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He was following me again.The twisting in my gut was getting too hard to ignore and it took everything in me not to turn around to try and face him. He'd been following me on and off since the airport and frankly I was getting sick of it. Really, really, sick of it. I rolled my shoulders back, making myself taller in my seat and eliciting a small crack from between my vertebrae at the same time. My back was still super messed up from the flight and I was almost too tired to do anything but sleep, especially now that I had a warm meal in me. I picked my bag up from my feet and threw it over my left shoulder, fumbling with my wallet so I could pay and get the hell out of there. As wonderful as this little restaurant was, that creep ruined the atmosphere.It took a moment to flag down the shop's only waitress and a couple minutes more to pay what I owed as I needed her help identifying the correct coins. She bowed and thanked me and I nodded my head and smiled back, waving goodbye as I left the little ramen shop and slipped back into the busy streets, my eyes taking a moment to adjust to the light.The sun was getting low in the sky, maybe an hour or two until sunset and I took a moment to stop and take out my cell phone, taking a few pictures of the way the golden-pinky hues were reflecting off the high buildings and the small glimpses of the sky between them. I then hit the button that flipped my phone around to selfie mode and snapped a quick shot of myself, smiling a big old cheesy grin.
’Hopefully I caught the guy in the background this time.’
I didn't stick around to check, just stashed my phone into my coat pocket and started to head towards the train station. I didn't have far to go back to the apartment I was staying in and I wanted to get everything settled tonight if I had to.The walk to the train station was slow, going with the flow of people with much shorter legs than I was far more frustrating than it had any right to be, and the whole way there I noticed people looking at me. It was a different feeling from my very much unwanted shadow, but unnerving nonetheless. More like the first day of headgear in middle school kinda staring and less like a Michael Myers kind of staring if that made any sense. Annoying sure, but easy to shake off until I could slip into the underground station. I guess I couldn't blame the gawking. The middle schooler kind I was getting from 99% of the people around me, not the stalkers gawking, obviously. I am kind of ridiculously taller than most everyone around me, standing just millimeters below 6 feet tall and with my hair being a lot frizzier than normal, it’s got even more unwanted volume. It was looking more like a frizzy orange rats nest than actual hair at this point, so honestly? I could see why I might be getting stared at.Following the sea of the people around me, I shuffled my way down the stairs and towards the entry gate, tapping in with my prepaid transit card and making my way towards the train bay I needed to go to get home. I thought for a minute or two I wouldn’t have to deal with the stalker, or his creepy vibe. I thought that I was underground and mostly swept away by the crowd of people trying to commute back home as well and that he might lose me. 'Looks like I thought wrong.' I thought bitterly to myself as I made my way through the underground maze of halls and train stations.The creepy feeling was just as strong as it was on the street and it was starting to really make my skin crawl. I couldn’t stop the frown that was starting to pull at my lips and the gritting of my teeth behind them. I hate this. I want to be able to face this guy and call him out. I wanna ask him what his freakin’ problem is? Doesn’t he realize how freakin’ creepy it is to follow a girl around? Especially a girl who was obviously a foreigner living alone?
’Don’t give him the benefit of the doubt! Of coure he knows how creepy is it to actually be stalking you! You’re prolly gonna have to either try and kick his ass to scare him off or get the cops involved.’
I was so lost in my own thoughts about what I was gonna do when I had an opportunity to face my stalker that I walked head first into a man in a suit, knocking both of us to the ground.“Oh god I’m so sorry!” I said in English before catching myself and repeating in Japanese “{I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry.}” My fat ass had knocked his suitcase out of his hand when we collidded and its contents were all over the busy station ground, in danger of being trampled by an unforgiving sea of commuters. I quickly began scrambling around trying to pick them up for him as quickly as possible, apologising over and over. He said something back in Japanese but honestly it was way too fast and too smooth for me to catch.About three dozen pieces of paper and several manila envelopes stacked together later, I looked up from the mess to the man, his papers in hand and extended forward for him to take. I was struck for a moment just how handsome he was... Of course my clumsy ass just had to bulldozer down the most beautiful business man in the whole freaking world! His skin was smooth and pale like porcelain, not a pore in sight, making the vibrancy of his deep emerald eyes even more shocking, and I swear I would actually commit war crimes to know the secrets to his smooth and silky blood red hair. It was thick, but smooth and straight and was incredibly shiny despite the poor quality of the overhead lights in the underground train tunnel.He said whatever he had said again, and unfortunately once again, I was only able to pick up a few words, but not nearly enough to get the whole sentence. His tone was gentle and he was smiling though, so I doubt this man was angry about the not so little run in. I got the first part! He apologized back, but after that, aside from him calling me Miss, I didn't understand a word of it. I would have pulled my phone out and opened up the translation app, but I just didn't have the time to fiddle with getting my phone's data to work if I wanted to make it to my train before it left and I was stuck waiting for another fifteen minutes.So instead, I cleared my throat and once again, held out the papers for him to take. “{I’m sorry. Please have a good night.}” He’s smile twitched slightly and something shifted behind his eyes. ’Oh great, my accent was so terrible it was offending the local handsome business men.’ He took the papers, putting them back in his suitcase as we both stood up and brushed ourselves off. His eyes almost looked...sad? He felt sad. It was a gut feeling, similar to the way I knew I was being followed. This feeling was worse though. My chest hurt, ached, in empathy and a surprisingly large part of me wanted to comfort him. I... I wanted to wrap my arms around him and tell him it was going to be okay, whatever it was, which was... not the weirdest impulse that the gut feeling has given me before, but it was still strong enough that I had to clench my hands at my sides and force myself to bow politely, and mumble a fast, “{Please have a good night, sir.}” before quickly moving on, taking off at a joggin pace towards my station.As I grew closer towards my gate, I could hear the squealing of the train pulling into the station and I began to pick up the pace. I barely managed to run between the doors in time, pulling my bag closer to my body so the doors could close behind me. I let out a deep breath and relaxed for a moment, letting my weight rest against the door as the train jerked to life and started to roll out of the station. My face felt hot and flushed, left over embarrassment from making a fool of myself in front of easily the hottest model, or popstar, or actual freakin’ God of Hotness to walk the planet! I put both my hands on my face and groaned aloud to myself, letting my head flop back and my hands slide down my face as all of my weight started to sink lower and lower against the train car door. I pretended not to notice the mother sitting nearest me pulling her small toddler closer to her, giving me a rather direct side eye.
Two stops into the trip, I've moved further into the car, holding on to the center pole for balance.
I took out my phone to pass the boredom, but when I unlocked the screen I was greeted with a gross, close up camera feed of my face. The grimace that took over my facde was just habitual at this point.
’Eww. Gross me-face.’
I was about to hit the back button to the home screen, when I saw the last picture that I took sitting in the bottom right corner as a preview to my gallery.. Oh shit, that’s right! The sneaky selfie to try and catch a stalker! I quickly opened it up and barely looked at myself, turning my attention to the background, hopeful to have captured something. Pinching and zooming in, I quickly scanned the background for anything unusual.
I didn’t see anything, just a busy Japanese street with nothing out of the ordinary. Handfuls of random people walking behind me, going about their day. I zoomed in even further and tried to see if any of them stood out, if I recognized any faces from my two days here. No one immediately stood out to me. In fact, all the people walking about where at least in groups of twos and not a single person was looking at me. Two in my general direction but they were an elderly couple walking arm in arm, so unless it was an M. Night Shyamalan situation in here, I doubted grandma and grandpa wanted to kill me and stuff me in the crawl space.
With a disappointed sigh, I glanced up from my phone and noticed we were pulling into the station before mine. Opps, I got so lost in my phone I almost missed my stop. Fishing my earphones out of my bag, I slipped them on and spent the time to the next stop getting my Bluetooth earphones to connect and start up my music app. As I stepped out of the train, I was relieved to notice that the twisty creepy feeling was gone.
Good.
Great!
Thank god even!
I smiled a bit to myself and quickly selected an upbeat song to walk home to. Just know that I wasn’t being followed anymore was such a weight off my mind! It was like the energy was put back in me and the sluggishness in my legs and the even the ache in my back eased up a bit!
Tapping out of the train station station gate and running up the stairs to get back out to street level, I had a pep in my step. Aside from the strange stalker, who I'd seemed to have slipped for the moment, my first two days in Japan have gone great!
Got myself a nice apartment through the school’s internation student program, I was mostly unpacked from the move in, and I was fairly confident on my transit ride to school, having done it earlier in the day yesterday and again today with no issues. My neighbor was a sweet older woman in her later 60’s whose two children were all grown up and moved out. She didn't mention a husband and I didn't ask, but she had invited me over to dinner last night after she came over to introduce herself when she heard all the commotion of my moving and it had just been the two of us.
Her name was Tsubaki Otougo, but she had insisted I just call her Baki-chan. I told her to call me Freddy and she insisted on adding chan to the end of it, which was sweet. We talked a bit over dinner, a delicious traditional meal of rice, miso soup, tempura and pickled vegetables with this really incredible grilled fish. She spoke slowly and helped gently correct my grammar and pronunciation, and it was overall just a lovely evening with a neighbour and new friend.
She asked about my schooling and how long I was going to be going to school in Japan, why had I chosen Japan, if I had a job yet, if I'd broken any hearts back home by moving to Japan.
Three and a half years if all goes well, It was between Japan and France and everyone goes to France to learn how to bake, the school had lined up a part time job for me at a local bakery, mostly just dishwashing but I would be taught the basics of practical experience while school taught me the more technical side, and no of course not, was she blind? Look at me, I’m nothing special.
I asked her about her kids, a son and a daughter, both in their later twenties. The son, Tamaki, was engaged and lived in Tokyo. While the daughter, Mio, was single and working hard on her career as a Fashion Designer. Apparently she was a big deal in the up and coming scene. I asked about what she, Baki-chan did for a living and though she's retired now, she used to teach elementary school. That would explain how sweet and patient she was when it came to correcting my grammar, I thought in retrospect.
When we were talking about my school, she recommended a couple of places to eat near the area, one of which was where I was currently coming back from. It had been a great restaurant, small and cozy with a homey feeling. Not too expensive either, if I had the exchange right in my head. I'd for sure be getting lunches and dinners from there in the future, if time allowed.
I would have to buy her something to thank her for all her generosity. Maybe some wine and chocolates? What would a sweet old retired elementary school teacher want as a thank you gift?
It took maybe a total of 15 minutes to walk from the train station to my apartment complex, a smaller, older building on the far west side of town. Mostly small shopping stores lined the streets near the train station, but it quickly transitioned into small homes and condos, with the occasional apartment complex taking up a block to itself. It was quiet, closer to 8 or 9 in the evening now, and the streets were practically empty now that the sun had set and the street lamps were on.
’God I’m so thankful that that creep decided to back off for now...’ I couldn’t help but think to myself in the silent pause between songs as one tune ended and another began. I’d hate to be that on edge as I was walking up to my apartment. If he was still following me, I’d probablly feel the need to circle the block, or walk a really really weird way home to try and lose him and probably end up getting lost myself.
It was really nice that I got to have this beautiful early summer evening all to myself...
I could see my building on the corner coming up and I wondered to myself if it was my window box or Baki-chans that I could see from here. I should get some kind of plant to grow in there. I instantly thought about growing a nice, low-flier indica bush, but just as quickly dismissed it because that was a stupid idea and I knew that.
‘At least wait a week before you start breaking the local laws, Winifred. You can wait till the care package shows up in the mail,’ I thought angrily to myself, 'Don't fuck up this amazing school, work, LIFE, opportunity because you need a smoke, you dumb, fucking stoner. Just switch the cigarettes and give yourself lung cancer instead of risking jail time in Japan, you moron.'
I sighed heavily to myself and made the mental note to pick up a pack of cigarettes from the corner store tomorrow morning.
Shawn would kill me when he found out but what-the-fuck-ever. He's back home, he can't touch me here. He also didn't have to deal with a creepy stalker in a country where he was struggling to learn the language, so, yeah actually, fuck whatever Shawn's gonna think. He's my older brother, not my freaking police warden.
....I do miss him though, as over-protective as he is...
As I rounded the corner, I came up to the front of the apartment building. It was small and older than most of the other buildings around, but it was perfect.
It’s kinda funny, I had to convince myself that not everything in Japan would be what I expected from all the anime I used to watch in High School but this walk up complex was straight from a slice of life anime, I swear. It was just like Sato's home in Welcome to the NHK. Five apartments on the bottom floor and five on the second with outside stairs access.
My apartment was the last one on the top left side, closest to the alley way, with Baki-chan to the right of my apartment, and a much much older woman whose name I hadn’t caught yet who lived below me. She did wave back when I waved and smiled at her as I was leaving this morning though, so she seemed friendly enough. I’d have to remember to introduce myself if I saw her again any time soon.
I climbed the stairs, and as I was fumbling to get my keys to get out of my bag, the door to Baki-chans suite opened and she poked her head out. When she saw it was me, she smiled brightly and stepped out of her suite completely and onto the walkway in her house slippers. She was wearing olive green capri pants and a simple white button up shirt, with her greying hair pulled into a low bun. Simple but stunning, but nothing like the brilliant smile she was greeting me with.
“{Freddy-chan! Good evening! Welcome home, did you have a good day today?}” She asked, welcoming me home like one of her own family members. I was more than humbled by her kindness and hospitality.
“{Good evening Baki-chan!}” I bowed, doing my best to show her the same level of respect. “{I had a great day, thank you for asking. How was your day?}” I was slower than I would have liked, but at least I didn’t stutter over my words this time. “{I wanted to ask you something, but I need to get my app working first.}”
“{Oh of course, take your time, dear.}” She dismissed with a wave of her hand before continuing on, “{I had a good day, I did my shopping and started reading this new book that my son's fiance bought for me. It's about a dog whose proposes is to protect this one man as he grows up, being reincarnated into several different dogs throughout the man's life.}”
“Oh! A dog's purpose!” I exclaimed in English, probably with more enthusiasm than was warranted, but I was excited that I not only did I know which book she was talking about, I had just finished reading the sequel last month! “{I read that one. I love that book. The next one made me cry, the girl mother very mean.}”
{“The girl’s mother was very mean.}” She corrected me and I flushed a bit. Oops. “{I'll have to look for the sequel next time I'm at the bookstore, then, if you recommend it so highly.}”
I found my keys and unlocked my door. Quickly, I threw my bag in the foyer and tossed my earphones on-top of my bag with a low underhand toss. Now that I was unburdened by my belongings, I closed the door and took out my phone from my pocket and quickly opened up the translation app.
Maybe half a minute later, I asked slowly, as a little unsure of my enunciation. “{What wines do you like? I want to thank you for dinner?}”
Her eyes widened and her whole demeanor screamed happily embarrassed, cheeks flushed and fighting back a smile. “{Oh dear, you don't have to get me anything! I was happy to cook for you!}” a hand was pressed to her only slightly wrinkled cheek as she tried to wave me off, but I insisted. She was so sweet, I had to do something for her.
“{Please let me get you wines. I want to.}”
It took a while, but eventually I managed to get her to tell me she prefered a red wine over a white wine and we left it at that. I would go get a nice bottle of red and then ask around to find a nice chocolate place to pair with it tomorrow after I did my grocery shopping and surprise her.
We said goodnight to each other and went into our respective suites.
I closed and locked the door behind me, finally home for the night, and turned on the light, illuminating the bachelor suite in all it’s almost unpacked glory.
In the far left side of the room, I had my new double bed set up in the corner, partially undernearth the window, with the window ledge acting as the perfect nightstand for my alarm clock and space to charge my cell phone overnight. I had a set of fresh new pale mint green sheets with grey cases on the three pillows stacked at the head of the bed, and a grey fuzzy warm blanket at the foot of the bed, folded over and ready to be used if needed, but honestly, given the current weather, it wouldn’t be used for a while now.
A square table in the center of the room, low in the traditional Japanese style with cushions surrounding it to sit on. It was close enough to my bed on one side that you could sit at the table and lean against the bed frame at the same time, so I set up the TV stand slash book case on the wall opposite that so if I had time to game between school and work, at least I could do it comfortably. It was a bigger storage unit that I would have preferred, but it also acted as a little bit of added noise insulation between my suite and Tsubaki's.
I already loved the woman like an aunt, so I certainly didn't want to annoy her with any of my day to day noises. Once I got the shelves filled up it would work a little better. So far I only had the TV and my PlayStation 4 set up so I could watch YouTube while I unpack. All my books and games were still waiting to be discovered again in boxes sitting next to the large wooden structure that took up basically the whole wall, creating a clear division between foyer and living space. It was just those books and games, and the majority of my kitchen wear that needed to be unpacked left and I was planning on doing that in the morning before I was going to brave the grocery store and get some basic things for my fridge. I needed the basics, like eggs, milk and bread. It was kind of silly, but I was nervously excited to go shopping for food tomorrow. The grocery stores couldn’t be that much different from the ones back home in Canada, I’m not that stupid that I’m expecting a completely forgien experience, but still, because I didn’t know exactly what to expect, so I was more that just a little giddy.
On the left side of the entry door was the closet door and right next to that, the bathroom door. It was a small toilet and stand up shower situation, hardly much larger than the coat closet next to it. There was no tub inside the unit.
’Sad face. I love having a nice hot long soak after a long day.’ I thought to myself, remembering fondly all the hot, wonderful, relaxing baths that I had in the tub back home. I’d have to try and find a foreigner friendly Sento nearby, if that was even possible. I knew that most Sento’s had rules about tattoos, but in my opinion, it shouldn’t apply to foreigners. The rule was only in place because back in the day, only gang members like the Yakuza had tattoos, so it was an indirect way of saying ‘No gang members allowed inside, you make our regular guests uncomfortable.’ But again, it shouldn’t apply to foreigners, because look at me! There was no way that the Yakuza was gonna let me in, tattoo or no tattoo! I hadn’t had to have that fight yet, but hopefully I wouldn’t have to if I could find a bathhouse that wouldn’t care.
On the other side of the bathroom wall, about six feet into the apartment was the kitchen, if that's what you wanted to call it. It was a sink and a small half fridge with a small amount of counter space for a hot plate or maybe a rice cooker if I could get my hands on one for cheap. I was very disappointed that my little cooking space didn't have an oven, but I could get a little toaster oven for little everyday things, I suppose. No real baking for me at home though, which honestly wasn’t ideal. Hopefully I will be able to use the school's kitchen to practice my baking. You know, the one reason I came to Japan in the first place? To learn how to become a better baker and pastry chef.
A small two seat wide Island blocked the kitchen from the rest of the apartment, creating a division between the white tile that made up the entryway, bathroom and kitchen and dark brown hardwood flooring that took up the rest of the apartment. The island was covered in my kitchen supplies boxes, 4 medium sized boxes stacked on top of each other taking up the whole counter space without an inch of wiggle room.
It didn't take me long to kick off my shoes and socks, which I just left piled in the foyer next to my backpack. My jacket was the next to be shed, getting quickly hung onto the doorknob of the closet for easy grabbing. It was sloppy, but it worked for now.
I yawned a little and stretched my arms over my head, standing on my tiptoes as I tried to work out the stiffness in my spine. Maybe I should go through some pilates stretches before bed, my back is just killing me with this dull ache and the damn stiffness between my shoulders. A hot shower maybe? Anything to try and help the discomfort.
Two hours later, at about 10:30 and after a short bout of stretches and a quick hot shower, I was dressed in sweatpants and a large oversized men's shirt that I may have stolen from Shawn, brushing my teeth and getting ready for bed. Early, I know, but I needed to start getting used to getting up early. Work at the bakery started at 6 am every Thursday and Friday, and school wasn’t much better, starting at 7:30 am Sunday through Wednesdays and unfortunately, I am not a morning person!
’But fuck, will do my best to become one.’ I thought to myself with determination, as I spat out the mouthful of toothpaste into the sink. I still had a week before my first shift at the bakery, and school didn’t start in full swing until next month, but I still wanted to get in the habit of it early to bed and early to rise, just for the sake of an easier transition into the work/school routine.
“Early to rise and early to bed, makes a man healthy but socially dead.” I mumbled to myself, quoting Yakko Warner with little enthusiasm. Not that I really had a social life to worry about yet, my one friend in the whole country was a 67 year old retired elementary school teacher. I had a feeling she herself would be going to bed soon too, infact.
Not that I ever had much of a social life, I thought to myself as I turned off the lights around my suite. Unless a miracle of some kind decided to blow through my life, I strongly suspected that my next few years here in Japan would be pretty similar to my years at home. Work, school, eat, sleep and repeat.
Maybe I should try and be more sociable. New school, new country, new me? It was more than a little sad that the only person who was back home missing me was Shawn, but that was kinda how it always been. Shawn had been my only friend for a long, long time, and when a 25 year old woman's only friend is her older brother, it's more just than a little sad.
Did I really want to risk a repeat of what happened near graduation though? That single thought was enough to throw the whole plan to be more social out the window. I didn't think I was strong enough to handle another graduation situation, let alone a graduation situation on the other side of the world without Shawn's help. No, no, no thank you. Looks like it's just gonna be me and my lonesome til I move back home and that was just going to have to be how it was.
There was Baki-chan, I reminded myself as I slipped underneath the covers and finally rested my weight into the mattress beneath me. Baki-chan was sweet and I did genuinely feel a connection forming between us, thin, but bright with potential. I did truly think we could be dear friends in the near future.
It was dark in the room, a warm orange glow flooding in the window from the street lamp outside the only source of light. I lay curled up on my left side, my back to the wall, and a pillow cuddled in my arms already. I could feel the heaviness behind my eyes starting to move to my eyelids beyond my control. It was getting hard and hard to stay up, now that I was warm and comfortable in bed.
Before I let myself drift off, I lifted my left hand from the pillow slightly and concentrated. It was easier in the dark to see them, but they were there all the time, regardless of if I could see them clearly or not. Three little red strings, each tied around a different part of my pinky finger. One just below my nail line, wrapped around the cuticle line, the next wrapped around the center of my finger, perfectly in the middle, and the third tied tightly around the base, so tight I could practically feel it right in the crease between the finger and my palm, a constant reminder.
They had been there for as long as I could remember, and they had only been getting brighter and brighter, more physical since I moved here.
I clenched my hand closed and pulled it closer to me, pulling them closer to me.
I'll find them someday, I know it...
It was just a gut feeling...
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
“Yuusuke.” It was mid-morning at the Ramen shop and two figures stood in the open door frame, facing a third who was slumped over a table, sleeping on his arms, folded across the table top as makeshift pillows.The taller of the two figures spoke again, his voice a little firmer this time as he tried to get the sleeping man's attention. “Yuusuke.”A light snore, followed by a small shuffle of the shoulders was the only response given.“Yuu-” he was going to try again with his voice even sterner now, but the short man on the left side of him beat him to it, stepping forward with three quick strides and kicked the chair out from under the sleeping man in a blur of a leg sweep, sending the sleeping man sprawling backwards with a short startled shout and a clatter of wooden furniture.“Auuh! The fuck!? Hiei, the shit?! The hell was that for?!” Yuusuke sputtered from the floor, cursing and fumbling to get himself from between the chair and the wall, slipping a few times in his sleep rattled confusion before he finally managed to pull himself to his feet, neither of his friends moving to offer him a hand despite how much he was struggling to get upright.“Tch. Fool. We've been trying to wake you.” Hiei responded, and while he didn’t actually roll his eyes at their ‘team leader’, it sure sounded like he wanted to, given the actual disdain in his tone.Yuusuke looked ready to start yelling again, but just as quickly as the fire and anger sparked into his eyes, they left, his whole body seeming to deflate in exhaust. It was then that both Kurama and Hiei noticed just how tired the younger man looked.Yuusuke still held his boyish looks, having come into his demon inheritance at the age of 15, and now, almost 3 decades later, he hardly looked to be a day over 20. That being said, he hadn't been necessarily taking care of himself well in that time. His once bright brown eyes that usually shone with mirth and mischief, were dull and sunken. The deep dark bags under the Detectives eyes almost made the pair of demons feel bad for breaking what sleep the Detective was getting, as it was clear he didn’t get much of it.Not that Kurama blamed him, the fox demon mused to himself silently. The man before him had only been a child of 14 when they first met. Since that time, through all the perils and trials they faced together, one thing became clear to the fox. Yuusuke, despite all appearances and showmanships; lived, breathed, and died for the sake of his friends. He didn't have many, but the ones he did have he would tear himself or the world apart to protect, and he didn’t care which.The loss of Kazuma had taken its toll on all of them of course, but Yuusuke took it the hardest of all. For the first year after the accident, he was practically catatonic, if memory serves.Hiei hadn't taken it well either, Kurama recalled, remembering the path of destruction in the demon realm he'd tracked for days trying to find the Wielder of the Jagan Eye. He did eventually find the short fire demon, but after a short talk, he vanished only to return after a few years of ‘soul searching’, whatever that meant to the smaller fire apparition.“What time is it?” Yuusuke asked, breaking Kurama's train of thought and bringing him back to the present.“It's almost a quarter to ten.” “Late.” Both Kurama and Hiei spoke at the same time and it took Yuusuke a moment to wrap his head around it. It took another moment for the light bulb to go off and it was clear when it did, as his eyes went wide in horror and his mouth dropped open in shock.“THE FLIGHT!” He practically shrieked, jumping to his feet. He ran past the two demons and made it halfway to the door, only to quickly back peddle and run to the back of the restaurant to grab his coat hanging from the staff hooks, tearing through his pockets like a madman for his keys.“Why are you two just standing there?! We're gonna be late for the flight to land!” He demanded, only glancing up for a moment to glare at his unmoving friends.“Fool! If you'd been awake on time you'd have gotten the message that there's been a delay.” Hiei snarled, and by the way he spat the word delay; as if the word itself had attacked him, it was all too obvious how he felt about the hold up. Too be fair, Kurama wasn’t pleased with it either.“Ah derway?” Yuusuke froze in place, keys held clamped between his teeth as he struggled to get his coat on with one of the sleeves pulled inside out. “Wha derway?”“There was some poor weather at the layover in Hawaii.” Kurama informed the former detective, starting to walk out to the street at a casual pace, prompting the others to follow him. “An electrical storm held the flight back almost five hours, so we should make it just in time, despite your sleep-in.”Yuusuke locked the door behind him, switching the open sign to closed, and sighed heavily as he turned to face his friends and teammates, scratching the back of his neck sheepishy. “Look, I'm sorry. I haven't been sleeping well. Been stressing out about this, you know? I just...” He paused to make a growling noise of frustration as he ran both his hands back nervously through his hair, pushing into its usual slicked back style, only for more than a few loose strands to fall immediately loose, without any gel to hold it in place. His whole demeanor screamed defeat,with his hunched shoulders and head hung low.“I just don't wanna fuck this up.” He finished in a smaller voice than the older demons were used to hearing from the usually rambunctious leader.“He deserves better this time,” He continued, “So much better.”It wasn't the first time Yuusuke had expressed such feelings, and it wouldn't be the last either, Kurama suspected. -----
“Lord Koenma sir, I tried to stop him-!” George the ogre called out, but was cut off before he could finish.
“Bring. Him. Back.”
The air in the room was thick and still and nobody moved aside from Koenma, who continued to pour over his paperwork, pen flying. The skrit skrit of the pen on paper was the only sound for a good moment before Yuusuke spoke again.
The Spirit Detective made an imposing sight in the large open door frame, hands clenched and shaking at his sides as he glared down the son of the ruler of Spirit World, who for his own very un-imposing sight of that of a Toddler in a high office chair hidden mostly behind stacks of paperwork, looked unaffected by the situation. Behind Yuusuke stood Jorge, the Oger, panting for breath and hugging the frame for balance, and Kurama and Hiei, both looking unaffected by the mad dash after their leader.
“Listen to me!” Yuusuke shouted, his foot stomping so hard on the pristine white tiles that the stone cracked and caved under the weight, a small crater forming beneath him.
“Bring Kuwabara back now.” He demanded, his voice cracking dangerously on his teammates name.
“I can't do that, Yuusuke.” The Toddler in charge of Human Affairs didn't even look up from his work, just flipped another page over and kept going. His voice sounded tired, and dismissive of the matter, which certainly wasn’t helping the situation at all.
“BULLSHIT!” Yuusuke cried, taking a threatening step forward. “You liar! You brought me back, you brought me back twice! Don't you dare tell me he's gone!”
“I only brought you back once, Yuusuke, and those were one in a trillion circumstances.” Koenma sighed, the frustration clear in every word. “When you died when you were a teenager, we weren't expecting you and didn't have a plan for your soul. The fact that you so drastically changed your fate, and the potential that came with it, are quite frankly the ONLY reason you got a second chance to begin with.”
“What does that have to do with anything?!” Yuusuke shouted, getting visibly more irate, his whole body screaming pure rage and frustration. “Just do something useful for FUCKING ONCE! and Bring Him Back!”
“I can't!” Koenma snapped, slamming the pen to the desk and standing up in his chair, gaining himself a whole half a foot of extra height as he finally began to shout back at his detective. “His soul has already moved on and there is NOTHING I can do about it!”
The blind fury in Yuusukes face slid into naked confusion. “...Moved ...on?”
It was heartbreaking to watch the transformation in Yuusuke’s face from there. The hard angry lines melted and his whole face crumpled into tears. He didn't even try to contain it, just let the agony and misery overtake him. His bottom lip trembled, his chin wobbled and his eyes crinkled shutas big fat tears slid their way down his cheeks. It was a sadness and a mourning that couldn't be ignored anymore and the young man fell to his knees as he gasped for air between his desperate sobs. The pure agony in his voice was enough to pull at even Kurama's old and jaded heartstrings.
Koenma sighed and ran a hand down his face, and it was then that Kurama noticed just the dark rings underneath his eyes, and how his jaw seemed to be gritting and grinding down on the pacifier perpetually in his mouth.
“I tried, Yuusuke.” Koenma sighed, his voice just a level above the Spirit Detectives sobs. “As soon as we got the news, I ran straight to my father's office and begged him to give Kazuma a second chance.”
“That’s bullshit...” Yuusuke wheezed, still crying but not heaving for breath anymore as he raised his angry, sad and broken glare to his boss, tears still pouring down his face, dripping off his chin in large salty droplets. “You don't give a damn about him!” He snarled, but made no move to attack, his emotional outburst leaving him drained and exhausted.
“Kazuma was arguably my favorite of you lot, so don't you start that with me!” Koenma snapped angrily pointing an accusatory finger at the grieving detective as he continued to shout, “At least he showed me respect,” the finger pointed to Hiei, “ never stole from me,” it slid over to Kurama, “OR continually called me a toddler!” The finger landed firmly on Yuusuke again.
“He's also the only one of you who started fighting for us because it was the RIGHT thing to do!” Koenma waved his arm around, gesturing to all of the intruders of his office. “Hiei and Kurama only started fighting because it was their part of probation for stealing from my Father's vault, and despite the fact that we literally raised YOUR ass from the dead AND helped awakened your spiritual energy, we had to BRIBE you into helping us in the first place!”
Everyone was silent for a moment as they thought back to the beginning of it all and realized that... he was right and they had nothing to say back to that.
“I'm not sure if I'm allowed to tell you three this, but for every single human, alive or dead, we have a file.” Koenma started to explain, speaking clearly so he wouldn't have to explain anything again, his tone shifting from his previous angry tone, to somethin much more sympathetic and calm. “The contents of those files are basically that person's story. From the day a person is born, they have a file that is constantly changing and being rewritten with each and every decision that a person makes. Major events like traumatic injury, meeting romantic partners, job opportunities, and yes, unfortunately even death, are Fated to happen, sometimes based on choice and decisions of each individual person, or sometimes just because the Fates wrote it as such.” He took a moment to make sure everyone was still following before continuing on once he saw that he had the three demons' attention.
“It's flexible, in some regards. Say someone is born with all the right advances in life, but chooses not to study in school and drops out, or starts doing drugs. Everyday choices that seem simple set off a tidal wave of effects throughout someone's whole life and their file is rewritten every time to accommodate. But, it's also steadfast in some regards. That little boy that you died saving Yuusuke? The driver was supposed to just barely side swipe him, had it not been for the confusion of you also jumping into the road. That boy was supposed to make it out of there with one less bruise on his right elbow, but he was always going to survive that accident.”
Koenma sat down in his chair with a soft thump and opened a drawer in his desk and after a small bit of digging, pulled out a plain manila envelope. It wasn't large, maybe five sheets of paper thick at most, and Kurama couldn't help but find that insulting. Everything Kazuma had accomplished in his life, all of his victories and triumphs, and that was as thick of a file as they had on him? He'd submitted thicker essays for homework assignments.
“When Kazuma began involving himself in Spirit World activity, I asked my Father for his file. I'd already seen your’s, Yuusuke, as I was the one who handled your resurrection case, but I wanted to see his as well, so I knew what kind of human I would be working with.” He waved the folder a little before slapping it on the table.
“As tragic as it is, and as much as I know you don't want to hear it, Kazuma died according to plan and-”
“ACCORDING TO PLAN?!” Yuusuke shrieked, tears starting back up again, as he scrambled to try and gain his footing, his legs giving out at every turn it seemed. “You've known this whole FUCKING TIME?!”
“There was nothing I could do.” Koenma stressed, his brown eyes boring into Yuusuke's. “It was always supposed to happen like this-"
“ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?! THAT'S SUCH BULLSHIT!” Yuusuke shrieked, his vocal chords sounding like they must be in shreds between all the screaming and the sobbing, slamming a fist into the tile flooring in front of him, his hand sinking into the wreckage. He used it as leverage to lift himself to his feet finally. “HE GAVE SO MUCH, SO FUCKING MUCH, FOR YOU SPIRIT WORLD ASSHOLES AND YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE THE DECENCY TO TELL HIM NOT TO GO TO SCHOOL THAT DAY!?”
He began to advance upon his boss, his rage actually radiating from him in dangerous waves. “FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU AND YOUR SHITTY DAD!”
Kurama had to finally step in and place a hand on Yuusuke's shoulder to pull him back from actually doing something to the tiny ruler. He hadn't wanted to interfere for multiple reasons, but he couldn’t allow the young half demon to do anything he might regret.
“Yuusuke...” The redhead tried to console his friend and teammate but it fell on deaf ears.
“No! It is bullshit!” His voice cracked with tears, and he violently rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, trying to quell the new oncoming wave of tears. “He didn't deserve this! It's bullshit... he didn’t deserve this...”
“Where is the Fool's soul?”
Everyone turned to Hiei, who had finally spoken for the first time since hearing the news, yesterday. He was still standing in the door frame, arms crossed firmly across his chest.
“Beyond the River Styx, I would assume.” Kurama tried to answer but Koenma surprised him, by shaking his head, making a negative noise in the back of his throat before clarifying.
“No, it's a little more complicated than that, I'm afraid.” The tiny ruler of the spirit world elaborated further, “Kuwabara Kazuma had a Soul you don't normally see in humanity. Pure. Kind through and though, to a fault even. In order to keep the balance of Good and Evil in the world, some Souls unfortunately never get to experience the final rest Beyond the River.”
“What do you even mean?” Yuusuke croaked, his voice finally subcomming to the stress of everything and breaking like he was once again going through puberty.
Kurama's eyes widened in shock as he came to the realization that sucked the answer breathlessly from his chest, “He's been Reincarnated.”
Koenma nodded in solemn confirmation. “Yes.”
“I will not ask again. Where in the Fool's soul?” Hiei growled, his posture shifting to a more intimidating stance, uncrossing his arms and making a show of clenching his own fists, letting his frustration clearly show and be known as his shoulders practically hackled up like a cats.
“I don't know." The Son of Enma sighed heavily, flumping backwards into his chair in what could only be described as a pout, "My Father's forbidden me from gaining access to his new file, because he knows that YOU three would stop at nothing to get him back, but he's adamant that Kazuma's new life lives the new life as it's supposed to have and return to Japan as currently Fated, without any intervention.”
Hiei scoffed and turned heel, leaving swiftly with nobody trying to stop him.
“Will he hold any recollection of his previous life?” The Redhead asked, turning back to the small spirit world ruler. He knew Hiei would come back eventually, so for now he wasn't too worried. He just hoped that whatever ended up in the small fire demon's path wasn’t too important or irreplaceable.
“It won't be like your rebirth, Kurama, you forced hands in that situation if you recall.” Koenma shook his head, sighing heavily once again. “No, I doubt that aside from a few dreams, or strange senses of Deja vu, that the New Reincarnation will remember much of this life at all. Of course, that also depends on how spiritual aware this New Reincarnation will be.” It was with another heavy sigh that Koenma added honestly, “I don't have any clear answers and please know that it frustrates me as well.”
“But he's going to come back?” It was almost sad to hear how scared Yuusuke was to be hopeful. His voice was small and shook a little, but the vulnerable glimmer of hope was so naked and small that it pulled at even Kurama's old and jaded heart strings.
It seems that he wasn't the only one swayed, as Koenma replied in a much softer voice than one he’d been using before, “Eventually. It might take a long time, though, possibly even decades, Yuusuke.”
“I'll wait for him." He vowed without hesitation, nothing but pure earnestness in his voice. "He deserves better from me this time around.” Yuusuke sniffled and rubbed at his eyes, back already a little straighter.
“He deserves so much better this time.”
----Haneda Airport was bustling with action, people filing in and out of its doors in steady waves.The three Demons didn't necessarily want to enter a heavily monitored government building, so they waited near the pathway leading from the Monorail to the International Airport. They made an interesting sight, to say the least, but no foot officers or security men had approached them yet, so they weren’t going to change anything yet.Kurama was dressed sharply, in his usual work attire, tan slacks, a pale rose button down shirt with a beige trench coat open over top. He had his long hair pulled back at the nap of his neck, leaving two long pieces to frame his face free and fluttering in the breeze. Yuusuke was much less out together, hair a mess from all his nervous fidgeting, a slight 5 o'clock shadow peppering his jaw and upper lip, dresses in dark skinny jeans, a simple grey cotton tee shirt and a block colour style jacket in majority green with loud splashes of blue and yellow. He was yawning loudly every few minutes and kept falling asleep in his seat on the bench between Kurama and Hiei only to get an elbow to the ribs every time the snoring started up.Hiei had, with great displeasure, been wrangled into some human style clothes as his usual cloak and sword combo would not go well in transit. He sat there, arms crossed tightly across his chest, entirely not pouting. Black wash jeans, black combat boots, a red cotton tee shirt under a rather heavy and zipper intense black leather coat. His hair remained styled up, and his headband remained because a third eye would certainly draw even more unwanted attention than a white bandana would. It had been Kurama's best attempt to find a balance that Hiei might enjoy, and it was sufficient for the time being. The three waited and watched the crowd, unsure of what to expect. "Wish he'd given us more to go on than "You'll know them when you see them."" Yuusuke groaned, stretching his arms over his head as he tried to keep himself awake. "Like, the hell does that even mean? He's gonna look exactly the same? He's still wearing that goofy pompadour like it's 1985 and he's tryin’ to join some gang? Botan's gonna pop up next to his head and go "BINGO! You found him!""His Botan impression was high pitched, shrill, and honestly, not too flattering, but if the Grim Reaper wasn't there to hear it, the less she knew the better right?Kurama coughed, probably used to, but not impressed with Yuusukes lack of patience or decorum. It was like his personality was maturing at the same rate as his looks..."We know just as much as you do, Yuusuke." He tried to remind him, but ended up feeling like a parent trying to placate a child's whining. The response he got from the younger man certainly didn’t help the mental comparison."But it's stupid~!" Yuusuke continued to whine, going as far as to wiggle and flop his legs about like a toddler having a full on meltdown."Koenma clearly has the new file now! His smug fuckin’ smirk when he said it!" Yuusuke cried, previous exhaustion gone in place of irritation as he sat up ram rod straight in his seat. ""You'll know them when you see them"" He mocked before slumping even further back into his seat than before."Spirit world's just gonna fuck with me my whole damn life, aren't they?" He sighed, letting his head fall back and stretch the vertebrae in his neck. "I suspect so."
"Yes." Kurama and Hiei replied in tandom.The laugh that left Spirit Detective was sharp and quick. A single loud Ha! Followed by a sarcastic, "Thanks for the support guys."They fell into a comfortable silence for a moment, but it wasn't long after that that there was finally some progress in their search. The wave of people that had been trickling out of the building slowed, leaving single stragglers to slowly make their way down the walkway.Hiei was the first one to spot them."There. Look " He pointed to the door as a single tall figure slowly made they're way out, lugging a large rolling suitcase behind them.Well....Koenma was right, they did know who it was soon as they saw her.Bright orange curly locks of hair, tall and lanky, and radiating a faint aura of spiritual energy. There was no mistaking this young woman as anything other than the reincarnation of their friend Kuwabara Kazuma.She was different, clearly, she was a she! Tall for a lady, just about 6 foot from the look of it. She was thin with a healthy bit of muscle, dressed in a tight white tank top and short denim shorts that hid very little in the dense May heat. She had a large backpack strapped tightly to her back, and she was lugging an even larger black and white suitcase behind her as she frequently looked between her phone, and the path ahead, her ginger eyebrows scrunched in concentration.It was the hair that was the dead give away, clearly. Striking fire orange and curly in tight ringlets. She wore it in a high ponytail, at the crown of her skull. There was a lot of it too. Even pulled into a ponytail, she had a large section of it pulled over her right shoulder, with the rest of it falling down her back to rest just above her hips.Kurama noted that, while thin, maybe weighing 140lbs at most despite her height; She had a confidence and power in her walk that was unmistakable. She believed that she could handle herself and that was a small comfort to the fox demon. She also pulled the suitcase that looked to be packed full to bursting with ease, while carrying an equally full camping backpack that was almost twice as large as her torso on her back as if it were nothing, her pace unaffected it would seem as she breezed past their little sitting area and into the waiting bay for the trains.Hiei frowned, hardly impressed by the lower levels of spiritual energy she was exerting, seeming so low she wouldn't even realize she had them. He scoffed, and turned his head away in disappointment. This was the incarnation of Kuwabara? He'd never been friendly to the lumbering buffoon in life, but even Hiei could respect that the fool had been strong. The only Human strong enough to use his own spiritual energy to slice a hole through dimensions had been reduced to some human bint with such low levels she wouldn't be able to form static with her fingers? Pathetic.Yuusuke sat there, jaw dropped and eyes blown wide as he stared unbelievingly at the woman who seemed to be walking down the hall in slow motion. Were those cherry blossom petals blowing in the air? His heart pounding in his chest was the only thing he could hear as the rest of the world seemed to fade away.
Holy fucking shit...
Long, defined and smooth legs, like endless roads of porcelain. Cute, perky and defined butt wrapped in distressed pale denim short shorts with frayed edges to tease the hemline just below where thigh met ass. Slim torso wrapped in white cotton so thin that it made it very clear she was wearing a black sports bra, practically straining to do its job. He had to swallow before he caught himself from actually drooling on the floor, but holy damn, could anyone blame him?Yuusuke was the first to admit that Kuwabara hadn't been the most attractive guy alive, when he’d been alive. He had sharp cheekbones a little too high for his face and his nose had been broken so many times, mostly by Yuusuke himself, that he wasn't ever going to win any beauty contests in his lifetime, even if he had entered them, however... This new version of his childhood friend though... Holy Shit.She still held his high cheekbones, but with her softer jaw and heart shaped face, she wore them much better. Yuusuke didn't want to think about how she'd been given two and a half decades to grow into them, while Kuwabara had died just a few weeks short of his 20th birthday.The three sat in stunned silence as she walked past, completely unnoticing of her onlookers. This Reincarnation of their beloved teammate walked over to the self-serve automated machine where she could buy a transit ticket and quickly paid the computer with her debit card, before making her way into the gated area of the transit station. Hiei and Kurama stood as soon as she was around the corner, ready to follow after her, but it took a gentle shove from Kurama to get Yuusuke moving again."Hooooly shit.” The former detective breathed out, his eyes still lingering on the corner she’d jut fanished around. “Guys, did you see that?!""I think we're all just as shocked as you are, Yuusuke, but we should really-""HER ASS WAS INSANE!!""Shocked about different things it would seem." Kurama sighed, feeling forever resigned to be surrounded by children. A fate worse than death some days."If you're done making a fool of yourself, she's going to get on the train." Hiei snarled, pointing down the alley where they had just watched their friend walk."Shit." Yuusuke cussed as he took off sprinting, leaving Kurama and Hiei to run after him.-----------The newly found fact that Kuwabara Kazuma has been reincarnated as a woman didn't really change the plans, as there really hadn't been much of a plan to begin with.Kurama wanted to approach slowly, to 'conveniently' bump into her and 'naturally' form relationships between all of them, and then eventually when the time was right, explain things.Yuusuke was adamant that that plan felt way too much like lying to his friend and he wasn't about to do that if he didn't have to. He wanted to also 'conveniently' bump into her, but where they differed was that he immediately wanted to try and see if she remembered anything or was possibly spiritually aware.Kurama argued that that could scare her off, and then what would they do? Follow her back to where she came from? Scare her even further? And what if she wasn’t spiritually aware? What would they do then? She had a right to live her life without their chaos interfering in it, afer all.Hiei didn't voice his ideas on either plan, ignoring the squabbling in favor of staring into the distance with a light glare. He ignored any attempt to garner his opinion, until both others stopped asking him.Eventually, a mix of Kurama's and Yuusuke's plan was decided upon. Over a series of 'conveniently' encounters, they would try and probe her memory of her previous life, and knowledge and awareness of the spiritual world and the potential she could possibly have, then eventually when the time would be right, they would explain things and give her the decision to want to be involved or not.For now, they would follow her from a distance and try to learn what they could to formulate the best possible approach.They had two and a half decades of Kuwabara to catch up on after all...