As many of you can tell, I'm re-editting some of my older fics because of FF's constant changing of the format.

Seriously, the old format was fine, why change it?

I digress, as stated, I am well aware that I'm behind with my other fics, though as a result of the latest dose of Kishimoto bull-sh-!-t, don't expct any Naruto ones for a while. I may put some of my older ones up for adoption, as was suggested by a few concerned fans, but don't go asking to take them up, I'll let you know if I do in a seperate author's note.

With that said, for those just tuning in, enjoy.

Prologue

Ten years ago, in a bizarre chain of events, a young man was struck by a car, revived by a pacifier suckling deity, and went on an adventure that would span three worlds, battling against monsters and people the likes of which, until then, he'd never dreamed existed.

But this is not that story...

Reikai Sensei Kuwabara

1st period:

An orange haired man sighed as he slumped in a bench outside a coffee shop. He had just gotten off the train to his university and was looking for a quick 'pick me up' before meeting up with his friends to check their University results. The man's name was Kuwabara Kazuma, just plain Kuwabara if you knew him well, as only two people had the right to call him Kazuma outside his parents and one was his elder sister.

He had once been known as the second toughest punk at Sarayashiki jr. High and the only man with the balls, brawn and sheer stupidity to go toe-to-toe with the infamous Urameshi Yusuke. He had always been tall for his age, easily standing above all his peers in the physical departments with the exception of Yusuke, sadly his academics, like most juvenile delinquents, were sorely lacking, a failing that almost cost his friend his job were it not for some last minute studying and a little help from the 'other side'.

However, much had changed in ten years, most notable of all being his hairstyle. Not many universities accepted the pompadour look, and those that did tended to have pretty loose entry standards, so much to the teen's resentment, he'd had to let his sister have her way with it, and now wore his hair pulled back in a ponytail.

He sighed and looked down at his watch, sighing again as he wondered what was going on, as it wasn't like Kurama of all people to be late, only to blink as the man in question turned up at a light jog.

"Sorry for the delay, Kuwabara-kun." The redheaded fox demon called out, smiling apologetically as he walked up to the bench, "Mother needed my help with some new plants and, well…"

Kuwabara waved it off with a smile as he got to his feet, holding out a cup of coffee, which the reincarnated fox took gladly. The two had been study partners ever since the mess with the Makai tournament had rolled over, as a result they had even applied to the same university, the last place anyone had assumed Kuwabara would get into, the infamous Tokyo U.

'I can still remember the look on Akashi and Iwamoto's faces when they found out.' The former delinquent noted, suppressing a snigger as he recalled the two crooked educators being hauled off to hospital as a result of severe, and multiple, heart attacks 'Serves 'em right for looking down on people like that.'

He smiled as he recalled how his former posse had pulled through as well. Okubo was working in a small, popular restaurant, and from the sound of things was well on his way to opening one of his own thanks to his experience. Sawamura was working in an office building, and doing quite well for himself, apparently he was interested in computer security. And as for Kirishima, the shaved teen had taken up working in his old man's motor-shop, tinkering away at engines and the like while studying part-time for an engineer's degree.

All four teens had landed on their feet, and no one more than Kuwabara, who had finished his humanities degree at Todai with an almost exemplary record.

"I still can't believe you decided to take up education as a career choice." Kurama pointed out genially, as they walked along to the main office to collect their scores, "I mean you, of all people!"

"I hear ya." Kuwabara chuckled, scratching his cheekbones in good humor "But I figured one of the reasons Urameshi and I got into so much trouble was 'cause of no-good snakes like Akashi and Iwamoto puttin' us down all th' time." He shrugged and looked towards the main doors "Besides, how hard can this teaching thing be? Takenaka made it seem alright."

'That's because Takenaka-san kept a bottle of whisky in his desk.' Kurama thought with a sweatdrop, recalling catching the good-natured teacher taking a single shot in order to cope with a Yusuke induced headache.

Later...

"I'm home!" Kuwabara called out, the reformed Delinquent and part-time Tantei smiling down as Eikichi, his precious, overstuffed kitten turned cat, curled around his legs in greeting "Hey there little guy! You miss me?"

"Spare me." Shizuru called out, the elder Kywabara sibling walking into the hallway with her ever-present cigarette lit, her usual neutral expression in place "Please don't keep spoiling that thing, he's getting fat."

"He's not fat he's plump!" the younger brother countered, before picking up the eager feline and soothing its head "Don't you pay her any mind Eikichi, she's just jealous 'cause you can eat what you want and-OW!"

Shizuru rubbed her knuckles from where they'd collided with her little brother's skull and exhaled "Watch it bro," she warned "I'll use a weapon next time." Moving over to the sitting room she noted the case under his arm and raised an intrigued eyebrow "Well I'll be, you actually passed?"

"With flying colours!" the younger Kuwabara exclaimed, puffing out his chest and holding up the diploma as proof of his achievement "Now all I gotta do is run it by a few places and see what I can find!"

"You really think any self respecting school will hire YOU?" Shizuru pointed out snidely, "Last I checked all the schools in this area were terrified of you and Urameshi." She chuckled internally as her brother slumped at this, tearstains lining the side of his face, before snapping back to attention.

"Not a problem!" Kuwabara exclaimed, marching for the door "I'll ask Takenaka-sensei to help me out!"

"Good luck with that." Shizuru called out, lighting up a fresh cancer-stick as she sat down next to the phone, dialing in a number with a small smile. "Hey, Keiko? It's me, you'll never guess what happened…"

Sarayashiki jr High...

"This IS a predicament." Takenaka muttered, looking up at his former student "On the one hand, your credentials certainly make you well suited for the task, heck even Iwamoto-sensei didn't score this high on handling problem children."

'I'll bet.' Kuwabara muttered, but kept quiet, as he didn't want to ruin his chances this early in the game.

"However, the current roster for our school is full, even if we did make allowances for sick days, and from what I can gather from the school board the same could be said for the other local schools as well."

Kuwabara sagged, not liking where this was going, before blinking as Iwamoto began shuffling through some papers. "Have you considered Private schools?" the older man asked "They may ask that you move away, but the prestige from working at one could go a long way, and with your credentials I don't see why you couldn't consider it as an option."

Kuwabara blinked, running the thought over in his mind. On the one hand, it would mean he'd have to move and be separated from his friends, on the other, it was a simple matter of hopping on a train to visit them on weekends and holidays, and he wasn't so immature to have to rely on them for everything.

"Give it some thought," Takenaka assured the former delinquent, "I don't see any reason for you to hold yourself back." He smiled and held out his hand, "I guess from this moment on we're equals, right Kuwabara-sensei?"

Kuwabara blinked, before holding out his own hand and accepting the elder man's handshake with a smile.

"Thanks for everything, Takenaka-sensei."

Yukimura Noodle House...

Laughter erupted from the Yukimura restaurant, where a ragtag group of friends were having a get-together. Urameshi Yusuke, the source of the laughter, slapped his knees as he picked himself off the floor. "A TEACHER! YOU!" he cackled, pointing at his rival and best friend with a trembling finger "Did I hit you too hard during that last fight?"

"Up yours Urameshi!" Kuwabara shot back, taking a good-natured swipe at his rival, which the smaller man easily avoided "I just figured it was the least I could do, after all the crap we put Takenaka through."

"I think it's pretty good of you." Keiko opined, smiling up at the larger teen as she sat beside his sister, "You're certainly doing better than a certain baka I know."

Yusuke slumped in mock pain as everyone laughed. The former reikai tantei turned half-demon had returned seven years ago as promised, and had proposed to Keiko after she graduated from high school. Kuwabara had been the best man, the two getting into a good-natured fistfight prior to the ceremony, resulting in both their rented tuxes being ruined, and Keiko shaking her head in exasperation while Yusuke looked up at her unabashed.

Ever since then, Yusuke had been working at the restaurant whilst Keiko went to college, majoring in child welfare and business management, since the former tantei hadn't bothered to keep up his education whilst in Makai.

"So anyways," Yusuke quipped, "Any takers yet? I bet Iwamoto and Akashi'd piss their pants if you wound up as their co-worker."

"That was my first stop," Kuwabara admitted, sharing a snigger with his fellow former delinquent "But Takenaka recommended I go into the whole Private school thing, said all the local schools were full." He took a sip of soda and smirked "I sent off a few applications, but we'll just have ta wait and see."

"Well good luck to ya." Yusuke applauded, the former Tantei slash Mazoku holding up his own drink and clinking it against his rivals, "And don't you go soft on me y'hear? I won't have my rival becoming a poindexter."

"I'll show you who's a poindexter!" Kuwabara yelled, and the customary fistfight picked off, the other guests sighing and getting out of the way as they carried on with the celebrations.

Reikai...

"Koenma-sama?" Botan chirped, entering the office to find the deity hidden behind a mass of paperwork as usual. Ever since Enma's son had overthrown his corrupt sire he'd had to take on even more responsibility. This, of course, meant going through all of Enma's files to track down whatever dark secrets the former king had hidden away.

So far it was slow going, Enma's dealings with the Makai having gone on for centuries before coming to his son's attention, meaning the backtracking had to be expanded to EVERY damnable archive in Reikai.

"What?" Koenma muttered, the toddler diety looking up at his blue haired assistant wearily, "If this is about the wages again I told you, I assigned all of those responsibilities to Ayame until this is cleared up."

"It's not about that." Botan assured him "Kuwabara's going into a teaching career, but it means he may have to leave the group."

"That so?" the toddler god noted, looking interested as he paused in thought "Well, while it would have an effect on the overall strength, I see no reason to disallow it." He nodded toward a chart on the wall "Ever since the Makai tournament, all demon activity in the area has reached an all time low, especially since Yusuke crossed back over to earth."

He shuffled some papers on his desk, before looking up suddenly, "That reminds me! I need you to deliver something to Kuwabara as soon as possible," he began fiddling around with one of the drawers on his desk, "just because things have died down doesn't mean that there aren't any low level grunts running around, demons aren't really known for following the rules after all."

The deity tossed the ferry woman a video and a package, which she almost dropped before nodding in dismissal. As the door shut behind her, he nodded to himself.

"Well I always suspected Kuwabara had it in him." Koenma admitted, "Heck he impressed me a lot over the years, volunteering for missions like that." He nodded again as he resumed his tasks, confident in that he'd made the right choice, as always.

After all, just because the demons were behaving for the moment didn't mean Reikai didn't require a living emissary to ensure the laws were enforced.

Several weeks later….

"Mornin' Eikichi." Kuwabara yawned, scratching his cat's ears tiredly as he got out of bed. Scratching his cheek as he walked, the Todai graduate marched into the hallway and down the steps, blinking as he noticed the mail on the floor. 'Sis didn't pick it up?' he wondered blearily, before shaking himself awake with a grunt as he picked it up, 'Right, weekend, she's sleeping in.'

Rifling through it with a bored expression on his face, tossing aside the junk mail as he went, the former delinquent blinked as he noticed a rather formal one addressed to himself.

'Mahora Gakuen?' he wondered, brining the post into the kitchen, 'Isn't that some up-town Private school?' He slit the letter open and pulled it out, running his eyes over the contents in interest.

Mr. Kuwabara.

I have recently received your resume and application for employment from a mutual associate of your former instructor Mr. Takenaka. After running over the details, I am willing to accept you at our prestigious academy for a trial run, pending full time employment should things work out.

Should, over the course of the trial period, you decide that Mahora isn't to your liking; we will of course endeavor to assist you in locating another facility.

I have heard some interesting things about you Mr. Kuwabara, and hope that you will endeavor to further improve yourself during your time with us.

Yours sincerely:

Konoe Konoemon

Headmaster of Mahora Gakuen.

Kuwabara sat in shock for a moment, the kettle whistling away on the stove as he let the facts set in. Shizuru, awakened from her slumber by the noise, stuck her head in the doorway with a scowl and glared at her younger sibling.

"You go deaf overnight Kazuma?" she growled out, only to blink as her baby brother let out a yell, grabbed her under the arms and began to spin her around like a child, laughing his head off. After applying her elbow to his skull, and catching her breath from the dizziness, she asked him what was going on, blinking as she ran her eyes over the letter.

"Well whadd'ya know." She muttered, cigarette held in one hand as she re-read the letter again "You really do have the devil's own luck." She looked her brother over, a small smile gracing her features as she took in his grin, "So you gonna apply?"

"Why not?" Kuwabara admitted, "I mean, it sounds like a pretty fancy place, and the Dean DID write to me in person."

Shizuru nodded, taking a drag on her cancer-stick as she noticed the map stapled to the back of the letter. "Well that's awfully considerate." She acknowledged, "Guess they really are serious." Sighing, she tossed the contents to her sibling and got to her feet, "I'm taking a shower, you better get dressed."

Later that evening...

"So this is really it." Yusuke noted, the former delinquent turned tantei turned lord of Makai lying alongside his friend and rival as they sat atop the roof of Keiko's restaurant, "You're really going through with this?"

"I have to Urameshi." Kuwabara shot back, the taller ex-delinquent taking a swig of his soda as he watched the sunset with a solemn expression "I ain't a kid anymore, gotta start looking past my next street fight."

"Yeah I hear ya." The former tantei turned demon admitted, a rather somber look in his eyes as he fondly recalled the many times he'd pound his rival's face into the pavement. "I'm takin night classes myself." He admitted "Takenaka near passed out when he saw me, but he's determined to have me graduate and on to college as soon as possible."

Kuwabara snorted, smirking to himself as he shook his head, "Never woulda dreamed we'd end up like this huh?" he asked, earning a grin from Yusuke.

"Wouldn't have it any other way." The former tantei replied, raising his can, the two tapping against each other's before taking a mighty sip. "Just don't go soft alright? Hiei n' Mukuro may be guarding the gateways but a few bastards just think their hot enough to break the rules."

"Don't you worry about me." Kuwabara shot back with a smirk, eyeing the former tantei with a mocking glint in his eyes "You just watch out for Keiko, she's gonna have YOU in the skirt one of these days."

"Ah blow it out yer ear!" the former tantei swore, blushing scarlet at the image his rival had conjured up, as it bore more truth than he'd care to admit.

And so a new story begins.

How will Kuwabara handle his first teaching job?

Will he wash out?

And just what is in that package?

(As if you had to guess!)

See ya next time!