X-X-X-X

Chapter 1

X-X-X-X

"Yui, come on already!"

"Coming, Yusuke!"

I rushed after my older brother with a wide smile. I purposefully stepped on one of the boys lying on the ground, they pissed my dear brother off so they got beaten up for it. The reason they pissed him off is because they were pulling on my pigtails, a fact I didn't like. I grabbed my brother's hand, my black hair tied in two low pigtails with white ribbons matching my white and red frilly dress. My brother and I looked quite alike, our hair is black with a green tint and our skin is a nice peach color. The eyes are the only difference, his are brown while mine are amber in color and shaped like a cat's.

"Yui, did they hurt you?" Yusuke asked glancing at me.

"No, they just tugged my hair really hard." I answered with a smile.

"I should have ripped their hair out..."

"Yusuke, it's fine. You did enough damage." Seriously, he's two years older, but he doesn't act like it. "I'm hungry anyways."

"Yeah, what did ya want?"

"Ramen!"

"Alright! Let's go!"

X-X-X-X

I sat in my bed, hugging my stuffed rabbit. Downstairs, my parents were arguing as always. It was either about Yusuke or about whatever the other could start shouting about. Yusuke and I had separate rooms and it's the middle of the night so he's probably sleeping. I'm a light sleeper so it's difficult for me to sleep while they start arguing.

Man, they're so loud. How can you live with these humans, Yui?

"Rei...They're family..." I looked up to stare at my shadow, it shifted until it was in the shape of a man. "I can't sleep...I'm tired."

I'll help put you to sleep then. Although it won't feel like it since I'm pulling you into your mind. The body will sleep while the mind is wide awake.

"Okay..."

I moved under the covers, hugging the rabbit. My eyes felt so heavy as Rei helped me fall asleep. Rei and I are one person, I'm just a normal human while Rei is...well, whatever he is. He never explained it to me, but he helps me a lot every day. He's the reason why I know a lot more than the average six year old.

"Hm..."

I slowly opened my eyes to see myself in a traditional Japanese home. My long hair is pulled into my usual low pigtailed style, but instead of my frilly dress, I'm in a pretty blue dress with a rabbit and moon pattern. I glanced to my right to see a man with short black hair, sharp silver eyes like a cat's, pale skin, and several earrings in both ears. Like me, he's dressed in a traditional kimono, although he leaves his chest exposed. He also has several tattoos on his arms, shoulder, back, and part of his neck.

"What's wrong, Rei?" I asked standing up.

"I'm just tired...and bored." Rei answered lying on his back.

"Rei...Then why don't you teach me how to fight?" I asked getting his attention immediately.

"Ah, yes, I'll do that!" Rei sat up, ruffling my hair. "I'll teach you the ropes of puppetry!"

"Puppetry?" I thought of the puppets you see in shops. "That's weird."

"It may be, but you'll learn how to make your own puppets and you'll control them as weapons. You're so smart, my dear Yui."

"So...when do we start?"

"Now! I'll teach you the basics of making a puppet and you can create your own in real life."

"Okay..."

I'm sure I'm not going to like this. Rei looked to excited to finally do something and I have this feeling that he'll be teaching me every time I'm supposed to be sleeping. Well, there goes my peaceful dreaming time. Rei only pulls me into our mind when I can't sleep, so this happens. Whenever I sleep normally, Rei told me that I appear here, but remain asleep.

X-X-X-X

I felt exasperated as I stared at the mess in our new home. Not even a month and it's already a pigsty. Our mother, took Yusuke and myself from the house we shared with our father. She finally had enough of him and took the two of us out of that house. I didn't really care, it made it so much easier for me to get out the house and find a hideout.

Your mother sucks as a parent. This place is disgusting.

"Might as well practice then...I'll do my best...!"

Lock the door then. Now, remember what you have to do. You're still inexperienced, but you can do it if you put your mind to it.

"Right!"

Spread your Reiki out.

"Okay..."

Focus on what you want to use to wrap your Reiki with. Make it as thin as possible.

"Right..."

Thinner, Yui, it has to be barely noticeable. It's like yarn instead of thin strings. Wrap it around the object, move it with your Reiki. You don't have a medium so it's extremely difficult, but you can still try.

"Got it..."

The Reiki left my fingertips, moving around the room to move objects around. It was so hard trying to make it thinner, it loses its strength as I did that making it hard for me to make it super thin while maintaining the strength. Rei told me I can do it as long as I continue to practice. Which is what I'm doing now, I'm practicing with Rei's help. I finished cleaning the room and I was so proud that I managed to do it.

"I did it, Rei, I did it!"

You did a good job, but the strings were too thin. You unconsciously increased the size around the objects when you wrapped your Reiki around it. You have to keep it as thin as possible while maintaining the strength!

"I'm sorry..."

Well...you did good...you're still in trouble though.

"Yes..."

I wasn't happy, I disappointed Rei and I never liked disappointing him. He's the one person, aside from my family, that I truly care if I cause trouble for or disappoint. Rei took the time and effort to teach me. I wanted to do my best for him.

"Yui, what's up with you?" Yusuke asked as I picked at my curry.

"...It's nothing..." I said releasing a small sigh.

"No one's picking on you, are they?" Yusuke asked with a large frown.

"No...Someone is teaching me and I disappointed him..." I answered chewing on my spoon.

"It's not your fault, Yui! I bet he's just an old scrooge!" Yusuke shouted standing up.

"Hehehe...Thank you, but it's my fault...I made a mistake..."

"People make mistakes all the time! I make mistakes every day!"

"...Hm..." I put a spoonful of curry into my mouth. "I don't want to disappoint him..."

"Did he say that? Cause if he did, I'll punch his teeth in!"

"He didn't...I just felt really guilty...He's teaching me yet I didn't meet his expectations..."

"Expectations?"

"The best way to explain would be reaching a level that a person expects of you."

"Oh, so...what did you do wrong?"

"...I just..." I thought about what he said. "It's complicated..."

"You sure know a lot of big words, Yui."

"Do I?"

"Yeah! You speak like an adult!"

"Thanks...I'm done, thanks for the meal."

"Man, I'm sick of curry and ramen..."

"It's takeout, just order something else tomorrow."

"Oh yeah..."

"I'm tired, good night."

"Your smart, Yui, but you're still a kid."

"Don't care, good night."

I got my futon ready in the corner of the room, surrounded by my stuffed animals. I ignored Yusuke's nitpicking while I cuddled with one of my rabbits. The only reason why I have so many stuffed animals is because I have many admirers my age, that and our father sometimes send me these to let me know he still cares. I didn't mind, I love stuffed animals, they're so soft and cute~!

"Night...Yui..."

"Night, Yusuke..."

Sleep well, Yui. Also know, that you never disappointed me.

I know, it just feels like it. I can't reach your standards...I'm sorry.

It's alright, I'm proud of you...Yui.

"Rei..."

"Rei?"

X-X-X-X

"Yusuke, I look fine!" I said straightening out my frilly blue dress.

"You look like a damn doll! I keep telling you that you should change how you look!" Yusuke shouted as I fixed my side ponytail.

"No way! I look cute like this and I like dresses!" Also, Rei said I looked nice this way so there's no way I'm letting Yusuke complain how I look. "Besides, if I didn't look so cute how can I avoid getting hurt when guys who hate you try to harm me?" I asked sticking my tongue out.

"Ugh...That's why they only threatened to harm you and not actually hurt you..."

"Okay, I'm leaving."

"Hey, wait, Yui!"

"I'll see you after class!"

"Hey!"

I rushed to my classroom and I found myself surrounded by a few girls. I didn't see these people as my friends or anything, they like coming up to me to talk, but that's about it. I wasn't too pleased when a few boys tried picking on me, but the girls put a stop to it. They saw me as a friend and they always made sure none of the boys bullied me.

"Yuiko-chan, let's play jump rope during recess!"

"Sure thing!"

"Yuiko-chan, did you do the homework? Can you please help me?"

"Yeah, I don't mind!"

"Me too!"

"Me as well!"

"Okay, let's do a bit of it now."

I helped the girls with their homework, but I never did it for them. I just helped them figure it out on their own. I blinked a few times and I looked at the door after the teacher walked in. Someone...similar to Rei is here.

"Okay, everyone, we have a new student, I know it's a bit late into the year, but I want you all to get along with him~!" Sensei said cheerfully.

"Hai~!"

"Okay, you can come in now, Hinata-kun!"

The door slid open and I stared at the orange haired red-eyed boy. He immediately looked at me and I tilted my head to the side. He gave me this unreadable stare, it made me uncomfortable. Although...he has beautiful eyes. I thought turning away to look out the window. I liked having a window seat, it made it easy for me to look outside when I get bored.

"Everyone this is Kuroko Hinata-kun. Is there anything you'd like to add, Hinata-kun?"

"I want to sit next to her." I looked back at the boy and he was smiling as he pointed at me. I pointed at myself before looking around to see everyone was looking at me. "Is that okay?"

"Ah, Yuiko-chan is already sitting next to Akira-kun. You can't just have someone move because you want to sit beside her." Sensei said trying to convince the boy.

"I want to sit beside her." The boy, Hinata, moved to stand in front of Akira. The boy in question looked terrified of this, he's a mouse like person after all, not a bad guy. "Will you move?"

"B-But I-I..."

"He's not moving because you want him to. You shouldn't try to bully him into doing what you want."

"Your name?"

"...Urameshi Yuiko..."

"Yuiko-chan, I like you."

"Sou...?" I didn't like where this is going. "Your point?"

"Will you marry me?" Hinata is holding my hand, a wide smile on his face. "I've been looking for a cute girl to marry."

"...Pardon?"

"No way! The new kid asked Yuiko-chan to marry him!"

"Waaahhh! So romantic~!"

"Yuiko-chan is so lucky!"

"Don't do it, Yuiko-chan! He's tricking you!"

"He's so daring, asking Yuiko-chan to marry him so suddenly!"

I stared at the orange haired boy with a dead blank stare. What's his angle, why did he ask me of all people to marry him...actually, why is he asking me to marry him, we're only seven years old! Okay, this is becoming a bit too weird. I thought wanting him to release my hands. I felt Rei somewhere deep in my mind becoming angrier and angrier, so much that he unconsciously leaked killing intent through me. Hinata released my hands quickly, giving me a startled stare.

"I have no reason to marry someone I just met, also...we're just children." I said with a 'kind' smile.

"Who...are you...?" Hinata asked staring at me with wide eyes.

"As I said before, I am Urameshi Yuiko." I said crossing my arms.

I don't like this brat! Get rid of him, Yuiko. He stinks of cats.

I can't do that, Rei. He's a child just like myself.

Then avoid him, he smells of cats and I hate it.

Yes, I got it. I'll avoid him to the best of my ability.

Hinata gave me a fearful stare and I only smiled peacefully. Rei, you sure know how to scare a kid. He allowed his killing intent to disappear while I did my best to keep up the innocent smile. The boy in front of me suddenly seemed very interested before grabbing my hands, a smile on his face. My smile dropped, a frown on my face.

"I definably want to marry you now, Yuiko-chan. I'm Kuroko Hinata, please call me Hinata." Hinata said with a smile.

"...I do not see a reason for you to behave so friendly towards me. It's illogical since we have just met." I said pulling my hands out of his grip.

"Illogical?" Hinata asked curiously.

"I cannot understand the logic behind your proposal."

"Oh...Well, Chichiue asked me to find a bride while I go to school and I wanted a cute yet strong one. You're very cute and you seem quite strong."

"...Please release me before I hit you."

"You're so cute~!"

"Stop flirting with Yuiko-chan!"

"Yeah, get your hands off of her."

I didn't like him, he's something I cannot understand. The other children, I can, but I dislike not understanding something that's right in front of me. Rei's dislike of him also helps in making it easier for me to dislike him. I want to avoid this boy, I don't want him anywhere near me right now.

X-X-X-X

Chapter 1 Ends

After finishing Hunter x Hunter, I was re-reading YuYu Hakusho after reading a bit of Naruto that's when I realized how much I wanted to do a character who uses puppets. That is how Rei and Yui came to be. Rei is obviously a Youkai, not that Yui knows this, and after getting stuck with Yui for so long came to care for the girl. In a way, Rei is the one who raised the girl from infancy and the greatest influence on the girl. Well, that's it for now my dears! Until next time! Bye-bye~!