Straight into manhood, By Julia MacGregor

The day was not that too out of the norm for Kurama. He got up early for mother. She had a new job and had to leave the house after seven in the morning. It was also excuse to get some extra work done on his schooling. He was in the e known about high school entrance exams.

It was not easy for a good looking guy to be smart, great looking and a demon at the same time. He quickly showered and ate breakfast with his younger stepbrother before heading off for classes.

The morning for Yusuke was a strange one. Pu was flying around Yusuke's room. Yusuke loved to sleep in even on a school day. He was always the slacker and hated school. He did so much growing up from everything in the past three years.

Pu was screaming on top of his little lungs, "PU…PU…PU!'

It was far from being horrible; Yusuke believed he was being attacked in his sleep. Yusuke rolled over in his bed with his eyes still closed. He tried to keep quiet for his mother's sake. "Listen you little freak!" he hissed loudly.

Pu was not listening as he made a pass at Yusuke's head.

"WHA..." Yusuke was now sitting straight up in bed, trying to make a grab for Puu.

"PUUU!" the little penguin type bird cried out once again. Then, Puu flew to the window. He started to make a grab for the draw string on the blinds. He felt something was amiss and Yusuke had to know.

"Stupid bird!" Yusuke grumbled loudly. He untangled himself from the mess of bedclothes. Climbing out of bed, Yusuke was not in the best of moods. He wanted to kill off Pu, yet he had to stop himself from chasing his spirit beast.

Puu flew to the window again for a second attempt at getting Yusuke's attention. He went he got there, he felt a sickening gnaw at his stomach. There was no stopping Pu. Yusuke pulled at the cord and found Botany sitting on her oar with a grim look on her face. "What's up Botan?" he asked a little abashed.

"There had been a kidnapping in down town!" Baton said as she floated on her oar.

"Where…is the kid still missing?" he asked, his old instincts still kicking in after all this time.

"We are not sure!" Baton said as she waited for the window to be opened. Then, she flew in.

"Damn!" he hissed under his breath.

"I wish I could take the blame!" she sighed with a groom look on her face.

Then, a buzzing noise began to go off in Yusuke's book bag. It was loud enough to grab up's attention. The spirit bird flew over to the stack of unused things piled up in a corner on Yusuke's room. It landed on top and said, "Pu!"

"Who would be calling me," he groaned.

"Pu?" the little blue spirit bird chirped. Yusuke watched Pu land on top of a stack of clothes. He was tired of flying. Pu?" up asked, cocking its head to one said.

"There was a call from the top!" Baton sighed as she landed on the floor with her feet. She whipped her right hand to make her oar disappear. She walked over to where yoke was. He could hear the noise of a compact commutator going off as Pu was sitting on the pile. It knew Yusuke needed it. "Come on….Pu…get off of that pile…" he gripped.

"Where is the compact?" Baton asked as she watched Yusuke tried to pick up Pu.

"It's in my briefcase for classes and that stupid bird just happens to be sitting on it!" Yusuke said he it made a grab for the bird. Pu was going to be a pain as it knew Yusuke wanted to be on the case as soon as possible. "I had to clean out my closet!"

"I can see that!" Baton sighed as she noticed the jumble of clothes. She had a little qualm about Yusuke's habits including keeping a tidy room. She had to get after him about it and soon. She sighed as she said, "I hope you are finished with your daily excises."

"What daily excurse?" Yusuke asked with a goofy stare complete with one raised eyebrow.

"Trying to chase Puu…he is you in spirit form!" Boton said with a raised eye brow. She had wondered on how Yusuke ever made to high school.

"Oh, great…" Yusuke said as he finally grabbed a hold of his spirit beast with a quick grab. He glared at her, "Quickly one with the jokes!"

Feeling a little ticked off, Baton quipped, "You are such a pain…Yusuke!" she felt like calling back her oar and taking off.

"Puu!" added Puu as it squirmed in Yusuke's arms.

Yusuke was going to speak, but he managed to keep his mouth closed as Baton told him about all the facts of the missing people. There were a few stories that were sticking a cord with his memory. He felt strangely cold after the facts were laid out in his mind. It felt like he was reliving the past with his very first case.

Botan asked when she noticed Yusuke's face, "What's the matter, Yusuke?"

He lied, "Nothing!" Yusuke was not so easy shaken like he was. He had been through a great deal since the dark terminate. He needed a breather for just a few more days. He felt like he could not be moved. After the story had sunk in, he asked, "Where is all going?"

Botan's face had changed, growing even darker with fear. She was not sure of all the facts she was given by koenma. She had to ask many more questions as she went back to sprit world. She said, "if you have any sort of questions for now…"

Yusuke cut her to the quick, "No…"

There was a fake smile with a quick wave of the hands. He was trying to fool Botan with his silliness.

"What are you thinking?" she asked.

He did not speak for just a minute. Yusuke had to get ready for school. He was going to be late. He told Botan that he would see her again after classes. He knew it was to be a strange case indeed,

Botan turned to leave by the window. As she summited her oar, she gave Yusuke a quick look. She said, "Just be careful. Remember, they might be looking for you!"

Kamara looked at his nearly slight reflection in a shop window. He noticed it was a little dirty when he looked at himself. He wondered if he should go in and asked the shop owner about cleaning the window. He glanced down at his watch. He gasped a little at the time. He was going to be really late after checking his watch. He brushed his bangs from his forehead with a quick hand. He felt like he could stop the world and go to another world. It was that simple. He was a full demon in the guise of a human. Yet, he has to stop himself from thinking of himself. He had to think of his family, especially his mum. He was happy with the normal life had finally picked after all the long years with being a thief. He was tired the chase.

He watched as the people who were going about their daily lives. He felt like he was going to end up not like them, but he was going run a shop or go to an office. He really did not mind as long as his mum and step father were happy. He wanted to be sure to have his step brother in mind too... he was going to be a great infliction if he while he was in high school. He heard a noise coming from the corner. He was about to round it when he heard Yusuke and Kubara talking rather loud. It was about football and how some people should be following the game. It seemed like two good friends should be yelling on top of their lungs as they did.

Kamara stopped when he said, "Hello…Yusuke! Hello Kubara!"

There was an amazed smirk on Yusuke is as he, "Hey!"

Oblivious to Kamara's presence Kuwabara prattled on, "and another thing…. Urameshi, you watch the defense!" He stopped in both mid-word and step as he stared at Kamara straight in the face. He gasped with a goofy look.

"Greetings?" Kamara said with a smile. He wanted to laugh.

"What are you doing here...?" Kuwamara gasped, his eyes being to bug out.

"I'm on my way to school!" he said.

Yusuke felt like he was being ranked on if he did go to classes. It was not cool in his book. Yet, he knew Keiko was hoping to be a mad girlfriend if he did not show up. He did want to disappoint her in any way.

"What are you thinking?" Karama asked smiling a little.

"Nothing…" Yusuke uttered a little grumpily.

"He has a thing for Keiko…" Kuwamara grinned thickly.

He felt the ranking had just begun. On turning, Yusuke said, "Shut your trap!" his hands were stating to roll up into fists.

"Oh…I hit a nerve!" The tall loud mouth grinned even more.

"You goof!" Yusuke said leaning forward. He wanted give his friend a punch.

Kuwamara had to be picking on Yusuke once a day or did not feel right. He knew he was truing into a brother instead of a best friend with Yusuke. He was now prancing around Yusuke with a large sloppy grin on his face.

Yusuke felt cold all of a sudden. He caught his breath without making a noise. He looked around for any odd sign. His own feeling had grown so sharp it hurt him to keep them under control at times. He thanked Genkai for all the training he had to put up with while getting ready for the black tournament. He said, changing his mood, "Let's get going…."

Kuwamara felt like the rug was being pull from under him, He stopped in misstep, "What?"

"I feel cold!" he said with an uneasy look on his face.

"Why?" Kuwamara asked, disappointed. He could feel the same thing as Yusuke. He knew the day was going to turn out strange for them. He glanced around with a sour look on his face. He had changed very quickly. He as well as the other two had a very sour feeling in the pit of the stomachs. He said, "You want to go to class. We don't want to be late!"

Yusuke had to agree with Kuwamara, 'Yea…let's get to class before the teacher finds out we are late…" then he turned to face Karama, "We'll see you later!"

Without even a backwards glance, Karama said gentry, "you too." Then, he turned to walk towards his own school. He breathed a prayer of hope.

"And just way do we have to read little women?" Yusuke groaned. He was sitting at his desk before the study hall bell had gone off. He had been sitting at the back of the room. He wanted to prop up his feet against the desk edge. He felt worn pout from being in school. There was no gym that day for him; instead it was the daily drudge of book work was getting at him.

"It's part of our English lite class!" a female voice said.

Yusuke turned to see his girlfriend, Keiko walking up towards his desk. He noticed a rather sour look on her face was not what he was expecting from her. "Keiko…why did you have to be a know-it-all, most of the time?" he said. He sat up on his chair for a second before leaning forward to get a better look at her.

"Yusuke?" she groaned. She knew if Yusuke could put more of himself in class then, he could be always in trouble with his teachers.

"What?" Yusuke asked. His sour expression could be felt by his girlfriend. He needed to be just a bit more positive.

"We have to read…it's a great story!" she said with a skeptical look. She had to firm with him or he was going to be a slacker all of his life in her option.

"So," was Yusuke's answer? He loathed to be pushed onto boring edge of life. He loved it when he was out on his cases. He did not know when he was going to come back or even if he was going to come back.

"You are such a slacker…." Keiko said with a sour look. She was going to jerk his chain if he even wanted to take off.

He knew she was getting on his late nerve. He glared at the chalkboard after turning his attention to it. He lower his feet from the back of the chair which another student was possibly sitting on during class. The student never showed up for the first time. It bothered yusuke at first. He knew other kids were cutting classes and not showing up for one thing or another. It was life. He was no exertion. He was just leaving the building during the next class exchange. He wanted to head out to the Pachinko slots near the train station. He felt a little bored with video games. On hoping to spend a few hours of just sitting there as the little silver balls run down the machine board, Yusuke's day was going to change quickly.

The bell had rung and Yusuke was placing the copy of little women into his backpack. He knew he was going to leave the building without Keiko founding out. No such luck for him. He slowly got up from his seat