[FFML] [yyh][ry][xover] Youtou Shinnoken Chapter 32: Tactics (Part 7)

[Abdiel]

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Youtou Shinnoken
A Rurouni Kenshin/Yuyu Hakusho 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/

The Shin Ju are here. Moreover, Koenma's army is growing...


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Chapter 32: Tactics (Part 7)

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Natsuki Shinkai was at a loss on what to do next as she felt her short
hair, skimpy top, and torn pants undulate against the winds produced by
her father's yin-yang of sword energy and spiritual energy. How was she
supposed to counter a twister?

'We have one chance of doing so. You aren't really from Japan, but try
to remember through my memories the power of sumo, Daito Ryu Aiki
Jujutsu, and modern-day aikido. Learn to use the strength of your
opponent against him, and you'll learn how to use my ultimate skill,
Tsuki-chan!' assured Yutaro Tsukayama, her past self.

Feng Xinhai's aura allowed him to heat the surrounding air while he
produced spiraling waves of cold air through his Shinko Ryu's Tobi
Izuna. The combination of blistering tropical gales and cool polar winds
then formed into a supercell or an immense chaotic volatility caused by
the rising hot air stream. "I'd love to see either of your two selves
counter _this_, Xiaji! TORNADO RIPPER!"

As everybody froze at the sight of the localized typhoon that was headed
their way, Daiji Matsudaira remembered what Itsumi's ghost made him
promise before she bid him adieu. 'Take care of Likka-chan for me, you
gigantic dork,' she had said.

If he allowed Likka's best friend to die that day, then he'd break his
sister-in-law's heart. As tempted as he was with the idea of spending
eternity with his wife... even if it was in Hell... he would be damned
before he'd allow Likka to cry.

Another voice inside him had this to say: 'Xinhai is wrong. Even you
were wrong, and so was I. We are not Jekyll and Hyde. We are one and the
same, not separate entities living inside one body. Stop denying who you
are. You are a shinobi. You are a detective. You are both.'

Aoshi had a point. For the longest time since he discovered the
supernatural truth behind the One-Eight-Ten Killer and himself, he
couldn't believe what was happening. It made everything he believed in
as a detective a joke and a lie. As far as he was concerned, this battle
between paranormal forces was nonsense best dealt with by his other self
that just happened to be the last of the shinobi in Meiji Era Japan.

But wasn't Sherlock Holmes himself who said, "Eliminate all other
factors, and the one which remains must be the truth"? Should he still
arbitrarily deny the existence of ghosts, past lives, demons, and the
occult in light of what he'd experienced so far?

If he were fighting Xinhai in late 1993 instead of earlier that year,
he'd be comparing himself to the X-File's Dana Scully in terms of his
skepticism in admitting the fantastic truth. He was a detective, dammit!
No idea was unthinkable. No action was undoable.

He had to stop relying on his past self to fight his battles. He was
Daiji Matsudaira, the reincarnation of Aoshi Shinomori, whether he liked
it or not. Amidst his grim acceptance of who he was and what he had to
do, Shinomori's twin short swords reappeared in his hands.

All it took was a split second. He only had a split-second burst of
energy left anyway because of all the blood he'd lost and his limited
stamina.

"Daiji-sempai...!" exclaimed Natsuki as Daiji jumped in front of her to
shield her from the approaching force of nature before them.

"Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren."

"Detective Matsudaira? You can still move?" the One-Eight-Ten Killer
roared along with the concentrated cyclone as he redirected his funnel-
shaped special move on the leaping target, fully expecting the Kaiten
Kenbu Rokuren counterattack that the revived Okashira employed to
neutralize the Tornado Ripper. "A whipped dog should know his place!"

If Daiji were to rely on the Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren alone, then Xinhai
could always restart the process of charging up his cache of "negative
energy" (as he called it) and creating another one of his unstoppable
whirlwinds.

No, he only had one shot; he had no choice but to make it count.

The detective proposed, 'Every time you hit his nodachi edge-to-edge,
all it does is chip the edges of our swords. But if you aimed the Spiral
Sword Dance Six Series at the flat of the blade, then I believe we can
slice through the weapon because of the thinner width. What do you
think?'

'Are you talking to yourself?' came Aoshi's deadpan jibe. 'If you want
to aim the Kaiten Kenbu Rokuen that way, then aim it that way...
Shinomori Aoshi. It's your technique, after all.'

'Understood, Matsudaira Daiji.'

A split second later, Xinhai's prized nodachi that _wasn't_ made out of
spirit energy but instead real Japanese steel folded twenty times to
contain more than a million layers was cut into six equal sections care
of the modified Kaiten Kenbu Rokuren that cut through the flat, thinner
portion of the lengthy longsword.

The next thing Feng knew, his whole body got torn apart by the force of
that last perfectly executed Spiral Sword Dance, which ripped him to
shreds from muscle to muscle, tendon to tendon, as though he were chewed
up by a wild animal, his sword arm taking the brunt of the damage to the
point of his bones becoming visible.

"Shen me niao," the weaponless Chinese Triad leader muttered as he shook
his head, his eyes wide open. Even though he had the hot winds required
for supercell creation, he lacked the blade needed to summon midair
vacuum slices that encouraged cold air movement.

'There's barely anything left of his body and he's still moving? Is he
even human anymore?' thought Daiji as the winds tore Xinhai's bloodless
body apart. He'd practically lost and arm and a leg in this fight, yet
his will compelled his body to move for what could be a final, suicide
attack.

"Daiji-sempai!" Natsuki called out to the man that helped her learn
everything there was to know about detective work and both versions of
the Kanji Killer, only to see him collapse to his knees and fall in a
prone position after the split second exertion. "SEMPAI! Are you okay?"
she asked as she ran to her mentor's side.

"R-Run away, Natsuki-kun," Daiji rasped while cursing to himself. At the
corner of his eye, he could feel a rising tempest circling around what
was left of Xinhai's blade, which was no more than eight inches in
length and was shorter than even the twelve-inch tanto. The detective
was a split second too late. It was a common misconception among laymen
that there was no tornado unless where was a fully visible funnel cloud;
that was wrong.

Even though the Kaiten Kenbu Ougi successfully dissipated Feng's attempt
at a full-scale Tornado Ripper, the Chinese immigrant was still able to
create an invisible miniature twister that was by all intents and
purposes a tornado save for the absence of the funnel cloud. The good
news was that Xinhai couldn't do his devastating Sonic Shockwave
anymore. The bad news was that he remained a threat.

The detective gasped. He couldn't move one muscle at the moment.
"Dammit. Not again."

However, instead of heeding Detective Matsudaira's wishes, Natsuki
stood her ground, her eyes shining bright. "No. I've been pursuing this
man all this time, trying to make sense of what went wrong. I'll never
run away."

Just as Daiji came into terms with his past self, so did the half-
Chinese girl and her full-Japanese past self, their thoughts and
feelings synchronizing in perfect harmony.

With tears in his eyes, Xinhai apologized in Mandarin, "I'm sorry. I
wish this could've ended in another way!" as he swung his broken,
supercell-powered sword at Natsuki. Strangely enough, Xiaji apologized
the exact same way to her father at almost the same time.

Cane and sword clashed as the girl remembered the technique that Yutaro
attempted to use against the real Kanji Killer before he got shot from
behind by another one of the Chojin's lackeys.

"TORNADO RIPPER!"

"MUGEN DAI NO HYOGO!"

A screeching sound assailed everyone's ears. However, instead of it
originating from a tornado touching the floor, it instead came directly
from Xinhai's throat as his imperceptible cyclone twisted and formed a
figure-eight sigil caused by Natsuki's cross-armed, aikido-like move:
The ultimate counterattack.

The aptly named "Mark of Infinity" deflected the tremendous pressure of
Feng's half-formed Tornado Ripper unto itself, which resulted with the
wind tearing apart the skin, bone, muscles, and tendons of his right
forearm in a manner reminiscent to how Yutaro lost use of his own right
forearm a hundred years ago.

Xinhai's body bore the concentrated blast of his own Class-B power, its
recoil flinging him all the way out the thirty-fifth floor by crashing
into a person-sized window with a perfect view of Nishi-Shinjuku.
Before dissipating, the Mobius-strip-like air flow disintegrated the
ground, I-beams and all, into a unstable mass of debris that fell after
the ejected Triad Mountain Master.

>From their precarious perch, both Natsuki and Daiji looked on at the
falling Xinhai with mixed feelings in their hearts. Their catharsis
was at hand, yet there was no sense of elation in either of them.

However, even the promise of closure was snatched away from them as a
black hole opened up from under the descending Triad Dragon Head and
swallowed his battered, bloodied, and bruised body whole as it winked
out of existence.

It took a couple of moments for either Daiji or Natsuki's respective
brains to register what had happened.

"NO!" Detective Matsudaira screamed after the disappeared One-Eight-Ten
Killer, which prompted the floor beneath Natsuki to crumble and make her
slip and follow the same self-destructive path Xinhai plummeted towards
earlier.

"Natsuki-kun!" called out the hoarse detective as he let go of his
kodachi and grabbed hold of Natsuki's arm with both hands. His muscles
then flared in pain anew as his "Hei" scar seared with reddened agony.
For her part, the Xinhai daughter also felt nerve-wracking torture on
her right forearm. "Natsuki-kun, hold on. I won't let go. I'd die
first."

"S-Sempai..." Natsuki trailed off, teary-eyed.

>From across the unfinished building where, unbeknownst to either
Matsudaira or Shinkai, Kurama and his former Ankoku Bujutsukai opponent
Karasu fought (the same Karasu that posed as a "suicide bomber" during
Daiji's sting operation against the One-Eight-Ten Killer), a vaguely
humanoid shadow creature with eyes and a mouth appeared.

This seeming umibozu monster opened its maw into a portal large enough
to house an entire World War II Era oil tanker. Then, funnily enough,
that was exactly what emerged out of that pitch-black void: part of an
old, dilapidated, and rusted five-hundred-plus-feet ship.

Natsuki and Daiji shook from their awkward position, their faces flushed
and their muscles taut at the sight below them. At the prow of the
gigantic shipwreck stood the one-armed One-Eight-Killer; beaten within
an inch of his life, yet still laughing his head off for surviving yet
again. Beside him stood the scarred, slender, and dashing turquoise-
haired man that Detective Matsudaira identified as Kamurocho's eccentric
doorman.

"I'VE SURVIVED! Everything you've done today is for nothing! I'm too
important to the Chojin's plans for him to allow me to die!"

"Dammit, why won't he die? I'm sorry, It-chan..."

"Why? How...? I-I thought it was all over..."

Natsuki looked over her shoulder in time to see bat-winged, single-eyed
creatures flying towards her, their heads illuminated with lit fuses.
But before even one of them could reach her, they were cut open like
coconuts by an imperceptible force and detonated in midair.

"Huh? Living bombs...?"

She afterwards remembered Kurama telling her that the man who served as
the suicide bomber in Daiji's failed sting might not have been what he
seemed.

"What? Who are you? STAY BACK!" Natsuki heard Daiji shout before the
both of them were covered in sentient vines. She looked up, and her
mouth went agape.

Right above them flew Kurama, who wore a butterfly-winged glider that
was set aflame. The next thing she and the detective knew was that they
were flung all the way back inside the thirty-fifth floor, away from the
crumbling part of the ledge that was utterly obliterated by Yutaro's
Mugen Dai no Hyogo after it deflected back Xinhai's half-formed Tornado
Ripper.

"Sempai! Relax! He's on our side!" assured Natsuki as she parried with
her cane Daiji's probing strike at the soot-covered, slightly scorched
Kurama. For the redhead's part, he took off his burning, plant-woven
Fuyoka no Makai Shokubutsu without a second thought.

"Where did those flying bombs come from, Kurama?" Natsuki asked.

"From him," said Kurama while pointing at the flying, bat-like being who
pursued him halfway towards what was left of the Shinjuku Hisashi
Building.

It was Daiji's turn to stare in shocked silence while the red-haired
half-youko and the auburn-haired half-Chinese girl exchanged knowing
glances. The man... actually a demon... who destroyed the Earth Club's
base of operations at Kabukicho was the same, masked person before them.

"His name is Karasu," the redhead said. "I'd fought and killed him back
in a special martial arts tournament I participated in as part of my
duties as a deputized assistant to a Spirit World Detective. It looks
like he was revived by the Spirit World's new enemy."

"...The Chojin, right?" queried Daiji as he came into terms with the
idea of a man who could blow himself up into smithereens and still
survive. Kurama nodded in assent. "So we have a common enemy. My wife's
murderer is working for that very same person, whoever this 'Chojin'
may be."

Using small continuous bomb explosions at the soles of his shoes as his
rocket boosters of sorts, Karasu flew towards the shipwreck and landed
right beside the cackling Feng Xinhai and their other cohort. Using the
process of elimination, both Daiji and Natsuki concluded that the
effeminate, green-haired person was the one who had the power to summon
portals and dimensional rifts.

The two of them were about to ask Kurama about the portal-creating being
when the half-demon walked straight into the unstable floor Natsuki fell
through earlier and shouted to the one-eyed, pony-tailed man in loose
clothing, "Itsuki! Are you one of the Chojin's minions? Why? What
happened to Sensui? Didn't you steal his body and soul and hid him
inside your pocket dimension? Didn't you say that you'd never let Reikai
take away Sensui's spirit?"

Itsuki glared at Kurama before smirking and saying, "Why don't you ask
your great Lord Koenma what had happened to Shinobu? Provided that he
tells you the truth, you'll be questioning which of us are the villains
and the heroes."

"I'll see you around, Kurama," said Karasu as he waved goodbye to his
Dark Martial Arts Tournament rival. "As painful as it is for me to
admit, you've become leagues more powerful since the last time we met.
Someday, when I've evened the playing field, I'll be strong enough to
make your face twinge in exquisite agony."

The unsteady One-Eight-Ten Killer did a mock salute with his broken
nodachi and said, "Farewell, Xiaji. Detective. I look forward to
seeing you both grow stronger than before, because I too will benefit
from your added strength. Please, go ahead and hate me. Be obsessed
about me. Your frustration and tears will give me even more strength as
I look for more victims to bring me to the threshold of godhood."

Xinhai turned towards Kurama. "As for you, Agent of Reikai, the Chojin
considers the awakening of all these Meiji Era warriors as a sign of
war... and desperation. Koenma Daio fears us, and with his father in
exile and the Reikai barriers down, he knows that depending solely on
a retired Spirit Detective like Urameshi Yusuke and his allies isn't
enough to face this threat. You may have escaped the revenge of Meikai,
but you will not survive the wrath of the Chojin's Shin Ju. Our
emergence to power is a hundred years in the making!"

"You're running away with your tail between your legs, Xinhai!"

"Ugh. Shinju. That name again. Is that the nickname of their Shinjuku
gang or something?" complained Daiji before he had an epiphany care of
Aoshi's unlocked memories. "Shin Ju... The Shin Ju! The Shin Juppon
Gatana!"

"Daiji-sempai...?" trailed off Natsuki while Kurama inquired, "The New
Ten Swords? Who are they?" Neither the half-Japanese girl nor the half-
demonic young man had any idea who the Juppon Gatana were, but for
Aoshi's reincarnated self, the implications of this sudden realization
were significant, to say the least.

Had any other people from the Meiji Era heard Daiji's deduction, they
would've been asking some serious questions in regards to who the
Chojin was and what was his connection with the diabolical ex-hitokiri
and evil genius known as Makoto Shishio.

Just then, alerted earlier by the power released by both Xinhai's
shikigami and Xinhai himself, the Spirit World's cavalry had finally
arrived.

"Raijuta! What does Shishio Makoto have to do with the Chojin? Is your
group named after the Juppon Gatana?" the half-transparent ghost of
Kenshin shouted at the one-armed Chinese Triad Dragon Head while
perched atop the tip of Botan's oar.

Apparently, Daiji's fellow Meiji Era acquaintances had also overheard
Xinhai's long and involved rant.

>From behind the shinigami rode Yahiko and Sanosuke, who also looked like
they were ready to abandon boat paddle and jump into the floating ship.

"What the... Itsuki? _Karasu_? I can understand why Sensui's boyfriend
would join the Chojin's army, but Karasu's dead! Wait, oh right. You can
revive people with jaki. Never mind," flip-flopped a shocked Botan.

"KENSHIN!" both Kurama and Natsuki called out to the Youtou Shinnoken
Spirit Guardian.

"Battousai," the Aoshi part of Daiji whispered as a wave of reminiscence
burst forth from within him, particularly memories of the two death
matches they had against each other.

"It's been hours since we last met, Battousai and company. It looks like
Koenma Daio has been busy reviving every last Meiji Era spirit connected
to you and your war against Shishio that he could find. He's going to
pay for breaking his own laws," said Xinhai.

"Damn you, Raijuta! What do you know about Koenma-sama's condition?"
Kaoru and Botan demanded at the same time, but the One-Eight-Killer
ignored them both as he hoisted himself up.

"I wish I could've fought you instead of sending my shikigami after you,
but I'm in no shape to fight at the moment. I'll be taking a rain check
for now. Your questions about the Shin Ju and Shishio Makoto can wait."
Feng snapped his fingers together. "Itsuki. Karasu."

As Kenshin attempted to board the collapsing oil tanker, Itsuki shielded
his Shin Ju commander with a portal that sent the ex-vagabond into
another, faraway place. However, after falling onto the roof of
Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, Himura immediately deployed his Shinsoku to
jump and enter the portal again before it closed in a millisecond.

Nevertheless, by the time Battousai arrived back at Nishi-Shinjuku, the
Gatekeeper had already made portals that sent Karasu and Xinhai into his
pocket dimension. Furthermore, as a parting gift, Karasu threw in a
Deleterious Bomb that blew up the front half of the shipwreck's already
unstable bow.

Botan swooped down and caught the jumping Kenshin before the flaming
debris from the halved oil tanker dropped into the street below, with
cars and pedestrians screeching and moving away from certain death.

A minute later, the other half of the broken-down shipwreck was
literally gulped down by Itsuki's "Reverse Man" pet before dissipating
into nothingness altogether, as though it never existed. The three
members of the Shin Ju had escaped.

Botan heaved a sigh of relief; none of the people below were killed by
the burning rubble, although several others were slightly injured. She
then frowned as she felt the presence and voices of dozens, perhaps even
a hundred or so lost souls claimed by Xinhai's fight against...

"Sano. Yahiko. Is my eyes deceiving me or is that Aoshi and Yuta-kun
standing there with Kurama?" asked the Kaoru part of Botan's soul.

"Who the hell is Kurama...? Hey, wait! You're right! It's that brat that
always tagged along with Raijuta back in the Meiji Era and ol' Mister
Serious Pants himself, Shinomori Aoshi!" exclaimed Sanosuke before his
back gave out and he yelped in indescribable pain.

For someone that Kenshin dispatched with using one move, Raijuta had
grown to be quite the powerful son of a bitch, reckoned Sano.

Kurama waved at the reunited Kenshingumi, and they waved back in kind.
Meanwhile, both Daiji and Natsuki could only stare as yet another
bizarre sight... this time involving a sailor-fuku-clad blue-haired
woman riding an oar with two swordsmen and a gangster... "assaulted"
their vision.

"So Cat Eyes was reincarnated in the Heisei Era too? I was wondering
where he left when I couldn't find him back in Heaven anymore! Tsubame
and I were worried sick! This is the best reunion ever!"

Yahiko narrowed his eyes to get a better look before they bulged out
altogether upon noticing "Yutaro's" cleavage and tie top. "W-Wait.
Something's different..."

Botan took control of her artificial body once more after her momentary
lapse into Kaoru's personality thanks to all the familiar, Meiji Era
faces.

"Fine. We'll bring everyone along. It may take me a couple of trips to
get everyone back to a safer place to astral project themselves, but
I'll manage. We need to hurry though, because we're still in an
emergency situation!"


===


It took two trips, but Botan eventually got both sets of... Spirit World
Detectives (honorary and official ones) back to the Kuwabara Residence
prior to their jump into the Spirit World.

There were a lot of loose ends to deal with this time around. For
example, neither Yahiko nor Sanosuke killed off their enemies, so the
ninja and the martial artist were still around. Meanwhile, Shizuru's
attacker was only beat up enough to get sent to jail for murdering
innocent civilians.

"Are you sure you're going to be all right, Shizuru-san?" Botan asked
with a creased forehead and a pout.

"Somehow, I will," assured Shizuru as Kazuma gave her some change of
clothes and a fresh pack of cigarettes he pilfered from Lieutenant
Fujita a few days ago. "Everything worked out in the end, didn't it? It
could've been worse."

Botan could only nod at the Elder Kuwabara sibling as the former bit her
lip.

"If you need anything, we'll be here to help," Kazuma said as he handed
his sister a roll of gauze. "If you hadn't already beat the shit out of
Musashi, I would've done so myself!"

Shizuru smiled and rubbed the Younger Kuwabara's noggin. "You already
beat that guy to a pulp, so it's my turn now!" She pointed at Botan with
her thumb and said, "You also have her to thank for rescuing me from
that pervert."

Kuwabara's eyes went as wide as saucers. "Really? Is that true, Botan?
You were able to defeat Burashi all on your own?"

"Ehehe... Sort of," said Botan. She wasn't sure if Kazuma knew or even
understood the fact that the ghost of Kaoru Kamiya... a national-level
kendo master... was now sharing one body with her.

Different parts of Shinjuku and Shibuya were now left in chaos because
of the back-to-back attacks from the Chojin's growing legion of zombies.
Fire trucks, firemen, police cars, policemen, ambulances, and doctors
were on the scene all over those particular Tokyo areas as people
flashed back to the inexplicable "natural" disasters that befell them
when the Gods of Meikai attacked both Ningenkai and Reikai.

Again, people speculated that the events were either acts of terrorism
or Mother Nature. Contrary to initial fears, the casualties were
minimal compared to what they could've been thanks in no small part to
the presence of the (reincarnated or resurrected) Warriors from the
Meiji Era and Reikai Operatives like Botan and Kurama.

For instance, thanks to Daiji's "delaying tactics" against Xinhai, the
vast majority of people from the upper stories of the Shinjuku Hisashi
Building were evacuated before the Chinese Mafia Leader unleashed his
combined Blood Wind and Tornado Ripper.

Nevertheless, several deceased persons from the destruction of the top
half of the structure that should've been ferried to Reikai remained
missing, which Daiji explained to Botan was due to the soul-sucking
nature of Feng's powers.

Meanwhile, Kuwabara nudged Kurama in the ribs and warned, "You better
not keep me out of the loop, Kurama. I didn't come stalking a psycho cop
for weeks-on-end per Koenma's orders for nothing. I want to help."

"I have no intention of doing so, Kuwabara-kun," said Kurama. "In fact,
we may need your Dimension Sword more than ever now that the Chojin has
formed an entire army of Kenshin's and our former enemies together.
Besides, Itsuki is among their group."

"I-Itsuki? You mean Sensui's _boyfriend_ Itsuki?" exclaimed Kazuma as he
flashbacked to the time he cut Itsuki's face and eye in order to stop
Sensui from murdering Yusuke.

"What's he doing with this Chojin asshole? Wasn't he taking care of
Sensui's corpse and soul or something within his pocket dimension? What
happened since then? What is Koenma even planning, reviving these long-
dead people and recruiting even their reincarnations to fight?"

Kurama's eyes turned into slits as narrow as his youko self's eyes as
their jade irises glowed a hint of gold. "That's what I'd like to know
myself." He then whispered something to Kuwabara's ear.

"What...? What exactly are you planning, Kurama?" Kuwabara asked.

"I'll explain everything later," answered Kurama. "It's important that
you help arrange a meeting between me and _those three_ soon."

"I don't even like those guys," grumbled Kuwabara, but he nevertheless
heeded the redhead's words. If there was anyone who could sort out this
entire Chojin mess, then it's the ever-cunning Kurama. "Mushiyori City,
here we go again..."

"I'm... Shinomori Aoshi. _And_ Shinjuku Detective Matsudaira Daiji,"
Daiji introduced himself to Kenshin, bowing shallowly because of his
midsection injuries and opting to instead shake the ex-hitokiri's hand.
"It's nice to see you again, Battousai. It's been forever indeed."

"So you've been reincarnated as a detective, Aoshi! Congratulations!
That's rather appropriate, if I do say so myself," cheered Kenshin,
amazed at how much Daiji was the spirit and image of the Aoshi of old
save for his slight scrawniness.

A wave of wistful homesickness for his last days on earth as a living
human being filled the Demon Sword Guardian's ethereal insides. He
particularly remembered how Aoshi bought him enough time to recover his
second wind during his fight with Shishio. "Hmmm. Detective Shinomori?
That doesn't sound half-bad. The Oniwabanshu lives on! I wonder where
Miss Misao is, though..."

"...."

Daiji looked at Kenshin for the longest time before his eyes widened
into saucers; an uncharacteristic look for either Matsudaira or
Shinomori.

He then fidgeted around and looked at the clock before he eventually
slumped down on the nearby couch after his exertions took its toll on
his injured body.

"Is this meeting with the Spirit World going to take long? They're not
going to ferry me again into the River Styx, are they?"

Botan turned her body sideways and tilted her head at Daiji. "_Again_?"

Daiji proceeded to tell the shinigami about dying (or almost dying) in
the middle of his fight against Xinhai, particularly the part where he
was being ferried into the River of Three Crossings by a strange death
goddess that was either named Uchiko Shikoku or Sayuri.

For some reason or another, the ferry-girl turned as blue as her hair as
Daiji told her more about her supposed shinigami compatriot.

Meanwhile, Yahiko and Sanosuke were at the back enjoying Shizuru's stash
of junk food. The younger samurai admonished the older street fighter,
stating, "Will you stop grinning like an idiot, Rooster Head? You're
creeping everyone out."

Sanosuke responded, "I can't help it, bro. My old partner is back! Even
the powered-up version of Raijuta pretending to be the Chojin couldn't
break my new and improved zanbatou! He must've shattered it a million
times, and it still kept coming back! I love my zanbatou. I always felt
something was missing since Kenshin broke it."

"My apologies for breaking it apart so easily," joked Kenshin while
Sano playfully threw a fruit bowl at the ex-rurouni's head... Okay,
perhaps not so playfully.

"ORO?" Kenshin blathered as Yahiko laughed out loud.

"Kenshin, I never realized you had such a sharp tongue!" Botan noted
while the Kaoru inside of her giggled at the back of her head. 'Stop
that,' the ferry-girl told the kendo instructor from a hundred years
back.

"Even though I missed that effeminate goof something fierce, I certainly
didn't miss hearing that sharp tongue of his in action," half-growled
Sanosuke with a smile on his face. "Whatever. Hey, Kenshin! Check this
out! ZANBATOU!"

Sanosuke raised his arm. Furious winds appeared out of nowhere as his
ghostly energy manifested itself into the form of a large iron blade
about twelve feet in length. Yahiko turned and grinned as he saw
Kenshin's mouth widen in wonder.

"Hey, tall guy with the punk hairstyle! No summoning magical weapons in
my home! We have fragile items here!" Kazuma admonished Sano while
protecting a Ming Dynasty vase and a couple of pots and dishes in his
hands. 'Jeez, they've turned my house into a circus!'

"I remember you using that version of your zanbatou against Raijuta! How
were you able to summon that weapon from out of nowhere, Sano? What is
it made of?" Kenshin asked with a sparkle in his eye.

"These special clothes we bought with Spirit World money can allow us to
summon our best weapons... or something! I don't know, but it's really
cool!" confessed Sano.

"Oh, I get it now. Those special clothes you bought are able to manifest
different important objects from your past!" Botan explained, while
Kaoru added, "I always knew you really missed that big cavalry sword of
yours, Sano! Congratulations on getting it back!"

"Anyway, this is incredible! I always wondered how powerful you could be
with both the zanbatou and the Futae no Kiwami at your disposal," said
Kenshin to the beaming Sano.

"I can't wait for Kenshin to kick your ass again when you have your
rematch!" added Yahiko.

"GODDAMMIT! You don't need to rub it in!" Sanosuke lifted the zanbatou,
and Kuwabara shouted, "DUMBASS! Don't swing that thing around my house!"
but thanks to the fact that the street fighter had spent his energy
fighting Kibano Getsuno, Rando, and Feng Xinhai, the summoned sword soon
dissipated.

Kazuma sighed a breath of relief, then murmured under his breath, "It's
big, but it has no staying power," which earned him a glare from
Sanosuke.

"I'm just tired, okay?" the man formerly known as Zanza sulked.

"Oh, it's been a hundred years, Yahiko! I guess you're no longer a
hundred years too early to face me!" jibed Kenshin to a deadpanning
Myojin.

The young-looking samurai stuck his tongue out. "That's cold, Kenshin.
Your joke was so bad, it made me shiver."

"Oh, really? Never mind then. My pardons, my sense of humor is literally
a hundred years old." The former hitokiri's face turned serious. "Is
that my sakabatou you're carrying?"

Yahiko gulped and nodded. Meanwhile, a tired Sano opened one eye as he
listened to the dialogue between his two comrades from the Meiji Era.

"Yeah. Sano brought it back from your battle against Shishio in Mount
Hiei. It was all we have left of you. It was all we have to remember you
by."

Kenshin nodded with a wry smile. "I promised you all that I'd come back,
but I..."

"If you're going to give us another apology, then skip it, Kenshin!"
interjected the Kaoru-possessed Botan while putting a finger on Himura's
lips. She grinned. "The past is past, right? What's important is that
you're now here. We're all here."

Yahiko nodded while waving his fists around. "Tanuki Musume is right!
Let's forget about the past and look forward to the present! The
Kenshingumi is now back together again, after all! All that's missing
now is Megumi and Misao, and our group will be complete!"

Unnoticed by everyone, the stone-faced Daiji held back a shudder.

Kenshin chuckled. So Yahiko remembered the name of their group that he
coined in jest. Himura grabbed hold of the youth's (Could he still be
considered a young man? He had a presence that suggested otherwise...)
shoulders and declared, "I couldn't imagine a better person to wield my
former sword. Please take good care of it."

Yahiko went speechless for an entire minute.

"Oro? Maybe I overdid my praise?" asked Kenshin.

"More like the kid's overreacting," said Kaoru using Botan's lips.

"Seriously, who the hell are these people?" Kazuma asked his big sister
after Shizuru emerged from the bathroom wearing new clothes and fresh
bandages.


===


"Are you the reincarnation of Tsukayama Yutaro, Natsuki-dono?" asked
Kenshin Himura after Daiji Matsudaira introduced him to the person who
helped defeat a warrior that the "Kenshingumi" initially thought was the
Chojin, but turned out to be one of his top generals: Feng Xinhai. "We
couldn't help but notice your resemblance to a friend of ours a hundred
years ago."

Natsuki, who had now borrowed several of Shizuru's old pant suits to
replace the one ripped apart by Xinhai, nodded while nursing the wounds
her father inflicted upon her in their lengthy battle.

She hadn't told them about her specific relation with Xinhai, although
she was curious whether or not Daiji overheard her conversation with
daddy dearest. Regardless, she wasn't quite ready to open up to these
strangers just yet, even though they were supposedly Kurama's comrades.

"Speaking of which," interrupted Daiji, "_Yutaro_, was it? What is your
connection with the One-Eight-Ten Killer?" If he didn't know better, he
would've waved off Yutaro's existence as an indication that Natsuki was
suffering from some sort of multiple personality disorder.

Kurama's ears almost wiggled at the mention of the Kanji Killer's other
name.

"In his past life, he was known as Raijuta. He used to serve as my
kenjutsu teacher before he betrayed me and nearly cut off my arm,"
revealed Yutaro.

"I knew it! You fought Raijuta earlier? Then you must be Cat Eyes! So
you did end up getting reincarnated in the Ningenkai!" Yahiko exclaimed
at Natsuki, but he then deflated as the girl looked at him curiously and
asked, "Who are you?"

"Ah! You don't even remember me! That's harsh, Cat Eyes! That's real
cruel!" Yahiko yelped, but then realized the point of a reincarnation
was to start over. He couldn't help calling Natsuki as "Cat Eyes",
though. The resemblance between the two was uncanny.

"Idiot! Of course Tsuki-chan doesn't remember you!" admonished "Natsuki"
with a wag of her finger. "Anyway, how are you? Is Tsubame doing fine
back in Heaven?"

"She's doing great! When our descendants pray to us ancestors, she's the
person that our littlest ones pray to the most! She's the Myojin
Family's favorite ancestor!" It took a few seconds for Yahiko to notice
that something was amiss. "'Tsuki-chan'?"

Natsuki chuckled. Or rather, the past incarnation of Natsuki, Yutaro,
did. "Still slow on the uptake, aren't we, Myojin Yahiko?"

"Sheesh. After all these years... decades even... you still call me by
my full name," Yahiko's eyes twinkled with understanding. Yutaro and
his reincarnation now share one body, and because of the day's
tumultuous events, Natsuki's past self had now awakened.

Of course, this led Myojin to ask, "Are you suffering from the same
ailment that Kaoru has? You're also living in someone else's body?"

"WE'RE NOT SUFFERING FROM AN AILMENT!" the voices of both Botan and
Kaoru chorused as one as they hit Yahiko with a slipper smack to the
head. She... or rather, _they_ excused themselves to Yutaro. "Sorry
about that, Yuta-kun."

'Ah. Just like good old times,' thought Yutaro while rolling Natsuki's
eyes as Yahiko started a shouting match with Botan and/or Kaoru. "To
answer your question... I don't know. I just woke up all of a sudden in
my present reincarnation's body, so I just went with the flow. That's
about it."

He could also mention the involvement of an apple or pear that could
revive long-lost memories in the mix, but he believed that only made the
story needlessly convoluted.

'Um, can I have my body back, Yuta-kun?' asked Natsuki at the back of
Yutaro's mind. 'Oh, sorry! I've overstayed my welcome!' he answered
before turning his attention back to Yahiko, who was stuck in a headlock
of sorts care of Botan (or Kaoru).

"Er, Tsuki-chan... I mean, Natsuki... wants her body back. I'll see you
around, Myojin Yahiko."

"Okay... Hey, wait! _Her_ body...?" Right then and there, something
important dawned to Yahiko as he extricated himself from Botan's grasp.
"Your reincarnation is a girl?"

"Does this look like a boy to you?" Yutaro was just about to undo
Natsuki's vest when the true owner of the body he was occupying was
forced to slap herself in order to get him back to his senses.

'What the hell is wrong with you?' she admonished Yutaro.

Yutaro replied, 'I'm sorry. I got carried away. Yahiko, you stupid
bastard...'

'Get your... _my_... hands away from... m-my body! ARRGH!' Yes, her
demand sounded strange even in her head.

"Oh... So I wasn't seeing things earlier. You are a girl," concluded
Yahiko as he looked away from his rival's reincarnation's feminine chest
while blood rushed to his face to the point of it nearly oozing out of
his nostrils.

Come to think of it, thanks to her short-cropped hair and... modest
endowments, the teenaged girl looked like for all intents and purposes
the female version of Yutaro Tsukayama, if not his twin. At the very
least, she appeared like his long-lost sister.

Who could blame him for presuming that Yutaro's reincarnation was a boy?
Even though it wasn't always the case, Aoshi's reincarnation was the
spirit and image of him, so Yahiko expected the same with Natsuki!

Yet another thing occurred to the Son of Tokyo Samurai.

"Cat Eyes is now a girl? BWAHAHAHA! Karma does exist!" The youngish-
looking Myojin pointed out and doubled over in laughter.

"What's so funny?" demanded Natsuki as she took control of her body and
freed herself from Yutaro's figurative grasp, her hands on her hips
while scowling.

"Oh, sorry! You're... Natsuki, right?" Yahiko noticed the short-haired
girl's change in demeanor and body language, which signaled to him that
she'd finally taken her body back. "I don't mean to offend you, I swear!
It's just that Cat Eyes was a notorious womanizer when he was still
alive! And now he's a girl. Justice served."

Botan conked Yahiko on the head at Kaoru's request. "Just because she's
Yuta-kun's reincarnation doesn't mean it's some sort of punishment to be
a girl, Yahiko!"

"You're putting words in my mouth, you old crone! I'm just saying at
least now Cat Eyes will know what it's like to be a girl, so maybe he'll
think twice before breaking other women's hearts!" explained Yahiko as
he and Botan went at each other's throats.

Natsuki crossed her arms, closed her eyes, and mentally questioned her
other self, 'Is what that spiky-haired samurai kid saying true, Yuta-
kun? He's right, isn't he? You're a pervert through and through.'

'You're wrong! I'm not, and it's not my fault that girls from a century
ago found me irresistible!' was Yutaro's half-denial and half-
confirmation of Natsuki's suspicions.

'Uh-huh,' came Shinkai's bloodcurdling reply that would've sent shivers
down Yutaro's own spine were he not sharing one body with his
reincarnation. 'Sure you are, Romeo.'


===


"You're kidding me? So that's what they meant when they said _Shin Ju_?"
exclaimed Sano. "I thought they called themselves that because they came
from Shinjuku or something!"

The names "Shin Juppon Gatana" and "Juppon Gatana" went over the heads
of people like Kuwabara or even Natsuki because that rebellious
organization existed way before their time (and even most people in the
Meiji Era has no idea of how big a threat the Ten Swords were), but to
those select few in the know, these names struck them to their very
core.

As solemn as a prayer, Kenshin nodded. "They're back. Shishio's elite
troops are back. I have no idea who the Dai Shin Kan are, but I suppose
to those of us who fought them and lived to tell the tale, the Juppon
Gatana does ring a bell."

Sanosuke harrumphed. "They must be quite desperate to include a third-
rate swordsman like Raijuta into Shishio's best of the best warriors in
the land."

"I wouldn't say that, Sagara Sanosuke," Daiji said with an edge in his
voice. "Xinhai Feng is far removed from the coward you once knew as
Isurugi Raijuta. I know little to none about the Spirit World... all I
have are past memories of my time as the Okashira of the Oniwabanshu...
but even I who have no inclination towards the supernatural can see that
the One-Eight-Ten Killer is no easy opponent."

"Wait. Hold up. One-Eight-Ten Killer? What kind of a goofy reincarnation
did Raijuta end up as?" asked Sano.

"Raijuta's reincarnation is an infamous serial killer known as the Kanji
Killer who's been terrorizing different districts in Tokyo for over
five, maybe ten years tops. Later on, I found out he's also head of the
Triad's Shinjuku Branch as well as the leader of a cult called the
Chikyusei," relayed Daiji.

"Y'see, Sano, Aoshi... or in this case, Matsudaira Daiji... is the
detective tasked to catch one of Japan's most wanted serial killers who,
coincidentally, just happened to be Raijuta. Besides, didn't we presume
he was the Chojin when we fought his shadow?"

"Fine. I understand." Sano folded his arms over his chest. "Raijuta
isn't that big of a joke anymore. He even beat us up with his shikigami
just to prove it."

Something else bothered Daiji. "Wait. So you've fought the One-Eight-Ten
Killer before as well, Battousai?"

"Actually, we fought him just now. Or rather, his familiar," confessed
Kenshin. "We only figured out he was Raijuta after we defeated him. Like
I said, we thought he was the Chojin because of how powerful he was."

Daiji balled his fists up, turned away, and clenched his teeth. The
reason why he and Natsuki were able to put up a fight against Xinhai
was because prior to fighting them, his shikigami fought Battousai and
his cohorts. They fought Feng at a fraction of his full power.

'I need to become stronger for the next time Xinhai and I meet. I must
become strong enough to finish him off without letting his daughter get
involved in our duel. For the sake of It-chan's memory, I must do this.'

"Actually, the One-Eight-Ten Killer... this Raijuta fellow you all
know... is nothing more than an imposter to the real Kanji Killer who's
an expert murderer that leaves no loose ends behind. Unlike Xinhai,
the Kanji Killer is quite efficient in finishing off witnesses," Kurama
chimed in. He then thought to himself, 'Matsudaira... Why does that name
sound so familiar?'

"How did you know that?" demanded Daiji while Natsuki held him back with
a reassuring squeeze on his shoulder.

"I know because I've fought the real Kanji Killer along with Kenshin and
Natsuki. In fact, that's how I met Natsuki in the first place," Kurama
revealed before it occurred to him why Daiji's name rung a bell.

He recalled seeing the same name while researching the unsolved
mysteries behind the One-Eight-Ten murders. He remembered because Daiji
was the sole survivor of the attacks. Xinhai was the one who killed
Matsudaira's wife, Itsumi.

"I was admitted in the same Shinjuku hospital you ended up in when you
were almost killed by the Kabukicho bombing," noted Natsuki. "Kurama and
Botan were the ones who saved me from being killed by the real Kanji
Killer."

"Now I'm confused. There are two Kanji Killers, one fake and one real?
Which one is Raijuta?" asked Sano.

"Raijuta is the fake Kanji Killer," revealed Kenshin.

"And the true one?" probed the former street fighter.

"He goes by the name of Udo Jine. Does that name ring a bell?" asked
Kurama without irony.

Sanosuke and Yahiko said as one, "KUROGASA IS THE KANJI KILLER?" Even
Myojin had to butt in the conversation at that point. "I can't believe
it. This Shin Ju thing is like a lollapalooza of our past enemies!
Raijuta is the fake Kanji Killer. Kurogasa is the real one."

"Whoa. Really? The Kanji Killer is part of this Spirit World business
too? I just saw a news documentary about him on television, comparing
him to the Zodiac Killer! Are you telling me he's an enemy of yours?"
asked Shizuru.

"Not only that. Both Raijuta and Jine had gained supernatural powers
well beyond the skills they possessed when they were still alive a
hundred years ago," disclosed Kaoru as Botan allowed her to take control
of their shared body.

"Even Shishio's right-hand man, Houji, exists in the form of an Onmyouji
priest. He mentioned something about being part of the Dai Shin Kan, but
I haven't the faintest idea what he meant by that," added Kenshin.

"Houji, Raijuta, and Jine, huh?" enumerated Sanosuke. "How about those
other people they've gathered? Who are those clowns?"

"Those 'clowns' just happened to be _our_ former enemies, actually,"
said Kuwabara. "My sister says that she and Botan fought and beat
Musashi, which is someone I myself have defeated. I'm guessing the
people that you and your cohorts fought that you didn't recognize are
warriors that we Reikai Tantei fought ourselves."

"It's not a stretch of the imagination to think that the Shin Juppon
Gatana is the combined forces of all our past enemies," Kurama deduced.
"Rando and Suzaku could very well join the ranks of Xinhai and Jine."

"Rando? Oh yeah, that kabuki-looking demon with the red hair and
infinite special moves who almost killed me and Sano. Don't remind me of
that arrogant showoff," said Yahiko.

Sanosuke stated the conclusion that was already in most everyone's minds
(or at least everyone who was connected to Kenshin Himura during Meiji
Era Japan). "So Shishio is behind all this Shin Ju and Chojin nonsense.
I bet he's the Chojin himself!"

Everybody in the Kuwabara Residence's living room fell silent as they
let that piece of information sink in. Even the people who had no idea
who Shishio was... the Kuwabaras, for example... understood the
graveness of the situation based on the reaction of everyone else.

"We're not sure yet. In light of all the evidence, it's a likely
possibility. Shishio and his Juppon Gatana are back and better than
ever, and yet again, we're the only ones who can stop him," came
Kenshin's ice breaker.

"So it looks like we're going to go after a Heisei Era Juppon Gatana
this time around, huh?" asked Yahiko.

You're not going to suddenly join them just to fight Kenshin in a death
match, are you, Aoshi?" joked Sano.

Daiji fixed his collar. "No. Not this time around. First thing's
first." Matsudaira then turned and addressed Kenshin, Sanosuke, and
Yahiko. He also offered sideward glances at Botan from time to time, if
only because he couldn't make heads or tails out of the ferry-girl.

"Natsuki-kun and I exist in this present time because we are the present
reincarnations of our past Meiji Era selves. How about the rest of you?
Why are you here? How did you end up in this time period? It has
something to do with this Reikai business, doesn't it?"

Sano and Yahiko looked at each other, and then at Kenshin and Daiji.
"Well, in our case, Koenma Daio plucked us straight from Heaven and
gave us physical bodies. If Shishio is somehow involved in this Chojin
business, then I can see why he chose us out of all the available undead
warriors from the past."

"_Koenma_ Daio? Don't you mean _Enma_ Daio?" asked Daiji.

Yahiko shook his head. "Nope. Enma's son, Koenma, usurped his father's
throne as the King of the Spirit World after the Great King Enma was
exposed as corrupt."

Daiji sat down, put an elbow on his knee, and rested his head on one
hand. 'So even the Spirit World can't escape from red tape and political
intrigue.'

"Huh. Imagine if Koenma revived someone from the Sengoku Era, like
Takeda Shingen or Sanada Yukimura. Then we'd have some solid backup in
our hands from some of Japan's legendary heroes!" Kazuma supposed out
loud. "Or maybe he could resurrect Oda Nobunaga! Oh wait, he'd likelier
conquer Japan like the Chojin than save it..."

"I'm more interested in seeing that pacifier-sucking brat revive
Masamune Date or even Sarutobi Sasuke and the Sanada Ten Braves,"
Sanosuke admitted. "Hell, if he really wanted to see what a _real_ army
is capable of, then he should've sent Katsu, Captain Sagara, and the
Sekihoutai along with me and Yahiko to the Human World!"

"Oh, I know! Maybe he could revive Uesugi Kenshin, Takeda Shingen's
rival and the guy whom Kenshin is named after!" added Yahiko before he
noticed Botan shaking beside him like a leaf. "H-Hey... Kaoru... I mean,
Botan... Are you all right?"

'Lord Koenma, you idiot! There's a reason why we don't revive the dead
willy-nilly! Even Yusuke had to go through loops before he was revived!'
thought Botan as she held back her tears. 'That may be the reason
why...!'

"How about you, Battousai? How did you manage to end up in this era?"
asked Daiji.

"Oro? I kind of never left!" confessed Kenshin. "From what little I
remember, when I died, Koenma-dono gave me the task of guarding the
Youtou Shinnoken as a reward for stopping Shishio Makoto from conquering
Japan and my efforts to atone for my past sins as the Hitokiri
Battousai. I was just recently woken up by one of Koenma-dono's spirit
detectives, in fact."

"The Demon Sword is one of the most important artifacts from the Spirit
World. It's on the level of the three sacred treasures," said Kurama.
"Also, even though Kenshin himself has forgotten, Jine claims that he
has earned one more moniker during his time as the sword's spiritual
guardian: The Youkiri Battousai."

"Guardian of the Demon Sword? Koenma Daio? Battousai the Demon-Slayer?"
catalogued Daiji. "This is too much for me to take. I had enough of a
shock discovering that the One-Eight-Ten Killer has supernatural powers
and I used to be the head of the secret service of the Tokugawa
Government."

"Hey! What about Kaoru? Did she turn into a shinigami after she died?"
asked Yahiko.

"Yeah, Jo-chan. Tell us what happened to you," insisted Sanosuke.

Botan sheepishly scratched the back of her head. "I can't answer your
questions. I'm a bit unclear about the situation myself." Her voice
then changed pitch and tone to that of Kaoru. "I have no idea either,
but I'm glad we've someone reunited in Future Japan!"

Just then, the skies turned dark as thick nimbus clouds gathered around
the Kuwabara household. The heavens then opened up, and like shooting
stars came Botan's fellow spirit guides... Ayame, Hinageshi, and Uchiko
Shikoku (also known as Sayuri).

"Has everybody been acquainted with each other? Good. It's time for us
to go and see how Koenma-sama is doing," said Botan as she opened the
door and collected the astral projections of most everybody gathered
there save for Shizuru.

The astral projections stared blankly at the presently kimono-clad Botan
after hearing her words.

Kazuma was the first to speak. "Wait a second, Botan. I thought we were
supposed to have a meeting in the Spirit World to discuss how big
Koenma's army has grown. What's going on with Koenma?"

"We'll find out soon enough. Come and follow us four ferry-girls into
the astral plane. Shizuru-san, I'm sorry to impose, but could you please
keep our unconscious bodies safe and sound inside your house while we
fly off to Reikai?"

"You can count on me!" said Shizuru as she rolled her sleeves and
dragged the bodies into the nearest couches, chairs, sofas, beds, and
futons.

"Natsuki-kun, are you okay?" asked Daiji.

"Am... Am I dead?" asked Natsuki as she floated around, phased through
walls, and saw no reflection of herself in the nearby mirrors.

"Oh, that's right. This is your first time being an astral projection,"
realized Matsudaira.

"Hey, Hinageshi! Long time, no see! The Meikai incident is the first and
last time I saw you!" greeted Kuwabara.

Hinageshi bowed at the curly haired youth. "Yup. We meet again,
Kuwabara-kun! Looks like I'm in your care once again!"

"Hey, you're the shopkeeper of that Reikai clothing store! Thanks for
the duds. I got my ol' trusty zanbatou because of those magic clothes of
yours!" said Sano while Yahiko waved at Hinageshi from behind him.

Hinageshi giggled and waved back. "No problem."

"Hello, Handsome. It looks like we meet again. Are you going to allow
me to ferry you back to your ancestors this time around?" asked Uchiko
as she batted her eyelids at Matsudaira.

"No thanks," said Daiji as he climbed aboard Ayame's paddle.

>From there, the astral projections of Kenshin Himura, Sanosuke Sagara,
Yahiko Myojin, Natsuki Shinkai (Yutaro Tsukayama's reincarnation),
Daiji Matsudaira (Aoshi Shinomori's reincarnation), Botan (probably
Kaoru Kamiya's present self), Kurama, Kazuma Kuwabara, Ayame,
Hinageshi, and Sayuri (also known as Uchiko Shikoku) ascended into the
heavens and went straight for the Spirit World.


===


"I've been waiting forever! What took you guys so long?" asked the
crying Jorge Saotome, an oni that served as Koenma's assistant, as Botan
and her cohorts finally arrived at the gigantic gates that led directly
to the Hall of Judgment.

The group of ten rushed straight into Koenma's office just in time to
see the unconscious Prince of the Dead lying in a grandiose bed many
sizes too big for him. Were it not a serious situation, Kuwabara
would've quipped that Enma's son was better off inside a gilded baby
crib instead.

'That's the Spirit World's ruler? A little kid with a pacifier and a
bib?' Natsuki and Daiji couldn't help but think in unison, because
anyone who had ever first met Koenma had a tendency to do that.

"You pushed yourself too hard, Koenma-sama!" Botan said. "You've broken
Spirit World rules, and as a result, you've paid the price! Are you
really this desperate to defeat the Chojin?"

Sanosuke and Yahiko looked at each other and paled in realization... or,
at least, they did the spiritual approximation of paling, since they
were ghosts who had no blood to speak of.

"Hey... Could it be that our resurrection has led something bad to
happen to Koenma?"

"I hope not, Sano. He gave us a choice to whether or not help his cause
in defeating this Chojin fellow, but he never said anything about
_this_."

"Koenma-dono! Are you okay? Can you hear us?" probed Kenshin.

"Is it even possible for the King of the Dead to... die?" Natsuki asked
Daiji, but the detective gestured her to keep quiet by putting his
pointer finger on his lips.

Wordlessly, Ayame went beside Koenma and brushed his hair back (Jorge
took off the toddler's hat before placing him on the extravagant bed).
'Koenma-sama... I'm sorry I lied to you when I allowed Yukimura-san to
fall into the Sanzu no Kawa's middle fork. I hope you can forgive me
someday...'

Koenma stirred from his troubled slumber before becoming stiff as a
cardboard.

"Koenma-sama, please wake up!" the muscular yet balding Jorge blubbered
while chewing on a hand towel that he used to wipe his tears off of his
haggard face. "Don't die! Don't leave me alone!"

"You're kidding, right? Koenma just got appointed as head of the Spirit
World after he deposed Enma Daio! He can't die!" said Kuwabara as he
took hold of Saotome and shook him to the point of nearly throttling
him.

Just then, Koenma jumped and stomped on both the noggins of Kazuma and
Jorge. "I'm not dead yet, you dolts! I was just resting and recharging
my batteries!"

The next thing the Prince of the Spirit World knew, multiple pairs of
hands took turns grabbing hold of him and his cute, chubby cheeks in
multiple warm embraces. A buzz of congratulations, well-wishes, and
relief drilled through his eardrums as well.

"Wait... You guys! Let go of me! If you don't let go of me soon, I
really will die!"


===


After everyone calmed down and put Koenma Daio back into his ornate bed,
Botan asked the Spirit World's present ruler, "What happened, Koenma-
sama? Why did you collapse? Did it have something to do with you
reviving Sanosuke and Yahiko?"

The ghosts in question... a tall, fowl-haired street fighter and a
scrappy samurai with a reverse-edged blade... gulped at Botan's
implication.

"No. Don't be silly. I'm Koenma Daio, the Ruler of Reikai. You among all
people should know that reviving souls isn't an unprecedented event,
Botan. You've seen me revive Urameshi Yusuke after he went through many
trials, and I even allowed Genkai to delay her inevitable death in order
to help the Spirit World out during its time of need."

"But why...?" insisted Botan.

Koenma closed his eyes and said, "Do you shinigami still have your
standard-issue Books of Fate?"

"Of course, Lord Koenma," Botan, Hinageshi, Ayame, and Sayuri answered
as one as they took out the booklets they had hidden in the folds of
their kimonos.

Koenma turned towards the assembled astral projections and resurrected
ghosts within the Hall of Judgment and addressed them.

"The Spirit World is the realm that facilitates the cycle of life and
death. We judge whether a spirit deserves to go to Heaven to be
rewarded, Hell to be punished, and Purgatory to be cleansed in
accordance to how he has lived his life and his karma. In short, Reikai
was able to bring Yusuke and Genkai back to life because they were
fated to do so and their karma dictated as such. In turn..."

The Toddler King of the Spirit World coughed and hacked, as though that
long spiel had sapped him of all his strength.

"Don't push yourself too hard, Koenma-sama," said Botan while Ayame
patted the infantile monarch's back in order to clear his lungs and air
passageways... which was strange, because no being in Reikai actually
had respiratory systems to speak of.

"...Anyway, my point here is that, at best, the Spirit World merely
gives the fate that a spirit deserves in light of his karma. However,
because the Chojin has found a way to cheat the system and create his
own zombie army of stolen souls at his beck and call using jaki, I've
been forced to..."

Koenma sunk back to his bed, resting his head on his pillow while
averting the multiple rapt stares directed at him. "...Change your fate.
I used up part of my life force to change your fate and allow you to
fight this abomination of nature known as the Overfiend."

"...."

The full implications of his statement hadn't registered in their
collective minds, Koenma realized. It was just as well. "You are my
final gambit. Please stop the Chojin from taking over the three worlds."


===


To Be Continued...

Next: The prelude to war.

The author of Rurouni Kenshin, Nobuhiro Watsuki, was always
disappointed with how Raijuta turned out in his manga. The
Shinko Ryu master was supposed to be this cold-blooded killer who
could match Battousai's cunning, but he ended up a faker who
was no match against Kenshin's skills or intellect. In this
iteration of the character, Raijuta's future self, Feng Xinnhai,
is a little of both (a cold and cunning murderer _and_ a poser).

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.

Hindi ko papayag na maghari ang kasamaan sa daigdig!
Abdiel