About this story: The setting and overall basis for this story stems from claims of supernatural events that occurred around the Montauk Project/Philadelphia project. Placing either into a search engine will most likely bring up a bunch of conspiracy theory websites, but you might be able to find just as much information on Wikipedia.

The gist of the supernatural claims is this: the U.S. Military was supposedly delving into the idea of time travel and invisibility. They were also supposedly using psychics for another project, and one of these projects went wrong. The psychic was said to have manifested a demon using whatever technology it was that they were using. This demon is said to have been spotted around Montauk, New York. There is apparently a picture out there somewhere (I have never been able to find it).

It is up to you to decide whether or not these claims are true or not. I simply find the idea fitting for the YYH universe.

As far as the boys go, I will explain their various relationships within the story. There will be shounen-ai, but between which characters will remain a mystery to you all. Also, do not be scared by the setting. There are no magical highschools with special superhuman girls. The setting is what it is due to the nature of the case, not because I want to put the boys into a world that I feel more comfortable with. To be honest, leaving them in Japan is ten times easier for me to write than to throw him into the depths of an abandoned military base.

About the title: Seibu is a Japanese term meaning "Western Military" (Literally, sei- west, Spain; bu- warrior, military, chivalry, arms). I only use Japanese in my titles, not in my stories.

Warnings: Violence, blood, gore, scary things.

This story was updated 10/4/2008

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho © Yoshihiro Togashi.

The Seibu Project

By Zelia Theb; © Zelia Theb.

It started off with the simple ringing of my communicator. My boss, the Prince of the Spirit World Koenma, told me to round up the other members of what had become the "Spirit Detective Team." Kazuma Kuwabara, the tall orange-haired guy I go to school with; Kurama, the redhead whiz-kid that was actually a conglomerate of a demon and teenaged boy; and Hiei, the shortest of us. He was actually the hardest to find, mostly because he's got a whole city to roam around in, and doesn't like to be bothered.

Eventually we had gathered in Kuwabara's bedroom, mostly because his sister didn't really care and wouldn't ask any questions as to why we were there. It was then that Botan showed up, dressed as a human, and carrying her detective-assisting silver briefcase. I remember it clearly; the case opened up into some sort of portable computer with a direct link to Koenma's office. Hiei was pretty miffed because he had to move from his window seat to the bed like the rest of us to see.

Koenma's little toddler face materialized on the screen, his hands folded and blue pacifier moving slowly in and out from his mouth. The look in his eyes was unmistakable; serious to a point that it actually scared me. I literally thought that maybe Toguro had come back to life or something, because that look was unlike any other I have ever seen from him. I knew before he had even said a word that we were all in for something unique and incredible. And when he finally did speak, it was confirmed.

"There is a disturbance that we need all four of you to investigate," he started. "We've been monitoring the area since the time of first World War. It's actually out of your jurisdiction, Yusuke, but we need you there because your team is unlike any of the others."

At first I was taken aback. Out of my jurisdiction? The others? I came to find out through Botan that although my cases have been serious and world-threatening, that I was not the only Spirit Detective. I just happened to be the top one, which I found kinda weird since I'm just a kid. Apparently due to my special case, what with having died and been brought back to life and all, that I am the only one of the current Detectives to have had experiences with the other two realms. The other detectives believe that they are working for humans, since Koenma's employees go undercover and all that jazz. Sometimes they have psychic abilities, and sometimes they just have some sort of unhealthy addiction to uncover the paranormal.

Koenma continued after Botan's explanation, and said, "The exact location of this disturbance is on a foreign military base. Throughout the years, the other detectives have reported sightings of a demon, supplying with it the rumors that the demon was manifested out of the mind of a powerful psychic using advanced military technology. According to human reports and the accounts of the detectives, the demon wreaked havoc upon the military facility, and was eventually contained and killed before the base activities were shut down." There were already inconsistencies in Koenma's briefing, so I called him on it.

"Didn't you just say that there were sightings?" I asked him. I figured that I might as well prod him on them now, rather than question them while said demon is handing my ass to me.

"That's exactly it, Yusuke," he answered, tones of uncertainty and a general lack of knowledge weaving through his voice. "If the creature no longer exists, how can people still see it? Why have all the detectives disappeared? And why does this military insist on keeping intruders out of the since abandoned base, which is under the guise of a national park? It doesn't make sense, and due to the human nature of it all, picking the demon up on our radar is impossible. We haven't even had reports of death on the base since the birth of the mysterious being. I've sent guides there, but they could not even get a read on wandering spirits. It's mind boggling." Koenma had effectively sent the message that this was some sort of conspiracy.

"But this is all hearsay, isn't it?" Kurama questioned him. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he was trying to sort through instances in his past that could shed some light on the case.

"Yes, on the personal accounts of the humans involved. No, based on the fact that here at Spirit World we can't even detect what's going on, which sends up a red flag saying that something is going on." And here I thought that Spirit World knew everything, and now that whole mind-set had been shattered. My outlook on my role in this detective business changed; I wasn't invincible, and I might not be able to be saved if a mission goes wrong. I felt like I had signed on the dotted line of a blank contract. My life was not the character of a hero in some wacky fairytale.

"Hn," Hiei huffed, something we all expected from him, "so what is it that you'd like us to do? Kill this demon? Rescue the humans that were stupid enough to venture into this facility? Or are you trying to get rid of the four of us in one fell swoop?" The fire-demon was always good for getting straight to the point, and his questions were all things that the rest of us wanted to ask. It displayed the fear that had already settled upon us as a group; the question of whether or not we would return was always there when it came to cases, but this particular one made us feel like we were going to be sucked into a vortex of nothingness.

Koenma spoke up once again to ease our minds, and complete our briefing. He replied, "The first two, Hiei. Dispatch of the creature or creatures, rescue any captured humans, and bring back any evidence you can: documents, photos, anything. Botan will escort the four of you to my office, where I will supply the four of you with the necessary equipment for this case. At this point, I'll introduce you to the guide that has jurisdiction over the locale that the base is located in, and he will escort the four of you to the outskirts of the base. It's far easier and much cheaper than sending you on an airplane overseas. Plus, this way you won't be tempted to sightsee in the case's native country." I'll have to say, I was pretty upset and disappointed at that fact. So far I had only been used to cases within Japan, and the thought of being somewhere that I didn't understand altogether excited and frightened me. I'd rather have gotten accustomed to the culture through normal tourism means, rather than being tossed into the middle of a hostile area and told to fend for myself.

"Is there a sufficient amount of flora in the area?" Kurama asked. See, his powers are pretty awesome, but one that he seems to rely on a lot is his knowledge of biology when it comes to plants and the like. He uses his energy to cause the plants to be not only under his control, but grow unnaturally. If this place was going to be in a desert, the guy was probably going to have to collect his fair share of seeds and roots in Japan while he could.

But Koenma informed us that the area was actually rich in vegetation. Through careful questions about the environment, Kurama came to the conclusion that we were destined for somewhere in North America, whether it be the States or Canada. Kuwabara got real excited, I guess his favorite band is from America, but unfortunately for all of us, this wasn't going to be the vacation of our lifetime. I guess it was better off, though. Kuwabara and I both suck in our English classes, and Kurama really only knows what he's learned from his lessons. I kind of thought that maybe demons would have some infinite knowledge of all languages, and kind of took it for granted that Hiei spoke Japanese. To this day I don't really understand, but I guess that Demon World is just like Earth. and maybe the four of us had only really delved into the demons that came from some sort of parallel Japan.

And like that, the transmission was over. Botan said that she'd take care of our family and school affairs for us, although she made no mention of doing our homework, which kinda sucked. Soon after, we found ourselves in the Spirit World palace, facing the baby himself. He directed our attention to a large monitor in his office, where he displayed the only two existing photographs of the demon, and several others depicting the outer layout of the base. He couldn't confirm whether or not the pictures were clever hoaxes or genuine, but either way, we had some sort of fuzzy idea as to what the thing was gonna look like if it was even alive.

Each of us were equipped with camouflage uniforms, similar to what one'd see in an army movie. Head to toe in heavy olive and black drab; it was one hell of a sight. There were utility pockets everywhere, even the sides of our black boots had tiny compartments on them. Hiei was given the proper belt to holster his katana at his side, and that was quite a luxury, at least for the rest of us who never really knew how the guy carried his sword around with him. Koenma did not stop there, no. We were handed new communicators, ones that Koenma said were specially designed for this mission, and he had hoped would work inside of the facility. They were a bit smaller than our usual one, probably to keep up what was starting to become our stealth aspect of the mission, and doubled as cameras, said to hold an infinite amount of pictures. The technician who designed them kept in mind the fact that we might not return alive, and the toddler mentioned that if the direct link to Spirit World worked in the base, that the pictures would also be sent straight to his office computers. It was a brutal reminder of our mortality.

The topper to this all was the handing out of weapons. We were given six-inch blades. Knives, machetes, whatever they were, it was freaky. I began wondering what kind of combat we were in for, and if we would be up against trained agents of the military. Would my spirit gun and street fighting skills be enough? Sure, Hiei would probably be able to dispatch of them, but who knew what kind of enemies we would be up against? And then, despite all of the thoughts, tension, and trembling of our group, Koenma casually permitted us to do the unspeakable.

"Any hostile living personnel are military personnel. On-duty, they can engage in combat with you. I guess what I'm saying, is that on this mission, you have what is commonly referred to as a license to kill." Kuwabara shook his head immediately, while on the other hand, a smirk crossed Hiei's lips. None of us really fancied the idea of taking human life, and even though it was allowed in this instance, only Hiei really ever considered going through with it. Again, we found ourselves drowning in fear. For the Prince of Spirit World to allow use the luxury of sin-less killing, what did that mean? Was it a personal test to see if those who died in that area really crossed over? Or was it because he believed that our only method of survival would be to toss all doubt about murder out the window? Koenma was certainly a twisted being.

However, the Prince would have none of us thinking about his statement for too long. Immediately after he called in the guide in charge of whatever section of North America we were going to. He didn't even bother formally introducing us, but we caught that the guy's name was Jack. That language barrier thing I mentioned earlier? I guess it didn't apply to guides or Koenma, though we could tell that the guy had a thick American accent on him. Soon after we said our farewells to Botan and the kid, we were whisked away and dropped in the middle of a forest. It was like time had flip-flopped, though that wasn't much of a surprise, because Kurama explained that we were over twelve hours away in terms of time-zones.

Immediately, a dialogue was open. Kurama had already started collecting pieces of the surrounding plant life, and Kuwabara had his camera ready. Hiei was unusually calm and collected, despite the weight of aura which enveloped us. Cautiously, we began moving, taking care not to snap any of the larger twigs and make too much noise. Although the fact that we were whispering to each other didn't help much.

"License to kill? Doesn't even seem like there's any humans around to kill," Kuwabara noted.

"But there are humans around," Hiei immediately stated, making sure that we all knew not to go by just what we immediately saw. Kurama agreed with him, I figured that it was a combination of his fox nose mixed with the power of Hiei's Jagan Eye.

My own awareness was at its peak; I'll admit, I was more paranoid than I ever remember being. I guess we hadn't been dropped far from the south gate, because immediately the four of us had our gazes on a rusted entrance that we recognized from Koenma's photographs.

"Let's just hop over and get this over with." Anxiety crept over my skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake. We stood at the foot of the gate, vulnerable and in plain sight, inspecting the thick metal bars, and noting the way that the barbed wire crawled along the top of the fencing. It was high, though we could easily jump over it.

Kurama read a sign posted across the bars, characters which were familiar to me, but I'll have to say that putting them together was a task in itself. He warned, "The sign simply says not to trespass under penalty of law. It's written in English."

"Hn, what do I care?" Hiei remarked, quickly leaping up and over the fence like it was but a pebble. Kurama followed, as did I, leaving Kuwabara on the other side.

"Urameshi, I'd do a pole vaulty thing but I don't want my Spirit Sword to light up where we are!" The raven-haired demon at my side frowned momentarily before drawing his sword and cutting the rusted lock on the gates. He even went to the length of kicking the squeaky thing open for the guy, even though normally he would have scoffed at how pathetic he was. Minor pieces of metal flaked off of the swinging bar door as he walked through.

"Well," I joked, "either there aren't any humans inside this joint, or they don't go through this gate, so I think we're pretty safe for now."

"A logical deduction on your part, Detective," Hiei said, unwrapping the ward on his Jagan, "and so far it seems that you're right."

We walked on in silence, mostly because the trees began thinning out like balding hair. We could see buildings in the distance, and one of them supported a worn out satellite dish. The region was not level; there were hills and odd mounds of just plain dirt here and there. At one vantage point we could see just about the whole damn place, even though behemoth pines hid the road occasionally. What was important was that we were able to associate where we were with what we've seen from the pictures. And from that, we found the entrance that Koenma had instructed us to investigate first, one single set of brown doors set into the side of a hill.

And suddenly, that knife at my side made me feel that much more secure.

To Be Continued…

Inspiration for the improvement to my writing style goes to Prosopopeia (as her work Intangible is a beautiful display of character narration in the past-tense), and more recently Fuzzy Eared, whose incredible talent for description I could never hold a candle to, but I would love to use this fic as a way to try! Thank you !!

-Zelia