Disclaimer: I do not, and never will, own Yu Yu Hakusho or any person from any other show/comic/story that appears in here.

A/N: I am going to raise the rating for this. Some stuff that is going to be in future chapters will not quite fit in with the guidelines for a T rating. Actually, most of the stuff in the future chapters will not fit with the guidelines. You will understand my reasoning next chapter. –shrugs- You know what, it's really kinda lame when your one-shot gets more reviews than your major story. Maybe it's just me, but does anyone see anything odd with that? Also, I'm switching the pairings . . . yet again. This is now officially Hiei/Botan.

Warnings: Swearing, mention of being an alcoholic (not Atsuko), drug/drug abuse mentions, shônen-ai references and . . . I think that's it.

Cerridwene: Thank you! I bet you can guess who is going to be paired with Kurama.
–winks– (About your review on Are We Friends?: Thankie. I love hearing from you!)

Last time on First Impressions Can Be Changed:

"Oh, shit," said Tsukiko from the doorframe. "You're here about that aren't you?"

Koenma nods. "I am, I know you don't like this idea, but you must help them, you are possibly one of the most powerful people who will help them. Please, oneesan. Yusuke, get the others in here, now." Yusuke looks at him, bored, before nodding and sleepily swaggering off. Koenma sighs at his antics, massaging his temples, "This is going to be a long day."

Tsukiko sighs and collapses on a couch. Kurama looks at her oddly before shrugging and sitting on a chair.

Tsukiko stares blankly at the ceiling and begins to speak, "I never thought I would actually have to do this. I always knew it would come, but I never expected it to be so soon." She sighs and Kurama raises an eyebrow, not knowing what she's talking about.

"You're hiding something . . . again."

"When am I not hiding something from someone?"

"Touché."

Yusuke enters the room, followed by a reluctant Hiei and a confused Kuwabara. "So, why are you here?"

"I have a mission for you." Koenma says, as if it is obvious, which it is.

"When do you not have a mission for us?" Yusuke snorts, at the blatant-ness of the whole idea.

Koenma sighs. "It's not that simple Yusuke. This one has the possibility to end the world as we know it, should you fail."

"We're to prevent the Apocalypse?" Hiei asks from his seat by the window.

"Essentially, yes. However, there is more to it than that. We have to keep the balance between light and dark. Should either win, the world will be tossed into chaos. It is your duty to find the Key. The Key, whoever it is, is the only person who can keep the balance. I do not know the identity of the Key, so I cannot help you there . . ." Koenma explains to the group at large before Yusuke interrupts him.

"So you're sending us on a wild goose chase?"

"Not exactly, we know that the Key is of mixed blood. We aren't sure of what lineage the Key comes from, only that the Key is probably aware of his or her duty." Koenma clarifies, still leaving Kuwabara confused.

"So, this 'Key' person knows that they're the Key, but we don't know who they are? Right," asks Kuwabara, haltingly. He frowns at an invisible stain on the floor.

"Yes. It is your duty to find the Key and convince them to work with you to keep the world as it is. Now, onto the whole Apocalypse thing. It is known that the God of Light and the God Dark have been battling for eons and show no signs of stopping. The Fates, however, have a different idea. They want to end this battle as soon as possible, as it has gone on for too long.

"Even though they are long gone, their souls are still fighting on the Plane of the Gods. It is vital that we resolve this dispute-"

"Keh, calling it a dispute is like calling the ocean a puddle. The fight between the God of Light and the God of Dark is probably the deepest rivalry that there ever has been. The rest of the Pantheon banished them because of their incessant squabbling. They ended up blaming the other for being kicked out and that only made them hate the other more than they did before." Tsukiko interrupts, broadcasting a very true idea of the hatred between the two Gods into the minds of those who were new to the whole Gods of Light and Dark feud.

"Anyways, the Fates wish that the feud is ended as soon as possible and they are willing to risk the stability of the universe for their own sanity. They will silence the soul of one of the Gods. Which God they silence depends upon their divinations. Though the divination takes a few years, it is best that we try to settle this as soon as possible. They will not settle their feud . . ."

"They will, they're re-incarnated now. They actually need to pay attention to what happens on the living plane now. They can only be killed by another God, so whatever shit happens to the living plane, fucks up their lives too. They cannot just die and return to the Plane of the Gods, they need to live out their lives here in this bloody plane." Tsukiko grumbles, cutting her brother off.

"Right, anyways you lot are going to investigate any, and all, Apocalyptic happenings. Even outside of Japan."

"Wait, does that mean we get an excused vacation from school?" Yusuke asks, paying attention now that the information overload is done.

Koenma sighs, "Not what I said, but yes. Basically you do. I will send updates on any happenings or any new information that we get on the Key. If I find the Key . . ."

"If you find the Key? YOU? You're not the one doing the research, Ayame is." Botan interrupts, clutching her head and squinting. "Kami, did anyone get the license plate number of that semi? Or, was it a jet? Oww, my head," She moans, obviously hung over.

"Would everyone stop interrupting me? Like I was saying, if we find the Key, you will go out and collect him or her."

Tsukiko rolled off the couch. "Collect them! Collect them? You sound like you're talking about coins, or stuffed animals, or some other frivolous thing that ningen collect." She sniffs, glowering at her brother.

"Ningen stuff animals? They're stupider than I thought." Hiei muttered from his window seat.

Kurama sighs, "No, they stuff bad replicas of the animals for the entertainment of ningen children."

"Hn."

"Are you quite done interrupting me? It happens to be getting rather annoying." The toddler-god cleared his throat and continued. "Anyways, you four, with the help of my sister, will attempt to convince the God of Light and the God of Dark to stop fighting. I will have a few people try to get the Fates to back off and let their decision be delayed." He shrugs tiredly, as though he had been up all night practicing this speech and just decided to wing it when he got here.

"You lot will, once we establish a base with the Gods of Light and Dark, spread out to prevent any apocalyptic happenings. If one civilization falls, they all will crumble." He finishes dramatically. Kuwabara and Yusuke were gaping at him, Hiei and Tsukiko were gazing at him, bored for entirely different reasons, and Kurama was staring politely while trying to stifle a yawn. Botan was passed-out on the couch, a thin line of drool dribbling down her chin.

"Thank you for that oh-so-enlightening lecture," Tsukiko drawled, sarcasm dripping from her voice. "Now, if nobody has any questions, I'll be leaving." She stood swiftly and exited the room.

I watched as Tsukiko swept from the room. This was so typical of her, she would get annoyed at the stupidity of her companions and then she would go off somewhere to spend her temper. Typically, she would train or, on occasion, she would drown her annoyance in drink. It would be impossible for her to do that here though. Human alcohol is not strong enough to thoroughly intoxicate her.

Of course, there were a few types of drinks, but they were impossible to get in Japan. They had far too high of an alcohol content for legal sale. I sighed and shrugged off my thoughts. They were pointless.

"Kurama-kun, are you staying for lunch," asked a soft, feminine voice. I nodded absently and she went off into the kitchen to start on the previously mentioned meal.

Botan groaned from her spot on the couch. I sighed and pulled a seed from my hair, coaxing it to grow into its pale yellow flower as I walked to her. "Inhale." She did so and was relieved of her hangover almost instantly. She threw her arms around me and thanked me as I grew uncomfortable.

I gently pushed her away, as to not seem too rude, but Yôko was screaming 'Traitor' at me.

"Calm down, Yôko. I feel no attraction to her and you know it. You, of all people, should know that I have felt no attraction to anyone since his death. Not only that, but you know of the jaganshi's attraction to her. I would not cross his trust like that."

'True, but still . . . there's no saying that you can't develop an attraction. You and I both swore that we would never stray to another as long as we live. Honestly, I am amazed that we're still alive. Grief should have killed us long ago, that and the soul bond that would have torn our soul from our body. And anyways, you know as well as I do that trust is a fickle thing.'

I have no idea when Yôko's mind and my own became separate entities. It used to be that we were a single entity that inhabited this body. I believe that the first time that we discovered that we were separate was when I first reverted to my original body. Yôko's body.

"I know, Yôko. I know. But, you know, I'm actually rather surprised that Tsukiko wasn't surprised that we are still alive. She is probably hiding something from us. Like always. Sneaky wench."

Yôko's deep laugh reverberated in my mind, obviously remembering how many secrets she hid from us. We only found out about, at most, an eighth of them.

'You remember her little problem back then, don't you?'

"Which one?"

'The grassy one.'

"I remember. Why do you ask?"

I heard him sigh as though it was obvious. 'Where do you think she could have gone? She wasn't off the stuff long enough to be cured by the time we left. She probably went to find a den.'

My eyes flew wide at that thought. How had that problem slipped my mind? It was probably one of her only bad habits that she had when we met that hadn't been broken. It was her ultimate stress buster and I had forgotten about it.

"Oh, shit."

He laughed wryly. '"Oh shit" does not even begin to cover it. You have to find her. Nobody else will know where she is. Take the jaganshi. He might be able to help you if she puts up a fight.'

It had been nearly half an hour, possibly forty-five minutes, since she had left. She would probably loose control of her energy in about another fifteen or twenty minutes. Though that would make it easier to track her, she would be hard to get away from the den.

"Hiei."

"What?" He was in a snappish mood, as always.

"I need your help."

"Baka kitsune. Why do you need my help?"

"Because, I need to get Tsukiko away from a drug den before she looses control and flattens the city."

"Hn. Baka ningen deserve it. Why should I help you anyways?"

"Because, I can tell Yukina your relation to her. I also can tell people like

Yusuke about a certain attrac—"

"Fine. I'll look with my jagan. Just shut up."

"Arigatô Hiei." I closed the telepathic link between the two of us as Hiei left the room. I stood, massaging my temples, and found my way to the kitchen.

"Yukina-chan?"

"Hai," she responded, smiling brilliantly at me as she stirred a pot of something. It smelled like udon.

"As much as I would like to stay for udon, I believe that Hiei and I will need to leave so we can find someone. Gomen nasai."

Her smile fell a little but she waved me off. "I don't mind Kurama-kun. Nothing will go to waste. After all, Yusuke-kun and Kazuma-kun are eating lunch with us today." She giggled and returned to her cooking.

"Found her."

"Thank you Hiei. Meet me outside and we can leave."

"Hn."

I cut off the mind link and walked over to Koenma who, for some reason, decided to stay for lunch. Perhaps he was getting away from his paperwork waiting for him at reikai.

"Koenma, I think I know where your sister is," I whispered.

"Where?"

"Do you remember if she had a drug problem the last time you saw her?"

He thinks for a moment and then nods. "I do. Why?" He pales and gasps, "She's not . . . ?"

I nod. "I think she is. Hiei and I are going to get her before she flattens the city or something equally destructive. I don't know when we'll be back." I leave the room and met Hiei outside.

Kurama squinted against the bright sunlight as he searched for Hiei in the trees' canopies. The shorter yôkai dropped silently down next to him and fell into step with the akage. "She's at a small building outside of a nearby town."

"How far?"

"Three or four kilometres." The akage nodded and took off sprinting as his companion did the same, easily keeping pace.

And we have plot! I know. It's shorter than some of the other chapters, but I couldn't find a good ending without giving away where Tsukiko is or what she's doing so I just stopped it there.

Next time on First Impressions Can Be Changed:

Rose will be posting under a new penname: Ai'iro-bara. Also, Tsukiko will be found and secrets will be revealed.

Watch for it!