Thank You For Waking Me Up (Princess Pittooey and I)

B

Broomhandle45

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Paperwork.

Miles and miles, and miles, and even more miles of paperwork. With the arrival of the new Demon King Enki and his law that no Demon shall pass into the human realm for mischief and evil, he was busier than ever. On one hand, it meant that actually capturing demons and returning them to Makai was a far smoother process, it made the laws and limits far more rigid and gave them a far easier way to punish the demons who broke the law. But this also made them busier, demons that they had been following for years for petty crimes finally had a place they could go.

Which was only half of the paperwork, to be honest. The opening of the barrier between the demon and human world had caused other issues, some of them minor, others that required a more thorough investigation.

"Ugh..." Koenma whined, head resting against the massive stack of papers. "Ogre, I'm tired of authorizing all of this! Can't we get some interns to do this!?"

"I'm sorry, Konema sir," Jorge grunted, sitting down another stack twice as tall as he was with a sigh. "We've been very busy since his majesty King Enki established his rule, but it's been very peaceful! I'd take paperwork over-"

"Ugh!" Konema growled, kicking over a stack of completed forms as Jorge scrambled to catch them all, slumping back in his seat like the spoiled baby he was supposedly not. "Well, it's exhausting! I haven't gotten out of this chair in what feels like years! Someone else can stamp, I don't want to anymore!"

"B-But Konema, sir!" Jorge sighed, sitting down the stack of papers. "You can't just have someone ELSE stamp the seal! That's your job!"

"Well, I don't want it anymore," he sniffed, tossing Jorge the stamp, which he caught awkwardly, blinking with wide eyes as he glanced down at it. "You do it, Ogre!"

"B-But sir!" he insisted. "This is a very valuable task that you're doing, I-I can't just stamp these papers!"

"Oh, you worry too much!" he sighed, waving his hand. "All you do is stamp them! It's easy and painless! Even an idiot can do it! You don't even need to read them!"

"...You should be reading them, if even an idiot can do it," Jorge mumbled, glancing up to find Koenma's eyes narrowing sharply at him, his grin nervous and placating.

"Sir, if your father finds out that I was doing it, he'll give you a spanking!" He said quickly. "I...I don't want a spanking either!"

"Well...I'm tired of doing all this paperwork! I want something exciting! Something to get me out of this chair!" He protested as Jorge gingerly offered the stamp, which Koenma grumply took and began slamming it onto the papers rapid fire, throwing them every which way as Jorge scrambled to catch them.

"...Did I come at a bad time?" Botan said in perplexed amusement, her pink eyes glancing in awe at the veritable mountain of paperwork, remarkably...most of it seemed to be approved. Koenma was actually doing his job?

"Botan!" Koenma said as she walked forward with a cheerful smile, he eagerly shoved away two stacks to stare at her hopefully. "Tell me, something has-" he said, his expression dulling when he was presented with a thick scroll.

"Afraid not," Botan smiled. "But! I thought this might interest you!"

"What is it?" Koenma said curiously, leaning back to open it, which rolled right down his legs...and well under the desk and beyond with a curious blink. Names, lots and lots of names.

"Ayame complied a list of humans who have shown increased growth of Reiki," Botan said as he rooted through it in surprise, teeth nibbling on his pacifer with a frown.

"Hm, this is troubling," Koenma murmured. "Humans with more Reiki potential? Yusuke was bad enough with his, now this?" he sighed. And that was the other issue, although the averages were still very low...more than a few of them could extend farther, more than a generation or two ago. "And why would I be interested in seeing this, Botan?"

"Because two of those names are in Yusuke's hometown! I swear, that place seems to be a hotspot for all the good and bad of the world. We're starting to get overwhelmed, Koenma. It might be a good idea to look into more potential candidates to help us."

"Maybe someone who actually listens to me would be nice," Koenma pouted. "Who respected me, and didn't treat me like a baby!" he huffed. More to the point, Botan was right. Since there was nothing stopping demons from coming and going now, they had to have more options, which meant more detectives. The problem before was the complicated methods of simply containing them, King Enki promoting a more open interaction with the human world meant they had a clearer line of how things would go.

But now, they didn't have enough trained, skilled people. He rubbed his temples a moment with a faint sigh, sucking on his pacifier self-consciously. Nnng...why did Yusuke have to make everything so...so different! It was so much work! He could hardly think!

"Fine," he huffed. "Who are they?"

"Tsubaki and Jinji Sagurai!" Botan exclaimed happily. "I'll get them on our side in a jiffy! And I know just who could mentor them, too!"

"Great, fine, good," Koenma grumbled as Botan scampered away like a pleased kitten as he resumed his thunderous monotone of stamping and sorting, stamping and sorting.

"Koenma, sir!" Jorge protested. "You haven't even gotten to those forms yet to authorize scouting for potential candidates!"

"Then stop talkin' and get me the forms, Orge!" he shouted, hurling his stamper right at the blue orge's head, which landed solidly on his brow. Mother was right, he really did need to find new work...
--

It had been a very long time since Botan had scouted out potential spirit detective candidates! It was an exciting time to be alive, when every part of the world was unifying in one, peaceful coexistence, for the most part. She was more than happy to hover over the familiar sight of Yusuke's hometown, dipping her oar lower with a pleased smile. She'd have to visit Yusuke and Keiko while she was here, but first things first, was business. She needed to have a talk with the two sisters, and see what she could find out.
 
Honestly, she didn't want to go to school. But what kind of role model would she be if she skipped on class? It was bad enough that they had one trouble maker in the family and she didn't want her younger brothers to grow up to be thugs. Thugs that she saw all the time hitting on her and her friends...it was annoying. She wanted to be the best older sister she could to them so they could grow up to be gentlemen. Especially if they were going to be anything like their two older sisters.

She slowly rose with a heavy sigh, but stopped midway when she noticed Ichigo sleeping between her legs. How on earth did the cat get in her room while she was asleep, the door wasn't even open! She glared at the white bundle of fur that was sleeping so peacefully in her bed, but she didn't really have it in her to wake him. So slowly, she pulled herself back towards the head of her bed so she could slip away without disturbing him.

A glance at her clock and she realized if she didn't hurry up, she wouldn't be eating breakfast.

She hurriedly moved over to her closet and began to dress, slipping on her plaid skirt first. Then came buttoning up her blouse, and then fiddling with her tie until it was perfectly secure around her neck. On her way out, she grabbed her headphones and her MP3 player out of habit. Because she never went anywhere without them.

Almost instantly she was greeted with the smell of breakfast. She moved down the stairs and saw her youngest brothers first.

"Tsubaki! You're running late again!" Daisuke, her ten year old brother teased as she made her way into the kitchen. Her mother was standing at the counter preparing their lunches as usual and greeted her with a smile.

"Yeah, I know. But I'll still make it on time if I eat breakfast on the way." Tsubaki mumbled as she reached out and ruffled her youngest brothers reddish brown hair. Yuki was only six, but he was a bundle of energy and of course he had to respond when she physically acknowledged him.

"You're laate!" He parroted. The brothers were inseparable despite their age difference.

"Fine, I'm late, but where's Jinji? Did she leave already?" Tsubaki asked them before leaning down and giving Yuki a kiss on his cheek.
 
"Waiting for you!" Jinji smirked, arm wrapping around her 'big sister's neck' to dig her knuckles into her temples with a smirk, much to the giggling laughter of their brothers. Big sister, she was the shorter one, how was that even fair? Well, Jinji supposed that she wouldn't complain too much, better to be tall than short. She was obviously the prettier one anyway, she had a more mature face. Here Jinji was, all interested in setting a good example for the younger brothers, and Tsubaki had to ruin it, like usual.
 
"Oh geese!" Tsubaki cried out when she was jumped by her younger sister. Younger sister, not little sister. She was sadly the little sister despite being the oldest. How the hell did Jinji even grow faster than her?! Well at least their chest size was relatively the same. "Get off, Jinji! I can't believe you two would let her sneak up on me like that, I'm supposed to be the favorite older sister!" She growled as she firmly pulled her sister's arm away from her neck.

"That's what you get for dragging your feet in the morning, sis!" Daisuke simply replied as he shoved his fork into his plate. Yuki was still laughing. Ugh, she hated when all three of them ganged up on her.

"Speaking of which, both of you will be late if you don't get going. I packed your breakfast with your lunch, Tsubaki." Their mother, Izumi, stated in a rather chipper voice as she offered them their bagged lunches. She was a beautiful woman with copper colored hair, her age barely showing. Not many would guess that she had four kids.
 
"Thanks Mom," Jinji grinned, taking the offered box as she gave Daisuke and and Yuki pecks on the cheek. "You guys behave today, you hear?" she said. "We don't want to hear any bad news when we get home." Tsubaki had insisted in fact, that they behave too. It wasn't always easy, but their Mom needed help corralling the two boys. So, they tried not to be the bad examples...but the neighborhood, you know. Kids were kids, things happened. Long as nobody found out, well...what'd it matter?
 
"Neither do we!" Daisuke called out after them as they left the house. They didn't live in the nicest area, but they had a big house. Big enough for a family of six anyway.

Tsubaki always walked her sister to school, but never back. They got back at their own times, mainly because Tsubaki had friends to stay with after school. She was also class president, so she would get home late sometimes anyway. Late enough to run into trouble...nearly all the time. But she could handle herself, and she knew her little sister could as well.

"...You hear the new Mizune Hitomi album, sis? It's super good." Tsubaki said as she slipped her MP3 player out of her shirt pocket so she could change her playlist. She wouldn't put her headphones on just yet, she'd at least try to make conversation first.
 
"Nope," Jinji said, hands behind her back with a faint sigh. "Not hard enough for me, you know that." Didn't matter anyway, she always sunk herself into her music until she could get to school and do all of her good girl things. Jinji preferred...other things, things that she'd probably get in trouble for. "Besides, you shouldn't listen to music while you're waking, really ruins your awareness, you know?" Maybe that was just her talking, but things had felt weird for the past year, but she wasn't sure what it was. Maybe she was just dreaming, or thinking too much.

But she was starting to...see things. Really odd, strange things that made her feel like she was losing her mind. But it wasn't enough to really...effect her. A blink and it was gone, she was wondering if all of her late nights were starting to catch up to her.
 
"No it doesn't." Tsubaki said with a strange smirk as she went through her playlist. She could just...sense when people were around her, and when they got too close. "Besides, Mizune can be hard. She did a performance with Black Metal Grind a few years ago. You should really give her a chance." She knew that Jinji wouldn't, but she would always try. They had grown apart as they grew up. Tsubaki didn't love her any less, but it was hard to spend time with Jinji when they were obviously two ends of the opposite coin.

The other problem was that she had tried countless times to get her sister to stop running with the wrong crowd. Especially since there were things that neither of them could understand running around. Ghosts, imps, demons. She was sure they were demons. Tsubaki wasn't sure how to explain that the world was dangerous, but would Jinji even listen to her? She really needed to step her big sister game up.
 
"Yeah yeah," Jinji grinned. "I will, eventually, I just think you should stop listening to the poppy stuff-" she said, pausing when they reached the intersection. People were going about their daily routine, as usual. Nothing really out of the ordinary except for a group of men, who seemed completely and perfectly normal...save for the horns sprouting out around their heads like a crown. There it was again, that weird...weird thing she was seeing.

Maybe it was like...body mod things? People were weird, but nobody seemed to care about the horns. Or notice them. She was too afraid to ask Tsubaki if she did.
 
Tsubaki just assumed she was at the end of her sentence. Her eyes were still on her music player. "I can't help that I like multiple genres. It's called branching out..." She muttered before she finally found her song and then played it. Slipping the music player back into her shirt pocket, she looked up at her sister and followed her gaze to the group of men. She blinked once, then took her sister by the hand. "Hey sis," She tried to distract her, in case she drew unnecessary attention to them. A group of suited demons, geese...things just kept getting worse and worse. "Check out that hottie over there!" She pointed at some guy from another school who was crossing the street across from them. He was...decent looking, but seriously she didn't know what else might work to get her attention away from those demons. She didn't know what they wanted and didn't care, she just wanted to get away from them.
 
"...Huh?" Jinji said, her eyes drifting a moment to the boy walking down the street with his friends, Katsiue Tadamaru? But- she glanced back over and they were gone. She frowned a moment, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Maybe...maybe she was seeing things? Whatever.

"...Let's just get to school," she muttered. She was seeing more of them, and it put a heavy weight on her head for reasons she couldn't really explain. She was starting to feel it, everywhere. Was it just her? Was she going insane?
 
She sighed inwardly in relief as she drew her sisters attention away from the demons. That was a close one, they didn't need to be involved in whatever that was. "What, not your type?" Tsubaki asked as she slowly moved her headphones over her head, taking care not to mess up her hair which was neatly tied in two side ponytails. "He looked like a tough guy, I thought you liked that." She would, at the very least, keep only one earphone against her ear so she could still talk to her sister. Oh, Rainbow Symphony, what a wonderful song.
 
"I'm not really interested in you picking me out a boyfriend, Tsubaki," Jinji muttered. She seriously didn't see them? How did they look normal to her? Was she really losing her damn mind? "Besides, you have terrible taste in men," she smirked. "How's that swimmer guy working out for you? What's his name?" she sighed, arms crossing in thought. "Out Of Your League? That sounds about right."
 
"You can be a real jerk sometimes, Jinji. He doesn't even think that I know he exists. His name is Ren Kurosawa. I could get him whenever I want." But she wouldn't, because talking to guys was dumb. She mostly beat them up, because the only ones with the courage to approach her were the perverts that wanted to help themselves to her generous bust size. Tsubaki had male 'friends', but none of them really interested her, because they never made a move on her. Wasn't there a balance between push over shy and pervert douche?
 
"Uh huh," Jinji smirked. "Do you actually know how to talk to a boy to show him you're interested, or do you just tilt your shirt down and they come at you like some boob hungry zombie?" If there was one thing that Tsubaki was terrible at, it was socializing.
 
"Why would I ever show a boy that I'm interested in him? It's their job." Tsubaki rolled her eyes. "And my shirt stays buttoned...there's only so much I can do to hide this curse mother gave us." On one hand, she kind of liked having big boobs, but this big? She wouldn't be upset if she was a cup size or two smaller, honestly...
 
"So you haven't found anyone," Jinji smirked. "Well, don't worry. I have swim class with your little hearthrob, I'll give him a nice long talk about how much you like him."
 
"Go ahead, it probably won't make much of a difference..." Rainbow Symphony was over, Endless Dawn was beginning. They were almost at school, and she wouldn't even begin to pretend to be excited. Maybe she should have been, she had what most girls wanted. Not that she had really asked for any of what she had, did not being afraid to speak her mind really make her that popular with the other girls? She didn't feel normal, she never did. Yet no one felt like she was out of place. No one knew that she spent every waking moment making sure that her friends and family were safe from all these prowling demons hidden amongst them.
 
"You don't know how convincing I can be," Jinji smirked. "What's up, sis? You look like someone shoved wasabi in your underwear." Maybe...did she see them too? No, she couldn't have...she wouldn't have just carried on with their talk if she did. She was over thinking things.
 
"I just wish today was Saturday. Too bad I'm the big sister, I'd be skipping school right about now." She smirked at Jinji. "But you know, I'm the responsible one and I gotta make sure my little sister knows it's not okay to skip classes." She couldn't actually talk about what she was really thinking of. She had thought about telling her, especially after that one day that changed everything. When she was saved by a spirit. Male or female, who knew...she could only remember their overwhelming presence, completely obliterating that monster that was about to eat her when she was a small child. They left as fast as they appeared, and the next thing she knew she was in a hospital. She told the doctors she didn't remember what happened, that worried her parents for a little while.
 
Jinji rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Whatever," she muttered. That was her, alright...always talking about doing the good thing and doing all the right things she needed to do, it got annoying, extremely fast. But their brothers did need a role model, sure.

...She just wished she'd stop doing it all the fucking time. But she knew that discussion would be over and done with and have no resolution, so why bother? Tsubaki was about as interesting to hang around anymore as a moldy carpet. Jinji didn't really know what to talk to her about, because she was more like a parent than a sister most of the time, but that was fine, she supposed. She'd just resolve these things herself. "I'll see you around, Sis."
 
Tsubaki could see how much that annoyed Jinji, but she wasn't completely sure why. It was a joke, for the most part, anyway. She sighed and then gave her sister a wave off, slipping her other earphone over her ear and as they got to school. It was a large building and there were lots of students hanging outside. Being late was arriving on time, they had come about five minutes before the bell rung and everyone had to go to homeroom.

She barely got a chance to enjoy Endless Dawn before a familiar shadow came over her. More than that, it was simply three familiar presences. Tsubaki side stepped gracefully to avoid another surprise attack this morning. Now that she was awake and alert, she'd be having none of that.

Her assailant let out a yelp as they tripped and fell into the dirt beside her. Red panties and a flash of blonde hair was the only thing she saw at the corner of her eye before she turned. "Rei," Tsubaki started as she bent over and helped her friend up to avoid further embarrassment. "Don't sneak up on me."

"You call that sneaking up?" Another voice from behind her said, cheerful as ever. "She was just trying to give you a hug, Tsubaki. Maybe if you weren't listening to your music all the time, you would have heard her calling your name."

Tsubaki turned around to see her other two best friends, Tomoko and Haruhi. She didn't know which one of them spoke, honestly. "What was that?" Her eyes moved back and forth between the two girls as she removed her headphones lazily, using her free hand.

"Haruhi was talking to you. You're hopeless, Senpai." Tomoko muttered as Tsubaki pulled up Rei, who was laughing a little bit.

"I think I won't approach you from behind anymore, Tsubaki-Chan." She stated as she dusted herself off while they started walking into the building together. The bell hadn't rung yet, but that was okay. They needed to get to homeroom anyway.

"Sorry, you can have my breakfast if you want. It's still warm." Tsubaki told her as they made their way inside. They attracted everyone's attention as usual. The four of them were all considered popular, Tomoko being the newest of their clan and also a year younger than them. Tsubaki had saved her from being bullied her first year here, and ever since the girl had simply attached herself to her. Despite her attitude, she was really sweet and honest. That was what Tsubaki liked most about her. Too bad she didn't get along well with her sister.

"Really?" Rei asked with hopeful eyes. "That sounds wonderful, I love Mrs. Izumi's cooking!" She said as she immediately began digging into her messenger bag. Tsubaki was used to it, honestly. She had known Rei for years.

"Food is all it really takes, isn't it?" Haruhi asked Rei with a very charming smirk. The smart ass of the group, even more so than she was. She was also the athlete. People naturally and literally looked up to her. Haruhi had a different kind of popularity than she did. They matched well with each other for reasons she didn't quite understand.

"Yes, but we've been over this." Tsubaki answered for Rei, since the blonde was too busy trying to figure out what her surprise meal was. They somehow made it to their classroom, a handful of people already there.
 
Hm, well...this was going to be an interesting discussion, wasn't it? Botan had been following the two on the way to school, and it was quite clear that both of them were already seeing the world for what it could truly be. But their reactions were telling, Jinji seemed concerned...Tsubaki didn't. Well, that'd complicate things quite a lot, wouldn't it? Well, there wasn't much to be done about that, she'd just have to talk to Tsubaki first and see what she could get! She was starting to get used to this schoolgirl outfit!

"Alright, alright..." Mr. Hayashi said with a sigh. "Settle down, students," he said. "We've got a new transfer from another school today, Miss...I'm sorry, what did you say your name was?" he said, turning to the blue haired, pink eyed girl. Strange, nobody seemed to notice, or care. Or did they notice at all?

"Bo-...Tomoe!" She said cheerfully, smiling widely. "It's very nice to meet you all, I hope to make plenty of friends." she said, curtsying respectfully. Hah! She knew how to run this game by now!
 
"What's her name? Botomoe? I didn't hear." Rei whispered to Tsubaki from behind. She only shrugged. There was something odd about this girl other than her crazy hair and eye color. Was that real..? Either way she would introduce herself formally whenever she got the chance.

"Speak up, new girl! I didn't catch your name. What year are you in?" Haruhi called out with a grin. She knew Tsubaki wouldn't be so rude, but Haru had no manners when it came to homeroom!
 
"Tomoe," Botan said, sticking her tongue out in annoyance. "I'm third year! So you should respect your elders!" she huffed, hands on her hips. She was too used to Yusuke to let this sort of stuff bother her, but that didn't mean she couldn't strike back. She knew how teenagers were, considering she had to deal with the worst of one.
 
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