Author's Notes: As a warning, I just wanted to tell you guys now that I changed the timing to some things. The Makai Tournment happened 3 months after the Chapter Black saga ended. Hiei, Kurama, and Yusuke were only gone for a year. Hiei did not stay with Mukuro. Yusuke and Kurama came back to the Ningenkai to finish high school. Kurama is a 17-year-old junior and everyone else (Yusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara) is a 16-year-old sophomore.

(This is mainly an explanation for Yusuke's Raizen comment and it is also here to serve as an explanation for later chapters.)

I would like to take this time to thank those of you who have been reading and reviewing for the time being. I really do appreciate it. You guys are the ones who keep me going, lol...
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters. The plot, however, belongs to lil old me…….. (laughs evilly…… ;-P)

Haunted

Chapter 3

"Sensui." That was what the child ruler had said. That one word sent shivers down everyone's spines, even Hiei shivered a little.

Keiko had fainted, falling into Botan's arms. She herself could barely even hold her own frame up. Shizuru's cigarette had fallen out of her mouth. Yukina held onto Kuwabara for support, all the while trembling himself. The news shocked Hiei so much that he came out of his corner to sit with everyone else. Kurama tried to remain calm, but his emerald eyes betrayed him. Yusuke went from edgy to angry in 5 seconds flat. Genkai just sat there and began to sip some hot tea.

"Whaddya mean? He's alive!" shouted Yusuke.

"Yes, very much so," was the only thing that Koenma could say in return.

"But I, or Raizen, for that matter, killed Sensui!"

"Apparently not if he is hiding out in Ningenkai, baka," answered Hiei.

"Don't start with me now, three-eyes!"

"Stop it, both of you!" yelled Botan, still holding an unconscious Keiko. She had spoken out for the first time since the meeting began. Everyone was surprised, even Koenma. "We don't have time for this. As Koenma has just told you, we have a very powerful demon to find and capture." Everyone was staring at Botan in shock. It was very rare to see the ferry girl speak out so boldly. The others remained speechless.

"She's right." A deep, soft male voice broke through the silence. Kurama was looking straight at Botan. She saw this and a pinkish hue appeared across her face. "We need to keep focus on this pressing matter."

Yusuke noticed this, but turned his attention back to the current situation. He suddenly thought of something. "Hey, you said that an A-class demon by the name of Sensui was on the loose."

Everyone understood where Yusuke was going. "How did he become a demon, let alone a high class one? Because the last time that I checked, that psycho was a human."

Everyone turned their attention over to Koenma. "I was getting to that, Yusuke."

At that moment, Keiko began to stir. When she finally awoke, Botan filled her in and they turned back to Koenma.

"When this case resurfaced, I have to admit that it caught me off guard. My father didn't even see this coming."

Kurama stood up. "Koenma, do you know anything else about Sensui?"

"Yes. As a matter of fact, I can show you." And with that, the Reikai teen pulled out a briefcase. It resembled the one that Botan had taken with her during the tunnel to Makai case. Once opened, it revealed a monitor with a miniature control consol. "Let me adjust the frequency so that everyone can watch," Koenma said.

Within a few seconds, the screen was on. It was blurry, but soon came into focus.

/tv fuzz clears/

A smiling Itsuki appeared, holding a dagger in his right hand. He raised it to his left palm and struck himself. Blood began to ooze from the wound.

He then walked over to a lifeless Sensui. He repeated the process with the former Spirit Detective's left hand as well.

Itsuki then sat down next to his fallen comrade and folded his arms and legs. He grabbed Sensui's bloody hand and held it with his own, making sure that their bloody wounds were making contact. He closed his eyes and began to summon his spirit and demon energy. A light green aura surrounded the 'Gatekeeper'. He also began to absorb Ura-Otoko's (the demon, or pet, that he controls) demon energy. Itsuki's aura transformed from light green to black in a matter of seconds. Keeping his eyes closed, he began to chant.

"Power within,
with all your might;
release your hold,
show me the light."

Sensui's body was enveloped in an atmosphere of yellow.

"Guide his soul
right to my side;
infuse him with power,
strengthen him with pride."

A small, dark cloud made its way next to the chanter, his eyes still closed. Itsuki smirked. He could sense it. It, the cloud, was Sensui's soul.

"Cleanse his body, mind, and soul;
purge him of disease and strife."

At this point, the former Spirit Detective's body rose several inches off the ground. His soul now hovered above his limp form. Itsuki's light was fading, transferring his power and Ura-Otoko's into Sensui's body. Their blood-soaked hands were still holding onto each other.

"Return Sensui to his proper place;
inside his body, where resides his life
and his grace."

Itsuki opened his eyes, which were engulfed in a bright, white light. Sensui's soul had merged with his body once again, encasing the 'Dark Angel' in a cloud of black and blue haze. The smoke began to clear and his body floated gently back down to the ground. Itsuki was exhausted. Sweat cascaded down his face. He finally let go of Sensui's hand.

The man began to stir. Itsuki could not conceal his joy for long. The man sat up and looked at his tired comrade. "Welcome back, Shinobu," greeted the demon.

"It's good to be back. I have never felt better! What did you do, Gatekeeper?" asked the refreshed, but confused man. He suddenly noticed his bloody left hand.

"I revived you combing my spirit and demon energy and also the demon energy of my Yaminade. I had to cut your hand to get access to your supply of Sacred Energy, which was locked in your blood. In order for the incantation to work, I also had to cut my palm because blood from a living being was needed to activate the reviving process. By putting our wounds together, I was able to combine all three types of energy to heal your body and summon your soul. You no longer have that life-threatening disease or those six other personalities to worry about. I have neutralized them all." Itsuki was now smiling triumphantly. "There is one side effect though, Shinobu," said the feeble demon, "you have now become a demon like myself. You are now an upper A-Class demon. The only demon to master and wield the power of the Sacred Energy." Itsuki was now beaming.

"Is that all, Itsuki?" inquired the former Spirit Detective.

"Yes. And now, we can finally be together," replied the exasperated demon.

"Actually, Itsuki, I have other plans."

And with that, Sensui stood up and raised his right hand. A black beam of energy erupted from his palm. The demon was too weak and stunned to defend himself. The energy hit him square in the chest, right in the heart.

"Why, Shinobu?" cried the dying Gatekeeper.

"Let's just say that I have some unfinished business to take care of, old friend," replied Sensui.

Itsuki fell in a heap to the floor, in a pool of his own blood. He was dead.

Sensui walked over to his former partner. "I never could stand that retarded sissy fag anyway."

Ura-Otoko could sense that something was wrong. Sensui took note of this and snapped his fingers. A blaze of fire engulfed the other feeble demon and the body of his fallen master. The Yaminade screeched in horror and pain as the fire took its toll on its body. With a happy smirk, Sensui snapped his fingers again and disappeared.

/tv fuzz reappears/

The screen became blurry once again. Koenma closed the briefcase. Everyone was silent. Even Genkai had stopped sipping her tea.

Yusuke was the first to speak. "What in the hell was that?"

"I believe that was our next case, baka," responded the fire koorime.

"Yeah, I know that, but how did you ever get that footage?" asked a very lost Yusuke.

"As it turns out, a member of the Spirit Defense Force (SDF) was able to place a miniature camera inside of Ura-Otoko without being sensed or noticed," explained Koenma. "It was found in a pile of ashes just outside a forest in demon world. There was a tracking device in the camera, which made it easy for the SDF to find." The child ruler had a sick look on his teen façade. "And just in case you were wondering, the pile of ashes were identified to be the remains of Itsuki and Ura-Otoko."

Everyone, except for Hiei, Genkai, and Shizuru, went deathly white. They could not believe their ears.

"Yeah, but that still doesn't explain how he became a demon." The Spirit Detective looked frustrated.

"Actually, it's a very ancient makai myth." Everyone turned their attention towards Kurama. "It is said that when a great amount of spirit and demon energy are combined with Sacred Energy, they alone wield enough power to resurrect 100 normal humans. But for demons and special humans, it's very different." Kurama looked out a nearby window. "It can turn a very powerful, deceased human into a high level demon. In this case, Sensui."

"He's right." Koenma stood up. He reached into the pockets of his royal robes. He pulled out nine, black communication compacts.

"I want all of you to remain in constant contact with me and with each other," said the Prince of Reikai while handing out the compacts.

"What are you going to do now, Koenma?" asked the ferry girl.

"I am going back to Spirit World to see if I can find anything else out." The young god-ling gathered his belongings and headed for a portal near the door. "I'll be in touch. In the meantime, get some sleep." And with that, Koenma stepped through the portal and vanished.

Genkai turned to face the bewildered group. "I want all of you to stay here and spend the night. We will come up with a plan of action tomorrow," offered the elderly psychic.

"Buddy system!" exclaimed Kuwabara. Everyone looked at the carrot-haired teen. "I mean I think that we should pick a partner and share a room with them, for safety purposes."

"Wow, your first decent idea of the year," retorted Hiei in that drawling tone of his.

"The idiot is right," began an amused Genkai.

"For once," added Hiei.

"Hey, shrimp if you got --" Kuwabara started on a comeback, but was interrupted by Genkai.

"Both of you, shut up! Kuwabara has a point. Now, go and choose your partners. I am going to put up a protective barrier around the entire compound."

Genkai rose from her seat and headed out the door.

xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Shizuru and Yukina decided to share a room. It was difficult to get Hiei to remain at the temple. Kurama was the only one who could convince the koorime to stay. Now, since the kitsune was the only one who he could stand to be around, everyone thought that it would best that they bunk together in one of the spare rooms, thus avoiding a murderous rampage on Hiei's part. Yusuke and Kuwabara fought over who was going to get the top bunk. Of course, Yusuke won. Meanwhile, Botan and Keiko headed off to their room for the night. Genkai went to bed in her own room.

While they were getting ready to go to sleep, Keiko remembered her self-made promise to her best friend. She chose this time to talk to Botan about Kurama.

I would like to thank all of you for having the patience to wait for Chap. 3. It took me a while to make sure that I got every detail right before I typed it up, lol… Hope that all of ya enjoyed it. Plz R&R. Your comments help me out so much…. ;-P

- Kit -