Yusuke sat on the train, completely bored out of his mind. Next to him, Keiko slept soundly. How does she do that? He wondered in amazement. She had been that way almost from the moment they had taken their seats. Yusuke had been left to his own devices. First, he tried twiddling his thumbs, but that is only amusing for the first thirty seconds or so. He tried reading the magazines that were provided, but they only had golf and fashion magazines, neither of which, he was particularly interested in. Sleeping was out of the question since the train seemed to go out of its way to hit every bump in the road. Yusuke had to check several times to assure himself that Keiko really was sleeping and not just dead since not even the largest bumps seemed to make her budge. He was contemplating the different ways to eat a peanut when he noticed three men enter the compartment, covered in black from head to toe, a bit odd for summer.

They quickly walked over to the other side of the car and were gone in a matter of seconds. None of the other passengers seemed to notice them, but Yusuke thought that there was something strange about them. He looked at Keiko, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders a bit. Satisfied that she probably wouldn't be going anywhere for a while, he got up and casually walked in the direction that the men had gone in.

He did not see them in the next car, or the one after that, but just as he was entering the third, he saw the tail end of a black trench coat before it disappeared behind another sliding door. He quickened his pace and caught up to them in the next compartment, a luggage car.

They had stopped. Yusuke hid himself behind the door and looked in by pushing the door open an inch. Suddenly, Yusuke realized what had been wrong with them. It was barely discernable because of all the clothing they wore to cover it up, but as they were talking, their scarves were loosened a bit and Yusuke caught a glimpse of horn, glinting wickedly in the dim light that filtered through the window. Demons. The three had stopped and seemed to be conversing with someone...or something. However, Yusuke could not see who it was, from his position and he dared not move and give himself away.

Great, he thought. So now what am I supposed to do?

Suddenly, a large hand gripped his shoulder painfully. Yusuke looked back to see a heavyset man, dressed in black. He had been too busy trying to eavesdrop and had not noticed that there were only two men there instead of the original three. He cursed himself for his carelessness as he sized up the situation. The man holding him was huge. He towered at least three feet above Yusuke and had to slouch a bit to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling.

"What are you doing?" the figure asked in a voice that was very high coming from someone so large. In fact, the surprise threw Yusuke off guard for a moment as he considered laughing. However, he discarded the idea, knowing that he wasn't exactly in a position to provoke the man.

"Hey, I'm just...enjoying the view from here," he said lamely.

The man grunted, unconvinced. He picked Yusuke up by the back of his shirt and opened the door to the storage compartment, walking in.

"Hey, what're you doing, G?" demanded one of the men.

"Caught the kid snoopin' around outside," answered G.

These guys must be so stupid they can only remember each others' names if they only have one letter in them, thought Yusuke.

Suddenly, a laugh came from the back of the room and Yusuke looked to find its source. "Amusing," said a voice. It was the kind of voice that you would expect to have a British accent, though this one did not. A figure walked out of the shadows and Yusuke realized that he was the one the demons had been talking to.

"Yes, I had wondered that as well at some point, but then I realized, all I need is brawn. I can provide the brains." The man looked human enough, but Yusuke kept getting a bad feeling from him. He was dressed in a black suit and tie, his blond hair tied back into a neat horsetail, not a single hair out of place. He had aristocratic features with sharp, coal black eyes. An amused smile tugged at the corners of his lips.

What, can this freak show read my mind or something?

"Bravo! The young spirit detective is smarter than I thought," said the man, clapping his hands.

Shit.

The man laughed again.

"Well then, at least tell me your name," said Yusuke, the urge to forget all tact and just punch that arrogant grin off the man's face becoming more and more difficult to restrain.

"You can call me Hanto," he said.

"Okay...So, Hanto, what would you and a couple of demons be doing hanging out in a luggage car on a fine day like this?" He didn't actually expect Hanto to answer honestly, but he thought it'd be a reasonable thing to ask.

"Well, now that you mention it," he said, "We're planning on taking over one of the greatest power sources on the planet."

Yusuke was surprised by the answer and could only answer, "Oh."

"Tell me, human," said the man. "Did you happen to notice a particularly rich looking man as you were following us?"

"Actually, no. Should I have?" said Yusuke, feeling a bit stupid. He had been so intent on catching up, that he'd not looked at the other passengers at all. Nonetheless, the bravado that was always in his voice remained.

"He was sweating buckets when I last checked up on him. I suppose he knows we're coming. Not the most discreet man in the world, but what do you expect of a human?" When he laughed this time, the three goons laughed along, understanding the word 'human' at last out of this complicated exchange of words, commonly known as 'conversation.'

Yusuke rolled his eyes to himself before asking, "So am I to assume you're not human?"

"Do not insult me. Just because I am taking on this disgusting form, does not mean I am one of you. I am merely doing it for convenience's sake. Besides, it's too hot out to cover myself up like them," he said, gesturing to the three idiots. "They do not have the power to disguise their features completely."

"Right," said Yusuke shortly, no longer having the patience or tolerance for the small talk that Hanto seemed to enjoy so much. "So get on with your story. What does a nervous old fogy have to do with 'one of the greatest power sources on the planet'?"

"Oh yes, I suppose I should tell you first, however. Don't expect to walk out of this alive. The only reason I'm telling you my plans is because I have some time to kill and you had seen us, so you wouldn't be living anyway."

"Aw, and here I was thinking that it was my endless wit and charm that made you just want to open up and poor out all your troubles to me," said Yusuke sarcastically. He was not about to go without a fight and this Hanto character would learn that soon enough.

Hanto's lips quirked upward in another amused smile. "Look here, boys, we've got ourselves a comedian." The guys responded with hearty laughs, though judging from their blank expressions, they had no idea what was going on.

"So?"

"So what?" asked Hanto.

"You never told me 'bout your evil genius plan. We already know I'm going to die, so get on with it."

"Oh yes, that. Well, that man is carrying a suitcase, which contains something of great value."

Let me guess, thought Yusuke, one of the greatest power sources on Earth.

"...one of the greatest power sources on Earth." Hanto paused and narrowed his eyes in Yusuke's direction as Yusuke grinned innocently.

"Can't help it if demons are predictable," he said simply. "So you're planning on stealing this...what is it exactly?"

"It is called the Umbra Crystal. It's about the size of my fist." He held up his clenched hand. "In it is enough power to destroy the planet."

"You're going to blow up the planet?"

Again, that irritating, condescending laugh, "Of course not, boy. Then where would I go? Besides. The crystal does not 'blow up' a planet. The planet will simply disappear as if it were never there."

"Okay...So if you're not getting rid of the planet, what are you going to do with it?"

Hanto gave a sigh of exasperation. "Rumor of human stupidity is far more accurate than I'd thought. I merely said that it had the power to destroy the Earth. I never said I would. Think; why destroy the world with its power when I can manipulate everything on it?"

"So you wanna take over the world." This was more of a statement than a question, but Hanto answered anyway.

"Yes. Now you're getting it!"

"It's always the same, either blow up the world, or take it over. Nobody seems to get any more creative than that. Don't you watch TV? It never works."

Hanto looked at Yusuke for a moment and then walked away, deciding not to dignify that statement with an answer.

"Hey!" shouted Yusuke, "Where're you going?"

"I have work to do," answered Hanto simply.

"And what do you plan on doing with me?"

"You? Well, I don't suppose it'd be wise to keep you around for this. Take care of him, boys."

At this, the 'boys' moved in, large, toothless grins on their stupid faces. This was something they understood. Yusuke, who had still been hanging in the air by the back of his shirt, was now set down on the ground, but G held his hands in a vice-like grip behind his back. He saw Hanto disappear through the door moments before the first punch landed.

Blows rained down on him as he tried to think of a way out. If he would only let go of my hand, he thought. Then it came to him.

"You guys hit like a bunch of girls," he said, a difficult task considering that he had a split lip.

The men narrowed their eyes in anger and tried to hit him even harder. One blow knocked the wind out of him so he had to force air back into his lungs before continuing his taunting. "I'll bet G here can't even hit harder than my girlfriend." He grinned to himself, liking the sound of calling Keiko his girlfriend, despite the fact that it technically wasn't true.

"Stupid human. He doesn't even know what he's talking about," said one of the demons.

"Yeah! You show 'im, G!" shouted the other.

"Alright," agreed G, letting go of Yusuke's wrists to throw a punch. However, this was exactly what Yusuke was waiting for. He brought his hand forward, fist clenched and glowing with his spirit energy.

"Spirit shotgun!" he shouted as he opened his fist and shots of spirit energy flew out, hitting the three demons. They were all thrown backwards into shelves of luggage, which toppled down and broke open, burying them beneath piles of boxers and women's lingerie. Yusuke dusted himself off as he took inventory. In addition to his split lip, he found that he had a black eye and, judging from the pain in his chest when he inhaled, probably a cracked rib, if not broken.

I've had worse, he decided and set off in search of Hanto. He found him in the car where he had been seated, the 'rich man' happened to be sitting two rows in front of him. Hanto stood, holding a gun to the man's head like a typical hold up. Doesn't seem like his style at all, thought Yusuke. The spotless Hanto holding up a train like an average thug seemed very out of place. Looking over, he saw that Keiko was now awake and staring at Hanto. She saw him and their eyes met for a moment, hers filling with relief and joy at seeing him. He put a finger up to his lips and she nodded in understanding.

He was still outside the sliding door and Hanto had not spotted him yet. (A/N: This takes place before the Dark Tournament, so Keiko doesn't know anything yet and Yusuke is not super powerful either) Gotta think. How do I get rid of Hanto and that gun of his without the entire train seeing my spirit gun?

He heard a gun shot and panicked. He charged inside, abandoning all thoughts of a plan, the only images running through his head were of Keiko, lying on the floor with bullet wounds and blood pooling around her.

He got in to see that Hanto had only fired a warning shot at the ceiling to threaten the man into submission. He turned when Yusuke entered, shock registering on his face.

"You're alive," he stated, baffled.

"Uh...yeah," said Yusuke. He doesn't have to sound so surprised. I mean come on! The only reason those idiots even landed a blow was because Fatty had my hands behind my back! he thought. He heard a gasp and turned to see Keiko with her hands over her mouth as she stared at him. He looked at her in confusion for a moment, before realizing the shape he was in. I must look like a mess, he thought. He looked back to find that Hanto was recovering from his shock.

"Looks like you got a pretty good beating, though," he said, regaining his composer.

"Well, your goons are a lot worse off, believe me," Yusuke with a smirk.

"I see," said Hanto, his eyes narrowing, "Tell me, what is your name, I never seem to have gotten it."

"It's Yusuke."

"Ah. Well then, Yusuke. Tell me, what will you do now?"

Yusuke looked at him in confusion, wondering what he was talking about. Then, grinning, Hanto lowered the gun and pointed it straight at Yusuke's chest. At such a close distance, there was no chance of a miss. Yusuke took a half step back in surprise. Shit.

Try as he might, he could think of no way out of the situation. That's it then, isn't it? He thought. No point in secrets anymore. If I die, no one will be left to stop this freak show.

Slowly, as if in a dream, he raised his right hand, index and middle finger extended, thumb pointing up so that they formed the shape of a gun. He knew how ridiculous it must have seemed, him holding up his hand as a gun while Hanto had the real thing cocked and pointed at him. Hanto raised his eyebrows.

"Interesting," he mused, seeming somewhat unsure now.

Yusuke only grinned and concentrated all his spirit energy into the tip of his index finger. The demon's expression turned to one of amazement as he realized what Yusuke was doing.

"How..."

"You didn't expect that, did you?" said Yusuke, still grinning recklessly. What do you think about humans now, Hanto?

"Humph," was all the answer he received as Hanto's face became grim and he put his other hand onto his gun, his finger tightening on the trigger. Yusuke readied himself as well. He wouldn't shoot if he didn't have to, but the way things were going, a peaceful ending did not seem probable.

Time seemed to freeze as they stood there. They stared into each others' eyes, neither daring to look away for even a moment. They did not even notice as the train rolled to a stop. Sweat rolled down the side of Yusuke's face.

This is it, he thought.

Just then, the most unexpected thing happened...

&&&

Back at Kagome's house, Inuyasha popped in through the open window in Kagome's room.

"Kagome!" he called, looking around for her.

"Inuyasha!" He turned to find Kagome's kid brother, Sota. "Are you looking for Kagome?"

"Yeah."

"She went out with my mom to pick up our cousin."

"She what?"

"She went out."

"Great," he muttered. "I let her stay longer and this is what she does in return." He moped about it for a moment while Sota watched. After a bit, Inuyasha picked up a familiar smell. "Hey, Sota."

"Yeah?"

"You wouldn't happen to be making Ramen, would you?"

&&&

A millisecond before he was about to pull the trigger, Yusuke froze in shock. Hanto suddenly crumpled in a heap in front of him. Yusuke looked up to find Keiko holding her purse in her hand and glaring down at the demon, who was apparently out cold.

Yusuke was at a loss for words. Then he suddenly noticed everyone staring at him and quickly lowered his hand, shoving it into his pocket. "Er...nice shot."

"Yusuke!" she said, dropping the purse and running over to him. "Are you okay? What happened to you?"

"I'm fine, Keiko. Don't worry!"

"Are you sure?" she asked, looking at him suspiciously.

"Yes, I'm sure."

"Then in that case, you have some serious explaining to do."

Uh-oh.

"Why does it look like you were fighting? Who was that guy? And what could have possibly possessed you to make you run in here like that and challenge a guy who was holding a gun?"

Yusuke opened his mouth to reply, though he did not have any idea what he was going to say. He was saved by the conductor, an elderly man with a big gray mustache, who had stopped the train when he heard the gunshot.

"What's going on in here?" he asked.

"Uh..."

...

A/N: so what'd you think? It's kinda odd, I know, but I tried. It's also a bit long, but I wanted to fit the whole train scene into one chapter. Please bear with me and my bad writing as I begin my next chapter. And if you decide to be generous, REVIEW!

Love to all my reviewers!

Dark lil Hiei-Thank you! And I'll think about it...

Anime Alex36-lol. Geez. That's a TON. I don't even actually know what's wrong with it, but it just kept shutting down more and more recently. Then, one day, it just died and refused to start up again. Stupid comp. And I hope u weren't too disappointed by this chapter. It got really...odd...

AniMegurl-thanx for reviewing!

kagome001-lol. Well, here's the new chappie, but it's a bit sketchy. Sorry. That's what happens when you write a part three times in three different ways and try to put them all together...

Kanna Fan-hehe. Well, hope ur curiosity has been sated. Sorry bout the long wait.

Lady of Chaos 2005-thank you! Sorry for the long wait. Comp problems.

Thx again! Adios!