Just so you know I don't own YuYu Hakusho or any character therein.. I wish I did, but I don't. I only own Sai Zoten (but don't tell her that...She'll kill me...)

A Single Exception

Ever wonder what the speed of lightning would be if it didn't zigzag?

Chapter 1

Somewhere in the world is a little town like all little towns but for one exception. This day is a Tuesday and life bustles busily onward, unaware of any pain greater than the casual teenage angst and rebels expressing themselves in the form of graffiti on the backs of old department stores. One street seems to be untouched by any of this. It's as though it was taken directly from a children book.

Children play in the street as their parents watch close by. Couples stroll along looking at the few shops that line the sidewalk. They are all blissfully ignorant of the war that rages around them. A single booming of thunder is all the warning preceding a sudden downpour, children and adults alike laughingly scramble for cover from the rain. In the bustle of activity a small sodden figure walks jerkily past them, unnoticed but for one little child, a little girl. The figure pauses looking deep into the eyes of the child. The child blinks and the figure is gone.

As quickly as the rain started it stops, returning the day back to the sunny late summer. The people tentatively step out from under their makeshift shelters and look up at the cloudless sky, completely oblivious to the horrendous miracle that has occurred right under their noses. Life returns to normal except for the heart of one little child who has been granted a gift far greater and more terrifying than any of her dreams or nightmares.

-------------(somewhere else)

"That girl aggravates me!" An (you guessed it) aggravated Keiko throws up her hands in defeat.

"Why? Cause she sits by herself?" Yusuke leans back in one of those metal cafeteria chairs smirking at Keiko, "Give it a rest will ya?" (yes they are eating in a cafeteria, for once.)

"Yeah, Keiko. You've been trying to make friends with her ever since she transferred here, maybe you should just leave her alone for once." Kuwabara mutters picking at his lunch.

"She's been here for three months and hasn't made one friend! It can't be fun for her." Keiko looks determinedly over at a girl eating in a corner. The people sitting at the same table all leave a respectable distance between them and her. Her ear length hair is a coal black and billows around her face blocking her eyes from view.

"Maybe she likes it that way." Yusuke tries to convince Keiko, but she won't be swayed. He watches in amusement as she takes a breath in and stalks over to the girl. The girl looks up as Keiko approaches. Keiko says something and pauses, waiting for the other to answer. A moment later Keiko's eyes grow wide as the girl scrapes her chair back and stands up, tray in hand.

I'll have to tell Hiei that I found someone shorter than him! Kuwabara thinks gleefully. She follows a stunned but beaming Keiko over to where Yusuke and Kuwabara are watching. The girl sits down next to Keiko and places the tray in front of her, looking straight at Yusuke. She could be considered pretty if her face wasn't so stiff and unyielding and her mouth wasn't always pressed into a thin line. Yusuke discreetly takes in the appearance the girl, his heart skipping a beat when he looks up to meet the coldest navy blue eyes he's ever seen. Her gaze is intense, and Yusuke shivers feeling suddenly colder in the warm cafeteria.

"Let me introduce you to my friends!" Keiko's voice rises slightly in her excitement, "This is Yusuke Urameshi and this is Kazuma Kuwabara." Keiko points to each boy as she introduces him.

Something flashes across the girl's face as she nods taking the names in, "Sai Zoten." Even her innocent sounding voice is cold and distant.

Lunch goes by without so much as a peep from the girl and nervous fidgeting from the others, except Keiko. Keiko chatters up a storm in her excitement to have finally made a step in her quest to befriend this antisocial girl, well…sort of. She seems completely oblivious to the twitching of her two comrades and the frozen stance of the other.

(End of School)

Keiko, model student, is the first one out of class. She run-walks over to where Yusuke is leaning against the outermost wall, chewing on a blade of grass. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and he looks very much like a street punk.

"Yusuke…" Keiko says in a dangerous voice. Yusuke looks up at her and lifts an eyebrow, "You weren't in our last class." If possible her voice lowers even more as her eyes storm.

"'Cause it's borin'." Yusuke pushes himself off the wall and starts walking toward the street. Keiko follows a few steps behind him.

"You're hopeless, you know that? You go and do this even after all the strings we had to pull to get you into high school!" Keiko says, aggravated. Yusuke snorts, suddenly he feels an immense energy coming towards them, and fast.

"Holy crap!" He mutters before shoving Keiko and himself away. Keiko closes her eyes when she feels Yusuke slam into her, a loud fizzing sound echoing in her ears. She lies on the ground for a moment trying to breath with a heavy weight pressing down on her. When she opens her eyes the first thing she sees is a pair of chocolate brown eyes staring down into her own.

SMACK

"YUSUKE! YOU PERVERT!" Keiko jumps up in anger as Yusuke does in defense.

"I JUST SAVED YOUR LIFE!" Yusuke and Keiko stand there shouting at each other, faces red, "THAT WOULD'VE BEEN YOU IF I HADN'T DONE SOMETHING!" Yusuke points to the spot they had just vacated. Keiko draws in a sharp breath, eyes going wide. A crater the size of a car smolders with heat. The very center of the concave circle is blackened, and the air crackles with electricity.

"What happened?" Keiko whispers.

"Lightning."