Soooo. Here I am, trying something new. I'm writing a YusukexOC story! I hope, haha. Anyways, this is my first attempt at this genre. I'm a HieixOC girl by nature, but I got this idea, and it wouldn't let me go. Much like why Shinpi ended up with Hiei, if you've ever read my other stuff. I promise not to forget how connected Keiko and Yusuke are, and I really hope to create a different sort of story than the usual Yusuke ones.

I want as much criticism as it takes to get this right, because I'm like that. Anyways. Here's the first chapter, which is going to act as my trial run. Hope you guys get a taste for it.

"We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance."- Harrison Ford

"I dunno guys, I just could really use your support in this." Yusuke shrugged in his green jacket, brown eyes a little dull with exhaustion. Kurama looked at him with sympathy, only stirring the hanyou's temper.

It had been a hard year for him. Since coming back from Makai things in Ningenkai, or at least his home city, had changed dramatically. His world was askew and he saw no way to reset it.

"She'll come around," Kuwabara patted his friend's shoulder with an unhappy look.

"We tried." Yusuke shrugged uselessly again. Hiei was off in Makai somewhere far away from their conversation and probably happier for it. "I mean, I can't say I blame her. If roles were reversed, I couldn't say for sure I'd be able to handle it."

"She loves you." Kurama tacked on, trying to make his friend understand.

"She always will. She's been my best, hell most of the time my only, friend since kindergarten. I've always had Keiko on my side, at my back." Yusuke swallowed the sickening emotions rising in his throat. "But, it's time she had a chance to be Keiko Yukimura and enjoy her own life. She's spent every day worrying about me or trying to keep me out of trouble since we were five. I don't want to do it to her anymore."

The group of three was settled on the grass in a part of the temple grounds that most people couldn't have made it to without losing a few limbs. It was nothing for each of them now to wander through the forest. Yusuke had made it all the way to the mountains at the far reaches of Genkai's land once. But that had been a very bad day and he didn't remember most of it.

He'd come back from Makai with a smile on his face and his heart on his sleeve. He adored Keiko. He loved her more than he did himself. She felt the exact same way, and they were dating seriously before he'd even settled back in to human life. He got a job and really tried to be the straight arrow she deserved, as she went to the university to become a teacher. Things had been going very well and he proposed only a few months after his return.

But after that things began to change. It happened so slowly that no one actually noticed until it was done. Yusuke began to take up missions again and worked a job that offered few hours, but he wanted to make money to support them. Keiko began to worry more and more while he was hunting and fighting demons until she made herself sick with it. He'd been gone for a week at one point with no contact and no warning and she took it harder than usual. She didn't sleep at all and collapsed at the university from her exhaustion.

After that, they both began questioning their relationship silently. Keiko loved Yusuke, there was no doubt in that. But he was worried that their lives would never change and couldn't stand to see her worrying so much and she was physically exhausted from it. Three months later they tearfully agreed that maybe some time to reconsider would be best for them both. She had told him the painful truth, and he never begrudged her for it, not one second. There were simple reasons for them to do this. She would die long before him, and worry the rest of her life raw about his health. And what about their children?

They were still friends, and they still would do anything for each other, they just tried to avoid it altogether. They tried to go back to being in the same place as they had been when he'd left for Makai, but it wasn't changing. Like burning a paper, you can't put the ashes back together and read the words again.

"Yusuke, man," Kuwabara rubbed the back of his neck. "This just doesn't seem like a good idea. I feel like you're running away or something."

"I agree. I think you're handling this wrong." Kurama nodded.

"I can't change the fact I'm half demon," he snapped at them. "I can't. Okay? I can't change that I love Keiko either. I can make it so that she doesn't have to worry about me as much. I just want Keiko to have a good, happy life. If that means I have to be half a world away, so be it."

"That is, oddly profound." Kurama blinked after the outburst.

"I still don't like it." Kazuma crossed his arms indignantly over his chest.

"It doesn't matter. It's all been arranged already. I'm going." Yusuke flopped backwards onto the grass enjoy the Japanese sky.

"Have you told her yet?" Kurama asked softly as the brunette started to fall into his own world.

"Yeah," he lulled out sadly. "She wasn't happy, but I think she sees my point."

"So," Yusuke had a duffle bag and a backpack containing everything he possessed that he wanted to keep sitting on the curb outside the airport. Could he have taken a portal? Probably, but honestly, Koenma was pissed at him and he didn't want to end up in a jungle somewhere close to cannibals.

"So." Keiko smiled at him, her hands clasped in front of her. He had to smile too, because she looked so damn pretty and soft. Compared to him. And all other inferior beings, including pretty much all of humanity and Makai.

"I'm going to keep in touch, but don't worry about me. Koenma said there isn't much I can do to find trouble where I'm going." He assured the petite brunette quickly .

"Yusuke, I trust you. I just want you to be safe." She spoke gently and though it was a soft tone, it hurt his heart to hear it.

"Yeah, well, you've got to promise me that you'll try to do something with your life, 'kay? Because we both know that you're the only with any real purpose." He snorted.

"I promise." She agreed. "Now, are you sure you want to go, Yusuke?"

"I think I have to. You know," he shrugged carelessly. "To make it work."

"To make it work." She repeated stoically. "You're a real moron sometimes."

"Geesh Keiko!"

"You'd better not be doing this to make me feel guilty!"

"It's not like that! I just wanted to make sure you'd be happy!"

"Sure." She looked away with a bit of color in her cheeks. The others were standing inside, waiting for them to finish their personal goodbye. "I'm still going to worry about you. You're my best friend, Yusuke. The first boy I ever cared about. The only boy I ever cared about."

"Hopefully, now, that can change." He had to put on his brave face. It wasn't easy.

"I love you, you know," she told him softly, looking down. He forced a half-smile onto his face.

"I love you too." He told her.

"It's just-" he cut her off with a gentle peck on the lips.

"I know, Keiko." He whispered, pulling her into a tight hug that caused her face to be buried in his chest. For a second he didn't want to go anymore, but they pulled apart and he knew he had to.

They walked inside and he said goodbye after checking his duffle bag in at the counter and receiving his tickets. As his plane was called he ran off with a happy wave, his natural acting shining through, and a grin.

"Don't do anything too stupid!" Keiko, Kurama and Kuwabara called out all at once.

"Don't worry about me!" he called back. "I'll miss you!"

Keiko sniffled as he turned the corner and Kazuma hugged her from the side, a silly grin on his face.

"Sheesh, Keiko. I don't know what you're sniffling about. He was talking to me." He teased and she laughed around the unshed tears. She was going to miss her best friend, her first lover. But he was right, maybe it was time they tried life without each other.

Yusuke's plane touched down with a stumble and a few skips, jerking him back into consciousness with a shout from him. A few of the other travelers glared in his direction and a child who'd only recently become silent grinned at him happily.

"Well, it's a warm evening here in-" Yusuke began to ignore the pilot on the loud speaker and merely stared out his window into the dim horizon. The sun was already gone but light remained, a side effect of the summer season. Stars were just beginning to shine through the dying of the daylight.

He felt strangely heavy as he jostled along with the other passengers to leave the aircraft. His mind was moving too fast, or slow, to keep him in the present. When he'd gotten his bag from baggage claim and stepped outside, he forget where he was or why.

"I guess this is going to be harder than I thought," he mumbled to himself, shifting his duffle higher onto his shoulder and set off to find a place to stay for a while.

Three days in Yusuke found himself wandering the streets in the summer heated night. Stars shone above, music and people played around him, and overall the city he was in felt alive. He felt out of place. He kept seeing brunettes and his heart would race, and then fall to a dead stop.

There was a university nearby so many people his age were roaming around too, with backpacks and friends and laughter on the air. He watched some of them chatting around their cars as he sat outside a coffee shop drinking tea. A flyer was tossed into his lap as a peddler walked passed and he studied it quietly for a moment. Some dingy club was being advertised with no cover charge. Must've been a Wednesday.

"Might as well," he rose to his feet and stretched, earning admiring glances from some girls seated around him as his shirt rode up to reveal his stomach. Unaware of the attention he was receiving he walked through the little shop's gate and went off to find trouble.

It was a loud, small place full of college students when he arrived. Orchestra the Strange was painted on the door in graffiti and when he walked inside it was plastered in every possible place. The glasses had it on them, the ceiling tiles were individual decorated with the name in so many styles they clashed with each other. He let out a long whistle that was swallowed by the band on stage, with their heartfelt lyrics and their electronic guitars. Round tables were scattered around an open section of floor that was filled with people dancing and practically dry-humping one another.

"Newbie, move." Someone pushed him out of the way from behind. He didn't quite understand what they said.

"Watch it!" he snapped back, and moved out of the way with a scowl.

"Freaking tourists." Someone else complained though he didn't understand it, making the hanyou grit his teeth. He found a seat at the bar and ordered several drinks in a row.

"Wow," someone sat to his left, making him turn dizzily. Maybe he'd had too much to drink…

"What?" he slurred, making her smile. She was fuzzy, out of focus. "Why can't I see you?"

Someone said something he didn't understand again and he growled. He wasn't sure if it was the beer, the language barrier or the freaking heat to blame, but he was getting angry. He could feel his temper rising with his energy level.

"I'll help you home." He blinked, looking at the girl on his left again. She slipped her hands under his arm and lifted, pulling him to his feet easily as he stumbled. Slipping his arm over her shoulders she lead him from the bar without saying much else.

"I can talk to you." He slurred a bit.

"Yes, you can." She laughed happily, still a vague vision in his clouded mind. "I may be one of the few people around here you can talk to you."

"Why's it so hot?" he complained, sweat running down his spine. The heat and the beer were warring in his stomach, making it roll and lurch annoyingly.

"Its summer," she laughed again, the last sound he remembered hearing.

"Ahhhhhggggg."

"Is he dead?"

"No, I don't think so."

"Zombies make that noise you know."

"Yeah, I know."

There was a pause as Yusuke wondered what the hell had hit his head.

"If I tell you that you can choose one of the stray cats can we put this guy back on the street?"

"He's not homeless. Well, I don't think he is. He was just trashed and I didn't want anyone to take advantage of him. I sorta feel sorry for him."

"You and your fucking heart of gold."

"Ahhhhgg." Yusuke rolled to his side and curled into a ball, clutching his head.

"You alright, sport?" someone rubbed his back and he really hoped it was the female voice.

"I feel like I was hit by a bus." He whined pitifully, squinting his eyes open and promptly shutting them. "Why is it so damn bright?"

"Hangovers do that to you." She nodded, though he couldn't see it. Then she patted his back and left for a second. He felt something being pushed onto his face and he swung out of reflex.

"Chill out!" someone else snapped, though the words fell onto culturally challenged ears. "Geesh, ungrateful much?"

"What are they saying?" he asked, hearing a familiar laugh. Pieces of the night before started to float around in his memory, blurry and distorted.

"Open your eyes." She chuckled and he blinked at the amber tinted world. "You can keep the sunglasses on for now. They're Vince's anyways."

"I heard that." Vince walked through the living. He was a young man of average height, lean, and dressed in new jeans and an Armani Exchange top. "Don't scratch those sweetie, because they were a hundred bucks."

Yusuke stared at him blankly.

"Vince, he doesn't speak English." The girl who was tending Yusuke said and then turned back with words he could understand. Yusuke found that he could actually see her today.

She had dark hair cut short in one of the trendy bobs that was longer in the front than the back. He noted her eyes were a vibrant green, like healthy grass, as she asked her next question with a smile. She held out a glass and some pills to him. "What's your name?"

"I thought I imagined you." He laughed a bit and accepted the medicine and water she offered. "My name is Urameshi Yusuke."

"Yusuke." She nodded. "Yeah, we might be giving you a nickname. I'm Scotty."

He shook her hand after medicating himself, praying the headache would die quietly. "How did you learn Japanese?"

"A long story." She waved her hand. "Just letting you know that not many people here speak it, though. So I'll be translating. I know my roommates don't."

"Well, thanks for helping me out." He groaned again. "Ugh, seriously, I feel like I was run over."

"You almost were," she blushed a bit and laughed again, though more nervously. "You're a lot bigger than I am, so you were a bit much to manage and you stepped off the curb. If I hadn't pulled you from in front of the taxi, I'd have some explaining to do, eh?"

Since his head was pounding less like an unbalanced washing machine he found he could focus his eyes more, through the tint of the sunglasses. She wasn't a small girl per se, but she was rather lean. Her right arm was bandaged from under her button front tee to her elbow. He blinked and frowned at that.

"Did you get hit instead?" he asked seriously.

"Just clipped by the side mirror," she waved off his concern like it was nothing to her, getting nearly squashed by cars.

"Thanks for looking out for me," he blushed a bit admitting that she'd had to step in and help him. He really didn't know what he would've ended up doing on his own, but it probably wouldn't have been good.

"Everyone needs at least one friend in the world, right?" she shrugged and got to her feet. She wore loose shorts that ended around her knees, which were scrapped with healing scabs. A band tank top was out of the shorts and under the button-up, and she wore low tops that were solid black.

"Yeah." He studied her more and noticed a black braided belt around her waist. It seemed out of place. "That's a strange belt."

"Yes, yes it is." She agreed without giving in to his quiet question to explain it. "So, you feeling better sport?"

"Yeah." He nodded, feeling mostly monosyllabic suddenly.

"Great, breakfast is ready and then I'll walk you home!" she grinned cheekily and left him on the couch he'd woken up on. He looked around as he swung his feet to the ground slowly. Wherever he was it was bright and lively. Plants in pots hung from the ceiling and sat on the windowsills with colorful flowers and lush green leaves. Outside the window he could see tall sunflowers following the sunlight.

Posters on the wall depicted things he couldn't really read and there was a lot of architecture photographs beautifully framed. Two book shelves bordered a healthy sized television with too many gaming consuls and devices for him to count.

"Come on slacker, it's time to eat." Vince sauntered back through the living room from a hallway, his blonde hair styled in that 'I only spent five minutes on this and I still look better than you' way. Yusuke already felt like he didn't really like Vince. "Seriously, come on, man."

Not understanding what the other man was saying as he rolled his eyes, Yusuke got to his feet to go find the dark haired woman in the boyish clothes. At least she smiled at him and spoke in a way he could follow.

"Here." As soon as he entered the dining room he was shoved into a seat and had a plate of food tossed in front of him with silverware. He blinked and looked up as the ever moving Scotty bustled around the room delivering more plates around the table.

As he watched her another young man, younger than what Yusuke felt a twenty-year old American would look like, staggered into the kitchen with a loud yawn as he stretched his back. He wore blue sleep pants and a white tank top. His eyes were half closed and his light brown hair was messy.

"Whose the new kid?" a woman spoke making the hanyou jump, as he turned to find the voice. Humans were sneaky. She had long brown hair and an expression that vaguely reminded him of Shizuru when she was more engaged. Her eyes flitted up and down him and then she leant forward and spoke in a drawn out way, "What is your name?"

"His name is Yusuke and he's Japanese, not deaf." Scotty the Savior reappeared and smiled calmly at Yusuke. "She wants to know your name and why you're here."

"I got drunk and she brought me here." He explained lightly and turned to study the food in front of him. The woman looked at him with raised eyebrows and the other newcomer stared dully at him. Obviously Scotty had been right, none of them could understand the words coming out of his mouth.

" There's an Asian guy at the table. Am I dreaming again?" the young boy asked Scotty, who smiled kindly and told him to eat.

"Yusuke, this is Joshua, Vince's cousin, and Annabelle." The dark haired woman told him, "You'd better eat though, hon, or your food will get cold. No one likes cold eggs."

And she was off again, running around.

He poked at the mixture on his plate tentatively with his fork and then slowly took a bite to test it. After that he swore to always eat whatever the shorter woman put on his plate, even if it did look like a joke. The concoction of fried potatoes, peppers, onions, cheese and eggs was absolutely amazing even to his alcohol soaked stomach.

The group around him chatted normally, as if he didn't exist, which Yusuke found himself fine with. He couldn't understand to participate anyways. The only one who ever said anything to him was Scotty, and she was washing dishes and making more food, and occasionally eating herself.

"Come on sport, it's time to go." After washing the dishes and grabbing a shoulder bag made of leather that draped across her body, Scotty grabbed Yusuke by the shirt and pulled him from the house. She had a pair of headphones, hot pink, draped around her neck as they walked and the wire lead down into her bag.

"Why do you keep calling me sport?" he asked as he followed her down the sidewalk.

"What's your address," she ignored his question. He told her and she nodded, stopping in the sidewalk to switch directions. "It's just a term of endearment. Like a pet name, I guess, except not intimate."

"Okay," he shoved his hands into the pockets of his wrinkled jeans.

"So, who was she?" she asked bluntly with a smile as they walked. It was early in the afternoon and the heat wasn't quite intense enough to make it uncomfortable yet, and the humidity was still ignorable.

"Who?" he scowled.

"Fine, you don't want to talk about it." She widened her eyes and looked away from him. "Anyways, I guess that explains why you're here."

He watched her for a few quiet seconds and wondered how she was making all of those connections without him actually saying anything.

"She's my best friend." He blushed red as he explained.

"Sounds like love." She declared, a knowing look on her face. He shrugged uselessly. "I get it. Some things just don't work out, right?"

"We're still friends." He defended slightly, as if she'd insulted their relationship. She cast him a sidelong look and just looked forward without responding. "What? We are. Keiko is the best thing to happen to me, ever, okay? And we're still friends."

"You're so in love with her that even I can see it and I've never met you sober." She whirled around and poked him in the chest with a stern look. "Mr. Urameshi, I'm going to have to call bullshit on this little 'we're just friends' charade and point out that you are readily and fully in love with this Keiko woman."

He was startled into silence.

"That's what I thought." She huffed. "Now come on."

He stared after her for a few seconds before bothering to try to catch up with her as she walked ahead.

"What kind of name is Scotty for a girl?" he asked, winding his arms behind his head as they walked on.

"The awesome kind." She shrugged with a smile. They passed an open market and she grinned and stopped, examining some fruit. He watched her navigate through the perils of haggling and selecting the perfect pieces of edible bounty.

"You're sort of hyperactive, aren't you?" he droned with a mumble, discontent at her easily distracted nature.

"No, I can just do more than one thing at a time." She smiled at and thanked an older gentleman as she purchased cherries, oranges, apples and peaches from him. "Yusuke, if you're going to live here, you're going to have to learn how to live here. Farmer's Markets are a huge summer thing, and the produce is cheaper and better tasting than grocery stores."

"I don't really ca-" she shoved a cherry into his mouth in middle of his complaint and he nearly choked in surprise. With a wicked look she waited for him to stop sputtering and chew. Begrudgingly he said, "Yea, that actually wasn't too bad."

"You're going to be a mess," she sighed, shaking her head balefully. "So be it, I guess. What's life with some challenges?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked as she slipped into English. It made him frown.

"Nothing," she waved off the words she'd spoken and slipped back onto the sidewalk backwards, walking facing him as they continued their journey. "So, Yusuke, are you always this big of a sour puss, or is it a special reaction to my company?"

He glared at her.

"I'm not being sour."

"Dour, then. Overall unpleasant." She stopped with her heels teetering off the edge of a curb as they came to an intersection. A car whizzed passed without slowing down as it flew across the intersection to head in the other direction. He raised his eyebrows, impressed so far with her ability to navigate without looking. She hadn't bumped into a single person or been hit by a single car yet.

"I'm," he paused and considered his attitude. "Fine, I don't know."

She smiled happily at his answer, confusing him.

"What?" he demanded, stepping forward as if she were some threat.

"It's healthy to admit when you aren't in control anymore," she continued to smile, though less brightly. "Not knowing is a part of life, of the adventure we all sign up on when we take our first breath."

"Let me guess, you're one of those people who chooses to not no squat about anything, right? You just roll with it and let the universe do what it will with you?" he sneered a bit at the idea.

"No," she shook her head. "I learned my lesson dealing with the universe a long time ago. Nowadays I just realize that I can't know or do everything, no matter how hard I try. I still do my best, but sometimes the outcome isn't what I expect. I've learned to accept it."

"How's that working out for you?" he quirked a brow as they crossed the street, turned a corner and stood in front of his ramshackle hotel.

"Well, I'm the one smiling," she told him. "So you tell me."

With that she pulled the headphones onto her head, covering her ears and waved to him. "Have a good time, Yusuke. I'll be around if you ever decide to be sociable."

He waited until she walked passed him, back the way she came with her leather bag full of produce, to go to his rented room. What he wanted was a shower and a nap, and to not be bothered with the wondering thoughts of whether or not he was a changed person. So what if he was a little bit angry? He'd just made one of the hardest decisions of his life without knowing how it would turn out. He felt reasonable.

"Psh. What does she know?" he asked aloud once inside his temporary home. His bags sat open on the floor next to the bed. The only possession of his out in the open was a framed picture of a special girl on a sunny day wearing a blue dress. He stared at the picture for a few seconds.

"Stupid people," he decided after a silent recollection of his somewhat-conversation with the strange woman. "It's just like school all over again, people telling me who I am and what to think."

He decided that after his shower and before his nap he'd use the communicator he kept with him to call Keiko and the others, just to check in. They deserved to know he was still alive, at the very least. After that he guessed he'd have to find something to do with his time other than lounge around.

It was time for him to actually start doing what he came here to do. It was time for him to grow up.

Preview:

"Don't let him bother you," she waved her hand to dismiss the tension with her best look of indifference. "He's harmless."

"You're calling that harmless?" he yelled, pointing at the offending figure.

"Well, yeah."

"Scotty, can you pinpoint when exactly you lost your fucking mind?" Vince asked, appalled.

She gave it a moment of consideration, much to the amusement of Yusuke.

"No, not really, but I assume that its one of those gradual and then suddenly sort of things."

The sound of Vince's palm smacking into his own face could've shaken the building as he groaned her name while shaking his head. "Scotty, you're an idiot. No matter how much I love you."