CHAPTER 1

A loud thwack rings out in the quiet morning air. A creak followed by a loud crunch proceeds a tree landing into a clearing. The early morning air settles back into quiet bird song as a figure appears from behind the remains of the tree stump. His long black hair is pulled back into a loose simple braid, with a few bangs that had managed to shake free hooked over the right ear. A comfortable tan jacket protects the man's torso from the bits of wood from the tree cutting as a hand comes down to brush some wooden splinters from the well worn blue jeans covering his legs. Black steel toe boots crunch through the fallen branches as he follows the trunk of the fallen tree. Another loud thwack rings out as the fire axe in his hands comes down on the nearest branch, stripping the trunk slowly but surely of the branches.

Nearby another pile of branches and logs sit next to a quaint single story cottage. The small home has an older, paint chipped car parked outside in a gravel parkway that leads back into the forest and to a nearby paved roadway. A radio is playing on the porch, regularly drowned out by the axe breaking branches and the wildlife waking up in the early morning sun. Smoke rose from the stack on the roof which the man kept an eye on as it slowly petered out.

After stripping a good chunk of the branches off the tree the man gave a stretch up of his arms with a loud yawn, removing the sunglasses from his eyes to give them a tired rub and revealing deep purple coloured eyes. Placing the sunglasses back the man moves back to the porch of the cottage and grabs a water bottle from the small table next to a wicker chair. He chugs the water inside and sighs contently, tilting his head back and enjoying the bright blue sky. It had been a slow morning only broken by the usual wild life and breaking news from the radio. Quiet and Peaceful.

Unfortunately, this is the same morning a quite unusual event would take place.

A jolt seemed to run down the man from head to feet, causing a shiver to shake his limbs. Twisting he turns to look towards the nearest city, as if he could see the source of his unease, and pulls in a large breath. A great sigh let out as he once again rubbed his eyes tiredly. He leaned his axe against the wall before walking to the front door and opening it to step inside the cottage.

"I suppose I'd better put tea on."

The man spoke to an empty room, not bothering to remove his boots as he walked over the wooden floor from the living room to the kitchen, filling the kettle on the stove with water then lighting the burner to start warming it. The man grabbed the mug from the sink and rinsed it before adding a tea bag and settling in to wait. He was just finishing his preparation and slumped tiredly in a chair at the kitchen table when the small TV on the kitchen counter flickered on. Oddly enough the screen showed a small toddler wearing a pink and purple outfit sitting at a desk in a large red chair.

"Hello Gaius." The toddler spoke on the screen, small blue pacifier muffling the speech somewhat. The man grunted as he sipped the mug slowly before putting it back down. "Koenma. I assume this is about the early soul release I felt not too long ago?"

"Unfortunately so. We thought for sure there was no way the boy would act selflessly in that situation so he has passed before his time." Koenma leaned back into his chair as he spoke, small body seeming to slump. "As such, we have no afterlife set for him. We will have no choice but to offer him a second chance."

Gaius leaned back into the wooden chair, sipping slowly at his mug while humming softly. "Tragic, but ultimately not my problem. I assume you will want me to do something for this however. You always come at the first sign of trouble." A small smirk comes to his lips as the toddler on screen scowls around his pacifier.

"This is no small matter Gaius. Souls are not meant to leave their body before it is time or they could dissipate and throw the entire spirit world balance off. You of all people should know this. Botan is assisting the spirit now and will keep him from fading before his ordeal is over. However, he will need a body to come back to. This is where you come in." Koenma has stood onto his desk, seemingly in full lecture mode.

Gaius suppressed a sigh and finished his tea. "I knew teaching Botan would come back to haunt me eventually. You know she could easily keep the body alive until the soul can return." He looked pointedly as the toddler as he got up and returned the mug to the sink.

"Botan will be busy enough keeping Yusuke occupied and anchored to the human world. She can't be in two places at once. All we need is for you to keep Yusuke's body alive long enough to return his soul." Koenma tried to look stern over the screen but it mostly came off as pleading.

Gaius leaned against the kitchen counter next to the screen and raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You would not be coming to me to cash in a favor if it was that simple. What are you not telling me? I don't like surprises Koenma." His stern look was much more effective as he watched the small boy squirm on screen.

"Well, He's to become to the new spirit detective if he passes his ordeal. As such his body will need to become receptive to spirit energy propagation. Placing his soul back in is all well and good but it wouldn't matter if he couldn't access his spirit energy. The process shouldn't take longer then, say... A month?" The last bit was spoken quietly as Koenma smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, only a month? A month of constantly feeding a dead body life energy so it doesn't decompose, 24/7, so a soul can be returned and immediately continue as if nothing happened? A month of near constant meditation and focus on some human who decided to un-alive himself before he was ready?" Gaius glared at the small TV screen as Koenma ducked down back behind the desk, as if they weren't currently in completely different worlds.

"To be fair, he was trying to save a small child when he got hit by a motor vehicle. His intentions were noble." Koenma waggled his finger from behind his desk to make a point. Gaius snorted, glare turning into a smirk. "He died in a car accident? How weak was this boy? I'm positive people live through those now-a-days with the current medical system."

Koenma frowned and sat back into his chair. "Not many people live through a broken rib piercing their heart. That's beside the point, however. Spirit world is in need of Yusuke Urameshi and we need his body. Doing this act will clear a favor owed between Prince koenma and Gaius Alacritas. Do you accept?"

Gaius stood up straight at the formal wording, staring at Koenma intently. The toddler almost started to squirm before Gaius broke into a wide grin. "Very well. I accept the terms. At the price of one favor, I, Gaius Alacritas, will keep Yusuke Urameshi's body alive until his soul can return. For one month."

Koenma's face dropped from its content smile to panic. "One month?! Not until his body is ready?" The toddler stood and pressed his face closer to the screen. "I didn't say only a month!"

Gauis laughed and pointed his finger at the screen mockingly. "Ah, ah! You said about one month when I asked for more details. One favor, One month. You want more you're going to have to offer more." He turned and grabbed a set of keys off the hook next to the kitchen door frame. "Maybe next time don't be so open on the terms and you wouldn't get genie'd out of your favors~" Gaius' voice goes singsong as changes the wood chip covered tan jacket for a soft purple pull over sweater.

Koenma huffed and frowned around his pacifier. "You know I can't fulfill the favors whenever I want. Dad barely let me offer one! What if it takes longer then a month?!" Gaius shrugged as he grabbed a wallet from the kitchen table. "Guess you better get a move on with the Spirit assimilation then, shouldn't you? Give me directions to the hospital the body was taken to and I'll start the stasis. Make sure someone keeps the body by the way. I can't exactly stop cremation."

Gaius opened the door outside and turned off the radio while Koenma frantically waved on the TV screen. "Hey! Wait! You can't just make deadlines like this! We need Yusuke! The human world needs someone to protect it!" Gaius leaned against the door frame with a grin, spinning the keychain he'd pick up earlier on a pointer finger. "Won't matter much if he's cremated before I get to him or if he fails that ordeal of yours. One month Koenma."

Koenma groaned and sat back down behind his desk, slumping dejectedly. Things never went his way when negotiating with Gaius. "Fine. Yusuke is at the General hospital but he should be moved to his mother's apartment within the day for the wake. Hopefully we can convince her to keep him there until the ordeal is complete."

Gaius hummed thoughtfully and shrugged. "Sure. Once I have a lock on the body it'll be fine wherever it ends up. I'll just use Genkai's little forest as fuel, I'm sure it wont miss a few trees." He smirked and waved at the screen. "Remember, One month from today." He closed and locked the door before making his way to the car. Yusuke's body wouldn't keep itself alive.

Inside his office Koenma huffed as he turned off the screen feed to Gaius' kitchen. It was always a gamble involving the man in Spirit World affairs. It could go overwhelming well or disastrously poor. Either way, Botan would be arriving soon with Yusuke's soul and they could begin the ordeal. "Hopefully this goes well. Involving the King of Life is always a gamble."

Jorge the Orge placed paperwork on Koenma's desk as he came over. "Uh, Sir, are you sure we can trust that guy?" Koenma sighed and glared up at the blue orge. "It's not like we have a choice, Orge. He's the only one with the particular skill set required for this. It's not every day someone dies early. We have a system that rarely makes a mistake like this. No one predicted that Yusuke Urameshi could risk himself for someone else. We need someone who defies expectations on our side and Yusuke will need a body to return to. Gaius will keep his end of the bargain. Unfortunately, it will be to the letter. We only have a month to get Yusuke ready." Koenma whined and slumped into his seat. "Oh dear, I hope that is enough. Dad will kill me if I messed up another favor. He still hasn't forgiven me for accidentally promising Gaius he can have that woodland he lives on now in exchange for stopping that B Class demon from opening a tunnel to demon world years ago." Jorge hummed and nodded in acceptance. "I'm sure things will work out, Sir."

Meanwhile, Gaius was walking into the lobby of the General Hospital. Thankfully unless you looked lost, people believed you knew where you were going and what you were doing. It was more than easy to get close enough to the morgue to feel for the body he needed. A soul gone too early left a mark on a body, almost as if the soul was ripped violently out instead of gently lifted. All he had to do was feel for the jagged edges and- There. The potted plants dotting the first floor would work nicely for a jump start. No one really noticed hospital plants anyway. They would just be replaced with new ones and assumed they died due to lack of proper care.

Keeping his eye closed to cover the signs of his power he latched onto the Life energy of the plants and pulled, directing it into the ragged edges of the body. It wouldn't do much, there wasn't that many plants, but it would give him a pulse and weak breathing. Best not do too much or people will wonder about the comatose boy in the morgue drawer. His task done he slowly left the hospital, keeping his thoughts directed towards cycling the life energy around the body so it wouldn't dissipate and need another jump start. It was going to be a long, distracted, and dangerous drive back home. Gaius muttered to himself as he got back into his small car. "You better be thankful about this Koenma. At my age its creepy thinking this much about a teenage boy's body." Thank the gods that he only agreed to a month of this. He'd have to top up the energy at regular intervals to keep the body fresh but Gaius was positive Baldok wouldn't miss a few trees in his little haunted forest home. He hated that stupid bat demon anyway. The rest was up to Koenma and Botan to finish up.