Disclaimer: Rurouni Kenshin characters belong to Nobuhiro Watsuki. Yuu Yuu Hakusho characters belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. This is purely for entertainment purposes, no profit is being made out of it.
 

Twist of Time

By Geraldine Cheong
Part 4
June 1998

"OEI! No 'Bababaasan! Listen! I'm not lying! This house...my friend used to live here. See, this is the address he gave me." Yuusuke held out a scrap of paper to the 'Baasan in question before him.

"Scoot! Go away! You youngsters nowadays, fancy trying to cheat old people of life savings! This is the most ridiculous scam yet! Trying to cheat me of my house! I'll set my dogs on you on the count of 3! 3!"

"ARRGGGHHHH!!!!!!"


"Wow! Urameshi! What happened to you?!" It was Kuwabara. "Been in a fight without me? And you call yourself a friend!"

Yuusuke glared at him. In truth, Yuusuke was in a rather pathetic state. His clothes were torn and scruffy. Mud and blood was caked at the side of his face. Every exposed part of his skin was badly scratched, his jacket appeared to have been thoroughly chewed...

"Hey! Urameshi! You got some ketchup on your face!" Kuwabara blabbered on, he emitted a high-pitched shrill laughter. "What will Keiko say when she sees you...AHAHAHAHA!!!" Yuusuke was just about to make a sacrifice of him to Koenma just so he could silence him when Hiei sauntered over. Yuusuke decided to spare Kuwabara's miserable little life for the time being. However, if he continued his idiocracies, his safety would not be guaranteed, not for long...

Still rather unnerved at the sight of a 'jaganless' Hiei, Yuusuke shifted uncomfortably. Especially since that jaganless used-to-be-surly youkai kept acting friendlier and friendlier by the second... "Hey Yuusuke! Cool fashion statement! Ripped jeans! I like it!" Hiei slapped him on the back. "Gives you a 'I'm A Tough Guy! Don't Mess With Me.' look."

Yuusuke scowled. "Stop that."

Hiei smirked. "So what really happened?"

"I fell into a drain." Yuusuke muttered in a sulky voice. Kuwabara burst into a fit of giggles.

"No kidding?!" Hiei raised an eyebrow.

"Chez! I went to look for Kurama."

"So how much was it? The red one that you seem so fixated on. Is it a Toyota, a Mercedes, a Porsche or a Ferrari? I can't quite remember." Hiei drawled.

"Not kuRUma! Kurama! KuRAma!"

"Oh, so, it's a sentient being?" Hiei continued in that bored voice.

"HE is a person. I went to his house but he no longer lives there. The old lady currently residing there set her dogs on me."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!" Once again, Kuwabara's jarring laughter pierced the quiet.
"So you didn't fall into the drain?"

"I did, but that's not important."

"BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Look if you guys can stop laughing for a moment, there are more important things to do!"

Hiei yawned. "I'm tired, I think I'll go home and have a nap."

"Wait! We have a job to do!"

"See ya!" Hiei called before walking off.

Yuusuke sighed. He had a long day to go.


"Hmm..." Koenma in toddler form paced his office, with his assistant, George following closely behind him. Koenma frowned. "HMMM..." He stopped. George, who failed to stop in time, promptly tripped over him and sent the both of them sprawling on the ground.

"BAKA!!!" Koenma screeched.

"AHH!!! GOMENASAI KOENMA-SAMA!" George squawked.

When they finally managed to distangle themselves from each other, Koenma resumed his 'hmming' and pacing. This time round, George decided to stay put in one position for fear of another uncomely collision with his edgy boss.

"HMMMM!!!!! GEORGE!" Koenma suddenly shrieked. The blue oni almost fell over again in his shock. "Send for Botan!"

"H-Hai, Koenma-sama!"


"Things are not good. Kuwabara and Hiei are being no help at all. Kurama is missing. We're not even sure if he exists at this point in time. Yuusuke hasn't gotten any closer to finding that Himura Kenshin."

Botan smiled encouragingly at Koenma. "Don't worry, Koenma-sama. You gave that device to Yuusuke remember? Why don't you give Kuwabara and Hiei one each? That way, they'll be unaffected by the timeline changes and will be of a greater aid to Yuusuke."

"The device I gave Yuusuke only works for a couple of days. As soon as it stops working...the bearer being previously unaffected by the timeline changes would find himself in a situation where he belongs in no timeline!" Koenma paused for a measure of dramatic effect. "That means, he'll simply cease to exist!"

Botan gasped. "...Yuusuke... I have to warn him. He doesn't have much time left..." With that, Botan flew off on her oar.

"Ermm...Koenma-sama?" George called timidly.

"NANDA?!" Koenma hollered at the poor oni who shrunk back a good ten feet.

"Uhm...I was just wondering, that Himura Kenshin, won't he realise that he's in the wrong timeline... I mean, won't he want to go back to his time? Maybe we could wait for him to come to us..."

"BAKAAA!!!" Koenma shrieked in frustration. "What if he likes it so much here that he doesn't want to leave?! What if he integrates with the timeline changes and become part of the new timeline?"

"Ara?" George looked confused. "Koenma-sama...I'll still be around, right?"

"ARRGGGHHH!!! It would be best if you got caught up in the new timeline and get VAMOOSED but unfortunately for me, that ain't likely to happen."

"Eh?"

End of Part 4