Wicked Lovely Dream: So I wrote Sweet Sacrifice so long ago I kind of forgot where the plot was going...I know shame on me, so its on hold. But a reviewer recently well...reviewed it and I decided to start writing again! Huzzah!..anyways if it wasnt for the readers I would have probably forgotten about my stories...since Im more of a reader myself than a writer. So thank you Kitsune-lover82 for bringing me back to :) I hope you enjoy this story as well :)

Wicked Lovely Dream: I do not plan on updating this regularly since I will be at college and kind of busy. Though I do promise to work on the chapters and update them when I can. Meaning it wont be a year in between updates...more like weeks, but who knows maybe I'll start updating every week.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yuyu Hakusho that wonderful manga and anime belongs to the great Yoshihiro Togashi.

Chapter One: Hindsight is 20/20

I looked at the book in my lap and flipped through its empty pages. I sighed as I picked up a pen and crossed my legs. I set the book on my lap and began to write.

Dear Diary,

Funny how one's life can change so much that it's hard to remember what normal is like. The only thing I can remember is the exact day my life changed. The first time my eyes were opened to the world of the supernatural, all those years ago.

~*Seven Years Ago*~

I was ten years old and walking home from grade school. My brother Takeshi who was fifteen came to meet me outside my school gate after his high school got out. He decided to take a short cut through the park because it was getting late and the sun was setting. Mother liked us to be home by sunset. We walked along the dirt path that was woven through the middle of the park, trees surrounding both sides.

I saw the shadows of the trees grow as the sun went down, and I desperately clung to my brother's hand. He squeezed my hand to reassure me and smiled, his blue eyes filled with warmth. I smiled tentatively back my own eyes meeting his. Suddenly I heard a small snap of a twig. My brother's head turn quickly and we stopped walking. A figure came out of the trees and blocked our way. It was twilight now and I could vaguely see him. He had a baseball cap on, sunglass, a sweat shirt and jeans. All black I noticed, which only made me more afraid. No one nice can wear so much black. I thought.

He grinned showing sharp teeth. What seemed like minutes passed by only seconds slipped by. "Well what do we have here? Two lost children." His voice was gruff and it came out like a gurgled snarl. After he spoke I was so scared my instincts told me to bolt, and I would have. If my brother wasn't holding my hand so tightly I couldn't pull away. Takeshi slowly pushed me behind him so I was staring at his back and not at the man. Takeshi was watching with narrowed eyes and a tight jaw, that's when I knew we were in trouble. If my brother was nervous, then this guy is bad.

"Actually Sir, we are on our way home. If you will excuse us..." My brother answered politely. Unfortunately before he could take a step forward the man grabbed my brother by his shoulders and lifted him up knocking me down in the process. I heard a tearing and as I watched the monster tighten his grip on my brother. The man let out a loud roar and he began to change. His clothes where totally ripped off except for parts of his sweat pants. He was huge now, at least eight feet tall and his skin was green. He had thick, messy, purple hair on his head and on his body, but the worse thing I noticed was his face. His teeth had grown into long sharp fangs that were pertruding from his mouth, and his eyes were a sickly bright yellow.

I screamed. Oh boy did I scream. Hysterically I might add. I was only ten and I was told monsters were not real. My brother didn't seem as scared as I was, he just seemed to clench his teeth and glare at the monster. "Takeshi!" I screamed and looked at my brother with tears in my eyes. He was my big brother. The one person who I cared about the most in the world, and this monster was going to eat him. For a ten year old I made a split second decision pretty fast. I sprang up and ran at the monster with my fist raised. "Legggo off him!" I cried and started hitting the monster with my fist.

"Karina no! Stop!" Takeshi yelled at me. The monster laughed and threw my brother on the ground. With his now free hand he grabbed my long black hair and hoisted me up in the air like I was some kind of rag doll. "SILLY HUMAN GIRL YOU THINK YOU CAN HURT ME!" He yelled in my face. Did I mention his breathe smelt like a rotting corpse?

I continued to scream and cry but I stole a pleading look at my brother. He looked at me and I could tell he was furious, but there seemed to be another emotion in his eyes as he jumped up from ground. Regret was the emotion in my brother's eyes. Unfortunately my ten year old self couldn't recognize it.

He ran at the monster and just as he was about to reach us I saw him jump up into the air. I had closed my eyes and the next thing I felt was falling. I landed on something soft. My brother had landed with his arms wrapped around me. He set me down and walked away. I opened my eyes and watched him. He was standing next to what looked like a mound of blood, organs and flesh. Green flesh...the monster. My brother had killed the monster.

Only relief didn't fill me as I looked at my brother. It was a new man and he turned and looked at me with his purple eyes. He had black hair like my brothers, only it was longer. Instead of a short pony tail reaching the nape of his neck it reached his waist. He also had long pointed ears like an elf.

He was wearing the same dark blue high school uniform as my brother but it didn't look like Takeshi, he was at least ten years older. I realized the person who had killed the monster wasn't my brother. This man walked towards me he had a small scythe coiled around his arm in a rope and I flinched when I looked at it. He stopped in front of me and kneeled down to my level.

"Karina?" He asked in a soft voice like he was talking to a scared animal about to flee. He looked at me with that same expression my brother had before he ran at the monster. I stared at him and that's when I noticed two big black demonic wings sticking out his back. When I the wings, that's when I started to scream again.

~* Present *~

After I ran away screaming I hid behind some trees. The man with long black hair found me and grabbed me before I could get away again. He hugged me, and when I started to calm down from crying and screaming I actually made out was he was saying. He told me that he was Takeshi, he was my brother. He just looked different. I had asked why and he told me a small story about how he had special powers. Months later I learned the full story after we had got home and the trauma had left me mostly.

The monster that had attacked us was a demon that ate humans. My brother who also was a demon killed it. Apparently there's another world called the Makai and that's where demons live. Now when I say demons, I don't mean those ones from the bible that live in hell. They are actually a race in a different world and there are different types. Some look like monsters, humans or both. Like if you saw a cat demon in the Makai it would probably look just like a human only having a cat ears and tail. Well that, and maybe some special powers.

My brother told me all kinds of stories revolving around the Makai. He knew this because in a past life Takeshi was killed and retreated to our world (the Ningenkai he called it). His soul went into an unborn child and boom my parents had Takeshi. He told me stories of his past life as a demon. His name was Kuronue and he was a thief that was killed by a trap during a raid. That specific part of the story about his death he doesn't like to talk about.

He did tell me stories about his thieving days with his partner Yoko Kurama. Those stories are really fun to hear. So the reason why he was able to go back to his demon form was because basically our family has a history of psychic powers. He explained to me that this reason is what gives us the ability to use spirit energy. My brother basically uses this energy to bring out his demon energy which makes him revert back to his old self. Where his is able to summon his weapons, his body already remembers his training.

Normally he looks like my brother though I have only seen him twice with black wings and long hair. Oh did I mention he's a bat demon? After that incident our sibling bond only seemed to strengthen. He was happy that I didn't seem to have a problem with him being a demon, when I actually I found it really cool. He did become very overprotective. I couldn't go anywhere by myself, though it wasn't like I wanted to.

It was the 23rd of December when my life took a bad turn. My parents had gone out to a Christmas party and it had been during a snow storm. Typical winter weather, and my parents where late coming home.

~*Five Years Ago*~

"Kurrronueee when are mom and dad going to be home?" I whined while staring at the clock in the kitchen from the couch. I had decided to call my brother Kuronue instead of Takeshi since that was his "real name" and I thought it sounded cooler. It was 10:45p.m., and I was worried about mom and dad being out so late on a stormy night. So my brother agreed to watch a Christmas carol with me in the living room until they got home. I could tell he was getting antsy about them being late too because he also would occasionally glance at the clock.

"Karina they are only a half an hour late. They probably enjoying themselves so much they forgot the time." He told me in his I-know-everything tone. Even though he was a 500 year old demon, he only looked seventeen. I wished he would act a little younger sometimes. I sighed and stared blankly at the screen not really watching it. I heard the phone ring.

"I'll get it!" I said as I jumped up excitedly and ran over to the wall in the kitchen where the phone was hanging. On the third ring I grabbed the receiver and held it up to my ear. "Hello, Akimura Residence." I said happily expecting my mom or dad to be at the other end of the line.

"Hello, this is Police Officer Fujiyama I need to speak to the relatives of Kana and Takahiro Akimura." He said in a cold professional voice. My stomach dropped instantly and my body stiffened.

"Uh yes this is their daughter." I replied my voice going a little higher than normal. My brother noticed this and pushed himself off the recliner chair. He quickly walked over to me and stood in front of me his hand held out for the phone.

"I'm sorry to inform you but there has been an accident." The police officer stated.

"An-An accident?" I said my throat starting to clog with tears. My. Parents. In. An. Accident. Mom. Dad. Car. Accident. These words kept replaying in my head. Kuronue's eyes widen and he quickly took the phone out of my hand and held it up to his ear. I slid to the floor and pressed my back up against the wall.

"Hello this is Takeshi Akiyama. I'm their son." He stated into the phone. "What has happen?"

A few minutes passed and all I heard was a low quick voice coming from the phone. My brother responded with a lot of yes's and no's. He sat down at the kitchen table his shoulders slumped. "Yes, thank you. I will be by in the morning." He pushed the talk button on the phone ending the call. He put it on the table then slowly got up.

"What happen? Are they alright?" I said my voice shaking, I stood up waiting for his answer he wouldn't look at me but he walked over and wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I couldn't see his face but…I knew in the back of my head I knew right away, though I didn't want to comprehend it.

"Your scaring me…what is it? WHAT HAPPENED?" I screamed the last part and tried to push him away tears started to cloud my view. "No! Their all right! Their on their way home right!" I started talking nonsense and he just held me to him.

"They were in an accident." My breath hitched as I heard him speak. His voice was low and hollow; my arms tightened clinging to his chest. "They hit black ice and ran into a tree. They were….they died instantly." He said slowly and calmly. What? I thought.

"What…no….no….NO! YOU'RE LYING!" I screamed as I started to cry I fell to my knees and he just held me there and let me cry it all out. "Mom….Dad….." I sobbed and slowly within the next half hour my sobs turned into sniffles.

I must have cried myself to sleep because I felt my brother set me down on my bed, and my eyes slowly opened to look at him. He pulled the covers up to my shoulders and returned my gaze. His eyes were red, it looked like he had cried or he was holding in tears. I reached up and touched his hand that was on my shoulder. There wasn't much to say…nothing really needed to be said. He just sat on my bed and held my hand as I drifted off to sleep.

~*Present*~

The next day we went to the hospital to get our parents belongings. We didn't see the bodies. I didn't want to. My mother had been wearing a golden chair necklace with a single diamond the size of a bead on it. It had been an early Christmas gift for her from my father. Since my brother was almost eighteen he inherited everything. My father was a CEO of his company so our lives had been privileged and now we had extra money since it was just the two of us.

The following four years was rough. My brother used the money went to college for business management and worked part-time. I continue my schooling and got into high school. We didn't really get to spend a lot of time with each other. Every time I came home the empty feeling returned. When I expected my parents to say "Welcome home!" and then not be there, it felt like someone had ripped my heart out of my chest. The fourth year after their death and the year my brother graduated college was when he told me we should sell the house.

Kuronue said it wasn't good to live in grief and we should start a new beginning. He had his degree now and could get a real career job. So we sold most of our parent's belongings and the house. We bought a small house in a quiet neighborhood just outside the city. My brother looked for a job and I continued my final year of high school. The day of my graduation was when I realized my bad karma was finally going to be balanced.

~*10 months ago*~

It was the end of May and the cherry blossoms where in full bloom outside my high school. My brother was taking pictures of me and my friends. The graduation ceremony had ended and I was finally free. I waved bye to my friends as I ran over to my brother. He gave me a big hug and ruffled my hair.

"Congratulations Miss Graduate. I suppose now you want me to treat you to some dinner huh?" He said as he folded his arms teasing me.

"You damn right I am!" I responded laughing. We walked over to his dark blue Mazda Protege and drove to a restaurant not far from my school. It was fairly small and I had never been in there before, but as we sat down at the table and ordered, I got a nice vibe from the place.

"So what do you think of this place?" Kuronue ask casually.

I looked around, the walls of the restaurant where a dark maroon color. All the tables had white lacy table cloths, which where a nice touch too. "Its…warm." I responded.

He smirked, "You know it's going out of business." He mentioned has he leaned back in his chair dangling one arm over the side. He took a sip of his wine.

"Oh." I said "It seems like it's fairly popular."

"It is." He said as he set his glass down. "The people who own it are moving to a different country. So they are in a hurry to close it. It's a nice little place. It has plenty of room, and its right on the plaza. Perfect place for a shop or a café wouldn't you agree?"

I nodded. "Yeah, it would be cute to have a café around here…" I looked at him and I saw he had a gleeful look on his face. Like he knew something I didn't. "….was there a reason you brought this up?"

"Well…" He started, not really hesitating but more like he was choosing his words carefully. "They wanted to sell it…for a very cheap price. Since they are in a rush and all…It seemed like a perfect opportunity…" He said slowly, calculating my reaction.

My face broke into a grin, "Oh my gosh. You bought it?" I wasn't surprised that he bought it per say. We had enough money and my brother tended to go with his gut when he wanted to do something but I couldn't help but ask, "Why?"

"I want to open a café. I have my business degree so I can manage it. It would be popular. Plus you're out of high school now. You need a job. You could work here and also help me manage it. What do you think?" He said has he brought his arm back over the chair. His arms were now folded on the table and he was leaning towards me.

I smiled, "I think it's a….."Jolly good idea." I said imitating a British accident because I was corny like that. I held up my glass. "Here's to your new café!"

"Our new café." He corrected as he gently knocked his glass against mine.

~*Present*~

It took ten months to construct and decorate our café. While we were waiting my brother said it was a perfect time to learn how to control my psychic abilities which I had discovered in 5th grade. He had already mastered his and since I was out of school he could train me full time, at least the spirit energy part anyways. My psychic abilities had been passed down to me through my genes Kuronue explained and I could now learn how to use them.

Basically the last ten months was eating sleeping and training. It was well worth it. I learn different forms of energy blast along with shield for defense. Though he assured me powers wouldn't always protect me, I would need to learn how to fight as well. Apparently other monsters like I saw when I was ten might be attracted if they sense I also had powers. He told me I would have to take lessons from a dojo.

At first it scared me how well my brother knew how to do all these things but I then remembered he was 500 years old not twenty-two. I can now talk to him through telepathy which is cool, but he's the only one since he also has the psychic genes. The two main things that I rock at are creating barriers in my head to block out unwanted entries and also moving objects with my mind. The first couple times, when I was moving something I ended up hitting myself in the head with a rock because I didn't pay attention to where I was supposed to be moving it.

Right now we just started working together on summoning portals to the demon world where Kuronue came from. He explained that laws have changed, and he wanted to check out his old home. Apparently he has been keeping tabs on demon world through rouge demons in the human world. Why he would want to talk to monsters, I don't know. We had to stop training today since our grand opening day is tomorrow. Have to get some rest right? Our café has been up and running for a week. I picked out the uniforms for the waitresses and waiters since I have to wear one too. The waitress ones are a pink ruffle sun dress with a white apron and a red bow around the middle. The waiters have to wear a white dress shirt, red bow tie, pink vest and brown slacks. Our café is called "Café Rosa" Since I love roses and my brother didn't care what I called it.

Yeah it's a little girly but it's a nice setting. Half our café has a book shop and the other half is littered with tables with fresh flowers in vases. I make the sweets so I'm usually behind the counter not waiting on people. We hired two waitresses and a waiter. Once of the waitresses I interviewed was really nice I think her name was Shizuru Kuwahara...Kuwabara...Something like that. What I liked about her was that she said she had a younger brother too. We hit it off right away and got on the topic about brothers. After that somehow we moved onto the topic of feeling weird vibes and predicting things. We have a lot in common. She had good recommendations too so I hired her.

During this week my brother sometimes stopped by usually to do paper work and take inventory. Yesterday we actually sat down and had a cup of coffee after we had closed for the night which was nice. Once a week my brother said I should practice conjuring a portal. Ever since he found out I could create portals too he's been excited to go back to demon world. If we both work on the same portal, he said, we can make a small one strong enough to transport us.

He said it would drain my energy though if I did it more than once a week. Even though he's anxious he's still being my big brother and caring for me. Which in this past year, I wish he would stop a little. I know I'm a "fragile human" as he put it but there are only humans in this world right? What's the worst trouble I can get into? Except maybe a freak accident like running into another demon but what's the chance of that?

I sighed and set my new diary down. I had never had one and I figured if I let out all the important things that had happen in my life so far, maybe it would relieve some stress. My work at the Café, had been adding to it lately. I pulled up the covers on my bed and turned off my lamp. I stared out of my window by my bed. It was a full moon. I could tell not because of the size of the moon, because I couldn't see it. I could tell by the light in my room, it reflected off my desk and carpet.

I smiled and closed my eyes I could hear the distant rustle of the wind outside my window. It really was a great idea to move into this neighborhood it was always so quiet and even the neighbors were very friendly. It had been two years since we moved here and things were finally looking up. Though, I always wondered what if we hadn't gone down the short cut through the park that day. Would things had stayed the way they were? As I drifted off to sleep I felt an ominous feeling that something was coming. I pushed it out of my thoughts, after all it was just a feeling…people with spirit awareness get those a lot.