"Yusuke Urameshi. It's been a long time." I smiled, bowing to him. "You probably don't remember me; my name is Ella. I am Kazuma's older cousin. It's a pleasure to see you again."

Yusuke looked me up and down, bending at the waist and lowering his face to mine in contemplation.

"Can't say I do. You sure you're older? No offense, but you're kind of... little. Like a kid or something."
"You're charming." I forced a smile, stepping hard on Kazuma's foot when he laughed at me. "Keiko informed me that you love skipping school as well as picking fights. I see why you and Kazuma get on so well."

"Well?!" They both flew away from me, and away from each other, the same sides of a magnet repelled by one another's identical nature.

"Don't be so surprised. You both have the same shine in your eyes, the same determination to be the best and beat on the ones that hurt people weaker than them. You're both too big-hearted of people to not get on, even if it means fighting and bickering like a married couple."

I moved to Keiko as they launched into an argument, who was staring at Yusuke with a look of sadness. I recognized that look from every time that my mother talked to my father. It was a look of detachment, one that comes from trying to let the person they love live their own life while trying to keep them in a state of happiness. I nudged her, smiling at her.

"Maybe we should all go and see a movie?"

"Yes, that sounds great! There's this great foreign art film playing right now."

"Yeah, that sounds great." Yusuke flinched, stopping his bickering with Kazuma to face his girlfriend, who looked excited for the first time since I had been introduced to the boy. I encouraged her by taking her arm and walking in front of the group to walk backwards with her, listening to her go on about this film. I honestly wasn't terribly interested, but I was glad to see her smiling and excited, and going to a movie was better than going home to study reading.

"You know, I just forgot that I have to run to the store a minute."

I turned to stare at Yusuke, freezing at the size of the bug that was on his shoulder. I had been seeing a few of these bugs flying around all day, but I didn't want to say anything because no one else seemed to mind them. Was this a normal occurrence?

"And Kuwabara has to come with me." Yusuke pulled my cousin to his side and ran off, promising that he would be back shortly. I didn't really believe him, and I doubted that Keiko did either.

"Hey, at least now we can spend some time just us, right?" I joked, smiling at her.

"Right." She smiled at me, but I could see the confusion and anger in her eyes that Yusuke had ditched her so soon after getting back, and without a real explanation. "I haven't gotten any real girl time in a while."

I smiled, listening to her talk about school while we got some popcorn and wandered into the mostly empty movie theater. We saved the boys a seat just in case, but we both knew it was futile.

I admit it; I fell asleep half an hour into the film. It was quite possibly the most boring foreign film I had ever seen, mostly just subtitles and walking around a countryside. I startled awake at a scream, glaring at the woman on screen who had screamed at a tree falling. I rubbed my eyes, praying Keiko didn't notice. I was lucky she didn't notice me sleeping.

"That scared me too." She whispered with a smile. I nodded, forcing a smile back and making myself watch the rest of the movie mimicking her reactions out of the corner of my eye. I found my thoughts wandering back to the red haired boy that was at the school yesterday, wondering if I would see him again soon. Mrs. Tanaka had been impressed with my performance, informing me that she resented that she could not put me in the competitive team, which flattered me immensely. I was just glad to be dancing again soon.

With going to the high school a few days a week, it was going to be difficult not to run into him again. The boy with the cautious eyes and the elusive smile...

"Don't you think?" I was jerked back to reality, wincing as my brain caught up with the bright lights in the theater. I blushed, realizing that Keiko was expecting an answer that I couldn't give her.

"I'm sorry, Keiko. I was lost in thought a moment. What were you saying?"
She frowned, but nodded, seeming to understand. "Can I ask you something?"

"Of course." I stood up, moving out of the row of seats so we could escape this place without the expectation of having to watch anything else while we were already here.

"Do you think Yusuke and Kuwabara ditched on us because they didn't want to watch the movie, or because Yusuke has something better to do than spend time with me?" I whipped around to look at her, walking backwards directly in front of her and frowning. "I know it sounds childish, but ever since he... well... he got in that accident, he's been more and more secretive. It's like he doesn't want me in that part of his life, and it hurts that he wants that."

"Keiko, even I can see that Yusuke is head over heels for you. I'm sure they were just afraid of falling asleep in the theater and hurting your feelings. He'll be back soon, I'm sure of it."

She nodded again, looking down at her feet. Making people feel better didn't seem to be a Kuwabara family specialty. I looked overhead, watching the bugs flittering around the area. I flinched when one came near me, a sickness in my stomach at the sight of them. Keiko glanced at me, frowning. How was she not uncomfortable at the sight of them all? No way was a girly girl like her alright with bugs flying all around her like this.

"Hey, I have to head over to the middle school to finish up my student council work for tomorrow. Will you be okay finding your way home, or would you like to come with me so I can show you more of the city?"

I met her eyes again, forcing a smile. "You do what you need. I'll find my way back to the house just fine. Thank you for hanging out with me today!"

She smiled at me, and nodded. I stopped walking, watching her as she walked past me. I glanced around, trying to figure out where I was without getting a headache. I recognized the shopping center, but I didn't recognize where I was within the shopping center. I had never been to the movie theater, but I figured that if I found the arcade I would be able to find my way home. There was no guarantee, but hopefully I would be able to remember the way Kazuma walked with his friends.

This "Genkai" that Kazuma and Yusuke were talking about sounded intense, and somehow familiar. From what Kazuma had told me, she was a no-nonsense type of woman, someone who could shed some light on just what it was that ran in our family. Kazuma said he had gone to talk to her about his ability to sense ghosts and spirits, something that was a common occurrence between my cousins and I. I felt almost obligated to go and talk to her, like something in me needed to meet her in order to control something wild and uncontrolled raging inside of me. Something that I feared I would be unable to control once it found it's way to the surface.

Maybe Shizuru would be able to tell me more about this woman when I got home.