I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho and if someone else wants to help me make that different, please email me at 14: Recognition

…Koko…

My full name is Kokomo Bridget Wolf. I am the daughter of Gun Wa Wolf and Ayame Tsukishiro. Ayame escaped from the Makai shortly before she was to be murdered by the one and only Youko Kurama. That makes me one-eighth coyote demon. It makes little sense to tell you the story of a life that was never lived.

But I had to tell Bri's story.

My sister who was never born.

You see, my mother was never supposed to be Ayame. It was supposed to be Tsuki Sawaguchi, a half cat demon who had the innate ability to seduce any man to her whim. I am glad that she is gone. But along with her, sadly, went my sister Bri. I remembered the story, as did Gun Wa. We are Empathes. Our minds are grounded in the things that we remember, even those that are forgotten because of one single change.

In case you're not really keeping up, I'll tell you exactly what Bri did that day in the future-not-real.

After she jumped into that time rip, she went back to the time that Tsuki's father and mother were to conceive the little bitch. She allowed herself to be taken by her own grandfather instead. Funny how those things work out. Tsuki was never born because Bri allowed herself to be eaten and completely digested by a tiger demon not too long after. It must have been a painful end.

But at least Koenma always lets me visit her spirit. She went to some obscure part of Spirit World, near the Chronodom. She is allowed to continue to be in contact with me, even though I've changed notably in that time.

"Hey," I said softly. Bri smiled at me, seated next to one of those white boards that you can write anything on and get what you want.

"Hey to you, too. How's Marion doing?"

"Bri…please, can't I just…"

"No," Bri shook her head. Bits of her hair was different, replaced by several different strands. The possibilities had combined to create her.

"But you never actually stayed with your dad, Bri. Come on, you don't have to see him. You don't have to meet Kura—"

"That's just it, Kokomo. I don't want to take that chance."

The most stupid of all is the very knowledge that Kurama will never remember her and Hiei, my own mate, will have forgotten me. I'm a little different, myself, of course. I guess growing up with a good mother and my real father did me some good. I met Keiko Yukimura the other day. She looked at me with such an intrigued emotion in her eyes. I could sense that she was confused.

She recognized me. Barely, of course, like a severe case of déjà vu.

"Hi, I'm Koko," I said. "What's your name?"

"Keiko. I'm almost positive I've seen you before, have we met?"

"No, I'm pretty sure we haven't," I grinned. "But it's sure nice to meet you."

Meet someone that I'd known for several years, you mean.

"So did you get into a high school?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah," I grinned. "Meikou. You?"

"You're serious? Me, too! And my friend, Shuichi Minamino, he got into the school, too."

"That's cool. My dad, uncle, aunt, and godmother teach at that school."

"Wow, what a coincidence," she grinned. "I was going to go shopping for my school uniform today, that's why I'm here. You want to come with me?"

"Sure. I was doing the same, actually."

Keiko laughed. "We're just full of coincidences today!"

"Yes, we are." I smiled myself. Oh, Bri, I wish that you could be here. I wish you hadn't asked me to keep Marion away from women. I wish…I wish I had my sister here with me.

Keiko and I became very good friends in the time before school was to begin. I walked into my homeroom class to see Keiko waiting for me. This was wrong. So wrong. Bri should be the one here. She should be the one with Keiko, she should be the one to meet Kurama. She should…

But she wasn't. I couldn't change it, or I'd be dead right now.

Again.

Is it all worth it, though? Is one girl's life so wrong to keep a monster like Tsuki away from us?

"Hey, Shuichi!" Keiko called. "Over here!"

There he was. Alive. Bri would be so happy to know that he was alive. And well. He smiled at me.

"Have we met?"

"No, I'm sure we haven't," I said. "I'm Koko Wolf."

"Wolf…" The name rolled off his tongue, almost testing it. "I think I've heard it before. Are you sure we've never met?"

"I'm positive," I said, smiling reassuringly.

My dad walked into the room and smiled behind the sharp sunglasses. I heard Kurama's breath intake quicken. And then, it slowed, relaxed. Keiko looked at me, then at him. No one spoke for a moment as my dad began to take roll call. I sighed and sank back into the chair.

It was going to be a long three years.

…

Keiko and "Shuichi" led the way out of the school after our last class. We still hadn't gotten our club sign-up yet, so we were free for at least a week. My parents would be staying at school until later, so I had some free time. This is so damn stupid! How the hell am I supposed to keep up this façade? Bri's boyfriend was right here in front of me, and my mate—my mate—wouldn't even recognize me.

If I'd had the chance, I would have murdered Tsuki over and over again, just to see her die. Forget that she couldn't feel pain. I just wanted her to die.

"How's it feel to be going to a school where half your teachers are related to you?" Keiko asked. "I mean, that's gotta feel pretty weird…"

"I'm used to it," I shrugged. "I guess it's okay. A little weird at times, but it's all right."

"Koko!" I turned around at my name. It was Marion, Bri's would-be father. He ran up to the three of us, panting slightly. Unlike Gun Wa, he was slightly overweight, with thin, balding hair. Even so, you could tell they were brothers. That dark brown hair and the blue eyes that I knew so well were unmistakable. I saw Bri in him. It hurt a little every time I heard him say my name. He even sounded a little like her.

"What's up, Uncle?"

"Um…" he blinked at me. Uncertainly, he whispered. "I'm engaged?"

I blinked back at him. Engaged? How? To whom? I had been so careful in making sure he didn't get with anyone…Just as Bri had asked me to. Where had I gone wrong?

"Congratulations," I said, smiling in surprise. "Who's the…um…lucky lady?"

"Ichigo. I met her a few years ago. I've been kind of hiding her." He laughed softly. "Sorry…"

I blinked. So I was that stupid? "That's great, Uncle Marion. But why are you telling me this now?"

"Well…she's pregnant," Marion said breathlessly. "That means you'll have a cousin! Isn't that great?"

"Yeah…great…" I said. Bri? Was she coming back or did they get another soul? Had she agreed to it? But why? I shivered slightly.

"I've got to go tell Gina. See you later, Koko!"

"You didn't sound so enthusiastic. Aren't you happy for him?" Keiko asked.

I swallowed hard. My voice came out a squeak. I tried not to look at Kurama. "Yeah. I'm ecstatic."

"You don't sound like it," Keiko said.

"It's just…"

What could I tell her?

"Nothing. Everything's fine. I'll see you guys, I'm going to the arcade for a while."

I left Keiko and Kurama. My house was, you guessed it, in Nemoi. We had bought the house that Kurama's family hadn't because there had never been a fire. It was all so weird, and yet I just had to accept it. I caught the trolley down to the little house and, once there, I grabbed the communications mirror that Koenma had given me to contact Bri with.

"Bri?" I said, pushing buttons quickly. "Bri, are you there?"

"I'm here, Koko." She smiled into the mirror. "You heard, I take?"

"What the hell is going on!"

"I'm coming back, Koko. But, there will be some rules. You cannot allow me near Kurama. Ever. Do you understand?"

"I…I understand," I croaked. I swiped furiously at my eyes, but the tears were already falling faster than I could catch.

"Also understand that I will be a baby, Koko," she said. "But I will still be…you know what happened when you were born."

I made a face halfway between a scowl and a smirk. "Yeah, I remember."

"Good. I'll see you later, I have an unborn body to inhabit. See you in eight months!"

The screen cut off. I sighed and sat down on my bunk bed, the bed that had never contained anyone else but me. I'd always been hopeful that she would come back. I was getting my wish, but…I was already fifteen. She was yet to be born. I tossed the mirror to the floor and kicked off my shoes. I'd never been much for proper Japanese etiquette.

Creeeeeak..

I sat up quickly, only to find myself on my back again.

"Snowball!" I shouted before I could stop myself.

He grunted, glaring down at me with all three eyes. Where was his bandana?

"You thought I would forget you, didn't you."

It wasn't a question.

"Well, duh, everyone else did!" I said. "Get off."

"No."

"Off! Snowball, I swear I'll—"

He cut me off with a kiss.

…

…

…

We're at the end of Wolf's Last Cry at last. Some things I'd like to take care of…

I decided to rewrite this chapter after reading reactions from last chapter (O.O). I was mortified by them, actually. I didn't know you guys liked Bri so much…;; Now, the reason this chapter works. I believe that all souls are actually held in the "afterlife" for being born and they are not in the "bodies" that they are contained within at first. Time changes are often made by cat demons (or so my theory goes) and often Koemna must deal with the ramifications of these changes.

My version of Empathes are anomalies, in that anything that they see changed remains with them, even through time. So, Koko would remember. Also, the reason Hiei remembers Koko when no one else does…It has to do with mating. I believe that, in mating, the mates take on the attributes of the mates. ;; So, Koko would slowly get Hiei's speed and capabilities and Hiei would get Koko's Empathe skills.

I completely rewrote that scene with Marion so that Bri would come back…BUT! I am willing to write another sequel, if and only if, I receive ten reviews demanding it. I'm not very inclined to do so, since I've already really moved on from this story…But I can deal with it if you guys really want it. I'm not asking much. Just ten people? I've seen people ask for more…

Just a recap on that: TEN PEOPLE SEQUEL! Hey, that kinda rhymes…Also, if you want a sequel, please tell me if you want it primarily Koko-Hiei or Kurama-Bri again, in which Kurama would probably almost literally be robbing the cradle…O.o

I would like to thank all of my reviewers, though I'm not going to list you all again…that took a while last time…;;; I love you all, and I'd like to in particular thank the people who have become my online Yahoo! Messenger chat buddies. If you would also like to join in on chatting with us (or just me You'll eventually meet the others, too.), my yahoo is nekooneesan. That's neko (underscore) oneesan. For some reason, this site likes to delete those kind of things…

You guys are awesome! If I write a sequel, you just might make a dream of mine come true. I've always dreamed of 100 reviews…

Kuramafan: Aw, don't be sad! Stories do have to end. But I can always write a sequel. And you can always come back and read "As I Lay Living" when I start putting that up.

Sillylittlenothing: Wouldn't want your brain to go kaput. That would be bad. How did you enjoy the ending? It's funny, no one really guessed exactly how Tsuki would be stopped. You can't kill her, I kept saying that over and over again…

Peeka-chan: Well, not kill her. Can't kill her. ;; So, mate with the cat demon that caught her mother. Sounds nice…O.O

SilverDragon: Yup. Well, sort of. Not kill her, cause you can't kill her. I've seen Butterfly Effect, of course, and I know the implications of it. However, I don't think this story was much inspired by it. Actually, it was this one story called "Falling into Makai" here on Second…judgement…day? O.O Sunny, you gotta lay off the sweet snow.

Princess Kandra: Well, if you want a sequel, you must ask.

Saori: Meanie? I have never been called a meanie before…O.o I feel loved. Well…they did die…sort of…but now they're back…Well, sort of. Bri's not quite back yet, and she's going to be a baby…I'm weird, I know. o.O