Yu Yu Hawkusho

Chapter One - Here and Now

It's a warm, summer afternoon in Japan. Kurama, a totally rad skateboarding teen, is inside of a skate shop. He massages his chin as he looks at all the decks hanging on the wall behind the counter. The shop owner, who's familiar with his customer, watches with anticipation as Kurama makes his potential selection.
"Hmm..." Kurama ponders. "These decks, they are..." the shop owner, a tall, lanky middle aged man in a beanie, perks up. "These decks are all...totally bogus!"
"Gah!" The shop owner let out, as he drops to the ground in shock.
"Smell you later, old fart." Kurama chuckled, leaving the shop.

Outside, Kurama spots his trusty old skateboard waiting for him on the sidewalk. Dark green on top, with faded, scratched up roses on the bottom and red wheels caked in black dirt. That board got him through some tough times, but he knew it was time for a mondo upgrade. He bends over to pick it up, when suddenly a chill goes down his spine. The familiar feeling causes him to close his eyes and smirk.
"Here to scold me again, Hiei?" Hiei, crouching on the branch of a nearby tree, sword on his hip, glares with disdain. He hops to the ground behind Kurama and crosses his arms impatiently.
"Still wasting time with these human games I see." He scoffs at the redheaded rascal. "You're aware that whatever prize money you wish to gain from this pales in comparison to my proposition."
"Yes, but you forget Hiei, I am human now. While I can access some of my demon abilities, I don't feel it is wise to steal from the richest apparitions in demon world. Plus, I doubt their currency will help in the way of paying my mother's medical bills."
"Ha...mother?" Hiei laughs. "That human isn't your mother. She is a distraction. A chain you need to break from this foolish world." Hiei puts his hand on his sword. "Perhaps I should set you free from her, since you're too weak to do it yourself." Hiei grinned.
"You go near her, and not only will I never help you, but I will hunt you down and ollie off your corpse, right before doing a sick ass kickflip of course." Kurama warned.
"A what!?" Hiei shouted back in confusion.
"Hey guys, it's that Kurama loser!" A boisterous voice hollered from behind them. Kurama and Hiei turn to see Kuwabara and his thugs skating down the street towards them.
"Oh great, this lame-o..." Kurama sighed.
"Oh, dear... he looks tough..." Hiei whimpered, now nervously biting his finger nails. Hiei lifts his cloak and vanishes before Kurama's eyes.
"Coward..." Kurama groaned, as Kuwabara finally makes his way to him.
"Huh?! I could of swore I saw you talking to some little weird goth kid..." Kuwabara looked around, as Kurama puts his hands on his hips.
"Can I help you bozo's, or are you just here to cramp my style?" Kurama questioned.
"Style? You think YOU have style!? Don't make us laugh!" Kuwabara and his two friends, Hatashikikishanari and Bo begin to laugh anyways. "You wouldn't know style if it did a nosegrind up your spine and did a 540 off that stupid red head of yours!"
"Look at his clothes..." Hatashikikishanari remarks. "Torn up blue jeans, a brown flannel and some chucks? How cliché can you get!?"
"Even your skateboard is totally heinous!" Bo added. The three laugh some more as Kurama hangs his head in frustration. Kuwabara notices and begins to reign his friends in.
"Okay okay, that's enough guys. We keep this up and this wuss will probably start pissing his pants!"
"Those are his only pair too!" Bo chimed in, getting his friends to laugh one more time. Kurama looks up with a tear rolling down his cheek, but when his eyes meet Kuwabara's, he smiles.
"I know you are, but what am I?"
Kuwabara, now infuriated, begins screaming as his friends hold him back.
"You went too far this time, Kurama! No one disrespects the mighty Kuwabara like that! No one!" He roars at his rival. Kurama grabs his board and hastily begins skating down the sidewalk. The others, still trying to calm their boss, finally see him escaping and they all head after him on their own boards. "Get back here you dweeb, so we can cream you!"
"Eat my dust, buttwads!" Kurama yelled back, easily speeding away from them. Out of breath, Kuwabara and his friends pant and cease their chase.
"Huh, huh, he's lucky we just got back from the town's halfpipe and wasted all our energy practicing for the big competition or else we would of definitely caught him and taught him a lesson..." Kuwabara snarled.
"There's always next time boss." Bo wheezed, as the three watched Kurama fade away into the distance.

In the local junkyard, a frail woman lies in the back seat of a broken down car with no wheels, covered in a dusty old blanket with stains all over it. Some of the stains were specks of blood due to her coughing fits.
"Where is that son of mine? It's getting pretty dark out..." she muttered to herself, as she nibbled from a can of peaches with a dirty old fork.
"Mother, I'm home!" A voice called to her.
"Kuwabara, you're home!" his mother, Shizuru lightly cheers, placing the can of peaches to her side. "How was practice today?"
"Oh, you know, it was good. I almost landed a 720 AND my manuals are still the best in town!" Kuwabara bragged, as he nervously itched the back of his head.
"Ahh that's good news." She smiles. "Hopefully you'll win one of the three spots in the competition and you can win that prize money for my lung transplant..."
"Don't worry, mom! Bo and uh, Hata-whatever are joining too, and they said if they win, they'll help pay for your lung transplant! I been training both of them to get as good as me so we'll get that money no problem!" He reassured her.
"That's wonderful, dear...though you may want to learn that friend of yours name before you offend them and they change their mind." Shizuru lightly chuckles, but then begins to cough again. Kuwabara rushes to her, but she waves him off to let him know shes fine.
"Goddamn cigarettes! I hate them! I hate what they did to you! They make me angrier than that punk Kurama!" Kuwabara complained.
"Kurama...you haven't said that name in a while." Shizuru notices. "Is he still picking on you at school?"
"Yeah!" Kuwabara belts out. "Just today I was minding my own business and he came over and made fun of my clothes and skateboard in front of my friends! If I wasn't worried about going to jail after kicking his ass, and leaving you alone, I would have!"
"Well, I'm certainly glad you were able to keep your cool." She sighs with relief. "Now come on, help me finish this can of peaches, and let's get some rest. You have a big day tomorrow."
"Ha, sure thing, Mom. I won't let you down!" Kuwabara hugs his mom, Shizuru, and proceeds to help feed her.
"You really are the best son ever..." she smiled at him.
"I know you are, but what am I?" Kuwabara joked.

The two share a laugh, but unbeknown to both of them, a shadowy figure watches their heartwarming exchange from a distance.
"How admirable..." Hiei observes. "Maybe he isn't so scary after all..."

Will Kuwabara's training for the big skateboard competition be enough for him and his friend's to take the top three spots? Or will the dastardly ruffian simply known as Kurama sneak his way in to represent Japan? Also, what does Hiei want with Kurama, and why is he spying on Kuwabara?

"Hey guys, Yusuke Urameshi here. I wasn't in this episode, but I promise I'm coming real soon. Also, you have got to see what happens next week when the first round of the skating competition starts! Maybe I'll teach these clowns a thing or two? Who knows! It's gonna be a wild ride, next week, on Yu Yu Hawkusho!

(All additional eps added to my Deviantart, SirRobertSavage)