I DO NOT OWN YU YU HAKUSHO OR ITS CHARACTERS… I just follow Kurama around school and think, "I'd tap that."

Special thanks to everyone who gave me the encouragement to write this story.

Off the Wall

Chapter 1: Like a Good Neighbor, Stay Over There

"I believe this is what they call 'divine punishment."

Large fingers shakily wrapped around the sides of the crisp paper that was being crushed in between them. Her cloud grey eyes widened disbelievingly as they glanced upon the large red mark at the top right corner of the page that was smeared by drool from her previous nap. The unfazed, cool composure in which she usually wore had broken ever so slightly at the ominous whispers coming from the seats behind her.

"It's to be expected, isn't it? All she does is sleep," a girl behind her icily quipped, with the faint hums of agreement from her friends shortly following her comment.

"Hey, cut her some slack. She is sick, you know. Besides, it's not like she hasn't been trying to do well in school since she transferred back here," another classmate added defensively, earning looks of disapproval from some and encouragement from others.

The larger, lanky young girl hesitantly ignored the comments coming from her classmates and moved her lower body to once again take a seat. Almost instinctively, her teeth slowly began to grind together in response to the sound of those atrocious scarlet heels, which she had grown to hate since the beginning of the year, slowly moving towards her. The figure had loomed over the younger girl, casting a tall shadow over her stiff form. Black beady eyes glared abhorrently at the untamed mane of chestnut brown hair belonging to the dazed student beside her—evidence of her habitual yet unintentional napping. The wrinkles on the elder woman's face creased as she frowned. Seeing as she had yet to gain the younger woman's attention, she cleared her throat. "Ahem."

Not even a twitch.

"You got to be kidding me," the girl thought incredulously. "A twenty! I might as well drop out and sell sandwiches on the street."

The elder woman snorted indignantly. She watched the young girl eye her paper suspiciously. Her eyes were still slightly glazed over, indicating that she hadn't yet broken out of her state of confusion from her previous nap. The teacher cleared her throat once more. "Ahem!"

The young girl seemed to snap out of her reverie yet refused to acknowledge the teacher. Her long, thin fingers scrunched up the sides of the paper, but after a while, they relaxed. Her body ceased its angry convulsions, returning back to its normally cool demeanor.

"Well, I tried. Sometimes I wonder why school can't be as easy as half the girls in it." She tossed the paper carelessly into her open bag hanging on the side of her desk and laced her fingers together disinterestedly.

The teacher sucked in her breath and crossed her arms over her chest. "Ahem! Etsuko Miharu, look at me when I am speaking to you!"

The said 'Miharu' turned her head slowly, parting her mouth in mock surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry. I was busy ignoring you, Sakata-sensei. I thought if I ignored the problem, it might go away. Funny, it usually works in every other part of my life," she said coolly.

Sakata-sensei seemed taken aback by the young girl's lackadaisical response. After a while, her eyes narrowed into thin slits, and she waved an accusing finger at the student. "Miharu, do not take that attitude with me just because you got twenty points on your science exam. Maybe if you spent more time studying and less time sleeping, your grades might improve!"

Miharu lifted a thin eyebrow. "Yeeeah," she dragged on. "I could study, but I also have a life…and I think we both know with one is more important here. Besides, Sakata-sensei, it is not nice to hold a grudge over an incident—that may or may not have involved me asking to leave class so I could take a nap on a bed—that happened weeks ago."

"Etsuko," the teacher deadpanned. "You went home. You were supposed to nap on the beds within the infirmary."

Miharu lifted up her finger and smirked. "Correction: I never said which bed I was going to sleep on."

Sakata-sensei's jaw dropped, her face taking on a look of defeat. She coughed into her palm and regained her composure. "Where is your book?" she pried, trying to pick another subject to call her out on. She was not about to lose this little exchange again. She didn't take too kindly to students, like Miharu, who were able to enter into the private academy merely because of their parents connections and power rather than the student's academics. However, out of all of those students, Miharu vexed her the most because of her distasteful attitude, like so.

"At home," Miharu replied in a clipped tone, silently accepting the teacher's challenge.

"And what is it doing there? It should be in school with you and opened to the page in which we are covering."

"As you can see, it obviously isn't with me. Since it's roughly around noon, my book should be in my room, throwing a silent party, and having more fun than me," Miharu stated blandly, slouching lazily in her chair and crossing her arms over her chest in a stubborn fashion.

"And where is your pencil?" The teacher pushed further, her cheeks slowly starting to rouge out of anger.

She was beginning to have a feeling that she might not win this again. These little arguments had become routine since the girl transferred back to Meiou High, and Sakata-sensei was determined to at least win one of them.

"Certainly not in my hand," Miharu stated matter-of-factly.

"Etsuko Miharu, how many times must I tell you to come to class prepared?"

"Well, once would suffice, but you don't seem to understand that no matter how many times you do say it, I still won't listen." Miharu stated haughtily.

Miharu clucked her tongue in amusement, watching Sakata-sensei open her mouth to retort but, after a few fleeting moments, close her mouth again in defeat.

Checkmate.

Without another word, Sakata-sensei looked down at the remaining stack of papers in her arms, and her eyes lit up in admiration at the next name in the stack. "Minamino Shuichi," she called out proudly, ignoring the loud squeals emitting from the girls in the classroom and the slight stiffness that now overcame Miharu at the mention of his name. "You, unlike some people, scored 100 points on the science exam. Excellent work!" She turned towards Miharu. "Why don't you make friends with the boy, Etsuko? You might learn a thing or two about responsibility."

"He's so amazing! Minamino-kun is great at everything!"

"He's so cool!"

"We love you, Minamino-kun!"

Miharu cringed at their afflicting shrieks that filled the room. Her cloudy grey eyes glanced back at the void crystal emerald orbs that reluctantly tore themselves from a book they were previously fixated on. They held an empty gaze for a short moment, causing Miharu to shift uncomfortably in her seat. At her movement, his eyes lit up with curiosity and something else Miharu couldn't quite grasp – or perhaps didn't want to. She quickly broke eye contact, tucking her hands in her school blazer and snorted. "Hn, no thanks."Her voice cut down to a mere whisper, "I'm not making that mistake again."

Miharu tried her best to keep her composure but found it difficult, feeling a certain pair of emerald eyes burning into her side, apparently catching on to her last comment. Before she could think of a clever retort to her classmate's prodding eyes, Miharu's legs gave way beneath her, causing her to slide into her seat abruptly. "Not now!" She cursed under her breath as her body unconsciously slumped in her chair once the sudden muscle weakness kicked in. She paled dramatically, hoping he hadn't noticed and would avert his attention elsewhere.

However, he did notice. Shuichi took note of her sudden change in posture, recognizing the sudden cataplexy after her recent sleep attack just a few moments before her heated argument with Sakata-sensei. He closed his book with a gentle thud and cast it towards the corner of his desk. "Should I go to her?" He thought hesitantly. "She is no doubt suffering from one of her attacks." He recognized her pale face and twitching limbs and remembered how, years before, her eyes held an abundance of fear. However, her eyes held no fear now, her face kept its chilly indifference, but he recognized the slight movements of her muscles struggling to work.

Shuichi nodded with a sort of resolve, pushing his chair back slightly. He halted in his actions when he noticed her body stiffen further after she, without a doubt, realized that he was aiming to move toward her. Her eyes cast to the side, struggling to meet his, and she shot him an icy glare. Realizing that his will to help was neither appreciated nor wanted, Shuichi slowly slid back into his seat, shooting her a reprimanding glare. "Stubborn woman," Shuichi mouthed. "It will help you."

Her eyes grew cold, hating the constant reminder of their previous closeness. Shuichi took note of her expression and his own, which contained a certain degree of softness, grew hard as well, becoming void of emotion once again. Without another glance toward her, he grabbed his book and began reading, reminding himself that she was right in her actions to avoid all contact with him – an image of two demons holding certain stolen artifacts flashed in his mind.

He didn't have time to dwell on things of the past – things that were nothing but mere stories now. He had more important things to worry about.

As the class went on, both teenagers went back to ignoring the others existence – as it should be. However, neither of them could ignore the stifling atmosphere as Shuichi felt a pull on his energy, a certain feeling he had forgotten in her absence, coming from a certain brown-haired girl across the room.

"Hey, Haru-chan, wait up!" A voice overpowered the sound of the school bell, signifying the end of the day.

Miharu's eyes rolled to the back of her head as she groaned irritably. She had hoped that just for a few moments, she would be left alone. She had spent every break between classes carefully avoiding a certain red-headed male that she was sure would try to find any opportunity to check on her well-being – not that it was any of his business to begin with. However, as much as Miharu wanted to be alone, once she whipped her head back to catch a glimpse of curious blue eyes, her tense demeanor softened ever so slightly.

Miharu ignored the condemning whispers from the female body as the young strawberry-blonde male ran toward her in order to greet her. His height was significantly shorter than her, standing roughly around her own eye level. His name was Natsume Hikaru, an over enthusiastic yet pleasant young man who had been the first to greet Miharu upon her return to her hometown. After he had discovered that, despite her intimidating aura and height, she was quite approachable, he stuck himself to her and made it his daily routine to chat with her, not that Miharu minded.

Hikaru bent over slightly, attempting to catch his breath. "W-What's up?"

"Teen pregnancy rates," Miharu dully replied, walking ahead.

Hikaru chuckled slightly and jogged to her side. "Geez, who pissed in your cereal bowl this morning?" Hikaru teased, elbowing Miharu's side softly.

Miharu stiffened at the touch, causing Hikaru's smile to drop into a frown. She had done this often. Whenever people would make slight contact, Miharu would shy away – whether it was a simple pat on the shoulder or someone's body accidentally touching hers. Hikaru had pried once before and asked her why she would do so, but she had simply looked at him coldly and told him it was no concern of his. So, as a result, he respected her distance, hoping she would reveal her secrets at her own pace.

Miharu glanced curiously to the side, noticing how Hikaru had gone quiet. She let out a non-committal grunt, inwardly wondering if she should attempt to make conversation. Just as she was about to open her mouth, an image of a certain red-haired boy flashed through her thoughts, and she shut her mouth abruptly. "No," she thought bitterly. "I won't be made out to be a fool. I can't allow myself to get too close to anyone." With the decision made in her head, she said nothing and walked in silence down the hallway, with a dejected Hikaru following shortly behind.

His eyes lit up slightly, as if he just remembered something. "I should be going. I need to pick up my sister." Hikaru waved his hand slightly, about to make his leave in order to escape the awkward atmosphere. However, a thought crossed his mind. "Say, Haru-chan, your little brother goes to the same elementary school as my little sister, right? I know you are in charge of the class journal today, so I'll send him your way for you, if that makes things easier?"

Miharu tilted her head, pondering Hikaru's offer. It would definitely make things easier, seeing as she had to run errands for her father after school. However, accepting the offer meant giving Hikaru a bit of trust…and she wasn't sure if she was ready for that. Miharu looked at Hikaru, noticing the slight plea hidden behind his eyes and wondered what he was trying to gain out of this. Not giving it much more thought, Miharu nodded slightly and Hikaru nearly jumped out of skin from happiness. "Great!" But before Hikaru could take his leave, the hallway grew noisy as the females started to squeal at the male walking down the hall.

"What's all the commotion about?" Miharu finally spoke, turning to look down the hall where the females had crowded.

"Wait! Haru-chan! Don't look!" Hikaru screamed, running forward toward Miharu dramatically. "If you look and make even the smallest eye contact you will be sucked in by his sexually confusing charms and your life will never be the same! It's too dangerous for plain, socially inept girls like you!" Hikaru tripped suddenly, accidentally pushing Miharu forward.

"What the hell are you blabbering about—oof!" Miharu grunted as she collided with something solid, causing her to slide back against the floor. "Sweet son of a motherless goat!" She wailed blatantly, clutching her head in pain. "Watch where you are going next time!"

"Miharu…" Miharu paled at the velvety voice that rang through the air. She slowly looked up and could have sworn she could see sparkles surrounding his entire being. "As I recall, you were the one that ran into me." Shuichi hissed as he rubbed his temple to relieve the impact of the collision.

In reality, Shuichi had been in quite a hurry and was too consumed in his thoughts to notice where he had been going. After meeting the Spirit Detective himself some time before, Shuichi had slowly conducted a plan that could potentially save him from the harsh punishment he would endure for helping Hiei as well as save his mother – who had recently fallen ill. But if he was to catch the young man in time to relay his plan and attempt to earn his trust, he would have to hurry. However, his plans had been disrupted when one of his teachers had informed him that he was on class duty today along with Miharu – which didn't bode to well for either of them. This only made Shuichi more concerned. He had enough on his mind without Miharu being thrown into the mix, he didn't need more to worry about. Nevertheless, he set off to find her, knowing full well she would try to escape once she found out he was her partner.

Shuichi looked down at the girl who was currently sprawled out on the floor, glaring daggers at him. Miharu huffed loudly, blowing her bangs out of her face. "Well I would apologize for crashing into you, but I am afraid I don't nearly like you enough." Miharu's lips curled up into a taunting smirk, causing Shuichi to frown.

Miharu raised her brow quizzically at his reaction. Shuichi had always been well at covering his feelings and upholding a proper smile in school – most likely to keep the persona he had worked so hard to build, not that she knew of that matter of course. No matter how much Miharu teased or insulted him, he would usually keep a chillingly sweet smile despite his displeasure at the comment. However, Miharu concluded that something else must have been on his mind for him to allow his composure to break so easily. Now that Miharu really thought of it, he hadn't bugged her about her slight cataplexy since the incident in the morning, and normally he would try to see if she was alright—not that she would give him the opportunity to approach her—but today he made no such efforts. Instead, he had resigned himself away from most of the student body and seemed particularly concentrated on things other than the events going on in front of him. Miharu was snapped out of her thoughts when Shuichi finally responded.

"Then it appears we have reached a stalemate," he replied calmly, a mocking smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

His eyes lit up in poorly concealed amusement, examining the way her body tensed at his reaction. Her eyes that held a light of amusement darkened slightly at his teasing and there was another emotion slurring inside that he couldn't quite pinpoint.

"Oooh, that really hurt my feelings. Let me go talk to some food about this," Miharu sarcastically retorted, looking down at the contents of her bag that had spilled onto the floor.

Most of the onlookers had scattered when Miharu shot them a heated glare and the others left after sensing the tense atmosphere. Hikaru had been the only courageous soul to stay behind. He looked between the couple in confusion. Never in his entire time in this school had he seen Shuichi make such an expression, and the way they spoke to each other was odd enough. Hikaru shifted uncomfortably and attempted to pick up Miharu's belongings but her cold, disapproving eyes stopped him. He looked pleadingly at Shuichi who nodded to him and bent down to pick up her belongings.

Shuichi knew Miharu would not let anyone except the culprit pick up her things, and since he was behind schedule with his plans, he might as well give into her demands this once to hurry things on. "I don't have the time to have a trivial argument with you at this moment, Miharu." Shuichi let out an exasperated sigh as he stacked up the notebooks and turned his attention back to Miharu.

"What are the chances of you ever apologizing first?" Shuichi froze slightly when he felt his energy shift towards her, signifying that she had moved closer to him. He looked up from his task to see that Miharu had kneeled to his side to assist him, with eyes locked on the ground.

"Cloudy with a chance of never." There was a hidden gentleness in her tone, striking Shuichi like a ton of bricks. He could have sworn he saw a small smile flash on her features but when he had blinked again her face held its usual indifference. She spoke evenly, "Care to explain why you were nearly running through the halls, pretty-boy?" His lips twitched slightly at the nickname.

If she wanted to hide behind a mask, then he would do the same. Shuichi got to his feet gracefully, bending over slightly in order to hold out his hand to her – knowing very well of the consequences. He plastered on a sickeningly sweet smile that didn't quite spread fully across his face. "I was looking for you. I believe we are on class duty today. And since I had a feeling you wouldn't show up if you found out you had been paired with me, I took the liberty of retrieving you myself…so you can't escape…again." He chuckled slightly as she blanched and stared at his extended hand.

She was about to snap at him for his action, however, she just remembered that Hikaru was watching the scene – rather perplexed by her hesitance to accept Shuichi's assistance. Miharu glared daggers at Shuichi, anger boiling within her. She looked at his hand again, slight fear coursing through her being. She reluctantly reached out to grab his own, but pulled back slightly. Her mask of indifference caved slightly, allowing fear to be seen in her eyes. She looked up at Shuichi who had cleared his throat impatiently.

"If it isn't any trouble, Miharu, I would like to get on with today's activities. I have much to attend to." Shuichi responded coolly, wriggling his fingers to show her his offer still stands.

Miharu gulped uneasily, reaching out once again. "He is deliberately trying to make me uncomfortable…trying to make me lose my cool. Why else would he do this, despite knowing the consequences?" The fear drained from Miharu's eyes and they narrowed once more. "Fine. You want to play this game, Minamino? I can play it fairly well." She allowed her hand to descend upon his own, immediately regretting her decision at the events following.

Shuichi's body tensed immediately, but he did not allow his indifferent expression to leave his face despite the pain coursing through his hands. His skin began to feel hot beneath her touch, his body immediately growing weak. He noted the way her back straightened, the fatigue from her narcolepsy fading quickly from the touch. When the pain became slightly more than he could handle, Shuichi pulled his hand away swiftly, closing and opening it at his sides. His breath was shallow, with his eyes still holding their calculating gaze. He looked down at his hand and back to Miharu, his jaw tightening when he saw the emotions swirling behind grey eyes.

Miharu held her hand to her chest and brushed past him hastily, bumping his shoulder as she walked briskly down the hall.

"Mi—"

"Miharu!" Hikaru's voice drowned out Shuichi's soft plea as he ran after her. Hikaru struggled to catch up with Miharu and grabbed her shoulder, immediately regretting the action when she smacked his hand roughly away. Hikaru let his hand fall to his side. "What happened back there?" Hikaru asked softly.

Miharu sighed irately. "It was nothing." She looked down at her feet and shifted. She was not ready to divulge everything to Hikaru and did not want to continue thinking about a certain red-head she had grown to hate. "Let's go pick up our siblings. I think pretty-boy can handle class duty on his own." She suggested, feeling relieved at the way Hikaru instantly brightened and nodded, falling to pointless chatter as Miharu shrunk within herself.

Shuichi looked at their retreating forms and frowned, calculating emerald eyes examining the slightly charred skin of his palm. "It has gotten more out of control…but so has her condition." Shuichi noted but when his line of vision landed on the clock ahead, he shook his head to clear his thoughts. He couldn't afford to think of such a trivial matter. His mother was his utmost priority. He needed to quickly locate Yusuke…before it's too late.

The light sweat of the warm season dripped lazily down his tan skin as his rough pants echoed across the barren back road. He gritted his teeth, increasing his bolting pace. His punk pompadour hair bounced flightily with each heavy foot step he took, and his narrowed caramel eyes darted sprightly across the road until they locked onto his target. "Urameshi!" He bellowed as he lunged forward with renewed vigor, only to be knocked down by a sharp punch to his long slender nose.

"Hey Kuwabara, are you here for your daily beating session or just here to waste the air meant for people worth living?" Yusuke retorted. He cracked that infamous half smirk of his, rubbing his fist to wipe off the idiotic oaf's blood that had shamelessly stained it.

Kuwabara flinched as the air pierced through his nostrils, stinging the tender skin as crimson liquid made its descent. The fierce wind that was present didn't make the situation any better. Instead, it blew the blood that came out of his now broken nose all over his face and uniform. He ignored the excruciating pain in order to bolster his manliness. "Oh, shut it, Urameshi! You cheated last time!"

Yusuke cracked his knuckles impatiently, glancing down at the spirit detective item tied securely to his wrist. The compass had already locked on its target, and he was running out of time. "No telling how many more souls that d*ck is going to eat. Shit! Kuwabara seriously has bad timing. Life just loves screwing up my day." "Look, I'd love to kick your ass, you flock of seagulls, but I'm kind of busy at the moment." "Yeah, busy chasing down a giant soul eating freak."

Kuwabara fisted his meaty hands in anger as he pointed a threatening finger at the boy in a green uniform before him. "I'm not letting you go until we duke it out right now!"

Yusuke sighed in defeat as he moved his head side to side, the faint cracking reaching Kuwabara's ears. Yusuke smirked, advancing forward, fist at the ready. He then yelled vigorously, "Fine, but hurry up and faint this time! I have better things to do!"

"Let the blood bath ensue."

Miharu uneasily lifted her hand to signal a slight wave at the blonde boy now walking down the street with his little sister at his side. They had made it to their siblings' primary school and then they had parted ways, seeing as they both live in opposite directions from the school. Both Miharu and Hikaru had walked in a certain companionable silence that Miharu had not had for a long time. Miharu slowly brought down her hand and examined it, still slightly red from her encounter with Shuichi. She continued to stare at it stoically until a high-pitched voice removed her from her thoughts.

"Was that your boyfriend, Onee-san?~" A boy with dark chestnut brown hair skipped merrily beside the robotic woman, poking her teasingly.

She glared vindictively at her younger brother until finally settling on rolling her eyes. He tugged on her sleeve – still waiting for a response.

"Yes, Ichiro, every boy I know is my boyfriend." Every single word that came out of Miharu's mouth dripped with sarcasm.

She tried, and failed, to hide the small smile that graced her lips when she glanced out of the corner of her eye at the ten-year-old boy beside her. Unlike Miharu, enthusiasm was always present in her younger brother's grey-blue eyes. Ichiro shared many characteristics with his sister. Like Miharu, he had chestnut brown hair that curled slightly at the ends and never seemed to stay in place. He had the same childlike angular face, with narrow aristocratic eyes contrasting it. Not only did he have the same thin pastel lips as his sister, but the words that escaped them were similar as well. Ichiro had taken most of Miharu's attitude and ability to be surprisingly witty…unfortunately.

"Well, aren't you just a sparkling fountain of conversation?" Ichiro responded sarcastically. He tucked his arms behind his head. "Besides, I thought that Minamino Shuichi guy was your boyfriend?" Ichiro raised a quizzical brow at the woman who froze on the spot at his unexpected question.

She shot him a stern glare, and he raised his hands steadily. "Gotcha. Touchy subject. Funny, I thought you believed in love at first sight."

His comment earned him a punch to the shoulder. Miharu snorted indignantly. "I believe in hate at first sight."

Ichiro looked up at his sister and tilted his head. "Why do you hate him so much anyway? You two seemed pretty close when we were younger."

Miharu contemplated this for a moment. She hadn't told Ichiro what happened before they had moved because she didn't think it relevant for him to know. She did not hate Shuichi, per say, but she did not feel comfortable being in his presence – due to various circumstances. Miharu once again looked down at her palm, rubbing a thumb over the irritated skin."…I hate anything that's prettier than me," Miharu hesitantly responded, wanting to somehow change the topic.

"Miharu-nee, the world is prettier than you." Ichiro pointed out, getting slapped on the shoulder. "Itai!"

"My point exactly. I hate the world." Miharu smirked at her brother's pained screams, feeling a bit more at peace.

Ichiro smirked. "Well, I guess that's okay, since the world hates you. Admit it, you have never had anyone remotely interested in you."

Miharu paled and her voice raised defensively, "That's not true. I once had a really cute guy lick my hand once." Ichiro gave her an unimpressed look. "Okay…maybe it was a dog, but that is about the most action I am ever going to get." Miharu finished flatly, cringing as Ichiro laughed heartily. "You're just asking to get punched, aren't you, you little crotch spawn?" Miharu seethed, knocking Ichiro upside the head with her school bag.

"Geez, it's a joke not a dick, don't take it so hard," Ichiro cried out, rubbing his newly abused noggin.

"Ichiro." Miharu eyed him sternly, indicating that she was displeased with his choice of words.

Ichiro stirred under her gaze and mumbled a soft apology. Miharu was lenient with Ichiro to a certain extent. However, she was still technically in charge of him and did not want him taking on her colorful choice of words, a bad habit she developed on her own. The two of them continued on down the path to their home in silence until Miharu heard the slight grumbling of her own stomach. She glanced at Ichiro out of the corner of her eye. "What do you want to eat?"

"I'm not hungry…" A mischievous smirk grazed Ichiro's lips as he pushed his sister forward before screaming, "…but I know you want some Minamino Shuichi for dinner! Don't worry. He's gluten-free too!"

Miharu's face blanched as a killer intent came over her. She clenched her jaw tightly and darted after her brother who was running down the road, screaming like there was no tomorrow. "Shut the hell up is gluten-free as well! Add that to your diet!" Miharu screamed, throwing her school bag with excellent precision at her younger brother.

"Ite! Ite! I give! I give!" Ichiro struggled out, attempting to crawl to his feet only brought down again when Miharu tripped over him.

"Wah!"

They rolled down the hill toward the glistening stream nearby, tearing down the roses in their path until Miharu halted when seeing a puddle of crimson blood staining the dark earth. She hushed Ichiro, who had been giggling to himself about their little fight. Ichiro sat up slowly and followed Miharu's steady gaze.

It was then that they both spotted a beaten pulp by the river side. Miharu cringed slightly as she walked up to the boy leaning over his side. Ichiro poked the unconscious boy with the tip of his shoe and looked questioningly up at his older sibling. "What the heck is that thing?"

Miharu scratched the back of her head, rolling the boy over with the tip of her shoe. She nearly gagged when she saw his oh-so-beautiful face now marred with cuts and bruises. "I'm just going out on a limb here, but I think that's a boy…an ugly boy…"

"Is it dead?" Ichiro pinched the bridge of his nose, sickened with the metallic scent that filled is nostrils. "Poke it with a stick."

Miharu paid no heed to her brother as she kicked back her leg gaining enough momentum until it met the fallen boy's side. "Hey, you walking ball sac, you okay?"

"Gwah!" She fell back in fright as the boy shot up to his feet within a second, knocking her roughly down against the freshly cut grass.

His well-built muscular frame twitched angrily as his beady liquid brown orbs quickly examined his surroundings. Failing to spot the culprit, he sprinted like an Olympian sprinter down the dirt road yelling at the top of his lungs, "Get back here Urameshi! That wasn't a fair fight! I tripped!"

Miharu sweat dropped and let out a flustered laugh, trying desperately to regain her composure. She glanced down at her sibling, who looked equally disturbed. "Well looks like he's fine," she said after a long silence.

"….This town…is weird."

She sighed softly and patted Ichiro on the head. "You have no idea."

Thin, bruised fingers rummaged steadily through her brown leather bag as she fisted the change in her hand, setting it carelessly onto the counter top. She tapped her fingers impatiently as the elder woman slid the files and receipt across the counter top at a snail like pace. Miharu's lips fell into a tight thin line, only confirming her annoyance with the woman as she took the receipt and shoved it into her bag.

She nodded a brief thank you as she picked up the files in her hands and made her way to the door while pushing herself through a tightly packed crowd. She walked up to a phone situated inside a nearby library and instantly dialed after handing the clerk some change. She waited for the receiver to clink until she heard his jaunty laughter. "Hello, this is the Etsuko office~"

"Hey dad…" Miharu flinched when she heard his concerned squeal.

"Etsuko Miharu! Why are you contacting me so late? I told you to reach me as soon as you left school!" His gruff voice scolded through the end of the phone. Miharu distanced it a good two feet from her ear and could still hear him screaming.

"Comb your beard, old man! I was busy picking up your freaking work anyway." Miharu seethed, stomping her foot stubbornly into the ground.

"Miharu, that is no way to talk to your father," his voice grew cold and firm as Miharu impassively sighed.

"Sorry." She wasn't. "Anyway, I picked up the files and will have them sent to your secretary. How's the project going?"

Miharu's father was the owner of an engineering business that had grown a powerful reputation throughout Japan. They manufactured many products for private patrons in order to reach their specific needs. Recently, he had taken on a project that called him to be off in another area of Japan, so he could not see his children for the time being – despite the occasional free time on weekends. He had Miharu call him frequently, being concerned since this was the first time he had ever left his children alone to go and work on a project. Normally, the project was local and not in a remote area as his current one was. As a result of this, Miharu was required to contact him at various times throughout the day – or he would throw a fit…like so.

"Oh, it's going great! We are almost finished planning—"

"Oh, dad," Miharu interjected, "I don't really care. I just thought it was common courtesy to ask a trivial question."

She chuckled slightly as her dad let out an incoherent series of noises, mumbling on about how he was unloved by his own children. Miharu looked back to check on Ichiro, who was currently preoccupied with an ice cream Miharu had purchased for him. She was snapped out of her daze when her father's tone grew slightly serious.

"How is school going? Have you adjusted to it yet?"

Miharu grimaced slightly. She wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him how much she disliked it and how uncomfortable it made her – being in that school with Shuichi, living back in that same old house that she was now alone in, along with Ichiro. However, she couldn't. She knew how much her father needed this move to work out. This place was home to him – for various reasons. So Miharu would set aside her selfishness and responded softly, "It's been fine. Ichiro really enjoys his school. He's made friends with the younger sibling of a classmate of mine."

Miharu let a small smile run across her face as her father nearly squealed with joy. "That's great! You should make friends as well, Miharu."

Miharu frowned instantly. "That's a great idea!" She began with mock happiness. "In an alternate universe where horrible ideas are great." She ended flatly.

"Miharu, it's just a suggestion. It might be a good idea," her father repeated.

Miharu shifted uncomfortably. "You know, dad, I once had an idea to snort crack but then I thought 'mmm, better not.'"

There was a humorless chuckle from the other end of the phone. "Point taken. Just think about it, Miharu."

Miharu fell silent, no longer knowing what to say. She was never one to converse in lengthy conversations. She despised talking with great intensity. More specifically, she hated talking to her father. He was an enormous, built, and scary man who contained a mother's nature. Ever had one of those dads? It was positively revolting.

Miharu's father sensed her unease and decided to break the ice. "Anyway, I miss you, Miharu… It's so hard to cook for myself when it's a woman who is supposed to belong in the kitchen." His lips curled into a mischievous smirk as he was sure he could feel her face redden in anger at his bias response.

"Oh forget—," Miharu stopped mid-sentence as her gaze strolled over to the bench in which her younger brother was previously sitting at. Looming over the smaller boy was a large giant of a man. His muscles protruded from his green shirt as he bent over the smaller boy who bravely held his ground. There, in Ichiro's grasp, was a small glowing ball.

Miharu tilted her head in bewilderment, slowly responding to her dad who had been calling out her name, "Hey, dad, I'll call you when I get home….Something's up."

"Wait, Miharu, there is something I need to—"

She hung up the phone as she stepped out of the library, making her way cautiously to her brother's side. She felt a certain energy surrounding her – much like she always had when she was around Shuichi. Somehow, this made her senses heighten, becoming more alarmed at the effect this stranger had on her. Her pace started to quicken when she saw the man step closer toward Ichiro.

His beady malicious black eyes bore into the younger boy beaming at him as he held up the ball.

"You dropped this, sir. Besides, aren't you a little too old to be playing ball?" Ichiro shakily asked.

Even he couldn't ignore the trembling sensation that took over his body as the man's glistening sharp teeth became visible behind his devilish smirk.

"Cute kid. You don't mind being my dinner tonight, do you?"

Before Ichiro could question the grey skinned man, his eyes rolled into his scalp as a small last fleeting gasp escaped his lips. He fell forward onto the floor, falling limply against the chill pavement as the ball in his petite fingers rolled into the man's grasp.

Miharu felt her blood run cold as she watched her brother fall limply to the floor. She ran at a splitting speed to his side and tried to shake him awake. "Ichiro! Wake up!" Her face was worry stricken as the crowd surrounded them. She started to feel a convulsing pain in her chest as she heard his murderous laughter bang against her ear drums.

Her wild, angered eyes darted across the opening of the crowd spotting the man carelessly walking away. She cursed under her breath as she struggled to get up to her feet – her cataplexy slowly beginning to kick in again. The sleepiness slowly took over her body, but she tried to resist it as she advanced after the man, letting anger consume her.

"What the hell is going on? Come on stupid ass! Move!" She mentally cursed at her pale weakened legs as she fell forward, stumbling onto all fours as her knees scraped painfully against the pavement, leaving a large streak of blood. Due to her illness, she couldn't run long distances without being drained by fatigue. She hated that sporadically her narcolepsy would kick in and she would be tempted to fall into a short slumber.

She winced painfully as the blood slowly trickled down her legs and limped forward until she was on her feet again. She followed the man into the barren forest just outside of a local park a little ways down the road. She lunged forward as she threw a weak punch to greet his torso. "You asshole! What did you do to Ichiro?!" She shrilled meekly, trying to blink away the burning sting that took over her reddened eyes.

"What's this? Well, if it isn't Kurama's little human." The man let out an amused chuckle, clearly unfazed by her blows. "Do you want to be my dinner too? It must be my lucky day." His revolting, icy laugh resounded across the park.

He stopped briefly when he noticed her open palm preparing to swing at his face. He frowned and reached toward her. "Hn, pathetic humans." His colossal hand instinctively grabbed her wrist until he let out a sharp agonizing scream at the event that took place.

Miharu grunted painfully as she was thrown away from him, her head slammed against the roughness of a nearby tree trunk. She felt the crimson currency of vengeance drip soothingly down the back of her scalp, causing her vision to become blurry. Shadows danced around in front of her as she collapsed on her stomach, the weakness in her knees had vanished at his touch, but she couldn't ignore the stabbing in her lungs that followed. She heaved up blood in dry coughs as a rough kick greeted her stomach. "You bitch!" Gouki kicked her hard and waved his hand in pain as his tiny slits glared at the large charred skin now dominating the palm of his hand.

Miharu tried to crawl away only to be pulled back by the collar of her shirt. However, this time when he touched her through her clothing, nothing happened – no sounds of pain and no marks on his skin. Miharu dangled helplessly in his grasp – unable to move from her sudden paralysis. Instead of trying to move from his grasp, she focused on trying to ignore the wildfire burning her insides from the strange, suffocating air filling up her lungs. Her usual impassive eyes drowned in fear as anguish cascaded down her face. Through her blurred vision of incomprehensible shadows she saw his razor sharp, shark like teeth glistening in the afternoon sun. The man in front of her now had a grotesque scarlet skin with small horns multiplying atop his disturbed mane. She slunk out of his grasp and used all her effort to shrink her body against the tree that was currently behind her. She closed her eyes tightly as she tried to melt into the tree. It wasn't working.

Her cloudy eyes widened, horror struck, as he opened his large mouth that looked like it could swallow enormous mountains if it wanted to. She couldn't comprehend what this thing before her was.

This…

This was boarder line crazy.

No—scratch that.

This was off the wall insane.

A/N: Title drop! Roll credits! That's all folks.

Just kidding. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this first chapter and continue to follow me on this journey. You will find that this story works a little differently than most KuramaxOCs and stays alongside the events of YYH, coming in and out of the anime plot, yet has a plot of its own. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this drama filled, slightly humorous story. Chapter lengths vary (anywhere up to 20,000 words) but will never be under 5,000 words, so they are pretty lengthy.

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