstein! What? Don't give me that look, I'm
actually praising you!"

Yusuke turned his head away and snorted. "If you really want me to go
save your ex from offing himself, then why not have an actual girl do
it? Maybe Keiko should possess another girl instead of going through the
trouble of making me cross-dress! That actually makes a lot more sense
than your half-baked plan, Lois!"

Aloise tapped a finger on her lips. "That's because Mako-kun is a bit of
a pervert. Are you really comfortable with the idea of having him jump
on your girlfriend while she's inside a female body? No self-respecting
boyfriend would. Besides, you'd be troubling some other girl too by
making Keiko possess her."

"And having him jumping on _my_ dick is somehow okay, you crazy bitch?
NO SELF-RESPECTING MAN WILL EVER SACRIFICE HIS BODY TO ANOTHER DUDE
UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES EITHER!"


===


Early Friday morning at a small apartment tucked away somewhere in Ueno
District's Taito Ward, around noon or so...

"Hello, I'm Kei... Yu... Yukiko. It's nice to meet you, Makoto-kun,"
said Keiko while controlling the body of her (surprisingly cute as a
female) cross-dressing boyfriend.

The half-demon wore Keiko's uniform from Daiichi All-Girls High School
(an outfit he sold to some middle-aged weirdo after his girlfriend
stiffed him on the bill for the same mission where he was tasked to
cross-dress) and a brown wig.

It never ceased to amaze and aggravate Keiko how Yusuke's muscular frame
could somehow fit through her clothes.

"...." Makoto stood there, his cheeks as red as an apple and his body
shaking like a leaf.

'Ugh. Keiko. He's totally checking us out and fantasizing about my body
naked. He can't take his eyes off my chest, my legs, or the hem of your
skirt,' said Yusuke from within his mind, speaking from experience.

'Yup, I've seen that perverted look before,' replied Keiko as she rolled
Yusuke's half-lidded eyes while Makoto was lost in Lala Land. She asked,
'Why are you still conscious, Yusuke? When spirits possess living
beings, shouldn't the original soul be unconscious or something?'

Urameshi did the mental equivalent of a shrug. 'Must be my demon blood
or Rando's Kugai curse. Who knows? I sure _wish_ I was unconscious right
now.' The freelance Spirit World Detective blanched.

'Gross, he's drooling now! If he lays a hand on us, he'll be eating
through a straw for the rest of his life.'

'R-Relax, Yusuke. _I'm_ kind of eating through a straw right now, you
know,' reminded Keiko with a blush and a downtrodden look on the cross-
dressing Yusuke's face that sent its unintended recipient, Makoto, into
convulsions.

'T-Through no fault of your own. It'll be his fault if that's how he
ends up as after I'm done with him,' was Yusuke's lame attempt at
covering for his insensitivity.

>From above them, both Aloise and their designated ferry-girl, a rather
bemused Sayaka, ("Why is Big Bro in a dress? How is this going to help
Big Sis's karma? Can somebody explain to me what's going on?" the
seemingly ten-year-old soul reaper had asked Aloise in vain) urged them
on.

"Go right in before he asks too many questions!" said Aloise.

"I'm sorry for intruding!" Keiko pushed her way through the apartment
with ease as Makoto fell to the floor like axed timber. He at last found
the confidence to demand, "Who are you? What do you want? How do you
know my name?" although his voice still cracked in the end.

They bumped into each other and landed in a compromising position
wherein Yusuke's crotch was right atop Makoto's nose.

'Oh, my underwear! I mean, Yusuke's underwear! I mean, my underwear
that Yusuke's wearing!' Keiko felt "Yukiko's" cheeks grow warmer and
warmer as all the blood rushed to his head and other... extremities.

'What if he sees Yusuke's 'thing'? We'll be done for! Wait, I'm inside
Yusuke's body, which means... his thing...!'

'Hey, Keiko! It's called a penis. On that note, stop thinking about...
it!' cried Yusuke from within his consciousness.

'LIKE I ACTUALLY WOULD!' Yusuke's nose started to bleed, disproving
Keiko's innocence. 'W-What's going on? Yusuke, why is your... thing...
swelling up? You pervert!'

'Y-Y'know why, you idiot! It's reacting to hearing a girl talk about it!
Like I said, stop fantasizing about my penis!' yelped Yusuke.

'THEN STOP TALKING ABOUT IT, YOU IMBECILE!' cried Keiko.

Yusuke's pupils dilated and his nose flared as a private memory between
him and Keiko replayed itself in his mind from his girlfriend's point of
view. 'Oh. You like it when I do _that_, huh...'

"IIYYAA!" Keiko got up and slapped the person nearest her, which
unfortunately meant instant pain for Makoto, the guy they were supposed
to rescue.

On the bright side, the random act of violence spared the reclusive nerd
from having an up-close-and-personal look at Urameshi's salami surprise.

Like in Disney's Dumbo, Puu flapped his floppy ears to fly before
landing atop Makoto's head. "Puu!" He chirped while he rubbed his feet
on the guy's messy morning hair. "...A-And is your stuff toy alive? W-We
don't allow pets in the building!"

'This guy in particular is quite easy to read. Just look at the junk
inside his room; they're all tapes and comics about animated romantic
comedies. He's also a bit of a nerd. Reminds me of my grade school
friend, Suekichi,' said Yusuke telepathically to Keiko while retrieving
Puu from Makoto's noggin (to learn more about Matsuo Suekichi, read Yuyu
Hakusho Volume 2 Chapters 15-16).

The surprisingly androgynous half-demon then stated aloud in a pinched,
Michael-Jackson-like voice quite unlike Keiko's intonation, "This is
a... stuffed toy imported from America! It's quite realistic and cute,
isn't it? It's actually a prototype, and it's expected to hit stores
around five years from now, after they've worked out its bugs."

"I-I see." Makoto again stumbled around, murmuring to himself, "What's
going on?" while "Yukiko" invited himself in and slipped into the
nearest house slippers he could find at the entrance of the apartment.

'Now what?' Keiko asked no one in particular, but her boyfriend answered
her question anyway.

'Act cute and cuddly. Men are simpleminded creatures. Right now, he's
shocked that an actual female entered his apartment. He's also confused
why a sweet-sounding girl like yourself would insist on entering his
abode, so the idiot may get the wrong idea and try to get into your...
well, _my_ underpants.'

'Act cute and cuddly? You actually think I can do that at the drop of a
hat? Honestly.' Nevertheless, Keiko gave it the old college try.

"H-Hi, Makoto-kun. I just came here because..." She scanned the room
using her boyfriend's eyes and twenty-twenty vision, locking on to a
brochure underneath the recluse's feet. She grabbed hold of it
immediately. "B-Because of that! I'm an agent for this... company."

"Yukiko's" eyes turned into saucers as Keiko and Yusuke read the
contents of the brochure, which hinted at an all-expenses-paid trip
straight to Aokigahara, which was Japan's Sea of Trees or, as it was
more infamously known, the Suicide Forest. It was called as such because
it was a popular place for suicides since... forever.

Aokigahara was located on Mount Fuji's northwest base, and it was
commonly associated with the youkai of Japanese Folklore. Incidentally,
according to Hinageshi and her encyclopedic knowledge of all things
supernatural, the creepy forest had portals leading straight to
Reikai's Purgatorial Sector and right in the middle of Makai's Gandhara,
which was the city that Yomi (one of the former Three Kings) himself
founded.

What kind of sick and disturbed travel agency booked vacations to grisly
places like Aokigahara?

Keiko looked over Yusuke's shoulder and saw Aloise with a blank, neutral
expression on her bespectacled face while from behind her, Sayaka
flipped on the pages of her own Book of Fate to probably learn more
about this Makoto fellow.

'This is a suicide pact,' Yusuke and Keiko realized.

"You're from the Earth Club, huh?" Makoto's shoulders slumped as he
sighed while nodding to himself. "I'm surprised at how organized you
people are regarding this... business. I guess you're all used to this
by now. Come on, Yukiko-san. Take a seat over there while I make tea."

"Uh, Makoto-kun..." Yukiko began.

"I haven't made up my mind on whether I'm going to that meeting or not.
Maybe we can talk it over, if you don't mind?" informed a calmer Makoto
with a faint smile.

"S-Sure. Thank you. Sorry for the trouble," said Yukiko while taking a
seat on the couch right in front of the television.

"It's no trouble at all, I assure."

'That's surprising. He went from a drooling reclusive pervert who can
barely talk to girls without stuttering to a rather nice and amiable
fellow,' thought Yusuke, and Keiko replied, 'Maybe it's the likelihood
of death that suddenly made him so brave.'

Yukiko froze as Makoto sniffed the air around the brunette, waving his
hands towards his face and letting the scent of perfume waft through
his widened nostrils.

'I take it back. He's a total pervert. Maybe we should let him die.'


===


'Could it be? Could this be real? What is this cute, tomboyish girl
doing in my room? Her voice is so angelic!' was what Makoto initially
thought before discovering the insistent tomboy's true intentions. Her
build reminded him of the bodies of women volleyball players or
swimmers; slight yet smoothly muscular.

She also smelled of a mix of perfume (just a hint of it) and... men's
cologne? A perfect blend of masculinity and femininity; it was quite
intoxicating. On the other hand, there was one other reason in his head
why a girl would smell like men's cologne. She probably had a boyfriend.

Although she was a bit rough around the edges, she still sounded so
sweet and innocent. Then again, he had to wonder how many times had she
been ravaged by her lover? Was she really all that pure, or was it all
an act she used against men to manipulate them or hide her own flaws
through their fantasies?

Maybe he could hit on her and then get slapped or even jailed as she
called him a disgusting pig that no woman would ever want. Or, if he
were lucky, she'd act friendly towards him until his heart got the
wrong idea, and then one day, in the hotel district, he could peep on
her while she had a raunchy rendezvous with the man she truly loved.

Ah. His newly formed bad habit shone through again. There was no time
for that. The nice lady went all the way to his apartment to talk
business, after all.

Yukiko bit her lip and looked at Makoto as though he stripped nude and
poured oil all over his body then and there.

'Was it something I said?' he speculated.

"I didn't realize the Earth Club actually sent their representatives to
the houses of their prospective clients. That's a bit of a hard-sell
tactic, isn't it? Houjo-kun wasn't kidding when he said that you guys
were pros," was Makoto's attempt at breaking the ice.

"To tell you the truth, we... aren't in the business of forcing our
clients to enter a contract with us unwillingly. If anything, I'm here
to stop you from going through this the best I can in case you aren't
all that sure about it."

She shifted her seat and swiveled right in front of him so that they
were face-to-face. "If you don't mind, I'd like to hear why you want
to... avail of our services. Maybe after you've talked things through,
you can come up with a decision with a clear head and an open mind."

"You're kidding, right?" Makoto laughed out loud.

"With all due respect, Miss Yukiko, my apartment should speak for
itself why I'm considering to 'avail of your services'. I'm almost
thirty, I'm a NEET, I'm a recluse, and I've failed to become a
contributing member of society because of my inability to enter a
university for four years straight, opting instead to concentrate on
using my not-so-disposable income to buy creepy anime and manga series
to escape the pressures of real life. If that's not a good enough reason
to leave this cruel world, I don't know what is."

Yukiko stood up from her seat, clenched her fists, and said, "S-So what?
So what if you're obsessed with your hobbies? Is that a valid enough
reason to end your life? Don't all these shows and comics make you
happy? Doesn't your love for these cheerful stories about everyday life
prove that you haven't lost hope? I'm not one to judge, but if the only
love you've found is through fiction that makes millions of people laugh
and forget their problems, isn't that enough?

"No, of course not." Although Makoto didn't shout the words, they still
carried a quiet enough impact to make Yukiko's knees buckle and compel
her to sit back down the couch. "You're right, though. For the longest
time, I've been depressed, and watching or reading those inspiring
comedies helped tremendously in filling the void in my life. But..."

"...But what?"

"...Their lies about happiness and pure love sound false to me now. It's
naive innocence. Charming yet dangerous when applied to real life. I
won't be fooled any longer."

"...How?" she asked.

"What? Pardon?"

"How could your own collection of videotapes and comics lie to you?
You must have watched or read them hundreds, maybe even thousands of
times! You yourself admitted that they've been with you through thick
and thin. Have they really betrayed you? You haven't even thrown them
away, have you? Maybe it's you who's betraying their message of hope!"

"If you truly think that, then read this." Rummaging through the back
pile of his manga library, Makoto produced a comic book called "Premium"
(in English) and handed it to her. Yukiko hesitated from picking it up
at first, but she eventually did so anyway.

Her jaw dropped as she flipped through the pages nearly every half-
second, her eyes darting back and forth so fast it seemed like its edges
were playing ping-pong with her iris. She read quite quickly, and in
under ten minutes, she finished the graphic novel, her face warm and her
arms wrapped tightly around her body as she avoided eye contact from
Makoto.

He wasn't surprised by the reaction. The manga he handed her was an
erotic comic depicting a similar scenario to the one they were having
right then; an otaku together with his lovely angel of a neighbor who
invited him to her apartment to have a nice chat about their daily
lives, when suddenly her ex-boyfriend knocked on her door. She thrust
her neighbor into her closet to hide him, afraid that her former lover
would see her with another man.

One thing led to another, and before the sap of a nerd knew it, the girl
of his dreams and her former lover had gotten back together, making love
right in front of him while he was trapped in the closet. After the
deed was done and the ex-boyfriend left, no matter how many times his
neighbor apologized to him, his catatonic mind wouldn't register her
words.

Just thinking about it made him hard. "That manga is my truth at
present. How can you see redemption from filth such as me? Nerds
regularly rage at comics like this, which exposes a huge double
standard. If it were a man who had multiple lovers, no otaku would bat
an eye, but if it were a woman who did it, those stupid virgins would be
rioting."

"I completely understand." Yukiko put down the book on a nearby coffee
table. "But this isn't news to me. I already know boys will be boys."

"R-Really?" Makoto's nostrils flared. Why wasn't she running for the
hills? An otaku just made her read a cuckolding fantasy comic book. Did
that mean she wanted to...?

"Makoto-san, boys will be boys, so if it's okay with you..." the Yukiko
in his fantasy said as she took off her uniform and posed at him in her
panties, bra, and gartered stockings.

"You have no sense of tact or delicacy, though, showing such books in
front of a pure maiden," said the real Yukiko, which shattered his
dreams in a hurry.

Makoto winced at the slap that never came. However, he reeled from a
different kind of attack. "You're a sad, lonely man... aren't you?"

"Y-You weren't able to figure that out as soon as you entered my
apartment? As soon as you realized I'm thinking about being part of a
gathering of people out to do a suicide pact in Aokigahara? You're
stating the obvious. You should stop trying so hard to save someone as
disgusting and depraved as I am, Yukiko-san."

"I don't care about your sexual fetishes. That's your own business. As
far as I'm concerned, it has nothing to do with why you want to end your
life. If you're lonely and you want a friend, then why couldn't I be one
to you?" asked the angel who'd come to save him, undeterred by his flaws
and shortcomings.

"Don't be nice to me. You'll regret it."

"Eh?"

"Just now, as you asked me to be your friend, because I'm so hungry for
love and affection, I totally thought that I've fallen in love with
you."

Yukiko turned red from head to toe, her grit mouth gnashing her teeth in
a manner unbecoming of a lady for some reason. She was a tomboy and a
shy girl at the same time. How lovely!

"You haven't really fallen in love with me. Don't be silly, Makoto-kun.
You barely know me."

"Of course, I have! That's how desperate I am. Why else would I hand you
adult manga depicting a lovely girl visiting an otaku? It's the exact
same scenario we're having right now. I have no intentions of being your
friend. Even though I've only met you, I want you to be mine."

"I-I don't know what to say."

"Like you said, I'm a sad, lonely man." Makoto plopped down on his
couch. "The mere hint of a girl's presence will have degenerates like me
come running like dogs. I haven't collected all this junk because I
believe in the purity of love. I gathered them instead so that I have
material to jack off to."

Finally, the slap he'd been expecting for a long time now came crashing
down his cheek, twisting his neck to the point of nearly breaking it.


===


"Wake up and stop acting so spoiled," Keiko told the pitiful man before
her. Her slap was so fierce that the wig on Yusuke's head almost flew
off. "You should stop trying to push me away. I know that we're
strangers, but I meant it when I said I want to be friends with you."

"Friends? Don't make me laugh. Why would you even care about...?" An
even stronger slap on the other cheek silenced Makoto instantly and made
him lose his bearings for a second or two.

"You still haven't told me why you want to commit suicide," Keiko said
while Yusuke wished he could clap his hands at his girlfriend's moxie.

'I thought for sure that she'd leave by the time he made her read an
adult comic book, but she's still at it. At this rate, she could work
for a suicide hotline.'

"What the heck do you want me to say? I was being completely honest with
you! Any girl that suddenly enters an otaku's room would provoke the
same reaction!" Makoto shot back.

"Ah, I made you mad. I'm so sorry. Can I have my tea now, if you don't
mind?" With an apologetic chop, a grin, and a wink, Keiko sat back down
the office chair, put her hands on her knees, and crossed her legs.

"I'm sorry about for slapping you earlier. I guess that manga of yours
agitated me more than I thought it would."

"...N-No problem. I'll get it right away." Flustered yet docile, Makoto
obeyed Keiko's suggestions, the heavy air of contempt lifting as he
busied himself preparing tea for the first girl to ever enter his home.

'Huh. You have him wrapped around your pinky finger. You even kept him
from kicking you out of his apartment,' Yusuke marveled before
shuddering inwardly. What if Keiko had been manipulating him the same
way without him realizing it? 'Um, so what's next?'

'I don't know, but I sure wish he were more honest with himself,' Keiko
thought while taking a sip of the herbal tea brought to her.

'He sounded plenty honest to me. I mean, think about it. A girl entered
his apartment unannounced, and like a typical virgin, he made a complete
ass out of himself. No wonder Alicia dumped him.'

'That's the thing. There's more to it than that.' Keiko's eyes
brightened as she asked, "Hey, Makoto-kun..."

"I'm sorry about showing you that manga and sexually harassing you just
now!" apologized Makoto, his head bowed low enough to make crisscrossing
imprints of the tatami mat on his forehead. "I wasn't lying about
falling in love with you, though. You're like my guardian angel!"

'See? He's a nicer guy than we thought,' was Yukimura's smug remark to
Urameshi. To Makoto, she reassured, "I don't mind. I'm not so sheltered
as to not know how men are."

Makoto got up and grinned from ear-to-ear, his ears seemingly brimming
with steam, which almost made him drop the tray he intended to return to
his miniature kitchen.

'Ah, see, by saying that, he now thinks it's totally okay for him to
fantasize about you sexually. He's probably dreaming about you right
now. Naked. You should pick your words carefully, Keiko,' Yusuke
commented, and Keiko retorted, 'No, he's not! He's just relieved we
aren't fighting anymore!'

Once Makoto came back down to earth, Keiko asked, "What was your first
love like, Makoto-kun?"

'God dammit, Keiko! What did I just tell you? Pick your words carefully!
He'll totally misunderstand you!' Yusuke yelped from inside his shared
mind.

"M-My first love was my Science Club advisor. Unfortunately, she was an
X Japan fan, and I was more of a Turbo Pascal fan myself; that, and she
was ten years my senior and she already had a boyfriend. It was never
meant to be."

'Oooh, first love! First love! Hey, Yusuke, who was your first love? Was
it me?' Keiko teased Yusuke.

'Y-You idiot, concentrate on the mission!'

"S-So who was your first love, Yukiko-san?" asked Makoto.

"Ah, me? Well, my first love was my childhood friend, of course. He's
gross, uncouth, had hygiene problems, threw snot balls at me, flipped my
skirt, and was a total brat who was always getting into fights because
of his parents' messy divorce. For the longest time, I was his only
friend..."


===


To Be Continued...

Next: Aloise's secret.

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, Shueisha, Shonen Jump,
Viz, Sony Studios, Fuji TV, Studio Gallop, Studio Deen, and ADV.
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