Disclaimer: I don't own any Yu Yu Hakusho character! It would be really nice to, but I don't! I do own however, Kairos…she's my character! Along with the ghosts!

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Chapter 2 – The Spirits in Kuwabara's Home

            Kairos felt a tug on her left sleeve and looked to see what it was. Shuichi was sitting next to her, and he was motioning her to take off the headphones. "What?" she asked when the headphones rested around her neck.

            "We're getting off," he stated as he grabbed his bag. She pulled the headphones back on and walked off after everyone else.

            "I would have thought one of you guys would have had a driver's license," Kairos said when the bus rolled away.

            "Hiei does, but his car is in the shop. Kuwabara does too, but he drives like a manic and currently has his license suspended," Kayko said. "Yusuke just doesn't have a car, Botan, Shuichi, and I still have to wait to take the test," she said sighing.

            "No, Botan has to take it again. She's not young to take it," Yusuke said. "She failed the first time she took it. Both the written and the actual driving," Kairos looked at Yusuke and then at Botan.

            "I DID NOT FAIL THE DRIVING PORTION!" Botan screamed.

            "Yeah, you just almost killed bystanders," Hiei said under his breath. Kairos sighed and regretted trying to ask a single question. Kuwabara walked up to the door of the home the bus had stopped in front of and opened the door.

            I'm going to regret asking this. Kairos thought. "I thought we were heading to Kayko's house," Kairos asked as she saw Kuwabara walk inside the home.

            "We will, it's just that Kuwabara forgot his sleep bag," Botan called over her shoulder as she walked into the home.

            "Sleeping bag?" Kairos asked blinking.

            "Oh, I guess we never told you. Ever since we met in the eighth grade, we've had an annual sleep over at someone's house. This year it's Kayko's," Botan explained motioning for Kairos to come in. The instant Kairos walked into Kuwabara's home she was overcome with a powerful surge of dead emotions. Kairos had the ability to see, communicate, and interact with spirits. She discovered that when she was five years old when she was with her older brother and they were in the forest. They were playing and all of a sudden, Kairos had run off following a little girl with curly blonde hair, wearing a white dress deeper into the forest. No one knew what Kairos was mumbling about until her parents followed Kairos into the forest. They had found the little girl's dead mangled body lying on the riverbed, and her parents had freaked out about what Kairos had found. Even despite the fact that Kairos told her parents numerous times, that she saw the little girl, and that the little girl had told her to follow. Kairos' parents just weren't the type of people to take the explanation as reality. Shortly following that they sent Kairos to a mental institute and it was there that her powers developed farther than they would have normally. The only reason was because the institute was originally a gallows and that the place contained the dead spirits of the patients who died there.

            Kairos rested her right hand against the inside of the doorframe, and with her left, she tried to support her head. The rush of emotions and spirits in his home was overwhelming her. She bent her right arm and slid down to the ground trying to gather her bearings. Through her closed eyelids, she saw faint images of spirits wandering back and forth.

            "Kairos?" the voice was faint and echoed through her chaotic mind. "Are you alright?" she opened her eyes and only saw blurred figures that she could only guess who they were. "Are you alright?" the voice was more urgent now, and Kairos tried to determine whose blurred figure knelt before her. "Kairos?"

            Pain splintered through her mind and she screamed. Her mind couldn't take the invasion of spirits that pounded against her mind. She heard numerous voices screaming through her mind telling her to kill someone or something. She heard others screaming for help, and she desperately wanted them all to leave her mind. Kairos felt something splice through her mind and her head snapped up. Her gold eyes turned into a blank and empty amethyst. She faintly heard people screaming her name as she was dragged deeper into the dark recesses of her mind.

            "Chantrea!" screamed a deep, slurring male voice. "Get your lazy fucking ass over here!" I cowered in the corner. "I said get you damn ass over here!" he shouted and hurled a half empty bottle of beer towards me. The bottle smashed into the wall a little way to the right of her right ear. It shattered into thousands of tiny shards and a few of the shards sliced through her skin. Blood slowly poured out of the small wounds as I stared at the man I called my father.

            "Kurama, what's wrong with her?" Kayko asked concern and fear filled her eyes as she stared at Kairos' lifeless body.

            "She seems to be in a comatose-like state," Kurama replied to his worried friend. "Kuwabara, do you know what could have caused this to her?"

            "Why are you asking me?" Kuwabara asked almost offended.

            "Because this is you house, you imbecile," Hiei stated starting to get ticked off with Kuwabara's stupidity.

            "Oh," Kuwabara said blushing a bit. "Well this house is full of spirits, and not all of them are friendly," he offered helplessly.

            "But, we never sensed that she had powers, or any spirit energy," Yusuke interjected.

            "Yusuke…do you remember the Toguro brothers?" Botan said. "Not to mention that they didn't seem to have any spirit energy but ended up having it," Yusuke nodded slightly and watched as Kurama lifted Kairos onto a couch. "Kurama…" Yusuke was pointing to Kairos' face and right side, which had the somehow gotten cut.

            "What the…" Kurama allowed the sentence to trail off as he stared at her bleeding face and side.

            "Chantrea!" he screamed again. I continued to cower in the corner, for I knew what my father could do to me in a drunken rage. Even though I knew better, and should have gotten up from where I was in the first place. "Girl! You're asking for it!" He stumbled as he got up from his seat. I knew exactly what I was about to get for not going over to him. I had refused so many times in the past and I had received a horrible beating. The bruises that run along my arms, ribs, and legs can vouch for me. "You lazy ass, you're supposed to do as your told. NOT do whatever you wish!" He was less than a foot away from me, and I could smell the horrible stench of alcohol on his breath. I tucked away whatever sanity I had left deep within my mind the moment I felt his fists connect with my shoulder. He then picked my up by my collar and waved me around in the air. "You've been a naughty girl, and naughty girls need to be taught a lesson," I felt his right hand connect with my right cheek and then flail back again slapping my left cheek. He hurled me across the room and I landed with the small of my back colliding with the corner of the coffee table.

            A slight whimper escapes my lips, and I finger the wound from my back. When I pull my fingers to the front of my face, I noticed blood on the tips. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw my father coming towards me again. I tried to stand but found the small cut from the table caused me to lean up against it. He swung his right hand in a drunken round punch and I ducked as I slowly maneuvered myself into my room. My legs were already weak from my previous beating just a few hours ago. But I willed them to carry my into my room where I could lock him out.

             In complete awe as the group, back in Kuwabara's home, watches as Kairos lifts herself shakily off the couch. Her eyes still contain the blank amethyst look, and they all notice the blood that has stained the small of her back. "Kairos?" Kayko whispers as she walks by her, half limping, half struggling. They all saw Kairos' body jerk, and her head swing when she rested on the couch. They all saw the blood on her fingertips when she walked by each of them. "Kairos?" Kayko said louder this time, but she still didn't hear. "You guys do something!" she pleaded to Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei as she watched Kairos dragging herself along the wall, down the hall.

            Yusuke and Kuwabara dashed down the hall to Kairos and Yusuke shook Kairos violently. But she didn't even blink, instead she had her body thrown against the opposite wall by some unknown force.

            "Kuwabara," Kurama said from the living room. "What kinds of spirits live here?"

            "Uhh…" he replied dumfounded. "Some peaceful ones, and maybe three, four violent ones," Kuwabara's face dropped when he finished his sentence. "Oh no…you don't think that she accidentally made contact with some of the violent ones do you?"

            Kurama didn't reply but walked down the hall with Hiei. Yusuke backed away from Kairos and she continued to struggle down the hall. "Kuwabara, do you know what happened to the violent spirits in their time?"

            "No, I never talked to them…they creeped me out," Kuwabara admitted feeling just a tidbit embarrassed. "I just know that there used to be two crazy, homicidal old ladies, an abusive father that killed his son and almost killed his daughter, and some woman who used to kill people for fun."

            "This can't be good!" Yusuke practically shouted. "What are we going to do?! We've got Kairos is some la-la land and we don't know how to get her out!"

            "We should just let her do whatever, and leave her," Hiei stated turning around.

            "But what happens if she is being possessed by one of the victims, Hiei?" Kurama asked looking at Kairos leaving some blood on the wall.

            "You just can't leave her like that!" Botan protested to Hiei's comment. "Kurama has a point, if she was the daughter that almost died…" Botan didn't finish her sentence, and watched as Kairos was flung backwards a couple of yards from where she was. Kairos hit the wall behind Botan and sprawled out on the floor.

            "Urgh," I muttered moaning. My entire body ached. My father had tossed me across the house again and caused my body to hit the wall. I knew that my head wound from a few days ago had reopened again. I could already feel the blood trickling down the back of my skull. I was only a meter away from the bedroom door when my father caught hold of me. Now I had another option. Which was to run out of the room through the front door, and if that fails, I'll think of another possibility later. I heard my father's angered footsteps charging across the room, and I felt his hands jerk my hair and head backwards. I let out a scream, for I could feel his fingers digging deeper into the, already, broken and bleeding scalp. "Please, let go," I pleaded to him. But only earned a quick yank of my hair. "Please…" I was barely able to choke it out between my sobs. The pain I have taken in the past week has been the worst so far, and I knew that if I wasn't careful then I was going to find myself dead. Just like my older brother, Ravi, had died earlier this month. "Dad, please let go," he released my hair. Though I relished this moment of joy, I suddenly felt his fingers close around my throat. My air supply was being cut off quickly. I knew that he had lifted me off the ground slightly and was now trying to strangle me. Desperately, I tried clawing out of his grip. I thrashed my legs trying to kick him, and I knew tried to tear out his eyes. My vision was becoming hazy with black edges.

            "Kairos!" I knew I was hallucinating, I don't even know anyone by the name of Kairos. But the voices kept on frantically repeating to name. Perhaps Kairos is the name of a neighbor, but I felt a tug on my mind. It was shutting down, and I had not taken a breath for a minute or so. My mind was telling me that I wasn't going to be able to take anymore of this, and that I was going to fall unconscious soon. But I could hear the eerie call of death for me, just waiting, holding my hand as my father's grip around my neck tightened.

            "KAIROS!" Everyone, except Hiei, screamed at Kairos' floating body. Her arms and legs thrashed violently, and they could see finger marks circling her neck.

            "What are we going to do?!" Kayko said hysterically.

            "I wonder…" Botan said walking towards Kairos. She lifted her fingers to Kairos' neck, and felt the pressure of fingers around it. Up close she could also see Kairos desperately trying to breath. "I think she's being strangled by something."

            "Kuwabara," Yusuke said turning towards him. "WHAT THE HELL KIND OF GHOSTS DO YOU HAVE LIVING HERE!?!?!?!?!?!" he screamed at Kuwabara at the top of his lungs.

            "Obviously murderous ones, Yusuke," Hiei answered staring at Kairos' floating body. "She's going to die pretty soon," Hiei stated examining the way her body was slowly going limp, and how her struggling seemed to have slowed.

            "Hiei's right," Botan added. She lifted Kairos' hand and checked out pulse. Botan straightened rigidly. The color drained from her face as she witnessed what was happening to Kairos. Kayko and Yusuke rushed to Botan's side and pulled her away from Kairos.

            "Botan, what's wrong?" Kayko asked, checking her forehead. "You don't have a temperature."

            "Kairos…" she muttered with a vacant look. "A man is strangling her, no…not Kairos but someone else," Botan trailed off trying to organize the thoughts running through her mind. "He wasn't strangling Kairos he was strangling his daughter," she uttered staring at Kairos' body becoming still. "We have to help her," she stated moving towards her.

            "I don't think so Botan, we don't want you going all still on us again," Yusuke said pulling her away from Kairos and sitting her on the couch. "We're going to handle Kairos. You and Kayko stay away from her," he turned around and took Kayko to the couch and ordered them to stay put. "OK…so how are we suppose to help her?"

            "Well, Botan was able to see what was happening to her when she touched Kairos' hand," Kurama stated walking closer to her. "Maybe one of us should try what Botan did," he lifted his hand up to touch her wrist but stopped. "But which one?"

            "I'll do it," Yusuke stated walking up to Kurama.

            "I will too," Kuwabara added faking much more bravado than was necessary.

            "We don't need both of you doing the same thing right now," Kurama said.

            "We don't need two dead humans on our hands," Hiei grumbled walking closer to Kairos. Her body was practically still, and could have been mistaken for dead if she was seen from faraway. She gasped now, trying to take in whatever air she could.

            I could barely feel his fingers around my neck now. My mind has been numb for so long, and I lost feeling to the rest of my body just recently. I can hear faint voices talking about something, but those voices get fainter by the second. I know that I'm going to die soon, and that when I do I won't mind. The things that I didn't do in this life, I'll do in the next. The few, precious, joyous memories I have I shared with my deceased family and friends. M body hit the floor, and my life flashes before me eyes. I heard that just before you die you watch your whole life over again and now I guess I'm going to die. I can see myself as an infant, followed by toddler. All the bad memories that I have are avoided, which pleases me, and I see a boy. No, not a boy, a male in his teens in front of me. He's appears almost as a ghost, but something in my mind tells me that I once knew him.

            "Kairos?" his voice is faint, just like his red hair, green eyes, and pale skin. I smile thinking that this angel has come to take me to heaven. "Kairos?" he voice is caring and urgent. "I need you to wake up," he said staring around my home. "You're going to die if you don't."

            "I don't mind…I actually want to…there's nothing here in this world for me anymore," I replied to his demand. "I just want to lay down and die, close my eyes and rest."

            "Don't, I need you to wake up. Just open your eyes and wake up," he was holding onto my shoulder and shaking me. It was the same motion my father does to me, but differently. Whenever my father shakes me, he does it in a way letting me know that he was angered. This guy, however, is shaking me almost as though he really wanted me to live. "Get up, wake up, and live," he demanded lightly. She felt electricity thunder through her, and she could barely tell whether she was alive or dead. But she knew that she had lost consciousness, and maybe death would come next.

            Kurama released Kairos' wrist and check her pulse. He only tried to contact her when she fell to the ground beside him. He concentrated on her pulse for a little bit and then knew that she was back to normal. She groaned and stirred a bit on the floor, trying to get up. She tried to lift herself by propping her arms up but collapsed. "Here," Kurama lifted Kairos up from the floor and leaned her back against the wall. "How are you feeling?" he asked tentatively, examining the bruises that ran along her arms.

            "Like hell," she replied withdrawing her arms away from him. She rolled her head against the wall and quickly regretted it. "Ow," she lifted her right arm up to her scalp, and withdrew her fingers. She could feel the warm blood still gushing out of the wound. "Shit."

            "Kuwabara, do you have a first aid kit?" Kayko asked getting up from her seat on the coach. He nodded and retreated down the hall to get it. "Do you know what happened?"

            Kairos hesitated before answering but locked eyes with Kayko. "No, I don't," she shook her head and closed her eyes almost as though she was trying to figure it out. I knew exactly what happened actually Kayko, I just don't trust you. Kairos thought as Kayko tilted Kairos' head towards her. "I'll be fine. I don't need you guys fussing over me," Kairos said starting to get ticked off.

            "Just let me bandage you up, Kurama pass me the scissors," Kayko pointed to the scissors laying besides Kurama.

            "Who's Kurama?" Kairos asked. She noticed Kayko blush crimson.

            "Best way not to tell people real names, huh?" Yusuke whispered into Kayko's ear snobbishly rubbing it in.

            "Shut up!" She hissed at him and then turned to Kairos. "Shuichi's nickname is Kurama," she said desperately trying to cover for her mistake. Kairos glared at her and turned to Kurama who had spoken up.

            "Yes, well if you wish you can call me Kurama also," he said with a slight chuckle. He handed the scissors to Kayko and she bandaged up Kairos. "Now that this event is over, why don't we head to Kayko's place?"

            "Oh, I still have to get my sleeping bag," Kuwabara added racing down the hall, presumably to get his sleeping bag. A moment later Kuwabara returned holding a bag with clothes in it, and a sleeping bag underneath his arm. "Now, I'm ready."

            "Kairos," Kayko turned to face her again. "Do you need anything?" she asked politely.

            Kairos shrugged and replied, "I have no clue whether I'm going to stay all night."

            "You have to!" Botan halfway ordered and insisted. "It's really fun, trust me."

            "I can lend you some clothes if you want," Kayko added.

            Kairos examined Kayko and then said, "I'm taller than you."

            "So?" Kayko asked missing Kairos' point.

            "I'm taller than you, which would mean that your clothes would be shorter than my leg or arm length," she stated clearly. She even stood up and dragged Kayko with her to illustrate her point.

            "Oh," Kayko said after she lifted her head and noticed that Kairos was about seven inches taller than her, with Kayko standing at 5'4" and Kairos at 5'11". "Then why don't we go to your place and get some stuff?"

            "Yes, that's an excellent idea Kayko!" Botan added clapping her hands together. Sighing Kairos said nothing. She had some objections but didn't state them, she knew that trying to ignore the two wouldn't get her anywhere. Not to mention that they wouldn't stop bugging her until she caved in, and so she thought better now than later. Therefore, the gang walked out of Kuwabara's home and onto the street with Kairos wearing a navy baseball cap on her head to hide the bandages, all heading towards Kairos' home.