A/N: This story takes place after the show ends, and the barrier between human world and demon world is down. I've thrown in a lot of explanations around this, because my beta's hadn't seen Yu Yu Hakusho. The language I use is a mixture of both the anime and the manga, so I apologize for that in advance. The romance pairings are nothing different than what you're used to : Yusuke/Keiko, Kuwabara/Yukina, Hiei/Mukuro, and Hiei/Sora

created character

So, without further ado, enjoy

Chapter One : I believe introductions are in order...

"Hey Sora, wait up!"

Keiko Yukimura raced off after her best friend, Sora Koyo. The school day had ended, and they were supposed to meet after school to study for a big test that was coming up the next day. Sora was a gifted student, as was Keiko, but they had both agreed that this test would not be easy, and required a little bit of brain power, and memorization.

But Sora had had her head in the clouds all day. She was forgetting things left and right, and she was not her usual cheerful self. There was a darkness to her that Keiko had never seen, and it seemed to radiate power. It reminded Keiko of the sorts of power that had been emitted from the enemies that Yusuke had had to face in his spirit detective days, and it made her uncomfortable.

As far as Keiko knew, Yusuke had put all that behind him, but he was still a great asset to the spirit world, though he tried desperately to hide it from her. Somehow, Yusuke had gotten the idea that Keiko didn't really like him fighting, and now tried very hard not to let her know that Koenma, with his new found confidence and rebellion, had taken more charge over spirit world than he ever thought he could, and rather than being angry, his father had been pleased, and more than willing to give Koenma more responsibilities. Koenma often called on Yusuke to help in some situations that may require his power, but always gave Yusuke a choice now. He didn't force Yusuke to go on life endangering missions anymore. Yusuke was in charge of his own life now.

Keiko had come to accept this wandering need that burned in Yusuke. One thing she had learned was that he always came back, no matter what. And he loved her unconditionally. Waiting was hard sometimes, but just when she decided that she didn't want to wait anymore, Yusuke would return and sweep her off her feet yet again. The good times she had with him made up for the lonely times that she spent without him.

She had been worried at first when she had discovered she would need to introduce Sora to Yusuke. Her "friends from forever", the girls she had hung out with in grade school, had never really gotten along with Yusuke; they were too sweet, and innocent, and didn't understand his rebellious nature. When Keiko had first met Sora, and really grown to like her, she had put off introducing her to her boyfriend as long as she could. She had rationalized it that she didn't want to ruin a good thing. She didn't want to have to choose between Sora and Yusuke.

It hadn't been hard; Yusuke wasn't around much anyway. But it had meant also keeping Sora away from friends like Kuwabara and Kurama. Sometimes Keiko wondered if maybe she was subconsciously trying to shelter Sora from that world. Or maybe she felt that if she let Sora in on the "secret" world that some of her friends lived in, it would become...almost routine like. There would be the original thrill of "yes, I am good friends with demons!" but then Sora would be friends with them too. Keiko knew that part of the reason she didn't tell Sora was that she liked having a secret. Something that was only hers, and that she didn't have to tell anyone if she didn't want to.

But fate decided that it would step...no...waltz into the fray. Keiko could not keep Yusuke from Sora forever. In fact, truth be told, they met on their own. Sora was hanging out in a local arcade, and Yusuke wandered in, and up to his usual table. He had just gotten back in town, and was looking for a few hours to kill until Keiko got out of school. Sora had skipped, needing to blow off some steam after a nasty relationship had very abruptly come to a close, and was playing formidably, completely oblivious to the world around her.

Yusuke had been attracted to her for reasons he couldn't explain. He had watched over her shoulder as she played brilliantly, and when she was finally out of coins, he offered to pay for her to continue...if she would play him when she was done.

It was an interesting offer on Yusuke's part, considering that he was not single, and not a very good gamer, but Sora had accepted the challenge. She and Yusuke had bonded over the short time that they had spent playing video games together. When they shared names towards the end of the night they discovered the each had a name that the other knew pretty darn well. Both Sora and Yusuke found it ironic that they had wanted to meet each other for some time.

Keiko still laughed when she thought of it. She had been told by a friend as she walked out of school that Yusuke had been seen in the arcade hitting on some girl. She had come in a huff, just in time to see the look of pure shock on the faces of her two best friends as they heard each other's names.

"YUSUKE URAMESHI! As in Keiko Yukimura's BOYFRIEND! Oh my god, this is too weird for me. I'm Sora Koyo!"

"SORA KOYO! Oh wow! You're Keiko's best friend!"

Since that day, the Sora and Yusuke had gotten along famously. At first, Keiko had been overly jealous; Sora was taking away time that SHE should be spending with Yusuke. But Yusuke and Sora just had such brother/sister chemistry, that it didn't take long before it fell into place. Yusuke still spent more time with Keiko, and was still very much in love with Keiko; Sora was just his little sister, and was thrilled to be nothing more than that. Sora had a hidden needy personality, and needed to be loved like family.

Little sister indeed; soon after the introductions to Yusuke had been made, Sora was introduced to the rest of the group. She met Kuwabara shortly after, and they had hit it off nicely. Kuwabara was just such a loveable softy; it was very difficult to not get along with him. And Sora had met Genkai. Genkai had been pleased to meet someone who she could look at at eye level. Sora was only about 135cm (4'5") not much taller than Genkai's 130cm (4'3"), with husky blue eyes, and short red hair.

She met the gang piece by piece though; Keiko was pretty sure that Sora had not met Kurama – well – Shuichi Minamino – yet. Shuichi, as he was introducing himself now, had disappeared without a trace a few months earlier. No one was too worried. He was like that. Everyone knew that he would appear again if they all gave him a little bit of time. Everyone also knew that there was no way in hell that any of them were ever going to be able to wrap their tongues around the name "Shuichi". The red head would always be Kurama to them.

Of course, the whole trial with the demon world barrier being down, and demons able to come and go as they pleased was still hard for Keiko to wrap her mind around. Yusuke and Kurama had both assured her that there was no problem; there was an honor system being applied in demon world that meant that there was to be no mischief in human world. This was hardly any comfort for Keiko; demons were still racing around the world, ready to attack at any moment!

She had confided in Genkai, who had, in her usual harsh way, told Keiko that she was being a dunce. Genkai had grumbled that it was thanks to girls like her that demons were not able to live with humans in peace as it was. She explained that if demons wanted to cause trouble, they would have caused LOTS when the barrier came down, and the barrier would have gone back up. She continued to explain that demons were very honor-bound, and that if there was a rule that stated "no mischief in human world" there would be no mischief in human world. That had comforted Keiko some, but she still lived in fear unless Yusuke or Kurama was around.

Keiko expected that was why she had been drawn to Sora in the first place. The girl screamed independence and power. Because of her height, Sora was often teased and ridiculed. Sometimes, it was all in jest, like when Yusuke would look over her head and pretend not to know where she was. But more than often, especially when they had been in middle school together, it had been the cruel bullies of Sarayashiki Junior High that had constantly tormented her. Keiko still remembered the summer of transition to high school, when she had been walking to the park, and had heard the familiar voices of the punks that had taken Kuwabara and Yusuke's places as the top punks of Sarayashiki. She had gone over to help, only to discover that her help wasn't needed. Using no fists, only words and speedy dodging skills, Sora had beaten the bullies and proceeded on her way. That had been the beginning of a very solid friendship.

It had been a blessing when Keiko had discovered that she and Sora would be attending the same school. As much as she loved her old friends, they had grown apart over the past year or so that she had spent with Yusuke in the world of the spirit. She had changed so much, and in such a different way that they had, that it just seemed like they had nothing in common anymore. She still spent a lot of time with them, but she liked that she had someone else that she could spend some time with, and Sora was more than happy to hang out and just talk.

Keiko's parents were used to Sora coming home with Keiko to study, or do homework, or just spend the night. Sora didn't really have a place to stay, but never really admitted to it. She did have several friends in the neighborhood around school that would offer her a room for the night, but when Keiko could help it, she often told Sora to just spend the night at her place. Sora hated imposing on Keiko though, and would often shrug off the suggestion. As of very recently, Keiko had stopped accepting excuses, and Sora had been almost adopted by the Yukimura family, so it was no surprise to Mr. and Mrs. Yukimura as Keiko and Sora walked in the door together after school on this particular day.

"Hello girls!" Mrs. Yukimura smiled brightly from behind the counter, "How did school go today?"

"As usual," Keiko said, taking off her shoes, and carrying them to the coat rack at the base of the staircase that led up to the two-bedroom loft she shared with her parents (and now Sora). "Lots to learn!"

"Sounds just like I remember it," Mr. Yukimura said, "Well don't let us hold you girls up. I know you probably have lots of homework to get doing!"

"Thank you Mr. Yukimura," Sora said, in her usual soft murmur. Keiko was often astounded at how, though Sora usually spoke softly, you never had trouble hearing her words.

The two girls proceeded upstairs to Keiko's bedroom. Keiko shuffled around some papers on her desk, and carefully settled down onto one of the mattresses that severed as a bed for the two girls. She leaned back confidently against the wall, and looked around at her room with mild amusement, remembering how when she had forced Yusuke to comment on her room, his one response had been, "It's very...pink."

"What's so funny about math?" Sora asked, smiling softly, "Do the numbers spell out something weird?"

"No, I'm just remembering something Yusuke once said about my room," Keiko said, a light blush creeping to her cheeks.

Sora smiled knowing. That was another thing that Keiko always liked about Sora, she never teased Keiko about Yusuke. It made it easier for her to talk to Sora about him, and not feel so jealous about the relationship her two best friends shared without her.

"How long did he say he'd be gone this time?" Sora asked, trying to remember.

"I don't think he said," Keiko said, thinking back, "Only that he'd be back in a while, however long that is."

"Okay, so it shouldn't be longer than a month or so," Sora confirmed.

"Is that how long a while is?" Keiko asked with a smile.

"I don't know," Sora admitted, "But I do know that if he's going to be longer than 2 months, he gives the time that he'll be back with a sort of 'I pledge to be back by this time!' air to it. So if he didn't give a time, then it wasn't going to be longer than 2 months."

"Oh," Keiko said, feeling the familiar feelings of inadequacy that she sometimes felt when she was around Sora. Sora just knew so much about everything, and everyone around her. She could pick up mannerisms and habits within two days of knowing you, and she could read people like a book. Keiko wasn't very good at that sort of thing, and was jealous of Sora for it.

Sora, sensing that she had made Keiko a bit uncomfortable, moved on to a different subject, "Do you think he will bring you other friend - Shuichi - with him this time?"

Keiko hesitated. Though she and the others had let Sora in on a lot of secrets, she still didn't know a whole lot about that part of their life. As Genkai had said once, they hadn't known her for very long. Certainly, all of the juicy details would come out in the end, but that for right now, they should just keep some details quiet. Keiko, Yusuke, and the others, were all carefully to talk about Kurama as "Shuichi Minamino" in casual conversation; they would let him introduce himself as Kurama later, if necessary. Hiei, Botan, Koenma - and any others with particularily strong connections to spirit or demon world - were left out of conversations entirely, if any of them could help it, and Sora still knew nothing about Yusuke's spirit detective position as far as Keiko knew.

"He may bring Shuichi with him this time," Keiko said thoughtfully, "That would be nice, I'd like to see the both of them again."

"You never told me much about Shuichi," Sora said suddenly, "Only that he used to be part of the gang. I don't even know what he looks like!"

Keiko smiled weakly, and wondered what she should say. Surely there could be no harm in explaining what he looked like? "Well...he's rather tall...I'd say about 180cm (5'11)...and he has really long red hair, and green eyes. He attends the same school as Kaitou...have you met Kaitou?"

"Erm...I think I may have been introduced to him...once," Sora said sheepishly, "But to be honest...I don't remember much of him," she paused for a moment, thinking, "Smart guy? Very enhanced vocabulary?"

"Yes, that's him," Keiko said, smiling, "Have you ever got a memory for people!"

Sora shrugged modestly, "I should be able to remember more, he just didn't strike me as interesting."

"If I didn't have a history attached to him, I'd never be able to remember his face!" Keiko exclaimed. She had to stop her hand from shooting up to her mouth in alarm as she realized what she had just said.

"By history, I assume you mean that he goes to the same school as Shuichi," Sora said slyly.

Keiko nodded, "Of course!" she said, turning quickly to her math notes and starting to study. She knew full well that Sora was well aware that there was something being hidden from her, but she knew that she couldn't tell Sora...or at least not yet. Yusuke and Keiko had both made a deal with Genkai. They would wait until Kurama had given the okay, by specifically asking Sora to call him Kurama. Everyone trusted Kurama's judgment and perception of a person, and him asking her to call him by his demon name would be enough to satisfy them that she was trustworthy. When he gave up the form of Yoko, he tried to stop being Kurama. This did not work out as he had hoped, as he friends were not able to stop calling him that. He settled on using Kurama as a nickname, but rarely introduced himself using that name. Everyone followed his lead on who was allowed to call him Kurama, and who had to settle for Shuichi.

"Hey Keiko, do you understand all this trigonometry stuff? Sine and cosine graphs always confuse me..." Sora said. She too had opened her math book, and was fumbling over the different equations they had to know by the next day.

Keiko chuckled, "What have you been doing in class? That's ALL we've been studying for days now!"

Sora blushed innocently, and mutter something along the lines of 'reading stuff' and Keiko laughed, and scooted over to where Sora was sitting so that she could explain it, happy that the tension had broken somewhat.

The two girls were up late studying that night, and talking about when they thought Yusuke would be coming back, and what they were going to do this weekend. Keiko said with some happiness that Kuwabara was talking about how his girlfriend was coming up to spend the weekend with Genkai, and Sora could finally meet her.

"Heh, great, I've been dying to see what kind of girl could put up with Kuwabara's lovely dovey sort of treatments," Sora teased.

"Give the guy a break," Keiko said with a small laugh, "He's been in love with her for years now!"

"Has he got her father's permission?" Sora teased.

"No," Keiko admitted, "To tell the truth, we know very little about her family. She has a brother, but I don't know who he is..." she narrowed her eyes, "Though, I'm pretty sure that Yusuke does. Every time someone brings up the subject of her brother, both Yusuke and K-Shuichi get all red, and change the subject. Neither one of them will tell me who he is though."

"Heh, maybe he's some sort of space alien," Sora teased. Then she paused, and calmed considerably, "Or maybe he passed."

"I wondered about that," Keiko said, "But I don't think Yusuke would go all red the way he does. I'm pretty sure that he would just get all quiet and somber, you know? Rather than all giggly."

"He gets giggly?" Sora asked, stifling a laugh, "Well then, the brother probably isn't dead!"

"Probably not," agreed Keiko, glancing at the clock. "Shoot, it's late! We should get some sleep if we want to do well on the test tomorrow!"

"You're right," Sora agreed, reaching over and turning off the light. She and Keiko settled down in the semi-darkness, fighting briefly over blankets, before settling down.

"Night Sora," Keiko mumbled through a yawn, her tiredness suddenly catching up with her.

"Night Keiko," Sora said, snuggling against her pillow. She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.