PLEASE READ: Wow, no reviews what so ever for the last chapter. I'm guessing it's not that great, then. Believe it or not, reviews are inspiring to the writer, as they point out not only that people are reading it, but also what they do or don't like, whether the story is flowing smoothly or not, and if the spelling and grammer are correct. Now I know I can get away with alot because, let's face it, Yusuke isn't the best at grammer, but I would really appreciate feedback on the other things. Since I have no idea if anyone likes chapter 3 (except for IchikoKitsuneKoumori, thanks by the way) or beyond, I'm starting to wonder if I'm just wasting my time here. I would also like to point out that anon. reviews ARE allowed.

A big thank you to all those who did review. It really did encourage me to post more.

Oh, and IchikoKitsuneKoumori, maybe. The focus of the story won't be about romantic relationships, but having one in the background is pretty easy. And it really could go to several different pairings, but since you're the only one who asked...

Not two days after I helped out Kuwabara did things start to go south for me. I mean, who else has to put up with so much drama in so little time?

Mom was out on one of her drinking binges, leaving Keiko as the only one to look after my body. Thankfully, mom and I have lived in the same apartment for several years now and Keiko always kept the spare key in her bag. She wasn't impressed with mom's housekeeping skills.

"Atsuko! Honestly! This place is a pigsty! How can one person make so much mess in just a few days?"

And boy, was it a mess. Overflowing garbage bags were piled in the kitchen, completely blocking the way to the sink which was also overflowing, but with dirty dishes. There were stacks of manga everywhere, with half-empty glasses, totally empty bottles, and bowls with food crusted on them stacked on every available surface. Keiko growled and grumbled and put her lecture face into overdrive as she bustled around, attempting to clean at least a little before she left.

She passed just a little too close to one stack of comics and the wind she created tipped the comics onto my body. Naturally, Keiko panicked, and started throwing stuff over her shoulder as she tried to keep my body from suffocating. More growls came on seeing the dust on my face.

"It's like she doesn't even care that he's coming back," was all I heard, before something seemed to occur to her. For a minute she sat there, just staring at my face like I was the first boy she'd ever seen. And then she started moving closer.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" but of course, she couldn't hear me. She did, however, shriek when the neighborhood watch rolled by, (thank you very much) warning everyone to be on the lookout for arson in addition to the heat. Interrupted from molesting my body, and let me tell you how weird it is to have to think of your body and mind as two separate things, she grabbed her bag and left.

Botan had left earlier to report in to her boss, but had apparently gotten back just in time to see Keiko come back to her senses and leave. Though from the way she was smiling at me I'd guess that she saw the whole thing, dammit. Just as I was going to warn her not to say anything, the window slid open.

Mom was so drunk when she left that she didn't even lock the windows. Fuck. And when a can with a burning rag was tossed in, all the garbage that Keiko hadn't cleaned up, which was still a lot, caught fire. Double fuck.

So I wasted time flying among the neighbor's apartments, trying to get their attention or at least get them to look out the window, and failing miserably. Of course by now, the fire left a smoke signal large enough to be seen blocks away. I flew back, watching as a crowd gathered but did nothing, even though there were several garden hoses nearby. Fucking rubber-neckers! I can't stand that kind of person, wasting more time talking than actually doing something.

Then Keiko showed up. That surprised me; I thought she would have been home already, but I guess she must have forgotten something. Seeing that my apartment was up in flames, she started shoving her way through the crowd, yelling at them to 'get out of her way, there's someone still inside'.

I'll freely admit that Keiko's my closest friend. But even I had no idea she'd jump into the fire for my sake. You heard me. Keiko jumped into a burning house to try and save my worthless hide. I was angry, scared, and frantic that she would do something like that. And then, when she finally got to my body, the fire blocked the only way out.

Keiko would have died had Koenma not shown up right then. He told me he could save her, but that there was a price to pay.

"I don't care about that! Just save Keiko and we'll handle the rest later!"

"Very well." The Prince of Hell put one hand on my shoulder and started chanting. The fire split, leaving a clear path to the door, which Keiko took and hauled my body out of there. Once she cleared the door the crowed helped pull her and my body away from the flames, and almost shoved her into Kuwabara's arms. He picked up my body and led Keiko away, just as the fire department got there.

What a relief. She was alright, which was the important part. Kuwabara would help out with anything else. Botan hovered nearby, and nodded when I raised an eyebrow. So that's where she was; getting Kuwabara to help. When I had relaxed enough to speak like a normal human, I turned to Koenma.

"Okay, she's safe. What do I owe you?"

"Two things went into saving Keiko. First, I pulled all the good energy the egg had collected. As far as that's concerned, you're back at square one."

"That's fine. What's the second thing?"

"The second thing was payment. For forcing me to meddle in the Living World, Keiko needed to give me a part of her body." What?! "A valuable part."

"The fuck?! You can't! I won't allow it!"

It took me a minute to remember where Kuwabara lived, and when I got there, Keiko was leaving. New clothes, to replace the ones from the fire, and shorter hair. Wait.

"Her hair satisfies the requirements nicely. Have a good night, Yusuke."

"Bastard!" but he was already gone. I turned to Botan. "Can you believe him? Making me think she'd be disfigured for life!"

She just smiled at me. "I think he was just teasing you. Besides, you didn't quite let him finish before you flew off, so it's mostly your own fault."

"Whose side are you on?"

"His." I stared at her. "What? He's the Prince of the Spirit World. I'm a ferrygirl. What did you expect?"