A/N: Heh. Long time, no see, right readers? I feel like I'm obusing you all T.T. You guys are so nice, I've gotten soooo many subscriptions (or alerts, whatever u wanna call them) for this story! And all the reviews I've gotten have been nothing but positive. I'm surprised by how many people will say this is their favorite (or one of their favorite) Blue Exorcist fanfics! I'm honored, really! But I don't deserve all this because I don't update quick enough! It probably takes me a month! And it's not always because of school…a lot of the time it's because I feel too lazy to write…THERE! I ADMITTED IT! I'm sooo soooorrryyyy! *cries in a corner until she feels like she's punished herself enough* I mean…I even have my own laptop but…lately it's been turned off most of the time! *sniff, sniff* And I don't even reply to anyone's review! I don't even express my great graditude to my reviewers!

And lately…I've even stopped reviewing to my favorite BE fanfics…it's like I've completely disappeared to those authors! And, even though I don't review to their stories, I always have the nerve to thing "Why don't people review more on my story?" I feel so selfish! I mean Saperia has reviewed to my story multiple times yet I had never replied or showed my thanks for her opinion. And yet when I read one of her stories (which I found because I was looking for yaoi lemons, not because I purposely searched her up) and reviewed it, she ended up replying about how happy she was and about her future plans! I feel so guilty! I must seem so distant to you guys because I haven't once replied to anyone. I'm probably "that" fanfic writer who writes a decent fic but doesn't ever reply, join a community, update regularly, or otherwise show us some signs of life. I'M SOOORRYYYY! (now I feel like that one aunt from fruits basket that owns the hot spring)

But I decided to turn over a new leaf! I will try to update more often, reply to the reviews, review more to the stories I read, and generally just try to show more signs of life…yup!

BTW guys, I can't imaginae any of you reading any of this rumbling. I mean, I look back and older A/N's and all I see is BLAH BLAH BLAH. And I can imagine (after not updating for, like, a month) my readers are all like, "Screw the A/N, I LOVE YOU NOW TAKARA!" Heehee…yeah…Onto the rest of Takara's miserable childhood! P.S. I know I keep promising to reveil what I did to Yukio, well, ummm, I'm just going to stop promising because I think that most of the next chapter will be the final part of Takara's past, and I might not make it to Rin spilling his heart out about Yukio…

I didn't have to wait 'till we got home to get an earload of my mom.

"What is up with you? Can't you pretend to be normal for a little while? I don't embarrass you when you're trying to talk to your friends!" She accused while she drove us home.

My twin brother, who was sitting in the car seat next to me, rolled his eyes at mother's exaggerations, 'Why are you complaining? You got his number, didn't you? Then I say: Mission accomplished!'

I stayed silent, I didn't want to encourage my mother's anger any more than I already had. I sensed a lot of negative energy coming off of her.

My mom stopped at an intersection as the light turned red, "Do you want me to be forever alone?"

'Hey!' my twin yelped in defense, 'You don't need our help when it comes to that!'

I giggled at his joke.

My mom turned around and stared at me with vulture eyes, "And what do you find so funny about this, Takara, dear?"

I twirled a finger in my hair, "Uhhh…well…it's just that…"

"Stop mumbling," she snapped, "Speak up!"

I sighed, "It's just that my brother told me a funny joke…"

She rolled her eyes but turned her attention back to the light as she heard a honk, it had already turned green. But she continued talking as we continued down the road, she sighed, "It's always 'my brother this', 'my brother that'. Well, news flash, Takara, your brother doesn't exist." She groaned, "You're going to middle school at the end of the summer. Don't you think it's time you grow up a little and stop this whole scene with the brother thing, already? I mean, I get how you don't like being an only child, but I am not going through child birth again just so you can have a playmate. So stop it with this whole 'brother' stuff, do you hear me?"

"Yes, madam…" I muttered.

'Yo mama so strict, she makes rulers look crooked!' my brother cracked.

I couldn't help but giggle again.

"Now, what's so funny?" my mom asked and peaked at me through the rear view mirror.

"Oh…nothing…"

I spent the remainder of the car ride listening to my brother's lame 'yo mama' jokes as I tired not to laugh my head off, worried about my mother's sanity.

When we got home, I ran up to my room, closing the door behind me. I heard my mom sigh, thinking that I was being antisocial. But I wasn't, because I needed to talk to my brother without her criticizing eyes on me.

I sat on my bed as my brother floated around me, "What part did you like best, Otouto?"

"Ummm…Takara? Can we just pretend I'm the older one for a sec?" he asked hopefully.

"Nope, I like it when you call me Nii-san, makes me feel important." I explained honestly.

The ghost rolled his eyes, "Alright…Nii-san."

I smiled at his antics, "So, which part of our visit to the zoo did you like the best?"

"I liked the petting zoo the best." He said without hesitation.

My eyebrow rose in surprise, "Really? I thought that you would like it the least because you couldn't touch the animals…"

"Well, yeah, but I had tons of fun watching kids get chased round by the goats!" he giggled.

I rolled my eyes at him, "Which animals did you like the best?"

"I liked the rabbits at the petting zoo the most!"

"Why?"

He shrugged, "I don't know, they just seem so peaceful and nice-looking compared to all the other farm animals…"

I quickly sat up, getting an idea, "That's it!"

"What's it?" he asked.

I pointed to him, "Your name is now Usagi!"

"What?" he flailed his arms in disagreement, "You're naming me "Rabbit"? What kind of name is that?"

"A name I'm giving you because I can't think of anything better…"

"Alright, fine, my name is Usagi!" he smiled.

I gave him an incredulous look, "I thought you didn't like that name…"

Usagi blushed, "I-I don't! Who in the world would like a childish, stupid name like Usagi?"

But I knew that he secretly liked it.

My brother, now enjoying the intimate feelings of having an individual name and being referred to by it, now tried to push more boundaries between the living and the dead. He found that, if he focused, he could move things. We practiced by playing board games in our room so that he could practice moving his pieces, before I had to move for him and that lessened the illusion that I was playing with him. But apparently, that still wasn't enough.

Because, now that we were older, the world wasn't as simple. By now I started middle school, and even gained a couple of friends, though everyone thought I was strange. The classes got a lot harder, but Usagi didn't distract me too much from my homework.

Everything was going well, but then I started to get bullied. It seems my classmates didn't like how I always put half my lunch on one tray and my own half on another. And how I would always try to reserve an empty spot for, what seemed to be, an imaginary friend. And I would refuse to sit at a table if it didn't have space for my brother. Even though I never mentioned my brother, or an imaginary friend, people were still freaked out by me, and avoided me.

I know understood why my mother had been so harsh on me. She knew I wouldn't be able to get away with the whole "brother thing" like I was before. But that didn't matter. The opinion of my classmates didn't matter, the attitude of my mother didn't matter, none of it mattered. Only my dead brother, only Usagi, mattered.

Usagi was my brother, and only true friend. He always listened to me, and he always had a talent at making me laugh. I loved him more than anything else in the world. And if pretending that he was alive, saving a spot for his ghostly body at the lunch table and 'sharing;' my lunch with him, made him happy, then so be it!

Although, that became much more difficult to say when he came up with his next request…

"Takara! I want to everyone to hear whatever I say!" he said to me, one lunch, as I sat at an empty table with him.

"What? How would that work?" I asked him in surprise.

"Simple," he giggled, "You just have to repeat everything I say! So that everyone else can hear it. You always laugh at the different things I say, and I want to see other people laugh because of something I said!"

I nodded that I understood. Who doesn't crave for the accomplished feeling that one gets from when people laugh at a joke you came up with? "It's just that…people might get confused if I speak for two people…"

"I know you can think of something!" Usagi looked at me with pure admiration in his eyes, "You're really smart, Nii-san!"

I bit my bottom lip, he knew I couldn't resist him whenever he called me 'Nii-san', "Alright, I'll figure something out…"

Usagi's arms flew up in happiness, "Yay!" he tried to hug me, but I only felt a cold spot, and shivered, "Thank you so much, Nii-san! You're the best!"

I sighed, wondering what I got myself into.

That nice I spent an all-nighter trying to finish it. I was hand making a rabbit puppet. I got some instructions online that didn't look too difficult, but now I understood that it was more complicated than it seemed at first. I tried, and failed, multiple times to make the puppet look decent, but each one ended up in the trash. I had to make my brother look good. Before I knew it, I had used up all of the white fabric. I sneaked into the linen closet to find some more white material but all I found that was suitable was pink cloth.

"Wait, you're going to make me pink?"

"Well…why not?" I asked innocently, knowing full well why he didn't like the idea.

"It's just…too girly!" he protested as I walked back to my room, material in arms.

"Well, your name is already Usagi…" I poked fun at him.

He crossed his arms, "And whose fault do you think that is?"

I chuckled.

When I got back to my room and sat down at my desk, I felt a sudden surge of determination. I was going to do the puppet right, and I was going to do it now!

An ungodly number of hours later…

Sunlight streamed through the bedroom window as I admired my piece of handiwork. It was all pink, with darker pink on its arms and ears. It looked generally cute though its face kind of looked like a bulldog's. Fitting for Takara, I grinned at the thought. It had buttons for eyes and a cute, little, green tie dangling from its thick neck.

Looking at it, I can't really explain why, but I suddenly was filled with love for this plain puppet. I hugged it, feeling warmth and comfort, though the puppet's chest felt empty without someone's hand inside it. I did the honors put it on my left hand. It fit like a glove, though that wasn't very surprising since I had custom sewed the puppet to the dimensions of my own hand. It felt like it should've been there all my life. I don't know how to explain it but it just felt right.

"So…ready to go to school?" my brother asked.

I flinched and spun around in my chair to look at the alarm clock on my bedside. In my passion to make a puppet I had even forgot that I had school the very next day! I groaned as the clock read 6:45. School would start in half an hour, and I was dead tired.

Even if I wanted to do anything but go to school at that time, I did, anyways.

As time passed by. I started using the puppet and get pretty good and making it look like it was really the puppet talking and not me. And Takara was very happy about it. So it was worth it, though what he said would get me in trouble…and made people avoid me. But I didn't care one bit. I loved the puppet as if it truly was my own brother. Whenever it got dirty, I washed it. Whenever someone threw it in the trash to be mean, I would spend hours trying to dig the filthy puppet out of the trash, though the spirit of my brother was right next to it.

"You know," he said one day, "I think that puppet of yours is becoming an obsession."

"I don't care…plus, this was your idea…" I said.

"I only wanted to be able to talk to somebody besides you!" Usagi shouted, though he was secretly pleased with my 'obsession'.

I could tell every time I hugged or used the puppet, it would make my brother happy. That's all that mattered, after all.

Of course it wasn't long before my mother started to notice this behavior…and disapprove of it…

She glared at me from above her unfolded newspaper as I help Usagi up on my left hand and ate my breakfast of scrambled eggs with my right.

She slammed the newspaper down, "That puppet disturbs me…"

"Well you're not the most pleasant person in the world, either, lady!" Usagi said through the puppet.

Mother's eyes widened, "E-excuse me?"

I looked at my wrist, "Oh my! I'll be late for school!" I quickly got up and put my dirty plate in the sink before rushing out the door.

"And don't feel the need to come back home 'till you throw away that disgusting puppet!" She cried out through the still-open doorway.

As I ran to school, I glared at the puppet in my hand,

"What?" he asked innocently.

I sighed. How was I supposed to oppose what my brother wanted to do? I was the one with a body, after all.

Instantly I could sense negative energy, a dark aura, fall upon Usagi.

I didn't want to bring it up since he was sending bad vibes, so we walked the rest of the way to school in silence.

When we got school, he stayed silent still, like the lifeless puppet he really was. I shook my head, I shouldn't think about my brother like that, this puppet is just the physical representation I made of my non-physical brother…the cold, lifeless representation of my brother.

The rest of the school day with by without mishap…though I wish people would stop staring at me.

The high part of the day was when I came home to a pleasant surprise, "Sawatari-sama!" I cheered as I saw my mother's boyfriend sitting at the kitchen table, still wearing his salaryman suit.

"Ah, Takara-chan!" he exclaimed with a smile.

"He's in middle school now," my mother mumbled as she stirred whatever she was cooking for him, "You should start calling him by 'kun'…"

He chuckled then beckoned me to stand in front of him, "No matter how old he gets, he'll always be Takara-chan to me." He ruffled my hair.

I blushed and timidly looked at my feet.

My mother sighed, "Since you're a hell of a lot better with him than me, could you convince him to get rid of that unsightly puppet he always carries around now?" She lifted the spoon she was stirring the pot with to taste-test something that looked like tomato sauce.

We never ate anything Japanese. First of all, my mother was obviously not Japanese. She had pale skin that seemed even more sickly pale in the afternoon sunlight that shone through the kitchen window. She had long, wavy dirty-blonde hair that cascaded down her head to the small of her back. Though she had closed her eyes as delicately slurped at the wooden spoon, as if she was gently kissing it, you would otherwise notice her dazzling light blue eyes that seemed to pierce through your soul.

I looked a little more Japanese than her, with have slightly darker hair and brown, and narrower eyes. Of course, I didn't even know if I was Japanese at all…I never knew my father. Mother never talked about him either, nor was I courageous enough to ever ask.

The most Japanese person in my family is Oji-san (A/N: referring to Mr. Sawatari as his 'uncle') and he doesn't really count since he's not married to my mom. Though he probably should have popped the question to my mom by now, they've been dating ever since I could remember. I would give almost anything to be able to call him Oto-san instead of Oji-san or Sawatari-san. The only bad thing that might come from the possible marriage is that I would have to listen to more of their 'late night fun'…I really wish mom would let us move into an apartment that had thicker walls separating the rooms…

'He doesn't want to commit to the nutcase,' my brother voiced to me. I didn't dare repeat what he had said through the puppet.

It didn't really matter who my real father was, I would just be happy if I could see Oji-san more often. Though I couldn't help but wonder.

My mother came to Japan to work as a biologist. I don't know what she works on, but it's supposedly highly classified. It doesn't really matter, she makes a good amount of money doing it. We never have any financial problems, but she chooses to live in a smaller apartment with me because she said she doesn't want me to grow up spoiled.

She's the exact opposite of superstitious. She is cynical, skeptical, and suspicious of everything people try to convince her as fact. Which means she doesn't believe in demons, ghosts, or visions of the future. All of things that see myself, things that I know are real, things that affect my every-day-life. I obviously didn't inherit these abilities from her…so did I get them from my father? The ability to see spirits and demons, the ability to catch a glimpse of the future now and then, the ability to sense positive and negative energies, auras, vibes.

Did I get all those abilities from my biological father, in which I know nothing about?

"So…" my hopefully-future-father brought me back to earth, "What's your friend's name?"

"My name is Usagi!" the puppet cried out excitedly at the fact someone was talking directly at him.

"Oh? Isn't that the same name of Takara's… 'little brother'?" Mr. Sawatari seemed a little uncomfortable.

"You do know that I'm not actually a rabbit…right?" Usagi asked.

He smiled, "Of course not," Anyone could tell that you're a puppet…

Usagi looked at his brother, "I don't think he understands…"

I shrugged, "People aren't comfortable with admitting things they think don't exist…"

Sawatari gave me a confused look. He glanced at his watch and looked up with a fake apologetic expression, "Oh! I'm going to be late to my appointment! Sorry Takara," he ruffled my short, brown hair, "You can tell me about your imaginary friends some other time."

I could sense the immense discomfort around him, the negative energy he was giving off. My stomach sank when I heard him leave and close the door.

I heard a frustrated grunt from my mother, who had just finished the plate of spaghetti she was about to feed to her lover, who was now out the door thanks to a certain middle school student. "I can't believe you!" She yelled at me, "Hajime-san is the most caring and patient man I've ever met in my life…and even he's getting tired of your games!" She pulled her hair and yelped in rage. When she was done with that she set her icy cold, blue eyes on me. I froze and felt fear course through my veins.

Her eyes…I'm lucky I didn't inherit those. I had once seen those exact same eyes on a demon that was chasing me once. They were the eyes of a demon, of a precise killing machine, a predator, and I was probably her lunch.

"You!" she growled then hissed, "I'm burning that wretched puppet!" She grabbed the knife she used to cut the tomatoes from the kitchen counter and jumped on top of me before I could fully process what was happening.

I struggled on the living room rug underneath her, "W-what exactly are you planning on burning with a knife?" Last time I checked knives were used to cut things not—

I felt the cold metal move from my chest over to the wrist below Usagi, "And I'll cut your hand off if I have to!"

I probably looked pathetic at that point in time. I was being pinned down by a woman that probably only weighed 120 pounds. And here I was trembling like an earthquake. Tears fell from my eyes as I tried to avert them from her soul piercing gaze. I felt a cold glob of tomato sauce fall from the knife onto the spot in my wrist where she was planning on cutting my hand off. The worst part wasn't that I couldn't push her off because I feared her, the worst part was that she was my mother, that I couldn't push her off because part of me still loved her.

A couple seconds spanned into eternity as I awaited my be-handing. Luckily, for my hand, after the few seconds that seemed to take forever, I heard the miraculous sound of the door opening.

"Hey, sorry, I left my—WHAT IN THE WORLD IS GOING ON?" the voice of my savior screamed. I could only imagine the shock Sawatari had felt at that moment. The image of my mother leaning over me, a knife covered in tomato sauce, which Hajime probably mistook for blood, hovering over my wrist, which also had a good amount of tomato sauce spilled on it.

The door was slammed close and soon footstep were heard running down the steps to the staircase outside the door. My mother instantly stood up, still carrying the knife with her, and ran in pursuit of Sawatari, yelling, "Wait! Hajime! It was only tomato sauce!" (A/N: Hmmm…I think I've made this scene a tad too humorous than needed for such a serious turn of events…)

I got up and ran after her, too, but stayed behind far enough so that she didn't notice my presence. I watched as she chased the Japanese man down the stairs and onto the sidewalk. After a while of my mother yelling and chasing after, Hajime turned around and confronted her. She clinged onto his arm, mumbling apologies.

"Get off of my, woman!" he seized control of his arm again and flinched when he realized my mother was still holding the knife from earlier.

She raised it to show to him, "It's just tomato sauce," she slid her finger across the dull side of the blade, collecting tomato sauce, then popped the finger into her mouth, "See?"

Hajime's face turned red, "That's not the point!" His placed his hand on his forehead and sighed heavily in frustration, "I can't believe you would do such a thing!"

"It's…it's Takara, he's…" My mother's face was white with the final realization of what she did was truly wrong…and maybe even evil.

"I don't care how messed up Takara is! What mother would even think about putting their child under knife point?" Hajime pointed and accused in a very rude way, people were starting to stop and watch. A tear rolled down my cheek as I watched them from behind a trashcan in the alley way. Even Oji-sama thought I was messed up. The one person who, besides Usagi, I thought understood me.

"But…" my mother muttered, but didn't have anything to say after that.

"You know what? I don't care anymore! We're through!" he yelled, "Takara's little friend was, you are a nutcase!"

My mother just stood there, shock and rejection clear on her face. The sound of metal clattering onto the cement of the sidewalk was the last thing that was heard before she turned around and ran off, her long, blonde hair and small, clear spheres of liquid flew behind her.

I could see that Sawatari didn't know what to do. He stood still until he realized that a crowd of people had gathered up around him, murmuring to one another. He tried to put it behind him and he quietly parted the crowd and walked through, almost as if nothing interesting had just happened.

"Wait! Oji-sama!" I ran out from behind the trash can after him.

He turned around in surprise, "Takara? Are you ok!"

When I caught up to him I nodded, "Yes, I'm alright."

He sighed in relief, "Alright, then you should go back home."

I couldn't help it but tears welled up in my eyes, I clung to the bottom of his shirt and buried my wet face in it, "Please don't make me go back there, Oji-san…"

I could hear him gulp as he tried to figure out what to do with me, "Then…you can stay at my place."

I looked up at him with a smile, "R-really?"

He scratched the back of his neck, "W-well, yeah. But not for long, I don't have legal right to house you."

"Arigato gozaimasu! Arigato gozaimasu!" I repeated, tears still falling as I followed him.

"Alright, I get it," he muttered, "Your in middle school now, so don't cry, you'll attract more attention to ourselves." He glanced, without moving his head, at the people who were still watching us with interest.

I sniffed and nodded, "Ok" and wiped my face in determination to not cry anymore. I need to be strong for Otouto…I mustn't cry, no matter how much it hurts.