Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or its characters. Just my OC's

In a city in Japan, a girl was sitting quietly in her room reading her books about ancient spirits and healing plants. Her best friend had recently gotten her a book about demons. Flipping through the pages, the girl absorbed every detail of the book's contents. She sighed and put the book away. Then she froze when she heard footsteps heading up the stairs.

Crap! she thought. Mom's not supposed to be home for another hour, and Chris isn't supposed to come home until after football practice.

She hurried and turned on the light to her room and shut off the black light she had hidden near her bookshelf. She put little knickknacks back on her shelves to hide the titles of her books. Her mother hated anything and everything to do with the supernatural. Then she got into bed and pretended to be asleep.

Her mother walked in, went over to her, and shook her lightly. "Kaili? Wake up sweetie. I have to know what you want for dinner."

Kaili pretended to have just been woken up, her blue eyes fluttering open, and groggily said, "Mom? Is that you? Is it five already?"

Her mom smiled. "No, I came home earlier to check on you. Are you feeling any better?"

"I'm fine mom. I told you it was just a cold."

Truth was, Kaili was never sick, but she was sick of going to school. All of the people there were fake and her classmates were jerks. This is what happens when you move to a new country, she thought. Honestly, she couldn't expect much different being the outsider she was. She wished her mom had never gotten that promotion that forced her to leave all of her real friends behind. She missed Italy. Why did they have to send them to Japan of all places? After her mother left the room, she got out of bed and went on to her computer. She checked her e-mail and received a message from her friend.

K,

It sounds like a great idea for a story, but I don't even know how to start something like that. But a book where demons are real? I definitely want to be a part of that.

Let me know if you get any ideas and I'll do the same.

J.

PS Let me know when you're coming back. It's been almost boring here without you.

Ha, almost boring. Well you can't blame her for not being bored with all of the festas this time of year. Also, going to Naples was anything but boring. Kaili ran her hand through her short, brown hair and continued reread some of the old e-mails she received from J. She sighed as she thought about the trips their families took together to Roma, Avellino, Venice, and all of those other places. How she missed home. Anyway, before she let herself get too sucked into reminiscing, her mind went back to the ideas for her book, a book about a teen who is forced to move to another country and ends up coming face to face with real demons. She laughed at the idea as she started scribbling some notes down in her notebook. Like that would ever happen, she said. But it would be cool if it did.

She actually chose to go to school the next day, but she had no idea why. This was her first day back in like a week. Pretending to be sick could only last for so long. Her mother may not have seen through her ruse, but her brother sure did.

"Oh Kathalina?" he said in a sing-song voice that she could only describe as disgustingly fake.

"What?" she growled at him. "And for the last time, my name is Kaili. Mom accepted it; why can't you?"

"Because that's not what dad named you," Chris said.

She shot him the look of death. "Who cares what he named me. He's the one that left so why should I care what he wanted to call me."

"Oh calm down, K. You know I'm just pissing you off. That's what you get for pretending to be sick while I had to come to this hellhole and study."

"Not my fault you're failing. And by the way, what are you going to tell mom about that? What excuse will you use, hm?"

He pretended to start crying. "I'm so sorry. It's just that this move has been rough on me. I'm still getting used to this transition. I p-p-promise I'll do better next time." Then he stopped "crying." "So what do you think?" he asked.

"You are such and idiot and mom will be an idiot if she actually falls for it," Kaili said.

"Whatever. At least I'm not skipping my classes. How will you get caught up?"

"I already did the work for up until the next two weeks. I don't see a problem, do you?"

Her brother glared at her. "You sicken me. You act like a bad girl, pretending to be sick to get out of school. If you're going to pretend to be sick, don't do the work. It's so sickeningly goody-two-shoes of you."

"Shut up, Chris. I don't want to be failing like you." She slammed her locker shut and left him.

Okay, so off to science class. I think we are covering plants today. Ugh, I hate plants. Why can't we learn about something important for once? Kaili walked into the classroom to find someone sitting at her desk. It was a desk that was set up for two people, but she had always sat there alone, in the back, away from all of the "fake people." Kaili was pissed. Sure there were no assigned seats, but everyone knew to stay out of her seat. Now she comes back to find some guy she didn't even know sitting there. She walked up behind him and just stared at his long, red hair. He was too busy reading a book to notice her and she was about to start screaming at him when he spoke. "Can I help you with something?" His voice sounded so pretentious. Not another one… she thought. She decided she wouldn't let some guy talk to her with that tone.

"Yeah, you can get your butt out of my seat." She waited for his reaction. He turned and faced her with somewhat apologetic, green eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said with a forced smile. "I didn't realize this was some else's seat. It has been empty for the week."

"I was out sick," she said, irritated by the newcomer. She was surprised when he picked his stuff up and slid it over to the other seat at the desk.

"Here," he said. "Now you can have your seat and I can still stay in the back."

Oh no way in hell is he sitting next to me. "Never mind," she said. "I'm just going to find somewhere else to sit."

Kaili looked at him to see his reaction or whether or not he was insulted by her remark. She was the one who was insulted when she saw him reading his book again and heard him say, "That's your choice."

She felt very enraged by his treatment towards her and then she caught herself wondering why he made her blood boil. He was a stranger and a faker in her eyes and yet it was bothering her the way he was pretty much ignoring her. She decided to sit in her seat and see if she could bother him. He didn't say anything when she took the seat next to him, not even a snide remark to tease her about changing her mind or anything.

People started flocking towards the classroom as Kaili was taking out her books and her pencil. Then three girls came over to the table she was sitting at with the new guy.

"Good morning, Shuichi," the girls said in cheerily fake voices. Oh brother, Kaili thought to herself.

"Good morning," Shuichi said. The tone he said it in was somewhat forced and quiet.

"We wanted to know if you were doing anything after school," one of the girls said. "If not, would you like to come and help us decorate for the school dance?"

The new guy, or Shuichi, put his book down and had a rather apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, girls," he said, "but I do have plans after school. I have to watch my brother while our parents are out. Perhaps another time."

Psh. Perhaps? Who says perhaps? This guy is trying way too hard to act like "the nice guy." How can no one see through his act?

The girls frowned. "That's alright, Shuichi. We understand. It's so nice of you to watch your brother though."

He did a closed eye smile and then waved back to them as they waved goodbye and took their seats. He then turned to Kaili.

"I don't like lying to them," he said as if reading Kaili's mind, "but I'm not the school dance type." That was the most honest his voice had been since she had met him.

"Oh yeah?" she challenged. "Then why bring a make believe brother into the mix."

Shuichi laughed and said, "I am watching my mother's boyfriend's son today and he is younger than me by a few years; however, he isn't old enough to take care of himself when our parents aren't home."

She snorted at what he said. She kind of liked the idea of a person being fake to avoid other fake people. She considered trying it instead of scaring people off, but then she shook the thought. It was too much fun to let people think you were crazy with all of your demon theories.

More people began to filter into the room and left the pair in the back by the window alone until another girl came up and said, "Ew, Shuichi. Why are you sitting with Kaili? She's such a freak. Did you know she ACTUALLY believes in demons?"

Shuichi turned and looked at Kaili, not with the look of disgust as both she and the girl were expecting, but with interest. "Really?" he asked. Kaili nodded. "That's fascinating. So do you have any proof?"

Both girls stared at him in shock. The other girl walked away in defeat as Kaili started telling him some of her theories and opinions on demons. As she went on and on about how cool and impressive they were, she couldn't help but feel like the tension between her and Shuichi was gone. She thought, for a second, that she even saw him smile a faint smile.

"Do you have any books on the topic?" he asked.

"Yes, tons. If you are ever looking for a copy, I have it. But don't tell my mother. She has no idea I'm into this stuff. The supernatural creeps her out."

"Really? But not you?" He was asking a lot of questions, but Kaili didn't seem to mind.

"Of course not! Demons are so cool. Oh, if you want, I also have a book on demon animal spirits and about magical healing plants. Only if you're interested." Kaili saw a change in his expression. He looked almost sad when she said "animal spirits" and twitched when she said "magical healing plants." Maybe he's starting to think I'm crazy too, she said to herself as she shut up and turned back to her notebook.

The teacher took attendance and, afterwards, started droning on about plant biology. Kaili zoned out and started drawing inside her notebook. She liked reading about magic plants, but couldn't stand learning about photosynthesis and the life span of a tree. She glanced over at Shuichi a few times and saw the he was engrossed in the teacher's lecture; either that or he was forcing himself not to look at her. I must have scared him off, she accused herself. Kaili never mentally scolded herself for ever chasing someone off before, so she wondered why she was starting to now. Maybe it's because for a second I thought I was actually talking to someone who has the same interests I have. She was snapped out of her thoughts by the teacher yelling her name.

"Kaili!" she called. "Can you answer the question or not?"

Kaili stammered for a little while and then looked down at her notebook. Someone, most likely Shuichi, had written down something for her to say. After she stood and read what she assumed was the answer, the teacher had her sit down and continued her presentation. Kaili let out a breath she had been holding and looked over at Shuichi who was looking back at the teacher and listening intently to the lecture.

After class, Kaili was about to open the door to get out as the other students were gathering their things. Before she could put her hand on the handle, another hand had already gotten to it. She turned to see Shuichi standing over her. He opened the door for her and motioned for her to go first. Wow, I can't believe this guy is acting like a gentleman. This is a new one. I wonder why he chose the nice-guy routine.

She left the classroom and he followed closely behind her. Kaili was starting to get irritated as he studied her while she was getting her books out of her locker.

This is gonna be a long day…