Charles changed into a black suit and went with Takenaka to Yusuke Urameshi's funeral.
They arrived on the late side; quite a few people were already at Yusuke's home. Yet despite it being a funeral, there was no real sense of grief.
Only three people in the courtyard shed tears: Yusuke's mother, his childhood friend Keiko Yukimura, and Takenaka beside Charles.
As for the others, Yusuke's classmates didn't think much of him. Either they'd been "bullied" by him, or they simply feared him.
They were only relieved he was gone; some even wore smiles, heedless of where they were.
As Charles walked past two boys gloating, he glanced at them. In an instant, their bodies went rigid and the smiles froze on their faces.
Only then did they realize how terrifying the presence of the new P.E. teacher was. For a heartbeat, it felt like a mountain had been dropped on their backs.
Charles could understand their feelings. To those who didn't know him, Yusuke certainly didn't count as a "good person."
Even so, they should at least show basic courtesy. That is the most fundamental reverence for life.
Charles saw Yusuke's mother slumped to the side, face ashen and unresponsive to the guests, and Keiko Yukimura sobbing uncontrollably.
Takenaka knelt before Yusuke's portrait, speaking of relief and regret.
Later Kuwabara arrived as well, charging forward in a fury to flip Yusuke's coffin lid. He couldn't believe Yusuke had died so easily.
When Charles held him back, he could feel the boy's grief from the heart. Though the two fought every time they met, they had forged friendship and trust in the process.
After going through the proper courtesies, Charles stepped into the courtyard and then looked up into midair.
He could clearly sense two energy bodies right there!
His pupils subtly narrowed into slits, and the scene before his eyes changed at once. The two energy bodies took human form in his sight.
They were the supposedly deceased Yusuke Urameshi, and beside him a kimono-clad girl seated on a wooden oar.
Yusuke needed no comment; Charles focused on the girl—Botan, the Spirit World's guide of the dead, a character with even more presence than heroine Keiko Yukimura.
Ghosts in this world are a puzzling existence. Early on, ordinary humans couldn't see Yusuke's ghost or Botan, nor could they affect reality.
But later, Botan was just like a normal human.
Charles strongly suspected the "old thief" felt the ghost setup didn't fit later plot development and cut it.
In a real world, though, there was a different explanation.
He could feel that a "ghost" was a form of life in which spiritual power replaced the body to house the soul.
As energy bodies, they were generally imperceptible to ordinary people.
But once an individual's spiritual power was strong enough, the energy body would become substantial and could even affect reality.
And the fact that Yusuke could fire a Spirit Gun after a casual hint from Koenma upon reviving might well be related to his direct contact with spiritual power during this time.
Up in the air, Botan was urging Yusuke to accept Koenma's trial to complete his revival when she suddenly felt someone watching.
She turned instinctively and saw Charles below. Yusuke sensed his gaze too and looked over, catching sight of Charles's now-different eyes.
Seeing them look down, Charles even waved amicably.
Yusuke floated straight down in front of him. "Charles, you can see me?"
Charles rapped him on the head, making him yowl in pain.
"How many times do I have to tell you? Use honorifics with your teacher."
Botan flew over as well. "How is that possible? Ordinary people shouldn't be able to see ghosts, let alone hit them!"
Charles gave Botan a glance, then said to Yusuke, "With a Spirit World envoy in tow, are you back to say goodbye? The ones who care about you can't see you."
Yusuke opened his mouth but said nothing in the end.
Botan had told him his death wasn't supposed to happen, so he could be given a chance to revive.
But revival violates the rules, so Yusuke would first have to pass a trial.
Yusuke always hated dawdling; to him, a trial sounded like a hassle.
He also felt he had little to miss in the Human World—better to go straight to reincarnation.
But after seeing this scene, his thoughts changed. Many people indeed felt it was better that he was dead, just as he imagined, but his mother, Keiko Yukimura, Kuwabara, and Takenaka were truly grieving for him.
Especially when the little boy Yusuke had saved showed up then, and Yusuke heard him say he'd come play with him again.
So there were those in this world who still missed him and wanted him back!
Hating indecision most of all, Yusuke made up his mind on the spot. Once he'd thought it through, he said to Botan, "I've decided. I'll take the revival trial. So what's the content?"
"If that's the case, come with me!" Botan said. "We're going to find the one who'll explain the trial to you!"
With that, she flew past on her oar. Yusuke reflexively grabbed the end, and the two flew higher and higher until they disappeared from Charles's sight.
Faintly, Charles sensed spatial ripples. It seemed the two had gone to the Spirit World.
In this world, the Spirit World is a special existence—one Charles found quite intriguing.
In early settings it was the place the dead go; later, when the Demon World appeared, it became the hub separating Demon and Human Worlds.
And from what was revealed in the Four Saint Beasts arc, the Spirit World is also a complete world, not just a place of soul reincarnation.
The villains' base was named the Yokai Realm, but in fact it was a region of the Spirit World enclosed in barriers. "Yokai Realm" would be better called the Spirit World Great Prison.
In the later Chapter Black arc, the Demon World was introduced. Shinobu Sensui's goal was to open the sealed path from the Demon World to the Human World to unleash the demons to destroy humanity.
But it was later mentioned that at least seven hundred years ago, Human and Demon Worlds were originally connected. Charles guessed something had happened during that time that split them apart.
Humanity is an important part of the world's balance, but the power gap between yokai and humans is enormous. To ensure humanity's development wouldn't be warped by yokai, the Spirit World sealed the Demon World's exits.
The Spirit World was quite different from the cycle-of-rebirth realm he knew; he couldn't help but be intrigued. Perhaps it hid the most primordial things of this world.
He also knew the Spirit World would definitely reach out to him. While Botan had deliberately ignored him, there was no way she could truly pretend someone as unusual as Charles wasn't there.
In short, he was getting a little bored of the slice-of-life experience and wanted to find something to do.
Sure enough, too much boredom slowly turns a man into a troll for fun. Charles was well on his way.