Okay, I just barely made it in time on this one. So, here is the VOD bonus Halloween story. This takes place between the first story, which I just finished, and the second one, which I have written in a notebook but have yet to revise and type. I don't own any of the ghost stories told in this fic, they were not my genius to create, and I still don't own YYH, but I wish I did. BTW, there is a part in this fic where they say that the number four is never used in hospital room numbers. I know that that is true in Japan, but I don't know if it is here in America, so just keep that in mind. Alright, are we ready to go now? Good! ON WITH THE FIC!!!

(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)(xxx)

"Are you sure they're ready for this, Genkai?" Koenma asked skeptically, staring doubtfully at the large screen in his office that currently displayed the old psychic.

"They all know at least one attack now, but that won't be enough once their first mission arrives. They must learn to work together. I'm not too worried about the Taragotta sisters, or Shuichi, but Akira...she will be reluctant to cooperate. Such mistrust will almost definitely prove fatal," Genkai said sternly.

Koenma sighed. "Very well, but try not to traumatize my new detective too much, I'd like this one to last for a while. It's so hard to find suitable replacements."

"Don't worry, if worst comes to worst I'll save them," Genkai assured Koenma with a smirk.

Koenma gave another tired sigh. "You do that," he muttered as the screen went blank.

(xxx)

"I'm SOOOOO bored!!!" Kairi complained loudly, laying her head on the counter. She sat behind the counter of her aunt's bakery. Not being much of a cook, she had been recruited to work the cash register. It was Sunday, October 31, Halloween, and there hadn't been any customers all day. Now the golden rays of early evening were shining through the store windows and she could see children in costumes Trick-or-Treating.

Yusuke was still gone on his honeymoon and would be for another week. Kuwabara, a.k.a. Ferret-face, had spent the day studying for a test to take place on Monday. Hiei had retreated back to the Demon World after Yusuke's wedding and hadn't been seen since. Though Akira had been confined to the Tokyo city limits, she had disappeared and couldn't be found. On top of all that, Kurama and Shuichi had been busy all day helping Genkai with something, but none of them would say what.

Kairi sighed again as the moon began to rise. Some Halloween.

(xxx)

"Are you sure about this, Genkai?" Kurama asked, not the first person to ask such a question.

"Yes," Genkai answered simply, not feeling like explaining herself again. She had told Kurama her plan, but Shuichi was still blissfully unaware, helping Yukina purify the room Genkai had planned to use with holy water and incense.

"You'd better call them," Genkai said without looking at the fox turned human beside her. "We'll need to start soon." Kurama nodded and removed his cell phone from his pocket.

(xxx)

Kairi jumped when the phone beside her rang, almost falling from the stool she was sitting on.

"Hello?" she asked.

"Hello, Kairi?" a familiar voice came from the phone.

"Kurama?" Kairi smiled, praying that he would have something for her to do.

"Can you and Sazume meet me at Genkai's in an hour? She has a...Halloween surprise for you," Kurama said. Kairi's smile widened.

"Sure!" she answered without hesitation. "See you in an hour!"

(xxx)

Akira lay stretched out on a branch of a high evergreen tree, hidden from view by the tree's needles. She had been sleeping, but some strange feeling had awoken for. She sat up and looked around, trying to place the feeling. It wasn't the first time she had felt something like this, and she had learned not to ignore it. It is said that dogs may predict earthquakes and sense when something is wrong, that is something akin to the feelings Akira often got. There were not unlike what someone with high spirit awareness may sense, but they were something more then that as well, more sensitive then any level of awareness could ever be.

Now she felt it again, the uneasiness in the air sending a chill down her spine and making the hair on her tail bristle. Fully awake now, she tried to pinpoint where it was coming from. She closed her eyes, stretching her senses outward. In her mind's eye, she saw Genkai's temple. The chill was coming from a room at the far end of the temple's east wing.

Akira opened her eyes and debated whether or not to go. Curiosity killed the cat, but she was no cat. Besides that, it wasn't exactly like she had anything better to do. Standing, she kicked off from the branch, summoning a gust of wind behind her to push her even faster through the air from branch to branch. She was on the far edge of town, but she had no doubt she could reach the temple if mere minutes.

(xxx)

Kairi and Sazume met Kuwabara outside the temple an hour later. Apparently, Ferret-face had been invited too.

"Hello Kurama," Kairi greeted cheerfully as they reached the top of the stairs and found the tall red head waiting for them. Scanning the area, Kairi spotted Akira off to the side, arms folded as she leaned against a tree.

"Pochi! You're here too?!" Kairi called to her. Akira's eyes snapped opened and her tail swished behind her in annoyance.

"What did you say?" she asked in a dangerous growl.

"Fight on your own time, we have business to attend to!" Genkai barked suddenly as she emerged from the temple, stopping the fight that would have surely broken out.

"I don't have any business here, old woman," Akira spat, turning to go. She tried to jump to the nearest tree, but something knocked her back.

"What the hell?!" Akira growled.

"I took the liberty of installing a barrier. Now, if you will all come inside, we may begin," Genkai said calmly.

"Begin what?" Sazume asked.

"I'll explain everything inside," Genkai assured her.

Kairi, Sazume, and Kuwabara exchanged glances, but shrugged and started inside. Akira remained where she was, glaring at the invisible barrier that she knew surrounded the temple.

"You might as well come, Wan-chan," Kairi called to her. Akira's head snapped around and she let a growl escape her clenched teeth.

"I will not be told what to do!" Akira warned, wind swirling around her.

"Oh, have you forgotten Koenma's sentence?" Genkai said calmly. "This is a training exercise for all four of you. Now stop being difficult and go inside!" Akira glared, but realized that Genkai was right about one thing. Koenma had sentenced her to be part of Kairi's team and that meant she had to do everything the other three did. She gave a final growl before turning and joining the others inside.

"All the players are in place," Genkai said, looking up at the full moon as she and Kurama watched the hot-headed fusion trudge inside. "It's time to begin."

(xxx)

Akira was instantly aware of how uncomfortable the room felt. There was no doubt that what she had felt before had been coming from this room.

"Now, Kuwabara and Yukina," Genkai started, making both of them look up, Kuwabara holding the ice maiden's hands and having just been in the middle of explaining the 'Power of Love' to her. "You two each take a seat by a candle." Now the group noticed the candles in the room, one at each compass point. The only light in the room came from these candles. Kuwabara took the east candle, while Yukina sat at the north one. Kurama sat by the west candle, and Genkai took the final candle, sitting in front of the wall.

"You four sit at the midpoints," Genkai instructed as Sazume sat at northeast, Shuichi at southeast, Kairi at northwest, and Akira at southwest.

"This ceremony," Genkai explained, "is known as the Hundred Ghost Stories Ceremony."

"100 stories!" Kuwabara exclaimed. "That'll take days!!!"

"Let me finish!" Genkai barked back. Kuwabara promptly shut his mouth. "This will not be the full ceremony. Four stories should do it."

"Why only four?" Shuichi asked.

"Four is a very spiritual number. That's why hospitals never use four in their room numbers," Genkai stated.

"Hey, that's right. They don't," Sazume said thoughtfully. Genkai cleared her throat for silence.

"Now then, you four at the midpoint will tell the stories. We'll start with northwest and move counterclockwise," Genkai explained. She fell silent and all eyes fell on Sazume.

"Um...well, alright," Sazume said nervously, trying to remember a ghost story. "How about this..."

A man trudged through the snow late one December night. He had been driving by the seashore when his car had broken down. It was snowing and he was twenty miles from the nearest town, too far to walk, but her was trying anyway. The snow began to fall harder and he wondered if he was going to freeze to death when he saw a light up ahead.

Half a mile down the road was a cafe; a truck stop that was virtually out in the middle of nowhere. He went in and bought some coffee. As he talked to the waitress, he learned that five miles down the road, there was a bus stop. An hour or so later, the snow began to lighten and the waitress told the man that if he left now, he might be able to catch the midnight bus.

"The bus stop is just in front of the second bridge you will come to," the waitress told him. "You'll know which one because the right-side railing of the bridge is much newer then the left railing."

"Why is that?" the man asked. The waitress told him that nine years ago, the bus had hit a patch of black ice and fallen off the bridge into the icy waters bellow, killing everyone inside. The man didn't think too much of the story. He thanked the waitress and left the cafe.

He was cold and numb when he reached the first bridge. He was considering going back and waiting until a tow truck could come in the morning, when he saw two headlights behind him. He could see the bus coming and, assuming that this was in fact the second bridge and he had missed the first in the dark, the began shouting and waving his arms.

The bus stopped and the doors opened. He got on and took a seat, happy to be out of the cold. But as he sat there, he became aware of a strong, decaying odor. There were only three other people on the bus, and none of them we looking at him. He asked them if they would mind if he opened a window, but no one answered him. He was annoyed that they ignored him, but shrugged it off and tried to open the window.

As he reached up, he saw that the window was covered in mold and seemed to be stuck. This made him take a better look around. The bus was in horrible shape. His seat was decaying and sagging under his wait and the floor looked like it might give way any second. And as he sat and paid closer attention to the swaying of the bus, he came to the conclusion that at least two of the tires were flat.

Starting to feel uneasy, he grabbed the shoulder of the passenger closest to him and turned the man to face him. He let out a scream when he saw that the man he had grabbed was most certainly no longer alive. Fully panicking now, her turned back to the window and saw the bridge loom up ahead of them. The bus pitched to the left, throwing the man from his seat. Pushing himself up in the aisle, he looked out the windshield to see the right-side railing of the bridge give way and the dark waters bellow come rushing up.

The next morning, the man's battered and frozen body was found floating out to sea by two fishermen.

"The end," Sazume finished.

"That was really good," Shuichi congratulated his friend.

"Yeah, Zoom. A true classic ghost story," Kairi added. Akira just gave a bored grunt.

"You're turn," Genkai cut in, looking at Shuichi. Shuichi nodded and took a deep breath.

"This is a true story that happened to me in elementary school..." he began.

I had a bad headache and was resting in the nurses office. I felt really horrible and I just wanted to go home, but my dad was busy at a meeting at work and couldn't come pick me up. Just when I was feeling worst, a boy leaned in the window above my head.

He asked me what was wrong and I told him. He kept talking to me, taking my mind off the pain. He was really nice and I felt safe with him. After we had talked for an hour at least, he said he had to go and said good-bye. Just after he left, my dad arrived to take me home.

It wasn't until we were outside and walking home that I looked back at the school and realized that the nurses office was on the third floor and there wasn't a balcony or anything to stand on outside the window. In short, the boy I had talked to couldn't possibly have been standing there.

"And...that's it, I guess," Shuichi finished, somewhat embarrassed that his story was so short.

"That was creepy," Kairi muttered with a shiver as Sazume nodded in agreement. Shuichi smiled, happy that he had at least scared them a little.

"Southwest, your turn," Genkai said, turning to Akira.

"I don't know any of these pointless human stories," Akira retorted, folding her arms.

"You must know at least one. Or at least have heard someone telling one. It is Halloween, they're not very hard to overhear," Kairi said. Akira glared at her, but her words made the half-wolf think of something.

"Well...fine. I guess I know one..." Akira muttered.

There was an old house that had been turned into a bed-and-breakfast. There was some strange flaw in the house's design. The second floor was suppose to have six rooms, but it only had five. But the third floor had six room just like it was supposed to, so the owners didn't worry about the second floor's missing room.

One night, a couple were staying in the fifth room on the second floor when they heard a scratching sound coming from the wall. They thought that their room was the last and the house ended, meaning that there was only the outside air on the other side of the wall. But the scratching continued. Finally, the husband opened the window and looked out, discovering that there was indeed a window to a sixth room next-door. Going into the hall, he saw that that hallway ended but it was only drywall, meaning that someone had sealed off the sixth room.

The scratching continued for several days and the management decided to higher a construction crew to knock down the drywall that was blocking the sixth room from the rest of the hall. The crew came the next day and all the people who had rooms there stayed the extra night to see what they would find. The workers smashed the drywall to bits and behind it, they found a very strange door. The doorknob had been removed and there were chains and pieces off wood nailed all around it. Also, all the spaces around the door had been filled with cock, completely sealing the door shut.

The construction crew had come too far to stop now, so they knocked the door down too.

Now Akira paused for a moment, noticing how on edge the group was to hear the conclusion, especially Kairi. Making note of this, she smirked and continued.

As the dust cleared, the saw that there wasn't any furniture of any kind in the room. And written all over the walls in red ink...

Father, please let me out! Father, please let me out! Let me out! Father! Please! Please let me out! Father! FATHER!!!

With another smirk, Akira summoned a gust of wind to knock a statue that was sitting behind Kairi over. The new Spirit Detective gave a scream and, without thinking, leapt in Kurama's direction and threw her arms around the startled red head.

"W-what was that?" Kairi asked shakily, turning to see the statue laying on it's side behind her. Akira burst out laughing. Kairi's reaction had been good, but this was too much. Unbeknownst to Kairi, she had put Kurama in a very uncomfortable position. He sat staring down at her, obviously trying desperately to fight off a blush and not trusting himself enough to speak. Seeing the most renowned thief in the Demon World in such discomfort was just too funny!

"Akira!" Kairi roared, realizing who was responsible and releasing Kurama.

"I told you before, this is no time to fight!" Genkai interrupted, shooting a warning glare at Kairi. Kairi had been halfway standing up, but now she let herself fall back to a sitting position, glancing wearily back at the statue behind her.

"Kairi, please give us the finally story," Genkai said, glancing at Kurama as the fox managed to regain his composer. In reality, she herself had only barely restrained herself from poking fun at Kurama's predicament moments ago, but they had come too far to break the atmosphere now. She made a mental not to tease him later.

"I don't know any scary stories," Kairi complained.

"You must know at least one," Akira teased, repeating Kairi's own words. Kairi glared at her but didn't say anything as she caught Genkai's warning stare. Kairi sighed and obediently began her story.

A man had been driving in the countryside one day when he found himself lost and, coming upon a house, he stopped to ask for directions. A young girl answered the door and ushered him inside. Once in, he noticed that the large glass doors leading to the back porch were opened. It seemed strange that they should be opened since it was so cold, so he asked the girl about it.

"Mother keeps them opened," she answered. "You see, four years ago, my father and my elder brother went hunting with our dogs in the woods of our backyard. None of them returned. Mother was never the same and always keeps the door opened, waiting for them to come back. Sometimes, on foggy nights like this one, you can hear the dogs barking and see shapes in the mist as their spirits try to come home."

The man didn't have very good nerves and this news made him want to turn and run out of the house. Before he could move, however, the girl's mother came into the room.

She greeted the man and gave him the directions he had asked for, but when he turned to leave, she stopped him.

"It's getting late, you really should stay for dinner," the mother said. "My husband and son should be back from their hunt soon. We'll eat as soon as they arrive. You must stay."

The man looked at the girl, who only shook her head. He wanted very much to leave, but the mother kept insisting he stay, so eventually he agreed to. He sat on the couch of the cold room with the girl and waited as the mother cooked dinner. The girl sat staring at the floor, swinging her legs and humming to herself. The man couldn't keep his eyes off the fog outside the opened window.

"Listen!" the girl suddenly said, raising her head. "You can hear their spirits."

The man listened and sure enough, he could hear dogs barking and the voices of two men. Frightened, he stood up and watched the fog. Dark shapes began to appear in the mist and the voices and barking grew louder. Then a dog bolted through the fog and into the room. This was too much for the man and his fragile nerves. With a freighted squeak, he ran from the room, out of the house, and back to his car. Once there, he drove away as fast a he could.

"Who was that?" the husband asked as he greeted his wife and daughter.

"A very strange man who got lost and asked for directions. I don't know what got into him though. Dear, do you know?" she asked the daughter.

"He said he had a fear of dogs. He had a rather nasty experience with one once," the girl replied with a sly smile as her older brother closed the doors leading to the back porch.

"That wasn't scary!" Akira snorted.

"I told you that I didn't know any scary stories!" Kairi argued. Personally, she had always thought that story was rather funny.

"Now," Genkai said, "It's my turn."

"I thought we were only telling four stories," Sazume said, confused.

Instead of answering, Genkai simply said, "Guess what this is behind me."

The group turned and stared at the wall behind the old psychic. The shadow of some gigantic monster loomed behind her, dark slime dripping from it.

"What the--!" Kuwabara jumped up, backing away. Kairi, Sazume, and Shuichi all gave startled screams and got up as well while Akira said nothing, but her eyes flew wide in surprise and she moved to where they were gathering in the center of the room.

"Kuwabara!" Genkai yelled over the loud moaning that had filled the room, "get back to your candle!"

"Hell no! What is that thing?!" Kuwabara cried back.

"Listen!" Genkai said more forcefully. "Those candles from a spiritual barrier that is keeping this thing chained to this spot! If they go out or are removed from their place, the monster behind me will be free to destroy the city! We have to keep it here at all costs! Now shut up and get back to your candle!!!" Kuwabara stared opened mouth for a second before obediently sitting in front of his candle once more.

"Stay within the candles' barrier" Genkai warned the four new detectives. As she returned her attention to them, she noticed Kairi was already backed against the wall.

"NO! Don't go near the walls!!" Genkai shouted.

"KAIRI!" Kurama cried over the moaning as the wall suddenly came to life, two arms forming from the wood and wrapping themselves around the cat fusion. He cursed himself for agreeing to this. He couldn't leave his candle, but she needed help!

Kairi gave a scream and immediately her claws shot forth from her fingertips. She dug the long, diamond-hard nails into the arms around her, slashing downward and severing the wood. The arms fell, twitching to the ground and Kairi stumbled forward and back into the barrier formed by the candles. The monster moaned even louder then before.

Akira's black glove morphed into her trademark black katana and she cursed herself for not keeping an eye on the feeling the room was generating. If she hadn't been so busy trying to scare Kairi, she might have noticed the increasingly nauseating feeling the room had been giving off. Summoning a gust of wind around her, she lunged at the shadow of the monster.

The thing, whatever it was, seemed to realize it was being attacked and promptly detached itself from the wall. The wall itself was torn off from the temple completely, surprising Akira, who hovered uncertainly in the air. The monster rose before them now in its full glory. It was a sickening shade of green and resembled a giant worm, green slime dripping from it. It looked like something that had died a long time ago and was now decaying, it smelled like it too. It gave a roar, focusing one moldy eye on Akira. Akira only narrowed her eyes and sped forward.

"Akira! Wait!!!" Kairi cried, too afraid for her friend's safety to remember to use one of her nicknames. Sazume drew her hands up, preparing to attack. She had recently learned her first attack with the help of Genkai's training. She had found that she was able to form an arrow of fire. She had spent the last few days working on her aim with a set of real bows and arrows, since she only had enough power to use her new attack once a day. She hoped now that it would pay off.

"Wait!" Shuichi stopped her before she could form the attack.

"What?!" Sazume asked, angry at being interrupted.

"Don't you feel that?" Shuichi asked.

"Feel what?" Kairi asked him. She didn't feel anything, except scared.

"That thing. It's too strong for any of us to take on alone. Not even Akira stands a chance. In fact...if I didn't know better..." he trailed off, trying to find words for what he was feeling.

"What is it?" Kairi asked again. Shuichi had much higher spirit awareness then any of them. Genkai suspected that one day, he could even be stronger then Kuwabara. It was for those reasons that Kairi was eager to hear his advice on the situation.

"It feels as if that creature is just strong enough so that nothing short of the four of us combining our powers will be able to stop it," he answered, watching the slimy green worm intently.

"Of course!" Sazume exclaimed.

"What?" Kairi asked.

"Don't you get it. Master Genkai did this on purpose. She called forth this monster and used the Hundred Ghost Stories Ceremony so that everyone else would have to protect the candle barrier and wouldn't be able to help us!" Sazume explained.

"Is that true?" Kairi asked, turning to Genkai. Genkai nodded.

"The monster is made of a collection of lost souls, drawn here by the stories you told," Genkai explained. "Through each of your stories, it gauged your strength so it could make itself strong enough to beat you. But," now she turned and smiled at Kairi, "you remind me of a former student of mine and I knew you wouldn't tell a true ghost story. Because of this, the monster couldn't gauge your strength. Therefore, the four of you can beat it, but only if you work together." Kairi only stared for a moment before turning back to where Akira was unsuccessfully fighting the monster.

"Did you catch all that, Wan-chan?!" Kairi called.

"Go to hell, Sparky! I don't need anyone's help, and certainly not yours!" Akira shot back as she slashed at the monster again. None of her attacks were doing any good. The monster didn't feel pain and her slashing only seemed to make in madder. She was reluctant to use a stronger attack, for fear that the wind power required would extinguish the candles.

"Damn," she muttered as she backed off a little, trying to come up with another plan of action.

"Akira!!" Kairi called from the ground.

Akira growled "I already told you, Sparky! I don't need--!"

"Just listen for a second!" Kairi interrupted, taking a step forward. A cold wind had begun to blow and the only light came from the candles and the full moon above. The wind grew in power, feeding off the energy Akira was using to keep herself aloft and Genkai, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Kurama were hard put to try and keep their candles lit.

"You're strong, way stronger then any of us. I'll gladly admit that!" Kairi called over the wind and the monster's moans. "But the thing is, while you may need us, we need you! We can't do this on our own! So, think of it as you helping us and not visa versa!"

Akira hovered there, staring at Kairi. She couldn't deny that the detective, the fire demon fusion, and the human certainly weren't enough to stop the monster. Finally, she sighed and allowed herself to drift back to the ground. She would have to lower herself to working with these weaklings eventually, she might as well start now.

"Alright, let's just finish this already," Akira muttered as she joined her teammates in the center of the candle barrier. Shuichi and Sazume cheered. Kairi just smiled.

"Right! All together now! Ready?!" Kairi asked, extending her nails once more.

"Ready!" Sazume cried, raising her arms, miming the act of drawing an arrow back.

"Ready!" Shuichi echoed, raising both hands in front of him, palms facing the monster. All eyes swiveled to Akira.

"Whatever," Akira muttered, raising her sword and preparing to attack.

"NOW!!! Lightning Cat Claw!" Kairi cried. She brought her raised arms down, crossing them halfway and forming a yellow, sparking X.

"Spirit Blast!" Shuichi cried, a white orb of energy bursting from his outstretched hands, blowing him back.

"Flaming Arrow!" Sazume added. An arrow made entirely of flame appeared in one hand and a bow in the other. She released the burning shaft, sending it flying for the monster's moldy eye.

"Hallow Slash!" Akira finished, bringing her katana down fast. The movement spit the air itself, tearing a hole in the very air around them, creating a hallow spot of nothing. No oxygen or carbon dioxide or anything. The rip sped forward, aiming for the monster. It hit the green worm full in the side, the hole closing again on contact but not before it tore the monster open. Akira's attack was joined by Kairi's, Sazume's, and Shuichi's, all of that causing a blinding flash of light and a blast of wind that knocked them all back.

When Kairi opened her eyes again, she found she was sitting in a pile of rubble. Nearly half of Genkai's temple had been entirely demolished, but the monster was gone. The others began to stir around her. The candle's had long since gone out, but it obviously wasn't a problem any more.

"Are you alright?" she heard from behind her. Turning, she found Kurama gazing at her with concern.

"I'm fine. Wish I could say the same for you," Kairi answered, noticing the stream of blood that was flowing from a wound on Kurama's shoulder. He was about to assure her that he was alight when Kuwabara suddenly shot up from his spot in the rubble.

"Yukina! Yukina my love! Are you alright? Where are you?!" he cried.

"Here Kazuma," she muttered, sitting up.

"Are you hurt, my sweet?" he inquired, running to her side.

"Enough of that! You're going to make me sick!" Akira's voice suddenly broke in as she bashed Kuwabara on the head. Kairi sighed and shook her head, trying to suppress a laugh.

"And you!" Akira cried, turning to Genkai, who was brushing herself off. "What the hell was that?!"

"That," Genkai replied, "was you're first lesson in Trick-or-Treating."

Akira just stared at her, dumbfounded. What did that mean? Sazume and Shuichi had managed to sit up now as well and were wondering the same thing.

"You're treat was scaring each other with the stories you told. And don't even pretend like you didn't enjoy that!" Genkai said as Akira opened her mouth to protest.

"And the trick was the monster, right?" Sazume asked.

"No, the trick is that now, the seven of you get to rebuild the portion of my temple that you destroyed," Genkai answered. That took a moment to sink in.

"WHAT?!?!"