Ghost Files: Appendix M

Ghost Files: Appendix M
Four

Sunday afternoon, Masaru was a staked out at the old shopping mall Yusuke had told him about. He was right. There was a definite demonic signature there. He took out his Spirit Phone to scan it, see if it matched the signature for the Demon Bees. He half-expected for Hiei to show up behind him, admonishing him for not using his natural awareness for the job. But he didn’t.

Hiei was supposed to meet him there. But then yesterday they had made out, almost more and then Masaru turned him down, hard. Would he still come? Maybe not, but it was his job to assist Masaru. He had texted Hinageshi that morning to tell her where they’d be. She hadn’t shown up either. He contemplated going ahead. No, he’d wait a little longer.

He saw movement down by an employee back entrance. The evil beekeeper? No, it was just a bunch of kids-- Kids! Yes, three boys and one girl were at the door trying to pry it open with a pinched No Parking sign. The girl was wearing her school uniform even though it was a Sunday. It was a uniform from his school. Yumi. Masaru finally recognized her. In fact, he’d had her on the roof once. She almost succeeded at arousing him. Oh, she was a dirty girl. There was little doubt about what she planned on doing with three boys in an abandoned shopping mall.

Masaru saw them pop the door open. He started to run down to the weed grown parking lot, but he was too far away to stop them from going inside. “Shit,” he cursed. The Demon Bees sting could be fatal to humans and they were very territorial. He couldn’t wait for Hiei anymore. He had to get the other kids out of there. He was going to have to go in alone.
* * *
That morning in another dimension, Botan, a guide to the river Styx was cowed by the four individuals who stood opposite of her. They came all the way to the living world to have a talk with Koenma about the new kid, but she barred their way to his office.

“So in a nut shell, you got Masaru to become Spirit Detective in exchange for bringing Yusuke back to life and then you made Yusuke become Spirit Detective in exchange for bring him back to life,” Kuwabara said. He had gotten involved with this when Yusuke told him about the conversation he over heard via Hiei’s phone call. Of course, his first reaction was to exclaim, “Hiei has a cell phone?” Then the more prevalent subject sunk in and he decided to accompany him to Spirit World to have a talk with the young lord of the dead.

“I can’t believe you would do something so underhanded,” Kurama shook his head.

“I believe it,” Yusuke snorted, “They didn’t even tell me I was going to have to be Spirit Detective until after they brought me back to life.”

“Listen, his father, King Yama, was the one to activate Masaru‘s Detective status,” Botan told them. “Koenma didn’t know anything about this until the other day when I came here ready to chew a new hole in his ass.”

“How could he not know?” Yusuke protested.

Botan sighed, “Okay, I think its time I told you. The day you died, Yusuke I was right there, remember?”

“Yeah.”

“But then I told you that we hadn’t expected anyone to die in that accident.”

“Hey, wait!” Kuwabara cut in, “If Spirit World didn’t think anyone was going to die, why did they send a grim reaper?”

“You sure are a sharp listener, Kuwabara. In all these years Yusuke near picked up on that,” Botan said. “True, we didn’t expect anyone to die, but we did expect to see Masaru hit by a car. Even then his psychic defenses were enough to protect him. As a future detective’s assistant I was sent there to witness and record the event. But then you showed up, Yusuke, and jumped in front of the car instead. It’s funny, if you hadn’t crossed Masaru’s path, we may never had noticed you.

“After you died Koenma sensed that you had potential. He told me to forget about the boy, he wouldn’t be useful for several more years yet and ordered me to stay with you. We all just sort of forgot about Masaru after you came along.”

“Someone apparently didn’t forget about him,” Yusuke pointed out.

“That would be my father,” Koenma’s voice chimed in. He was standing in the doorway to his office in his teenage form, “I did some poking around and found out that after I took Botan off his case, my father sent his own agent to bargain with the boy. We hadn‘t intended on approaching him so young, you see. But apparently him witnessing Yusuke’s death presented an inopportunely my father could not pass up; the opportunity to indebt Masaru to Spirit World, by granting his wish for Yusuke to be brought back to life. Of course that debt would be paid through his service as Spirit Detective. ”

“But Yusuke also served as Spirit Detective, in exchange for him being brought back to life,” Kurama pointed out, “So wouldn’t that have paid the debt? You‘re even. So can‘t you let Masaru out of his contract?”

Koenma bit his lip, “I would, except Masaru made his agreement to become Spirit Detective before Yusuke agreed to take his ordeal and come back to life-- unbeknownst to me at the time.”

“What are you saying, like, since the kid agreed to it first it, he has to be the one to pay it off?” Kuwabara put in.

“That is it exactly,” Koenma sighed. “As it turns out Yusuke’s mandatory term of service was entirely superfluous.”

“Y-you mean, I didn’t have to be Spirit Detective at all?” Yusuke gawked.

“In terms of far trade, no,” Koenma told him, “If I had been properly informed of Masaru’s recruitment I wouldn’t have forced you to do it.”

“Well, it was a good thing you did!” Botan chimed, ever looking for a silver lining, “I mean... look at how many times Yusuke saved the whole world when he was doing the job.”

“True,” Koenma nodded, “I actually suspect that my father kept me in dark intentionally because he wanted to have Yusuke fighting on our side then, and still have Masaru later.”

“Damn him!” Yusuke punched a wall, putting a mighty dent in it, “What did he think this was-- a frigging two for one special?”

“That would explain the constraint the put on Masaru, forbidding him from having contact with Yusuke,” Hiei spoke for the first time since they arrived in Spirit World, “He didn’t want them comparing notes and finding out about his scam.”

“But he didn’t anticipate on him telling you of all people, Hiei,” Kurama added.

Hiei shrugged, “Who could have predicted that the boy and I would become lovers.”

“You are not lovers, Hiei,” Kurama told him. Kurama starred at him for a moment longer then muttered, “One Spirit Detective is not a substitute for another.”

Hiei’s face fell, but he said nothing to retaliate. The other’s weren’t paying attention to the two, still arguing with Koenma and Botan. That was when the tiny red-haired girl, Hinageshi swept in in a panic.

“What’s got you so excited?” Koenma asked the girl.

“It’s Masaru!” She shouted.

“Yes we’re discussing the boy now,” Koenma said.

“No, he’s in trouble,” she told them, “He followed a bunch of kids into the evil beekeepers nest and now he’s trapped!”

“What was he doing there alone?” Kurama exclaimed, “Hiei, you--” He didn’t finish because Hiei was already gone. Yusuke took off right after him.
* * *
Meanwhile, Masaru was indeed in trouble. He had found the other teens well enough. They were near where the food court used to be, trying to turn on the water main under the big fountain, presumably to take a dip.

“Hey, you there!” He called out to them.

“Masaru, is that you?” The girl, Yumi said, “Hey, did you see us coming in here and decide you wanted to join in the fun?”

“Hold on, we got this all planned out we don’t got room for this guy,” one guy with brown hair sneered.

“I don’t know. Maybe we could work something out,” the blond one eyed him up and down.

Masaru wondered briefly what role that one was playing in this game. He shook himself and said, “You don’t understand. This place is dangerous. You have to get out of here.”

They laughed at him, thought he was just trying to mess up their good time. That was until their ruckus attracted the attention of the bees nested in the rafters. Now they were all locked up in a former toy store. The bees hovered outside the caged up entrance. Every once and awhile one got bold and took a flying lunge at the cage, making it rattle. Yumi would scream and hung one of her male companions. It was only a matter of time before the bees found their way inside.

Masaru took out his Spirit Phone. ‘Maybe I can call Hinageshi or someone for help,’ he thought. Then, ‘But what the hell would Hinageshi do, except get herself in trouble too? That was when he spotted an app button labeled, Makai-Tunes. It was an MP3 player.

It occurred to Masaru; the evil beekeeper said he controlled the Demon Bees with supersonic noise that only apparitions hear. The Spirit Phone had all sorts of psychic enabled abilities. Maybe one of these MP3 files could help. He clicked on it and almost immediately he spotted a file, Best of the Makai Whistle: Originally played by Suzaku of the Four Saint Beasts. Music was used to control demon insects.

“Damn it Hinageshi, why didn’t you tell me about this feature?!” He shouted at the non-present girl.

One of Yumi‘s boys shouted at him, “Dude, unless you’re changing your face book status to Deceased, I don’t think this is best time to be messing with your phone!”

Masaru scrolled down the list of song/commands. “Ah-ha!” He selected one that said ‘repel’. He touched it and instantly his phone started belching out an eerie yet melodic tune. The bees outside the entrance scattered.

“Polka music?” Yumi frowned. Apparently it sounded like polka music to non-psychics.

Masaru shrugged, “Don’t you find it repelling?”

This was their chance to escape. Masaru instructed them to stay close to him as they hosted up the cage door and slipped under it. The bees hadn’t gone far. They could still see them roving around the shadowed raftered ceiling and empty shops, but not daring come close with that music playing.

Was it just him or did there seem to be more of them now than there was at the old school house? Masaru could smell the overpowering sour smell of Soul Honey as they passed those shops. It was defiantly stronger now. Hiei had told him that the hives mere existence in this world was dangerous. What would it mean if it were growing larger?

A flash of yellow caught his eye from the second floor. The evil beekeeper was up there, watching him through his stupid bug-eyed goggles. Masaru made a potentially stupid decision. He handed the Spirit Phone to Yumi, “You guys get out of here. I’ve got some business to attend to.”

The girl almost started to argue, but fear and need to out of there outweighed her concern for him. She took the phone and with her male companions, she made her way for the exit. Almost as soon as she was gone and the eerie droning music with her, the Demon Bees dove down on him from the rafters, croaking loudly.

“Spirit Shield!” He waited for the last second to evoke his power. He threw his arms up over his head, his shield appeared as big a wind shield and charging bees splattered themselves on it.

“So is this how it’s gonna be, huh beekeeper?” He shouted up, “Ya just gonna hide out like some chicken-shit and let your damn bugs do your dirty work? Or do you plan to send more little girls to fight your battles for ya?” Yeah, he hadn’t forgotten about what he had done to Nina, possessing her with one of his bees. Masaru planned to make him pay dearly for that.

“Impertinent child!” The beekeeper bellowed from where he stood ever so dramatically on the hood of the pink Cadillac, suspended from the ceiling. “If a painful death is what you desire, then fine. Who am I to deny you?”

He dropped down to the ground level, immediately charged at Masaru. Masaru planted his feet and blocked the right- hand punch the beekeeper threw at him. He was anticipating a follow up jab with the left, and was already shifting his stance to counter it. But then the beekeeper surprised him when five inch long claws, curved with a serrated bottom edge, spontaneously burst from the tips of his gloved fingers. Those claws raked up at him. It all Masaru could do to faint out of their path.

“Smart move, boy,” the beekeeper said, “I anointed my talons with the venom of the Demon Bee. You’ll need to be careful. Unlike back at the school or in that warehouse, there isn’t anyone here to rescue you.”

“And who says I need rescuing?” Masaru ground out.

“Ha!” The evil beekeeper threw himself at Masaru again. The boy raised his Spirit Shield to block those poisonous talons. “Pathetic! All you can do is hide behind your little shield. Can’t you think of a single way to fight back?!”

He gripped the edges of Masaru’s shield with both claws and pressed Masaru back. Masaru gritted his teeth. “GYHH!” He shouted. His Spirit Shield split down the middle, one of the beekeepers hands on either half. With a grunt he flung the beekeepers hands to either side and then while he was off balance.

“Is this sufficient?” Masaru stepped forward and head butted him. Probably not a good idea, either he was wearing a helmet or the guy had a really hard head. But blow still stunned him for a moment.

“You little,” the beekeeper raised his talons.

“Spirit Shield!” Masaru called. He swung his shield on its side, intercepting the claws. They struck, the claws snapped and flew off up into the shadowy rafters. Masaru heard them strike something up there, but didn’t pay it any mind.

That is until he heard a strange snapping sound, like steal cable breaking and low groan like a large hunk of metal moving. He glanced back behind and saw it almost as if it were happening in slow motion. He muttered, “Oh crap.” The big pink Cadillac on the ceiling was falling, hurtling right for the spot where he and the evil beekeeper were doing battle.

Just then a familiar voice called out “Hey kid get out of the way!”

A firm body collided with his, swept him off his feet and tumbled with him out of the way. Over the other’s shoulder, Masaru saw the stunned evil beekeeper get sideswiped by the plunging Cadillac. That blow was definitely a finisher. Time abruptly returned to its normal pace when he hit the ground, the heavy body on top of him knocked the wind out of him.

“It couldn’t be,” Masaru murmured as he stared up at the person hovering over him. But no matter how much his swimming vision cleared the face remained the same. It was Yusuke sitting on top of him with that sexy devil-may-care grin on his face.

He smirked, “Hey kid, what did I tell you about playing near traffic?”

Masaru sat bolt straight up, eyes wide as saucers, “Y-you know? How?”

“Hiei told me-- well kinda,” Yusuke scratched his head, “He kinda arranged for me to overhear that conversation you had with him yesterday. His cell phone was on a call with me the whole time.”

“Hiei has a cell phone?” Masaru gawked at that bit of information and then shook himself. “So you, like, heard everything?”

“Yeah, just about.”

“Oh god, take me now,” Masaru groaned into his palms. He had told Hiei everything, from his involvement with Yusuke’s death and resurrection, to his childhood and possibly continuing crush on Yusuke. And Yusuke heard it all. It was mortifying. More importantly, “Yusuke, now that you know who I am… my contract with Spirit World is violated. They’re going to take your life away!”

“I’d like to see them try!” Yusuke snorted, “I grew out of their league long ago. They couldn’t touch me, even if they wanted to. So you can feel free to associate with me as much as you want. In fact, I was thinking I could train you some and, I don’t know, kinda be your mentor or something.”

“You would want to do that… for me?”

“Well yeah.” Yusuke said, “I mean, I did your job before and I met some others who did the job before me and trust me, it can royally fuck you up in the head. And I don’t want to see that happen to you.”

“I don’t understand,” Masaru shook his head, “I would have thought you’d hate me. I caused you so much trouble.”

“Nah,” Yusuke slapped him on the back. “Spirit World told me from the get-go that you would’ve been fine if I hadn’t stepped in. So I got over that a long time ago.”

“But I did it on purpose!” Masaru burst out. All those years of guilt finally came to the forefront. “I kicked that ball out in the road on purpose and walked out there. I knew what I was doing. I knew it was bad, but…. I killed you, Yusuke!”

“You did me a favor,” Yusuke said gently, “Did you know that day that I met you was one of the worst in my life. Everyone was giving me shit that day, my mom, my teachers. My life was on straight track to nowhere and I was going there all by myself because I had no friends-- except for Keiko and I‘m sure she would have gotten tired of my crap too as some point.

“But then I bumped into you, yada yada, and I became Spirit Detective. From that I became strong. I’m demon now, by the way, and a real contender to become their king. More than that, I’ve got a lot of friends now-- and not just the I’ll-sit-with-you-at-lunch kind of friends. Real friends; the kind that would stand by you, even at the end of the world. In fact, they did. When you think about it, running into you… must have been the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Those kind words were more than the boy could take. His watery eyes brimmed over and the tears spilled down his cheeks. He didn’t think before he acted, “Oh, Yusuke!” He sighed as he twined his arms around Yusuke’s neck and pulled him into a deep kiss.

They broke, panting for air. Yusuke breathed “Whoa, that was… confusing.” Masaru was good kisser, so much so that it hardly mattered that he was a guy. Of course, it did matter to Yusuke. He wasn’t gay. But… Masaru was kinda cute, he had to admit. His face was pretty as far as boys go, with messy brown hair, big brown eyes, a pointed chin, and pouting lips that were currently rose pink from the kiss they had just shared.

“Uh, Yusuke,” Masaru said as if he just remembered something vitally important, “We just knocked down the beekeeper, who was controlling the bees. So, what happens when no one is controlling them?”

If Yusuke responded the other couldn’t hear it, the sound of the bees’ croaking was deafening. All at once a wave of red and yellow fell on them. Masaru was about to summon his Spirit Shield when Yusuke pulled him protectively to his chest and shouted, “Shot Gun!”

A thousand points of light shot out from Yusuke’s fist into the swarm of giant insects, dramatically reducing their ranks. Masaru spun in Yusuke’s embrace, summoning his shield. He bashed a bug that had zoomed up next to Yusuke’s ear.

“Nice one kid,” Yusuke said as he swung around to fire into the swarm coming up on their rear.

Masaru put his back to Yusuke’s and warned, “Careful, one sting and you’re done for.”

“Mother fucker, how many of these things are there?” Yusuke said. They switched positions so that Yusuke could fire onto the renewed ranks in that direction while Masaru bashed the remaining ones from the first wave with his shield.

“Too many. How long do you think you can keep this up?”

“All day, but that don’t mean one of these suckers can’t slip past me at any time!” A single sting will only make a demon sick and a human could be saved with an antidote. But a multitude of stings… even the toughest demon would succumb to the poison.

“Can we make a run for it?”

“Not without leaving our ass ends exposed.”

“Moot point anyway,” Masaru observed the passage leading out of there, “They got the door blocked anyhow.”

“Shit!” Yusuke hissed as one of the deadly insects buzzed him. “These things are getting ballsier, kid!”

“Get down!” Masaru barked. Just as a barrage of bees fell on them from all sides, Masaru summoned a great shield over them like a big protective bubble. One after another the bees slammed into the bubble, making Masaru tremble and grunt, “I-I can’t keep this up for long! Yusuke, we gotta do something.”

“Like what?”

“I don’t know, you’re the seasoned veteran, here!”

“That don’t mean I know what I’m doing!”

“Gyh!” Masaru cried after a particularly hard blow to his shield. It cracked. It was falling apart.

Masaru swayed on is feet as his shield finally dropped. Yusuke realized with a start that the boy had dispensed all his energy and put out and arm to support him from falling over. In the mean time the Demon Bees had rallied and were ready to deliver one final crushing attack.

“What the…?” Yusuke muttered, causing Masaru to lift his head. The bees had stopped. They hovered in the air, croaking like bull frogs, but they no longer seeming interested in Yusuke and Masaru. Slowly there insect bodies turned. There was a noise, like an entire forest of cicadas chirping, in the direction they faced. And then the ranks of Demon Bees parted. And there stood Hiei!

Next to him was a bug a little bit taller than he was. Her body was nearly a match for the red and yellow bodies of the Demon Bees, but her face, instead of the skull-guise was that of a very pretty girl. A row of red spines poked out of the top of hear long dark hair, like crown, along with a set of red antennae. She was the source of the sound that calmed the croaking horde.

Never pausing in her song, she turned, spread her great iridescent wings and with a buffering of air she flew out the way she came. Without hesitation the Demon Bees followed her.

“What was that?” Yusuke exclaimed.

“That was the queen,” Hiei said calmly. He elaborated, “I was on my way here when I picked up on a suspicious signal that was similar to that of the Demon Bees but more dominant. I followed it to the old school house where we originally braced the beekeeper and, as I suspected I would, I found the swarms original Queen being held prisoner. The fool apparently thought we wouldn’t have looked again in the hideout he abandoned. Freed, she was able to reclaim her swarm and return to Makai.” His gaze shifted to Masaru, who was clinging to Yusuke’s side. “You seem to have held out fine in my absence. Here.”

Masaru caught the thing Hiei tossed to him. “My Spirit Phone.”

“I got it off those foolish children outside, after I wiped this whole incident from their memories,” Hiei told him, “I know I told you not to rely on the damned thing, but it does have it‘s uses.”

“So I gather,” Masaru muttered.

“Well that’s awesome, Hiei,” Yusuke put in, “Looks like you got all the loose ends all tied up.”

“I’ve got a vid-message,” Masaru said, “It’s from… Koenma?” He pushed play and a picture came on screen, “A toddler?!”

“That’s your boss,” Yusuke said obviously holding back his mirth, “You’ll get used to it.”

“Greetings Masaru Yutaka,” the Koenma on the screen waved his hand, “Koenma here, I called to notify you that Spirit World has reviewed your case. You may be aware by now that there has been some controversy over your service as Spirit Detective. One agent of Spirit World solicited your service in exchange for the return of Yusuke’s life. While another made the same arrangement with Yusuke. So in essence we have two people paying for one resurrection. I’m sorry to say but, our counsels have found that your contract still to be valid, in spite of Yusuke’s service.

“However, because Yusuke died during his last case and returned to life on his own power, and not Spirit World’s, Spirit World no longer has a claim on his life. Simply put, Masaru Yutaka, you will have to continue to serve as Earth’s Spirit Detective, but the restriction on you seeing Yusuke has been lifted. That’s it. Koenma out.” The message ended.

“You hear that?” Masaru grinned from ear to ear.

“Hey, looks like I can train you without interference,” Yusuke hugged the boy. The boy hugged him back, though his affections were probably not so pure.

“Uh, Hiei,” Masaru abruptly remembered the small apparition. Considering the history of the past couple days they shared, hugging Yusuke in front to of him was probably not the most sensitive thing to do. But Hiei wasn’t there anymore. The beekeeper was gone too. He must have taken him back to Demon World already. He left without saying a word.
* * *
TBC…
A/N: I’m glad to see so many people liking what I’ve done with this story. I’ve written--what around 20 stories on this site? But I still get nervous when I put out a new one. Loving the reviews I’m getting, keep ‘em coming. I’ve got chapter five in edit and should be out soon. Next time.