Soun sat up quickly, gasping. It seemed as though he had just woke up from a nightmare.
"Father! Its good to see you awake!" Kasumi exclaimed.
Akane waved at him, "Hey, dad."
Soun started to sob. Kasumi frowned, "Oh my. What is the matter, father? Did you have a bad dream?"
"Kasumi, it was horrible! It was a horribly crazy dream that I had! I dreamt some strange drunken woman and her son came over. Then, the drunken woman kept telling all of us that her son was my son! And... and... and... It was just awful, Kasumi! Just awful," Soun cried.
Nabiki had been sitting on a chair in the room. She was grinning.
"Umm... dad," Akane started.
"Father," Kasumi began.
Nabiki stood up and handed Soun a few papers, "The DNA results are in."
Soun started to speak, but decided to just stare at the papers instead.
"Ninety-nine and nine tenths percent," Soun muttered.
"In other words, its a sure thing that you are in fact, Yusuke's father," Nabiki told him.
Soun just sat there, staring at the paper. He hadn't fainted again because he was still blinking. Kasumi and Akane were silent, unsure what to think about it all.
"Now, we all have a younger brother. Also, Yusuke and his mother will be staying with us. Apparently, his mother sold the place and used the money to buy sake. I graciously offered for them to live here," Nabiki told her family.
'Graciously. You're not fooling me, Nabiki,' Akane thought, shaking her head.
Then, she thought of another thing. A smile suddenly came to Akane's face. It got bigger and bigger the more she thought. She suddenly stood up.
"YES! I'M NOT THE YOUNGEST, ANYMORE! WOOHOO!" Akane shouted.
It looked as if she was about to break into song and dance, but she realized the outburst she had just made already seemed out of place. She quickly sat back down. Her cheeks were tinged red with embarrassment.
"Are you sure we have room for them, Nabiki? Mr. Saotome and Ranma already have the guest room," Kasumi wondered out loud.
"Sure. Yusuke's mother is going to be staying in your room, Kasumi. I don't think our dad is ready to actually share a room with her. Also, I think there's room enough in the guest room for Yusuke," Nabiki explained.
Yusuke suddenly walked by the room, looking around. He was carrying three suitcases. Two were stuck under his arms while another was placed in his right hand. It seemed the weight of the suitcases was no problem for him.
"Where have you been, Yusuke? Its been hours since I've seen you," Nabiki queried.
Yusuke shrugged, "I just went for a walk."
Inwardly, Yusuke was proud of himself. He walked until he was outside of Tokyo. Then, having carried the three suitcases of sake that far, he threw them into a heavily wooded area and walked back to Nerima. There was no way his mother would be able to get to the cases of sake she bought, now.
"Well, if those suitcases contain your stuff, just put them in the guest room. You'll be sharing it with two other people, but there's enough room for you," Nabiki told him.
Once again, she gave him directions, so that he could get to the guest room. He started to leave. Akane stood up and ran over to him.
"Hey, wait up. You want me to help you with your stuff?" she asked.
The idea of having a younger brother intrigued Akane. Most all the boys she had met in her life were jerks, brainless morons, or were for some reason, too shy to have a decent conversation with. Yusuke, to her, didn't seem very shy. She also figured that since he was related that he might be nice to her. It'd be fun to have a boy around that she could actually talk to.
Yusuke looked at her and grumbled, "No."
Akane looked a bit disappointed, "Oh. Okay."
She walked with him to Kasumi's room, anyway. Yusuke dropped off two suitcases there and headed for the guest room. He looked at her with a bit of annoyance in his expression.
"Why are you following me?" Yusuke questioned.
"Well, I figured since you're living here, now, and since technically, you're my little brother, I might as well get to know you. The DNA test confirmed that my dad is your dad, too. Isn't that great?" Akane said.
"Not really," Yusuke muttered.
Akane frowned, "You mean you're not excited to finally know who your father is? Haven't you always wanted a sister? It must be lonely being an only child."
"I could care less," Yusuke said.
He went into the guest room and dropped the suitcase off there. He looked around, sighing. Akane frowned again, "Oh, I get it. You're upset right now, aren't you? It must be tough having to move away from your friends and without even getting the chance to tell them that you're moving."
Yusuke gritted his teeth, "What do you know?"
Akane almost looked a bit angry, "Hey, there's no need to be rude. I'm just trying to be nice."
"Yeah? Well, stop it. I don't need some stupid girl pitying me!" Yusuke yelled.
Akane got really mad, then, and clenched her fists, "I AM NOT JUST SOME STUPID GIRL!"
"Tch. Whatever," Yusuke grunted, putting his hands in his pockets and giving her the cold shoulder.
Akane's eyes almost started to tear up, but she was determined not to start crying in front of someone she barely knew. She guessed she was wrong about having a brother, after all. She stormed out of the guest room, shouting, "I just wanted to be friends, you jerk!"
Yusuke sensed a hint of sadness in her voice. He stood in the room, thinking for a moment, before sighing.
'Well... Urgh! Stupid conscience!' he thought.
He walked out of the room and began searching the house, assuming Akane would probably be in her room. Eventually, he found a door with a cute little sign that had 'Akane' written on it. He opened the door without knocking. Luckily, it wasn't locked. Akane quickly sat up and dried her eyes. She glared at him, "What do you want?"
"Hey, listen, Akane, was your name? Well, look, Akane, I'm no sissy. I'm your regular juvenile delinquent. I beat up people... for fun! So, there's no need to get upset just because I'm yelling because believe me I can do worse!" Yusuke growled.
Akane stared at him. Yusuke smirked, as though satisfied with himself.
"You're crazy," Akane said at last.
"You bet I am!" Yusuke exclaimed.
Akane surprised him when she started laughing. Yusuke started to look defensive, "Hey! What are you laughing at? I'm not messing around! I'm crazy! I'm dangerous!"
"You're... you're... funny!" Akane giggled.
She broke down into a fit of giggles. Yusuke was the one staring at her, now, "I am not!"
"Yes, you are! You came... all the way in here... Just to tell me... Hehehehehehehe. Just to tell me... not to be upset... Because you're some crazy, dangerous punk who beats up people for fun. Looks like you're not such a jerk after all!" Akane laughed.
Yusuke was starting to look confused.
'Sheesh. And I thought I was crazy,' he thought.
Akane got up out of bed and walked up to him. She was the one smirking, now, "Hey, I have an idea. How about we have a little sparring match? You said you beat up people, right? Well, let's see just how tough you are."
Yusuke frowned for a moment. Akane gave a frustrated sigh, "Oh, please. Don't tell me you don't fight girls..."
Yusuke scoffed, "Yeah, I'll fight girls that can fight. You sure you're up to it? I'm not the one whose going to be blamed if you get hurt."
"Hey! I can fight, trust me. I'm the fighter in this family. I'm not afraid to get hurt. So, don't go easy on me, okay? I want you to give it all you've got," Akane told him.
"All right, then. Lead the way, Akane," Yusuke said.
He knew he was going to go easy on her, anyway. Not because she was a girl, but because he knew if he didn't, he'd end up killing her. Yusuke didn't know how strong Akane was because he couldn't sense spirit energy as well as Kuwabara could. Sure, if the opponent he was fighting had a phenomenal amount of spirit energy, it was no problem for him to sense it, but he could tell Akane didn't have a phenomenal amount of spirit energy. Therefore, he knew instinctively that Akane was nowhere near as strong as he was.
Akane lead him to the dojo training area. Yusuke walked to one end of the room and Akane walked to the opposite side of the room. She bowed to Yusuke and waited for him to do the same. He just stood there, as if he was the one waiting for her.
"Hey! Aren't you going to bow?" Akane inquired.
Yusuke gave her a weird look, "No. Why should I?"
"Gee, what kind of Martial Artist, are you?" Akane asked.
"I'm not a Martial Artist at all," Yusuke told her.
Akane looked exasperated, "I thought you said you could fight!"
Yusuke grinned, "I can. I street fight. Its a whole lot different than Martial Arts."
"Well, fine. Let's just get started, then," Akane said.
Yusuke shrugged, "Ready when you are."
With that, Akane charged at him. She punched him once in the shoulder and twice in the chest. Then, she did a round house kick to his side. Yusuke hadn't moved at all. In fact, he hadn't even flinched. Akane was surprised at this to say, the least.
'Why isn't he dodging my attacks? Why doesn't he seem hurt? How come he isn't fighting me?' she wondered.
'Man, she isn't even using any spirit energy behind her attacks. I'm not even feeling them,' Yusuke thought.
"Hey! You gonna fight me or not?" Akane growled.
"Just so you know, you asked for it," Yusuke told her.
Akane jumped back away from him, but Yusuke rushed, at what was a snail's pace for him, to her and punched her 'lightly' in the abdomen. It came too fast for Akane to dodge, block, or even counter. She doubled over, gasping. She coughed for a moment and didn't even have any time to recover from the punch. Yusuke punched her a few more times and then kicked her in the same spot causing her to be knocked down to the floor.
"Unnnn," Akane moaned.
"Had enough, already? Thought you wanted to fight," Yusuke teased.
Akane stood up and glared at him, "I'm just getting warmed up! That's all!"
"Suuure you are," Yusuke kidded.
"Grrr. I'm not weak, you know!" Akane shouted.
She charged at him again, punching and kicking as hard as she could. Yusuke was beginning to feel a little bit of spirit energy behind her attacks this time.
'Now, that's funny. A few seconds ago, she wasn't using any spirit energy. Now, she is using a little bit. Weird. Hmm,' he thought.
Yusuke grabbed her leg as she was about to kick him again and threw her up in the air behind him. Then, he quickly turned around and kicked her back. Akane let out a small shriek of pain as she flew into the wall.
"Is that all you got, Akane?" Yusuke yelled to her.
Akane groaned as she pulled herself away from the wall. She clenched her fists and didn't even say anything back to Yusuke as she continued to bombard him with punches and kicks. Yusuke kicked her in the shin a couple of times and uppercutted her when she stepped back while trying to punch him in the face. Yusuke punched her in the gut again. Yusuke yawned, "I'm bored."
'Gradually, she's using more spirit energy in her attacks. I wonder why she doesn't just use however much spirit energy she has. Hmm. Maybe she doesn't know how to use it correctly?' he thought.
Akane's look got fiercer, "I'm... I'm... not a w-weakling!"
Yusuke shrugged and grinned, "Could've fooled me."
Akane seemed to tremble in rage, "Oh yeah?!"
Yusuke smirked, "Yep."
That's when Akane screamed in rage and Yusuke could actually see her aura of spirit energy. Even an average person could've seen it. It was a bright red and almost surrounded Akane like fire.
'Well... she looks angry. Maybe this will get interesting,' Yusuke mentally noted.
However, when Akane charged him this time, he noticed something else. Obviously, there was a whole lot more spirit energy behind her attacks, but because she was angry, her fighting was sloppier. Yusuke grabbed her arm when she tried to dodge a punch. He pulled her into the punch. This caused extra damage because Akane lost her footing and sprained her ankle.
Then, Yusuke broke her arm. Akane fell down on the floor and Yusuke ceased hurting her. He waited to see if she was going to get up, but he could already see that the aura she had before was fading away. Akane's vision started to blur slightly.
"Give up?" Yusuke questioned.
His voice wasn't teasing anymore. Akane nodded her head, feeling sore everywhere and her arm was causing her quite a bit of pain. She sighed, "Yeah. You're... really strong."
"You got that right," Yusuke boasted.
He helped Akane get up, "You can walk, right?"
"Yeah. I think I can. My ankle hurts, but it doesn't feel broken," Akane told him.
"Good. Well, where can you find medical attention around here? I'm no doctor, so I'm not going to be messing with that broken arm of yours," Yusuke stated.
"Dr. Tofu can probably fix it," Akane said as she winced from her injuries.
Yusuke rose an eyebrow, "Dr. Tofu?"
"Yeah," Akane replied.
She started walking out of the dojo and towards Dr. Tofu's office. She was hurt, but for some reason, she felt satisfied.
'He actually hit me. Maybe now I'll be able to train properly. I'm going to have to ask him to fight me again so I can get stronger,' she thought.
She noticed that Yusuke was walking along beside her. She looked at him questioningly, "Why are you following me?"
"Well, you know, seeing as to how I'm going to be living with you, and being my older sister, I figured I might as well get to know you," Yusuke mumbled.
Akane smiled, "Really?"
Yusuke laughed, "Nope!"
Akane sweatdropped and wondered why he bothered to say that in the first place if he was just going to laugh and say he didn't mean it. She mentally shrugged it off. Then, she saw that after Yusuke had laughed, he started frowning.
"It wouldn't hurt you to smile, you know," Akane told him.
"Well, maybe I don't want to, right now, okay?" Yusuke grumbled.
"Talk about mood swings," Akane muttered.
"I heard that," Yusuke announced.
Akane stuck her tongue out at him in a childish manner, "So?"
Yusuke growled a bit and put his hands in his pockets. At last, they reached their destination.
"Here we are," Akane declared.
"Doesn't look like much," Yusuke stated.
"Well, you can't judge a book by its cover. Dr. Tofu is a great doctor," Akane said.
Yusuke just shrugged and went inside with her. Akane looked around and called for Dr. Tofu.
"Hang on a moment. I'll be right with you!" Dr. Tofu called.
After a few minutes, Dr. Tofu appeared in the waiting room area. He blinked, looking a little shocked at Akane's appearance. Her clothes were a bit of a mess with a few rips and tears. Then, she also had a huge bruise near her chin. There was certainly many more bruises than that, not to mention her broken arm, but that at the moment was what could be seen at first glance.
"Come right in, Akane. What happened?" Dr. Tofu questioned as Yusuke and Akane walked into the next room.
Akane sat down on one of the medical beds, "I was fighting."
Dr. Tofu nodded for a moment as he began to examine her injuries, "Ahh, I see. Who did you get in a fight with?"
"My little brother," Akane answered.
Dr. Tofu got out some bandages and a few other medical supplies, "Little brother? I wasn't aware..."
"Its okay, Dr. Tofu. Its a new discovery for me, too. He's actually my half-brother, but... umm... he's right behind you," Akane told him.
Dr. Tofu turned away from Akane and saw Yusuke. He turned back around to tend to Akane's bruises and scrapes, "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't notice you over there. I'm Dr. Tofu."
"Yeah, I figured as much. Name's Yusuke Urameshi," Yusuke said, crossing his arms and sitting down on a chair.
Dr. Tofu started to touch Akane's broken arm. Akane made a small noise of pain and grimaced.
"Ahh, that doesn't look very good. Its broken likely," Dr. Tofu noted.
"It IS broken. I know. I'm the one who broke it, remember?" Yusuke pointed out.
Dr. Tofu shook his head and leaned over Akane a little bit, "A bit on the rough side, isn't he?"
"Yeah, but he's really not that bad of a guy. I think its all an act really," Akane whispered.
"Yeah! That's right! Go on whispering! I'm just not here, you know," Yusuke griped.
"Oh, don't be so whiny, Yusuke," Akane giggled.
"Whiny? You did not just call me...," Yusuke started.
Akane grinned, "Whiny, whiny, whiny."
Yusuke looked annoyed for a moment, "You want me to break your other arm, too?"
"Like you would," Akane dared.
"Don't tempt me," Yusuke warned.
"Ooo, I'm so scared," Akane laughed.
Yusuke grumbled under his breath. Dr. Tofu tried to block out the conversation as he worked on Akane's arm. It was just too weird for him. Suddenly, the sound of someone vomiting broke through the room.
"Ugh! Dr. Tofu... I'm still not feeling very... MMMGPH! Blllaaaach," a voice from another room shouted.
Akane blinked, "Is that..."
Dr. Tofu finished with Akane's arm, "Your fiance? Yes. Hold on a moment, Akane. Coming, Ranma!"
Dr. Tofu walked to another room and Yusuke blinked rapidly.
'Fiance? Isn't she a little young to be having a fiance?' he wondered.
The annoyed expression crossed Yusuke's face again.
'Oh, what do I care, anyway?' he thought.
"Its a long story," Akane muttered.
Yusuke looked over to her, "What?"
"The whole fiance thing. Long story," Akane said simply.
She was looking a bit angry again. Yusuke shrugged, "Yeah, okay. Whatever."
Back at Yusuke's previous home city, no one noticed that Yusuke and his mother had even left. The beings of Spirit World hadn't noticed that they had moved to another location. Though, this was no surprise seeing as to how Spirit World was always a busy place. Hiei hadn't noticed Yusuke had left, either. He was training and while he did feel that something was missing from the city, he didn't really care enough to pay attention to it.
Kurama hadn't noticed, either. Though, he did live elsewhere and at any rate, he was much too busy helping his mother out around the house. With that, it may come as a surprise that the first one to notice that Yusuke had left the city was none other than Kazuma Kuwabara. As it just so happened that day, Kuwabara and Yusuke had scheduled a sparring match. While Yusuke tended to slack when it came to training (unless Genkai was around, of course), Kuwabara was always hard at work at it.
He was confident that he had improved his fighting technique since the last time he had to fight. This time, he thought he just might be strong enough to beat Yusuke. If he wasn't, Kuwabara would just get back to training again. So, Kuwabara was more than a bit irritated that Yusuke wasn't at home. He also thought it was odd that his mother wasn't home, either.
'Where could Urameshi be? He knows we were supposed to be fighting today,' Kuwabara thought.
In truth, because of all that was happening to him, Yusuke had totally forgotten about the fight. In any case, Kuwabara began his search for Yusuke, starting with Yusuke's usual hangouts. He searched the movie theater...
No Yusuke.
He wandered through the arcade...
No Yusuke.
He went past all the street corners...
Still no Yusuke.
Kuwabara scratched his head as he tried to think of other places Yusuke might be. Then, he snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. He rushed over to Kayko's home and just about collided into her. Luckily, he had stopped himself just in time.
"Hey, Kayko!" Kuwabara greeted.
Kayko looked up at him, "Oh, hi, Kuwabara. How are you?"
"I'm okay. Hey, look, have you seen Urameshi around anywhere?" Kuwabara asked.
"Yusuke? No, I haven't. Why?" Kayko responded.
"Well, I've looked everywhere for him! Its like he just disappeared or something!" Kuwabara exclaimed.
"Disappeared? I don't think so. He has to be around here somewhere," Kayko said.
"Unless he went on a mission and didn't tell me," Kuwabara mumbled, angry at the thought.
Kayko looked angry when he mentioned that, too, "Well, he didn't say anything to me, so he just better not have if he knows what's good for him."
"Yeah," Kuwabara agreed.
"Have you tried asking around to see if anybody's seen him?" Kayko inquired.
"Umm... Well, I'm starting to. I asked you, didn't I?" Kuwabara replied.
"Right. I'll help you look for him," Kayko declared.
"Thanks," Kuwabara told her.
"You're welcome," Kayko said back.
Thus, they went their separate ways in search of Yusuke. Kuwabara asked anybody and everybody if they had seen Yusuke. They all told him that they hadn't, but one little kid, overhearing Kuwabara ask an elderly person, did have a hint as to where Yusuke went.
"Mister, mister! Wait up!" the little boy shouted to Kuwabara.
Kuwabara looked around and then spotted the little boy running towards him. He stopped and walked over to the kid, "Hmm? What do you want, kid?"
"You said you were looking for Urameshi. You mean, Yusuke Urameshi?" the little boy asked.
Kuwabara blinked in surprise, "You know him?"
"You bet I do! He saved me from a car! And he's funny, too. He's my hero! You're looking for him, right?" the little boy said.
'Yusuke is this kid's hero? Gee, who would've thought Yusuke had his own little fan,' Kuwabara thought, sweatdropping.
He quickly turned his attention back to the boy, "Yeah. I'm looking for him. Do you know where he's at?"
"Well, I'm not sure exactly, but I did see his mommy last night while my mommy was taking me to the movies. She wasn't going to the movies, but she was acting pretty funny. I heard her say that she was going to find Yusuke's daddy and she also said she was going to use some money she got to buy... Well, I'm not sure what she said she was going to buy, but it sounded like she was going to buy some shakes or something," the little boy babbled.
Kuwabara sweatdropped again when the boy mentioned Yusuke's mother was going to buy 'shakes'.
"And this morning... I was in the park. I saw Yusuke's mommy and Yusuke in a car. They were like moving faster than a race car! And the car almost hit a tree!" the little boy finished.
"Hmm. Well, thanks for the help, little kid," Kuwabara told him.
"You're welcome, mister! Hope you find him!" the little boy exclaimed.
Kuwabara walked away, thinking on what the little boy had told him.
'Huh, what could this mean? Yusuke's mom hardly ever drives anywhere. Maybe they went out of town? Hmmm,' he thought.
Kuwabara walked back to his house. He was deep in his thoughts, trying to figure out what it all meant. When he got to his house, he was greeted by his very angry sister. Kuwabara blinked.
"Kazuma, where have you been?" Shizuru asked.
"Uhhh... Looking for Yusuke?" Kuwabara answered truthfully.
"That's no excuse, you lazy bum! You forgot to wash the dishes! Get your butt in here!" Shizuru yelled.
She grabbed him by his ear and dragged him inside. She practically threw him at the sink and Kuwabara began to wash the dishes obediently, muttering a few obscenties under his breath. Occasionally, he would rub his ear which was sore from Shizuru grabbing it. He grumbled, "Must be that time of the month again."
"WHAT WAS THAT?" Shizuru shouted.
Kuwabara laughed nervously, "Nothing dear sister of mine!"
He muttered a few more obscenties as he did the dishes. Finally, he finished washing and drying the dishes. His sister suddenly came in the kitchen holding the phone.
"Hey, Kazuma. Phone," she said, handing him the phone.
Kuwabara dried his hands and held the phone up to his ear, "Hello?"
"Hello, Kuwabara. Have you found Yusuke, yet?" Kayko asked.
"No, I haven't, but I did get some information. Someone told me that Urameshi and his mom were driving somewhere this morning," Kuwabara replied.
"Hmm. That's odd," Kayko murmured.
"Yeah, I know. Anyway, I gotta go. I'm going to try looking for Urameshi out of town. Wish me luck," Kuwabara announced.
"Good luck," Kayko said.
"Thanks. See you," Kuwabara said before hanging up the phone.
Kuwabara sat down on the floor Indian-style. He took in a deep breath and tried to clear his head. Shizuru came into the room again. This time she was looking as angry as she did before. She snapped at him, "What are you doing, Kazuma?"
"Shh. I'm concentrating. I'm trying to find Urameshi's spirit energy signature. If I can do that, maybe I can find Urameshi," Kuwabara told her.
"Yeah? Well, guess what, Kazuma? You didn't make your bed, this morning!" Shizuru growled.
Kuwabara cringed, "Ooops."
"Ooops, is right! Go and make it. Now," Shizuru ordered.
"Okay, okay," Kuwabara grumbled.
'Sheesh. She acts like I never do anything around here,' he thought.
He finished making his bed and sat in his room in the same way he was sitting before.
'Now, I just have to focus,' he thought.
Kuwabara cleared his mind of thought again and began to concentrate his own spirit energy and his senses in finding Yusuke's energy signature. He wasn't sure if he could actually find Yusuke this way, but it was worth a shot.