Chapter Text
Tomorrow started with cleaning.
It was a weirdly warm few days for February, so keeping to a tee and jeans, Caroline started with sweeping the entirety of the porches outside prior to breakfast. She had guessed that was what Genkai had wanted by leaving the broom outside her door, and the old lady had seemed pleased enough when she ran past doing her morning laps.
When she finished, she found Genkai making rice with eggs cracked on top, and though it made her cringe a little internally, she ate it, though she refused the natto. After breakfast she was giving what looked like a swiffer for polishing the porches, and she went out to do that chore.
But it got boring fast. "Genkai?" She called out.
"Master Genkai." She heard back from around the corner.
"Master Genkai, do you have a tape player?"
There was silence for a few minutes, and Caroline thought she had been ignored until Genkai appeared, carrying a relatively new - for the nineties - boombox. "If you play crap, I'm taking it away."
Delightedly Caroline rushed back to her room to make a selection from her tiny collection that she didn't think would upset Genkai too much.
When she set the tape in, the playing of a guitar swept around the courtyard. It seemed out of place, but the comfort from it was immeasurable to her.
"On a dark desert highway, cool wind in my hair ," she sang softly along to the lyrics, "Warm smell of colitas rising up through the air. Up ahead in the distance I saw a shimmering light... My head grew heavy and my sight grew dim, I had to stop for the night ."
She flung her arms out, "Welcome to the Hotel California! Such a lovely place, such a lovely face !" There was nothing from Genkai, so she kept singing and dancing as she polished the floors, offkey and flat, but truly happy for the first time in days.
She was a bit sweaty, but content when she finished. It took only the length of the whole tape to finish the floors, but she'd had to ask Genkai for help in figuring out how to flip over the tape to get the rest of the tracks, and then justify her ignorance by trying and failing to explain the concept of streaming music until Genkai told her to shut up and work.
Looking at the shiny floors with a bit of pride, she sought out Genkai again. "You said you'd teach me healing." She said when she entered the living room where Genkai was playing what she thought looked like an old version of Street Fighter.
"Hmm? So I did. Go meditate." The old lady didn't turn from her game.
Caroline hesitated. "Is there something I should focus on?"
"No, just clear your thoughts. Go outside to do it."
She found a nice spot on the porch of another building off the main temple, and sat with her back against it, and tried to clear her mind. It was far more difficult than it really ought to be - her brain wouldn't quiet down, throwing really unnecessary questions out at her like What are you going to do about your studies? and Can you even nurse in Japan? and You didn't call Dad back, what if you never speak to him again?
"Damn it," she muttered, opening her eyes. Instead, she stared up at the sky, focusing very intensely on the clouds instead of her brain.
"You failed at something so miniscule?" The tapping of tiny feet signaled Genkai's arrival.
"I have a lot to think about."
"Then think about this: holding out your palms, feeling the energy of your body enter them."
She did as she was told, trying to focus on the sensation of her palms, the blood flowing through her veins. It might've been her mind messing with her, but she could've sworn she felt a weird buzzing around them.
Genkai hummed, pleased. "Not bad. We need to work on your manifesting, but after that it should be easier."
"Wild," Caroline held up her hands, eyeing them suspiciously, "And all this time I thought Reiki was a pseudoscience."
"Most practitioners are. Scam artists, the lot of them," scoffed Genkai, "But you'll learn how to actually summon the spirit energy and harness it for healing. For the afternoon, continue meditating and focusing on that feeling in your palms."
Abandoned by Genkai, Caroline tried to focus on meditating for the rest of the afternoon. It was still hard to clear her head, but she managed to get it down to a chant in her head, going over the cardiovascular system of the arms and hands as she focused on the energy building up in her palms.
As she focused even more inwardly, she could feel the blood pulsing through.
... brachial artery, radial artery, ulnar artery, superficial palmer arches, deep palmer arches ...
After some time, she began to feel the buzzing again, but she kept her eyes closed.
... deep palmer arches, palmer metacarpal arteries, circulate back to the deep palmer arches, superficial palmer arches, ulnar artery ...
Her hands were getting warmer, and she cracked open an eye to peek at them.
They were glowing blue.
"Shit..." She swore as she stared at them, "I think... I'm in a whole different dimension."
-
"Master Genkai!"
Caroline ran into the living room where Genkai was lounging and watching TV. "Master Genkai, my hand is glowing!"
"Hmm?" Genkai glanced back casually, "Well, good job."
"Hands aren't supposed to glow! Look!" She shoved her blue hand under Genkai's nose, "They don't do this where I'm from!"
The old master stared at her judgmentally. "Look, you probably wouldn't have fallen through a portal if you didn't have any kind of psychic power. You would have just walked past it. In this place, you have that power and you ought to appreciate it."
Caroline considered that very briefly. She didn't have enough experience with supernatural things to disagree with Genkai, but it still seemed weird. Focusing on her hands, she let them flair up with the blue glow, then fade out, then flair up again.
"Stop that. You'll exhaust yourself, and then you can't make me dinner."
"Oh, right." Caroline went into the kitchen and began to dig through the cupboards to try and figure out a meal. While she could read the labels thanks to her translator ring, she didn't recognize them enough to cook with them. What was dashi ? And mirin ? She knew how to use a rice cooker, so she got that started, then found some fish in the freezer. That she could work into the curry sauce she found in the fridge, and with the rice would be decent enough.
Trying to stir with the cooking chopsticks was also a huge pain, and the stove was really old, but she managed to turn out something decent in the end. Even Genkai was satisfied, though she sent Caroline to bed as the girl drooped over her food, suddenly exhausted from trying out her spirit energy.
The next day she spent much the same, cleaning the temple and trying to meditate to generate more of that spirit power in her palms. Unfortunately her tests to stretch her limits and keep it steady resulted in her passing out and receiving a lecture from Genkai about overextending herself before being sent to bed to rest.
She fidgeted with her phone as she lay on her futon. It was turned off - she didn't dare waste the battery - but she wondered how she might get a makeshift phone charger. Even if she couldn't connect to mobile data or wi-fi, she could still access her photos, and her old playlists in her files. The streaming playlists would disappear after a month, tragically, but her ex-girlfriend had liked to make her playlists on USBs that she could transfer to her phone. Even if the associated memories sucked, it would be nice to have some modern music on top of her cassettes.
Her finger rested on the power button, consideringly. It would be nice to see pictures of her dad too. She wondered if he had figured out she was gone yet. It was the third, maybe fourth day of her being in this world - how much time had gone by in her own? Would anyone look for her when she missed classes or work? They would have definitely reached out to her dad, and maybe even her mother, god forbid. Groaning, she slid the phone across the floor to keep it away from herself. The whole time-traveling-continent-jumping-alternate-dimension stuff was too stressful to consider.
Maybe she was in an anime. It would explain the magic powers and weird hair and being in Japan. She should have watched more cartoons with Megan back in junior high.
She dragged herself out of bed to make some dinner a few hours later, taking the time to taste test some of Genkai's ingredients and build a proper meal.
-
"Rin-chan!" It had been a few days since Caroline had last seen Botan, and there she was, bounding towards her as she polished the porches, surprisingly fast in a pink kimono. "Rin-chan, I have good news!"
Caroline's heart leapt. "You've figured out how to send me home?"
"Err, not quite. But!" Botan chirped, "Yusuke woke up yesterday! So once he's finished his current investigation, he can work on yours!"
"Oh, thank goodness!" Caroline smiled cheerfully before suddenly gripping Botan's arm, "What do you mean the boy who was in a coma only a couple days ago is now working an investigation?"
Botan tried to make her explanations, that Yusuke was recuperating well thanks to spirit healing, but seeing the displeasure on Caroline's face she instead switched to inviting her into the city.
"We have to find Hiei, and assign him to drop off this tape for Yusuke," she held it up, "He's another demon like Kurama who helps out. He's also kiiind of scary and I'd like to not deal with him alone."
Any excuse to escape cleaning and meditation was a good excuse, so after tossing on her tragically neon turquoise wind-breaker, as it was finally settling back into February-appropriate weather, Caroline came back out she found and Botan holding up the oar.
"It's much easier to find Hiei if we fly!"
The nightmare continued. This time Caroline did her best to keep her mouth shut and simply clutched the oar until her hands ached as they floated over the city.
"He wears all black, and has very spiky hair. It would be easier to spot him if he wasn't so short." Botan told her as they drifted past buildings.
"That sounds vaguely familiar..." Caroline squinted, looking over the rooftops, "I think it looks like there's someone over there?"
"Bingo!" Botan shifted the oar and sped in that direction, Caroline back to clutching it for her life. They came up on a small person, exactly as described, standing on the rails. The tiny little man was like Kurama - something at the back of her mind jiggled, but she couldn't quite place it.
He looked up at them floating above the building, Botan smiling brightly and Caroline desperately clinging to the oar as it swooped in. His stare turned into a glower as they drew in closer.
"Well hello, Hiei!" As bubbly and confident as Botan seemed, she wilted under Hiei's glare.
"What does the baby want?"
"Er, well," Botan pressed her fingers together nervously as the tiny demon looked between them with obvious hostility.
Caroline glanced between them and rolled her eyes. "The baby wants you to give that detective kid a tape." She told him shortly. He was glaring again, and she had to admit she'd be more afraid of him if the fear of falling off the oar and plummeting to the ground wasn't more pressing.
This seemed to be enough to get Botan back on track, and she pulled the tape out of her kimono - presumably that was also Underworld magic because Caroline couldn't imagine how uncomfortable that would be. The ferrygirl held out the tape.
Hiei narrowed his eyes. "Why should I deliver that? I'm not Koenma's delivery boy."
"I actually agree!" Caroline nodded, and they both stared at her in shock, "Hiei here is obviously a powerful demon, far above being a mere delivery boy." Botan stared at her in pure confusion, but Hiei looked her over as though he had just realized she was there, and was suspicious - and rightfully so. "Clearly, we should let the demon on parole handle the mission, and send the teenage boy back to school."
Panic entered Botan's face and she tried to shush Caroline as Hiei turned aware and made a 'tch!' sound. "I'm not doing Yusuke's job either." He snatched the tape out of Botan's hand, "Now get lost, I'm tired of looking at your faces."
"Right away, thank you Hiei!" Botan called out, pulling the oar up before Caroline could snap back, leaving the human gasping and clutching to the oar again.
They glided over the city through the clouds for some time quietly. Caroline suspected that Botan was trying to get her used to the oar and flying, but the ferry girl's mind seemed to be elsewhere and she didn't want to disturb her, so she adjusted her position on the oar slightly until she felt more comfortable.
She wondered about all these people she had met, stuck in some war between the Underworld and demons, dragging teenagers into the mix. It was horrifying - child soldiers versus monsters that looked like the onis, or even like other humans, but could turn people into zombies at their bidding! And they had even recruited other teenage-looking demons like Hiei and Kurama -
"OH MY GOD!"
Botan screeched in surprise and they went spinning, Caroline screaming as they barrel-rolled through the sky and towards the ground. The two screamed for a full minute as they plummeted until Botan finally pulled them up and corrected their path.
"What was that?!" She shouted, not quite at Caroline, but staring at her rider who was looking at the oar in wonder.
"I didn't fall off?" She whispered in awe as she loosened her grip. She lifted her hands off slowly and smiled in delight, "Botan, look! I'm not falling!"
Botan sighed in relief. "Is... that why you were screaming?"
"Oh, no!" Caroline looked back to her, "No, Botan, this is an anime!"
---
Not long after they were sat in a room at Genkai's temple, Botan's compact open to 'facetime' with Koenma, as Caroline called it.
The baby on the screen seemed disturbed to say the least. "You're saying, Caroline, that in your world we're all in an anime?"
"Yeah, cringe right?" She laughed nervously, "My friend was really into it, but I never got into anime like she did. I only just realised I had seen Kurama and Hiei before, as a wallpaper on her iPad."
"As a what on her what?"
This decade was stupid. "It doesn't matter. But now we know that I'm in a whole different dimension! So that should make it easier to send me home, right?"
Koenma suddenly seemed a little nervous. "Well, perhaps - perhaps we need more details first. What were Kurama and Hiei doing in this 'wallpaper'? Would it be relevant to anything occurring now or in the future?"
Caroline kept her face, very, very still. "No, I doubt it."
"Are you sure? If-"
" I'm sure ."
"Hmmm," Koenma didn't seem pleased with this answer, but he moved on, "We'll look into it on our end, but I'm afraid I can't make too many promises. With Suzaku dead, and his flute broken, we don't know how he managed to open a portal to an alternate dimension."
So the only person who would have any idea how to open a portal back home was dead, and if she remembered right, was likely murdered by the teenage boy who had been in a coma. For all that her life was garbage at the moment in her own dimension, it sure beat children murdering demons. She would take her shitty apartment again, thanks.
Though now to get back home, that teenage boy barely out of a coma had to probably deal with more demons to figure out how to get her home. Maybe she would just stay, and then she could avoid all of her problems. She bet her friends and ex-girlfriend and landlord and boss and mother were all feeling pretty shit about themselves now.
But she owed her dad a phone call.
"Caroline," Koenma was calling her out of her thoughts, "while this might be an anime for you, we'd like to confirm some historical events, and then use that to confirm how parallel our dimensions are."
"History wasn't my best class, but I'll try."
They spent a good hour comparing notes on the course of human - and demon, apparently - history, and found there weren't many instances where their dimensions differed, as far as Caroline could tell with her general knowledge of history. Most differences were in instances where demon activity was covered up.
"So that's who the Zodiac Killer was." She shook her head in shock, "And we all thought it was Ted Cruz." A thought crossed her mind, "Though if the demon is still out there, and possessed him-"
"The demon was destroyed by a former spirit detective."
"Booo."
"Now, is there any info you think would be important for us to know in the future?" Koenma asked, trying to direct her to a more relevant topic, "Anything hugely important that may be influenced by demons?"
Caroline considered the recent past. "Maybe the attack on the twin towers? September 11th, 2001. Terrorists attack New York."
"Good, good," Koenma scribbled down something, "Anything else?"
"I think Donald Trump is possessed by a demon in 2016 and uses his evil demon power to become president, resulting in possibly millions of deaths, after mishandling a pandemic, caging children and their parents at the borders, and countless other abuses. Not to mention the increase in murder commited by police officers, especially towards black, indiginous, and queer peoples!" Koenma and Botan were staring, and she realised she was shouting. "So, uh. Keep that in mind?"
"We'll... do that." Clearing his throat, Koenma turned back to Botan. "Now, Botan, have you given Caroline her new papers?"
"Oops!" Botan clapped her hands over her mouth, then reached into her sleeve to reveal some papers, "Here we are! Birth certificate, social insurance, passport, visa, and schooling documents, and a full background story based on the details you sent me. We even have the syllabus of the local nursing college, so if you wish to join, you can work out where you are in your studies and we can just pop you right in!"
Overwhelmed, she began to skim through. "I went to Rosemary Heights Elementary, not Morgan." She pointed out.
"Well then you should've written that down." Koenma scolded her, "Anyways, I have important things to do in the Underworld, with Yusuke about to be on a mission. If you have any questions, relay them to Botan." The screen on the little compact fuzzed out.
"Shall we go over your paperwork and story?" Botan asked chirpily, "We've had your name and existence inserted where necessary, even if we couldn't modify people's memories to include you."
Caroline flipped through the pages. "I went to Daiichi Girl's Academy as an exchange student in 1987... and Genkai is the grandmother of my host family, who invited me to come stay with her?"
" Master Genkai."
Both girls jumped as they turned to find Genkai standing right behind them. "If that's the story, then fine," she took a drag of her cigarette, "but she's still going to earn her keep."
"I'll keep chorin'." Next Caroline flipped through her passport. The photo appeared to be a manipulated photo of her when she had arrived in the Underworld. A little bewildered and afraid - a perfect passport photo. It was truly bizarre to see '1970' listed as her birth year, "I don't even know enough of the recent past if anyone asks what I was doing in my youth. Is the Berlin Wall down yet? Is the Cold War over?"
"Yes, and it's on it's way out." Genkai answered.
"Great. And if anyone asks what I was doing in the last decade, I'll just give them random events from Stranger Things. A television show," she answered Botan's confused look.
"Righto, then! I'll leave you to it!" With a goodbye, Botan was off, and Caroline was left behind with Genkai.
Genkai took another drag. "So. We're in an anime, are we?"
"Well, then, do you have any questions?"
Caroline held up the stack of papers consideringly. It was fairly thick. "I'll get back to you on that once I've finished."
"Very well then - now, I have to prepare for Yusuke's new case, so you might not see me for awhile, but if you need me, just tell Genkai! She can get a message to the Spirit World."
"Don't push the kid too hard, Botan," Caroline warned her.
The ferry girl sighed. "Oh Rin-chan, I can't wait for you to meet him. You'll understand more then."
As she left, Genkai took another drag of her cigarette. "So. We're in an anime, are we?"
Caroline shrugged.. "Looks like it."
"And you didn't watch it?"
"Nope."
"Fucking useless then, aren't you?"
-
Three days later, in the evening just before dinner, they received visitors.
Caroline had just been in the kitchen, prepping for what she was going to make - she had finally taken Genkai's car into town that day, and with the recommendation from Keiko's parents (who were the only adults whose address she knew) as to which grocery store to go to, she had stocked up on ingredients that she knew. Genkai had vetoed a quiche, so she was in the midst of figuring out what else would work when there was the sound of several footsteps outside.
When she entered the sitting room, she found three demons standing in the doorway. They were unlike any of the others she had seen so far - one was a woman around her own age who had horns, another was short and covered in a cloak, little pointy ears poking out of it, and the last was a large oni-looking creature, but with viler vibes. All seemed to be injured recently.
Something about the woman made Caroline focus in on her. Something about the way she carried herself, and her hair struck Caroline as very, very...
Queer.
"I won this tournament fifty years ago. I wished I'd never have to compete again," Genkai was telling them, "It seems to me that it's clear. Tell that to Toguro."
"Urameshi is invited to participate in the tournament. You still refuse?" The woman replied. Caroline studied the inflections of her voice. "Lord Toguro has always been waiting for opponents who are at their height. Kurama and Hiei are also invited," at least those were demons they were recruiting to their tournament - Caroline hoped that at least everyone else was a teen too, "Lord Toguro said that he's waited fifty years for opponents who are worty of him. He is delighted!" Apparently not. Demons at least fifty years old were fighting. This world sucked.
"Hmph." Genkai didn't respond further. The demons stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do.
"Should I... put on tea, Master Genkai?" Caroline offered, looking between them. The demons finally noticed her and assessed her, and she smiled brightly at the one she thought was queer.
"No need, they were just leaving."
The demons, dismissed and clearly wary of Genkai, began to leave. Caroline, realizing she was missing a chance to make a gay friend, rushed after them, not noticing Genkai's raised eyebrow.
"Hi, excuse me, miss?" The woman jolted as she turned around, looking at Caroline with wide and scared eyes. Her heart bled for her, knowing that exact look. "I just, uh, wanted to ask," she looked at the other two and tried to choose her words carefully, "Do you... like violets?"
"What?" She blinked at Caroline, who tried again.
"Are you a friend of Dorothy?"
"Eh?"
God, why didn't she know any euphemisms for gay people in Japanese? Useless translator ring - she would have to take this issue up with Botan. She tried her last shot. "Are you, y'know?" She limped her wrist.
Realization shot through the woman's eyes. She hit her fist in her palm in recognition. "Yes! I am! Are you-?"
"Yes!" Caroline threw up her hands, "Thank god, people of quality! Are they-?" She gestured towards the other two.
"Well, most demons don't care about gender or such," the woman told her, "but I'm an exception."
"Ohh," Caroline said, then looked her over, "Oh, oh! I get it! Cool, cool. I'm Caroline, I'm cis and my pronouns are she and her."
"I'm Miyuki! And..." She suddenly cast her eyes down, as if a dark cloud had crossed over her, "I don't really know what I am anymore." The smaller demon next to her put his, well, maybe their, hand on her arm.
Caroline nodded understandingly. "That's normal though, isn't it? To be questioning? Look," she ran her hand through her hair, "I don't know if Genkai will be totally on board, but please, come for tea some time? I would love to have more..." Wait, wasn't 'queer' a bad term at this time? "More friends like me." She finished. She glanced at the others, "And if you'd like to come..."
They shook their heads. "It'd be nice for this onē to have someone else to bother." The little one spoke up before he turned around. "Lets go, Miyuki."
Before the three disappeared into the trees, Miyuki turned around to cautiously wave goodbye. Caroline beamed at her encouragingly and waved until she disappeared into the darkness.
"Did you seriously just invite a demon over for tea?" Genkai asked as Caroline came back inside.
"All the people I've met so far have been you, two immortals, and some clearly heterosexual teenagers. I desperately need some gay friends."
The old woman stared at her incredulously, making Caroline suddenly consider something. "Unless you - you do kind of have that vibe-"
"Go make dinner." Genkai snapped, and Caroline scuttled away into the kitchen.
Not too long afterwards, they had another visitor.
"It's been a long time," Genkai said, watching her TV, "What do you want?"
"I want to become strong," Yusuke stood just outside, a bag in hand. "I've only got two months."
She lowered her tea cup. "You're finally taking this seriously, hm?" Her eyes narrowed, "I won't go easy on you."
The tension in the air was thick.
"Oh, we have a guest?" Caroline peaked around the corner from the kitchen, "I think we have enough for a third serving."
"Uh- guh- what?" Flabbergasted, Yusuke stared at her, "You replaced me, you old hag?"
"Don't be a moron," said old hag snapped, "The Spirit World dumped her on my doorstep to train. She'll be a new case for you once you're ready."
So this was Yusuke, woken up. Already yelling and cranky as anything, and apparently Genkai's apprentice - no wonder they thought he was capable enough to be a child soldier.
As he bickered with Genkai, Caroline loaded up another serving for him. If she remembered correctly, he had only woken up from his coma a few days before, and now he was expecting Genkai to train him? She'd have had him taken in for x-rays if she thought she could manage it. But listening to his argument with Genkai as she prepped their dinner, she knew she'd have to trick the moron if she ever wanted to take him into a hospital. Best to play nice for now.
With a newly loaded tray, she returned to the sitting room. A table had been brought out, and Genkai still faced herself towards the TV as Yusuke looked up with a grin.
"So, what's she had you doing? Making you balance on a single point for twelve hours? Sitting on beds of coal? Sleeping on a bed of nails?"
"Meditation and manifesting, mostly." Caroline passed him his dish.
Yusuke slammed his hand on the table, nearly knocking over his bowl. "Are you joking, old hag?! You're letting her off easy!"
"She barely passed the arcade tests, and knows next to nothing about reiki. Besides," she gave him a pointed look, "She isn't my successor, or the one invited to the Dark Tournament."
"That sounds ominous," Caroline said between bites, "I'm guessing it's a fighting thing?"
"Yeah, it's some demon tournament where if you get invited you can't turn it down or they'll kill you," he raised an eyebrow as she choked, "You really are new, huh?"
After she finished coughing and dislodging what was trapped in her throat, she looked at him disbelievingly. "Sorry, is this supposed to be normal?!"
"Well I guess for Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and I it is. Oh, you haven't met them yet, eh?"
"No, I actually met them just after I arrived, Botan and Keiko too." She answered, "I even saw you while you were in your coma."
"Huh," he thought for second, "which one?"
Chopsticks dropped from her hand to the table with a clatter.
"What do you mean, 'which one' ?"