Chapters
Part 1
By: White Rain
Disclaimer: I do not own Yuu Yuu Hakusho.
Genre: Drama/Alternative Continuity
Character: Yusuke, Genkai, Hiei, Kuwabara; Koenma, Genkai, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei; Yusuke, Shiori; Yusuke, Kurama; Kaitou, Kurama, Genkai; Kurama, Yuusuke
Word Count: 319; 310; 280; 513; 487; 357
Pairings: Squint and you'll see Kayko/Yusuke and Kuwbara/Yukina. Eventually I'll add Hiei/Kurama and Koenma/Botan.
Rating: Nothing higher than a PG rating overall for this part.
Notes: You know that plan his friends had when Yusuke was about to get himself killed in order to power up his friends where they were going to go rescue him and then regroup and deal with the demons as they come? I thought it'd be interesting AU idea.

This is a nonlinear narrative and is full of snapshots over a normal story. I'll label each section by how much time has passed since the demon tunnel opened. I have no idea how much of this I'll end up writing.

I'll be using the dub anime canon. Yusuke doesn't know of his demon heritage. I'll be switching between third-person omniscient and third person limited in different segments, depending on what I'm attempting to get across.

ph33r my original, mind blowing title.
Summary: Sensui's plan succeeds. Yuuske and company cope with the results.

-

Yusuke, Genkai, Hiei, Kuwabara; one week
"Let me get this straight," Yusuke said, "you guys saved me after Sensui knocked me out and brought me to Genkai's temple where the old hag healed me and now the world is invested with demons?"

Kuwabara folded his arms. "Yeah, pretty much."

Yuusuke cracked his knuckles. "So, when can I kill Sensui?"

"He's already dead," Hiei said. Yusuke felt like someone had dropped a brick on the top of his head. "As well as his partner."

"How?" Yusuke asked.

"Demons," Kuwbara said and narrowed his eyes. "Forget it, Urameshi. We've already found the bodies. And we've got bigger fish to fry."

Yusuke scowled and stretched out on his back, moving his arms back so that he could rest his head on his cupped hands. "Like what?" Yusuke felt the familiar feeling of Genkai kicking his head. He jerked around, "What the hell was that for, you old hag?"

"You're being even stupider than usual," Genkai said. Her scorn was actually genuine this time, making Yusuke frown. "Did you miss the part where the earth has been overtaken by hordes of demons? You're going to have your hands filled with fights for awhile."

Yusuke shook his head and moved to sit down, cross legged. He muttered, without any heat, "I didn't forget."

"You've been out for a week," Genkai said. "Hiei, Mitarai, Yanagisawa, Kaitou, and Kido have been able to keep the casualties at a minimum in the city. Kuwabara, Shizuru and I have been working on rebuilding the barrier to at least keep the higher level demons at bay. Botan drops by when she can to offer her healing powers. Kurama said he was going off with Koenma to gather intelligence in the Demon World. You'll be joining Hiei's group in killing off demons tonight."

"That's the plan?"

"So far," she confirmed.

Yusuke found himself smirking. "Kicking as much tail as possible? I like it."

Genkai tilted her head to the left. "Now go talk to Kayko. She's in the kitchen."

Koenma, Genkai, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Hiei; two weeks
"I've mixed news," Koenma said after Yusuke, Genkai and Kuwabara had taken their seats on the ground. "The good news, at least for us, is that Mukuro and Yomi, two of the rulers of the Demon World, are about to engage in a civil war very soon, since Raizen, the other leader is close to death. So it's unlikely that we're going to have to deal with more powerful demons for awhile." He looked directly at Genkai, "but Yomi has some plans for the Human World, so the sooner we can fix the barrier the better."

"It's going to be at least five years," Genkai said.

Koenma sighed. "Let's hope that luck stays with us."

Yusuke poked the toddler on the head. "So what's the bad news?"

"Yukina has gone missing into the Human World," Koenma said. He lifted his head to look at Hiei, whose eyes had widened slightly. "Apparently, she's taken precautions so that she cannot be found by normal means. Normally, this wouldn't be too horrible, but as you're all aware, the Human World is currently investing with demons, and more powerful ones are arriving every day."

While Koenma was talking, Kuwabara had stood up and slammed his fist into the wall hard enough to leave a hole in it.

"Where's Kurama?" Hiei said suddenly. "He's one of the best trackers around."

Koenma looked confused. "I figured he was out patrolling."

"Looks like Fox Boy is up to something," Yusuke said. His voice was tight with anger and worry. "I'm going to go to his house to see if I can find anything there."

"In the meantime, we'll come up with a plan to find Yukina," Genkai said.

Yusuke spared at glance at Kuwabara and Hiei before he began to head of the temple. He certainly didn't envy Koenma and Genkai. Difficult to work with those two right now was bound to be an understatement.

Yusuke, Shiori; two weeks
As soon as she answered the door, Yusuke saw the recognition was over her face, along with faint lines of hope. "Yusuke Urameshi?"

Yusuke nodded and she pulled him into the house. "Do you know where Shuichi is?" Yusuke looked at her, entire body lined with worry and suddenly it felt like someone had punched him in the gut. He couldn't help but remember his mom crying when he'd died and the look on Kurama's face when he's made that wish on the mirror. "He left me a note, but all those creatures..."

Yusuke knew that Kurama would never do anything to worry his mother if he could help it. Something was wrong. He forced himself to smile. "Yeah, he found someplace safe to stay while he helps out with some people who've gotten hurt. I offered to come up here and tell you so that you wouldn't have to worry. He'd call, but it's too dangerous."

She looked relived for a moment, but then she narrowed her eyes. "This can't be safe for you."

Yusuke shrugged. "I've been in more than my share of fights. K - uh Shuichi hasn't." If the situation wasn't so serious, Yusuke would have had trouble not laughing. "But he really wanted you to know he was okay. I convinced him it would be better if I came instead."

Her smile reminded Yusuke of the sun struggling to shine through a cloudy day. "It's getting late. Why don't you stay the night and head back to wherever you're going in the morning?"

"Sure." Yusuke didn't have to force this smile.

He would when Shiori would give him cookies to give to her son just before he left for Genkai's temple.

Kurama, Yusuke; one month
Yusuke waited until everyone but he and Kurama had left the room. Rinku, Chu, Touy, Jin, Shishi Wakamaru, and Suzuka left with Genkai to prepare to train. Kayko went off the make dinner, with Koenma offering to help. Hiei and Kuwabara went off to search for Yukina after Kurama promised to start helping in the morning (Hiei wanted him to start now, but Kayko pointed out Kurama was almost too tired to stand and insisted they let him rest).

He walked over to the door frame and closed the door gently. After that, he walked slowly to where Kurama, who tensed slightly, was standing. Then, he punched Kurama in the jaw as hard as he could.

Kurama had enough grace to fall onto the ground softly enough so that no one would rush in, concerned about the noise. Gently rubbing the quickly bruising skin, he said dryly, "I'm afraid that I'm confused about your motive for that."

"I'm pissed about you thinking it was a good idea to lie during a time like this, but I figure you had your reasons. And the demons you gathered will probably be a big help." Yusuke paused, to see if Kurama would explain why he had been secretive. When he didn't, Yusuke continued. "So that was for worrying your mom."

Kurama, who had been standing up, stopped moving and stared at Yusuke. Even though he was half on his knees with bags under his eyes with his skin decorated with more than one bruise, the look was still nearly made Yusuke shudder. He probably would have, if his anger wasn't clouding his common sense. "Did you involve mother in this?"

"Yeah," Yusuke said and made extra sure not to sound sorry about it at all. "I thought maybe you left some kind of clue to where you were there."

Kurama slid down and closed his eyes. "What did you tell her?"

"That you were safe and helping people," Yusuke said. "And at that point, I thought I was lying."

Kurama had the decency to look a little guilty at that. And Yusuke was sharply reminded of the dread telling him something was wrong with Kurama he'd been feeling since Kurama had been missing. Seeing that he was okay didn't make that feeling go away, it just made it feel worse since he had even less clue what was going on with Kurama.

Kurama's tone changed abruptly. He face softened and when he looked at Yusuke, his gaze was anything but intimidating. "Thank you for doing what you could to ease her worry. I'll take care of her from now on. I should probably get some sleep now. Unless you have anything else to tell me," he smile wryly, "or punch me for?"

"Not right now," Yusuke said lightly before walking out of the room. He had a feeling he was planning on something stupid, but he knew he would get nothing out of Kurama and tipping him off by demanding answers would make it harder to figure out what his plan was and stopping it if he had to.

Kaitou, Kurama, Genkai; four months
Yu was surprised when Genkai was just a step behind Shuichi. Usually, when the two of them practiced word games together, they were alone.

"Sit," Genkai told him.

As Yu did, he glanced at Shuichi, whose face was completely unreadable. Then he looked at his master, and noticed the lines on her face seemed deeper than usual. It took all his willpower not to pull up his territory.

"We're about to ask if you'd like to expand your powers," Genkai said.

Yu pushed up his glasses and looked at Shuichi. "I suppose what you have in mind has drawbacks?"

Shuichi said nothing.

"It will involve the use of the souls you capture," Genkai said.

Yu remembered holding Hiei, Botan and Kuwabara's souls as he taunted Shuichi with the idea of harming them. The power he'd felt had been incredible. Just pretending to threaten to harm the souls had made him feel like darkness was flickering threateningly at the edges of his own.

"What would you want me to do with them?"

"Souls can be a powerful source of power," Genkai said. Something in her voice made Yu's head jerk towards hers, away from Shuichi. "They have countless uses."

"I'll do it," Yu said.

"You should think over this carefully," Shuichi said. "What we're asking you to do would forever change you, and not for the better."

Yu kept his eyes on Genkai. He could feel Shuuchi's gaze and if he hadn't spent so much time with him in the past several months and gotten more familiar with the demon aspect of his personality, Yu knew he'd be squirming. "The only reason you'd even ask me is if you really needed me to do this."

"You're not wrong," Genkai admitted, "but Kurama's right. I won't even be able to help you with this."

"I'll do it," Yu repeated and turned to look at Shuichi and continued before he could say another word, "I've already opened this door. I have no doubt you have a good idea how many souls I've already destroyed."

Genkai turned around and left the room without another word.

Shuichi walked over so that he was standing in front of Yu. "Kaitou, I have two rules before we begin." He held up one finger, "I will not allow you to back away once we start."

"It would probably be helpful if I knew why."

"Because what I'm going to do to myself," Shuichi said and Yu knew from the tone of his voice he wasn't going to elaborate. He held up another finger, "You will tell no one else about this."

Yu didn't need an explaination for that.

Yusuke, Kurama; six months
"What'd you find?" Yusuke asked after Kurama had locked the door from behind him. Not because either one of them thought it would bring any sort of safety, but to let the others know they needed to talk alone.

If Yusuke had to pick one part of this he hated the most, it would have to be these stupid meetings. It was like everything that went wrong six months ago rolled into one stupid package. A package where he had to talk to Kurama about what they'd do next. They had to plan, plan carefully. Demons roamed the human world, and unless they were very lucky and their plan succeeded, they always would. And more powerful demons would join them.

Yusuke didn't know why the hell Kurama didn't do all the planning himself. Yusuke never was much for thinking ahead and he was secure in the fact his strengths lie in his fists and not in his brain. But, Kurama insisted they go over all his plans together and wanted Yusuke's input. And Kurama always had a reason for everything, so Yusuke went along with it.

"For once," Kurama said and he was smiling in a way Yusuke hadn't seen him do since Sensui had opened the tunnel, "good news."

Yusuke, suddenly tired, slipped down onto the couch. "Yeah?"

"Kuwabara and Hiei have found Yukina."

Circumstances in the world wasn't the only things that had changed. The first thought Yusuke had to that was that that meant he had a second full-time healer on his hands instead of being relieved for Hiei and Kuwabara, who had both been worried as hell for the past five months and a half months since Koenma had informed them that she'd gone missing.

"It's hardly unwise nor shameful to be mindful of resources at a time like this," Kurama said. Yusuke wasn't sure if Kurama was always this good at reading Yusuke, or if he'd gotten better at it in the past few months they'd been working together so closely.

"It still makes me feel like an asshole," Yusuke said.

"I know how that feels," Kurama said. His smile was gone. Yusuke knew he was thinking about his mom.