OK folks, you know this is supposed to be a horror story, and I promise it will be gory before it's over, but for now, I'm headin' back to the main thing I write: Humor! If I write it, you can be assured that it has funny parts, and I couldn't resist throwin' a few laughs in. And yes, we ARE getting to the excitement. I'm just not rushing it. I want to see if I can take this story to it's limit, not just rush to the point to get it over with.

I own nothing. Enjoy!

"Yeon, Jetta has returned."

Yeon turned his gaze from the ball of light in front of him. In it, two Spirit Detectives, and two of the former Spirit World team, were walking up a long staircase that had been embedded in the side of a mountain. They were on their way to find one more man to stand against him. He wasn't concerned, though. His plans were working perfectly.

"Has everything gone as we'd wished?" he asked Charla.

"Of course. She's waiting to give you the full report."

"Mitzu, keep an eye on those boys. Call me at once if they do anything unexpected."

"Yes, sir."

Yeon stood and walked to Charla. He placed his arm around her shoulder, then they walked out of the room, on their way to see what had been happening in Demon World while they had been handling things here.

In Demon World...

"C'mon, kiddo! Time to get ready for the trip!" Chu said, shaking the sleeping boy.

After a few minutes, Rinku sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He looked around to see everyone else packing their things into their duffel bags. "What? We're leaving already? What about breakfast?"

"That's what you get for sleeping in. We've already had breakfast. You'll just have to wait until we get to the next town," Shishi answered, casting a sly gaze at the boy.

"Hey! That's not fair! I can't go that far on an empty stomach!"

"He's just pickin' on you," Kairi said, sitting down on the edge of his bed. "Here, I got you some to go." She handed him a small, paper bag. When he looked, inside he found an assortment of his favorite breakfast foods, and a small, white bag, that had two giant cookies in it. He took a cookie from the bag and started to raise it to his mouth, only to have it snatched by Kairi, who returned it to the bag. "Eat you real food first. Dessert comes later."

"Aw, man!" Rinku tried to pout, but Kairi simply gave him what he knew as the "I mean business" look. No point fighting it. He started to dig through the other items in the bag.

"And brush your teeth when you get done," she said, as she stood and went to her backpack, to resume collecting her things. Rinku started to pack his own stuff as he ate, knowing what kind of whining he'd hear from the other guys if he made them get a late start.

"Hurry up now, blokes! Home ain't gettin' any closa!" Chu's voice boomed happily.

"Ahhh, home," Suzuka sighed. Home was still a few days away. Suzuka couldn't wait to get there.

"Back to peace and quiet. No more tourists or over-crowded inns," Shishi added.

"Back to home-cookin'," Jin smiled.

"Yeah, really," Suzuka agreed. The rest of the crew also smiled in agreement with Jin's words. "Eating at these taverns and third-rate diners is NOT good for my beautiful face! Grease is the main ingredient for half the items on the menu!"

Jin started asking Kairi about fried-apple pies when they got home. Rinku usually would've joined in with his own dessert requests, but he had noticed something terribly wrong.

"Where is it?" he started saying to no one. He had began dumping the contents of his duffel bag out on the bed.

"Uh, Rinku," Suzuka said, watching the boys antics, "the last time I checked, you were supposed to be putting things in your bag..."

"It's not here!" he shouted. The boy's face was covered with sheer horror.

"What's not there, Rinku?" Touya asked.

"My locket! The one my mom gave me! It's gone!" The child started shaking from head to toe. Fresh tears were welling up in his eyes.

"Easy, mate," Chu said, putting a hand on his little friend's shoulder, gently sitting him down on the bed. "When was the last time ya saw it?"

"Right before we left the hotel. It must've fell out when I was getting something out of there." He pointed out the small zipper on the end of his bag, the small compartment where he always kept the locket when he was traveling. The tears began to flow. Kairi sat down on the other side of the boy, putting her hand on one shoulder, trying to tell him it'd be okay, while Chu mirrored her actions on the other one.

After Chu and Kairi had got the boy calmed down, and quite a bit of arguing, the crew decided that they were heading back to the capital, where the tournament had been held. They weren't fond of this idea, not after what had happened with Mukuro this morning, but they had to. That locket was all Rinku had left of his mother now. They had to try to get it back. Kairi called the manager of the hotel they'd stayed at, an old friend of hers, and told him what had happened. He called back a few minutes later, saying that he had asked the housekeeping staff about it, and one had found it in the room they had stayed in. He'd hold onto it until they got there.

"I don't care what you say, I've still got a bad feeling about this." Shishi's words did no good.

They were going back.

At Genkai's Temple...

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

Yusuke banged on the door, waiting for his old friend to answer. Finally, they heard Kuwabara muttering something on the other side of the door.

"Hey, Urameshi!" he said when it opened. "I didn't know you were coming up here today. I thought you were helping Kayko and her dad run the diner through the week now." Kuwabara noticed Kaisei and Fubuki standing behind Yusuke. "And who are they?"

"They're the new batch of Spirit Detectives. Koen-" SLAM Kuwabara swung the door shut so hard that woodchips shot out of the frame. "Hey! What was that for?" Get out here! I've gotta talk to you!"

"NO WAY URAMESHI! I KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN KOENMA WANTS SOMETHING! YOU'RE NOT DRAGGIN' ME INTO ANYMORE CASES OR TOURNAMENTS OR DEMON WORLDS OR WHATEVER THAT TWIRPY TODDLER WANTS TO GET ME KILLED WITH!" Kuwabara's words were a little muffled through the door, but they were coming through loud and clear, and there was something else there, too. It sounded like furniture moving...

"KUWABARA! THE WHOLE WORLD MIGHT BE AT STAKE...AGAIN! THE WORLD NEEDS HELP AND YOU'RE NOT BACKING OUT!"

"BET ME! YOU'VE ALMOST GOT ME KILLED ENOUGH!"

"KOENMA SENT ORDERS TO FIND US BECAUSE SOME DEMONS ARE ABOUT TO WREAK HAVOC ON UNSUSPECTING HUMANS AGAIN AND I'LL BE DAMNED IF I'M GONNA BE THE ONLY ONE GETTING HIS ASS KICKED FOR PACIFIER BREATH! IF I'M GOING, YOU ARE, TOO!

"NUH UH!" Now the sound was very clear. Kurama could clearly detect the sound of something wooden, and very heavy, scraping across the floor. It was making it's way toward the door. He thought he'd heard something else a moment ago. It had seemed to jam up against the doorknob...

"YOU CAN OPEN THE DOOR, OR I CAN REMOVE THE DOOR! YOUR CHOICE, PAL!"

"I'M NOT GOING UNLESS YOU KNOCK ME OUT AND DRAG ME!"

"CAN DO!"

"I DOUBT IT! AS MANY TIMES AS I SAVED YOU!"

"YOU SAVED ME? GRRRRRR THAT'S IT! I'M GIVIN' YA TO THE COUNT OF TEN AND THEN I'M COMIN IN! 1...2..."

"SURE YOU CAN COUNT THAT HIGH? WITH ALL THE TIMES YOU SKIPPED CLASS!"

"GRRRRR 3...4..."

"Kazuma? What's going on?" Kuwabara turned to see Yukina standing behind him, looking a little bewildered at the sight of the chair under the doorknob and the chest of drawers that had been pushed nearly to the door.

"Oh, it's nothing sweetie! You should just go back to the kitchen." He smiled as wide as he could, trying to reassure her that there was nothing going on.

"5...6..."

"Yusuke? So I did hear correctly. He said that there might be danger."

"Oh, don't worry about it pumpkin! I'm sure they'll handle it just fine!"

"7...8..."

"But, Kazuma, your friends need you! What about all those times you told me that you saved their lives? You said that without you, Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei would have been killed! You were the one to kill Sensui and his army of 10,000 demons! I'd hate to think of something happening to them because their leader was missing!" Those innocent eyes looked up at him. They looked so worried...

"9..."

"You're right, snookums! I can't let them get hurt! I'm the real leader of the team, ya know." Kuwabara put on his best brave-face and flexed his muscles, then turned to the door. As he moved the chair and unbolted the lock, his face sank, and nervous laughter escaped him. He knew that stuff would come back to haunt him one day! He turned the knob...

"10!" Yusuke charged through the now open door, and slammed head first into the wall on the opposite side of the room. As he laid there swirly-eyed, Kuwabara looked at his wife and said "See? They can't even open a door without me..."

Jorge: Soon after, the team was off the Spirit World, but what was that letter that Koenma had gotten? And what dangers would they face because of it?

(Insert dramatic music...)

Review time! I've said it before, I'll say it again: The more reviews, the faster I write:o) And, as always, BIG THANKS TO ALL THE REVIEWERS! You guys are why I write!