Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Inuyasha.

IMPORTANT NOTE:

Contrary to what the summary might imply, this story does not focus primarily on Kuwabara. He just sets up the story. If you've read any of my previous stories, you'll probably notice that I spread the attention out to many of the characters, though mostly to the main love interest, (so usually Kagome and whoever she's paired with and Sango and her partner). This story will do the same, following different party members.

Redirection

Chapter One:

Deception

"Holy sh—What the hell did you do?!" —Yusuke Urameshi

A grunt left him as the demon forced him backward with a solid punch to his chest. Kuwabara caught his balance and threw a punch of his own, which was easily dodged. He didn't mind though, since it was his intent to distract as his other hand summoned his spirit sword. He swung his incorporeal blade, taking the offensive as the demon started his retreat as he eluded the attacks.

The demon called to his friend for help, only allowing himself a moment to take his attention off Kuwabara and glance at his comrade. From the corner of his eye, all Kuwabara could see of the demon's friend was a blurred body clashing with another. He couldn't even tell which of the swift youkai was Hiei until said fire demon paused as he sent his opponent flying backward.

"Busy right now," was the response that came as the fallen demon rushed to stand and engage Hiei again.

Kuwabara's foe hardly heard the reply. His attention was taken away by Kuwabara once more. It took only a few more swipes before the demon managed to switch places with one of the youkai fighting Yusuke.

"I'll defeat you just as easily," Kuwabara informed the new demon.

He lunged with his sword and managed to hit the demon's arm—but it did not slice or cut through the skin. He was allowed a brief moment of surprise as he realized both his new opponent's arms were encased in metal, or possibly made out of it or something equally unnatural if he couldn't slice through. Then the moment was over and he snapped back to attention as two metal spikes emerged from both of the demon's wrists.

He lifted a spike and swung it at Kuwabara who tried to counter it, but could not keep it from slicing his arm. He attacked in retaliation, but the assault was prevented once more. Then, using the same trick he had pulled before, the demon struck with one spike that was deflected… while the other plunged itself into Kuwabara.

Kuwabara registered the devilish smirk that appeared on the demon's face as he felt an invasive pain sweep over him. He looked down numbly at the foreign object sticking out of his stomach, his mouth sputtering, searching for lost words. Dragging his sword-holding arm up, it was knocked away and the second spike sliced open his chest. He slumped forward with a gasp, but then the weapon was torn from him and the demon kicked him away.

The cry of his name was nearly deafened as a new wave of pain washed over him. His hands clutched his wounded stomach as though trying to hold the hole in him closed. All it served in doing was to coat his hands in the warm, thick liquid leaking from him.

His body shook involuntarily and he closed his eyes as his back arched. But then his body stopped its spasms and the pain subsided. A different warm, comforting feeling spread throughout him. He blinked his eyes open to see a young beauty kneeling at his side with her hands covering his abdomen, a blue light being emitted from them.

"It's alright, Kazuma," the koorime told him in her soft, sweet voice. A genuine, but weak smile found its way onto Kuwabara's lips.

Yeah, everything would be…

Yukina's body jolted forward with a gasp and Kuwabara didn't understand why. Then she shuttered a second and a third time and Kuwabara noticed the throwing stars imbedded in her back.

…alright…

Kuwabara reached a hand out to her, but it met only air as Yukina was abruptly flung away from him by the demon. Moments later, a sickening crack met his ears.

With dread filling his heart and terror building in his mind, he rolled over on his side to face her. A tremble developed within him, spilling out into his body as he saw Yukina, hanging there, motionless… a tree limb jutting out of her torso…

A shocked, horrified word began on his lips, but it was not him who yelled it.

"Yukina!"

Some months later…

Come to me.

The voice whispered in his mind, not for the first time that night. Normally something of the kind would spook him, at least enough to have him inform someone else about it. This time was different, however. Everything was different.

Kuwabara walked through the dank cave, doing his best to navigate through it. There was darkness everywhere and he could barely manage walking without crashing into a wall. He was not sure how to get where he wanted to go, yet at the same time he knew. When he didn't think about it, his feet just brought him along, as though somehow they knew the way.

He was not sure how much he could trust this feeling, but he had put his faith in stranger spirit powers before. All the same, his feet really must have known the way, for he had not been walking ten minutes before he was brought to a large open area of the cave.

Light seeped down from holes in the ceiling above him, giving him some illumination to view his surroundings. Nevertheless, there was only one thing he was interested in seeing.

What would have looked like a normal cave wall to any mundane human was a shimmering, transparent barrier to him, covered in dark, demonic power. Encased deep within the wall was a figure that even he, with his powers, had trouble seeing. Even to him it seemed like an illusion, best seen when looking from the corner of his eye, for inside the barrier was a demon, frozen in motion.

Moving closer, Kuwabara touched a hand to the wall that looked as fragile as glass. Realistically, it must have been stronger than iron, a thousand times over. How else had it stayed untouched?

Free me.

The two words brushed against his mind, sending a chill through him. He closed his eyes and held his hands together, willing his sword to appear. Usually it took little to no concentration to make the nonphysical blade to materialize, but his powers had been wavering as of late.

It finally did appear and he raised his arms, but hesitated before striking.

Free me and I will do as you wish. You have my promise.

His faltering disappeared and he struck down at the barrier to break it—or at least try to. He stared, stunned, at the tiny crack that appeared on the wall. Never had he ever encountered such a strong barrier. This was the first time he had not been able destroy one in a single blow.

No matter, he would just have to try again.

Kuwabara lifted his arms to strike a second time, intending to put more muscle into it, when one of his arms was forcefully stopped halfway in its descent. Someone had stopped him.

He glanced over to see Yusuke, holding onto his arm in a firm grip. His breathing was heavy, as though he had run there. The delinquent glared at Kuwabara as he caught his breath, then without warning, Yusuke knocked him down with a solid punch to the jaw.

"You crazy idiot! What the hell are trying to prove?"

Kuwabara did not attempt to get back up, though he did bring a hand up to touch his scolded face. "Nothing! I'm not trying to prove anything!"

Although he looked like he might have wanted to hit Kuwabara some more, Yusuke attempted to calm himself down. Surprisingly, it seemed to work. "Yukina's gone," he said coolly. "If Spirit World couldn't do anything—"

Before he could finish, Kuwabara tackled him in a rage and both tumbled to the ground. Not expecting the action, Yusuke got the wind knocked out of him as he was slammed onto his back, but he was quick to recover and tossed Kuwabara off him. Kuwabara managed to kick the other boy in the stomach, causing him to double over before he could stand. He retaliated by grabbing the orange-haired boy's leg and yanking hard, then kneed him in his most vulnerable spot. It gave Yusuke a chance to get to his feet, only to get his feet knocked out from under him.

They continued to brawl on the ground, punching and kicking, using every dirty trick they knew. Nothing they did was in the spirit of fun, as it usually was between them. Kuwabara fought, releasing all his anger and frustration out on Yusuke, while the other boy took what he gave and dished out even more.

Finally Yusuke managed to get to his feet without Kuwabara bringing him down again, winning their quarrels like he normally did. Only this time had taken more effort than ever before. "Yukina's gone," he repeated, firmly. "You can't change that, you dumbass."

If he had been about to say more, he stopped once he heard a strange snapping sound behind him. Kuwabara saw it first and as his eyes widened, it caused Yusuke to spin around.

The barrier behind them was cracking, branching out from the small crack Kuwabara had made in its center. It spread quickly like wildfire along the barrier; there was no stopping it.

"Holy sh—What the hell did you do?!"

Before Kuwabara could even respond, the entire wall exploded, showering both young boys with various fragments. Then a tremendous amount of force washed over them both in a great wave and both fell into unconsciousness.

There was a light pressure on his back, shaking him gently. He rolled over onto it which inflicted a few jolts of pain, but it did give him a view of the person hovering over him.

"Kurama…?"

"Are you alright?" Kurama asked. "You have some cuts, but they do not seem to be that serious."

Kuwabara merely nodded in response as the redhead went to check on Yusuke. He, unlike how Kuwabara had been, was on his back, leaving most of the damage on his chest and torso with a few scraps on the side of his face. The Spirit Detective woke after a few hard shakes and Kurama was wise enough to move away as the younger boy shot up. His brown eyes surveyed the area and he swore.

Kurama stood in a fluid motion, turning his attention back to Kuwabara. "Koenma was worried about you. He was unsure what you might do so he sent us."

Us? A quick glance behind Kurama and Kuwabara saw Hiei, standing some distance away from the rest. He did not acknowledge any of them.

Kuwabara's short-term memory returned to him and he found himself blurting out, "what happened to the demon?"

"Demon?"

Fragments of the barrier crunched under Kuwabara's feet as he stood and moved forward. There was nothing there… except, he took note, for a large lump of clothing. When he bent down and touched the ends of it tentatively, the fabric began to rustle. He stumbled back as the demon rose from the pile.

He saw his friends instinctively move into a defensive stance. The demon had gone unnoticed until then because of its lack of demonic energy. Kuwabara was certain it was a demon, yet its power was entirely hidden.

"Fool, what have you done?" Hiei's voice held a quality that Kuwabara had gotten use to in the past few months. Utter, unadulterated hate.

The demon lifted one frail hand toward Kuwabara, inches away from touching his chest. He made no move against the demon, not sure what to do. Although there was no emotion on the youkai's face, Kuwabara could hear the smile in his words.

Wish granted.

"You—you jerk!"

The surroundings seemed to echo the sound as Kagome laid a hard slap across Inuyasha's cheek. He seemed shocked for a second and she took that time to spin around, to hide the fact that she was holding her stinging hand and muttering "ow" several times.

Ugh, he just made her so… so mad sometimes! Why did he have to be so insensitive?

"What was that for?"

An exasperated noise was his only answer as she marched away. He followed, hot on her heels.

"Don't follow me!" Besides her protest, she heard the stomping of an annoyed hanyou behind her. She fumed and whipped around. "I said stop it!"

…Only, he wasn't there. Feeling even more irritated that he would just leave like that, she turned back around in time to see him drop in front of her. Kagome swallowed her yelp of surprise and brushed past him.

"What does it matter what you want? You're only here to find the jewel that you broke," came the cool response.

It stopped her instantly. A cold chill ran through her and she sputtered, all words leaving her. Except for one. "SIT!"

She felt some satisfaction as she said it, but not enough for it to rid her of his harsh words. She heard him crash to the ground with what sounded like an almost deadly impact—and then a second crash followed by another loud cry of pain. Wait, that didn't seem right…

Kagome turned and became perplexed at what she saw.

"Eh?"