Okay, okay, I decided to do it. But hey, if I'm going to do a third sequel, I'm going to do it with style! So, here we go. I would like to thank the following reviewers for requesting this sequel, at the time of this upload (also, I will place who they voted for, which I'll explain in a minute):
Kuramafan-06 (Kurama-Bri)
Sonya-White-Angel (Kurama-Bri)
Peeka-chan (I guess Kurama-Bri)
Sallywalker
SilverDragon (Koko-Hiei)
LoveTheDarkness (Kurama-Bri)
Rai (Koko-Hiei)
Celtic Kitty Cuini
Lisa1214 (I guess Kurama-Bri)
Dunken (Kurama-Bri)
Saori Aki Orimi (Koko-Hiei)
Drama-Mama01 (Koko-Hiei w/ Kurama-Bri)
Sillylittlenothing (Eh…; I got re-inspired…)
Fuzz and Fluff (Kurama-Bri)
Princess Kandra
Just about eight wanting to continue with Kurama-Bri and four for Koko-Hiei. I decided to focus on both couples, but I just can't do anything without complicating it, I'm afraid. So if you've ever been curious about what it's like to be reborn, be curious no more! So, we'll be doing a little bit of looking in on Bri's birth and her (secret) twin brother. Hmm…I wonder who that could be…
Official Summary: Bri finally relents and allows Koenma to get her old man with someone and let her be born in this time stream. However, his "mighty toddler-ness" has a little surprise for her: a twin brother. Who is he?
In addition to that, it seems that our beloved Tsuki's soul has escaped from Spirit World lockdown. Plus, Yusuke's little bout with Sensui is coming back to haunt him after three years of ignoring it. Why did this delay occur between the canon series and this story? Well, you'll want to know.
And who is this little brat that moved in across the street from the Wolfs?
Unfamiliar Familiarity
Chapter 1: Conception
…Bri…
You would think I'd learned the first time through that life simply wasn't worth living for someone like me. But I guess I'm just stupid like that. No, I asked Koenma, in all his mighty toddler-ness to give me a new body. I guess living in an eternal restaurant with only the illusion of being alive had finally gotten to me. I was going back only on one condition.
I am not going to see Kurama.
For one, I'd be too young for him. Second, he won't remember me and I just couldn't take that a second time. Lastly, I just didn't want to see him again. It would hurt too much. I would probably break down and cry. Talking to Koko all these years had built up my pride again.
And a weird sense of humor. I mean, staring at a white board and a white wall for fifteen years can do that to a person. But maybe I was humorous only in my own twisted mind. I stood for what I hoped would be the last time in front of his might toddler-ness. He hadn't changed much over the years. Still a toddler, still a pompous brat, and still with those adorable gerbil-cheeks that you couldn't help but want to pinch.
"Hey, Koenma, what's down in the underground?" I grinned.
"You know the risks you're taking, don't you, Bri?" Koenma asked. "You've requested to retain your memories, to remain with the same father. This could cause unwanted repercussions."
I nodded, a sigh falling from me. "Yeah, I know. I've thought and thought about it for fifteen bloody years, Koenma. What the hell do you think?"
"I can't promise to keep you from Kurama."
"I know that."
"I've also received a request from a familiar face. Would you like a twin, Bri?" Koemna chuckled behind his little blue pacifier. "I won't tell you who he is. But I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. This will be his first reincarnation."
"Twin?" I blinked. Could Marion even take twins at his age? Oh, yeah, I forgot how young he was when he'd initially "had" me in the "other life". "Sure. Why not? I could use some company in the womb."
Koenma smiled. "You won't be disappointed, Bri."
I'd always been curious how people found themselves in their mother's wombs. Turns out, it takes a month for a fetus to be ready for a soul. Who knew? Anyway, the process was actually quite simple. The Soul Placer, opposite of the Grim Reaper, takes the soul down the river Styx and finds the fetus in which they are to be placed. Usually, the soul is erased of all memories of their previous life.
I would be an exception to this rule, just as Kurama had been. I guess Koemna saw it as a personal thing, because I'd helped get rid of Tsuki. Apparently, Tsuki had been a major problem to Spirit World long before I was "born". But, I digress. The "past", as it was, is in the "other world" that never was.
This time travel stuff is too dang complicated. I think I'm lucky that Marion found his new wife in a different sort of power. I guess I couldn't complain too much. After all, I was becoming close to Kurama again without actually being near him. Being a half fox demon wouldn't be so bad.
But who was going to be my twin?
"He'll be joining you soon," Koenma assured me. "Uechi, please escort this young lady to the womb of Ichigo Meiji. Soon to be Wolf, of course, but you know that."
"Of course, sir," Uechi said. She had these huge purple eyes that just about took her face over. She reminded me of Botan, except she wore a blue kimono instead of pink. Her hair was the same pink, though. Why was I forever to be haunted by pink?
Uechi brought out an oar, very similar to Botan's, and offered me a seat behind her. I took it with some trepidation. She wasn't as bad a flyer as Botan was, but I can honestly say I was green by the time we entered human world again.
"So you're the girl that has King Yama's undies in a bunch," Uechi said, chortling softly as she slowed the oar down. "He kept saying that we had to get you back in a body."
"Why's that?" Why would King Yama be so worried about little old me?
"Oh, I didn't say anything, you know how it is," Uechi said, giggling softly. "Can't tell you. Cosmic joke and all that. Ah, here we are."
The same house. The same house that Kurama had lived in, in which I had stayed for three blissful years. I stared at it, uncertain. Kurama obviously didn't live there anymore. I sighed as it finally dawned on me; The Wolf family must've taken up residence. Instead of entering the green trimmed house, however, we entered the one next to it. Gun Wa and a strange woman with long, pale brown hair stood in the doorway. My uncle sure had gotten fat since I last saw him…
Wait. That wasn't Gun Wa.
Marion?
Was that my father?
Realize, please, that I've never actually seen my real father except for the short time I saw him as a baby. And we never remember those fuzzy images when our eyes don't work, unless you happen to be like Kurama or, soon enough, me. My father looked exactly like I had, well, except for the fatness and the baldness.
I could tell why Koko always said she liked my father best.
The strange woman, however, reminded me a little of Kurama, but not by much. I think it was probably the fact that her hair twisted almost exactly like his did, and her eyes were slim and golden brown. I shivered slightly on Uechi's oar. She reminded me, just ever-so-slightly, of Youko.
"That's Ichigo," Uechi said, smiling. "Isn't she pretty? I hope you come out looking like her, she's so pretty. Well, in you go."
She settled the oar right up next to the woman's stomach. I stared at the flat, smooth coppery skin, showing just ever-so-slightly from her midriff blue shirt. It was too soon in the pregnancy for her to even know, maybe, that she was pregnant at all. But, knowing that Marion did already know and that they were planning on getting married, I knew that she did. I just hoped that she would be happy to know that she was getting twins.
I swallowed once before letting my soul shiver and take its ethereal, blue cloudy form. I couldn't hear or see in this form, but I knew where I needed to go. I allowed the pull of the womb to drag me in and nestled in the fetus that would soon test positive as female. It was strange.
I could hear the outside world still, barely. Marion's voice was soft, filled with a gentle timber. I could see why Koko liked him. He reminded me of myself. Ichigo's gentle, whispery voice was very different from what I'd thought she'd sound. I guess first impressions really aren't a good base to go on. The gentle beat of Ichigo's heart, the slosh of the womb, soothed me in ways you wouldn't understand. It was like being lulled to sleep. I was still fish-like, which was weird in its own right.
There was another body in here, one that I knew had yet to be filled with a soul. I couldn't see anything, but I could sense that it was there. It felt dead. Was this why stillborns were born? Because they simply didn't have a soul?
I listened to the outside, curious. Although I was still trying to develop hearing, I could sense the vibrations of the voices. Ichigo was pleasant to the "ears" and Marion sounded like he could probably sing pretty flat. It was a strange feeling, trying to figure out what they were saying when I couldn't hear anything more than pleasant rumbling and the incessant but soothing sound of my new mother's heartbeat.
It was only a few minutes later that another presence made itself known. The fetal form of my brother, which before had felt dead, was now alive. It was like he was blinking in the womb, but he couldn't really do that. After a few minutes of disoriented silence, he turned to me in the womb. We both kind of floated there, at a loss. I mean, how do you communicate with someone with no ears, no mouth, and really not much of a brain just yet.
Hey, you're Bri, right? Koenma said I'd 'see' you here.
I "blinked" in surprise. You're…
The one and only.
I never thought I'd get to see you again…
Do I know you? Koenma only told me your name…
I smiled sadly in my tiny mind. I'll explain. We have eight months, after all, Kuronue.
Indeed.
…
…
…
Okay, who saw that one coming? Anyone? Anyone? Or maybe I'm just being an idiot thinking that it would shock anyone.
To all of my readers (WOW, I actually get to say that and have people to be talking to! LOL) I thank you deeply. You have no idea how much I appreciate your reviews, your support, and your ideas. Did any of you know that Bri is actually a character in an original story of mine and that Heal Me was in fact a "playground story" for me to test her character out?
I didn't think I'd get half as many people who enjoyed it. In all matter of fact, I didn't think I would get more than maybe two or three people who enjoyed it to this extent. So, everyone, thank you for this great surprise. Maybe this story will give me my fan fiction review goal: One hundred reviews.
So, what'd you guys think of it?