Resonate

Chapter One: Nah, Honey, I'm Good

It was so cold it was ridiculous. Even the streetlamps scattered across campus looked dim in comparison with the snow that has been falling steadily more and more throughout the day.

"Should have called off the freakin' class," grumbled the student, breath coming out in frosted clouds. "Freakin' freezing!"

Then again, her morning classes hadn't cancelled either, but the weather wasn't so bad at the time. Sleet started to come down unreasonably hard halfway through her ten o'clock class. It wasn't too much trouble then as, fortunately, her classes were all in the same building. Her night class, however, had the chance to call it off and chose not to, much to her obvious chagrin. It wasn't one she was fond of anyway, some type of random course she had to take to fill some bogus college requirement. She did her time at community college to get all of the basics out of the way, trying to be a frugal and motivated adult, only to put up with a few more courses anyway. How was it even possible to make an entire semester course of the film work of Samuel Fuller? At least she was able to understand the military references in the movies, courtesy of her military centric father. She had to make a mental note to let him know. That ought to give him a good laugh. As productive as she appeared to be in class, she was mostly reading fanfiction on her phone or writing notes for her own story. One of her favorite authors had started to update regularly again an she could barely tear her eyes away from the screen as she reread the story from the beginning again. Thankfully, her hobby could pass for note taking and diligent work, until someone actually called on her.

Adjusting her light bag over her shoulder, she was very careful with where she placed her feet. With it being well into the evening, her night class time going from eight o'clock to ten o'clock since they only met once a week, it was beyond difficult to see the ice that coated the sidewalk. The groundskeepers were working hard to keep the walkways plowed, but ice was a fickle bitch, black ice especially, and she had already wiped out more times this semester then she could ever remember. Usually her bag would be weighed down with textbooks and would hit the ground first, acting as some cushion as the rest of her followed. Winter was being particularly grueling this year and she desperately wished for some sign of spring, at the very least for the snow and ice to be gone. She could handle cold without the dangers winter brought. Her poor car would appreciate it as well, having to heat up every morning before she drove to campus.

Her foot dared to slip slightly and her back twinged as she went instantly rigid, forcing her body to keep completely still, not following through with the potential fall. When she was still standing she released a slow breath. Whew. She's had enough falling on her ass, thank you very much. Finally, she made it to the crosswalk and pressed the button, waiting for the 'Walk Now' sign. It was annoying the parking lots weren't conveniently located in respect the buildings, at least the one she needed. Her lot was across the main street and on the other side of the train tracks. It honestly wasn't bad, but with the less favorable weather it seemed like miles away.

Giving another sigh, the frozen breath escaping her lips, she tugged out her iPod to change the song that was playing. At least her headphones sort of kept her ears warm. She left in a rush, having lost track of the time as she worked on her homework, and she had grabbed the wrong coat. It looked like a type of letterman jacket but it was more like a sweatshirt, not nearly thick enough. With her head kept down and hands firmly stuffed in her pockets, she was hoping she wouldn't get frostbite for her lapse in common sense. Glancing up from the glowing screen, the signal had yet to change. She could honestly risk just walking anyway, the traffic wasn't really heavy. On the other hand, it was a Friday in a college town and she knew exactly how college drivers were on a good day. No, she would wait her turn.

As if reading her thoughts, the orange signal turned white and her shoulders sagged in relief.

"Finally!"

Just as she picked a song and shut off the screen, her next step hit the ice and there was the familiar lurching sensation. With her bag light due to her one small book for her night class, there was no counterweight. It was fast and slow all at once. Her breath caught in her throat as both of her feet were out from under her, the rest of her body falling backwards. The headphones slipped off, the music player clattering against the road.

Unable to even formulate a thought in the split second, Nora Haun's head hit the frozen ground with a resounding crack. Faint music could be heard playing from the headphones as blood appeared on the ice, steadily flowing away from the still girl.

Jorge Saotome considered himself to be an excellent ogre in the working field. He was timely and he tried his best at every assignment he was given, and he more than dealt with his fair share of workplace drama and ranting from his boss, Koenma Jr. That alone had to be a tribute to his strength of character, at the very least. Although, work had been relatively quiet lately with nothing too demanding or world threatening. He was thankful for the relief and he was certain that the Spirit Team appreciated the break as well, especially as they were a little older now and dealing fully with their own lives. It also meant that there was less reason for his pint sized boss to yell at him (sometimes to the point of tears).

It was just as he started to hum good naturedly, minutely straightening out his piles of paperwork, when the small work screen on his desk started to fall out of focus.

"Huh?"

Giving the screen a gentle tap, the focus returned. Sighing with relief, he didn't even get to touch the paper on his desk when it happened again, this time switching in and out of focus. His blue skin started to lose a bit of color as the piece of work technology started to short circuit. Next, the printer made a beeping sound as random pages began to print without any command from him. His blood pressure started to rise due to his nervousness escalating.

"Oh no, oh no…!" he couldn't help but groan. The printer sent more pages flying, quickly covering the floor and his screen started to jump from different pages at a rapid pace. What was going on? Their work systems didn't just have a bad day like in the Human World as they were based in the Spirit World. It had to be spirit energy related, of some sort or degree. How could something be happening now? Everything was all nice and calm too! Jorge quickly tried to scoop up all the papers the printer was sending out while simultaneously tapping the screen to get it to calm down. He really didn't want Koenma to yell at him today, it was nearly record breaking with how smoothly things were going lately. His screen was still flickering but it became obvious that there was a formidable spike in spirit energy in the Human World. The surge was staggering, from what he could see but from who? Was there a fight? A demon attack? Suddenly, the screen cracked and went dark.

Next, he could hear the other ogres in the next room start to speak up, their systems shortening out as well. As Koenma's assistant, his (very small) office was right next door so to go over everyone's findings and bring the appropriate ones to the Spirit leader's attention. He groaned again, burying his face in his hands. He might as well call his mother to tell her he wouldn't be home in time for dinner.

Then the alarms went off.

Panic was now obvious as the ogres next door started to run about and Jorge hurried inside to see if perhaps one screen was still working to some degree. With the alarms sounded, it meant that security was dispatched. Stealing the first available screen, Jorge was just barely about to switch to the security feed, catching barely a glimpse of a handful of dark figures dashing into the vault before the screen went dark. His chest grew tight with worry as he turned on his heel and bolted for the Spirit Ruler's office. Throwing the door open without any preamble or decorum, he informed their leader of the sudden situation.

"Koenma-sama! Thieves in the vault!"

He would have to explain the spirit energy readings later. The vault was far higher in priority.

REVIEW! Your thoughts would be love as always! I'm trying my hand at Yu Yu Hakusho again, my first love! Swoon! So your thoughts would be so appreciated as always!

Here we go, chapter one of "Resonate"!

Hope you enjoyed!