Legal Stuff: I do not own the characters, things, places and etc. from Yu Yu Hakusho. My original characters, however, are of my own creation and the normal copyright laws DO apply. If you want to use ANYTHING that you read in this fan-fiction, please just send me an email, it's all I ask. Do not reproduce any part of this story unless you ask. Thanks for your cooperation
Other stuff: Feel free to suggest, comment and review my story. Don't flame me either. This is the first story i've decided to publish so go easy on me. Thanks.
So it begins...
Empty. That's what the criminals thought. That's why they planned a drop-off in the park at exactly 2 AM in the morning. The guard's were always fast asleep somewhere warm, so it was a perfect place for the drop off....
The two casually dressed men came up to one another and quietly greeted each other, both looking around for any signs of people, but finding none. They quickly begain their business, strolling around the park quietly negotiating another drop-off. Unkowningly the two men awoke a sleeping figure in the branches of the largest oak tree in the park. The two men didn't know their little secret was out, but who could blame them? They didn't notice the figure stirring or a moving shadow, no they were focused on their business. As the meeting finally ncluded the two criminals said their goodbyes, just before both fell to the ground dead.
The next morning
Yusuke was startled by the news and before he could get out of the door the doorbell rang. He was expecting it would be Keiko but to his suprise, Botan stood in the open doorway with a look of worry on her face. "What do you want?" he asked rather harshly. Botan stepped inside and shut the door behind her and in a low voice "Yusuke, we've got a big problem." "What is it this time?" he asked, still irritated by the morning visit.
"Koenma said that he needs you to try and find out what happened this morning. Two men were killed and it doesn't appear that it was done by a human." she still spoke in a low voice because she wasn't sure if Yusuke's mother was home.
"I'm going to school. i'll check it out later." With that he opened the door, told botan to get lost and began walking to school.
Kuwabara and Kurama caught up with Yusuke at school. Yusuke told them both about Koenma's new assignment. They were both suprised, although Kurama wasn't nearly as suprised as Yusuke thought. "That makes sense.." muttered Kurama and as expected, both Kuwabara and Yusuke replied "What makes senese!?"
"I felt a large energy last night. I woke up to get a drink of water." explained the red-headed Kurama. Yusuke and Kuwabara listend as he continued "It came out of no where and disappeared just as quickly as it appeared. I couldn't get a fix on it, but it was unusually strong." The conversation continued untill they reached the school. All three said goodbye and went to their classes.
As the three agreed earlier, they met inside of the park. Kuwabara, and Yusuke began searching for clues as close to the sealed off area without attracting attention. Kurama watched as Yusuke and Kuwabara began their search but they soon stopped as they noticed Kurama wasn't joining them. Finally, Yusuke asked the redhead what he was waiting for and Kurama responded "Hiei. I told him to meet me here."
"Why did you want the Shrimp to come?" asked Kuwabara "He can get to where the bodies were found." stated the kitsune.
"Hn. What bodies?" asked a voice from above. All three of the friends looked up to see Hiei standing on a tree limb above them.
"Two men were killed here and it doesn't sound like it was done by any human.
Hiei looked at the trio and then spoke"Hn. fine. I'll be right back." As Hiei disappeared from sight, all three waited patiently, hoping that the little demon finds something useful. After a couple of minutes the demon returned to his original position on the limb, "I only found this." Hiei held his arm out and showed the three his find, a beautifully crafted dagger. "It was in the large oak three." All three lookef at Hiei suspiciously, untill Kurama finally asked "Can we have it so we can show it to Koenma?" Hiei shrugged and with his usual "Hn." he tossed the dagger into the ground at Kurama's feet. Hiei diappeared again, having done his part. Kurama picked up the dagger and looked at it closely, motioning Yusuke and Kuwabara to follow. After they were out of the park, Kuwabara spoke up "Can I see it!? You've had your turn Kurama." Reluctantly, Kurama handed the dagger over t o the loud Kuwabara. They walked in silence untill they reached a dark alley. They waited for Koenma and sure enough, he appeared not more than a minute later. He looked over the three companions and then spoke "Did you find anything? I hope it's good." Yusuke took the dagger from Kuwabara and shoved it into Koenma's hand. He looked over the dagger in silence and looked up at the trio. "I think I have seen a picture of this dagger before." The ruler of Spirit World thought a minute and finally continued, "It belonged to a demon whose name I can't recall." Another long pause and then "Oh yes, now I remember, his name was Piehl. I remember him well mainly becuase he did a couple of jobs for me, before disappearing completely. No ones heard from him since. I assumed he was incapacitated or dead." Koenma stopped, obviously trying to recall more about this myserious person.
"Why did he kill those two men and leave his dagger then?" blurted out Kuwabara, which for once, had a good point.
"They weren't innocent men." said Koenma, "They were criminals that have been involved in numerous drug conspiracies. He could have taken up a bounty. I'm not sure."
Yusuke leaned against the nearest wall before speaking, "Do you know where we can find him? I'm getting tired of standing here and doing nothing."
Kurama, Kuwabara and Koenma looked up at Yusuke. Koenma responded, "No I don't know where he is. I'm not sure you would be able to find him anyways. Why do you think we've never been able to find anything about him? He's going to find you before you find him. I'm sure he wants this dagger back."
"Well let's give it back to him and ask him why he killed them." suggested Kuwabara. "Hn. Good luck getting him to talk." came a voice familiar voice from the shadows. Everyone looked to see the short demon step into the light. Koenma blinked and asked "You know him Hiei?"
The little demon shook his head. "No. I've heard of him."
Koenma sighed and spoke once again, "Well, The best solution is to draw him to us. Hopefully he'll take the bait."
"Let's hope he doesn't come for us in the night, we'll have a better chance in the day." suggested Kurama. Everyone (except Hiei) nodded their approval and headed home.
The next day...
The four fighters met in a meadow, far away from the city. Hiei was standing in a nearby tree, his eyes scanning the meadow for movement. Kurama rests against the tree, also scanning for movement. Yusuke and Kuwabara were sprawled out under the tree as well. Nothing moved for a long while....
As the four fighters gazed out at the meadow, a figure wearing all black appeared. It looked as if he came out of thin air but that wasn't the case. The figure stood in the meadow with his gazed fixed on the fouresome. His stare was blank, no emotion, but it was intimidating none the less. Finally the figure started to walk towards the gang and after a few steps he was close enough for them to make out the man's features. His uniform was what you would expect a Ninja to wear, mask and all. Strands of his long brown hair escaped the head covering and fell over his eyes. His form was ripped but he wasn't muscle-bound.
The man stopped, about 10 feet away from Yusuke and looked directly at him, not saying a word. He didn't need to say anything, Yusuke knew the man was after the dagger, and the one with it. Yusuke sat up and he returned the stare, although his didn't seem to bother the man at all. Does he know who I am? Shouldn't he be worried? thought Yusuke.
Yuusuke finally stood up and dusted himself off. "Your not getting the dagger back untill I get some answers or I'm dead." said the cocky Spirit Detective. Piehl answered the detective's comment with, as far as anyone could tell, a grin. Without warning the man disappeared and reappeared right behind Yusuke and before Yusuke knew what was going on he was sent flying forwards. Yusuke crashed on the far side of the meadow and destroyed a few trees as he slowed to a stop. Yusuke pushed himself up onto all fours but before he could stand up he was hit yet again. Yusuke's face slammed right into the ground and he hit the ground so hard that his body left an imprint in the ground.
After recovering from the shock, Kurama, Kuwabara, and Hiei watched as Yusuke was tossed around like a rag doll. Finally Kuwabara couldn't contain himself after seeing Yusuke being slammed into the ground, and decided that he was going to help his friend out. Kuwabara rushed across the meadow as fast as he could, summoning his spirit sword along the way, and launched himself at the demon. Unforutnately, Kuwabara didn't have the skills required to catch Piehl off guard and his slash was caught by Piehl's right hand. The big lug could only stare at Piehl in astonishment. Piehl looked at Kuwabara and narrowed his eyes, just before Piehl's left fist found the stomach of Kuwabara. Piehl wasn't surprised to see the human crash into the ground around the area of Kurama.
"Dodge this, SPIRIT GUN!" shouted Yusuke, his finger right next to Piehl's face. Piehl only had time to turn his head before being hit by the attack. BOOM! The nearby trees had no chance and sent splinters flying everywhere. For a few moments one could only see smoke, but it soon began to clear. When all of the smoke was gone, Yusuke could see no signs of the demon. He started walking to where Kuwabara landed but never reached his destination because a fist slammed into the side of his head, sending him zooming through the air once again. Yusuke crashed again, but got up quicker than last time, giving the demon no chance of slamming him back into the ground. Yusuke looked over at his foe, surprised that he was still alive.
Piehl's mask and shirt were destroyed during the explosion, exposing the many scars on his torso from past battles. The demon's face was handsome and he had no reason to wear the mask. He looked about 20 years of age but one couldn't be sure of how old he really was. Another disctintive feature was on his left arm. It was a tattoo that made his arm look as though it were on fire. It started at his wrist and ended at shoulder joint.
Just as Yusuke was preparing yet another attack, a voice shouted "STOP! YUSUKE WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" It was Koenma and he was angry at spirit detective for some reason.Both fighterslooked over at the ruler of spirit world and stood up from their fighting stances. "I NEVER SAID TO FIGHT HIM YOU BIG MORON!" continued the angry Koenma. "I swear Yusuke all you do is fight! I wanted to talk to him." Koenma stopped in between the two fighters, looking over at Yusuke with disgust and then the demon. "I know you didn't do it. I found out who it was." said Koenma.
"What is going on here!?" asked Yusuke. Hiei, Kurama and the limping Kuwabara came into view, but they were all silent as Koenma responded "He left his dagger because he was sleeping there. He went after the demon that comitted the crime and left his dagger stuck in the tree." Koenma looked back at Yusuke, "We found the demon that did it. Or what's left of him.." muttered Koenma. The ruler of spirit world sighed and turned back to Piehl "It's been a long time, Piehl." Just as before, Piehl remained silent but returned the look. He wasn't the type for conversations. "What happened to you all of these years? Why did you just simply disappear?" asked Koenma. To the others it was odd seeing Koenma concerned about someone that he really didn't know anything about. "Have it your way then." said the ruler of Spirit World, turning back to Yusuke and co. Yusuke almost forgot the dagger and tossed it towards the demon. The dagger flew through the air and landed in Piehl's open hand where he then quickly sheathed it. "Piehl, i've got a new job for you, if you're willing to take it." Koenma awaited the demon's answer before continuing. Sure enough the demon nodded and Koenma was free to speak "I need for you to find all the information about a demon by the name of Syphon. I've got disturbing reports about him and before I send Yusuke in, I need information about him." Piehl said nothing and just as fast as he had entered he was gone. Again he seemed to just vanish into thin air.
"Hn. He's good." muttered Hiei.
"Indeed." said Kurama.
"Ow. My ribs hurt." grunted Kuwabara.
"Do not mess with him again. He was going easy on you two. Living in the deepest parts of the Makai has made him far stronger than any of you." said Koenma. "He will be your newest ally against Syphon and his thugs."
"WHAT!?" shouted Yusuke and Kuwabara at the same time. "WHY!? We can take him ourselves!" continued Kuwabara.
"Yeah, we don't need him!" said Yusuke.
"Yes you do. Syphon and his minions are a very formidable opponent and you will need all the help you can get." Koenma looked at the group and continued "You can go now. i'll let you know when I have information about Syphon."
Each member of the gang headed towards the city, all eager for some rest and relaxation.
Untill next time..
Copyright Matt Frazier 2004
Read and review. No flames please. It was my first attempt and based on your reviews I may continue the story. I may not. It all depends... Peace.