A/N: Heh. I'm enthralled with this story. I can't wait for others to start reading it, too. c:

So there may be some inconsitencies between this story and the actual plot of Yu Yu Hakusho - that's because, were Kuwabara to die, then everything would change and be completely different.

"There you are, Yusuke!" called Botan, waving in the direction of said human. She was smiling, skirt of her dress wrapping around her legs as she ran.

Stubborn, Yusuke didn't stop. He wanted nothing to do with the spirit realm, even though they had made a deal. Even though he was supposed to help them whenever they called - because it was too soon for this and there was too much on his mind.

Like the look on Shizuru's face when she spoke about Kuwabara, so completely distraught and out of touch with the rest of the world.

The tone of her voice, because sometimes she spoke as though she had been right there, felt each blow that she spoke about as though her own body had been the one that was struck.

The way she had no problems opening her house up to Yusuke. Shizueu said that Kuwabara had claimed they were friends, and she couldn't turn away a friend of her brother's.

Yusuke, for his part, didn't understand why. It was a question that constantly plagued him, mind wrapped up in it even as he walked along the sidewalk. A slender hand came down on his shoulder and Yusuke yelped, spinning around and swinging at the person behind him.

Botan gave a surprised yelp, stumbling backwards and away from the human boy. "Yusuke!What do you think you're doing?"

Blinking, Yusuke lowered his curled fist. "Botan? What're you doing down here? Oh shit, I'm not supposed to die, am I? I just got here!"

"Oh, don't be silly." chided Botan, waving one hand through the air. "Of course you aren't going to die. Lord Koenma just sent me to let you know that he needed to cash in that favor you owe him. You know, for bringing you back to life?"

For a moment, Yusuke just stared at the reaper girl. He couldn't believe that they wanted him to do something for them. Hadn't the sacrifice of his soul been enough? "What the Hell are you going on about?"

"Language, Yusuke. Hell deserves your respect." Botan frowned slightly, because it was one of the first things that a reaper learnt. Hell was more then just a place, but an ethereal being, something to be respected and honored and feared. "And you heard exactly what I said. A very important artifact has been stolen from Lord Koenma, and it's been thought that a demon by the name of Evola has it. We need you to track her down."

"Let me get this straight." said Yusuke, the sarcasm heavy in his voice. "You all brought me back to life and then our deals were supposed to be done with. But now, you want me to go out and hunt demons for you, because you were too stupid to hang onto some priceless antiques?"

"Well, I wouldn't use that wording exactly, but pretty much." chirped Botan, giving the human boy a nod.

Yusuke pursed his lips together, eyes narrowing slightly. "Okay. So now that we have that settled, let's move onto the important bit. What's in it for me if I do this for you?"

Botan was silent for a moment, light purple eyes going wide. Then her face twisted into something indignant and she gave a huff. "Do you mean to say that helping to save human-kind isn't a big enough reward for you?"

"That's exactly what I mean to say." Yusuke crossed his arms over his chest, not budging on the matter. "So what do I get out of it?"

Another pause, where Botan mimicked Yusuke's movement. "What do you want from it, Yusuke?"

"I want you to bring Kuwabara back to life." The words were out of Yusuke's mouth before he even realized that he had thought them, and that had his brain coming to a screeching stop.

This was a chance for him to ask for anything. Yusuke could name just about anything in the world right then, and it would have become his. Instead, the first thing that came to mind was the name of his long-time rival.

Botan did not hesitate in saying 'yes'.

-x-x-x-x-x-x-

Bringing Kuwabara back to life was different then when Yusuke came back. There was no body to restore and no time to work within but rather, everything had to be done quickly and on the fly. And Yusuke was there, in Spirit World, to watch it happen.

As Kuwabara's body had already been buried, a new one had to be made. It took three hours and more energy then Yusuke had ever thought possible to pour into one place, as the ogres attempted to remake the body.

Kazuma Kuwabara was made up out of an excess of spirit energy, or so Botan said, and his new body needed to have just as much as the last.

Then came reigning in the taller boy's soul and reattaching it to his body, which Yusuke was not privy to seeing. But he could hear it though, that dreaful screaming echoing through the halls. Could see the light flash, blue and white and orange, then disappear. Just barely make out the voices that started up after it ended, as Botan tried to explain to Kuwabara what exactly had happened.

Then there was complete silence, and Yusuke found that he had nothing to do but stand in the hallway and wait. Scuffed one shoe against the tile floor and tilted his head back, counting the lines in the cieling. Then tried to find shapes in them, because whatever was going on in that room was stretching on and on at this point.

Eventually, the large double doors opened. Botan came out first, and there was a light in her eyes that just seemed to say everything had gone alright. One that was reinforced when Kuwabara walked out after her, wearing simple white slacks and a loose fitting tee-shirt. There were dark circles under his eyes and his skin looked sallow - but he was alive and that made all of those things unimportant.

"Kuwabara! They did it! For a while there, I thought that they were going to tell me it wasn't possible anymore. Then you would be shit out of luck, wouldn't you Botan?" said Yusuke, and the fact that what he was saying wouldn't make sense to Kuwabara didn't matter.

He was a rambler after all. Tired, pissed, upset, excited - and off went his mouth, trying to fill the silence and settle things at the same time.

"Urameshi? What are you doing up here?" asked Kuwabara, and he sounded surprised.

Beside him, Botan gave one of those soft smiles of hers, putting a hand on the taller human's shoulder. "Oh, didn't I tell you, Kazuma? Yusuke here is the one that made the deal with Lord Koenma. He's the reason that you were given a second chance."

"Wait, what? You?" Kuwabara jabbed a finger in Yusuke's direction, and for a moment it looked as though a fight may break out. Kuwabara grabbed a fistful of Yusuke's shirt, narrowing the distance between them until they were a breath apart.

A little caught off gaurd, Yusuke pulled his head back, trying to put more distance betweem their faces. "Yeah. What of it?"

A moment of stiff silence - and then Kuwabara was giving Yusuke's shirt another harsh tug, pulling the shorter male up against him and into a hug. Tilting his head, Kuwabara pressed his chin against Yusuke's hair, trying rather hard not to actually cry. "Thanks, Urameshi. I - I owe you one, big time."

Yusuke didn't say anything right away, didn't do anything. Just stood there stiff and surprised and maybe a little uncomfortable. Then he wrapped his arms around Kuwabara as well, giving the other boy a halted pat on the back. "Yeah, yeah. No problem. Now quit moping around up here, alright? We have shit to do back down on Earth."

-x-x-x-x-x-

The next few hours were long and drawn out, and Yusuke was not privy to the conversation that Kuwabara had with Koenma. He just knew that when the taller boy came out from behind those tall golden doors, it was with a grim look on his face, as though he had swallowed a lemon or been told of some horrible crime.

"You arlight?" asked Yusuke, tilting his head at the other boy.

Kuwabara nodded, hands moving to absently straighten the wrinkles out of his shirt. "Yeah, everything's good. He was just telling me about some things. Those are some weird looking antlers, am I right?"

Just as it was ment too, as it always did, the sudden change in subject caught Yusuke off gaurd and his attention was swayed. "Yeah, they are pretty freaky looking. I swear, those things look different every time that I see them!"

Kuwabara gave a low, thoughtful hum, and then turned away from the door. Shoving his hands into his pockets, he started down the long hallway and Yusuke was quick to get on his tail.

"You aren't really just gonna walk off are you? Pch, you're never going to find here without help," snorted Yusuke folding both arms behind his head. "This place is a fucking maze!"

Kuwabara didn't speak. Five minutes later, he had led both of them back to the room where Botan waited.