Disclaimer: *sigh* I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Haruka was considered a typically normal person. Even though her father was killed when she was very young, few people bothered to know these facts. No one bothered to know about her family life and she didn't bother tell them. She was a typical person with a few friends in school who she sometimes invited to her home. But no matter how typical she acted, she was far from it. Six years ago, she had been involved in an accident that had almost cost her, her life.
What people didn't know was that Haruka Kimuragi did die. She died without anyone in the world knowing that she did. No one, not even her own mother knew her daughter had truly died under her watchful eye. Instead a demon spirit who was desperately trying to find ways to survive had become the host to the body of a dead child, and had been living her life as her. Her aunt probably had dismissed her being strange as it being a part of her near death experience. Her mother had 'mysteriously' died soon after her accident.
She had almost no doubt that someone was killing off Haruka's family for some reason or the other. If it was a demon, then they would retreat after feeling her demonic energy. But if it was a human, she could make sure an 'accident' occurred. All she had left to do was find the person. Unfortunately, she had taken too long to theorize this after returning to life. She had been attacked while she was recuperating in the hospital. Fortunately, the attacker had correctly guessed that even weak, she was more than strong enough for him. He had fled. Returning to his master. Informing him of the change.
She would have cursed her stupidity if she hadn't known for sure that she would have increased her recovery time by a high margin, if she had chased after him. She wished Kurama was with her. He would have thought of something. He would have put a tracking seed on him. Or some kind of plant from the Makai. He always made her life so much easier, she mildly wondered. It really was a pity he was dead. Then she felt like cursing her stupidity again. It was Kurama who gave her that scroll. He was probably in the human world as well. Maybe. But it was way more likely than him being killed.
Unfortunately, she had searched around a few portals in the world but she hadn't been very successful. Kurama was very well hidden. Not surprising, considering he made a living for a thousand years by hiding and being subtle. It was one of the reasons why being his side-kick was so awesome. She always learned new things. She had brute forced her way through more than enough problems before Kurama finally rolled his eyes and took her in. She had called for a party. He hunted for all his people before scolding her for being subtle as a S-class on a rampage. She just grinned and bore through it.
Kurama and her had the closest emotional relationship. They behaved like siblings where the younger sister tried to bully the older brother as he walked away unruffled. Half a decade later, she was wishing she had teased him a bit more. She watched as his people turned against each other. She watched as her comrades separated. All except two. Two, who left her a decade after that. Was it any surprise that she didn't care about anyone? Anyone other than Kurama.
"Haru-ka. Ha-ru-ka." Her eye twitched as a girl boldly climbed a pipe a story up and hung off her window. She could feel the way everyone was gaping at the strange girl.
"Miidori. Get in. Class starts soon." Her monotonous voice might have put anyone- other than the stupid girl who risked a broken neck to say hi- off. It was slightly annoying to have her around.
"Aye, aye Captain!" She huffed as she pulled herself over the window and inside the classroom. She dramatically collapsed beside the window. Receiving no reponse, she got up and gave her a salute. "All aboard, Captain. What are your orders?" I rolled my eyes at the silly girl. She giggled.
"As you command, Cap! I shall drag you to lunch to make friends." Haru spluttered. "Ah- ah. Captain's orders."
"Didn't you just say, I'm your Captain? I didn't say anything!"
"Who said anything about you being the captain?" She pointed to some random boy. "Perhaps I meant him!" The boy squeaked before making himself busy when he was caught overhearing. I looked at him dubiously, ignoring how uncomfortable my gaze seemed to make him.
"I doubt that severely. And he didn't say anything about me having lunch with your friends." Midori huffed in response.
"They'd be your friends too if you went and talked to them!"
"I have no interest in friends." Midori started glowing happily in response. She was so odd. You'd think that would make her upset instead.
"But I'm your friend. Doesn't that mean you think I'm worth the effort? That I'm special?"
"No. It just means you're persistent." She grinned happily.
"You didn't deny we're friends." Haru felt her cheeks heat up slightly.
"No. I didn't deny it." She bit her lip to prevent a smile from blooming into life. Haru's lips just twitched up. Slightly. Unnoticeably.
Okay, maybe I was lying. There was one other person I cared for as much as Kurama. Only Midori could be so…light. She was human though. She would grow. She would die. But perhaps she could spend a human life beside her before Midori went to the spirit realm.
"You're smiling, Haru." Haru stifled a smile at the nickname. Haru was a name of this body but 'haru' wasn't. HAru was her name. Her new name in the human world.
"No, I'm not."
"Yes, you are! Your smile is playing peek-a-boo with me!" …what? Haru couldn't suppress her laugh anymore. She shoulders shook as she laughed loudly and tears streamed from her eyes from suppressing her laughter. When she calmed down, she wiped her eyes before looking at Midori with a small smile.
"You're such an idiot, Mi." Midori jus grinned in her self-satisfied way.
"If I wasn't, would we be friends?"
"Maybe, another life." Haru winked before shooing Midori away to her seat just as the bell rang.
"Meanie!" Half the class stared when she screamed childishly from halfway across the class. She put her face in her hands, repeating mentally, I don't know that girl. I don't know that girl. I don't know that girl.
Thankfully, the teacher's arrival stopped her from throwing something at Midori. She really was an idiot.
-x-
The spiritual activity was increasing in the area for the last year. It had been a very worrying development. The first signs of Makai insects had made her pack her, her aunt's and Midori's bags for a trip to another city. Or maybe a country. Thankfully, when she raced back to the city in top speed, the insects were gone. They retuned soon after from their 'trip' and Midori scolded her for kidnapping her without her permission. She had informed Midori's family that she wanted to show Midori a few places so she would be stealing Midori for a few days. They had thought Midori would be staying in the city but what they didn't know wouldn't hurt them.
Midori had become slightly suspicious of her but hadn't said anything. She was very thankful for that. How could she explain her taking over Haru's life 6 years ago and a concept of a different demon world to a human? She didn't know. She really wished Kurama was there to find a solution. But then again, he would probably just kill her off because she was becoming soft or something. Who knew?
After the Makai insects, things calmed down for a while. But she could sense Kurama. A very human-ish Kurama but she could knew it was him. But along with him was another demon. He seemed mildly familiar with a contradictory nature. Whoever he was, he was fast. Not by much but still faster than a normal demon would be. Then there was also a human. He was different. She wasn't sure what exactly she was sensing. But he had potential. Then there was a spiritually powerful human. Those four stood out, when she tried to sense Kurama, the most. There were also people from the spirit world that sometimes came around. Well, not 'people'. One spirit and the prince of the spirit world. She would have approached them a long time before if it wasn't for the involvement of the spirit world. Was Kurama caught? Did he give up? Both were very unlikely. It was very confusing. But Kurama was involved with the spirit world for some reason or the other.
Haru really wished she knew. But the year passed peacefully. She trained more than she did before. There was no doubt that the even the human realm was becoming unsafe. She really wanted to tell Midori but it was hard to be sure she would be safe if she was told. She wanted to train Midori as well. She had more than enough excessive spiritual energy to use to fight or escape. And Midori had shown signs of unconsciously using her spiritual energy to destroy a Makai insect sitting on her. That had shocked her quite a lot, but Midori seemed unaware of the spirit world but seemed to feel the Makai insects. It only made her want to train her more.
"Haru! Where aaaare you?" Speak of the devil. She sighed.
"I thought you didn't want to miss any class?" Midori ninja-climbed her way over the door to the roof and collapsed beside her, staying hidden from anyone else who would enter the roof.
"I didn't. But you seemed so glum that I felt that my duty as your best friend was more important than a few review sessions." She raised an eyebrow. "Oh all right. I couldn't understand anything. You always help me understand classes."
"I'm spoiling you. What would you do without me?" Midori grinned.
"I know you'll never leave your best friend to fend for herself. And even if you left, I'd just follow you." Haru sighed again. This was the kind of thing that made her reluctant to tell Midori the truth.
"You can't always say things like that, Midori. What if I died? What if something else happened?" Suddenly Midori started laughing. Not a happy laugh but something so different from what she knew of her that it was barely believable that it came from Midori's mouth. "Midori?" She stopped her slightly hysterical laugh and wiped her eyes clear of stray tears.
"I knew." Haru didn't breathe. What? What does she know? Does she know about me? About everything? "I knew. And this just confirmed my suspicions."
"What?" Haru's voice was barely a whisper. Midori looked at her sadly and with older eyes than she could have thought she could have.
"Haruka. I knew she wasn't you. I knew it from the moment I saw you. I knew you didn't have amnesia. You didn't act like it. Symptoms were missing. Amnesia doesn't erase muscle memory. It doesn't erase some habits. It doesn't change the whole personality. I have known Haruka for a long time, and it couldn't have been more obvious to me that you aren't her." Midori's voice had become harsh near the end. Haru winced.
"It wasn't intentional. I didn't want to kill her."
"But she died anyway. I know." Haru looked at her suspiciously.
"How much do you know about Haruka? There is something strange about this body. Something I should know. Tell me. How much?" Midori hesitated.
"Enough." She gave Midori a look. "A lot."
"A lot?" Midori huffed.
"Fine. I know everything. Almost everything, at least. Haruka's mother taught me. She told me things about herself and her family. She had almost adopted me. She was also my teacher, you know? So I had the perfect excuse to spend loads of time with both of you. Haruka's mother told me about her- now your father. He is the one you need to look out for. We had wanted to keep your innocence intact for as long as possible. By the time we realized we should have started long ago, we were late."
"Wait. Wait. Let me get this straight. Haruka's mother asked a 10 year old to protect her 10 year old daughter. What? How does that make sense?" Midori smiled.
"I am a descendant of a demon. I almost died when I was 5 years old when I had a disease. Your mother was a psychic who specialized in barriers. She contained my unleashing of the demonic powers. I was a descendant of a comrade of Raizen. And for some reason, I got my ancestor's memories. Not all of them of course. But a few of them." Haru would have gaped if she wasn't an almost ancient demon. She had never heard of anyone receiving memories of their ancestor. Then again, demons rarely had a kid with humans. Was this some kind of pseudo-society where mothers of half-demons resided?
"Of course with my uncontrollable demonic energy and memories, I was nothing like a human child. I matured drastically and you mother trained me. My parents just thought I got attached to your mother for some reason. But your mother taught me about demons. About spiritually aware people. About the spirit world. She was taught by Genkai. Very briefly about controlling her energy. Hen she was mostly self-trained. Unfortunately, Haruka was a psychic as well, and born with the innate ability to control it. That's when the problem started. Well, that's when the problem seemingly started for us. People started dying. People that we thought had demon blood. We don't know how but someone started kidnapping their bodies. They died, and their bodies would disappear after the funeral. Every single one. So we tried to protect people we knew. My father still died. Then you almost did." Midori looked at her with a heart broken expression. "But you didn't d-for some reason. We got suspicious, but you seemed so distant. We didn't want to ask. Then your mother died. I didn't know what to do. I just stuck around." She gave a wobbly smile. "You seemed to welcome my companionship so I figured why not. And we became friends." Her smile became genuine. Haru didn't have the heart to be suspicious of her friendship. She really was becoming soft.
She found she really didn't mind. She smiled softly.
"Thank you for telling me." She pulled her in a hug. Midori sniffed wetly.
"So, um. You want to know about me, right?" Midori nodded eagerly in response.
"Well, as you guessed, I am a demon from the demon world. My true name is Noriko. But you don't need to call me that. I'm a cat demon and I've been alive for a long, long time so I don't share characteristics of a normal cat. I'm not gonna fall asleep or start purring if you stroke me or something." She restrained a blush. That came out wrong. And purring only happens when a person can do it right. No one but Kurama can do it, and that secret is going with her to her grave. "Though I do like my sleep, thank you very much. I joined…a friend in his adventures." Of being a thief, she added silently. "Well, he died or came to the human world. A decade later, I almost died. So I came here and stuck my spirit body in the body of a dead child." She shrugged. "But there is something about this body. I thought it would take time to adjust. But it doesn't. I suspected that Haruka had some recessive demon gene present. I just wasn't sure. I suspected that you already knew her. I just didn't think you were that good an actor. My bad." She sighed and looked at the sky. It was such a relief to tell Midori. Though she got to know about another threat. At least she knew Midori had training.
"Huh. A demon. Which level?" She blinked at her.
"I'm around high B-class, borderline A-class. But in my original body I would be stronger. Maybe mid or high A-class. Anyway, you said you've been training, right? Would you like me to help you?"
"Sure. An actual demon could help me better than the memories of one."
She relaxed and gazed up at the sky. It was so calming. So relaxing. Maybe she should take a nap? She lightly stretched
"You know, I always thought you would get scared or freak out. I'm glad you didn't."
"I'm surprised too. Maybe I got used to the idea. But hey, one good thing right?"
"I'd say more than one." She smiled at Midori. Then a thought occurred to her. She jerked up. "Wait. Who is your step father? And what about my father?"
"Oh. Uh…" Midori looked mildly guilty.
"What?"
"We thought your father was the murderer. He abandoned your mother and you and few years later the killings started. We can't find him anywhere." Haru felt dread creep into her.
"We?" She ignored my question.
"I don't have a step father. My mother never remarried." She stood up. "I'm sorry. But you are a confirmed criminal. We don't need to confirm your skill set just yet." Her face became a blank mask. "Noriko, the cat demon, confirmed criminal and associate of Kurama, the fox demon."
Her heart beat pulsed loudly and her hand stilled only in a way a killer's could. Her eyes sharpened and focused on her neck and she lunged.
Stop!
The second of hesitation cost her. Four SP from the spirit world caught her as she stood frozen with internal struggle. Their hands held her tightly even with the suppressants. She bared her teeth and growled lowly in warning.
"If you want to escape, you'll have to release your power. If you do that, you'll probably kill a few students that are under you. Are you willing to unleash your power to escape?" She hissed at Midori. How did she miss them? Did the spirirt world use some device to suppress their energy? To make it less obvious when she was relaxed? She felt betrayal flash through her and she pushed it away for rage. She was at fault. How many times had she decided not to trust people? How many times had she been betrayed? And she had done it yet again. She paused and glanced at Midori's face which seemed closer to a mask. Maybe the unrepentant look was what made it worse. She snarled and pulled at the person holding her left hand and unleashed her carefully held energy. The roof cracked and she jumped in the air before destroying her binding. The SP fumbled for a second and Midori held up a hand and created a barrier to stop her from leaving. She cracked the barrier and used it as a hand hold before turning and braking through the barrier with her foot. Ignoring her burnt hand, she destroyed the whole barrier. An inexperienced human could never stop her. She twisted 180 to approach the ground with her feet. Then cursed because she was barely away from the school. She would undoubtedly kill people if she landed. Fuck. Fuck. Trees. Her eyes spotted even as she descended. Fuck. She was too far.
She reached into herself. Midori hadn't lied. Her human body was strong. Was similar to her demon body in a way.
The wind constricted and almost solidified under her. She barely touched the wind platform when it broke. She jumped. She created another and she was very close to the forest. She could run. She could leave this world and go to the Makai. A whip caught her leg and she looked back at the cruel and vindictive face of the ma before she slammed into the metal rod of the swing set. She blinked as pots danced in her vision. The whip didn't retreat. It pulled her and she just barely had enough time to land on her hands instead of her face. A woman Stood in front of her and she touched her shoulder. Her power was bound again. But it didn't matter.
She swung her knee into the woman's stomach even as the man pulled her along with the whip. The whip tied her up but the man made a mistake. He was standing right behind her.
She slammed her head back into his nose. It broke with a crack. The whip loosened. She turned, her leg risen to deliver a kick to the man's side. Another man caught it. She flipped over that man and over his head to choke him, but she didn't have time!
She flipped and let him crash into the ground. A woman caught her hair and pulled and she tried to slam her head into her nose but she moved out of the way. She gave a high kick but the woman ducked and punched her in the chest. Blood splattered but she could barely see. Could barely care. All she knew was that she had to get away. She lunged. The woman tried to move but she was faster. Didn't they know she was very good at close combat? Idiots. She caught her arm and broke it. Twisted below her kick, she punched her neck then threw an upper cut on her stomach. She half turned and kicked her in her side. Her body slammed against the wall of the empty park, coughing.
She jumped high, just in time to miss a sweeping kick. She turned and kicked him in the face. He flew back. She stood, dizzy. Swaying. She turned just in time to get a fast punch to the face. Her nose shattered and she crashed into something hard. The dark spots were covering her vision. Her hand shakily pushed at the ground to stand but suddenly the whip that had just barely held on to her body tightened and her arm was pushed closer to her body as the whip burned marks into her skin.
"…trouble…..take?...kill….capture….."
Something hit her and her vision went black, taking all her other senses with it.
Her last thought?
Shoulda killed me, bitches.
