~Do not own Yu Yu Hakusho! Nor do I own Hero by Skillet which this here fanfic is named after!~

Chapter 1: My Birth Defect

The thing that I've noticed about me is that I'm a chicken. That's right, Joelle O'Connell is the biggest coward to grace God's green earth. Five foot two and made of fail. In fact, I never argue. Even when my father, the famous George O'Connell, the spokesperson for every big electronics company in the world, wanted to move from beautiful Cali to Japan. I didn't argue. It seems pointless to me. I'll lose anyway.

Who is this coward? Me. Joelle O'Connell the Coward. There's no better way to explain it. Plain old me in a high school jumpsuit the color of what flower's puke, long blonde hair, freckles, and blue eyes. Believe me, I stand out in Japanese society. So much, in fact, that I have a cute little nick name. You'll die when you hear this. It's so original. Gaijin. That's right, ladies and gentlemen. Hello, my name is "foreigner". In fact, no one ever calls me by my name. Not even the teachers. As far as anyone is concerned, my name is Gaijin no-last-name.

So you can imagine my surprise when, for the first time for two years, I heard someone call me by name.

I was reading a romance novel under my desk again. Call me a sap, but I enjoyed them. Derek was just about to propose his undying love to Claryssa, who was carrying his child, when my teacher announced we were working in partnerships on our history assignment. I blinked with watery eyes and looked across the aisle that was situated to my right to the guy sitting next to me. The guy that sticks bubble gum under his desk and plays Super Mario Bros. on the weekend by himself. Partners? What?

"I've already picked them out so there's no need to jump up and pick your friends." The teacher said over the hushed chatter that had started up.

My heart sank and I slumped a little in my chair. Great. Partners. I hated partner work. I usually ended up with some kid who only went to high school for the base ball and could care less that I was actually in there for a grade, so I ended up doing the work and…

My internal whining was cut off when the teacher started calling out names. I kept half an ear on him as I memorized my page number in my book. I loved numbers. Memorized them just like that.

"Gaijin and uh…Minamino!"

That gave me cause to pause. Wasn't Minamino that one guy all the girls liked? Smart, composed, probably had some deep dark secret that no one else knew…a Superman-esque boy that fit every bit of a girl's dream.

Whoa there, girl. You've been watching too many animes.

"Excuse me."

I looked up, shocked, as he pulled a desk up next to me. He had bright green eyes and long red hair, which looked dyed but hey, who was I to point fingers? Mine probably did too. He, as always, moved fluidly and sat on the desk, an act of nonchalance that surprised me.

"Joelle O'Connell, correct?" He smiled at me and I think I went into shock.

This was ridiculous! He was just some kid in my class that I'd been in for the past two years! It's not like I hadn't seen him before but suddenly…. He just looked a whole lot better. Must've been because he got my name right.

"Uh…yeah." I gathered my wits and smiled back clumsily. I'm pretty sure it looked like someone had killed something and plastered it on my face in hopes that maybe it could be used as something pleasant. "You know my name?" I blurted out and then almost slammed my palm into my face. Dumbest thing ever. Worse, this was turning out just like Twilight. The Kirsten Stewart version.

Minamino blinked once and raised an eyebrow. "Yes. I do."

There was an awkward silence after that and I must confess, I actually started to think about Abraham Lincoln. I smiled briefly and cupped my head in my hand, looking out the window.

"Something funny?" He asked.

"Oh, it's just that um…" I put my hands in my lap and twisted them nervously. "In America, there's a saying that if there's an awkward silence in a conversation, someone is undoubtedly thinking about Abraham Lincoln."

He smiled at that. "The president during the Civil War?"

"Yes." I said, amazed that he knew that. Smart kid!

"That's amusing." He said in a way that made me think he was talking about some part in a comedic opera.

Then we started talking about our project. Actually, it was more me agreeing with anything Minamino said. He'd suggest something…I'd say okay…it was definitely a one sided process.

"….And I was thinking we'd have birds released as a finale and a few people do cartwheels in front while you do a song and dance number." He said airily.

"Okay-" I blinked. "Wait, what?"

He chuckled. "You keep agreeing with everything I say. I thought I might throw something odd in there to see if you acquiesced or not."

"Um, sorry." I said. I was a little busy staring at green eyes. I kinda realized then that it didn't matter what he said, as long as he talked and I could just stare at him, I was the happiest Gaijin this side of Japan.

The bell rang and he looked up. "Oh. We'll talk more tomorrow, I guess. Goodbye, Miss O'Connell."

"Bye." I said weakly as he walked away. This coward was smitten.

I regarded this slowly as I walked home after school, the sun setting in the sky. Yay for staying after to do homework. It's not like I wanted to go home anyway. Just my stupid older brother and the ever absent father… Mom was gone, living it up somewhere stateside.

I carefully ducked under a low branch as I smiled at the way the orange light decorated everything. The blossoms on all the trees were starting to bloom and the air was filled with a flowery scent that reminded me of warm nights back in California. I could've danced under those trees, if I wasn't such a stupid chicken.

I then I smelled it.

There was this underlying scent of rusted metal and blood that set my teeth on edge. It was somewhere around here, like the one kid that smelled of B. O. in a classroom of forty. I looked around, familiar with the stench. After all, it'd haunted me all my life.

See, for being a coward, I kinda had a reason to be. I could see things that everyone else couldn't. For example, sometimes when I saw people on the street, they had horns coming out of their head, or large teeth or a tail. They smelled terrible, like they belonged in a ditch somewhere. The more they smelled of dead bodies, the scarier they seemed. And they were always weird. I'd spent most of my life pretending to be like all the other humans on this planet and ignore these people, but sometimes a few of them caught up with me. I'd asked my mom as a kid who these strange people were and she gave me the simplest thing a catholic raised kid could understand: "They're demons, sweetheart."

Now, alone save the setting sun and the new blossoms over my head, I was enveloped by the smell of a demon. I looked around nervously, my heart stuttering as I tried to think of some way to get away without bothering this thing. I didn't want any trouble…I just wanted to go home… I picked up the pace, put my head down, and headed straight for home. Which honestly, had to be the stupidest thing I could do. Now the creep knew I was aware of his presence. He'd probably go in for the kill any moment…

The smell got stronger and my footsteps got faster. I noticed the people starting to thin out, as they usually did as I got closer to where I lived. Darkness swallowed the streets and the street lights came on. I started to hyperventilate. I saw what one of these things could do to a person one night when I had gone for a walk a year ago. I still have nightmares about the blood everywhere and the arm in the creature's hand…

I dry heaved and turned a corner where I was confronted by a tall dark man in a trench coat. I cried out and backed up a bit, confused and frightened.

There was no doubt this was the thing that had been stalking me. The smell was almost intolerable as the thing's face split into this large grin with pointed teeth. "Thought you could get away?" He – no, it – laughed and reached for me with clawed hand. I looked up at yellow eyes, too scared to move, and saw my placid reflection. There was no doubt my blood was going to stain its hands tonight. "You smell so good…You weak thing. I wonder why He was so afraid of you -?"

It choked as blood fountained from his jugular and his mouth, coating me as I screamed. His entire twisted, freaky little body convulsed and pitched forward towards me.

I scrambled backwards, scrapping up my elbows in a mad dash to get away from the corpse. My voice was pitched upwards in a soaring screech of words best left for people less ladylike, I suppose. I looked up as the street light flicked and saw the retraction of what looked like a thorn covered vine into the shadows. What the…?

Shuichi Minamino stepped over the twitching corpse towards me and I blinked in awe. No…that wasn't Minamino. Couldn't be. Minamino was just a kid. This person seemed more…mature, more…well, able to kill.

I turned my head to the side as a wave a nausea hit. I put my hand shakily up to my mouth and retracted it with horror as I saw how dark it had become with my attacker's blood.

"Are you alright?"

I looked up at him and I'm pretty sure I didn't look alright. My whole body was going cold and I could hardly keep a grip on reality.

He must've seen how badly I was faring because he squatted next to me. "I'm sorry you had to become a victim of this foul creature – "

"A demon." I murmured as black started to creep in the edges of my vision. "He was….a demon." And I fell backwards into blissful darkness.

There's an odd contentment that comes to me before I wake up, like I could stay there forever and no one would care about the little coward and her blood stained hands…

Blood.

I shot up, gasping as I scrubbed at my arms. "No…!" I squeaked as I found myself tangled up in...a blanket? I paused my frantic hysteria to take stock of where I was. I was lying on a couch, a blanket over top of me, in my living room, still in my school uniform. Was it all just a horrible nightmare? No. Couldn't be. I picked at the blanket as I tried to piece together how I got here. I drew a blank.

"Finally awake?"

I turned to see Minamino – no, the thing that was Minamino – sitting in a chair with his legs crossed. He seemed thoughtful and dangerous and I drew my legs underneath me unconsciously. He was incredibly intimidating. "What's going on? Why are you here?" I asked, but the last question died a little as it dragged out of my mouth. Who was I to demand answers? Just the coward that got mixed up in things I didn't need to know about.

"You went into shock and became unconscious so, naturally, I took you home. I'm very lucky your school books have your address written in them, otherwise, we wouldn't be here." He put his hands in his lap. "Your family seems strangely absent."

"They're never around." I admitted. Stupid. Now he can murder you without fear of anyone interrupting.

"I see." He studied me, making me feel self conscious as time dragged on. I inspected the edge of my skirt very carefully, wishing he'd just get it over with. My heart pounded in my chest until I could feel it in my fingertips.

"You're afraid." He observed.

I chose not to answer.

"Don't be." He spoke softer and I glanced up at him once. "I only wish to ask you some questions."

"I'm not that interesting." I almost whispered.

"But you can see demons." He replied.

"Birth defect." I shrugged. "Like down syndrome."

"That's highly unlikely." A wry smile crossed his lips. "Have you…always had this ability?"

I nodded.

"I see…and is this the first time a demon has attacked you?"

I paused, looking up. "Well…in a sense… a few of them tried to talk to me but I….well, I ignored them."

"Ignored them?" He raised an eyebrow.

"People think you're saner that way." I resumed picking at my skirt. This felt weird. A stranger questioning me in my own home?

"So you've never met that demon before?"

I shook my head.

He exhaled. "He'd been tracking you for quite a while."

"How do you know that?"

Minamino glanced at me, lacing his fingers together in front of himself. "Hm? Oh, I've been keeping tabs on him."

"Why….?"

"I was concerned about his behavior, so I investigated it." He said simply.

"So if he's been stalking me…" My brain fumbled as I put two and two together. "Are you kidding…?" I squeaked.

Newsflash: STALKING CLASSMATE KILLS INNOCENT GAIJIN IN OWN HOME.

"Oh!" I saw a slight blush creep on his features which made me think he was almost human. "No, I wasn't….it's not like I was…No." He finished finally.

"What are you?" I finally asked, abandoning the fringe of my skirt. Coward or not, I had a right to know. "Who are you?"

"I am Shuichi Minamino, or Kurama. I'm a demon too."

I stiffened and backed up, wide eyed. This was new. I hadn't come across any demon that didn't smell…well, like a demon. "But…! You smell normal!"

"You can smell us….?" Now he looked incredibly intrigued. Shuichi/Kurama leaned forward in his seat with an intense look. "But how is that possible? You're only human."

I didn't answer, though the question was obviously rhetorical. I felt my heart pound again and grow louder with each second that ticked by. No demon I had ever met had not meant me harm, especially after last night.

"Calm yourself." Shuichi leaned away slowly, like a hunter trying to calm a frightened doe. "As I said before, I'm not going to hurt you."

I felt at a loss now. Despite his promises, I wanted him to go away. I wanted to think and breathe air that wasn't infected with demons and their smells and their auras and everything else. I felt hopeless, knowing that my brother wouldn't come save me and if my father ended up showing up, he'd never bother to poke his head in.

He glanced at the clock as the one sided conversation came to a halt. "I have to leave now but before I go, may I ask you a question?"

I nodded. What more could it hurt?

"I know this is a lot to ask you." He smiled ruefully. "And I know after what's happened, you have absolutely no right to trust me…but could you please keep my ah…alter ego a secret?"

Did Lois Layne keep Kent Clark's secret?

Did this Lois Layne even have a choice?

I nodded again and his smile widened. My stupid heart thudded loud again, but not out of fear.

"Thank you. I look forward to seeing you in class tomorrow." He stood and walked towards the front entryway. "Goodnight Joelle."

The door shut and the silence and the darkness rushed in to swallow me. I sat on my couch in the large and capacious house, suddenly wishing I wasn't so alone again.

Maybe a demon free area wasn't what I wanted. Maybe I just wanted creepy demon free space.

I pulled the blanket over my shoulders and huddled on one corner of the couch, staring at the walls. As was the usual reaction to a traumatic experience, I started thinking over what had just happened to me. What I wasn't expecting was to see the blood.

There was blood on the carpet, and on the ceiling, on the lampshade, in the hall, and around the corner. It was dripping down my back and through my hair, my hands dyed red with imaginary life giving plasma that I couldn't scrub off no matter how hard I tried.

So then I tried to think about other things, but the only thought that kept running though my mind was how I wanted the nice demon to come back and take away all the blood…

~Please tell me what you think! I want to know what I can improve on!~