http://clampfix.fanworks.net/guests/holy-g3.txt </head><body><pre> Holy Ghost An X-Files/Yuu*Yuu*Hakusho crossover by Sionna Klassen Chapter 3 Tokyo, Japan Thursday, September 21 10:14 A.M. "I don't believe it," Scully said. "Don't believe what?" Mulder asked. "There's chlorophyll in this man's blood," Scully said, staring into the microscope. Mulder raised his eyebrows. *That* he hadn't expected to hear. "Chlorophyll?" he repeated. "How'd that get there?" "From the amounts in his bloodstream, I'd say it's always been there," Scully replied. "It's at a level of nearly 25 percent." "Wouldn't having 25 percent of your blood filled with chlorophyll be toxic?" "Under normal circumstances, probably," Scully said. "But if it was *always* there, as I said... if he was born with it... it just means he has a different metabolism..." "One not quite human," Mulder finished. "But everything else is the same," Scully said. "His skeleton, the structure of his internal organs, everything." "His blood's not green?" "No, it looks the same as normal blood - maybe slightly darker red, but until I looked at it under the microscope, I couldn't tell the difference." "What use could anyone possibly have for chlorophyll in their blood?" "I don't know," Scully said. "It doesn't make sense. I'd even be willing to accept some kind of bizarre mutation, but this is totally random, and it doesn't seem to have affected this man in any way. As far as I can tell, the chlorophyll was a completely inactive ingredient of his blood." "Strange," Mulder said. "What about the other reports? Can you tell from those what the aberrations in the other bodies were?" She picked up the top file. "This is a little out of my league. I think I'll get Shuichi to take a look at them for me later." "Speaking of our so-helpful guide, are you sure that's such a good idea?" Mulder asked. "This stuff *is* supposed to be top secret." "If he couldn't keep a secret, they wouldn't have picked him in the first place," Scully argued. "But that's just my point, why *did* they pick him?" Mulder demanded. "It doesn't make sense. There must be plenty of government employees who can translate that are in the *business* of keeping secrets. Why a high school kid?" "Mulder, I don't know," Scully said wearily. "Why do you always assume the worst?" "Why do you trust him?" Mulder countered with a question of his own. "Maybe because I don't believe everyone in the world is out to get us," she said in irritation. "There are plenty of people at home who are, but we're not there. Not everything is some kind of conspiracy, Mulder. There is such a thing as coincidence." "Oh?" Mulder asked. "Then what, in your professional opinion, caused this man to have chlorophyll in his blood?" "I already told you I can't explain that," she snapped. Mulder was sure she was irritated because she couldn't explain it. "But I *don't* think it was some kind of experiment by the government." "It's not as if that hasn't happened before." "There's no purpose to this." "Genetic engineering might not *have* an obvious purpose!" Mulder said. "Does that stop it from happening?" "Fine then! In my professional opinion, this man was born a mutation, able somehow to have chlorophyll in his blood. Aren't you happy with me, Mulder? A year ago you would have been the one preaching such an explanation, and I would have refused to believe you. The more I try to bend to accommodate your theories, the farther out there you go! Eventually you'll embrace every wild theory that comes your way just because it's something you haven't heard before, even if it has no connection with reality! How far are you going to go, Mulder? And are you so determined to drag me down with you?" Mulder found he had no answer for her. Just then, a cautious knock on the door distracted both of them from the argument. "Come in," Scully called automatically. Shuichi slipped in the door. "Are you finished here?" he asked. "The Inspector thought you might like to share your ideas regarding how and why this man was killed. And the others, too." "I thought they already knew the how," Scully said. "They want to make sure your conclusions and theirs agree," Shuichi said. Scully shrugged. "I think we're done here." She gave Mulder a glance, then shrugged off her borrowed lab coat, put her jacket back on, and attempted to pick up the thick stack of autopsy reports and files on the victims. Shuichi quickly took half the pile before Mulder could move to help. That kid was too damn smooth. Mulder ground his teeth quietly, seething with frustration. <This case is going to drive me nuts.> 12:52 P.M. After an unproductive meeting with Tanaka at which essentially no conclusions were made, other than that the victims had all had the "demon" kanji carved on their chests and they'd all been killed by having their throats cut (which Mulder had already known anyway), they left the building feeling rather discouraged. Even Shuichi looked wilted, but then he'd had to endure more of Tanaka's sour treatment than Mulder and Scully had. Tanaka seemed to have taken an instant dislike to Shuichi, for reasons that Mulder suspected had to do with his youth and "inexperience," although Mulder was certain that inexperienced was the wrong word to use when describing Shuichi. Or maybe it was because he was a high school student and from outside the department. Whatever the reason, Mulder had to admit to himself that Tanaka was only verbalizing and being more obvious about the same kind of feelings Mulder had been having toward the kid all along. He looked so depressed right now that Mulder was starting to feel a little bit guilty. His stomach loudly reminded him that he hadn't had breakfast (or really dinner either, since Mulder refused to count airplane food), which gave him the perfect opportunity to change the subject onto something more pleasant than a murder case. "Know of someplace good to eat?" he asked Shuichi. "Hopefully a place that has food without suckers on it?" Shuichi grinned. "You gaijin have timid tastes," he teased. "Guilty," Mulder agreed. Shuichi looked around. "There's the Yukimura ramen shop," he said. "That's not too far." As promised, the ramen shop was within a reasonable distance, although they passed plenty of other places along the way. Mulder found himself wondering automatically, once again, if Shuichi had had another motive for picking the place he had. He found out what it was as soon as they walked in the door. A big group of kids was sitting at one of the circular tables, chattering gaily in warp-factor-nine Japanese. One of them glanced toward the door automatically as it opened, and his face broke into a wide grin. "Oi, Shuichi!" he called loudly, waving. "Oi, Yuusuke," Shuichi called back, smiling. Mulder allowed Shuichi to recommend something suited for timid gaijin tastes, then wandered toward the table where Shuichi was already chattering away with the other kids. But he glanced at Mulder as soon as he began to approach and offered to introduce everyone. Mulder looked at the group of kids. There were about seven of them, and a few looked rather odd. There was one girl, named Botan apparently, with bright blue hair in a ponytail, who seemed ridiculously full of energy as she gestured wildly to emphasize some point she'd just made. Sitting next to her was a young man named Koenma who looked as calm as Botan was excited. His eyes were a strange shade of gold, and his brown hair trailed forward in front over a white headband. He met Mulder's gaze coolly. Sitting next to him was a small figure almost dwarfed by most of the others. He was wearing entirely black, and his black hair was sticking up in spikes that made Mulder wonder how many chemicals he had to put in his hair to sustain it. It also seemed to be blue at the tips, and had a strange white streak in the front like a spiky circle. He was practically radiating sullenness, and as Shuichi pointed him out and said his name was Hiei, he gave Shuichi a glare that implied violent death. Mulder wondered quietly what he was so grouchy about. "He's always like that," Shuichi confided in a low tone, which earned him another glare from Hiei. Next to Hiei was a girl who was even shorter than he was, and much shyer than Botan. She didn't speak, although she smiled a lot, and her hair was a sea-green shade almost as odd as Botan's blue. When she was introduced as Yukina, she smiled sweetly at Mulder and said something in Japanese. He raised an eyebrow at Shuichi. "She says she's very pleased to meet you." Mulder nodded back, thinking that Yukina looked the most out-of-place in this group for some reason. She looked like a very shy kid, not the type to hang out with such a group of extroverts. Mulder considered, remembering that Yuusuke and Shuichi had addressed each other by their first names, which as he recalled was unusual in Japanese society. And now these kids he was being introduced to only seemed to have one name, which he'd assumed was family name. He wasn't so sure anymore. Yukina had been directing most of her attention at Kuwabara, a huge kid with carrot-colored hair and a long, narrow face whose dominating feature seemed to be his mouth rather than his eyes. He laughed and gazed adoringly at the green-haired girl, a perfect example of a teenager hopelessly in the throes of adolescent love if Mulder had ever seen one. Yuusuke was next to him, black hair slicked back from a round face with large brown eyes. There was something about him that seemed off too, like Shuichi, although with Yuusuke it was easier to pin down what it was. He had a kind of relaxed wariness that marked him as a natural fighter. The main object of his attention was a girl with brown hair and eyes sitting next to him, who was introduced as Keiko Yukimura, the daughter of the owners of the shop. <Well, that explains why they hang out here.> "Being sociable for a change?" Scully asked from behind Mulder. He turned to look at her, and she said, "The food's ready," while gesturing at the counter. Mulder and Scully took a table to themselves, several tables away from the talkative group. They could listen if they wanted, but it was doubtful anything they said would be heard. Shuichi elected to stay with his friends, which wasn't surprising. "This is hopeless, you realize that," Scully said, initiating the conversation. "What is?" Mulder asked, although he already knew. "This case. I've never seen a case with so little to go on." "How so?" Mulder asked, deciding to let her argue her side first, especially after the scene in the autopsy lab. And since he agreed with her at the moment. Scully sighed. "As if it wasn't enough that everyone seems determined not to tell us anything, we don't even have any information on the corpses aside from cause of death and those aberrations that you're so excited about." Mulder had almost forgotten his earlier interest in the face of the hostility he'd been pelted with. "There aren't any clues of any sort?" "None. There aren't any other marks on the body aside from the cuts; no bruises or other wounds. No fibers or threads which might give a clue as to the identity of the attacker. I mean, they must have used *something*; people don't just sit still and allow their throats to be cut. And it couldn't have been done quickly enough that they didn't see it coming." "Fingerprints?" Mulder asked. She shook her head. "No fingerprints either. But those are easily avoided, just by wearing gloves. I don't know what to say, Mulder; there's no evidence and no suspects." "Like you said, hopeless." Mulder looked down and gave a wry smile. "Only we would discuss an autopsy over lunch." Scully also looked down and realized that both she and Mulder were finished eating. She smiled too. "I can't even remember what I had," she admitted. "Me neither." Mulder shrugged and glanced at the table where Shuichi was talking with his friends. Scully followed his gaze. "He looks normal enough to me," she said. Mulder shook his head in frustration. "I just wish I could figure out what it is about him that bothers me so much..." "You're sure this is a good idea, Koenma?" Kurama asked, frowning slightly. "Isn't this a bit public?" Koenma shrugged. "Those agents aren't going to hear us over the noise everybody's obligingly making." His gold eyes, changed from round to almond-shape to go with his older body, flickered briefly toward the agents and then back to Kurama. "Okay... well, all I've really managed to find out, aside from what I already told you earlier, is that Inspector Tanaka hates me and no one really has anything to go on." Koenma sighed. "Part of the reason I came here myself was to see if I could help, but it doesn't look like there's much I can do except check on some of the more remote possibilities that the human authorities won't check." "Are you sure that's a good idea?" Kurama asked, wondering the best way to phrase what was going through his mind. Finally he settled for, "You're not exactly a fighter by nature." Koenma seemed to be torn between resignation and annoyance. "Don't worry, I know that. That's why I'll take Yuusuke and Kuwabara with me." Kurama smiled to let Koenma know he hadn't meant any insult, although Koenma probably already knew. "Is there anything else?" Koenma frowned. "If something comes up, don't investigate it yourself. I don't like some of the things that have been happening around this case. And you know what I mean by 'something' - something supernatural that the agents won't consider or investigate." "I'm not so sure that applies," Kurama said. "Huh?" "Mulder was assigned to this case precisely because the supernatural is what he specializes in. He investigates paranormal cases for his government. I don't think they particularly appreciate it, but so far they haven't stopped him." "How do you know that?" Koenma asked, surprised. "Inspector Tanaka said they were called in because they had experience with supernatural cases. That, and I... overheard a... ahem... discussion between the two of them on the topic." "You're a sneaky devil," Koenma said appreciatively. Kurama shrugged. "Comes with being a fox spirit. And that's why you gave me this case in the first place, right?" Koenma was about to say something, but Hiei butted in. "Are you finished with me *yet*?" he demanded. "I have better things to do than sit in a ramen shop providing cover for you." "Like what?" Koenma retorted. "Lurk some more? Don't you ever get tired of that?" "I have plenty of things to do." "You could always help us investigate this case. You *are* supposed to be a Reikai Detective." "Only because you forced me to be one," Hiei grumbled. "You were the one who stole that sword!" "Do you mind?" Kurama asked mildly, breaking up the fight. He looked at Hiei and asked innocently, "If you didn't want to be here in the first place, why didn't you just not show up?" Hiei glared. Kurama smiled and didn't say a word about Hiei wanting to see his sister. He didn't have to. At that moment, with perfect timing, the said sister tugged on the sleeve of Hiei's jacket to get his attention. Kurama sternly repressed a laugh. Hiei turned to look at Yukina and his expression immediately softened, which only made Kurama smile more. Yukina had never been told that Hiei was her brother, but Kurama had a strong suspicion that she knew it anyway. Hiei apparently hadn't figured out how obvious it was that she was the only person he seemed to actually like. "Hiei-san, before you leave, I wanted to say thank you for coming," Yukina said, smiling. "I had a good time." Hiei muttered a gruff "You're welcome" and got up, walking toward the door at what must have seemed a snail's crawl compared to his normal superhuman pace. Yuusuke leaned back in his chair and called to him to get his attention. "Hey, Hiei, what were we supposed to do about the check, huh?" Hiei didn't even glance back. "Deal with it yourselves," he said flatly, and left. "Hey!" "Oh, don't worry about it," Koenma sighed, taking a Reikai Gold Card from his pocket. "It's all on me." "Business expense," Kurama suggested. "And who's supposed to reimburse me, my father? I'm the one who runs the Reikai Detective operation." "Hey..." Kuwabara seemed to be thinking, which Hiei would have taken the opportunity to point out was a rare and useless exercise. "There isn't any money in the Reikai, is there? Where do you get it all?" "Of course there's money in the Reikai," Koenma challenged. "How else do you expect us to keep a staff who don't go on to their final destinations? Of course they get paid. Pretty well, too. There just aren't any places to *spend* the money in the Reikai, so they come here to the Ningenkai to go shopping." Kurama smiled at the idea of Reikai tourists, then looking up, he noticed that Mulder and Scully seemed ready to leave. "I'd better go," he said. "When will you be back in your office so I can call you?" "I'm not sure," Koenma said. "Some of the people I want to talk to can be... tricky. Hey, I've got an idea!" He rummaged in his coat pockets for a moment until he found a cellular phone. He smiled triumphantly, and scribbled down the number and handed the card to Kurama. Kurama raised an eyebrow. Koenma said defensively, "Well, those FBI agents have them!" "Koenma, where did you get that?" Kuwabara asked. Koenma smiled. "My secret," he said. Kurama laughed. "Which probably means you don't want to know," he told Kuwabara. Koenma said loftily, "No, only that the physics involved are highly complicated." "Hell, then don't tell us. I get enough of math and science shoved down my throat at school," Yuusuke said. "As if you ever went to class," Keiko said derisively. "Hey, I've got better things to do!" Kurama could see the old argument starting up again, and he knew from long experience that it would last a while. So before it could get too far, he turned away, waving. "Ja na," he said, and moved toward Mulder and Scully. "See ya later," Kuwabara called over the sound of Yuusuke and Keiko's annoyed voices. Shuichi fell smoothly in step with Mulder and Scully as they left the ramen shop. "What would you like to do now?" he asked. Scully shrugged. "There's not much we can do, is there? There's no witnesses to question and no crime scenes to investigate. The only thing I can think of is to go over those reports, since I don't really know what's in them." Shuichi nodded, then looked at Mulder as he started to speak. "A question," he said, addressing Shuichi and bringing up something that had just sprung to mind. "Why weren't any of those kids in school? For that matter, why aren't you? It is a Thursday." "I'm on independent study for the duration of this case," Shuichi said. "I'm given the assignments and I keep up with them on my own. As for the others, Koenma is older than he looks - he doesn't go to school, he works for his father. The others are all still on lunch period. Japanese schools have a long lunch break." Mulder raised an eyebrow. "And you don't find it hard to keep up?" Shuichi shook his head. "Not really. I was four chapters ahead anyway." <Does this kid have *any* faults?> Mulder wondered. <He's too perfect to be real!> He found himself getting annoyed again, without cause, and immediately tried to stifle it. He was being unfair. He knew what it felt like to have others around him regard him with a hostile attitude, and he didn't like having to face the fact that he was doing the same thing. Suddenly Shuichi flinched, his gaze snapping momentarily to the entrance of a narrow alley. He regained control of himself instantly, but not before Mulder had seen the involuntary jerk. "What?" he asked sharply. "Nothing," Shuichi said calmly. "I thought I saw something out of the corner of my eye, but it was just a shadow." <With a reaction like that? Hardly.> Mulder turned toward the alley and stepped carefully forward. "Sometimes shadows are more than they seem," he said, motioning to Scully. She followed him into the alley, both of them resting their hands lightly on their guns. "Mulder--" Shuichi said from behind them, following closely behind. Mulder motioned him to be quiet and continued moving forward. As they walked into the alley, the high walls on either side of them stretched up so high that the sunlight was all but cut off completely. Mulder's eyes roved through the dimness, searching for any hint of movement which should not have been there. Eventually, satisfied that no one from the street would see them, he drew his gun and heard Scully do the same. "Mulder, what are we looking for?" she whispered, trusting enough to follow him, but not without an explanation. "Anything that shouldn't be here," Mulder whispered back. "Well, that's helpful..." "Like that, maybe," Mulder said suddenly, gesturing toward a crumpled body on the pavement. As they got closer, Mulder could see a small pool of blood oozing across the concrete. Mulder reached out and rolled the body over, to discover exactly what he was looking for - a familiar kanji carved in blood on the man's chest, and a torn throat. He glanced at Scully, a grim smile on his face. "A clue we get first crack at, for once," he said. He was surprised to discover that Shuichi was still right behind her, but decided not to bring up the wisdom of following two armed federal agents into a possibly dangerous situation at the moment. There were more important things to worry about. Later, though... "Should I call the Inspector?" Shuichi asked diffidently. "Not yet," Mulder said. Scully nodded. "I want to take a look first." She crouched down and pulled on a latex glove to avoid leaving fingerprints of her own and disturbing any that might have been there, and started examining the body. Mulder caught sight of Shuichi's frown and stepped closer to him. "We're all working together, remember?" he said, and added, "I just want to make sure that we're not being led in a direction that the bureaucrats want us to go." Shuichi looked at him. "You think they're withholding evidence from you?" "Not necessarily," Mulder said with a shrug. "But it's possible." He looked at Shuichi carefully. "I'm more interested in how you knew this body was here, and why you followed us." "I didn't know it was here," Shuichi protested. "I told you, I thought I saw something move, but it was only a shadow." Mulder didn't believe him, but he decided not to argue the point. "Well, even if you did see the killer, he's long gone now. But from now on, I don't think it's a good idea to follow us into a possibly dangerous situation. Right?" A strange expression crossed Shuichi's face for a moment, and then he nodded. "Good." Mulder turned back to Scully and asked, "Found anything?" "Some ID I can't read, and not much else," she said. "I wish there was better light." Then she shrugged. "I think I've found all I'm going too, but I'll keep looking. Why don't you call it in and I'll finish my inspection." Mulder sighed and handed Shuichi his celphone and the number. "Should have studied my 'useful Japanese phrases' guidebook more carefully," he said. "Somehow, Mulder, I doubt 'hello, there's been another murder' would be covered in that book," Scully told him with a wry smile. Mulder shrugged and bent to look at the body himself, keeping one ear tuned to Shuichi's half of the telephone conversation, which sounded more like a series of acknowledging instructions than anything else. Mulder could practically hear Tanaka's barking voice from the phone even at his distance. "I'll bet the good Inspector is thrilled that we had the nerve to go finding another victim without him," Mulder said quietly. Scully grimaced. "You *would* remind me that we have to deal with him again." Shuichi tapped Mulder on the shoulder, and Mulder reached up and took the phone back. "What did he say?" "That we're supposed to stay here and wait for his men to arrive. And not to touch anything," Shuichi sighed. Mulder snorted. "He obviously doesn't think much of Americans' ability to investigate a crime scene." Shuichi shrugged. "I'm beginning to think Inspector Tanaka hates everybody." "Probably," Mulder said. "After all, it's not uncommon for it to be against government policy to have friends." Scully looked up at him. "I suppose I should be thankful, then, that you have a habit of not following policy," she said. Mulder glanced at her and she smiled. "Point for you," he said. "I'm sure you'll make it up." Shuichi didn't seem to be listening. He was looking toward the entrance of the alley, but his thoughts seemed to be miles away. Mulder wondered, not for the first time, what thoughts were passing behind those large green eyes. If Shuichi had been facing him, Mulder might have seen that those green eyes held a flickering glint of gold. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>