Chapter 2: The Warning
Yusuke had accomplished much in real life in a short time. After his return from the three-year sojourn in the Makai, he immediately dismissed attempting school again. Instead, he borrowed some money from Keiko's father to open a martial arts dojo in the downtown area. Urameshi had become something of a local legend, with rumors of his fighting prowess and how he might have even come back from the dead. Due to this infamy, he was interestingly never short of students. Yusuke turned out to be an incredible teacher, and many that he taught learned to unlock a small portion of spirit energy, and he became increasingly popular for the strength of his students.
In only three months after his return, he was able to pay back Keiko's father and keep up a decent revenue. He bought an apartment across from the Yukimura restaurant, and he spent a lot of time with Keiko. He hadn't yet been brave enough to re-ask the question of marriage, but he hoped things would work out eventually. He felt under worked however, to put it mildly. In the two years he spent wandering the Makai, he had learned many things about the nature of Demons and his own power. His strength had increased in phenomenal ways, but he had so far kept its extent a secret. He reasoned that he had no reason for the level of power he now possessed, a level so high not even Genkai could truly guess at it. However, from the sharp glances she gave him every time they came in contact, Yusuke knew that Genkai was somewhat aware of it.
He happened to be walking to his apartment after a day's teaching when he detected a massive spirit presence nearby. In a fraction of a second, he pinpointed it as coming from an alleyway 15 yards behind him on his right. He turned around slowly, and saw a young woman staring furtively at him from the alleyway. He could tell by the uniform she wore that she was a member of the Soul World Special Defense Team.
The woman started as she noticed Yusuke looking at her despite her attempts to hide, and she turned to run back into the alleyway. Much to her consternation, however, she found Yusuke standing in front of her grinning, blocking her retreat.
Her eyes went wide with terror, and she collapsed on the ground, her hands trembling as she held them over her head protectively. "Please don't kill me Mr. Demon!" she screamed and cried at the same time.
Yusuke was rather taken aback at the blatant display of terror, and checked to make sure he didn't have any large fangs coming out of his mouth or sharp claws growing out of his fingers. Nope…wonder what's with her?
"What are you talking about girl? I'm not going to kill you…geez. I just wanted to know why someone from Spirit World was spying on me."
The young woman immediately ceased crying and looked up slowly. "Really? HQ told us you were demon monster that revels in killing and hatred," she said brightly.
Yusuke gave her a strange look and gritted his teeth, "I'm glad that Soul Society has such a high opinion of me…" he grumbled. "Anyways, why are you spying on me?"
The girl thought for a moment, "Well, King Yamma still has a termination order out for you, so I'm probably just supposed to keep tabs on you until we kill you!" she smiled innocently, morphed into a sphere of spirit energy, and zipped off.
"Hey! Wait! I…oh forget it…" Yusuke kicked a rock on the sidewalk in annoyance, and it sailed off out of sight. "I guess I'll get to look forward to a fight with some Spirit World goons sometime soon then at least. Bring on any wimps you can find!" he shouted at the sky and cracked his knuckles ominously. He then proceeded back to his apartment, thinking about what delicious concoction he might get at the Yukimura restaurant that night.
Later, as he walked in, he heard Kuwabara's rough voice shout in surprise.
"Yusuke has a WHAT on him?"
"A termination order, I'm afraid," came Koenma's voice in a grave tone. "My father is scared of Yusuke for some reason, and he's issued an order for his death. He is hiring a dangerous team of humans and demons to destroy Yusuke."
"But surely Yusuke can handle mere hirelings from Spirit World," Kurama's voice interjected.
At this point Yusuke saw fit to storm in growling angrily. "Yeah, exactly! I can handle it myself, and I don't see why you had to even get these guys involved Koenma. I don't see how they have any business with it.
"But Yusuke, the group my father hired is very dangerous and they could…"
"I don't CARE how dangerous you think they are, I can take care of myself dammit." Yusuke calmed down a little bit and grinned mischievously, "I picked up a few tricks in those two years you guys didn't hear from me."
"Just a minute there, buster," Kuwabara stood up and faced Yusuke defiantly. "We're not just gonna stand around and do nothing when you're in danger. We're all your friends and we're gonna help you out even if you don't want us to!" he sat down gruffly. "There, I said it. Now I feel better."
Yusuke looked surprised for a second, "Well thanks, I guess," Kuwabara grunted noncommittally. "I still don't see what the big fuss is about. After all, if I can go toe-to-toe with Youmi, I think I can handle anything Spirit World throws at me."
"Well, I'm not sure about that Yusuke," Koenma spoke back up. "This group of humans and demons have created a technique that melds multiple sources of spirit energy into a single being. If a group of powerful people used the technique, the target of the meld would have the power of an S-class demon for a short time." As he finished, he noticed Yusuke had gone to order something to eat. "Hey!" he shouted indignantly, "Did you listen to a word I said!"
"Yeah yeah sure," Yusuke tossed it off. "Like I said, I can handle it. If you guys want to follow me everywhere I go or something, that's your problem." Inside, however, he was seething with excitement. An opponent of S-class power? Maybe this would be more than just a warm-up…
Yusuke quickly ate and left, strolling out the door muttering swears in a low voice for the benefit of his image, but secretly looking forward to a good fight in the near future.
"Aaagh! That fool never listens to me, and it's going to get him killed some day!" Koenma moaned, putting his head in his hands despairingly.
"Yeah, you're probably right. I'm gonna follow him back to his house." Kuwabara grated. He got up and turned to Kurama. "You coming too?"
"I suppose I might as well," Kurama grinned, looking out the door Yusuke had exited. "However, I doubt there is much reason to worry. Yusuke can handle any threat short of a lord of the Makai."
Koenma groaned and threw his hands up in the air futilely, "Fine! Just don't listen to me when I think there's a threat, don't take anything Koenma says seriously, he's just a toddler most of the time anyways!" his inferiority-complex rant continued, but Kurama and Kuwabara had already left to begin trailing Yusuke.
So the vessel of this technique could have the power of an S-class huh? Yusuke mulled this thought over as he strolled along the short stretch of sidewalk to his apartment. In actuality, Yusuke had decided that the S-class was too broad of a category, and that he could break it down into three main types. S-class demons such as the Northern God really did not have any incredible powers, and could be considered S-C class. The middle, S-B class, had great power but were still limited in many ways, and those such as Mukuro and Youmi fit this class. The greatest of all demons, in the S-A class, had enough power to shake the very firmament of the Makai, and the only Yusuke had known with that level of power was Raishin, his ultimate grandfather.
Yusuke figured he had been between S-C and S-B class when he had fought Youmi, who had been solidly in the S-B class. If I was almost S-B then, what am I now? he thought to himself as he entered his apartment. He lay on his bed, and closed his eyes, knowing that soon he would be facing a taxing test of his new power.
