InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Crossing Paths ❯ Chapter 1 ( Chapter 1 )

Yusuke Urameshi sat peacefully on the roof of Sarayashiki Junior High. About a year had passed since the end of the Dark Tournament. He was still occasionally bothered by Koenma for pesky missions—of course, some cases were far from pesky, although they were still an inconvenience for Yusuke. He was just glad he was finally able to get some peace and—

 

“Oh my, still skipping classes, Yusuke?” called out a familiar high-pitched voice. The teenager groaned, not looking forward to the grim reaper's visit. He couldn't believe that she just kept showing up with these bullshit missions for him to do!

 

“What do you want, Botan?” he asked, turning his head away from the blue-haired girl. His eyes remained closed; he obviously wanted some rest.

 

“That's not a very nice hello,” she replied. “I know you've just gotten back but Koenma sent me to get you and Kuwabara. He said it's urgent this time.” She offered a half-smile when Yusuke sighed, clearly irritated. He was really getting sick of this crap.

 

“How urgent can it be? He says every mission is urgent and it always turns out to be just the opposite. I'm sure it's nothing that will affect the whole world. I saved this whole damn planet once already, what makes him think I'll do it again?” Botan laughed awkwardly.

 

“You do have a point, but it's Koenma's orders. We have to get going, Yusuke.”

 

“Fine, whatever! Let's go get Kuwabara then, before diaper boy throws a temper tantrum.” The young spirit detective angrily pushed himself off the gravel and led Botan - in her schoolgirl uniform to fit in, of course! - downstairs to Kuwabara's classroom. The delinquent slid open the door and was glad to see that Kuwabara immediately noticed them. Yusuke wouldn't have to smack him upside the head to get his attention this time.

 

“Hey guys, what are you doing here Botan?” The big oaf carefully shut the door behind him to keep their conversation private. “What does Koenma need now? We just got back like, two weeks ago.”

 

“That's what I said,” Yusuke chipped in. “But the grim reaper here says it's urgent, so we better get the others too.” Kuwabara nodded and snuck out of the school with Yusuke and Botan. Just as they got far enough away from the buildings, Botan's beeper went off.

 

“Why, hello Koenma!” she said happily, flipping open the circular communicator.

 

“Botan! Get Yusuke and Kuwabara over here ASAP! Hiei and Kurama are already on their way. You must hurry!” The young prince shouted loud enough for the other two boys to hear. Without giving Botan a chance to respond he hung up, leaving her slightly confused and a little upset.

 

“It didn't seem that urgent before. This must be serious! Come on,” she said, grabbing her oar out of thin air. “Hold on tight, boys!” Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged a brief glance before quickly grabbing on to the back of the oar, nearly being left behind.

 

 

The three arrived at the giant palace of King Yama in a matter of minutes. Yusuke scowled when he was finally able to stand on something stable again. “Pacifier breath better have a damn good explanation for this,” he shouted down the halls, attempting to fix his messed up hair.

 

Botan led them down the long halls and past the room where all the crazy blue ogres worked. Yusuke and Kuwabara could never get over how strange Spirit World was, and it only seemed to get even stranger each time they went there. They approached Koenma's office and Yusuke kicked the double doors open. “Alright prince of poop, what is it now?”

 

Koenma's eye twitched. “Keep it up with the nicknames, Yusuke, and I'll take back your soul,” he threatened. He cleared his throat before continuing. He looked at the four fighters before him; they wouldn't take kindly to this next assignment… “There is a pseudospace between the human and demon worlds that allows certain lower class demons to pass through - demons that cause little to no harm to us. Before you shout about demons passing through, let me finish Yusuke.” He glared at the spirit detective who had just opened his mouth to object. “Spirit World needed to compromise. If we tried to take the demon world all at once, it would have backfired and the higher A and S class demons would be able to pass through. If even one was to find its way to Earth…” The young prince shuddered. “Well, it would be beyond disastrous. So we put up a kekkai barrier so that only weak and harmless demons can pass through. However…” He took a long pause.

 

“Yeah? However what?!” Kuwabara asked, impatient. Koenma hesitated before he sighed and pulled out a picture of an old stone well from a file.

 

“We thought we had the kekkai barrier sealing every pseudospace known to Spirit World. We just now discovered a new one. It is very small, and no demons seem to have passed through it yet. But no one has been through this space before. There's no telling what kinds of demons live on the other side.” Kurama hummed to himself, trying his best not to look puzzled although he knew this case would be a tough one. Spirit World was supposed to know everything about demon hideouts and holes that allow them to pass to the human world.

 

“Koenma, how is it that Spirit World just now discovered this pseudospace?” the fox demon asked.

 

Junior pulled out some more photos and papers from the same file. “There have been recent reports of a girl being taken by a demon down into the well. Her name is Kagome Higurashi, although she hasn't been seen since she was taken.” The group leaned forward to take a closer look at the photo of the missing girl.

 

“Hey, she's hot,” Yusuke commented. Kuwabara nodded. Botan smacked them both with her oar, having none of their perversion.

 

“I'm telling Keiko!” she said, glaring at Yusuke. The two bickered back and forth about Yusuke's girlfriend until Koenma had enough of it.

 

“ENOUGH!” Koenma shouted. “This case isn't to be taken lightly. The well is located in a shrine near Unakami Junior High. There has also been strange energy around the school itself - I need you to check it out and if you see anything or anyone suspicious, report to me immediately. Now, go!” He shooed them all out, hoping that this demon hole could be sealed up before the creatures on the other side find out that it leads to the Human World.

 

 

Yusuke and the gang made sure to change into casual clothing before they went out in search of the stone well. They didn't want to get caught for not being school in the middle of the day. Luckily for them, the last bell for Unakami Junior High had just went off, signaling the end of the day just as they arrived. Hundreds of students poured out, some heading toward the gymnasium for after school activities and the rest heading home.

 

“So how are we supposed to tell where this strange energy is coming from?” Yusuke murmured, scanning the large crowd of students. If anything, they were the ones that stood out; it was obvious they did not attend Unakami Junior High. The four boys concentrated hard on the source of the energy, though it didn't take long for them to find two very odd-looking students staring at them from the side of the building.

 

The two students quickly turned their heads away once they were caught. “Hey, who are they?” Kuwabara wondered. “I thought you couldn't have unnatural hair colors in school…” Yusuke slowly began to lead the group toward the two girls.

 

“Yeah, or maybe the other students just can't see their real unnatural hair,” he replied. The two girls, one with short white-blond hair and the other with long royal blue hair, noticed their advance. A group of band students just happened to pass by, cutting Yusuke and the others off. He saw the two girls run down the street attempting to lose them. “Hey! Get back here!” he shouted. With no hesitation the four boys ran after the strange students, wondering if they were demons that had passed through the well but hoping that they were not. Hiei jumped ahead of them in the trees lining the sidewalk.

 

 

The two girls ran as fast as they could in their uncomfortable school shoes and skirts, trying desperately to lose the people trailing behind them. Unfortunately, they could sense the others' unnatural powers and could tell that they were far greater than their own. “What do we do now, Kai?” the one with white-blond hair asked between breaths. They were not accustomed to sprinting so fast since they had never been chased before.

 

The girl with longer blue hair took deep breaths and slowed down, pulling her friend behind a tree on the side of the road. “There's a forest just around that corner behind the shrine, I think we can lose them in there,” she replied. Without having much time for rest they continued on. Kai looked back, barely seeing the boys chasing them through her long dark hair. “Come on, Atsuko! We have to lose them!”

 

The one named Atsuko sighed and replied, “I'm trying!” When they were far enough and had seemed to have lost the group, they stopped, sitting on the edge of a short stone wall surrounded by beautiful trees. “You think we lost them?” The girl gasped for air.

 

A loud shout came to their ears, answering Atsuko's question. “I guess not!” Kai replied. She turned around and saw a deep well that was inside the short stone wall. “Well, I always say leap before you think.”

Atsuko looked at her friend, confused. “What?” The voices got louder.

 

“Jump!” she shouted, bringing Atsuko tumbling down with her as they fell down the well.

 

 

Yusuke skidded to a halt just before he reached the stone well surrounding the well, causing Kuwabara to nearly run into him. He cursed under his breath. “I can't believe we lost them,” he said. He looked down into the well, picking up a rock and dropping it inside to see how deep it was. They never heard the rock hit the ground.

 

“Well, at least we found the well,” Kurama said. He jumped over the wall and looked down into the well to examine it. “This definitely is a portal that leads to the Demon World. But it feels different…”

 

Hiei hopped out of a tree, landing next to Kuwabara. “You're right, Kurama. This isn't the real Demon World,” he added. Kuwabara scratched his head, clearly confused.

 

“So what do we do now?” Kuwabara asked. Should they go down the hole and follow the two girls, or should they report back to Koenma? Yusuke answered that question.

 

Yusuke pulled out a small circular device, similar to Botan's, only it looked more like a compact. Kuwabara laughed loudly. “Didn't know you wore make-up now Urameshi, did Keiko put it on you to make you look prettier?” He nearly fell over from laughing so hard. Kurama let a giggle slip out but not loud enough to catch Yusuke's attention.

 

The spirit detective brutally bashed Kuwabara's head into the stone wall. “Can it, carrot-top!” Satisfied that he had bruised his best friend's face for making fun of him, he opened the compact—um, communicator—and pressed a button. In a couple of seconds Koenma appeared on the small screen. The others gathered behind Yusuke. “Hey diaper brain, we found the well.” He turned the communicator around to show Koenma their location. “Not only that, we found a couple of demon students at Unakami. They went down the well to the Demon World.”

 

Koenma fidgeted with his hands for a moment before answering. “I see. Then the demons know that this portal leads to the Human World. I will assemble all the strongest psychics in Spirit World to try and seal it, but… It will still be a long process. Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama - follow those demons down the well. But be prepared - no one has ever been through this pseudospace before. Hiei, you keep watch at the well in case other demons come through the other side. I will get back to you as soon as I can and if you find anything strange, report to me. I'm sending Botan to follow you in case something happens.” Koenma's image disappeared leaving a black screen. Yusuke sighed.

 

“Great, we get to visit Demon World. How pleasant,” he muttered. Kuwabara started shaking.

 

“Why do I have to guard the well?” Hiei questioned, looking angry. “Koenma should know that I would gladly let demons pass through.”

 

“Uh, okay Hiei, why don't you go down to Demon World with them and I'll keep watch here, okay?” Kuwabara replied. Yusuke smirked.

 

“What'sa matter Kuwabara, scared the demons will get you?” the Spirit Detective teased. Kuwabara's lip twitched and he moved to punch Yusuke.

 

“I am not scared, Urameshi!” He missed Yusuke's face, falling flat on the ground. “You heard Hiei, he'd just let demons pass through. But I, Kuwabara…” He stood up quickly, standing proud with his fists resting on his hips. “Sworn protector of Human World will make sure that no demon passes through! If they wanna take my home planet then they'll have to go through me first!”

 

Yusuke and Kurama sighed, wondering if having Kuwabara guard the well was such a good idea. If any demon came through chances are Kuwabara wouldn't be able to stop it. Although, it would definitely be safer for him to remain in the Human World.

 

Hiei shook his head. “I just lost half of my brain cells listening to your stupidity, Kuwabara,” the small demon said. Kuwabara growled at Hiei.

 

“Shut your mouth, short stuff!” He swung at him and missed, once again falling to the ground. Hiei was just too fast.

 

“What are we waiting for?” Yusuke asked. “Let's get this over with.” He jumped right over the stone wall and down the well, Kurama and Hiei following soon after.