~High Voltage~
. . .
Chapter One: The Mission
. . .
Yusuke Urameshi
walked along, hands in his pockets, staring at the ground. He wasn't in a
terrible hurry; after all, he was already over an hour late for school, so why
rush now? He had actually planned to get to school on time for once, but as he
had rolled out of bed at eight-thirty that morning, that plan had been shot. It
looked like he was going to catch it from Keiko again. Oh well.
Yusuke kicked a small stone,
and watched as it skipped down the sidewalk ahead of him and finally came to a
stop. He walked up to to it and was about to kick it
again when he felt something poke his shoulder.
Nearly jumping three feet in
surprise, Yusuke whirled around to face the one responsible.
"Botan?" He blinked.
"Hello, Yusuke," she
replied cheerfully.
"Don't do that!"
"Oh, don't get all
upset," she waved a hand. "I see you're running a bit late."
"Hah! I'll say. ...What
are you doing here, anyway?"
"Well, Yusuke, I've been
sent to tell you that Koenma has a new mission for
you," she anwered. "It seemed pretty
important."
"What? Another
mission?" Yusuke groaned. "Come on, I just finished that
stupid Dark Tournament! Don't I ever get a break?"
"I'm sorry, Yusuke," Botan appologized. "But
after all, I'm just the messanger. You'll have to
take it up with Koenma--by the way, he needs to see
you as soon as possible. Is right now a good time?"
Yusuke sighed. "As good as any."
"Great! Now what are we
waiting for? Let's go!" Botan grabbed Yusuke's
arm, and they were off.
. . .
Yusuke stepped inside Koenma's office and immediately noticed the ones in the
room. Koenma sat at his desk, while the blue ogre
stood over him looking a little nervous. Kurama was
standing a few feet away from them. Hiei was leaning
against the wall, arms crossed, looking bored. Kuwabara
was pacing the room impatiently.
"Koenma
Sir, I'm back," Botan announced from behind
Yusuke.
"This better be
good," Yusuke told Koenma.
Koenma
shifted his gaze to the young Spirit Detective. "Oh, it's good all right.
Now listen up, everyone. This mission is very important. As you may or may not
know, last night another precious item was stolen from--"
"Here we go again,"
Yusuke broke in. "It's like the Hiei and Kurama thing all over again, isn't it?"
"Not quite. You see, whoever
has stolen the item is a master thief who's been at it for years. Nobody has
ever seen this person. For years, priceless items have turned up missing from
various places in Spirit World."
"Yes, I've heard of
this," Kurama threw in. "I believe they
call this person the 'Shadow', as nobody knows his--or her--name."
"Hn,"
came a grunt from the corner.
Kurama
turned around. "What do you make of this, Hiei?
Is it possible that you know something we don't?"
"What gives you that
idea?" He snorted in reply.
"A-hem," Koenma cleared his throat, and once again he had their
undivided attention. "Anyway, you're right about that, Kurama.
Apparently this person IS known as the Shadow. Very
dangerous, or so I've heard. Nobody who has ever crossed paths with him
has ever lived to tell about it."
"So let me guess--you want
us to catch this guy, right?" Yusuke shoved his hands into his pockets.
"Oh, great guess,
Yusuke," Koenma said with a roll of his eyes.
His expression then changed to a more serious one. "But I have to warn
you: this won't be an easy task. Others like you have tried and failed, and
they were a lot more experienced then you are. To be completely--yet
brutally--honest, I have to tell you that there is a good chance you could be
killed on this mission."
"Koenma Sir!" Botan cried out in shock. "If he's going to be risking
his life that much, then why are you sending him?"
"I really don't have much
of a choice, Botan," Koenma
answered. "If I don't send him now, there are going to be a lot of
problems in the future."
"Problems?
Like what?"
Koenma
shook his head. "Now that I can't tell you right
now." He fixed his gaze on Yusuke. "You must find the Shadow
and get him to come here, Yusuke. It's very important. I know that you could
possibly lose your life in the process, but I also know that you have a much
better chance of pulling this off now than you did before the Dark Tournament.
At that time your chances would have been slim to none, but now that you have Genkai's power you actually stand a chance--especially with
Hiei, Kurama, and Kuwabara at your side.
"Now, I've given a few
different items to Botan; she's going to assist you
as well. They may come in handy. Unfortunately, I can't tell you where to start
looking for the Shadow--you'll have to get Hiei to
help you with that one."
"Hn,"
came another grunt from the corner.
"Another thing," Koenma continued, "It's very important that the Shadow
arrives here in one piece. Don't kill him, Hiei."
"I won't if I can help
it," Hiei replied with a scowl.
Koenma
sat back in his chair. "All right, Yusuke, you five are on your own from
here. There's nothing more that I can tell you that will be of any help."
"Koenma
Sir," Botan began. "You mean the only thing
you know is this guy's name and the fact that he's a master thief?"
"I'm afraid so," Koenma admitted. "At this point we don't even know if
the Shadow is a demon or a human; from the amount of information we have, he
could be either. In fact, we don't even know for sure whether the Shadow is
male or female. Like I said, nobody has ever seen him."
"Oh dear," Botan sighed.
"My sentiments
exactly," Kurama commented.
"I don't see what you guys
are all worked up for," Yusuke, always the confident one, turned around
and prepared to leave. "After all, how bad can one little crook be? Don't
worry Koenma, we'll catch this guy and have him up
here in no time." He turned to wink at Koenma,
who just sighed as the others prepared to leave as well.
"That's right, Urameshi," Kuwabara agreed.
"That little punk won't know what hit him!"
Koenma
shook his head as he watched them go. "I hope you're right, Yusuke."
____
AN: Well, that was chapter one! How'd I do? Reviews are greatly
appreciated!]
Next chapter: The
Search
