Disclaimer: I do not nor have I ever owned YuYu Hakusho or Inuyasha. That's why I'm depressed and have to make them into little dollies in my own distorted universe.

Out of Despair

Chapter 1

"Hurry up, we are running late as it is." Keiko pulled trying to drag the spirit detective down the block.

"Yeah, yeah. Keep your skirt on. I don't know why I had to come anyhow. It's your homework, after all." Yusuke allowed her to keep tugging away but refused to pick up the pace.

Keiko stopped abruptly, taking in a deep breath before unleashing all of her anger. "You know if you didn't want to come so badly you could have just told me yesterday. I don't know why I thought you might want to spend some time with me. You blow off every date we have!" Keiko's face grew redder as she gathered up more air to yell at Yusuke.

"Geez. You don't have to yell you know!" Yusuke hollered back before she could finish her rant.

"Obviously, I do! Now let's go. It shouldn't take too long and then you can take me to that movie that you were supposed to go to last week." She turned her back letting him know that she was done and continued to walk.

The boy was seriously chewing his tongue thinking about that stupid "chick flick" he had dodged last week, but for once he wasn't going to tell her how stupid it was. He had last week, and she didn't shut up for two whole hours of yelling. And she was not beyond making it a double feature to get even. He crinkled his forehead trying to will the little toddler to call him with an emergency before they reached the theater. How he had rather be drug through the Makai by ten of the worst demons than have to endure the torture his fiancée had planned for this afternoon.

Keiko stopped before the stairs leading to the shrine. "We made it! Now, Yusuke behave! I need this interview for my paper." The girl turned quickly and began jogging up the steps with her shirt skirt fluttering from side to side.

"I still don't see why we have to come to this shrine. Couldn't you just talk to Genkai?" Yusuke stood in his place watching the girl's skirt giving him brief glances of her underwear as she hurried. 'At least it isn't all bad,' Yusuke thought.

The girl just sighed as she reached the top of the steps. "Just stay here, and don't destroy anything."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, whatever. Just go and get it over with." Yusuke said dismissively. He rubbed the back of his head as he detected a very strong force. He stood trying to figure out what power he felt within the shrine. It was somewhat different than his spiritual powers but very strong, nonetheless.

He felt the magnetic pull of something, he just couldn't quite place it. With a cocked eyebrow, he wandered to an old tree and placed his hand on its bark. "What the hell?" he muttered as he felt an odd pulse from within the tree.

"May I help you, young man?" An older woman with short, curly hair had suddenly appeared just behind the detective bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Uh, this tree? What's the deal?"

"Hmmm… My dad is the one that is better with the legend of the Goshinboka, than I but I think he's with the young lady over there, if you wouldn't care to wait." Her voice was pleasant and motherly.

"Yeah, that girl is my fiancée. She has some stupid paper or something to do for school."

"Oh, I see. Well, this tree is called the GoshinbokuIt is well over 500 years old." Mrs. Higurashi stopped as she noticed the boy's attention falter and turned toward the steps. She couldn't help but wonder what he seemed to be waiting for. A few moments passed before a raven haired girl appeared. Mrs. Higaurashi smiled as she saw his interest flare. "That is my daughter, Kagome."

"Kagome?" He questioned. He had seen her someplace before, but where he didn't know. It wasn't often that he came to this side of town. Hell, he wouldn't have even known this shrine existed if it hadn't been for Keiko making him come today. She was so visibly sad that it seemed to be draining all the nearby energy as she passed. He cursed at himself for not remembering where he had seen her before. Anyone with that depressed of an aura, he would surely remember, and as attractive as she was it was a shame. "What's wrong with her?"

"She's been going through some difficult things. You know how being a teenager is." Mrs. Higurashi watched as her daughter passed without even looking up. She smiled drawing his attention back to the tree. "This tree is fabled as the tree that transcends time. My daughter knows much of the legends better than I. Perhaps you would like it if she told you about it?"

"No, that's ok. I'm just going to look around a bit while I wait."

Mrs. Higurashi smiled once more leaving him to his thoughts.

Yusuke stood staring at the tree as it visibly pulsed now in front of him. He had waited almost two and a half hours before ditching Keiko and calling Kuwabara to meet him at the Higurashi Shrine. He knew that his friend was far better with auras and spiritual energy than he was. This couldn't wait. He needed to know why an object such as this would be acting in this way.

"I don't know what you mean, man. I mean it's just a dumb old tree. I don't feel nothing. What's got you so worked up anyway?" Kuwabara stood scratching his head looking at the tree. A fat, round cat wandered over to him slinking between his legs craving attention. "What a cute cat? Yusuke, did you see the cat?"

Yusuke couldn't keep his eyes from the tree. "Yah, yah, yah, cute cat…" He couldn't help but think he should have asked if the cat had any kind of power coming off of it. Maybe he would be focused to see it, if he couldn't see this that was right before his eyes. He knew he wasn't going crazy or seeing things. It was here, and it was real. Now, if he could just figure out what it was. Could it be that he was wrong and this was demonic energy. He doubted it. Flipping open his communicator, he called and asked his other two friends to join them. Neither was too happy, but they agreed.

"Oh, I see you've come back." Kuwabara turned first to greet Mrs. Higurashi holding the purring Buyo in his arms. "Hi, I'm Mrs. Higurashi and that is Buyo. It looks like he's found a friend."

"Hi there, I'm Kuwabara Kazuma. This is a real sweet kitty you've got here." He continued to pet Buyo, but he noticed that Yusuke still hadn't even turned to acknowledge the older lady that had greeted them. Using his elbow, he poked his friend in the back hard but discreetly.

It was driving him absolutely bonkers that he couldn't figure this tree out, but at the sharp poke of Kuwabara's elbow he thought he would give it a rest until the rest of the group got there. "Yeah, I came back. I like looking around so much today, that I wanted a few of my friend's to see it, too. You don't mind, do you? The rest of them should be here anytime. We shouldn't be here long."

Mrs. Higurashi eyed them skeptically. This boy was looking for something and bringing others. It didn't make sense what would interest these boys in this old shrine. He had obviously not wanted to be here today, and now he was back. He didn't seem to be dangerous. Others might well fear both of the boys, but she didn't believe they were there for any destructive purpose, but she couldn't be positive. "Is there something in particular that I could help you with?"

"No, just looking. You know, but didn't you say that your daughter could give us a tour?" Yusuke asked politely.

"She could have earlier, but she's not here now. Her friend's convinced her to go see a movie with them." She smiled as she realized it must be her that the boys were interested in. It would do her good to meet some boys her age and hopefully they could break her free of her depression. Hojo had been coming by everyday to bring her all sorts of gifts but nothing even got her to laugh or question what in the world some of the gifts were used for, but still he came everyday. She almost felt sorry for the boy. "She will be here later on this evening if you boys are still around." Slightly bowing she walked back into the house leaving Buyo to bask in his attention.

The sun had begun to set before the two remaining teammates had managed to make an appearance.

"Why did you send for us, Urameshi? This doesn't look like anything you can't handle." Hiei gave a foreboding glare.

"Com'on, Hiei. I missed you guys. I would have thought by now you would have missed me, too?" Yusuke tried to make light of the situation, as both demons scrutinized his frivolity. Noticing they weren't finding his humor, he decided to get down to business. "Can you use your energy to try to detect what is going on in this shrine?"

Both of the demons drop their masking abilities to scan the area to find nothing. After looking apprehensively at one another, Kurama broke the silence. "There is nothing here. No energy at all. No spiritual nor any other for that matter." Kurama had to think about the possibility of that for a moment. Almost all shrines contained some spiritual energy, unless they were absolutely bogus. This shrine appeared far too old for that. There was something odd about it, but not enough to devote any time into it. He decided to keep that information to himself.

"See I told you, Urameshi. None, nada, zip." Kuwabara reluctantly let the cat jump down. It seemed to have had its fill of being petted for the moment.

A loud slam of a door came from the back of the house, quickly replaced by an old man ranting of youkai on the grounds. The spirit detectives stood their ground calmly as they watched the old shrine keeper throwing ofudas around the area where they stood. Mrs. Higurashi came running behind him trying to calm him.

"Dad, these aren't youkai. They are just teenagers who came to visit the shrine. Please, Dad, come back in the house and I'll make us some tea, while they finish up out here."

"You would let these youkai run around the shrine and take our Kagome from us again?"

"Dad, no one is here to take Kagome. They only want to look at the tree. Look the ofudas would have sealed them if they had been youkai. They are nothing but ningen boys."

Kagome's granddad stood looking at the ofudas that lay littering the ground, not a one of them had taken to the demons. He could strongly sense the youki, but after a little thought he come to the conclusion that he might have been wrong where it came from. Looking at them one last time, he turned to go back into the house.

Mrs. Higurashi knew that her dad could be off at times, but she was sure that this was not one of those times. That was their attraction here. It was both Kagome and the tree that had pulled them here. Scrutinizing them carefully, she took a moment before giving them an explanation. "My father is old. He has lived here all of his life and knows all of the legends of youkai. Sometimes he gets confused and thinks that the legends are real. I apologize for him scaring you like that. He's not dangerous, but I take it you've seen enough. There are many other shrines in Tokyo with many more interesting pieces than we have."

"I'm sorry, we haven't met properly. My name is Minamino Shuichi. I'm sorry we didn't mean to upset your father and yes, there are many more shrines for us to explore. But for an odd reason, I take it that you do believe us to be youkai or else you wouldn't be so eager for us to leave."

His words were almost lyrical to her, calming any thoughts that they could be threatening. Even as she relaxed, she did not grant them anymore charming smiles. "Whether I believe or not, isn't the point. My father does believe it, and he is an old man. I do not wish to see him upset, and besides his ofudas have never worked against the stronger demons." Bowing slightly, she bid them a good night.

'Interesting words, I would have to say.' Youko pointed out to his counterpart.

"I've never been kicked out of anywhere so nicely," Kuwabara added thinking about all of the times he had actually been picked up and literally booted out of a place.

Yusuke took another look around the property trying to sense the girl, Kagome's, aura. He didn't care if her mother had asked them to leave he wanted to linger around a bit until he could see if any of them could pick up on her energy either. He needed to see her again, and he needed to see her tonight.

"Well, yes, she was pleasant about wanting us to leave and never come back." Kurama coolly placed both hands behind his back turning to walk back down the shrine steps contemplating the words that had come into play. He wasn't sure what Yusuke was feeling about this place, but there was something here. A puzzle to be solved. Perhaps it was worth some time after all.

"You guys just can't leave. You need to meet the girl. She has got to be an important link into all of this, even her grandfather mentioned it." Yusuke had never felt so desperate about wanting to see someone in his entire life, and they were seemingly ignoring him. Suddenly, he sensed her aura. It was coming closer. He could still get them to see her. "Okay, let's just go back to my house then." They should directly pass her if they walked slow enough toward the train station.

'The girl is obviously coming.'

'Yes, it would seem so.' Kurama inwardly smirked at his teammates antics.

The walk was quiet down the block, not even Kuwabara was speaking. And the sun had quickly disappeared, leaving only the few streetlamps that safeguarded the area to give light.

The girl sped up as she noticed the four boys meandering down the sidewalk. She kept her head down and tensed as she walked past them.

Kurama watched as Yusuke's attention was drawn to the girl. Kurama casually stepped to the side and diverted his eyes from her as he focused on her energy. He didn't want to scare her any worse than she seemed to be already, but he felt no sign of anything yet again. He didn't know of any human that could mask their energy that well. On top of that her physical appearance left a lot to be desired. She didn't seem to be anything that Keiko could be threatened by. Her face was drawn and sallow. Her eyes were sunken in giving the girl the appearance of someone who had not eaten or slept recently. Letting the girl enough time to get out of ear shot, he looked at Yusuke. "Yusuke, what do you think you are feeling? That girl doesn't have any energy either, be it spiritual or otherwise."

"Listen, I know you all think I have lost it, but I know something is terribly wrong here. I want to go to Koenma and find out from him. If he says nothing is the matter, I swear I will drop it."

"We will see what he has to say." He couldn't help but go along with it, if only to satisfy his own interests. If there was anything that had ever happen there the deity would surely know about it. Maybe then he could easily answer the question why her family had been so worried that there could be another attack on the girl's life by demons.

"Fox, we are not social workers. The girl looks like she needs a good shrink not spirit detectives. If that's what we even are now a days." Hiei's tone was short and callous. He did not care to go any further or learn anymore.

"Hiei, just have a little more patience." He could already see the annoyance building in the hybrid, but he would be over it by the end of the evening.

Hiei stood in Koenma's office feeling that this was a complete waste of his time. It had become Yusuke's concern over that damn tree and the girl. He nor the others could not feel anything from the tree, which Yusuke had seemingly affixed himself to. Not even Kuwabara felt energy radiating from it. He couldn't help but wonder if this was another way to avoid marriage. He always seemed to be running in one form or fashion to the next mission and away from Keiko. He knew that Yusuke loved Keiko, but with the lack of missions they had had since going against Koenma's father, he wondered if Yusuke didn't want to make something out of nothing.

"Yusuke, you are to stay away from this girl. And I mean that in no uncertain terms. Stay away, Yusuke. If my Dad finds you around her, there will be hell to pay. And that goes for the rest of you, too." Koenma's words were forceful as he paced on his desk.

"Listen here, Toddler, all I did was ask what is up with this shrine? What are you getting all worked up about this girl for anyway." Yusuke had started going over the desk in an attempt to intimidate him. Although, the intimidation was working, he refused to divulge any information on the shrine or the girl.

Kurama stepped back relaxing himself against the far wall, contemplating what had gotten Koenma so excited. Whatever it was could not be good if King Enma was involved. He knew it wouldn't do any good to ask. Even now, Koenma had taken to chewing his pacifier twice as hard in between words. Experience had taught him it was far better to listen to his boss, it would tell him far more than asking questions. The more he chewed the bigger the challenge would be to uncover this puzzle.

"Listen, Yusuke, she's a special circumstance. Spirit World is not allowed to touch her until the day she dies and even then it's debatable. She is governed by another, one of whom, even my father fears."

Kurama took special note of that. It would be interesting to figure it out, but would it be worth the mental aggravation that was sure to accompany provoking King Enma and this new person? It would wait until later. For now, he was convinced that Koenma had said more than enough to keep Yusuke hot on the trail. He would let him do most of the work for him he decided. He knew the detective would be sure to come to him when there were more questions that needed answering.

A/N I am fragile… Please no flames.