OO Three more…and a personal email one from Suntiger…WOW…I don't think that's ever happened to me before. I love you guys! Thank you soooooo much!

Answers to questions:

Suntiger: She asked whether Bri could sense that Shuichi was a demon or not. She already knows, yes. Here's the thing: She's sensed demons and stuff her whole life through. It's nothing special to her that she is living with a demon. (I can relate…)

And on the fact that Bri sensed Kurama's dream about Karasu. Dreams about actual traumatic events (according to my shrink, anyway…) are often more powerful than those that are simply made up by the brain to deal with stress. Usually, Bri will "empathize" with a person who is actually being hurt. But because she was in such close proximity to Kurama, she sensed and could feel the pain that reverberated through all those years. That is also the reason why she didn't die: Because it is the power of a dream, not of an actual event.

Kurayamihikari: Find out what an Empathe is (in my definition) this chapter!

Sillylittlenothing: LOL, so far, you're the first to comment on that. The first thing Bri realizes after she figures out she's alive…the couch and carpet are covered in blood.

It's okay to fear rejection. But, my dear, courage is not the absence of fear but the triumph over that fear. Type some stories up. I'll be one of the first to review and give you a quality critique. C'mon. It can't possibly be as bad as my first attempt.

I'll tell you about it. (AN in the AN: If you don't want to read about my first fan fic, skip to the Disclaimer.) You know what I did? I wrote a DBZ fan fic. In fact, it's still under my old name, though what that was, I can't remember. Child Called Angel. I wrote a complete Mary Sue, the grammar was horrific (I rewrote it once already, but it was really terrible), the story was stilted and followed the DBZ storyline almost to a "t", and the main characters were TOTALLY OOC.

I learned my lesson because I got a couple of good people who gave me excellent reviews. I still write OC stories because I use fan fic to "test drive" my real stories. This character, Bri, is actually the main character of a book I'm writing, called the Guiding. The only way you're going to learn, cakes, is by giving it your all and letting others know you've got something to say.

Disclaimer: I don't own YuYu Hakusho or any of the other things that I don't own that I mention in this story. I do own Gunner and Gun Wa and Bri and a couple other characters, though. Please no suing. I am a poor college student who just ACED HER MIDTERMS! WHOO!

Chapter 9: Stranger

Bri

Hell had just dropped a few levels for me.

"Let me get this straight," I sighed. When these people called a midnight meeting, they called an entire freaking slumber party. God, when did I take to hanging with such idiots and dimwits?

"I'm something called an Empathe, which is some psychic thingie meaning that I basically feel other peoples emotions and pain. The reason I kept waking up hurt whenever I couldn't sleep was because I was feeling someone else's pain. I almost died tonight because I was empathizing or whatever with Shuichi's fight in some demon tournament you guys barely won by the skin off your wankers."

"Yes, give or take a few details," Genki said. "Feel lucky that you didn't get near me, little girl. I was killed in that tournament."

I'm sure I had a very interesting face to make at that particular comment.

"What happened to expect the unexpected, Bri?" Shuichi said, meaning it as a sort of half-joke, I'm sure.

But I didn't feel like laughing at the moment.

"Hey, man, you're the reason I almost died, all right!" I shouted. "And not because you actually being hurt but because you were dreaming about it!" I'm not exactly sure what came over me. But I was mad and scared. I guess I'm similar to Yusuke in that regard too, as Genki said later on. When I'm angry, I lash out.

Shuichi was taken aback by my claims, of course. But not nearly as much as I was to what I'd said. In part, it was the truth. But sometimes, the truth hurt.

It hurt just too much.

"Jerk, why didn't you tell me about any of this?" I shouted. "Why did you just stand there and gawk at me like some freaky sideshow?"

Hysteria overtook.

I ran from the room and straight into a patch of woods. Why had I said all that? Shuichi hadn't known anymore than I did what was going on. He'd done all he could for me, and I just stood there and yelled at him for it.

I'd just yelled at the one person who had filled the empty place Keiko had left in my heart. And my heartsickness just got worse. It felt as though my chest has been pummeled to oblivion and all that remained of me was the shattered remains. In a sense, that's exactly what I'd done.

I had just allowed myself to fall again.

Falling through my rivers of blood, praying for my life.

All at once, I could feel everything around me. I felt the restlessness of the creatures all around, could feel their hunger. I could feel Genki's reflections, could see her fighting a tall man and losing, see her dying.

And all I wanted was a father and a mother to hold me. To love me. I wanted Keiko back; I wanted to take back what I'd said to Shuichi. I wanted nothing but for all of this to end.

To just go away.

To leave me alone.

So I could stop being hungry, broken, haunted, weeping in the sands.

I fought the tears in my eyes.

They came anyway.

I can't fight them.

I can't fight.

So hungry for someone to hold me…

SNAP!

"Who's there?" I leapt to my feet.

"Only this one. You need not be afraid, Neko."

SNAP!

"S-Stay back! I…I've got a gun!"

SNAP!

"No, you haven't."

SNAP! SNAP!

She stepped into the half-light of the moon.

"B-But you're…"

Kurama

"She's just angry, Kurama, don't worry about it," Yusuke said softly. "It's not—"

"Don't be stupid. Of course it's my fault," I said.

"You're wrong, Kurama," Yusuke insisted.

It fell on deaf ears.

I raced out into the night. If only I had Youko's sense of smell, I could find her in a heartbeat. Which way had she gone?

"She went into the Dark Forest, Fox," Hiei said from the door.

I raced for the forest's edge. If I could find the smell of her blood. Even Shuichi's nose could smell that overwhelming scent. I didn't need the scent, at least not yet. She'd crashed through the underbrush haphazardly. I followed the broken sticks and crushed leaves, intent on finding her. When at last I did, she wasn't alone.

"Gunner-sensei," I said, taken aback. "What are you doing here?"

"I like these woods," she said. "I just found Wolf here in a tangle of thorns. I think she'll be all right. See you two at school tomorrow!"

And she left.

"Bri, are you all right?" I whispered. I could smell the salt of her tears. Even a human can smell tears. "I'm sorry—"

"No, Shuichi, I'm the one who should apologize," she sighed. "I'm sorry for being a freakishly stupid idiot. You just saved my life and all I could do was yell at you. I'm just confused right now."

"But I'm the one who put you in jeopardy in the first place."

"You can't help what you dream," she sighed. Then she did the funniest thing. She got up from the ground and threw her arms around my neck. "Don't ever blame yourself for my stupidity." She let go. "You got that, you jerk?"

I smiled, though I was still a little taken aback by her sudden hug. "Yes. I 'got' that."

"Thanks, Shuichi. Come on, let's get back."

Then she did another strange thing, then left me to ponder it as she walked away. She kissed me on the cheek.

As I've said before, what a strange girl.