Surprised to be Dead.


"I hate this school! I hate this town!"

A soccer ball...

"Listen, kid! That's dangerous! There are cars going by that will splatter you on the pavement!"

A young boy laughing at a young teen acting like a monkey jester. A green uniform.

I know that uniform...

"It's not safe playing ball around here. You understand?"

The ball flies into the road. The boy follows after it.

"Watch out, kid! Don't go on to the road!"

A red car drives toward the boy with minimum control.

The teen charges in and pushes the boy out of the way...

*CRASH*


"Yusuke!" I woke up, sitting up and gasping.

I caught my breath and calmed myself down from the nightmare, wiping the cold sweat from my forehead. That's the third time I've had that nightmare this week. It must mean something will happen.

My name is Eleanor Mayu Hyuuga. I'm 16 years old and have lived in Japan since I was 8 years old, I was born in Great Britain. My mother was British and my father was Japanese.

I looked at my bedside clock. 7:30 am. Only half an hour till school. I got out of bed and made my way to the shared bathroom. I performed my morning routine: brush my teeth, brush my short dark brunette hair, wash my pale Caucasian, freckled face and putting my glasses over my hazel-nearly green.

Once done, I re-entered my room and got dressed into my school uniform, which consisted of a white sailor shirt with a red neckerchief and dark blue trimmings, a dark blue skirt (Which I'm not very fond of) with black leggings underneath, whits socks and black shoes.

Once dressed and ready for school, I ran into the kitchen and grabbed my lunch from the fridge and gave my mother a good-bye kiss on the cheek.

"I'll see you tonight, Mum." I farewelled, as I made for the door.

"Have a good day, Ellie." She waved, as I closed the door of our apartment.

I left the apartment building and made my way to school; Sarayashiki Junior High School. I was able to make it to class just five minutes before the first bell rang. The reason I'm in Junior High School while being 16 years old is not because I'm stupid, but because I'm finishing this semester.

Today's lessons went by quite quckly. Of course, the principle, Takenaka-Sama, was calling Yusuke Urameshi to his office all morning. Of course, Yusuke won't answer. He's not the type to pay attention to his elders, including his own mother.

I quietly sighed and looked out the window to see a young teen, in a green uniform, walking out of the school gate, and a senior catching after him.

The teen was Yusuke Urameshi. Slick black hair, gelled back with green gel. Brown eyes. And light peach skin compared to my pale white skin. He is rumored to be the most ruthless punk in the entire school, making the most feared student in the school.

But that was just his exterior, due to having a rough childhood. On the inside, he's actually a nice guy. It just takes a while for him to warm up to you.

The senior was the school principle, Takenaka-Sama. He's fair and sweet to the students. Especially to Yusuke. Like a father figure kind of guy.

Takenaka-Sama grabbed Yusuke's ear and dragged him toward school. However, Yusuke gave him the slip with a fake ear. Then Yusuke left.

I quietly sighed and returned my attention to the lesson. Simple science class about combustion and distillation.

Half-way through class, there was a knock on the class door.

"The door's open." The teacher called.

The door opened to reveal to be Takenaka-Sama. He was rubbing his back in pain.

"Mr. Takanaka. What can I do for you?" The teacher asked.

"Is Miss. Hyuuga in class today?" Takenaka-Sama asked, looking across the class.

I stood up from my desk, so he can see me from the back, "Yes, sir?"

Takenaka-Sama looked at me, "I have a special task for you."

"Let me guess. It's about Urameshi?" I guessed.

He nodded, "Yes. I need you to find him and bring him back, so we can talk."

I nodded and left the school to look for Yusuke. I searched the streets until I heard laughter. I turned and saw a kid laughing at someone acting like a dancing monkey.

The monkey turned out to be Yusuke. He gave a soccer ball back to the kid, "Alright. Now go ahead and get lost. It's not safe playing ball around here. You understand?"

A cold shiver ran up my spine. That was the same thing Yusuke said in my nightmare. The boy took the ball and ran off. Yusuke took the crosswalk to the other side of the street.

"Yusuke!" I called, as I ran up to him.

Yusuke turned to me, "Oh. Hey, Ellie. What's up?"

"Not much. I was just looking for you, actually." I told him with a small smile.

Yusuke's smile fell, "Don't tell me. The Old Man sent you to find me."

I shrugged, "Pretty much. But, I'm also worried about you."

"Why?" He asked, then he saw the boy playing with his ball again, "Damn it. What's the use?" Then sighed, "The kid can get smashed by a car for all I care."

"Come on, Yusuke. You don't mean that." I put my hands behind my back.

Yusuke glared at me, "Stop reading me like I'm some book! You think you know me, but you don't!"

"I know enough." I pointed out, unfazed by his threat.

Then we saw the boy kick the soccer ball onto the road. The kid climbed through the railing onto the road.

"Whoa! Watch out, kid! Don't go into the road!" Yusuke shouted.

We heard tires and a red car was driving toward the boy, out of control. A memory of my younger sister's death froze me motionless.

Yusuke charged toward the boy and pushed him out of the way. The red car hit Yusuke and threw him over the roof. My blood ran cold. My heart stopped and my muscles froze.

"YUSUKE!"

I ran onto the road and toward my friend, "Yusuke? Can you hear me?" I shook his shoulders, "Yusuke Urameshi, don't fool with me."

"We better call in for an ambulance." An adult shouted from behind me.

Tears welled up in my eyes. My nightmare came into reality. Yusuke suffered the same fate as my younger sister. I hugged myself and completely shut everything out. I couldn't talk. I couldn't hear. I couldn't move.

The ambulance and paramedics arrived. I felt one of the police officers throw a blanket around me and lead me away from the scene.

"Hey, Miss? Can you hear me?" He asked me. I refused to answer.

"Listen, you're not in trouble. I just need to ask a few questions." He told me, "Is that okay?"

Again, I stayed silent. Then I heard a familiar voice shout from the road, "Hey! I'm right here!"

I lifted my head and looked at the scene, as the other paramedics carry Yusuke's body into the ambulance. I saw Yusuke standing before the paramedic.

"Whoa! You think you can do whatever you want, just because you've got that stupid uniform on?!" Yusuke shouted, following the paramedic, "You can't just write me off!" Then he aimed a punch, "Listen to me!"

He punched the medic, but he phased right through him and flew into the air. A ghost! Yusuke has become a ghost.

Why am I staying so calm? I've been able to see, hear and talk to spirits of the dead for as long as I can remember. I can also sense things that normal people can't. Such as emotions, the presence of demons, even sense when something bad is gonna happen. It's why I don't have many friends. They think I'm a freak, or a demon.

With that, the paramedics left the scene, so the police could clean up the mess.

"Miss? Do you know your parents' phone number, so they can pick you up?" The officer asked me.

I stood up and made my way home.

"I'm home." I called, as I entered and closed the door behind me.

No reply. Mum must still be at work. Once I got changed into my casual attire and sat down in the living room, the door knocked.

I sat up and walked over to the door to answer. It was a group of men in black.

The middle man bowed in greeting, "Greetings. We are here to extend an invitation. Are you Miss. Eleanor Hyuuga?"

"Yes, I am." I bowed back, "An invitation, sir?"

"Yes. An invitation to the wake of a Mr. Yusuke Urameshi." He answered, "We believe he was a friend of yours."

I nodded, "Yes. He was." Then shook my head, "But I'm afraid I must decline your invitation. The offer was very kind, though."

He bowed, "We understand your decision. Have a nice evening."

"You too." I bowed back.

The men left and I closed the door. I entered my room and sat on my bed. My pent up anger and frustration started to surface. My heart felt like it was being squeezed. Tears started falling down my face. My grip around my arms tightened and I seethed my teeth.

"Why take Yusuke? He wasn't ready to go." I sobbed, "You should have taken me. Let me join my sister." I hugged my knees closer to my chest, "Yusuke Urameshi... You're such an idiot!"


*Later That Night...*

"Ellie?" "Ellie, wake up..."

"Yusuke?" I asked, waking up. I felt a cold puddle under my cheek. I cried myself to sleep again.

"No, silly. It's me." A familiar voice answered from in front of me.

I looked and saw a smiling boy's face with green eyes and long red hair. He wore a red-ish pink school uniform.

I sat up and adjusted my glasses, "Shuichi? What are you doing here?"

Shuichi Minamino has been my friend since my childhood, back in England. He was my pen-pal. Intelligent as he is kind. Gentleman-like as he is intelligent. Which is very.

"Your mother called me over." He answered, "After hearing your friend died, I thought you could use a shoulder to cry on."

I placed my hand over my heart, "It hurts, Shuichi. He suffered the same fate as Sammy. I couldn't go to his wake."

Shuichi wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into an embrace. I wrapped my arms around him and fought back fresh tears.

Yusuke... If you can hear me... Please come back. You have no clue how much we miss you down here. Please...

I will...