The hero of this story is a seventeen-year-old boy named Yusuke Urameshi, a member of the guild Fairy Tail.
Or, at least… he's supposed to be.
May 18th, X784
It had started out as a normal day for Yusuke. He went to the guildhall and got into a fight with Kuwabara, which he won. He then took a job from the request board and headed out, barely noticing Natsu and Happy take a job of their own and following him. It seemed like their jobs would be at the same place, so Yusuke just assumed they'd be traveling together until they separated for their separate jobs.
He was pretty correct on that, though he had to turn away from Natsu when they were on the train, due to Natsu's motion sickness.
When they reached the town of Gladioli, Yusuke separated from Natsu and Happy.
He knew full well what his job was, and he guessed that it would be easy.
He didn't know how wrong he was.
It didn't take him long to find the bandit group he was supposed to defeat. He only had to take one detour, and that detour actually made him a bit happy. He had met a little boy and entertained him for a little while before he had to go.
They were weak bandits, but they were scary enough to normal people that the rich people up top had offered quite a bit for the job, but there were enough that he wished that he had dragged Keiko along. Her Rune Script magic and Keiko Slap would've been helpful in beating up the bandits.
Suddenly, Yusuke felt a spike in magic power, and saw a beam of magic go at a little kid that had been too stupid to run away when the fighting had begun.
The same little kid that Yusuke had played with just a little earlier.
"Hey, kid, watch out!"
With a burst of speed, Yusuke pushed the kid out of the way in the nick of time, being hit instead.
The beam instantly killed him. He heard a roar of outrage from nearby just before he died…
So… that's it? I'm yet another tragedy that Fairy Tail has to deal with? Yusuke thought as he, as a spirit, watched Natsu beat up the bandit that had killed him. It had surprised him, when he woke up in the air with front row seats to Natsu's rage at seeing Yusuke die. He looked at his dead body, which had long since stopped bleeding out.
"If that's me down there… Then who am I up here…?" Yusuke asked himself, "Am I… a ghost?"
"Bingo!" came a feminine voice. A girl wearing a pink kimono riding an oar was suddenly in Yusuke's line of vision. Yusuke freaked out.
"Hahaha! I didn't expect you to figure it out so quickly!" laughed the kimono-wearing girl. Yusuke's eyes narrowed into a glare.
"Who the hell are you?" he asked.
"Well, when people die unexpectedly like you just did, it's common for them to not believe it and become ghosts." the girl replied.
"You're not answering my question!" Yusuke exclaimed.
"I'm Botan, an Oar Girl!" Botan replied cheerfully. Yusuke just glared at her.
"Oh! Now I know who you are!" Botan suddenly said, her cheerful tone still intact as she got out a book, "Yusuke Urameshi, age seventeen. Personality is impulsive and ill-mannered with a violent temper. He has no respect for authority but is quite a good mage. Belongs to the guild Fairy Tail, so it's to be expected. Parents are Atsuko Urameshi and Gildarts Clive." Botan paused, "Things weren't going good for you, were they?" she giggled.
"That's none of your business!" Yusuke exclaimed, trying to take Botan's book away from her. Botan quickly moved it so Yusuke couldn't grab it. Botan laughed while Yusuke floated down to check on the kid he had saved. He sighed in relief before looking towards Natsu.
Sorry, bro... Yusuke thought, frowning. Natsu had beaten the bandit so badly the bastard was only an inch away from joining Yusuke in death, and was now sitting by Yusuke's body. His eyes were shadowed, but Yusuke knew that Natsu was saddened by his death. Eventually, though, Natsu picked Yusuke's body up in a piggyback-style while talking with Happy, who was obviously crying.
"You don't have to leave them, you know." Botan suddenly spoke up.
"E-Eh?!" Yusuke's attention snapped to Botan.
"Your death was a total surprise!" Botan exclaimed, "We don't have a place for you, so Lord Koenma sent me down here to take you to Reikai so you can go through an ordeal to get you your body back, good as new!"
"A-Are you serious?!" Yusuke asked. Botan nodded.
"Of course I am!" she replied cheerfully. Yusuke frowned, sitting with his legs crossed while floating on the air, his hand holding up his chin in thought. He looked down at Natsu and Happy, who were still taking his body back to Fairy Tail. It seemed that Natsu was going to walk back, so he wouldn't have to take a dead body on a train… And to avoid the train all-together.
"Okay." Yusuke nodded towards Botan, who gestured for him to grab ahold of her oar. She then sped off into the distance…
And started this adventure for real.
The hero of this story is seventeen-year-old Yusuke Urameshi, son of Gildarts Clive and good friend of Natsu Dragneel. He is also a member of Fairy Tail…
But, right now…
He's dead.