The Ring

By Lazy Kitsune

Summary: When Yusuke Urameshi's best friend Kazuma Kuwabara died under mysterious circumstances, he must investigate the cause with the help of his old friend Kurama. Everything leads to a strange videotape that kills the viewer after 7 days...

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or The Ring.

A/N: Thank you so much for your reviews! I feel so good now, and that's a big deal! Yusuke's a little out of character here...oh well, Kuwabara was only his best friend. And now he's dead. Poor Yusuke. If no one's noticed, I'm doing this entire story from memory, so there may be parts missing or parts that weren't in The Ring that I added on. Here's the key for this chapter:

Doomo arigato gozaimasu – Thank you

-

Chapter 2 – Clues at Kazuma's Wake

Keiko Yukimura arrived in the Urameshi residence. She sighed sadly and knocked on the door.

"Yusuke?" she called out. "Atsuko-san? It's Keiko!" After a moment, Atsuko opened the door. "Sorry to disturb you, Atsuko-san."

"Keiko-chan..." Atsuko greeted sadly. "Please, come in." She closed the door behind Keiko and added, "Please help Yusuke, Keiko. He's trying to act tough, hiding his tears at breakfast, but he hasn't left his room since."

Keiko rushed and knocked on Yusuke's door. "Yusuke? Are you awake?" There was no answer for a while, but soon enough, Yusuke opened his door. "Yusuke, I –!" Keiko stopped short as she looked at his face. Yusuke's eyes were red, and there were black bags under them. He looked like he'd been up all night...crying. "Yusuke-kun..."

"Keiko..." Yusuke said softly before throwing his arms around her.

She patted his back softly as he sobbed for a while on her shoulder. She led him to his bed and helped him sit down. "Yusuke," she began, "I heard about Kuwabara-kun...I'm sorry."

"I...I don't understand," Yusuke said, his voice barely a whisper. "He was fine...I know he was, I called him!"

"Yusuke-kun..."

"Keiko, how...how could he have died so...so easily?" Yusuke was truly confused. He buried his face into Keiko's shoulder. "Why...why would he? What could've –?"

"Yusuke...get a grip." Keiko moved his head from her shoulder and looked into his eyes. "Be strong."

"I-I know..." Yusuke rubbed his eyes. "Sorry. Kinda lost myself for a while there." He grinned sheepishly.

"It's okay...Are you ready to go to Kuwabara-kun's wake?"

"...Yeah...Let's go."

-

Besides Yusuke, Keiko, and Atsuko, a few other people had shown up in the Kuwabara residence for Kazuma Kuwabara's wake, including some teachers and classmates.

"Strange..." Yusuke muttered.

"What is it?" Keiko asked him.

"Kuwabara's gang ain't here...thought they might as well show up for his wake..."

"Yeah..." Keiko's friends suddenly called her over. "I'll be back, okay Yusuke?" He nodded. She put her hand on his arm and smiled before walking off.

Yusuke walked up to the closed casket that carried his friend's body and put his hand on it. A strange overwhelming feeling of icy terror rushed through him, and he immediately withdrew his hand.

"Now that's a weird vibe..." he murmured as he stared at the casket for while longer. He examined his hand and was shocked at its slight bluish color. "What the...?"

"...I'm sorry...about both of them," he heard his mother say. He turned and saw she was talking to Kazuma's parents. "To lose one to death and the other to insanity..."

"It's okay, Urameshi-san," they said. "Doomo arigato gozaimasu for all your support..."

"Why's his casket is closed?" Yusuke suddenly asked, curious.

The adults looked at him. Atsuko glared, but Mrs. Kuwabara replied in a shaky voice, "...H-his body." Yusuke stared at her. "The autopsy couldn't figure out how he died."

"...What happened to his body?" Yusuke asked carefully.

"...The flesh on his entire body...everything..." She swallowed. "I saw his face...it looked so frightened beyond imaginable..." She stopped and began to sob on her husband's shoulder.

"..." Yusuke left them and wandered around the house. He stopped in front of a door that had, when he took a closer look, bits of ice stuck on the wood. He turned the knob and found himself in Kazuma's room.

"He certainly didn't have much taste on decoration," Yusuke commented to himself as he looked around. He heard something crack beneath his foot when he took a step, and when he examined what it was, he found more ice. "..."

"What's wrong, Yusuke-kun?" Keiko asked behind him. "What're you doing in Kuwabara-kun's room?"

"..." Yusuke looked at her and said simply, "It's not his room anymore, Keiko."

"My friends said that three other guys from our school died at the same night Kuwabara-kun did..." she told him as they rejoined the guests at the wake. "Maybe it's his gang."

Yusuke frowned. "They weren't over at his house when I called..."

"Well, that's what my friends told me," Keiko shrugged.

Yusuke looked out the window and saw some students from his class talking and smoking. "I'll be back," he told Keiko and went to them. "Yo," he greeted, trying not to laugh at the students' terrified looks at his presence. He took a guy's cigarette and said, "Look, I got some questions, and you may have some answers to them. I won't hurt no one as long as you guys keep me happy, got it?" The petrified students nodded. "Was it true three other guys from our school died at the same night Kuwabara did?"

"Y-yeah," a guy answered. "Their names were Sawamura, Kirishima, and Ohkubo."

"...Are you sure it was those exact same names?"

"Y-yes, Urameshi-san!"

"Do you know how they died?"

The three boys looked at each other. Two of them shook their heads, but one guy said, "I heard they'd all watched a...a videotape."

"Videotape?" Yusuke said, frowning. "Wait, that doesn't make sense...What would a videotape have anything to do with Kuwabara's death?"

"Th-there's a rumor about a tape, Urameshi-san," he timidly answered. "They say if you watch it, you'll die a week later."

Yusuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. "A videotape?" he repeated. "You die after a week you watch it?" The three boys nodded. "What's on the tape?"

They looked at each other. "We don't know," a guy finally answered. "We haven't seen it."

-

A/N: Well, so much for the second chapter. I'll try my best to get my hands on the DVD or manga, but until then, we'll be stuck with stuff from the top of my head. Please review!