Surprised to be dead, Fourteen-year-old Yusuke Urameshi is having a typical day. He's cutting class at school, having arguments with his teachers, and getting into fistfights with his rival Kuwabara. When Yusuke is killed saving a little boy from a speeding car, he's given another chance by Koenma, the son of the ruler of the Spirit World. If Yusuke properly nurtures a 'spirit egg', it will hatch into a benevolent beast that will help him return to his body but too much negative energy will produce a monster that will devour him. Botan, the pretty pilot of the River Styx who flies on an oar, and Koenma's agent Sayaka supervise Yusuke's clumsy attempts to communicate with Kuwabara and Kayko, the girl he secretly loved, as he exists stuck between Heaven and Hell as a ghost.