Chapter 1

"...Hey Kuwabara..."

"What is it Urameshi? I'm trying to study for exams here!" The orange-headed teen was buried up to the point of his afro in a hill of large complicated looking books and papers that made Yusuke's head start to hurt the moment he looked at them.

"I'm so sorry, you big bookworm." Yusuke jerked his head over at the front of the class. "Who is that girl?"

Kuwabara looked up from his book, still irritated. His eyes widened. "Huh. I don't know who she is."

"Neither do I, but she's kinda cute, right?"

CLANG –

The chair Yusuke was sitting on was yanked backwards, and Yusuke fell over. He sat up and turned to glare at the girl standing behind him. When he realized just who it was, the glare quickly turned into a tentative expression.

Keiko glared at him. "You'd better not be looking at a girl instead of concentrating on your studies, Yusuke," Keiko scolded. "Otherwise, you're never going to get anywhere. You should be more like Kuwabara. Look, he's actually working!"

Glaring at the chortling Kuwabara, Yusuke scowled and slammed open his book.

The girl standing in the doorway, meanwhile, played with a ring on her pinky which was marked with lots of strange symbols. Her hair was short and gray, cut to frame a face with light brown eyes. The gold ring flashed between her fingers, giving off light dangerously.

She was waiting for someone – it was made obvious by the way she was glancing around every so often, the loose t-shirt and jeans combination she wore instead of the uniform that told everyone that she was not from the school, and the singular thought running through her mind -

She should be here soon...

Of course very few people could have actually seen the thought, but nevertheless, almost on cue, the other door to the classroom opened and Botan walked in, looking very foreign with blue hair and eyes that were most certainly not Japanese.

"Botan?" Yusuke yelped, and his chair scraped backwards with his surprise. "Why are you here?"

Botan smiled at him. "I'm here to give you another case and introduce you to a new assistant on this case." She marched over to the other girl, who glanced up and then grinned at her, pushing herself off the wall.

She fanned her hand out in a small wave. "Hey, Botan. It's nice to see you again."

"Hello, Riko. This," she dragged Riko by the arm over to Yusuke, "Is Yusuke Urameshi, the current Spirit Detective!"

"How is everyone with Spirit World?" Kuwabara muttered. When Riko blinked at him, he flushed and straightened, "I am Kuwabara Kazuma!" He considered adding 'the Great', but decided that if the girl was associated with the Spirit World, she probably already knew that.

Riko bit back a grin. "It's a pleasure. I'm Riko Isshi." Her eyes shifted to Keiko.

"I'm Keiko," the other girl said, smiling. She turned to Botan. "So, Botan, what is this case?" She kept her voice low to avoid attracting attention.

Taking out a picture, Botan placed it on the desk in front of Yusuke. Yusuke picked it up, and both Kuwabara and Keiko leaned in to get a closer look.

It was a picture of a toddler with jet black hair and black eyes, dressed in a full-length kimono, properly done up, red with black vines and red and black ribbons in her long hair. She was very adorable in a childish way, but there was also something that brought a shiver to Kuwabara's neck.

"This is Suzume Hayashi. She is the daughter of a very important aristocrat of Spirit World and has recently gone missing. Her parents are frantic and have asked for Koenma's help in this matter."

Yusuke held up a hand. "Whoa, hold on a minute, Botan. I'm looking for a missing person? Come on! I'm supposed to hunt super powerful demons, not children!And what's more, I want a break!It's just been task, task, task, lately, that boot camp, that stupid whistle, rescuing Hiei's sister - don't I get any breaks?"

Botan's eyes flashed. "That child is more important - more powerful then anyone you've faced so far."

Snorting, Yusuke leaned back in his chair. "Oh yeah? Says who?"

"Her parents are capable of taking your lazy bum and throwing it ten times over the horizon. If you don't fine Suzume, they're going to tear the human world apart searching for her. And Suzume, herself, is called the 'Poison Child'. Even a drop of her blood used the right way will kill the strongest human or demon." Botan glared at Yusuke. "We assume she's been kidnapped by someone who means no good to the Spirit World. There's already been two assassinations already with her blood."

Irritated, Yusuke glared at Riko, apparently over his brief infatuation with her looks. "So what about you? What can you do?"

Keiko smacked him. "Yusuke! Don't be so rude!"

Yusuke shot up. "I ASK A SIMPLE QUESTION AND - "

"I'm a healer," Riko said. "Koenma has noticed how many injuries you guys get - especially you, Yusuke - and so he decided that you should have someone to help you."

Botan shook her head at Yusuke who was still mouthing silent threats and looked infuriated. "Kuwabara, you may go along if you want to. This is a very dangerous case, and of course we'll understand if you don't - "

Kuwabara waved her off. "Say no more. If I'm not there, Yusuke's going to get his head blown off even if there is a healer there."

Smiling at Kuwabara, Botan turned back to Yusuke. "Hiei and Kurama will be coming with you to help along as well." She paused. "Probably."

"Probably?"

"Kurama will be, definitely. He's agreed already, and he's already acquainted with Riko, so it's no problem for him. Hiei..."

In a very dry tone, Riko said, "He said that working with two humans was bad enough without adding another one who didn't even specialize in fighting and was good only for repairing wounds that probably didn't even hurt him either way."

Yusuke rolled his eyes. "That's Hiei for you..."

End of Chapter 1

Thank you.