Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. Only the OC's that will inhabit the world. Hope you enjoy!

A/N: What's up, everyone? Boy, it's been a long time since I updated. Especially since the last time I did so, I left my other story, the Pact of Five, on a giant cliffhanger. Of course there are reasons why but that's not what this author's note is for, now is it? Introducing my latest attempt at a fanfic: Yu Yu Hakusho: Legacy Unleashed. Hope it catches your eye. Or at least it isn't boring to you. So without further ado, let's make tracks and speed to Chapter One!

Megara

It was just another normal day for me. At least it was until I saw the demon. I had been planning on hanging out with my best friend Yui after school. And hang out we did. We were just in the middle of trying on clothes in the changing room when I felt it. A chill that froze me solid. For a good minute, I did nothing but take it in.

Yui noticed my silence. Placing a hand on my shoulder, she shook me softly. "Hey, Meg, are you okay?"

When I hardly deigned to respond, she moved her palm from my shoulder to my forehead and peered into my eyes. "Your skin is feverish. Did you come down with something?"

I immediately did my best to calm her. "I'm fine. Just a little dizzy."

Yui frowned in concern. "Should I take you home?" She checked my forehead again. "Yeah, it feels like it's getting worse. Don't worry." She gestured to the strawberry colored blouse in her hands. "I'll just go pay for this and then I'll walk you home. Go sit on that bench over there. I'll be back." She jogged over to the sales counter, leaving me all alone.

Waiting until I was sure she wouldn't turn around, I got up and left the store. Leaving Yui alone was mean, especially since she was trying to make sure I made it home alright. But I didn't want to put her in harm's way. From the energy I felt coming from this guy, he was way stronger than what I was used to dealing with. Plus the energy signature… honestly didn't feel human.

So letting Yui tag along was out of the question. Shaking this particular line of thought from my head, I weaved through the crowds as I tried to keep a tail on my target. I still didn't know how they looked or even what gender they were. All I could do was move closer. Exiting the mall, I stood still, taking in the spiritual energy around me. Everyone had spiritual energy, whether they knew it or not. Sometimes, spiritual energy can be harness by its possessor and used to do miraculous things. I call these people psychics.

Normally, activating psychic abilities took a sort of natural skill that not many possessed. Even the activation of my own powers was nothing more than a miracle (or accident) that resulted from yet another psychic's power. Most of the time, I kept to myself and left other psychics alone. I wasn't the go-to girl when it came to them. But, if anyone decided to terrorize my hometown, I would be there to confront and defeat them.

A sudden surge of energy caught my attention and I turned left just in time to see a large figure retreating into a back alley. Following after it and soon we entered a game of cat and mouse. Or rather mazes and bridges. Just when I thought I had caught up with this guy he would ramp up his speed and leave me in the dust, forcing me to pick up the ace and track him down again. It was another five minutes before he hit a dead end and I sighed in relief. I'd reckon I'm already lost, given all the twists and turns we already took.

The figure started to hiss and I was able to distinguish it as amused laughter. I failed to see what was so funny. Finally, he grunted as if in disgust. "Six thousand Japanese citizens and only one has the power to sustain me? It's almost sad."

Sustain? What was he talking about? Not giving it too much thought, I released the restraints on my energy and let it flow free. Wrapping my left arm in spirit energy, I imitated the stance of an archer as I had done many time before and asked him, "Who are you? What do you plan on doing here?"

The figure was still shrouded in shadow as he turned to face me. "I am Catox and I will feed on the flesh of the living." He opened his mouth to reveal rows of razor-sharp teeth and it was then that I realized that this figure was not a human but rather a shadow with nothing but teeth and a growing aura of malice.

My heart began to pound erratically and the shadow smiled in glee as my facial expression became less composed and more frightened. "I can taste it, you know. Your fear. It's so divine."

A single red eye opened on the forehead and was looking at me intently. "Are you prepared to die?"

Gritting my teeth and tightening my focus, I constructed the bow in my head and watched as it shimmered to life in my hands. Drawing my left arm back, I waited until the image of an arrow flickered into existence and began to charge with power. All the while, I kept a close eye on my prey. Despite my preparation, he had not yet moved, almost as if there was no need to.

"Not in this life." My eyes narrowed and with a sharp breath, I let the arrow fly. A flash of bright blue light lit the alley as the arrow collided with its target, embedding itself into Catox's chest and lifting him off his feet. As the shadow thudded to the ground, I let loose the breath that I'd been holding.

I frowned. "Well, that was stunningly simple." I let my spirit energy dissipate and restrained it once more. Sighing, I turned back towards the entrance but stopped when I felt it. The cold chilling energy that sent me on this wild goose chase in the first place. Whirling around, I watched in barely composed surprise as the shadow picked itself up again and groaned. "I would have never imagined that your energy had a bit of a stunning after effect. I was actually caught off guard."

I was so stunned that he was able to pick himself up. Among the Spirit Bow, which was my primary weapon, I had the ability to shape my spirit energy into a wave of power that allowed me to stun my enemies and disrupt their own abilities for a certain amount of time. But, somehow, in the course of one minute, Catox had gotten hit by that same attack and had shrugged it off like it was nothing.

Catox seemed to notice my growing confusion. He smiled. "As long as I'm in this form, your spiritual attacks will have no effect. Now, prepare to die." He faded into the dark for a split second before appearing five meters in front of me and plunging his misty arm through me.

I shrieked in pain as my insides froze over and my eyesight became foggy. Trying to back up, I tripped over my own feet and hit the floor, effectively cutting off contact. Heaving in deep breaths, I glanced down at my stomach, expecting to see a deep hole where most of my organs were but everything seemed fine. Scooting away to get some distance, I winced as the very spot that he attacked me stung me. Pulling up my shirt, I noticed a darkening purple bruise on my skin. Even in that form, he could affect me physically?

It took me a second to realize that this wasn't the time for twenty questions. Wobbling precariously to my feet, I regarded Catox warily as he slowly moved forward. His form flickered and in that moment, I saw flesh within the shadow. My eyes widened in shock. Was there more to this foe than I previously thought? Did he have a physical form as well?

My thoughts were cut short as when the shadow sprinted forward again and prepared to finish me off. But then, at the last second, he froze, his hand only a few inches away from my body.

Then, without a word, he turned from me and looked up towards the sky. I followed his gaze and almost gasped in shock. There was a figure floating in the sky above our battle. She looked like a young woman with blue hair clad in a pink yukata. What was even more bizarre was the fact that she was floating on a paddle and staring down at the fight in what I could only call surprise. My first thought was that it was an illusion. It had to have been a hallucination but then again, stranger things had happened.

For a brief moment, no one moved. But, then the woman's eyes looked to me and made a deliberate head jerk to the right. Following the motion, my eyes came to a rest at the entrance of the alley. She wants me to run?

I looked to her again and she nods twice. Unfortunately, it catches Catox's eye and he turns to grab me. Jumping out of reach, I sprinted for the opening and into the corridors I ran. Making a quick left and then a right, I found myself within a maze of alley ways. Picking a random path, I ran forward. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see the floating woman following me from afar.

Speaking of which, who was she and why was she helping me? I mean, it wasn't impossible for there to be another psychic that didn't abuse their power. I just wasn't used to seeing them as they were few and far between. But, if her only power was to float and fly, I would assume you wouldn't be able to use that for much more than fast travel.

Coming to another fork in the road, I thought back to Catox and what I had seen previously. Underneath his shadow form, there was a solid body. For some reason, his shadow form acted as a shield that absorbed spirit energy, which protected his physical body. So if I had to guess, even if I were able to make it past that shield, I would run into the same problem with his physical form in a reversed manner.

With that in mind… I had a plan.

"Ran out of places to hide, did you?" Catox's silky voice reached my ears and I turned to face him. I stayed silent and watched as he approached.

In truth, I had been following the woman as she took the lead and led me out of the maze. But at the last second, I turned a corner so that I could carry out my plan. Considering how strong this guy was, that may have been dumb of me. But, luring him into a crowded street was not a good course of action. I had a feeling that Catox would follow me no matter where I went and slaughter as many people as possible on the way there. Due to that, I realized that I had to carry this out alone.

Plus, I thought, regarding him warily as my arms filled with power, I'm not sure I could fire an arrow in a crowd without accidently killing someone. I sighed. Here goes everything. As quick as a viper, I sent an arc of spirit energy his way catching him off guard. While he swiftly dealt with the power I unleashed, I pulled out my secret weapon and began to charge it with the last of my power. If this was to work, I'd need to use every last drop of my power. By the time Catox had swallowed my energy, I had another Spirit Arrow prepped and ready to fire.

When I let the arrow fly, it flew through the air, straight and true before embedding itself into the shadow's side. I watched as his eyes bulged and he spit up a green paste that incinerated the concrete. "Gah…" He coughed twice, spitting up more acid. "How…?" His eyes slowly looked to the item in his side as the light from the arrow faded. At the moment of recognition, he locked eyes with me, glaring with hate. "You…" he growled.

I smirked. "What, were you expecting some damsel in distress who can't fight without a knight in shining armor? Or maybe you're shocked that I managed to figure out your big secret. Your spiritual form blocks spiritual attacks but is vulnerable to physical ones. Once I had that found out, it was quite easy to lure you into a trap.

"That arc of power…" He trailed off as he caught his breath. I smiled. "It was merely a distraction. While you dealt with it, I picked up the nearest object and charged it with the remainder of my energy." Shrugging with a triumphant smile on my face, I said, "Who knew lead pipes were so effective?"

He growled lowly in his throat and I frowned as an unpleasant feeling settled over me. Dropping to my knees and gasping for air, I grabbed at my neck and tried to speak. My vision was getting hazy. A sharp pain struck me in my stomach and that was when I remembered the bruise on my body. With shaky hands, I pulled up my shirt to see that the bruise had worsened, becoming black. The blackened skin felt cold to the touch and I panted for breath.

Off to the right of me (or was it the left?) I could hear Catox's mad cackle. "It took my poison longer than expected. But, at last, it seems like it has done its work. Once you take your last breath, your energy will be ripe for the taking." He cackled maniacally again but with the way my ears were buzzing, he might have been chirping out bird songs for all I knew.

For a split second, my vision went dark. When it had returned, I saw two dark figures standing over me. One was pure shadow, the other a slightly lighter presence. When I blacked out the second time, I heard an unearthly shrieking. When I came to again, one of the shadows was gone and the other was kneeling down next to me. "Hey, you okay? Miss…"

It was a man's voice I heard but I was too far out to hear the rest of the words. When I closed my eyes that final time, a soft glow enveloped my body and I passed out.

….

….

….

"You're a very troublesome girl, you know that?"

My eyes blinked open at the sound of the voice. I grabbed at my forehead in agony. "Man, what happened?"

"You almost died," said the voice again. I looked left and right for its owner but never found them. Instead, I found myself standing in a giant square room. In the middle was a desk piled high with paperwork. Hesitantly, I moved towards the desk and looked over the wall of paper. But no one was there. Was I losing my mind?

"Down here!"

Looking down, I found the owner of the voice and he was nothing more than a toddler. He was wearing a cloak and robe reserved for royalty. To complete the bizarreness, he had a pacifier jammed in his mouth and he was sucking on it like nobody's business. I stood there staring at this new strange sight for who knows how long before I came to the conclusion, "Either I'm dead or seeing things." I massaged my temples as if that would help.

Meanwhile, the toddler chuckled and replied, "Well to be accurate, you're experiencing death and hallucination. Fighting that demon took a lot out of you and the poison he injected into your system was killing you. To escape it, I pulled your soul here so that I could speak with you."

"But… who are you? And where is 'here'? And if this is only my soul, what happened to my body?"

The toddler pulled at his pacifier. "My name is Koenma, and I am the Prince of the Spirit World, the world in which we are currently inhabiting. As for your final question, you were saved by an acquaintance of mine. When I pulled your soul here, they took it upon themselves to heal your body. Right now, you are on the brink of death, which allows me to speak with you. But, once you're healed, this meeting will end and you will return to the Living World."

"There's another thing I don't understand: why me? I'm just a psychic…" I trailed off and Koenma chuckled.

"Exactly! You're a psychic, one of the few members of your world who can harness the powers of Spirit. Normally, I would overlook it as there are many of you who have unlocked that power but you were the first to unlock it almost unconsciously and with no prior knowledge of the other worlds. From that moment on, I was intrigued by you and kept you under close watch.

I sent Investigators to watch you as a just in case, mostly because I was sure that you wouldn't survive long in a fight between a more seasoned psychic. But, it was when such a psychic was terrorizing your town that you rose to the occasion, honing your skills and sharpening your battle prowess until you were able to beat him. Most wouldn't have even tried. But you did. That is the reason as to why I want you to become my next Spirit Detective."

I frowned in bewilderment. "Spirit Detective?" I tried the word out. Admittedly, it did have a nice ring to it. But before I could express my surprise, the room shook and faded out. Koenma sighed. "Your body has expelled most of the poison so it looks as though our meeting is at an end. Once the room fades away completely, you'll be back in your own body. Once you wake, listen to my acquaintance and from there, decide your fate." Koenma was swallowed by a bright light and I stretched a hand out.

"Wait!" The light was blinding and I had to turn away. "Not yet!"

"Not yet… what is she talking about?"

That voice…

"I'm not sure but I assume she was speaking to Koenma." This voice was different as it had a definite highness to it.

Aware of the soreness in my muscles, I blinked open my eyes for the second time in ten minutes to find two people staring down at me. I recognized the woman in the yukata who had helped me earlier. But, as for the man…

Shifting into a kneeling position, he cleared his throat. "Steady, now. The venom in your body is gone but you're still weak. It's probably best if you lie down for a little bit longer."

Since I wasn't the best when it came to authority, I sat up anyway. Then I regarded the man in front of me. He wore a standard police officer's outfit, the blue blazer and black slacks. His dress shoes shone in the evening light, contrasting nicely with his ginger hair and fair skin. But, upon further studying, I gasped in shock. This was the guy my father always talked of, the one who changed his life for the better, and gotten him a job.

"Police Chief Kuwabara…?" I asked, hoping I got the pronunciation right.

The older man chuckled slightly. "So you remember me? I'm surprised. The last time I saw you, you were just a little tyke, hiding behind your mother's knees." He glanced up at the sky with a wistful gaze. I knew what he was thinking about but didn't bother him. A lot had happened since the good ole days.

Finally, after fumbling a bit, he stood and steadily helped me to my feet as well. "Well, no use standing around here. Let's get you home."

I stood but my legs wouldn't move. Before I knew it, I said the first thing that came to mind. "I don't understand, sir. What are you doing here and how do you know I was in trouble?"

Chief Kuwabara looked back at me with raised eyebrows. "I am a police chief, you know. I make it my business to know if you're in danger or not." He glanced at the blue haired woman next to him. "Besides, we've been keeping tabs on you for a while. It's not every day that a natural psychic, such as yourself, awakens to their powers, becomes their city's savior, gets offered the position of Spirit Detective, and fights a B-class demon and lives to tell the tale. In all honesty, you're giving Yusuke a run for his money." Kuwabara sounded a tad grim as he completed his train of thought.

Yusuke? Who's that? I searched my memories to see if the name had ever come up in idle conversation but I was drawing a blank. The way that the two adults were nodding suggested that both of them knew Yusuke, which probably meant he wasn't someone I was supposed to know. Still, my eyebrows furrowed as I asked. "Is this Yusuke a friend of yours? What does he have to do with this situation right now?"

Kuwabara flinched almost as if he had screwed up. He turned to the woman nervously. "Botan…"

The woman – Botan – shook her head in response. "She's going to figure out eventually. It's better you tell her now."

Kuwabara sighed before turning to face me. He ran his fingers through his hair before speaking. "Yusuke Urameshi… He was a punk and a jerk and an all-around delinquent ("Not that I can really talk," he muttered under his breath) but he was also this world's last Spirit Detective and a great friend." He smiled before frowning suddenly. "As to what he has to do with the situation… three months ago, on the day after you received your powers, Yusuke Urameshi disappeared." Kuwabara turned to stare deep into my eyes with an almost accusatory gaze. "And we haven't seen him since."

A/N: And that's all for the first chapter! Did you like it? I did. It feels good to get the idea off the paper and unto the computer screen. But, of course, we now face Judgment Day. As I'm sure you're all aware, I usually update my stories depending on how many people want to know what happens next. Because of this, I'm begging for some feedback. Tell me what you thought of this first attempt into the story. Review, follow, favorite. The whole she-bang. And now... unto the real reason as to why I put this author's note at the bottom of the page:

Like all great writers of this site, I am looking for suggestions. There are two options for Chapter 2 that I was able to make up. But, I haven't yet decided between the two. And that's where you come in. The first option shows her beginning her training under the tutelage of Kuwabara for a period of six months. The second option begins her training but then skips ahead at least a year into the future so that the we can get to the rest of the main characters. Both options are fine with me, both have their strengths and weaknesses, and all of you have a chance to choose what you want. So choose wisely. And as always...

ArthurDragonpen, signing off!