A/N: Hi there.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho.
The group, except for Hiei, sat dismally on the sidewalk. Hiei sat above them in a short tree. They had gone to the local high school, asking for Saya. The fact that Yusuke could not provide a last name did not slow them down. In fact, the principal seemed to know exactly who they were asking for. The fat, small-eyed man had rolled his eyes and replied will a sneer that Saya was probably "out terrorizing small children and old ladies". Kurama and Kuwabara had been forced to drag Yusuke away from attempting (and very nearly succeeding) in bashing the man's head in.
The group had to stand and move out into the street as a group of seven boys past them. Each of the boys were wearing black pants and a white button-down shirt; the uniform for the school. They were laughing at one's joke and glaring at anyone around them at the same time.
As they passed, Yusuke fell into step behind them. The two red-heads looked at each other for a moment as if to ask: is-he-really-doing-this? Kuwabara shrugged at Kurama's confused expressions before catching up with Yusuke and pulling him back.
"Urameshi, whattaya think you're doing?" he asked, the normal threatening undertone in his voice completely gone.
Yusuke glared after the group of boys—one of the them kicked a trashcan into the road, its metal form denting—as he spoke, "Look, Saya's obviously not going to win any prizes for virtuous awards, and those guys are the same kind of punk-wannabes that I used to beat up on back home." He shrugged Kuwabara's hand away. "All punks know each other. I'm going to find my cousin."
Almost without thinking, his friends followed him (though Hiei would argue that he was just following because he had nowhere else to be). They always stayed a few yards behind the group, following them to a river in the park. At some odd signal, three of the punks sprawled out under the shade of a mid-sized tree beside the stream. The rest sharply turned about to glare at the boys.
Yusuke gave them a knowing grin; it was always the same with gangs, be it the hard-core city guys or the country wannabes. Every one of the standing boys was probably an idiot from a broken family and unhappy home, looking for kin in this sad excuse for a gang. That or they just needed the money from whatever small steals or drug deals the gang made. How sad. One of the boys sitting on the ground was the smart one; the leader. He did not have to be particularly strong-looking… there. The boy leaning against the tree, with clever eyes and something of muscle beneath those ridiculous torn clothes. Fair hair that curled out from his head gave him an almost-feminine appearance. Beside him were his lackeys, the ones that were probably the most loyal to him and had been with him the longest. Yusuke had assessed the group in less than thirty seconds.
"Whaddaya want?" snarled one of the boys, blocking Yusuke's view of the leader with his thick body.
Instantly, Yusuke was annoyed with him, but he kept his cool as he began interrogating the boy. "I'm lookin' for someone. A girl, my age, green hair? Seen her around?"
The boy looked genuinely shocked. He backed up a few steps then ran to his leader. A few muffled words were exchanged before the Leader lazily reached up and slapped the guy's head. They boy returned looking like a beaten puppy with one of the Leader's lackeys.
The boy was the typical thug; muscles, shirt opened to reveal them, shiny brass rings on his finger and a creepy grin plastered on his face. "So you say you're looking for a girl, eh?"
"That's right. My age, green hair? Seen her?"
Before the boy had a chance to answer, a huge black dog bounded up. It barked twice and growled lowly at the group of punks, totally ignoring Yusuke and his friends.
"Woah… that's the Queen's dog. Maybe we should go; she'll be here any minute."
"Bring them to me."
The gang froze at the order. Yusuke rolled his eyes and pushed his way through the crowd to where the leader was now standing, his friends following him, more curious as to what Yusuke would do to these arrogant boys than worried about his safety. The dog followed behind the rest of the group, trailing after Hiei. They met eyes and glared at each other for a minute. Overhead, a bird chirped loudly and flew from its nest.
"So you wan to find the green-haired girl?" The Leader said in a bored, smooth voice.
Yusuke was pretty sure that he was not going to like this guy.
"Yeah. You seen her?"
The Leader smiled, exposing an uneven tooth. "Maybe I have," he snapped a finger and the rest of his gang formed a circle around Yusuke's, "and maybe I haven't." His brown eyes glinted. "Information don't come cheap around here, and me and my boys were just getting bored." The gang sniggered. "Why don't you let us knock you and your guys around for a little while, then we'll tell you what we know."
No, Yusuke was not going to like this guy at all. He smirked at the guy and cracked his neck. Behind him, his team mentally sighed. Honestly, he should have let the little human boys go.
As the boys began advancing on the group, everyone seemed to be suddenly aware of something. The silence. The dog had been barking ever since the boys had been circling around Yusuke's group, but now it was silent. A moment later, there was rustling in the boughs of the tree above.
There was a flash of white, and all eyes were on the young woman who had dropped from the tree above. Her face was pretty enough, nothing was extraordinarily large or small, and her face was not dotted by too many blemishes. Her deep brown eyes were sharp and quietly boasted intelligence. She was wearing the same uniform as the boys; dark pants and shoes and a white button up shirt. The cuffs of her shirt were unbuttoned, as were all the buttons down her front, revealing a black tank top, fringed at the top. All in all, she was quite ordinary. Except for one feature.
She had a thick mane of light green hair traversing halfway down her back.
"He… hey, Queen…" one of the Leader's lackeys began meekly.
The girl ignored him, looking instead to the leader. "What are you doing, Aiko?" She demanded in a low, bored voice, as if his answer did not matter to her at all.
Aiko chuckled, though it was a bit more forced than when he had been talking to Yusuke, "Nothin', we're just palling around with these guys, weren't we boys?" The was a quiet murmur of agreement; it seemed that no one wanted to be caught disagreeing with the leader, yet they did not want to mess with the girl in front of them. Aiko continued with a tad more confidence, as if he had gleaned some type of knowledge in the past few moments, "Why does it matter to you, Queenie?"
The girl grinned, "Because," she placed an arm around Yusuke's shoulders, "this guy here," she placed a chipped nail against his neck for effect, "is my deputy." She drew away from Yusuke and stepped closer to Aiko, glaring hard. "So you better back off."
The two glowered at each other for a few moments longer; an unspoken enmity between them. Finally, Aiko backed down, rocking back on his heels. He sullenly ordered his boys off, and they began walking away from the park.
The girl, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei watched as the boys left the park, not moving from their spots until they were out of sight. Finally, when she deemed acceptable, the girl's haughty shoulders relaxed slightly and she began walking away.
"Hey!" Yusuke exclaimed. He reached out, grabbing the girl's wrist. The other boys winced; they had seen this girl for all of three minutes and knew that that was not a good idea. "Sa-ya!" he exclaimed, breaking the name into two whiny syllables.
A moment later he was sprawled across the ground, clutching his stomach. Saya's hand was still clenched as she hissed venomously, "Don't talk to me. Don't come near me. Don't look at me. Don't you dare even think about me."
"But…"
Saya turned on her heel, talking over her shooulder, "It should be easy for you. It's not like you have in the past."
She walked away, the black dog from before trotting along beside her.
A/N: Personally, I really like how this chapter turned out, especially the end. Review!