Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or it's characters

Chapter1: Yusuke and Keiko meet

"Yusuke, go outside and play for a bit. 'Kay, sweetie?" Atsuko said nonchalantly. "Mommy needs to talk with her new client." The mysterious man beside her grinned at the boy. "Yeah, slugger, me and your mom need to finish some business." He put his arm around Atsuko's shoulders. The woman shrugged off his arm with an angry look in her eye.

Yusuke, a five year old boy with black hair and big brown eyes that matched his mother's, had to deal with guys like this all the time now that his father was gone. He remembered that his parents had another argument and heard the door slam shut as his dad left. Atsuko tried to explain that Yusuke's dad was only going to be gone for a few days to cool off, but her son wasn't buying it. That had happened a year ago and since then strange men had been coming and going from their apartment to "see" his mom. Yusuke didn't know exactly what his mother would do with these men, but he knew he would never see them again after.

"Go to the park and play. Just don't come back until dinner, okay?" Atsuko placed her hand gently on Yusuke's cheek. She seemed to be pleading for him to stay away. Yusuke saw his mom act like this whenever a "client" came by.

"Okay," Yusuke replied with a bit of a dejected tone. He walked over to the door, put on his shoes, and left. As soon as the door closed, he heard the man say something he couldn't understand and his mom replying with a more businesslike manner. The boy sighed as he walked down the street a few blocks and then walking across the road to the park.

He saw other kids around his age laughing and playing. They weren't kicked out of the house while their mother entertained a complete stranger. A dark cloud seemed to loom over him as approached the playground. The other children payed him no mind as he sat on the swing set and pushed himself slowly.

"Move it runt unless you want to get clobbered!" a voice from behind him said. It was rough sounding, even for a kid with barely the usual high pitch you hear before puberty. Yusuke turned his head and saw a kid with orange hair and beady eyes glaring at him. "You deaf? I said move it!"

Yusuke felt a fire rise inside of him and he stood up without any conscious thought. He turned to face the boy, who turned out to be at least five inches taller than him. "Make me," Yusuke demanded. His fists were clenched and he was ready to tackle the kid.

"Obviously, you don't know who I am," the boy shot back. "My name is Kaz-"

"I don't give a damn!" Yusuke swore. His cursing made the other kids around them turn and watch the pair. "I'm not leaving and if you want to fight, then let's fight!" Yusuke was not in a good mood and pounding on this ugly brat was sure to make him feel better.

It wasn't long before the two boys were on the ground wrestling each other. The other boy may have been bigger, but Yusuke could definitely hit harder. A minute into the fight and Yusuke was on top hitting the other boy repeatedly in the face with his fists. That was when Yusuke felt a hard knock at the side of his head, knocking him off of the other boy. Dazed, Yusuke looked up to see a girl maybe three years older than him pick up his opponent. She had long brown hair and the same beady eyes as the boy, but they served to give her a more mature look.

"Kazuma, how many times have I told you to block with your hands not your face!" the girl was drilling at the other boy. "Sorry, sis. I forgot," the boy replied sheepishly. Yusuke saw with satisfaction that he managed to give Kazuma a black eye and knocked one of his teeth girl dragged Kazuma away, all the while going over fighting maneuvers and giving him a few smacks upside the head. Yusuke only sat on the ground and laughed at the assaults. The other children returned to playing in their own groups, ignoring Yusuke like before except now some regarded him with wary looks.

Yusuke returned to the swing, rubbing the lump on his head that Kazuma's sister put there. Kazuma did not even give Yusuke a small bruise but his sister knocked him flat! The boy continued to swing slowly, thinking about his dad. Yusuke didn't really miss his father, he had always been mean to Yusuke and would hit him whenever Yusuke did something wrong. Atsuko did not like this form of discipline and this was usually how their arguments would start. Then Atsuko would notice Yusuke's father coming home late after work with the smell of booze on his breathe. She would attack him about what sort of example he was setting for his son, then he would call her a hypocrite and ask how many "coffees" she had had that day. Yusuke would hide in his room and cover his ears whenever the yelling got really bad. He didn't want to admit it, but sometimes Yusuke would cry into his pillow during some of the worst arguments.

"Hi," a meek voice behind him said. Yusuke turned, annoyed that no one had the decency to leave him alone. But then he saw that the voice behind him belonged to a girl with short brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. She wore a pink dress and her hair was put up in a side pony tail. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You look like you've been crying."

"What? No I haven't," Yusuke rubbed his eyes. They were raw and puffy and he saw some dark spots on his sleeve after he wiped his face.

"It's okay," the girl assured. "I cry sometimes, too."

"Yeah, only girls cry!"

The girl pouted. "Well if your going to be mean then I won't ask you to play." She crossed her arms at her chest like a grown up. Yusuke thought she looked pretty but he was starting to think she was bossy.

"Like I would want to play with a girl."

"Fine!" She turned her back and the way she stuck her nose up in the air made Yusuke want to do something naughty to bring her off her high horse. He looked at her dress and saw it stopped at her knees. Instantly, he grabbed the back of her dress and lifted it over her head. White underwear with pink hearts on them were revealed and the other children started laughing. The girl turned a bright red as she pushed her dress down. She turned around and saw Yusuke pointing and laughing. On impulse, the girl raised her right hand high in the air and brought it down. WHACK! Yusuke was on the ground with a bright red hand print on his left cheek.

"Jerk!" And the girl turned around and stormed off, leaving Yusuke stunned. He didn't know why, but he started regretting doing such a mean thing to a pretty girl. Face still throbbing, Yusuke stood up and walked after the girl. He spotted her at a park bench in front of two adults that he assumed were her parents. Her mother was speaking softly to her while her father held her. Yusuke saw this and definitely started feeling not only regret, but sadness about his own family. His father had never held Yusuke the way this girl's dad was holding her. Some time passed and the girl started to look like she was feeling better and ran off to play. When she saw Yusuke, she froze. Yusuke walked right up to her and said, "I'm sorry." The girl smiled and held out her hand.

"I'm Keiko."

Yusuke took her hand and felt like he would never let go. "Yusuke."