The Akumu Tournament is story three in my little Yu Yu Hakusho trilogy. If you don't want to be lost by any descriptions or character mentions, my suggestion would be to read Beginnings and Bonds of Life if you haven't already.
Please do not leave any comments of "How is this in Demon World". If you read the trilogy as it should be read, all of your questions will be answered.
1
Six years had passed since the last Tournament was thrown to figure out the Lord of Demon World, and the four original members of the spirit detective team had settled down, not expecting to be bothered much afterward, seeing as Yusuke had been permanently fired. Yusuke married Keiko, like planned, and Kuwabara married Yukina (well, once she finally got over her naïveté). Kurama was dating a girl named Jen. Hiei was the only one to start a family out of all of them. He and his mate, Shakaku, lived in a city in Demon World called Severa, a city that could even possibly be called…human-like, what with their new Lord's rule. They lived in an apartment building, on the 5th floor with their two children Kiete and Tsunada. The newer spirit detective team, consisting of Sha the fire/dragon demon, Hyouga the ice/dog demon, Sukuna the ditzy spider demon, and Kitsu the fox demon, had each started their own lives in either Human World or Demon World. Everything ran normally. No one expected a visit from Koenma, Prince of Hell…
Hyouga was jarred awake by the sound of knocking at the front door. At two in the morning. "Who in the world…?" she muttered, rubbing an eye and looking over her mate to see the time as he also stirred.
"What's going on?" Salem mumbled sleepily. "Did Misou knock something over again?"
The knock came again, this time more urgent.
"No, sounds like someone's outside." She tossed the covers off and shifted her slippers on. She wasn't stupid though, and readied her ice energy to strike out if necessary. Her husband followed close behind her, readying his own energy, this of shadows, to strike on the spot.
She looked through the peephole of the front door and sighed, instantly calling off the cold air surrounding her. "It's just Koenma." Her nerves gave a sudden shot at the situation of her boss being outside her door at two in the morning. "What happened? What's going on? Who's hurt? The hell are you doing here at this time of night?"
Koenma held up his hands. "Whoa, slow down!"
She asked one more question. "What's so important that can't wait until tomorrow?"
His face fell into a grim one. "That's why I'm here now. Call Sha and your squad over here at once. I'll head over to Human World and pick up Yusuke's team."
Hyouga narrowed her eyes. "But Yusuke doesn't work for you anymore."
"He does for now. Please, I swear I'll explain, but only when everyone is back here."
She nodded while Salem put a hand to her shoulder. "I'll make sure the kids are still asleep and call Kitsu and Sukuna. You gather Sha."
"Right. Let me just get dressed, and I'll follow you out, Sir."
In Human World, at Kurama's lonely looking house, the doorbell rang.
The fox startled awake, sitting up and catching a glimpse of the digital clock next to him. "Now who in their right mind is up at this time?" Kurama pulled on a shirt and rubbed his eyes clear of sleep as he headed to the door.
"Just tell them to go away, whoever the hell it is," Jen called from their room before rolling over.
He opened the front door to come face-to-face with a teenaged Koenma. "Koenma, do you even know what time it is?" It was then he saw the look of severity. "It's bad, isn't it?"
"We've been forced into yet another Tournament, and only you all can handle this one. I need you to contact the others. We're to reconvene at Hyouga's home in—" He was about to finish but Kurama put up a finger to silence him. "—a half hour," he corrected himself. Jen was never told anything about the fact demons and spirits existed.
Kurama's eyes narrowed and he nodded, allowing Koenma in. He went over to his phone and dialed Kuwabara's number.
After a few rings, a grumbly voice belonging only to the idiot picked up. "No I'm not interested in buying your stupid Girl Scout cookies, now go away!"
Kurama couldn't help but laugh, despite the cruelty of the situation. "Kuwabara, pardon me for waking you, but we've got another problem on our hands. Gather Yusuke and meet us at Hyouga's house. Yusuke knows the way there."
"Wait, what's going on, Kurama?"
"I'll explain it later. Please don't let him fall asleep again." He hung up and went back into his and Jen's room.
"What's going on?" she slurred with obvious sleep deprivation.
"Don't worry about it. I just have to run some errands." He smiled as he pulled on clothes proper enough to go out of the house. "I should be back soon."
He gave her a quick kiss and left, heading for the closest portal that he knew to Demon World with Koenma in tow.
In Sha and Hiei's home in Demon World, the two demons were far from asleep, with the covers over both their heads.
"Hiei, not so loud!" Sha giggled, getting a soft growl as a response.
"Not like Kiete and Tsunada can hear, they're on the other side of the house." They were further interrupted by a loud knock coming from their front door. Hiei pulled the covers down. "God damn it! Who the hell is that?"
"Forget about it," Sha said, just before another loud knock came.
"Couldn't hurt to check, though." He gathered up his pants from where they had landed haphazardly earlier and pulled them on, then went to answer the door before another loud bout of knocking would wake up his hellions. Sha sighed and laid back, rolling over to listen to whatever conversation would start.
Hiei buckled his belts before opening the door. "Hyouga?"
"Did I interrupt something?" She nodded towards Hiei's badly buckled belts and tousled hair.
"Shut up, dog. What the hell brings you here in the middle of the night?"
"Lovely welcome, but you and Sha need to come to my place immediately."
"What do you need us for so urgently? Don't tell me Yuki's sick again."
"No, if only it were that simple. Koenma came to my house, probably because he knew I wouldn't rip his throat out at this time of night. He said something's come up. Something important."
He narrowed his eyes. "This should be a problem for only Sha then, not me."
"That's the thing. He needs both the teams. He wouldn't tell me why."
"Tell him I'm not some lap dog that will follow his every command."
"Shinamai!"
He looked behind him to see Sha scowling in a robe. "What? It's true."
"If Koenma says it's urgent, then it's urgent. He doesn't mess around with things like this." She looked at Hyouga. "And it has to be urgent if he wants Yusuke and the others present."
He rolled his eyes. "And how often does he have all his facts straight before he sends you out on your missions?"
"That's not the point!"
A small groan took their attention away as their son came around the corner, rubbing his eyes sleepily. "What's going on?"
"Nothing, Kiete, go back to bed," she said, biting at her lip.
The little boy, who was almost a mirror image of his father, but with wings inherited from his mother, looked at them accusingly. "Then why's Auntie Hyouga here so early?"
Hyouga smiled. "I just forgot something. Go back to bed."
The child looked between them a few times before deciding sleep was a nicer option.
"And besides," Hiei continued, pointing his thumb over his shoulder to where Kiete had just disappeared into, "perfect example of why we can't just up and leave."
"Or you can take them with you," Hyouga supplied. "Remember I have a son and daughter sleeping at home too. Can just plop them in another bed and they won't even know the difference."
Sha crossed her arms and looked at him sternly. "If we're needed, we go."
"I don't—" he started to say, but the look she gave him made him roll his eyes. "Fine. But if this turns out to be nothing, I want no complaints for a week from you."
"Done."