Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Blood on White Roses ❯ Ling Tao ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Uber sorry for not posting this sooner. ^^;;; Got busy with swimming sectionals. I'll post two chapters this weekend to make up for it though, kay-kays? Kay. ^_^ On with the story! *huggles her recently returned Kurama plushie*

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Chapter Two: Ling Tao

The toddler shuffled through papers, looking for the file he needed to get to the team once they arrived… But he couldn't find it; how surprising…

"Ogre! Where is the Dark Tournament file?!" He yelled around her pacifier. A blue ogre scrambled into the room, leaving the doors open while looking very flustered.

"Uh, Lord Koenma, sir. You told me to put the file back with the rest, sir… To get it out of your way." The ogre replied a bit hesitantly.

"Well… I didn't mean that file. Get it back. Yusuke's team will need to look it over before they go."

"Yes, sir. Right away, sir." There was no enthusiasm in the ogre's voice as he turned to leave, pulling the doors closed behind him and leaving Koenma to himself. The toddler busied himself while waiting for the file by arranging, or at least pushing, papers around his desk in attempts to make it presentable. Which he managed to do. He grumbled something inaudible, tapped papers on his desk and set them in a pile off to the side.

It was about that time that a purple ogre cracked one door open in order to stick his head in to say, "Sir? You have a visitor."

Koemna looked up, resting his hands on his desk. "Who is it?"

"Lady Ling Tao. She brought items back from the ruins of Maze Castle, sir." The ogre replied. Brown eyes lit up at the mention of the woman's name as the toddler sat up, leaning over his desk.

"Ling Li- er… ahem. Please, send her in, ogre." He sat back in his chair, spinning it around so the back faced the door. He heard the ogre murmur something and then a reply from a female voice, but since he had his back to the voices, he couldn't see who was talking.

"Koenma?" A soft, rich female voice asked. He could hear the smile in her voice, and it made him sigh wistfully.

"Ogre, leave us. I wish to speak in private with Ling." AS soon as he heard the doors click shut, he spun around slowly to face her, no longer a toddler but a young man with brown hair and eyes.

She was smiling softly, at least until she saw the pacifier. Then it changed to something torn between being pained and almost happy. Her garments were complex, just the he'd remembered them always being. She wore a dark blue skirt held up by red, leather straps that showed slivers of her midsection, a black top with six more red leather straps holding it up. A single emerald encircled in gold held the straps above her top together. Her arms -from her elbows to her fingers- were hidden by a sheer fabric sleeve held on by a thin band. A small, deep blue jacket made the ensemble look very appropriate, and a droopy wizardress hat gave the impression of an old fashioned Earth witch.

She chuckled and shook her head, revealing her long black hair was braided and tied off near her ankles. "Koenma." She was quickly in front of the desk, palms flat on the surface as she leaned over closer to him. Looking at her eyes, the brunette noticed her eyes were the same: one a deep red and the other a deep brown.

"Ling-Ling. How've you been? Hm?" Koenma asked as he, too, leaned forward.

"Fine. Traveling as always. I can see you haven't changed a bit with your pacifier and ordering the ogres around. Really wish you'd ditch the binky, hun." She tried to pull the pacifier out of Koenma's mouth in vain. She let go, shrugged and sat on the edge of his desk with a gentle smile.

"What do we owe the rare appearance on your part, hm, Ling-Ling?" He queried, getting right down to business, as he knew there might not be enough time for her to stay. Ling sighed, pulling a pouch from seemingly nowhere to toss in front of him.

"Your spies and detectives obviously don't know how to collect items," Ling Tao started. "There are fragments of the mirror that are big enough to be of any worth to someone, and then there's the whistle fragments. Enough glue and it could be dangerous once more. I found a few other things, but the ogres have them right now. Told them to put the items in the proper place. Hope you don't mind; they weren't of much importance."

"Eh? What were you doing at Maze Castle?" Koenma asked as he picked out the contents in the belt sack. Sure enough, there were the mirror fragments, one showing the events outside of the room, and the fragments of the whistle.

"Looking for… you-know-who."

The dark haired man stopped and slowly looked up at her. "Did you find…?" A smile spread across his features as Ling nodded.

"I want to put you know on the demon world again at this specific location." The young woman snatched a piece of paper and scribbled something down. "And I want this between you, me, Botan, and one neutral we can definitely trust to help and not tell. And no spies or detectives involved. The longer we can keep this between us, the better. Don't want Ja Meng to find out, otherwise…"

Koenma looked at the location, quirking an eyebrow. "There? But it's so obvious! Why-"

"Rule of beings: they make everything harder than it is." She interrupted. "Now, I suggest we wait until after the Dark Tournament. Oh! That reminds me! I was told by you know to give these to Kurama and Hiei. You know said the other two would be just fine if there are no Fate-Benders."

Ling handed two folded pieces of paper to Koenma. Her eyes flicked down at the mirror shard on the desk. "Looks like I'd best get going. Remember, after the tournament."

The doors swung open and Ling disappeared in a poof of smoke, leaving Koenma to explain to four spirit detectives.

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Hiei stared at the note that had been given to him, trying to figure out who would warn him about this… even though in the back of his mind he knew. He dismissed it, crumpling the paper and tossing it into the wastebasket. He crossed his arms and glanced over at Kurama, who had received a note of his own.

The red head looked it over, carefully folding it before sliding it back across the desk to Koenma. His look was that of a perplexed child.

"Who gave you this?" He asked the toddler, who shook his head.

"I can't say. It's almost like telling you who all of our spies are." Koenma replied as he folded his hands on the desk. "Let's just say a very important person passed those through a very reliable source."

Pulling a file from a stack on his desk, he opened it. "Now, for your next assignment: the Dark Tournament."