[FFML] [yyh][rk][xover] Demon Sword Chapter 42: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 10)

[Abdiel]

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Demon Sword
A Yuyu Hakusho/Rurouni Kenshin Crossover Fan Fiction Story
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 conclusion to Kurama and Jine's rematch.


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Chapter 42: Red Rose in the Darkness (Part 10)

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The demon fox considered giving the injured and unconscious Yu Kaito the
Demon Sword so that he could use Sanction to revive Maya, but it was a
fool's dream: A temporary fix for a permanent issue; a problem that was
arguably as difficult to solve as Keiko Yukimura's coma.

It was too late for her. Come to think of it, it was too late for him
too. No matter how many times he sheathed or let go of the Demon Sword,
he could not go back to being Shuichi Minamino.

He wasn't even able to say goodbye to his mother, stepfather, and
stepbrother before all this happened.

The flow of energy from Youko Kurama's transformation blew apart not
only the boiler room but most of the ship as well. The only thing that
kept the vessel intact was the sudden overgrowth of the demon fox's
kudzu weed, which held the rickety watercraft together like rope would a
raft.

He brought the remains of Maya and Jine as well as the unconscious body
of Kaito to the port by mentally commanding his kudzu vines to do so.
Kitajima's body was particularly hard to transport since it came in
several pieces instead of one whole piece.

The power from the tainted and corrupted Demon Sword flowed continuously
within Youko Kurama. He defeated the "bad guy" but didn't save the girl.
In accordance to Kenshin Himura's memories and legacy, the whole event
harkened back to what happened to Tomoe Yukishiro.

With blood spilled and Kenshin's vows to not kill broken, the Youtou
Shinnoken had exposed the demon fox inside Kurama by shedding his
sheep's clothing and burning all signs of its existence. All vestiges of
"Shuichi Minamino" were now gone.

Wasn't this what he always wanted, though? Indulging the "other"
Kurama... that persona of Shuichi Minamino who was somehow devoted to
his mother, his friends from the Human World, his partner-in-crime Hiei,
and even the Spirit World to boot.... was supposed to be something
temporary.

The real reason why he arrived at the Ningenkai almost two decades ago
in fox spirit form was to steal the Demon Sword for himself and defeat
the Three Kings of Makai. His suspicions were confirmed almost two
decades later when the Youtou Shinnoken almost led him to reach a
mythical power reserved for super beings like the Chojin himself: Class-
X.

Once he mastered using the Demon Blade: Heart of the Sword, he could
reach X-Level and become an omnipotent being. He was the perfect fit for
the Demon Sword, after all. Kenshin's mind melded with his so perfectly
that they might as well had been one person.

Besides which, only Enki and the past comrades of the deceased Raizen
remained in Youko Kurama's way when it came to conquering Makai. Both
Mukuro and Yomi had bowed out from the political race and turned into
envoys working under Enki's rule. There would not be a need for another
Demon World Unification Tournament once an actual X-Class demon
surfaced.

Mukuru, Yomi, and Raizen themselves were once D-Class to C-Class demons
that were killable by even human means: Swords, spears, arrows, fire,
and guns could finish them off. It took centuries for them to gain the
power they now possessed. Kurama could've achieved eighteen years ago
_in an instant_ what took them hundreds of years to gain.

To test the limits of what an X-Level was capable of (since he was
already in the threshold of becoming a god), the youko could conquer the
island nation of Japan, the entirety of Asia, and the rest of the world
if he so chose. Hell, he could do so at Class-S.

A "weak" S-Level like Sensui was capable of breaking continents. Could
an X-Level survive an atom bomb? Or wipe out humanity like the black
plague?

In short, he was the Spirit World's worst nightmare: If every living
human died to feed the power of the Demon Sword, then the cycle of death
and rebirth would be broken and the Spirit World would tear itself apart
by the imbalance.

That was right. The whole reason why he became human or took on the
guise of one was to get the Demon Sword. After his mission failed, he
chose to lie and wait while he gathered enough strength to reclaim his
rightful place as ruler of the Demon World, even if it took conquering
the Human World to get there.

And after he'd conquered everything, destroyed the Human World,
annihilate all opposition in the Spirit World, enslaved the Demon World,
reestablished his guild of thieves, and defeated Enki, Mukuro, and Yomi
while achieving a legendary power reserved to the so-called Chojin, he
would...

He would what? What came after that?

To his chagrin, the visage of his... Minamino's... smiling mother saying
his human name surfaced inside his mind.

"M-Minamino-kun...?"

Youko Kurama's narrow kitsune eyes widened as he turned around towards
the familiar-sounding female voice. The black-haired, bob-cut Maya
Kitajima who impersonated a similarly bob-cut Natsuki (not Shinkai, but
Keiko Yukimura's glasses-wearing friend) appeared before him.

Or rather, her pale ghost did, since he earlier saw Jine chop her into
pieces in a rather grisly manner. Kurogasa diced her so thoroughly,
Kurama wasn't sure he'd picked up all of her remains with his mutated
kudzu plant.

"...N-No. Your name is Kurama, isn't it? You were amazing, outwitting
the Kanji Killer at every turn! You know, the serial killer from the
news! And you even have powers over plants! I never imagined that
someone with a 'green thumb' could be so dangerous!"

The youko turned his back on the spirit. Were Shuichi Minamino still
there (he never referred to himself with that name, though), he'd be
bowing profusely at Maya, blaming himself for her death even though
Youko Kurama himself knew it wasn't his... _their_... fault why she
died. Neither of them was under any obligation to save her.

"So this is who you really are..." said the (presumably) earthbound
spirit. She better find a shinigami quick, or else she'd be stuck in the
Human World haunting the decks of nearby ships or the surrounding area
of the dock.

The youko was not required to answer back, but he did so anyway. 'On a
whim,' he assured himself. "The Minamino you're looking for never
existed."

"...What?"

"A kitsune is known to play tricks on people. We foxes are the masters
of deception," the youko began, remembering the little chat he had with
the ferry-girl and the Demon Sword guardian.

"B-But I've already met you! You were _pretending_ to be Minamino
Shuichi, but you're actually Kurama, right?"

"No. The person you met was Minamino Shuichi. He was not me, he only
thought he was me."

"...I don't understand, Kurama. Please explain."

"I am a demon fox who came to the Human World to get the Demon Sword so
that I could become powerful enough to take on the Three Kings of the
Demon World..."

Kurama then explained that he had to come in the form of a fox because
the barrier erected by the Spirit World prevented all Class-S youkai
from entering.

He also mentioned how a hunter injured his weakened fox form and forced
him to hide in the baby of a human woman named Shiori Minamino in order
to heal himself.

The sudden turn of events did not bother Kurama in the least at the
time. Time, after all, was on his side. He didn't mind waiting a couple
of decades before resurfacing again as his true self. However,
something changed inside him.

He could've become Youko Kurama and started a revolution against Yomi as
soon as they met again. Instead, he lay in wait to see what Yusuke or
Hiei had planned prior to Raizen's timely demise. He could've ended up
winning the Demon World Unification Tournament. Instead, he bowed out of
competition without bothering to fight as his youko self.

He was supposed to leave the woman who birthed his human form as soon as
he'd gained enough power to steal the Demon Sword from the hidden Shrine
of the Sword. Instead...

Kurama shook his head and continued.

"The Minamino Shuichi you seek is no longer here because he doesn't
exist. He was a figment of _my_ imagination. In order to deceive the
lambs before me, I took on the pelt of one of their own and mimicked
them while planning all the while to eat them when the time came."

The ghost of Minamino's junior high school classmate asked the youko,
"You're not really human, you say? The Minamino-kun I knew from junior
high who had the reputation of being a momma's boy was all an act?"

The youko nodded. "I'm nothing more than wolf in sheep's clothing, after
all."

The girl shook her head. "No. That can't be right."

"And why would you say that, human?"

"Why would a wolf ever want to become sheep? Wolves eat sheep. That's
why wolves put on sheep's clothing, right? To kill and eat sheep without
them knowing. You never _ate_ sheep. You became one of them."

Even Kurama had to admit that there was nothing more disturbing,
ridiculous, and unbelievable than a wolf that had convinced itself that
it was sheep: A waste of fur and fangs.

On the other hand, weren't dogs nothing more than wolves that were tamed
to become pets and companions by _humans_? A subspecies of the gray wolf
that denied its feral nature in favor of a tamed one. Was he "tamed" by
humans as well?

'Humans? Taming _me_? Preposterous,' Kurama thought. To Maya, he
answered, "I'm not really a wolf. That's just a turn of phrase. Like I
said, I'm actually a fox. A demon fox."

"...Meaning? What's the difference?"

"A fox is curious. A fox is always excited about the unknown. A fox
always wants to embark on exciting new journeys."

"But why would a thousand-year-old kitsune want to become a human who
only lives, at most, until eighty years or so? Why exchange something
temporary for something eternal? You're older than most countries or
even civilizations!"

That was a good question. Even the clever, ahead-of-the-curve youko was
dumbfounded by the ghost's query. Why did he care enough to pretend to
be human? Wasn't Shuichi Minamino nothing more than a means to an end?

In all honesty, Kurama revealed to Maya, "I wanted to experience the
aches and joys that humanity took for granted. I wanted to experience
time the way humans do, not the way a demon fox who has lived for
centuries does."

Yes. It was an opportunity to experience sensations he'd never
experienced before. This was in line with the nature of a demon fox.

After attempting to hide her smile with her transparent hands, Maya
asked, "How was it?"

"Hmmm?"

"Being human. How was it?"

"It was... interesting."

"Was your curiosity satisfied?"

"...It was more than I bargained for, I admit."

"And you can never go back to being Minamino-kun?"

Youko Kurama nodded. He'd taken over the human completely. The
amalgamation of the Legendary Demon Fox Kurama and Battousai the Demon-
Slayer was all that was left of him.

Shuichi Minamino was the lie and Youko Kurama was the truth. A hitokiri
was always going to be a hitokiri. Same with the members of the
Shinsengumi. Same with youkai and youko. He was never meant to be human.

So why did he feel like he'd just lost something important, then?
Something he could never get back? A lie he could never pretend to be
true ever again?

Kitajima's eyes wandered across the starless night and the approaching
nimbus clouds filled with electrical fire. She smiled wistfully.

"Well, I know it's a stupid thing to say, but you're kind of like
Superman, aren't you? Born special, but you had to pretend to be Clark
Kent to survive an alien world. Soon, before you knew it, you start
loving to act more like Clark, forgetting that you're not really him."

Superman? Oh yes, he was one of those Western comic book superheroes
that Minamino read about one time or another.

Kurama didn't quite know how to reply to that save for, "Oh. Is that
so?" As juvenile as it sounded, he understood the meaning behind her
childish words. Superman himself lied about being Clark Kent. Clark was
the secret identity, and his superhero self was his true self.

"So what now? Are you going to end the world?" she joked, but perhaps
she realized the gravity of the situation enough to only be half-joking.

She was already dead anyway, so it shouldn't bother her if the world
ended then and there, but Kurama knew enough about human nature to know
that she was probably worried about the safety of her family and friends
even after she kicked the bucket.

Youko Kurama raised the Youtou Shinnoken high in the air. As his silver
hair turned orange, it dawned to him what he wanted to do instead of
what he _thought_ he was supposed to do.

'Is this what you really want?' the Youkiri Battousai inside him asked.

'What I want...' Youko Kurama reiterated.

Acquiring the Demon Sword and gaining ultimate power to rival two of the
former Three Kings and even take down the current (incumbent) King of
Makai was everything Kurama had ever dreamed of and more as a youko.

What was done could not be undone. Oh, what he wouldn't give to have the
Mirror of Forlorn Hope before him right then and there. 'Then again...'

Barely two decades of existence to a millennium-old demon fox seemed
nothing more like a day in a human's life. The lifespan of a human to a
youko was as brief as the lifespan of a fly was to a human (a fly lived
for about 24 hours). An eye blink in eternity.

His life as a mere human was nothing more than fantasy. A pipe dream. A
temporary distraction, at best. A lie in every sense of the word.

With his plant-claw-assisted grip on the Demon Sword tight, he summoned
every bit of his youki and Kenshin's kenki in order to cut something
that wasn't supposed to be cut.

A lie could never become the truth, even if you believed in it with your
whole body and soul. However, as expected of a master of deception,
Kurama was able to come up with a lie so convincing, he was even able to
fool someone as clever as himself to believe it to be true.

What he didn't know couldn't hurt him; or so justified the fox that was
tamed by lambs. From there on end, the dream... or perhaps the memory of
what could've been... ended.


===


Meanwhile, days earlier, after the hypnotized Likka Ikumi delivered Maya
Kitajima to Kurama's home while an unsuspecting Natsuki Shinkai came
along with her...

The two best friends walked atop a concrete hill (actually, the upslope
of a street) overlooking the setting sun. Everything had a golden tinge
to it; the color of nostalgia.

Natsuki (the one with "Shinkai" as a surname this time around) twirled
her cane. Like a piece of corn stuck between her teeth, something felt
wrong or out of place to her. It was hard to put her feelings into
words.

She just couldn't put her finger on what was amiss.

"Hey, I figured out what you were talking about regarding past lives and
stuff, Tsuki-chan," the ninja-garbed Likka brought up. "I thought you'd
gone cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs when you first mentioned it, but now it
makes perfect sense."

"Oh, is that so, Likka-tan?" Shinkai said.

Perhaps the root of the problem lay with her very own best friend,
Likka. The fact that she acted weird wasn't unusual in the least, but
the _way_ she acted weird right now was somehow... different.

Then again, there was a lot about Likka that was impossible to describe.
Natsuki hoped that Ikumi's attack on Kurama (a "spirit" detective and a
demon fox disguised as a human) was nothing more than a joke in bad
taste.

Being around the rambunctious teen was like a party everyday. Ikumi was
also quite caring, so there was nothing unusual about her bringing
Minamino's old flame right at his doorstep even though they'd (Kurama
and Likka) only met once or twice through mutual acquaintances (mainly
her, Natsuki).

Likka was that kind of person.

Natsuki then remembered the seeming desperation Likka had in trying to
befriend her. The tomboyish, vest-wearing girl who looked like a host
club cross-dresser found out later that she reminded Ikumi of her dead
sister.

It was around that time that Shinkai understood the sadness behind
Likka's smile that she didn't see before. Like looking at something from
a different angle.

Now if only Likka could gather the courage to confess her love for her
childhood friend and former butler, "Uncle Jiji" (Likka's pet name for
Detective Daiji Matsudaira), then perhaps she wouldn't try so hard to
compensate for her sadness with her innate wackiness.

Then again, Natsuki understood the awkwardness between the two. Once
upon a time (or rather, up until now), Matsudaira was Likka's brother-
in-law. It was hard for the cosplayer to hook up with her late sister's
widow, after all.

"You mentioned something about being the reincarnation of a man from a
hundred years ago, right? Then I said if that were the case, then I'm
the reincarnation of a kunoichi from the same time period!"

"U-huh." Natsuki nodded, patiently awaiting whatever punch line her best
friend had over her claims of having a past life.

"Guess what, Tsuki-chan?"

"What is it, Likka-tan?"

"Hey, Cat Eyes! You can call me by my other name, you know."

"Eh..." Natsuki Shinkai paled. "How did you know...?" she trailed off
while she felt the presence of her past self, Yutaro Tsukayama, as he
took a "peek" at Likka.

'Do you know her?' Natsuki asked.

'I can't say that I remember,' said Yutaro. 'Gimme a minute.'

Natsuki wished to slap the spit out of her past self (as he recalled his
romantic trysts with different women from a century or so past _in lurid
detail_) if only they didn't share the same body.

"'Cat Eyes', 'Tsuki-chan'... Aren't you going overboard with the number
of nicknames you're giving me, Likka-tan?" asked Shinkai. Likka coming
up with "Cat Eyes" could simply be a coincidence. After all, she called
Daiji's fellow detective, Aiko Tsunemoto, Detective "Lovechild". In
English, no less.

"Oh, I wasn't talking to you, Tsuki-chan. I was talking to Cat Eyes!"
said Likka, which boggled Natsuki's mind.

"...Hey, aren't we going home? This isn't the train station we're
supposed to take," noticed Natsuki as she followed Likka around, but the
cheerful kunoichi wannabe pulled her towards the wrong place regardless.

"I want to show you something first," insisted Likka, and Natsuki
humored her (if only to "reward" her for bringing two lovebirds...
Kurama and Maya... together).

Instead of going back to the Shinjuku Ward (where Natsuki lived) or
Shibuya Ward (where Daiji and Likka shared an apartment), they went
straight to Taito Ward.

"Eh? Are we going to your mansion in Ueno?" asked Natsuki, remembering
that Detective Matsudaira used to be a butler to the Ikumi Family
because their elderly servants adopted him when he was young.

"Yeah, my ancestral home is nearby, but I actually want to visit some
other place. Let's go before it gets dark out, Tsuki-chan!"

Shinkai also remembered the Kaoru Kamiya inside of Botan telling her
that she, Yahiko Myojin and Kenshin Himura used to live in a family dojo
in Asakusa together.

'Oh yeah. Maybe Kenshin-san or Kaoru-san knows who Likka-tan is supposed
to be.'

They ended up at Ueno Park, in the middle of Sakura Hanami or the Cherry
Blossom Viewing Festival. The park was home to more than eight thousand
trees, which included the Japanese cherry, Somei-Yoshino cherry, Formosan
cherry, Zelkova serrata, Cinnamomum camphora, and Gingko biloba. Its
Shinobazu Pond, meanwhile, was full of lotus beds and marshland.

"This is where we first met a hundred years ago. Whenever Himura's death
anniversary was nearing, everyone from the Kamiya Dojo and some of us
from the Oniwabanshu in Kyoto would meet up on this hill and celebrate
Hanami, then we would meet again in Kyoto to clean up Himura's grave
alongside the grave of his wife, Yukishiro Tomoe."

A memory that wasn't Natsuki's but instead Yutaro's replayed itself in
the Taiwanese national's mind. Tsukayama indeed later on joined the
people from the Kamiya Dojo to celebrate Hanami with the Oniwabanshu
Kyoto branch prior to leaving to Kyoto to observe Kenshin's death
anniversary.

Likka giggled. "You even hit on me back then, you insufferable playboy,
you! Even when I said my heart belongs only to Aoshi-sama, you'd still
flirt around. You know, when you weren't hitting on Tsubame instead,
that is."

'Tsubame...? Oh yeah, that's the name of Yahiko's wife!' Natsuki
remembered while her past self remained strangely silent. Perhaps out of
guilt or embarrassment.

She then found herself murmuring, "But it always pissed Myojin Yahiko
off so much that I couldn't help myself." No, that was actually Yutaro
talking.

The Yutaro inside Natsuki then took over as he slammed his fist on his
palm and pointed at Likka, stating, "Ah! I remember now! You're Weasel
Girl! You're the Weasel Girl from Kyoto who's always with the tall ninja
dude!"

"KECHO GIRI!"

Tsukayama was barely able to block and push "Weasel Girl" away with the
Kamiya Kasshin Ryu Succession Technique (the Hawatari, which was the
arm-crossing part of the move, and the Hadachi, which was the aikido-
like method of redirecting the force of the attack elsewhere) before her
flying kick knocked him... or rather, his female host's body... out.

"Don't call me Weasel Girl! My name is Makimachi Misao! It's been a
hundred years and you still can't get my name right!" complained Likka
as she took out all her kunai and wielded them with two clenched fists.

"It's been a hundred years! Give me a break! And Myojin Yahiko kept
calling you by that name anyway! I don't get all psychotic whenever he
calls _me_ Cat Eyes, so chill out!" pleaded "Cat Eyes" before something
else occurred to him. "Oh wait, _Aoshi-sama_? The tall ninja dude is
Matsudaira Daiji, isn't he?"

"YOU ONLY FIGURED THAT OUT NOW? And it's _shinobi_, not ninja!" shouted
the surviving Ikumi daughter as she executed the Kansatsu Tobi Kunai or
the technique of throwing her kunai at an opponent en masse.

While talking, Yutaro did circular blocks to deflect each and every
ninja dagger away from him in one smooth movement. "Ninja. Shinobi.
Same difference. Besides, it's _Tsuki-chan_ who's the wannabe detective,
not me. How am I supposed to remember the face of someone from a
century ago? Be reasonable! I can barely remember what Tsuki-chan had
for breakfast!"

The follow-up snap kick from Weasel Girl was able to penetrate through
Cat Eyes' defenses while he was busy with blade deflection, the attack
hitting him square on the jaw. "And don't call her Tsuki-chan! You're
being overly familiar with her!"

"SHE'S TECHNICALLY _ME_, OKAY? I can call her anything I want!" pointed
out Tsukayama as he rubbed Natsuki's jaw. He then ruffled the shorter
girl's hair while playing with her braids. "So we somehow ended up as
best friends after a hundred years, huh? What are the chances?"

Misao's reincarnation slapped Yutaro's reincarnation's hand away.
"I bet you're disappointed you didn't end up being best friends with
your boyfriend Myojin Yahiko!"

"I know _you're_ disappointed that you're still treated like a little
kid by your not-boyfriend Shinomori Aoshi!"

"Stupid Cat Eyes!"

"Stupid Weasel Girl!"

"See how much he flirts with me, Tsuki-chan?"

"That wasn't _flirting_!"

A rain of sakura showered the two girls, which woke Natsuki from her
temporary loss of control of her body after Yutaro took it over. "Oh
wow. It's like we were fated to be together, huh?"

Likka beamed, recognizing instantly the change in mannerisms between
Yutaro and Natsuki. "Yeah! Just like manga! Well, except the part of you
ending up as Cat Eyes instead of, say, one of the Oniwabanshu, but
beggars can't be choosers!"

They strolled across the field of pink while many other people were
preparing their picnic blankets and alcohol for an evening of cherry
blossom viewing (otherwise known as Yozakura). It was currently the tail
end of spring, after all.

"It's getting late. Maybe we should go back home," said Natsuki as she
rubbed her sleeved arms for warmth. The sky had turned purple, and the
lampposts were already turned on, the artificial light somehow making
the cherry blossom squall more mesmerizing.

"Tsuki-chan?"

"Hmmm?"

"If I were to commit a crime, would you have me arrested?"

Natsuki blinked as her earlier feeling of anxiety and dread returned.
This frustration building up inside her... frustrated her, for lack of
a better term. Whether it was a gut feeling or female intuition, she
knew _something_ was wrong and _something_ was about to happen.

"If I could, then I'd do my best to keep you from committing a crime. If
I couldn't, then I'd have no choice but to bring you to justice. I do
know you're not the kind of person who'd commit a crime, Likka-tan."

Shinkai then had a feeling of deja vu, as though Likka had asked her a
similar question before.

Oh, yes. She did. 'What should I do in order to commit the perfect
crime?' Likka had asked in jest once after discovering the half-
Taiwanese transfer student's affinity for detective work.

"I see. As expected of a future policewoman."

Natsuki turned, and her gaze caught Likka's. The full moon (it was
actually a waning gibbous moon, but to Shinkai's eyes, it looked for all
intents and purposes "full") illuminated Ikumi's features.

"It's a promise, then," said Likka as Natsuki saw one of the most
heartbreaking smiles from her that she'd ever seen. Was she depressed
because of the fact that Daiji was almost killed in a "suicide" bomb
blast during a sting operation against the One-Eight-Ten Killer (the
reincarnation of Raijuta Isurugi and the actual murderer of Likka's
sister)? Or was it because the four-year death anniversary of Itsumi
Matsudaira (nee Ikumi) was only three months from now?

Natsuki saw that face of Likka's prior to tonight recently: Around
February this year, before they both became busy with the whole
Quintuplet Murder Case. 'What happened this February aside from that
case...?'

Actually, Shinkai's memory was playing tricks on her. February was the
time the crime involving the Shimamura Quintuplets happened, but it was
only in _March_ that it came to light after Katsumi Kishida decided to
testify against the Shimamura Clan.

Wait. Likka had asked Natsuki the question about the perfect crime this
February as well. Something must have happened that month to make Ikumi
have such dark and depressing thoughts.

Just as Shinkai was about to drill Likka regarding her ominous words,
the Oniwabanshu kunoichi incarnate ran away to the opposite direction.

"I gotta go. Aoshi-sama finally caught up with me. See you later, Tsuki-
chan! Cat Eyes!"

"Eh?"

Before Natsuki could scream out Ikumi's name, she heard someone shout
from behind her, "Natsuki-kun, Likka-tan has been hypnotized by Udo
Jine! She's not herself right now!"

"What...?" was all Shinkai could mutter as the trench-coated Detective-
Investigator Daiji Matsudaira sprinted at top speed towards his
escaping sister-in-law. Natsuki soon followed suit.

Whatever the reincarnation of Misao lacked when it came to fighting
prowess when compared to either the reincarnation of Yutaro or the
reincarnation of Aoshi, she more than made up for when it came to
evasive maneuvers.

Even against the Last Okashira of the Oniwabanshu, Likka knew enough
about the tricks and techniques of the master spy to take advantage of
crowds and even acrobatically flip or crawl through different trees,
crevices, and corners to escape her pursuers.

"I don't understand! How do you know she's been hypnotized? She looks
perfectly fine to me!" Natsuki demanded to Daiji after finally catching
up with him.

"The Kanji Killer himself told me so. He did it so I won't interfere
with his match against Kurama. Likka-tan didn't come back home the
other day. I heard that you met with her and I tailed the both of you
all the way here in Ueno Park."

They were soon outside the park, and both had to catch each and every
one of the kunai that was thrown at their direction so that the rest of
the passersby trying to enjoy yozakura could be spared from harm. Where
was she getting all these daggers?

As Matsudaira used Shinomori's water-flow movement to escape the throng
of humanity and finally catch up to the elusive Misao incarnate, she did
a side flip on the nearest oncoming truck, hitched a ride there, and
stuck her tongue out at her brother-in-law as she rode away.

"S-Should we get a cab to follow her?" asked the out-of-breath Shinkai.

"No. It's better that we figure out where she's going," said Daiji in
between pants and gasps.

Several people nearby clapped at their "performance", thinking it was
part of some sort of show or prank while others minded their own
business or outright ignored the "publicity stunt".

As the detective's breathing normalized, he said, "We'll be lucky if
Likka-tan is only serving as a distraction of sorts and she doesn't
actually do anything stupid. Let's hope that Jine only unlocked her
memories of being Makimachi Misao's reincarnation."

"Did something happen to _Misao_ that could've led her to do this? Any
ideas what sort of hypnosis Jine is capable of doing?" queried the
cross-dressing half-Japanese.

The Great Detective Daiji Matsudaira shrugged, which to Natsuki's feline
eyes spelled trouble. "I haven't the faintest idea. Yet. What did she
tell you back there?"

"She asked me if I'd have her arrested if she were to commit a crime."

"That's not good," Daiji deadpanned in Aoshi-like fashion.

"I can't for the life of me think of what sort of crime she could
possibly do, though. Will she rob a bank? Assassinate a politician?
Impersonate a police officer? Shoplift? Jaywalk?"

"She won't do anything petty. Jine is involved in brainwashing her, so
this isn't a simple wild goose chase." Matsudaira crossed his arms and
harrumphed. "Let's go back to the mansion and spend the night there for
now. I have a hunch of what she wants to do."

"What does she want to do? Also, what mansion? You don't mean...?"

"Yes, my adoptive parents were left in charge of the Ikumi Mansion. If
we're lucky, she might even end up visiting there while we lie in wait
to capture her," explained the policeman.

'Oh, that's right. He was the Ikumis' butler before he became a cop,'
remembered Natsuki before asking, "What's your hunch?" as they walked
across the sidewalk.

While hailing for a cab, Daiji returned Natsuki's question, like an
insufferable master would to his protege. "What do _you_ think my hunch
is?"

Natsuki frowned. Part of the reason why Likka gave her the slip was
because she underestimated her friend so much. She trusted that she
could never do any wrong. Her past experience should've taught her
otherwise.

As they both got into the taxi, Matsudaira gave Shinkai a clue. "What
was the first thing you thought of when Likka-tan mentioned she was
going to commit a crime?"

"Does she want to avenge the death of her sister?" Natsuki supposed.

"Close, but no cigar," said Daiji before telling the driver the address
to Likka's childhood home. "It's not yet within her means... or even
mine, come to think of it... to avenge It-chan's death. It's got to be
something she could accomplish."

Shinkai realized something. "Did the Kanji Killer order her to kill
someone important? Did he stalk and research about her like his other
victims?"

The detective considered the half-Chinese girl's words. "I imagine he's
too focused on Kurama to pay someone like Likka-tan any heed save for
the fact that he knew she was important to _me_. He'd instead order
something like, 'Do something you've always wanted to do but couldn't,'
after her memories were unlocked. As long as that order isn't completed,
she'll be compelled to follow it."

"So it's something she always wanted to do that's also a crime, but it's
something within her power to accomplish," Natsuki muttered to herself.
She then mentioned to Daiji, "Likka-tan made me promise to stop her from
committing her crime or have her arrested if it's already too late."

"She did, huh?" Daiji turned away and looked at the whizzing scenery
on his passenger window. "She must trust you a lot to have done so.
Nowadays, I couldn't even figure out what she's thinking. I'm glad she
has a friend like you."


===


Everything became clear almost as soon as they arrived at the Ikumi
Residence.

This wasn't the first time Natsuki had been there. She was invited to
the mansion by Likka so that she could help her pick out the best
cross-dressing uniforms possible (while also offering Shinkai a chance
to do some "cosplay" herself, which she respectfully declined).

The elderly Matsudaira couple welcomed both Daiji and Natsuki with open
arms and a feast, although neither the detective nor the detective
wannabe had any appetite to spare.

They couldn't bring up the fact that Likka was missing to the old head
manservant and his wife who was also the head maid, Daiji's foster
parents. They had enough heartaches already with all the previous
deaths in the family they'd experienced.

It was around the time that Daiji paid his respects to the original
owners of the house that Natsuki put two and two together.

He prayed to an altar containing the remains of Likka and Itsumi's
parents. She'd seen the altar he had of Itsumi herself in his Shibuya
apartment, but both the policeman and the last surviving Ikumi of the
family of four decided to leave the parents' altar in the Ikumi Mansion.

Natsuki's blood curdled inside her. As she understood it, just last year
was the tenth anniversary of the deaths of Likka Ikumi's parents. This
February marked their eleventh death anniversary, when she couldn't talk
to Likka at all without seeing that fake smile of hers plastered on her
face.

_That_ was what was on the mind of Misao's reincarnation back during
that grisly February. Aside from giving "obligation" chocolates to the
"other" surviving member of their clan, Daiji, on Valentines' Day.

Tragically, Itsumi's death wasn't the only Ikumi death that was featured
on the news. Back on February 9, 1982, the domestic Japan Airlines
Flight 350 crash-landed in Tokyo Bay as it was about to approach Haneda
Airport.

Among the one-hundred sixty-six passengers, around twenty-four died. The
Ikumi matriarch and patriarch were included in those twenty-four. That
trip to Fukuoka... specifically to one of its resorts... in February was
supposed to be a romantic getaway that Likka's parents indulged in for
the sake of saving their failing marriage.

The naive, seven-year-old Likka had hoped the vacation would stop her
parents from fighting so much... or so an older Likka later disclosed to
Natsuki.

The crash was all over the news because the Fukuoka to Tokyo flight was
the first Japan Airline crash during the Eighties. On the same day,
investigations revealed something quite horrific. The captain of the
flight, Captain Seiji Katagiri, was responsible for the whole thing.

The then thirty-five-year-old "Katagiri-shi" had deliberately reversed-
thrust the second and third engine while in flight. The Flight Engineer
(Yoshimi Ozaki, forty-eight years old) and the First Officer (Yoshifumi
Ishikawa, thirty-three years old) retrained the captain in order to
regain control of the plane.

However, the aircraft (a McDonnell Douglas DC-8-61, with registry number
JA8061) still crashed. Katagiri almost escaped from police arrest by
telling rescuers that he was an office worker, but he was caught on the
same day anyway.

Police later discovered that Seiji was suffering from a mental breakdown
before the crime occurred, which resulted in the controversial decision
by the court that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, much to the
dismay of the loved ones of the deceased who wanted justice to be
served.

It was around this time that every relative of the extended Ikumi family
went on a feeding frenzy and scrambled for the Ikumi couple's remaining
wealth, with the intention of leaving the two daughters out of the will
in favor of the rest of them enjoying money that didn't really belong to
them.

Relatives Likka and Itsumi never even heard of starting coming and going
to the mansion to get a piece of the pie. It got so bad that both Ikumi
sisters barely went home after they found other places to live. The once
joyful abode had too many awful memories attached to it now.

And so the motive was established. Prior to Itsumi's horrific death four
years earlier, Likka would never have considered going after her
parents' murderer even though he got away with his crime scot-free.
However, something must've changed her after the loss of her big sister.

Natsuki had talked to Daiji about how Misao's reincarnation tended to
overcompensate her sadness with wacky high jinks and unhinged behavior.
They weren't psychiatrists or anything of the sort, but even Shinkai
could recognize the dark side of Likka.

Natsuki acted the same way as her friend from time to time, after all.
She could identify with her pain, although they both coped with it in
different ways.

February 9 was also the date when Likka asked Natsuki how to commit the
perfect crime. It was hard for Shinkai to wrap her head around the
prospect of stopping her best friend from committing murder.

Nevertheless, it wasn't really the rich cosplaying girl's fault.

That Jagan-using hypnotist serial killer _bastard_ served as the straw
that broke the camel's back, thus compelling Likka to do something she
would never have done on her own.

She was brainwashed or at least had her impulse control removed by a
psychopathic madman with hypnosis powers, and now she needed help from
her... from Daiji... from the both of them... to stop her from doing
something she'd regret forever.

Likka couldn't help herself. That was why she called for Natsuki's
help. Ikumi had no one else to turn to. Granted, she was also probably
used to deliver what Shinkai presumed was also a hypnotized loved one
of Kurama, but that couldn't be helped.

It was maddening, but as far as Jine was concerned, whether they get
Likka back or not, everything was going according to _his_ plan. The
return of Misao Makimachi served as the ultimate distraction for them.
They had no time to spare for the half-youko and his upcoming battle
against Udo.

Daiji grabbed hold of the fretful Natsuki's shoulder and squeezed it.
She'd been pacing across the mansion all night. She couldn't sleep a
wink.

"Likka-tan went to you because she knows only you can stop her. I'm also
counting on you to help her out."

"I'll do anything in my power to help, but where do we start? Do we even
know where to find Captain Katagiri?"

"Ah, so you figured things out on your own." The Aoshi reincarnate
nodded in approval. "You really are the right girl for the job.
Remember, we won't only be facing our Ikumi Likka-tan, but also her
alter ego, Makimachi Misao."

"Is she going to use some sort of special, flashy ninja moves to murder
Katagiri?" Natsuki drawled with half-lidded eyes.

Daiji cleared his throat. Natsuki's sarcasm truly did remind him of his
Itsumi. "Misao is a trained kunoichi. A real one. This means she won't
do anything flashy like the ninjas you see on television, but something
more practical and straightforward."

"Meaning...?"

"Shinobi are masters of sabotage, infiltration, deception, espionage,
and assassination. Instead of expecting knife throwing or kicks to the
head, instead expect backstabbing, kicking sand in people's eyes, or
smoke and mirrors."

"In other words, you play dirty."

"We're spies. We don't play by anyone's rules but our own."

Natsuki and Daiji looked at each other and turned blue. If there was
someone who could play dirty, then it was definitely Likka... with or
without ninjutsu memories from Misao Makimachi.


===


"Ugh. Do you know what time it is, Matsudaira-kun?" grumbled Inspector
Masaya Taniguchi from the other line as he picked up his telephone.

"My apologies. It's three in the morning."

"What is it with you and that brat anyway?"

Daiji's eyebrows furrowed. "Brat? Likka-tan already called you?"

"Yeah, and she still can't get my name right! It's Inspector Taniguchi,
not Inspector Bulldog!" The detective-investigator could almost imagine
the inspector's jowls flapping every which way after hearing Ikumi's
playful remark.

"Did she ask you for anything?" he probed his superior.

"She wanted me to fax a couple of mental hospital addresses within the
Tokyo area. She said it had something to do with your Kanji Killer
investigation or something."

"Did she mention anything else? Also, can you give me the fax you gave
her?"

"Can we do this tomorrow? I had a tough time yesterday doing paperwork
for that recent Mad Bomber incident _and_ the Aokigahara Suicide Club we
had to deal with _on the same day_ almost two weeks ago."

"Actually, it's only been eleven days," Daiji corrected.

Masaya snapped, "Yes, and I even had to explain to my superiors why you
were in the middle of chasing down one of those Mad Bomber bozos on the
freeway with a bus full of schoolchildren! I'll send you the fax
_tomorrow_!"

He then hung up.

"She got a head start, huh? And from the inspector himself, no less,"
said Natsuki while rubbing her red eyes with bags underneath them.

Daiji massaged his temples. "It'll take her a bit to find Katagiri among
the mental hospitals within the area. He won't be using his real name.
He might not even be anywhere near Tokyo."

"She gave us a clue, though. She wants us to catch her, so it's likely
that it _is_ within the Tokyo area."

Matsudaira dialed another number.

"Who are you calling this time? Detective Tsunemoto?"

"No. Remember when you and Kurama spied on me when I was searching for
where the One-Eight-Ten Killer might be hiding out in Shinjuku using
only his name, 'Xinhai Feng'?"

Natsuki slowly nodded. "You had officers scouring for any and all
mention of that name within the Shinjuku Underground. From bars to
soaplands."

"You yourself knew your father's name, but you weren't able to find him.
Do you know how I narrowed it down?" asked the detective-investigator.

"Does it have something to do with the Chikyusei?"

"That's right. All the rich clients of the Earth Club have one time or
another conducted business at the Shinjuku Hisashi Building or at least
within an area close to it. All roads led to that place in one way or
another, but no one could figure out where the Triad headquarters is. It
was right under our noses the whole time."

Matsudaira was interrupted once the person he was calling picked up.

"Hello. It's me. Do me a favor. Get me records from the Transport
Ministry from eleven years back. It shouldn't be hard to find. It's
about Japan Airlines Flight 350. Remember that? It was all over the
news back in the day."

After Daiji gave him the Ikumi fax number, he hung up, dialed another
number, and instructed Natsuki, "Go to my room. Have Dad guide you
there. Have him get the keys too. On the second drawer on the nearest
locker, there should be a scrapbook of newspaper clippings dating
February 9, 1982 about the crash. Give them to me."

Again, Natsuki was amazed by the attention to detail Matsudaira had
when it came to his investigations. "Why do you have news clippings of
that specific day?"

"I was already bitten by the detective bug back when I was thirteen.
It-chan was very upset when Captain Katagiri got away with murder by
reason of insanity, so I investigated the case myself," he said before
adding, "Take your time to read everything. I might have missed
something obvious that you'll immediately pick up."

"Ah," she said. "I was wondering why you 'forgot' to bring along those
clippings when you started calling different people on the phone."


===


Thanks to the friend of a friend of a friend who knew someone in the
Tokyo Metropolitan Police Headquarters, Natsuki and Daiji were able to
narrow down which specific psychiatric hospital they were supposed to
go.

Incidentally, it was the Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Mental Hospital.
To be more specific, Captain Seiji was located somewhere at 2-1-1,
Kamikitazawa, Setagaya, Tokyo, Japan. It was about an hour or so train
ride from Uedo Ward to boot.

The eventual fax from the Shinjuku Police Inspector Taniguchi confirmed
their suspicions. Also, even though they couldn't get a hold of
Katagiri's new identity, they were able to get a fax from yet another
chain of mutual acquaintances and connections (this time from some of
the families who had their cases solved thanks to Daiji's detective
skills).

It was a rare, black-and-white photograph of the now forty-six-year-old
ex-captain when he was in his thirties.

They got the (outdated but useful) picture of the mass-murdering and
unhinged flight captain from a particularly helpful government office
public servant in Setagaya, Tokyo who helped process Katagiri's personal
files before he changed his name.

It helped that they had another possible photo of the captain taken by a
paparazzi and released by a tabloid that was part of Daiji's news
clipping collection of the incident.

The Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Mental Hospital was a psychiatric ward
hosting a thousand and five beds. It was the oldest and largest public
mental hospital in the country, so it made sense that if Seiji were to
end up in an asylum, this would be it.

It was government-funded and it was the likeliest place to "protect"
the mentally disturbed Katagiri from street justice or vigilantism.

According to the Setagaya public servant they got in contact with a
little later in the early morn, Captain Seiji ended up in the Tokyo
Metropolitan Matsuzawa Mental Hospital in 1983, a year after the 1982
plane crash and around the time the hullabaloo surrounding his
horrendous, deliberate act of genocide (that he got away with) had
died down.

All Shinkai and Daiji needed to do was gather all the files of patients
admitted to the hospital in 1983 that was born in 1947 or was around
forty-five to forty-six years old at present.

They even got a specific birth date, but Matsudaira was taking that info
with a grain of salt since it was released in the same tabloid they got
the photo.

Their important clue was the photograph since there was confirmation of
it released from official sources (unlike the birth date that had no
citations connected to it).

Natsuki's cover story as she entered the psych ward was that she had a
foreigner Taiwanese relative admitted there that she had to visit.

As for the detective, since he lacked a warrant (and he had no intention
of implicating Likka for murder or attempted murder if he could help
it), he went into full shinobi mode and pilfered files for photocopying
with the Ryusui no Ugoki.

They were quickly placed back when no one was looking at the help desk.

There were fifty-one people who matched their designated metrics: A
male that was forty-six or forty-five years of age and was admitted to
the hospital back in 1983 or ten years ago.

Using the questionable birthday, they had about twelve matches, but none
of them looked remotely like the person on the picture provided by the
Setagaya public servant.

Also, about ten of the matching patients (two of which were part of the
twelve people with the same birthday) had missing photos, so they were
included too.

It was already late in the afternoon when Natsuki and Daiji were able to
gather the files together, so they had no time to lose. It was possible
that Likka was already way ahead of them and had already found Seiji. She
could be in a nurse outfit, pretending to be part of the staff.

The problem with Likka was that she'd been exposed to the detective work
of Daiji Matsudaira and his "protege", Natsuki Shinkai so much that she
had, from memory and experience alone, lots of methods she could choose
from to get away with murder.

"This attempt at murder is too short notice. Plus, she's a kunoichi now.
She's likelier to use something on hand than to try something fancy,"
said Daiji. "Maybe she's going to use a pillow?"

Natsuki shook her head. That just wasn't Likka's style. Even though she
had a propensity to throw daggers at people or kick them on the head,
Misao was (according to what Yutaro remembered) too inexperienced in
actual shinobi assassination to do anything too violent to even people
she wished were dead.

If it were up to Ikumi, she would make Katajiri's death quick and
painless.

At any rate, they started going through the rooms of the first twelve
patients with the questionable birthday and went from there, with
photocopied photos of Katagiri from ten years ago on hand.

Also, apparently, five of the fifty-one people were having their
birthday today, which meant the presence of balloons, party favors,
confetti, clowns, cake, ice cream, and more balloons.

It was a long and involved process of elimination that took about an
hour of checking and double-checking.

None of the twelve with the (bogus) specific birthday were a match to
Katagiri (as the mug shot showed), plus none of them were approached by
anyone suspicious other Natsuki and/or Daiji.

This was dangerous because it meant they had to check out and/or guard
the remaining thirty-nine people who were forty-six to forty-five years
of age. They then proceeded to check out the people without photos on
their files (they'd already found two of them while checking out the
first twelve patients).

Zilch. There was no match either. Even when considering weight gain or
wrinkles, none of the oldsters looked like the picture they had from a
decade past.

They even checked out the five who had birthdays today. Obviously, that
was too big of a coincidence, as evidenced by the fact that none of the
five matched the photo they had on hand.

They wasted an hour of searching, and the sun was already setting: Five
o'clock. They still had twenty-six people left to search, which meant
that for the next hour or so, Matsudaira and Shinkai had to look for
thirteen people each. Ikumi could've already killed Katagiri by now.

Natsuki thought long and hard. What did she answer to Likka when she
asked how to commit a perfect crime? 'There's no such thing as a perfect
crime. Only a crime where there's too little evidence to go by. If
there's no evidence, there's no crime to find.'

Likka didn't follow any of Natsuki's advice. She left plenty of
evidence. She left witnesses. She had a motive. She had opportunity. She
knew she was going to get caught. She wanted to get caught. However,
time was running out.

Shinkai made two promises to Ikumi. She either stopped her from killing
her parents' murderer or arrest her after the fact. The junior detective
girl had no intention of letting the latter happen.

A minute later, as they were about to split up, something occurred to
Natsuki. "Daiji-sempai! We need to go back to the rooms of the five who
just had their birthday!"

"Why? None of them had faces that matched the photo!" said Daiji.

"Not them! The doors adjacent to them! The tools to commit murder are
right inside those rooms! Quick and painless murder! Let's split up! You
take three, I'll take two!"


===


Likka Ikumi hated Seiji Katagiri. She hated him for snatching away her
parents when they were about to bury the hatchet when it came to their
marriage.

She hated him for reversing the thrust of the engines of his plane,
which resulted in the deaths of her beloved parents whom she could
barely even remember at that point.

She hated him for indirectly making what used to be her nice uncles,
aunts, and cousins into money-grubbing gold diggers snarling and
snapping at each other for the sake of getting a piece of the Ikumi
fortune.

She hated him for getting away with murder all because he was insane. He
was free while she and everyone else whose loved ones were stolen from
them were left to rot in purgatory.

As orphans, they were teased for, of all things, being orphans. Why
would children do this? Likka didn't know. Children were stupid and
insensitive, she guessed.

Even though he wasn't responsible for the death of the one person she
viewed as a mother figure aside from Missus Ikumi (after Itsumi herself
became Missus Matsudaira), she focused all her rage on him regardless.

Why? It was because Itsumi's death opened old wounds Likka thought were
healed. Wounds _he_ created. Wounds that taught her how unfair, cruel,
and illogical life was.

Likka would've never attempted to kill him had the Kanji Killer not
hypnotized her into doing so. Or at least, she hoped that was the case.
She hated that dark part of her that showed she was only one push away
from killing the bastard anyway, with or without that horse-toothed,
beady-eyed psychopath's help.

This wasn't the first time she ended up in that mental ward. She'd been
visiting from time to time: Studying the layout of the hospital, taking
a gander at the patients, and even stealing files outright to check out
which of the fifty-one patients aged forty-five to forty-six years old
that were admitted to the Tokyo Metropolitan Matsuzawa Mental Hospital
in 1983 were being naughty or nice.

She'd been staking out the hospital since February of this year, in
fact. Every time she went home to the family mansion in Ueno, she made
it a point to find _him_. And she eventually did.

He was a murmuring, blabbering pathetic shell of a man. She almost
didn't go through it. After all, she'd be doing him a favor by killing
him.

Almost.

But she had never killed anyone in her life, and even her past self,
Misao Makimachi, had no such experience in such grisly matters for as
long as she'd lived. She wasn't prepared to feel the ebb and flow of
life cease as she forced a pillow down Katagiri's face.

So she went along with the idea that she was doing him a favor. She'd
seen the birthday parties sponsored by the psych ward from time to time.
It worked by celebrating all the birthdays of those who had birthdays on
a given _week_ instead of a given day.

They were allowed to have cake, ice cream, balloons, and the works
before the weekend. So Likka cosplayed as a harlequin clown, spreading
joy, confetti, and sweet treats to all five people who had their
birthdays today. This gave her the opportunity to use a quick and
painless way to end Captain Seiji's life. For great justice.

The tool of death she had on hand was called a suicide bag. She had the
plastic bag used to house the birthday paraphernalia and the helium
tanks that filled the balloons so that they could float on hand. All she
needed to do was put two and two together. Instant, painless death.

As she understood it, any inert gas would suffice with a suicide bag.
There would be less of a struggle (induced by the hypercapnic alarm
response when being suffocated) because the gas prevented panic and
dulled the sensation of suffocation.

By using helium, the victim was less likely to fight against
unconsciousness from oxygen deprivation. Finally, it was a difficult-to-
trace death as long as the bag and the gas canister were removed. Even
if she didn't remove it, Seiji's death could be ruled a suicide since
it was done via "suicide" bag.

She knew about the suicide bag because, thanks to her own grief and
having nearly all her immediate blood-related family wiped out before
she was twenty, she herself had contemplated suicide.

She herself was tempted to become part of the Aokigahara Suicide Club
even before news broke out of their failed attempt at self-termination
because each of the members of this... cult were eventually caught and
arrested by the Shinjuku Police.

This was the closest she could get to a perfect crime, had she not told
Natsuki about it. At least no one would have the faintest idea regarding
what happened until the inevitable confrontation.

Likka then remembered Natsuki's face and her sad smile that always
concealed something she didn't want to talk about. Before, all the
Taiwanese girl could ever muster was an impenetrable poker face
whenever she talked to those around her. Nowadays, she'd been forcing
that smile whenever they were together.

Likka hated that smile. Looking at Natsuki was like looking into a
mirror with a different face. Ikumi never asked Shinkai why she had such
a smile for probably the same reason Shinkai never asked why Ikumi had
the same smile.

Likka didn't want to see that plastered smile as soon as Natsuki burst
forth into that room. But...


===


Natsuki kicked open the door in time to see a man as white as a sheet
lying in bed and a bawling female clown with a gas canister and a
plastic bag in her possession.

Caught in the act. From the mirror, on the other side of the room
overlooking Kamikitazawa, Shinkai could see the color drain from her own
face.

Likka's eyes red, her makeup smeared by her own tears, she gave Natsuki
her fake, sad smile that made her lipstick-created grin even creepier to
stare at. She looked like a mess.

"You came. Just as you've promised."

A few minutes later, Daiji would most likely arrive. Shinkai had no idea
how he'd react to this development. It was one thing to go on a never-
ending vendetta against your wife's killer. However, what if it was your
loved one who was the bad guy?

The last surviving Ikumi put her hands behind her head and said, "Arrest
me, for I have sinned."

Quietly, Natsuki dropped her cane, pulled Likka close, and placed the
shorter girl's head underneath her chin. It was all over. It was at that
moment that the "body" of Katajiri wheezed in a high-pitched helium
voice, "I'm nauseous. Nurse, give me my pills."

Both Ikumi and Shinkai stared wide-eyed at the ridiculous scene before
them, then burst out laughing. They laughed until tears formed in their
eyes.

Likka loved that laugh of Natsuki's. And her smile that reached all the
way to her eyes. She could cover her mouth and her cat eyes would still
reveal her mirth.

Afterwards, they stopped laughing, but the tears were still there.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! I couldn't go through with it! I'm sorry!"
wailed Likka as she gnashed her teeth while Natsuki cooed, "It's okay.
It's okay. I'm here. I'm proud of you. Shush. Don't cry."


===


To Be Continued...

Next: So what happened to Hiei?

The reason I chose to make Natsuki (Keiko's friend) the love interest of
Kaito instead of... some random bespectacled editor of his that was
probably older than him (that's manga canon, by the way) for this story
is simple.

People are more familiar with Natsuki than the random bespectacled
editor. This is of course _fanon_, so don't take the blatant changes too
seriously. I did it not because I don't know manga canon, but because I
feel the story flowed better with the change.

Disclaimer: Yuyu Hakusho is the rightful property of Yoshihiro Togashi,
Shueisha, Fuji TV, and Studio 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.

Heto na,
Abdiel
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