Yusuke walked down the sidewalk of the city he once knew as home.

'It's good to be back and to get a rest from that crazy town,' he thought.

He could've done without having to stay at Kuwabara's house, though. Breakfast that day had been a battlefield. Kuwabara didn't have to hog all of the doughnuts. Shizuru was no better. He had no idea that a girl could eat as many doughnuts as she did without getting fat. He shrugged to himself, ignoring the mean looks he was given by a gang he walked past.

"Well, if it isn't Yusuke Urameshi. I thought you had left for good. Guess the roaches always come crawling back, aye, boys?" the gang leader said to the other members.

Yusuke smirked and halted his walk, 'Oh, so they think they can run MY city while I'm away, do they?'

He turned and took his hands out of his pockets. A couple of the gang members looked at the gang leader with worry. One gang member twiddled his thumbs nervously, "I thought Yusuke was gone. We don't stand a chance against him."

The gang leader glared at him, "Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

"You should listen to him because he's right. All of you put together don't stand a chance against me. If you run, now, maybe I won't turn you into a stain on the sidewalk."

The gang member that had spoke up instantly turned and ran away. The gang leader shouted out to him, "You coward! You'll be more than just afraid of that punk when I get a hold of you!"

"Not if you're sitting in the hospital," Yusuke said.

"That's it! Come on, guys! Let's get him!" the gang leader said.

The gang threw themselves at him with all the force they could muster. Yusuke grinned as he slammed his knee into the gang leader's gut and ducked a punch from a gang member who had tried to sneak up behind him. He kicked the sneak's legs out from under him and after running over him, body slammed a gang member just behind him. Only a few seconds later, the rest of the gang fell to the ground, sprawled on the concrete out cold.

"How impressive. You single-handedly defeated a group of weaklings. I suppose you'll be beating up toddlers, next?"

Yusuke shrugged, "Eh. They had it coming."

"Dimwit," Genkai said.

"Old hag," Yusuke replied.

"You're ungrateful, you know that? You leave without saying goodbye. I didn't even get a post card."

"I would've gotten around to it, eventually."

"And you haven't been training."

Yusuke grinned smugly, "I would've gotten around to it, eventually."

"You're a slacker and it'll cost you if you keep it up. I doubt you've even notice the change that has happened with your spirit energy."

Yusuke blinked and cocked an eyebrow, "Change? What do you mean, Genkai?"

"I mean that wherever you've been, you've run into an unusually high amount of chaos."

Yusuke frowned, "Chaos, this. Chaos, that. That's all I ever hear about when it comes to that place... that Nerima."

"I suggest you keep on your guard. Botan has already told me of what's been going on as of late and people that absorb high amounts of chaos into their spirit energy remain in constant trouble. Before trouble was always of your own doing and a part of your life as spirit detective. And now, it looks as if trouble will follow you wherever you go."

"Yeah, yeah. The cryptic message is nice, old lady, but I got somewhere I need to be. Catch you later," Yusuke said.

He turned and left, giving a casual wave of goodbye. Genkai grumbled to herself and turned to leave in the opposite direction as him. Yusuke continued walking, stopping at a movie theater. He leaned up against a wall and stuffed his hands in his pockets. Kayko ran to him. She folded her arms across her chest, "Hey, you're late! We're going to miss the movie!"

Yusuke shrugged and grinned at her. Kayko sighed in exasperation, "You got into a fight, didn't you? Oh, nevermind. Come on, let's go before they stop running the previews."

She dragged him by his arm into the movie theater.

Akane sighed as she stared out her window with a melancholy expression. Ranma instantly appeared in front of the window, having hopped down from the roof.

"Hey, what's the matter with you?"

"How can we have a funeral for P-chan when his body is missing? I don't understand how it could've happened. I was so careful," Akane said.

Ranma tried not to look guilty, "You don't think someone stole him, do you?"

Akane growled. Ranma hopped back and congratulated himself for not being in reach of her while she was mad.

"Don't be stupid, Ranma. Who would steal a... pig..."

Ranma didn't like the look in her eyes. He didn't like it one bit.

"Uhh... Akane?"

"... Restaurants."

"Restaurants?"

"Shampoo... Ukyou... What if they wanted a free ingredient? I'll... I'll... I'LL KILL THEM IF THEY'VE COOKED MY PRECIOUS P-CHAN WHEN HE WAS SUPPOSE TO HAVE A PROPER BURIAL!"

Ranma paled, 'Oh no...'

"Wait, Akane..."

Akane jumped out the window, kicked Ranma up into the air, and took off running. Ranma rested his hand on his chin as he soared through the air.

'Why couldn't I have just said nothing?'

Then, he stopped in mid-air, feeling suddenly like a captured butterfly in a net. He managed to untangle himself from the net and landed on a tree branch. At the top of the tree was Nabiki, holding a giant butterfly net.

"Err, Nabiki? How did you get up here?"

"I climbed," Nabiki said apathetically.

"Oh. Uhh... Where'd you get the net?"

"I have my ways."

"Umm..."

"What's going on, Ranma? I'm starting to have doubts. I do not like having doubts. First, when I heard that 'P-chan' had died, I was... concerned. Your reaction led me to believe that Ryouga Hibiki had died. Then, later on, you appeared lighter in spirits and claimed to have spoken to Ryouga at school. You said that he told you he was going on a mystical training journey. Now, after watching you speak with Akane and that obviously guilty look on your face makes me believe that there is more to this than what meets the eye. Spill."

"Why should I tell you?" Ranma snapped.

Nabiki held up photographs of Ranma in 'unusual' positions with, individually, Kodachi, Ukyou, Shampoo, Azusa, and... Kasumi?

"... They're fake."

"Yeah, I doctored them, but I bet with Akane as mad as she is right now, she wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

Ranma cursed silently, "All right."

Nabiki grinned her usual cunning smile.

"Ryouga is dead..."

Nabiki tore up the pictures and nodded, "Thank you, I..."

"He's coming back to life."

Nabiki nearly fell out of the tree, but quickly hugged the trunk.

"What?"

"I said, he's coming back to life. I don't know when and I don't exactly know how. But he wasn't suppose to have died when he did, so the Spirit World... people... things... whatever are allowing him a second chance."

Nabiki frowned, "Ranma, I do not like being toyed with."

"I'm telling the truth," Ranma said, "You don't have to believe it if you don't want to, but that's all I have to offer you. Anything else would be a lie."

Nabiki considered his words and studied him carefully, "Hmm. So, you are telling the truth. That's very interesting. I suppose I'm the only one who knows besides you?"

Ranma thought, "Umm... Ah! No. Yusuke knows, too. I'm not sure how he figured it out, though. Unless he's psychic or something. He was the one who hid P-chan's body from Akane."

'Hmm. That'll have to be something I'll need to look into later,' Nabiki thought.

"What do you plan on doing about Akane?" she asked.

"Besides prevent her from getting into a fight with Ukyou and Shampoo? I don't know."

"Typical. All right, I'm going to do you a favor just this once, Ranma..."

Ranma groaned, "I don't have any money, Nabiki..."

"Oh no. This is free of charge. You won't owe, I promise."

"... What's in it for you?"

Nabiki honestly looked hurt. Ranma was taken aback. He had never seen that kind of look on Nabiki's face before.

"You think I'd be so cold-hearted as to have no respect for someone who died? Can't I do what's right, too?"

"Well, it's just... I'm so used to... Well..."

Nabiki's normal expression seemed to flash instantly back onto her face. Afterall, she still had a reputation to maintain.

"Don't worry about it. I get what you mean. Okay, here's the plan..."

"These fighting scenes are so fake. I want to see someone really get their jaw broken."

"Shhh..."

"You call that a punch?"

"Yusuke!" Kayko hissed.

Yusuke crossed his arms and grumbled to himself. He looked over to Kayko and took in her slumped posture. Her eyes were filled with disappointment. Yusuke frowned and then slowly draped his arm over her shoulders. He whispered to her, "You know... This movie would be a whole lot worse without you here to embarrass. I mean, it really makes it all worthwhile watching your face match the color of the seats..."

Kayko faced him, smiling slightly, "You're a jerk."

"I know." Yusuke grinned. Both of them realized how close together their faces were. Yusuke looked into her hopeful eyes and struggled to catch his breath. He leaned forward and touched her lips with his own. The movie was the farthest thing from their minds and they didn't notice that something had stopped the movie from playing until everyone started running to the emergency exits.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER, YOU INGRATE!"

Yusuke and Kayko stopped kissing and looked at the boy in front of them blankly. He was wearing a yellow school uniform and had shoulder-length black hair. He appeared to have entered the movie theater by smashing through the movie screen. Yusuke stood, anger registering on his face.

"I'll put my hands on her anywhere I want to whenever I want to. You're not the..."

SLAP!

"Yusuke! How can you say that?"

Yusuke rubbed his bruise sheepishly, not having meant to get a reaction from her with that comment.

"Sorry..."

"Grr... You should be sorry! Touching my betrothed like that!"

Yusuke gaped at him. For once, he didn't have an insult to back him up. Kayko's mouth was hanging open, "Betrothed?"

She shook her head and closed her mouth.

"There must be some kind of mistake. I don't know who you are. See, my name is Kayko Yukimura," she proceeded in spelling the name out for him, "And... uhh... This is my boyfriend. We were just watching a movie together like normal people. Maybe you're betrothed ran outside."

She grabbed onto Yusuke's arm tightly. Yusuke wondered if it were possible to crush the butterflies that were happily floating in his stomach. He was Yusuke Urameshi. He didn't get butterflies...

"No, no. You're the one that's mistaken, my dear. You don't have a boyfriend; that would be betraying me! I've finally returned to the city so that we can get started on planning our wedding. Doesn't Kayko Yoshida have a nice ring to it?"

"No. Kayko Urameshi sounds much better. Now, are you going to leave us alone or am I going to have to stain the carpet with something other than chewed gum and soda?"

Kayko stared at Yusuke in shock.

'Kayko... Urameshi?' She blushed.

"Urameshi, huh? Well, I am Satoshi Yoshida, first-class student of the School of Anything Goes Rope Weapons Martial Arts!"

"I don't care who you are, blabbermouth!" Yusuke shouted.

He took aim and fired a weak Spirit Gun blast at the offending boy. Surprisingly, Satoshi dodged the blast and pulled out of his yellow uniform shirt a couple of long, dark-colored ropes. It almost reminded Yusuke of Mousse, considering that it looked impossible for the ropes to fit in the boy's clothing.

"You better listen to me, Urameshi and run while you can! You have no claim on my wife-to-be! Not since that fateful day five years ago, when Mrs. Yukimura gave me a haircut. But alas, I had no money to pay her for her good services, so I promised to take her daughter's hand in marriage. She gave me her blessing and I left the city to pursue the art of Rope Weaponry Martial Arts!"

'Yak, yak, yak!' Yusuke thought.

He ran at Satoshi with his fists forward and was suddenly stopped. His feet had somehow been tied together. He didn't know how the guy did it, but then, he didn't care.

"You can't stop me that easily..."

He hopped at great speeds towards Satoshi and slammed into him. Satoshi kicked Yusuke off of him, tied him up, and using some strange rope device, pulled himself towards Kayko. He hugged her happily, "My darling!"

Yusuke's eyes flashed dangerously and he broke the ropes that were binding him with ease.

"YUSUKE! GET THIS CREEP OFF OF ME!" Kayko shrieked.

"It's okay, dear. You don't have to be frightened. I'll protect you from that awful Ura..."

SLAM!

Kayko's eyes opened wide with shock as she watched the boy double over holding a certain region while tears fell from his eyes. Yusuke blinked and stopped coming at him.

"Err... Kayko, did you just... knee him?"

Kayko looked a little embarrassed, "Well, I wasn't just going to stand there and let him fondle me! The pervert..."

Satoshi managed to gasp out, "I... forgive... you..."

"My mom has some explaining to do," Kayko said, frowning.

Yusuke nodded, "Yeah."

"What do you think we should do with him?"

Yusuke shrugged. Kayko and Yusuke stared down at him as he continued to hold himself in pain.

"You want to go out for ice cream or something?" Yusuke asked finally.

Kayko looked away from Satoshi and nodded, "Sure, why not?"

"Wait, you can't leave!" Satoshi exclaimed.

"Yes, we can. If I have to look at your ugly face again, I'm going to rearrange it so badly, your own family wouldn't recognize you."

"You'll... pay..."

Yusuke shrugged him off. Then, he and Kayko left the theater where police would later arrive to investigate the disturbance.

"Yusuke?"

"Yeah?"

"Umm... About what you said back there... Does Kayko Urameshi really sound nice to you?"

Yusuke stuffed his hands in his pockets and grumbled at her, "Well, that's a stupid question. Why wouldn't I mean it?"

"Uhh..."

Yusuke glanced at her and then looked away, "Not that that was a proposal or anything. I'd like to keep my freedom a little longer, thank you very much."

Kayko glared at him, but it was ruined by the small smile at the corner of her lips. She linked arms with him as they walked. Yusuke blushed slightly, 'What if someone sees me? Ah! Who cares if anyone sees? I'll do whatever I want. I'm Yusuke Urameshi, the biggest, baddest punk there ever was. Anyone who questions it can leave a message with my fists.'

Ryouga set himself in his fighting stance. He wasn't used to face-offs. Most of the time, he just went in attacking... and with Ranma. In fact, he couldn't remember the last time he had fought with anyone else besides Ranma. Realization seemed to dawn on Ryouga in that instant.

'Maybe that's why I'm always one step behind Ranma! He has all the sparring partners in the world with all those enemies he makes! And me? All I have is him!'

BAM!

Ryouga fell, dazed.

'What hit me?'

Mr. Kuwabara stood over him and groaned, "Aw, come on, kid. Can't you fight at all? And don't you know not to daydream in the middle of a fight?"

"I know well enough!"

Ryouga jumped to his feet, punching the man in the gut. Mr. Kuwabara doubled over slightly, but twirled his body around and delivered a kick to Ryouga's head. Ryouga flew backward, but managed to steady himself. He was well-known in Nerima for his hard head. Mr. Kuwabara hadn't used his spirit swords, yet.

'He must be holding back. Maybe he's not sure I can handle it. Well, I'll show him!'

He ran at Mr. Kuwabara and then, bent over and pointed his finger to the ground.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU!"

The ground broke underneath him, sending debris every which way. Mr. Kuwabara held his arms up, using the swords and his arms to shield himself from the debris. Ryouga plowed through the debris, not feeling any of it, and started punching Mr. Kuwabara several times in the face. Mr. Kuwabara took the two spirit swords in his left hand and swung them at Ryouga's side. Ryouga slammed into a tree from the force.

'That burns...'

"Well, I have to say I am impressed! I haven't seen an attack like that before! The way you just shrugged off the sharpnel like it was nothing. That is amazing."

"Well, I didn't have boulders slamming into my body all the time for nothing."

"Sounds like some serious training. I should try that, sometime. But, don't start getting cocky. I have plenty of tricks myself."

"So do..."

Ryouga paused. Well, he did. Sure, he still had a few physical attacks left, but the fight would've been a whole lot easier if he had his limitless bandanas on and his umbrella with him. He had a bandana on, but apparently the limitless part didn't cross over with him. Everything beyond death was so strange and confusing. Mr. Kuwabara smirked, "What's the matter? Getting tired?"

"No! I never give up!"

"That's the truth," Yaya said, from his sleeping position.

"Great! That's perfect," Mr. Kuwabara said.

They immediately began fighting again.

The plotters hid near the side of Ucchan's where Akane and Ukyou were arguing.

"Nabiki, are you sure this is going to work? It sounds a little risky to me."

"My plans never fail. Trust me."

"I'm not sure if that's a..."

Nabiki glared at him. Ranma put his hands up in surrender, "Fine, fine. I believe you."

"I told you already, I didn't steal your pet pig! He's hardly big enough for one oknamiyaki, anyway!" Ukyou shouted.

"Yeah? Then, explain this!" Akane exclaimed, holding up a familiar yellow bandana.

Ukyou slapped her forehead, "Akane, in all the time P-chan was living, I've hardly ever seen him around my restaurant! Ryouga, on the other hand, wanders around here all the time! He has several bandanas that looks just like that."

Akane blinked and looked at the bandana carefully, "Hey... You know I never realized how closely these looked alike... I wonder how P-chan..."

'Uh-oh. Better stop that train of thought,' Ranma thought.

He quickly jumped in, armed with Nabiki's plan.

"Akane, I figured out what happened to P-chan!"

Ukyou crossed her arms with a spatula in hand, "Yeah, see? I didn't steal him."

"It was Happosai!"

"Happosai? What would he want with a... OH NO! HE COOKED HIM, DIDN'T HE?" Akane shrieked.

"No, no! Listen. Happosai actually felt guilty about what had happened, for once! He decided to have P-chan buried in the pet cemetery in Nerima. The only problem is he forgot to tell us all about the funeral because he decided to go panty-raiding that day!"

"Are you serious?" Akane asked.

"How could I not be, Akane?"

He definitely looked serious. Thanks to practicing the look in front of Nabiki.

"He definitely looks serious," Akane and Ukyou said in unison.

"Because I am! I'll prove it to you! Follow me!"

Nabiki followed behind the running trio, pleased with herself. The connections she had seemed to know no end. Thus, when they arrived at the pet cemetery, a gravestone marked P-chan, was easily found. Ranma looked at it in disbelief, 'How in the world can she do something like this?'

"This was Happosai's doing..." Akane said.

Ranma only nodded dumbly, still in awe at Nabiki. Akane sighed, "Best I pay my respects, then. I wish I could've attended the ceremony... Stupid Happosai."

She bowed her head and closed her eyes, "Rest in peace."

Her eyes opened to shoot glares at Ranma and Ukyou, "Hm?"

Ukyou and Ranma hastily bowed their heads.

"Safe travels in the afterlife, P-chan," Ranma said.

"Bless your soul, little pig," Ukyou muttered.

Akane and Ranma lingered by the P-chan gravestone after Ukyou had left to tend to her restaurant.

"I miss him, Ranma."

"Yeah, I know. I miss him, too."

Silence fell on one of the only peaceful places in Nerima. Akane sighed and then she smiled, "I have a perfect idea! I'll make some cookies in the shape of little pigs in honor of P-chan today! That'll cheer us up, huh, Ranma?"

Ranma's face turned a sickly white, "Uhh... You go on without me. I'd like to... continue paying my respect to P-chan. Me and him were buddies, you know? I mean, sure we didn't act like it a lot of times, but we were... ah... uh..."

Akane didn't know whether to believe him, but thinking back to his initial reaction to P-chan's death, she decided that he was telling the truth and not trying to get out of eating her cookies. Ranma sighed in relief after she left.

'Oh yeah! Celebrate good times! I don't have to taste Akane's cookies!'

He started to leave the pet cemetery himself when he noticed Nabiki hanging around the most decorative and flowery gravestone he had ever seen before in his life. He strolled towards Nabiki and looked over her shoulder. The gravestone was marked 'T-chan'.

"T-chan?"

Nabiki nodded, "When I was younger, I had a pet turtle. I spent my entire savings at that time to have T-chan buried when he died. Mother even gave a nice eulogy for him during the ceremony."

"You ever try pouring hot water on him?"

Nabiki narrowed her eyes, "No... But I think I would've noticed if my turtle turned into a person or whatever else."

"Akane didn't notice the connections between P-chan and Ryouga."

"I'm not Akane."

"No, but you sure do have similar tastes in naming your pets."

Nabiki sweatdropped, "I don't have to put up with this."

She started towards the gate exit of the pet cemetery. Ranma called out to her, "Akane's making cookies tonight!"

Nabiki slowly walked back to the gravestone, "I can recite the eulogy from memory."

Ryouga opened his eyes, dazed beyond reason. He could scarcely remember what had happened prior to being knocked unconscious. He paled, 'Oh wait... I was unconscious? Does that mean... I lost? No! I can't lose! I have to get my life back! I don't want to spend the rest of eternity doing community service!'

Mr. Kuwabara sat beside him, a little concerned.

"You okay? You still remember who you are and everything right? I might've went a little too heavy with that last blow... I swear once I get into a fighting mood, it's hard to control myself."

Ryouga stood quickly, "I demand a rematch!"

Mr. Kuwabara stared at him from his sitting position, "A rematch? Much fun as that would be, you have your life to get back. You need to complete your ordeal..."

Ryouga paused for a moment, trying to think, "But... but... I lost. I thought..."

Mr. Kuwabara snapped his fingers with realization, "Ohhh! I get it! You thought if you lost, that'd be it. You'd have to go and work for the rest of your... afterlife. Well, you're lucky that this part of spirit purification has nothing to do with winning or losing this fight. Your first fight here, at the bridge, purifies your soul without tampering with your demon blood. Of course, if you hadn't seen the fight all the way through to the end, the purification process would've been incomplete and you would've been unable to continue your ordeal."

"Oh..."

"Hey, don't be too disappointed about losing. I had way too many advantages over you. Experience, for one. Also, besides experience, I've been... I suppose you could say... fortunate to be constantly developing my spirit energy. I'd say you've really only made a nice-sized dent in that department. You didn't use an attack... A powerful attack... I think probably because you didn't have the right kind of spirit energy to fuel it at the time."

"... You mean my Shi Shi Hokodan?"

Mr. Kuwabara's eyebrows shot up, "The Shi Shi Hokodan? You are amazing. To learn that attack at such a young age... Still, doesn't provide a good outlook on your overall health. I mean, to be so young and so depressed... and equipped with an attack that has the potential to do almost as much damage as a nuclear bomb..."

Ryouga shifted uneasily, "Well.."

"For your own sake, Ryouga, you need to limit the use of that attack as much as you possibly can. The new attack that you've gained will certainly help you with this."

"Wait! New attack? What new attack? I didn't learn any new..."

"You didn't learn it, so much as you acquired it. Those from the living world, who are about to or have had frequent contact with supernatural energies, almost always acquire a spirit attack to aid them for the troubles to come. Spirit attacks vary from person to person, depending on the situation. Spirit detectives, for example, acquire spirit guns to aid them. In my particular case, I have the use of spirit swords. This comes in part from being descended from a long line of demon slayers who acquired the spirit sword after the use of traditional weapons became a tremendous hassle. Spirit attacks don't attract too much attention and can easily be overlooked by people just going about their day while someone chasing after a demon with a traditional weapon, say, a giant boomerang, would have a hard time trying to get past onlookers and other such nonsense."

"Demon slayer? But... if I'm one-eighth demon..."

"When I was living, I didn't slay just any demons. Some of them are capable of being good. You're being only one-eighth demon, really doesn't hold any significance. For one, you're obviously good. For another, demon slayers usually end up hunting pure-blood or half-blood demons because they're demonic powers are more prominent than in those with less demon blood."

"Oh, okay. So, you were saying about spirit attacks?"

Mr. Kuwabara grinned, "The cool thing about not being a spirit detective or having an inherited spirit attack is that the spirit attack will be customized to your unique spiritual make-up. Once, I met this young punk in Kyoto who had this spirit attack called Spirit Hula Hoops. He could make these rings made of spirit energy spin around various parts of his body. I doubt yours will be that bizarre, though. The demon part of you might even limit the customization part a bit. I mean, like if that one-eighth of you is fox demon, you'll probably have some kind of fox fire spirit attack."

'Hmm... So, I have a new attack, now? I wonder what it is?' Ryouga thought.

"How do I use it?"

"Well, this is a lot easier to explain to someone who has already tapped into a part of their spirit energy. Just focus your energy like you would for the Shi Shi Hokodan technique, but don't use your depression to fuel it. Then, concentrate on letting it out. I recommend trying to release it by the hands, first since most spirit attacks start there. If nothing happens, try somewhere else, like your head, or mouth, or even your feet."

Ryouga nodded and set about focusing his energy for the spirit attack. Feeling a familiar pull at his energy, he concentrated on pushing it through his hands.

"Ah! Spirit Claws! Not very unique. Doesn't tell me much about that demon part of you, either since almost all demons have claws."

Ryouga stared at the lines of blue energy that extended from each of his finger tips. He moved his hands around a bit, watching at how swiftly and sharply the spirit claws cut through the air.

"Such a waste of energy, though. Considering at the moment, this'll be the last time you'll be able to use this attack for a while."

"What? What do you mean?" Ryouga asked.

"Well, newly acquired spirit attacks take some time getting used to. At the start, you'll only be able to use it once each day. Keep on using it, though, and eventually, you'll be able to use your spirit claws whenever and however many times you like until your spirit energy runs out."

"Why didn't you warn me?"

Mr. Kuwabara rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "Well, I was curious..."

Ryouga sweatdropped and watched as the spirit claws faded away. Yaya stood and stretched, "We better get going, then, Ryouga."

"Going? Now? But where?"

"I'm not entirely too sure. The guidebook says that it's in fate's hands where the ordeal takes you to become strengthened..."

"So, what? Should I just start walking and see where I end up?"

Yaya nodded, "Yep!"

Mr. Kuwabara laughed, "Good luck with that. Hey, when you get back to the living world, if you ever meet a Shizuru Kuwabara tell her that her father loves her and is proud of her for taking care of little Kazuma. Oh, and tell her to lighten up a bit, too. And to refrain from beating up Kazuma all the time. And maybe quit that smoking..."

Ryouga sweatdropped, "Err... If I ever meet her, I'm sure I'll tell her that. You want me to tell anything to the... Kazuma person, too?"

"My son? Well, I'd like you to pass on a message to him, but trust me, he wouldn't believe you like Shizuru would. Ah yeah! I know. Try and get him into a topic about dreams. Just tell him that the old lady that chases after him with an axe in his dream is an old, old ancestor that is only trying to convince him to marry and have children. Tell him the best way to get her out of his dreams is to have a talk with her about it. I think he has a girlfriend, now. Just tell him to tell her that he has found someone."

'Weird. Ancestors visiting someone in their dreams just to try and get them to marry and have children? Sounds worse than Mr. Tendo and Mr. Saotome.'

"Uhh, okay. I'll do that. Bye, Mr. Kuwabara."

"Bye, bye!" Yaya said.

"Good bye!"

Ryouga and Yaya left the Spirit Purification Center. Then, returned to it. Then, left it, again. Mr. Kuwabara stood outside the Spirit Purification Center and crossed his arms, "You guys still here?"

"I'm trying to leave!" Ryouga said.

He turned to glare at Yaya, "You're my spirit beast guide, aren't you? Why can't you help me leave this place? You sure were able to find it easy enough!"

Yaya laid down and covered its pig nose with its paws in a cowering position, "It was a stroke of good luck. I'm your inner self, remember? I'm just as lost as you are!"

Mr. Kuwabara shook his head, 'How bizarre. I should add him to the top ten list of the weirdest people I've ever met.'

Eventually, Ryouga and Yaya left the Spirit Purification Center for good to continue the ordeal.