Having died once, Yusuke Urameshi was resurrected as a spirit detective. Furthermore, he has defeated the notorious demons Rando and Suzaku, and has become the successor to the secrets of the spirit wave. Now that Yusuke has grown a great deal, new marching orders have been handed down from Koenma.

A Sorrowful Young Beauty: Yukina

Atsuko yells at Yusuke to wake up, or he'll be late again. He says he knows and heads off to school, but Atsuko tells him to wait up, before throwing his bag at him. She tells him to make sure he actually goes to school. He thinks she has no faith in him at all.

He jumps down and starts to run to school, thinking that if he does this every morning, it makes for good exercise. But as he runs, he can sense that someone is following him. Eventually the someone stops in front of him, but it turns out it's Hiei. Yusuke asks him if he's stalking him or something.

Hiei passes Yusuke a video tape, and says it's from Koenma, which confuses Yusuke as it's usually Botan who deals with this kind of thing. Hiei says he was just told to deliver it, but says nothing more and then vanishes in an instant. In the Spirit Realm, Kurama asks if Hiei went, and Koenma says he did, and he had the tape with him. Koenma hopes that everything turns out according to plan, but now wonders if he should have sent Kurama with Hiei.

Kurama thinks it'll be alright, as Hiei has enough trust in Yusuke now. At the school, Yusuke meets Kuwabara, and asks him if he has a video player in his room. As his is kind of busted, he asks if he can watch this video on Kuwabara's player. Kuwabara is interested in knowing if it's a dirty video, but Yusuke explains that it has orders from the Spirit Realm on it. The moment Kuwabara hears that, he says he's not going to be caught up in that any more! Yusuke tells him he's always sticking his nose in, trying to look cool, but Kuwabara says he's not going to get involved -he's learnt his lesson after what happened last time.

He says he wants to study some science now, and walks off. Keiko then walks in and sees the tape, and tells Yusuke he's not supposed to bring something like that to school. He tells her not to be so strict and hides the tape, but she says he's acting strange and uptight. He then thinks about the promise he made her about telling her when he's got a new case.

He tells her the truth: this video has orders on it from the Spirit Realm. He still hasn't watched it, so he doesn't know what's on it, but he tells her not to worry. Keiko doesn't understand -what's Spirit Realm? Yusuke says he thought Botan had told her about it and the duties he has. She replies with how she thought he's an assistant to a famous detective, and she guesses that "Spirit Realm" must be the name of the detective agency!

...

Later on, at Kuwabara's home, Yusuke asks Botan what the hell kind of explanation did she give to Keiko?! Just about everything Keiko said was wrong! Botan fires back by saying she had to explain things without talking about the Spirit Realm, she couldn't just tell Keiko what was really going on, as Yusuke's duties are meant to be top secret. Kuwabara then tells them to both shut up, as they shouldn't just come into another person's house and start arguing. They came here to watch the video, after all. And he thinks Botan is right, the more Keiko knows about this, the closer she'll get to being in danger.

Botan thanks him for taking her side, and he says he'll always take her side. But he says he'll remind Yusuke again -he is absolutely not going to get involved this time. Yusuke says he knows, and tells him to start the tape. Kuwabara does so, and the tape starts with some over the top production credit sequences.

Kuwabara thinks this is really laying it on, and Yusuke thinks that Koenma doesn't know what to do with his free time. Koenma then appears, and says that he's back on the Spirit Ream investigations bureau, now that his dad has reinstated him. Kuwabara can't believe this puny little kid is meant to be the bigwig guy.

Yusuke says he said the same thing when he first met Koenma, but Botan warns not to say such things in front of Lord Koenma. Koenma then says he'll give them their latest orders, and says that as far as regular people go, they will see ordinary noise on the screen, so they don't need to worry about anyone eavesdropping. Just then, Kuwabara's sister, Shizuru, appears at the door, and can clearly see what's on the screen. Koenma says that their mission this time is to rescue a girl. She's somewhere in a mansion, located deep within the forest at the foot of Mt. Honetadare.

The girl's name is Yukina, and she is from a group of demons known as ice maidens. In the Human Realm, she could also be called a snow woman, a snow princess, or a snow child. Ice maidens are able to produce beautiful gems, such as the one he has here, from their bodies. The reason Yukina is being held at the mansion is for her to make money for a heartless human.

The screen displays an image of Yukina, which shows her being held in a room. Koenma says Yukina is being forced to produce the gems, and the source of the gems are her tears. Botan says she's heard of these hirui gems, and just one gem can be worth several billion yen on the black market. The screen then displays a helicopter landing at the mansion, and a man walking out of it.

Koenma says this is Gonzo Tarukane, a jewel dealer and the man who is holding Yukina. From the start, he's used crooked methods to make his money, but he deals with these gems through back parlor routes. He's a figure who has made his way to the top by leaps and bounds. Kuwabara questions if Tarukane is even human if he has a face like that, whilst Yusuke says the guy is even worse than a demon. Koenma then displays a clearer image of Yukina.

He says there is a perimeter around her that stops her from leaving. Kuwabara suddenly stops the tape, and stands up. Yusuke asks him what's wrong, and he says he's in love! He tells Urameshi they'll go, as he will rescue that girl!

Yusuke reminds him he said he was going to pass this time, but Kuwabara says he can't just leave Yukina to him. Even as they sit here, that girl is... he then notices that his sister is standing there. Botan asks how long she's been standing there for, but she asks what are they talking about? She went to the trouble of bring them tea, and she finds them watching some weird video.

Botan asks if, by any chance, could she see it? Shizuru says of course she could, and clearly that video isn't of this world. Yusuke says this is just what you'd expect from Kuwabara's big sister. Botan realizes both brother and sister possess a strong spiritual sensitivity. Kuwabara says none of that matters -he just wants his sis to lend him some money! A million should be enough.

Shizuru calls him an idiot -these days it only takes fifty or sixty thousand to get to Hawaii. She tosses him his wallet, and he thanks her before running off, claiming to be back in two or three days. Botan wonders if he even knows where he's going. Shizuru tells them that until he comes back, they should make themselves comfortable, as knowing her brother, it'll probably take a couple of hours before he realizes he doesn't know where he's going. She suggests they watch the rest of the video.

At the mansion, Tarukane arrives and steps out of his helicopter. His butler, Sakashita, welcomes him. Tarukane asks if the girl has cried, and Sakashita says she hasn't. And now, she has stopped displaying any kind of emotion. Tarukane thinks she's gradually toughened herself up, but today he brought a pro with him on that subject. Two more people then step out of the helicopter.

TOGURO BROTHERS

Tarukane says the Toguro brothers are the leaders of some demons. Sakashita seems to have heard of them, and says these brothers are dealers who trade in demons. Tarukane says that from display booths to biological weapons, the handling of monsters is their specialty. The younger Toguro brother says it takes one to know one, after all.

In the tower Yukina is being held in, several small birds are with her. She thinks how nice it is that they are able to fly freely, but she can't do the same. She touches one of the talismans on the window, and receives a shock. She says she can't even reach out her hand from here.

She then hears people coming, and tells the birds to go. As they fly out, she then uses her ice powers to freeze up the entire room.

Tarukane, Sakashita and the Toguro brothers enter the room. Tarukane says the miserable monster is trying to intimidate them with her icy energy. Sakashita asks if the brothers are alright in this cold, and the younger brother says he doesn't need to worry about it. They see Yukina sitting there motionless, and Tarukane says that lately, she has even been keeping her face cold, and frozen in place. He asks her if she's going to cooperate with them, but she says nothing. The Toguro brothers step forward.

The younger brother does a quick swipe that cuts her face, but she doesn't react to it. Tarukane says it's useless, he's put her through every kind of physical pain he can over the last five years, and she won't even raise an eyebrow now, much less scream.

However she does react when she hears some birds chirping outside her window. She stands up and screams for them not to come, and they must fly away. But the elder Toguro brother extends his fingers...

...and captures the two birds. Yukina begs them to stop, and runs towards them, but the younger brother slaps her down.

The younger brother tells her these birds are her dear friends, who have taken her mind off her loneliness. The elder brother drags the birds into the room, and then starts to slowly crush them to death. She again begs them to stop, but the elder brother continues to crush them until they are both dead. Yukina screams out, and starts to cry.

In doing so , her tears become gems, which Tarukane is really happy to see -with these, he'll have several billion rolling in! He doesn't understand how monsters like Yukina think though, as is the death of two or three mountain birds really that sorrowful? He decides that from now on, she'll only get to eat mountain birds.

He tells Sakashita to get on the telephone, as he wants to auction off these gems right away. As he walks off, the younger Toguro brother tells Yukina to stop being so stubborn, and start rehearsing so she can cry at any time. The brothers then walk off, leaving Yukina alone.

Meanwhile, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan are dropped off via bus. They look at the place where they've got to go, and Yusuke thinks it's ridiculously deep in the mountains. Botan thinks the worst part is yet to come, as their destination is probably on the other side of the mountain. At the mansion, Tarukane is happy with the gems, and tells the Toguro brothers they were worth the great expense that he paid to hire them. He's going to be counting on them later, as well. He tells Sakashita to check later if any more of the hirui gems have fallen. But Sakashita reports that some intruders have been spotted. Tarukane thinks whoever they are, they must be here in order to search for the secret of the hirui gems. He orders for his men to get rid of them.

But the younger Toguro brother requests that he lets one of their men see to this. In the forest, Yusuke complains about the place, thinking they can't possibly reach the mansion today at this rate. Kuwabara thinks there sure is a lot of land to cover here.

Botan says she can see something that looks like a mountain path over here. Kuwabara starts running, telling Yukina to just wait, as he promises that he will save her. Yusuke tells Botan that it looks like love at first sight can be for real. Kuwabara yells at them to stop dilly-dallying.

Botan tells Yusuke they can't talk to Kuwabara about the rest of the video like this. They decide not to tell him the extra part they saw -where Koenma said that Yukina is Hiei's younger sister. Elsewhere in the forest, Hiei is running, and tells Yukina to hold on.

Kuwabara says he can sense a strange presence, and Botan says her demon compass is giving off a signal. Yusuke says whoever it is is already here, as a man called Hirue appears before them. He tells them that this is private property, so they should get out of here immediately.

Kuwabara asks him not to come down so hard on them, as Yusuke says they've lost their way, and don't know what to do. Botan asks if he could let them stay at Tarukane's home. Hirue says that's something he can't consider, and tells them for being lost kids, they seem to know quite a bit. He tells them that they've left him no choice, and he transforms into a demon. He tells them he must insist that they go back, but they'll be going back as corpses.

Even if they say they'll return, it's too late now. There has been no human who's seen this form of his, that's gone back alive. Kuwabara realizes Hirue must have been hired by Tarukane, and the demon says he was -he was ordered to mercilessly slaughter anyone who seeks Yukina. Yusuke says that Yukina is a demon, which means she's one of his own kind. Kuwabara asks if he doesn't care that she's been made to suffer by a human. Hirue says he doesn't care. And there are humans who sell their souls for their own self-interest, so to him, it's the same as that. He thinks if there was enough money piled up before their eyes, they'd do anything.

Yusuke tells him he must be kidding, and he shouldn't lump them in with scumbags like himself. Kuwabara tells him he makes him puke. Hirue asks what did they just say, and Yusuke wonders if he sold his ears to Tarukane as well. Hirue tells them they're insolent for humans, and leaps up into the air. Kuwabara says he'll go first, and generates his spirit sword.

He jumps up and slices up Hirue, causing him to start to fall apart. But before he can even hit the ground, Yusuke fires off his spirit gun...

...and Hirue is vaporized whilst still in the air. Yusuke says it looks like this place is going to be tough to get into.

Yusuke and Kuwabara have stolen their way onto Gonzo Tarukane's premises in order to rescue Yukina. However, this was nothing more than an entrance to the enormous trap that lies in wait for them.


NEXT EPISODE PREVIEW

(Botan is speaking)

Wooow, Kuwa-chan, you're so eager! Yusuke, that's some incredible power you've got too, isn't it? But still, for some reason, I'm uneasy, you know? The Tarukane side is surrounded by demons. What's more, they're showing us all sorts of demons that we don't know anything about! They must be incredible opponents for sure! Next time: Envoys of Darkness! The Toguro Brothers. I, Botan, am not an assistant detective for nothing, after all!