It's a nice day in Japan, and as people go about their business, a soccer ball suddenly bounces across the road.

One boy pushes another kid out of the way, only to then be struck by a car himself! As a crowd gathers, someone goes to call for an ambulance.

The driver of the car tries to claim it wasn't his fault. But the boy he hit wakes up... upside down?!

Yusuke Urameshi, age 14. He was supposed to have been the hero of this story, but...

...he seems to have suddenly died!



Surprised to be Dead

Yusuke can't quite believe what's going on, as that's him lying down there. He floats down and reaches out to his own body, just as an ambulance arrives.

Two doctors get out and start examining Yusuke and the little kid. The kid is ok other than a scratch, but they say Yusuke isn't going to make it. They go to put him on a stretcher.

Yusuke tells them to wait a moment, but they ignore him and say they'll take the kid and Yusuke's body in the ambulance. As they get ready, Yusuke yells that that's not him, and he's right here! They still ignore him, so he decides to punch one of them.

But his fist goes right through the doctor's head, quickly followed by the rest of himself, leading to him getting sent up into the air. As Yusuke floats there, he decides to calm down and remember what happened...

For the first time in 10 days, Yusuke goes to school. But he went up to the school roof, where his childhood friend, Keiko, finds him.

Keiko isn't thrilled to see that he was up here though, and tells him to stop skipping his classes up here! He's not wearing the right uniform either, but he tells her to stop giving him these annoying lectures. She tells him he'll never make the next grade if he keeps skipping everything. Principal Takenaka keeps paging him, so he must have done something bad yet again. As she's their class representative, she'll get yelled at too. Does he understand?!

Keiko then realizes she's speaking to nobody -Yusuke has gone. Gone right behind her, getting a quick panty peak -they're white. Keiko responds by slapping him as hard as she can.

She tells the pervert to grow up and die, as he makes a quick exit. She goes back into the school and thinks how Yusuke hasn't changed at all over the years, but then notices two of her friends hiding behind a wall. She asks why they're hiding, and they say it's because they're afraid of Yusuke.

They warn her that if she talks to Yusuke, she's going to get a bad reputation. She thinks Yusuke may act like a barbarian, but he's really no harm. They disagree -they've heard awful stories about him, like how he's sought after by bad guys throughout the city! And that anywhere he sets off to, 2,000 men will move off with him!

Keiko assures them it's nothing like that, as Yusuke couldn't get two people to move, let alone 2,000! He has only a few friends. Meanwhile, outside, Yusuke sulks around, ignoring Principal Takenaka's call outs over the school's P.A. system.

He then hears a couple of boys talking about something. One of them says that someone tried to start a fight with him downtown, so he just said he was Yusuke's cousin. This caused his would-be opponent to drop his wallet and run. The other boy thinks his friend is so bad, as if this gets out, Yusuke will kill him. He says it's no problem, but they then both cower in fear when they realize Yusuke is right behind them.

One of them offers the wallet, but he says he doesn't want that crap. Before he can do anything, another teacher, Iwamoto, appears. He tells the two boys they've got nothing to worry about now, and asks what did Yusuke do to them. They said he did nothing, but he then notices the wallet on the floor.

Iwamoto says now he understands: Yusuke is mugging people in broad daylight! He calls Yusuke scum and tells him there's no need for the likes of him to come to this school, so he should get out now. Yusuke tells him to shut up, as that's for him to decide. He walks off and decides to leave, but as he walks out, someone gently hits him from behind.

It's Takenaka, who asks him if he didn't hear -he's been paging him for a while. Yusuke thinks he should quit bugging him, he's leaving because he was told to leave. Takenaka thinks it's because he's done something wrong again, but Yusuke professes his innocence. Takenaka tells him to come to the guidance office anyway, he'll even offer him some tea. He grabs Yusuke by his ear and starts leading him back towards the school.

Takenaka is then surprised when Yusuke's ear seems to pop off, but Yusuke tells him it's just a toy. But he wants him to stay out of his business, and leaps over a wall. Yusuke heads back home, complaining that when he finally feels like going back to school, everybody gives him some smug lecture -he's sick of it!

He heads inside his apartment, where his mother, Atsuko, is lounging around. He asks her if she's only just gotten up, but she tells him to make her some coffee. She thinks he should be at school, but he tells her that it made him angry, so he left. She tells him if he's not going to school, he should just quit, as school's not free. Yusuke's not happy that even his mom is now giving him a lecture.

Atsuko turns on the TV and tells him if he doesn't like it, he can leave home -not that he has what it takes to make it alone. Yusuke leaves and heads into town, now even more irritated -today's just not his day. But he's soon surrounded by four other boys.

The leader of the group, Kazuma Kuwabara, steps forward. Yusuke thinks Kuwabara is such a pest, this happens every single day! Kuwabara tells him to shut up and fight him -he's number one at Sarayashiki Junior High, and he's going to have him licking the soles of his shoes today for sure! Yusuke smirks and tells him he's in a really bad mood today, so he's going to beat him senseless.

Yusuke goes on the attack and batters Kuwabara, flooring him within seconds. Yusuke thinks that was refreshing, and walks off.

Kuwabara's friends tell him he should stop picking fights with Yusuke, as his record is now 0 wins, 156 losses. Kuwabara manages to get up and tells them to shut up -he'll keep doing this until he's won! Meanwhile, Yusuke walks down a street when a ball rolls up to him. He picks it up as a little kid runs up to him.

Yusuke yells at him and warns it's dangerous here -there's lots of cars going by. But he then starts pulling funny faces, which make the kid laugh.

As he continues acting like a fool, he thinks his performance still has what it takes. He gives the kid his ball back and tells him to not to run out into the road, because it's dangerous -he should go and play somewhere safe. He then leaves the kid and crosses the street.

As he looks back, he sees the kid has started kicking his ball down the street again. He thinks there's no helping a stupid kid like that, but then watches as he kicks the ball right onto the road.

The kid then walks out onto the road from behind a car, just as another car is speeding towards him. Yusuke leaps out, pushing the kid back just in time, but is then hit by the car.

Yusuke then remembers how he was hit by that car, so does that mean he died? It it did, what is he doing here? Don't tell him that he's become a ghost?! Another voice calls out to him, repeatedly stating bingo.

Yusuke turns around and is shocked to see a young girl floating next to him. She wasn't expecting him to be so quick to understand. In a sudden accident like this, there are so many who don't want to believe it!

Yusuke wants to know who the hell she is, she tells him: she's Botan, his guide across the Sanzu River. She guesses that she is what he'd call the grim reaper -but she's pleased to meet him! Yusuke tells her there's no "pleased to meet you" about this, but she tells him he shouldn't give dirty looks to a servant of the spirit world. He says that despite his appearance, he's still quite shocked -where does she get off saying "bingo" -she should act a little more serious! Botan tells him that to think that rather being surprised to see her, he's instead piling on abuse. She pulls out her grade book, and sure enough, he's just like what's written here.

She says he's Yusuke Urameshi, age 14. His personality is crude, violent, short-tempered and reckless. And he's prone to shoplifting and not being too bright. Maybe it's a good thing that he died?! Yusuke yells at her that it's none of her business. He then asks her what happened to that kid he pushed out of the way. Botan asks if he wants to go and check on him, so they head over to the hospital. They find out that the kid's name is Masaru, and other than his forehead and hand getting skinned a little, he's fine.

Yusuke sees that Masaru is ok, and tells Botan that he has no regrets in this world, so she can take him to Hell or wherever she wants. Botan giggles and tells him he's got it wrong -she's not here to take him someplace. She came to ask him if he's willing to undergo a trial, in order for him to return to life. Yusuke wonders what that's all about, so Botan explains. The thing is, his death was unexpected, as far as the Spirit Realm goes. Who could have known that he'd lay down his life to save that child? There's no place for him in Heaven or Hell! Yusuke thinks that's not right, as he got killed instead of that kid.

Botan pulls her book out and says she didn't want to tell him this, but the truth is, that kid was meant to be hit by the car -he would have miraculously survived without a scratch. So, as hard as it is for her to say this -Yusuke's death was in vain! Yusuke can't believe it, but Botan asks him to calm down. She has told him there is another chance, and he could return to life. It seems his case is an unexpected happening, something that only occurs every 100 years.

Yusuke thinks this is ridiculous and floats off, but Botan warns that if he stays like this, he won't rest in peace. She thinks he should undergo the trial, even if he thinks it's no use. But Yusuke says he's fine -he'll stay as a ghost, as nothing good would come from him returning to life anyway. He thinks everyone would be relieved that he's dead, and if he returned to life, they'd just spite him. And his mother would have an easier life without him around. Botan thinks that's a sad thing to say when he's only 14 years old. Yusuke says that's no need to bother with some trial, or to return to life.

Botan tells him there's no need to rush his decision, and he should go watch his wake and think things over carefully. She rises up into the sky and vanishes, leaving Yusuke annoyed -he's told her he's fine! But later on, he heads over to his home.

He sees that lots of people have gathered for his wake, including several guys from his school. But they're laughing -Yusuke is irritated that someone has died, yet they're here with their cheery faces. But then he sees Keiko, who is crying and deeply upset about Yusuke's death. But he thinks there's no reason for her to cry like that for him.

He then hears some noise and sees Kuwabara heading in, although his friends try to stop him. Kuwabara yells that what Yusuke did was a dirty trick -he died undefeated. He tells Yusuke to listen up -he was going to be the one who killed him, and demand he come back to life and fight him.

He yells for him to come back, as who is he going to fight now? His friends manage to pull him back out and apologize for all the fuss. Nearby, two of the other teachers, Akashi and Iwamoto, wonder who those boys were. Akashi thinks they were boys Yusuke hung out with. Iwamoto says Yusuke did something good at the very end -he died, so now their school's reputation has gone up. Akashi thinks Yusuke was probably kicking that kid around when the car came along, to which Iwamoto agrees with him.

Takenaka then grabs them both and says that between those boy's actions and their words just now, which do they think is more indecent? He heads inside to pay his respects, and says he was so surprised when he heard Yusuke had saved a little boy. But he can't bring himself to praise him at all for some reason. Now that he's died, he'll never amount to anything.

Yusuke hears everything he says, then also sees his Mom whisper his name, before she starts crying. Masaru, and his mom then walk in and pay their respects. Masaru thanks Yusuke.

Yusuke floats outside his home and watches as Masaru and his mom leave. Masaru asks what Yusuke was doing in that box, was he sleeping? His mother tries to explain that that's right, so Masaru asks if they can come back here when Yusuke wakes up, so he can thank him when he's awake. Yusuke hears all of this, and thinks about how Keiko, Kuwabara, Takenaka and his mom has acted at his wake.

Masaru's mom hugs her son and tells him sure. Yusuke continues to think things over, as Botan appears. She asks him if he's made up his mind. He asks her about the trial -what is it, exactly? But she doesn't actually know. She asks him if he's going to do it, and he says yes.

She tells him to follow her, as she heads up into the sky. Yusuke grabs onto her oar and asks where they are going, and she tells him to the Other World. They're going to a place where someone can explain all about the trial that will return him to life! Now he needs to be quiet and come along.

No sooner had Yusuke taken the stage than he died! However, it has come about that he will undertake a trial in order to return to life. What sort of trial could it possibly be?

NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

(Yusuke is speaking)

I don't know what this trial to return to life is all about, but if I can overcome it, I can come back to life! Hold on, if my body gets burned up at the funeral, nothing can come of it, can it?! Mom can't be relied on... the only thing I can do is ask Keiko to look after it! But how am I supposed to tell her? Next time: "Koenma of the Spirit World! A Trial Toward Resurrection". The Other World's not watching for nothing!