After the outcome was decided, Genkai left in dejection.
She didn't need Charles to give her an answer; she sensed for herself what she lacked.
Genkai's life experience was nothing Charles could compare to, and she needed no worrying from him. So Charles turned and headed home.
The next day, Charles went to work as usual and ran into Kuwabara on the way. Despite the big bruises on his face, he couldn't hide a smug grin.
When he saw Charles, Kuwabara waved and ran over. "Master Charles, guess what? I fought that punk Urameshi yesterday—and I didn't lose!"
Charles lifted an eyelid. "Didn't lose? So you won?"
Kuwabara froze, scratched his hair. "No, it was a draw!"
Charles sighed. "Then what are you so happy about? After all this training you still can't beat Yusuke Urameshi—what's there to celebrate?"
Kuwabara smacked a fist into his palm. "You're right! I still haven't beaten Urameshi for good!"
A cold snort sounded, and the two looked over to see Yusuke Urameshi strolling by with his hands in his pockets.
It seemed Kuwabara hadn't exaggerated; he really had fought Yusuke to a draw. The shiners and bandages on Yusuke's face showed he hadn't gotten the better of it.
He glanced at the grinning Kuwabara and, unwilling to accept it, kept walking toward school.
He was starting to feel the pressure. He'd always beaten Kuwabara in their fights, but this time it ended even.
Yusuke even felt that if this kept up, he might lose to Kuwabara, who had more grit.
And since he'd become a Spirit Detective, he'd learned to control his spirit power. The only explanation was that Kuwabara was growing faster than he was.
At this rate, Kuwabara would surpass him soon!
Although Yusuke recognized Kuwabara as a worthy rival, he hated losing to anyone.
He also knew perfectly well that the reason was Kuwabara receiving Charles's tutelage.
But Charles was a man Yusuke had to defeat someday—going to ask him for guidance now was way too embarrassing.
Maybe he could ask Koenma to find him a master too!
The thought crossed Yusuke's mind.
Charles had no idea about Yusuke's awkward thinking or that it had planted such a notion.
It later led to him volunteering to join when Botan told him Koenma was having Genkai take on a disciple—rather than trading tournament tickets for it like in the original.
These days were simply quiet, enjoyable times for Charles and Stella.
After knocking the swelling down a notch on a freshly "leveled-up" and cocky Yusuke, there wasn't much else on Charles's plate.
As for Stella, she'd lost her drive to hustle and the Fire Dragon Crew's growth stalled.
That somehow made the other big names in the underworld think she was "quitting while ahead," decide she wasn't a threat, and even allocate her more benefits as appeasement—leaving Stella at a loss for words.
Peace didn't last long, though. The moment Charles entered the school that day he felt an abundance of yokai aura saturating the place.
It got stronger as he walked into the classroom building, so pungent that his sharp nose had him sneezing several times.
A fine spark flashed; tiny black ash fell.
A bug carrying demonic energy had tried to burrow into Charles's body but burned to cinders the instant it neared his mana.
Charles knit his brows. Being raised by a dragon, he'd picked up some of Igneel's temper.
He considered this school under his protection. Someone making trouble here felt like a personal affront.
He was curious to see who had the nerve to mess with the tiger's whiskers!
Following the thickest trace of yokai aura, he immediately spotted two students wandering ahead.
They were boys from Yusuke's class who didn't get along with him.
Their condition was off—skin gone dusky, eyes blood-red—like zombies from a movie.
When they saw Charles, they lunged. He raised a hand, grabbed both by the throat, and pinned them to the floor.
As expected, he sensed the presence of demonic bugs in their bodies. He released mana, forced the controlling bugs out, and the two insects turned to ash the instant they took wing.
The two boys calmed down and fell into a deep sleep.
It seemed these bugs did little beyond controlling the host's actions—though they drained a lot of the host's energy. A good rest would suffice, with no aftereffects.
Just then, Charles heard a scream and quickened his pace.
Below the classroom building he saw Yusuke's childhood friend Keiko Yukimura and Spirit World guide Botan—the scream had been theirs.
A group of teachers, including Takenaka, were clawing after the two girls, all of them possessed by the bugs.
Botan's eyes lit up when she saw Charles; she grabbed Keiko and ran to him.
"Mr. Charles, help! These people are under the control of Makai insects—please stop them."
Charles nodded, moved the girls behind him, and recalled exactly which arc this was.
A group of criminal yokai had gathered in a corner of the Spirit World and dubbed it the Demon City.
The Spirit World had simply raised a barrier around it, treating it like a prison for those unlawful yokai.
The ringleaders were the Four Saint Beasts, with Suzaku at their head.
The Makai insects were controlled by his treasure—the bug whistle.
To force an opening in the barrier around their prison, he spread Makai insects into the Human World and threatened to plunge it into chaos if the barrier wasn't opened.
So Koenma dispatched Yusuke Urameshi to defeat the Four Saint Beasts and reclaim the whistle.
The Beasts' intelligence network remained sharp even from within the barrier; they learned of Keiko's connection to Yusuke.
So Suzaku took control of people at the school and planned to capture Keiko to threaten Yusuke.
While Charles was thinking, the controlled teachers lunged. Charles stepped forward, and his mana field expanded to cover them all.
He only released the bare minimum of mana. Keiko and Botan, not being targeted, felt only a hot gust—but for the Makai insects in the others' bodies, it was the ultimate terror.
For a moment, survival instinct even broke the whistle's control and they frantically abandoned their hosts, trying to flee.
There was no escape from Charles's mana field; they turned to starlike sparks midair.
Charles turned his head to the sky; his pupils slowly changed shape.
Spirit World—Demon City, highest tower!
On the screen, those slit pupils seemed to imprint on the soul, and Suzaku, ruler of the Demon City, froze rigid.
"We really kicked an iron plate this time."
He looked at the shattered screen and couldn't help saying it. So much for grabbing Keiko.
Still, as head of the Four Saint Beasts, he didn't think he'd lose in a straight fight to a human brat. Suzaku sat grandly on his throne and waited for Yusuke Urameshi to come to him.
You could say Suzaku's horizons were too narrow—he had no idea how terrifying a protagonist's halo could be.
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