Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Heal Me, I'm Heartsick ❯ Death of Keiko and Bridget ( Chapter 1 )

This story's a little darker than what I usually do, but of course, it's named after a really dark song. It took me a while to get it off the ground, but I was a stubborn ol' fool and got it there. Just so's ya'll know, Bridget is my least favorite name in the book. I wanted a brand new character, and by gosh, I got one! I made a character all-new!

 

So, here goes.

 

Summary: Bridget Wolf always considered herself a normal orphan. She got shuffled around so much that getting friends didn't really matter all that much. That is, until she met her best friend Keiko Sawaguchi (not to be confused with Keiko Ukimura!!) Her entire life is changed once again when Keiko commits suicide.

 

And Bri feels that she died right along with her. She makes good on Keiko and hers one common dream—to do foreign exchange in Japan. Her host family, however, just might be the one thing that she needs to heal her broken heart.

 

However, there's just a little more to her than meets-the-eye, and it's up to Kurama and the gang to figure out just what it is. Why is Toguro back? Or is he? Why does he want her? What does Keiko Sawaguchi have to do with any of it?

 

Find out in Angel Sari Neko Jeminie Indigo's latest, Heal Me, I'm Heartsick.

 

Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or No Vacancy's song, Heal Me, I'm Heartsick. I do, however, own the idea of Empathes and Bridget's entire history.

 

Heal Me, I'm Heartsick

 

Chapter 1: Death of Keiko and Bridget

 

***

 

Heal me

I'm heartsick

I'm hungry and I'm broken

I'm haunted

Weeping

 

Blood of heaven

Flowing like a river tonight

Tears I can't fight

On my own

 

 

Nature sung a spectacular dirge for me that night. Lightning crashed, rain splashed in rivers of cruel, cold water. I stood on a gray hill in the black night. Dangerous winds threatened to tear my hair from my scalp, but I didn't care. I didn't care about anything or anyone.

 

She was dead.

 

My best friend was dead.

 

Whatever tears I had were washed away in the rain. Why had she decided that her life was meaningless? Did our friendship mean nothing to her? I growled and slashed at the rain with my hands. My howls could be heard for miles.

 

“KEIKO!!!”

 

Sobs racked at my body, throwing pieces, shards of my soul in every direction. I still hadn't told my “mom” where I was. Keiko would have told her parents everything. I never did, and she always was scolding me for it. Now I had no one to scold me for not telling my “mom” where I was.

 

Whatever.

Already, I could feel my heart numbing over, like a dentist had given me too much Novocain in exactly the wrong place. I sighed to myself and stood. Whatever was wrong with Keiko wouldn't happen to me. I would never let myself hurt anyone because of my actions. Keiko, you took the wrong way out.

 

The only problem was that I'd forgotten one vital rule about being outside during a lightning storm.

 

Don't.

 

The hairs on the back of my neck rose. It was my only warning. Light engulfed my body, throwing it high into the sky. Pain, a pain unlike any other, ripped through me seconds later. And then there was nothing. I felt like singing, suddenly. That is, until I saw my own body below me.

 

Dead.

 

I was dead.

 

It took me a few seconds for everything to click into place. It was like I'd expected it to happen, really. I'd been struck by lightning, that much was obvious. But why was I floating above my own body? I couldn't possibly be alive. I must be a spirit.

 

“A ghost. I'm a ghost. This can't—”

 

“Bingo! Bingo, you win the prize!”

 

I turned around and faced a woman with blue hair. Blue hair. Periwinkle. She wore a pink kimono and a cheerful look on her face. She was sitting on an oar, by the looks of it. Was she some kind of confused witch?

 

“Uh, lady? Lady, are you on crack or something?”

“Oh, no, my name's Botan. I'm a Spirit Guide, a pilot of the River Styx. You might know me better as the Grim Reaper.”

 

This lady was missing quite a few Christmas bulbs off her tree.

 

“Okay, Miss Botan, maybe you'd like to tell me exactly what is going on here, because I'm lost.”

 

“Well, you just died,” Botan said. Just state the obvious, why don't you? “And usually I'd be here to steer you to the Spirit World, but unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of glitch in the system. You weren't supposed to die for several decades. You've got a good heart, too.”

 

Good heart? Me? Maybe she'd confused me with Keiko.

 

“Er…Miss Botan, are you sure you're not on crack?”

 

“No. But we've little time. If I can just get you to go back in your body, we'll get everything squared away again. No worries, just a minor problem, you won't remember anything about this at all!”

 

She had to be on crack. I was dead. Or at least, that's what I thought. I listened to her anyway and lowered myself into the beaten, sizzled body that I'd come from. I saw something come at me from a distance, but by then, I was already in my body and couldn't see.

 

When I opened my eyes again, I glanced back toward Keiko's grave.

 

And ran away home.

 

>>>

 

“Miss Bridget Wolf, I presume?”

 

I nodded, sitting up as straight as I could in my seat. Mr. Takenaka glanced over his desk at me, his small eyes grazing mine. I sat up straighter, trying to look as Keiko-ish as possible. There was only one thing Keiko and I had shared, one dream. If Mr. Takenaka chose me over the other four candidates, I would achieve that dream.

 

For both of us.

 

“You have taken two years of Japanese from Wichita State University, correct?”

 

I nodded once, curtly.

 

“Do you consider yourself a competent speaker and writer of the Japanese language?”

 

Again.

 

“Are you aware that you would not see your guardian for eleven consecutive months?”

 

Once again, I nodded.

 

“How much do you know about Japan?”

 

“Very little, sir. That is why I wish to participate.”

 

“You believe that you can survive, then?”

 

“As always, I will do my best.”

 

“Diplomatic. Welcome to Meikou Academy, Miss Wolf. Please be ready for the flight in two weeks. You will receive more instructions later.”

 

A satisfied smile spread across my face as I left the room. My heart began to beat again, slow at first, then quickly. It died again soon after, but I still walked. It was enough to give me hope that just maybe I was still alive.

 

After that night on the hill, I wasn't sure what had happened to me. My heart stopped beating. It took me a while to notice it. Didn't really matter. We were both dead, Keiko and me.

 

But I'd done it. I was living our dream.

 

I was going to Japan.

 

Nemoi District, Tokyo, Japan, here I come.

 

>>>

 

It was a month before I arrived in Nemoi District at all. First, I had to get a passport and visa. Then I had to go to more Japanese classes that rigorously trained my brain for more normal classroom procedures. They made sure I could keep up with normal classes, like math and science and world history.

 

Sure, I was an outstanding student. But if I didn't have the background in the courses that the others did, I'd flounder. Everyone knew that.

 

I left on March 16 for Japan on an international flight. It was at least eighteen hours long. I lost track of it after a while, just doing whatever. Reviewing Japanese. Learning new words. Listening to the fast-talking businessman behind me going over board meeting procedures and the child next to me exclaiming about the video game he was playing. For such a long flight, it was endurable.

 

I landed in Tokyo. I had another two-week crash course on normal household etiquette. I would be living with a Japanese family in their home for the duration of the years I'd be here for school. So far, they sounded like nice people. Just a mom and her son, who was my age and would be attending Meikou with me. I just knew we'd be close. I'd never had a brother before, and he would be the next best thing, right?

 

March 27, Takenaka took me to the small Nemoi District on the outskirts of Tokyo. We were in an infamous Tokyo bullet train. I stared out the window as he continued to give me information on my host family.

 

He said that the family had just moved there after a fire destroyed their other house. The boy had just graduated from Meio Junior High, a school of upstanding recognition in Japan. A private school, though it was considered an excellent institution for all who attended. I had attended a magnet school, so I wasn't too worried about a war among the brains type of thing.

 

I was worried, most of all, whether or not he would like me. Aren't we all? I guess it is a normal reaction, but I was still mad at myself for thinking it at all. Why was I worried about such a thing? If he liked me, he liked me. And if he didn't, well, it would be a rather difficult year.

 

Somehow, that thought made me worry even more.

 

Anyways, it didn't matter anyway. How could anything possibly worry a dead person?

 

“He also happens to be a friend of a former student of mine,” Takenaka said. “After they met, he made a significant difference in my student's life. A real turn-around for Urameshi.”

 

Takenaka was a teacher at Sarayaski Junior High, a school of notoriety for its diverse population. I'd researched some into the school itself. The top student from the past year's graduating class was Ukimura. Keiko Ukimura. I found it an odd coincidence that my late best friend shared the same first name as this top student. It probably wasn't much of one to get excited about. I probably would never actually meet Ukimura.

 

“Nemoi District Station,” rang the speakers. Takenaka took up one of my suitcases, leaving me with another suitcase and my backpack. The rest of my things would arrive in a week through normal mail.

 

“Nemoi is a wide district with only one station. There's a trolley that takes people from one end to the other,” Takenaka explained. “It's free of charge, lucky for us. They live at the far edge of the district.”

 

Nemoi District was more like a tiny, separate town unto itself rather than a part of the metropolis of Tokyo. An open-air trolley ran along the main street every ten minutes, but Takenaka and I had to wait for a while.

 

I studied the shops near the station, all of which stated their business in the normal vertical kanji. There was no sign depicting the street name, though it was usually called the “main” street of Nemoi. It was wider than most Japanese streets, like any small town I'd ever been in.

 

The trolley arrived, basically a bus with no sides and wooden seats with no seat belts, connected to a wire hanging over the street. I followed Takenaka onto a back seat. A man pushed a button, then sat back in the seat as the trolley jerked forward at less than ten miles an hour. It was a little slower than a human jogging. People jumped on every once in a while, or jumped off, with little difficulty. I guess it took some getting used to.

 

And it made seeing the main street pretty easy.

 

I spotted a fruit-and-veggie mart and a noodle stand, an okonomiyaki restaurant and a McDonalds. For a few minutes, there were only houses. Then there was a convenience store and a gas station, and a huge arcade. I could see right into the arcade, where there were DDR machines lining the back wall. I smirked to myself. I'd be in there a lot, I knew right away.

 

Most, if not all, of the shops were old, Ma-n'-Pa's types. Owned by ordinary people. I guess in Nemoi, franchises and corporations weren't all that welcome. Judging by McDonald's, which was almost bare of the human species, I think I had it pretty much right. Takenaka asked me what I thought.

 

“Just my type of place,” I said. We transitioned once again into a group of houses. “Isn't that the trolley station up there?”

 

“Yes, and this would be our stop,” Takenaka said, getting heavily to his feet. “The trick is to run along the ground as you jump off.”

 

Nervously, I nodded.

 

He jumped off, jogging next to the trolley. Despite his rather large build, he kept up well. He took my other suitcase and I took hold of the golden bar outside. I took a deep breath, positioned my feet along the ground and ran midair as I jumped off the trolley. With a sigh, I realized that the entire ordeal was over in less than a second and had been honestly rather simple.

 

“Follow me,” Takenaka said, handing back the other suitcase. I obeyed, simple as that.

 

Several of the people walking past stared for a second, and then smiled politely. A young girl ran up to me, holding a ball twice her size tightly.

 

“Shuichi's new sister?” she asked in a tiny, squeaky voice.

 

“I guess so,” I said, uncertain. I hadn't learned the son's name yet, nor his mother's. I knew that their surname was Minamino, though.

 

“You'll like him,” said the little girl. “He's quiet, but really, really nice.”

 

Her ball fell out of her arms and she chased after it. Takenaka smiled as I continued walking beside him to a quaint little house. It was white with green trim and was about half the size of my house back in Kansas. A tiny patch of grass was nearly overrun with plants and a single cherry tree. Pale pink petals littered the lawn. I'd obviously missed the special time when cherry trees are in full bloom.

 

How I wish I hadn't. Even though I'd seen a few in Tokyo, it just wasn't the same, I think. I sighed and followed Takenaka up to the small front porch. There was a small porch swing that took up nearly the entire space, accompanied by many more plants. I smiled to myself. Flowers were Keiko's favorite things in the world. Especially dogwood flowers, for some strange reason.

 

My favorite flowers were roses and cherry blossoms.

 

Takenaka knocked on the door, which was painted a cheerful shade of green. A shuffle came from the other side of the door, followed by a jiggle with the knob. The door flew open, to reveal a middle-aged woman with brown hair and smiling eyes. She bowed before speaking.

 

“Takenaka-sensei, hello!”

 

“Hello, Minamino-san,” he replied. “This is Wolf Bridget, the student I told you about.”

 

“Good morning!” I greeted, giving the customary bow myself. “I'm pleased to meet you.”

 

“Pleased to meet you, too, Wolf-san,” she said, smiling. “Please, come inside. Won't you stay for lunch, Takenaka-sensei?”

 

“If it doesn't trouble you.”

 

“Not at all!”

 

Minamino-san struck me as a very polite, motherly woman. She reminded me of my own adopted mother, in a few ways, but more of Keiko's father than my adoptive mother. I wondered if the son was anything like Keiko.

 

“Shuichi!” Minamino-san called into what appeared to be a closet. It turned out to be the basement stairs. “Shuichi, she's here!”

 

Takenaka put down my suitcase as I heard the sound of feet touching stairs. A flash of red, and then I saw him. He was awfully cute. Heart-twisting red hair, sparkling and wise emerald eyes, and a smooth face marked by a few telltale scars. Instantly, like a connection I could feel inside my heart, I could tell he was burdened by death, too. It struck me as odd that I knew that right off.

 

But I ignored it and gave him a bow as greeting, too.

 

“Welcome to our home,” he said, a little out of breath, but nonetheless polite.

 

“It's nice to meet you, Minamino-san.”

 

“You may call me Shuichi,” he said. “May I call you Bridget?” Except he slaughtered the entire pronunciation. It sounded more like “Burigita”. I laughed at it, but stopped when a faint blush covered his cheeks.

 

“Sorry,” I said. “Just call me Bri or Neko. I hate Bridget.”

 

He looked confused. “Neko?”

 

“I can sound just like a cat,” I said quickly. “It's a nickname and I'm fond of it.”

 

He nodded.

 

“Well, I'd better go make lunch.” His mother said. “Bri, you may call me Kaasan, too. I've always wanted a daughter.”

 

I blushed, but nodded.

 

“Shuichi, help her unpack while I make lunch.”

 

“Okay, Kaasan. Your room's next to mine downstairs,” Shuichi said. “Mom heard that you had the basement bedroom at your house in Kansas.”

 

“Yeah, but I sleep well just about anywhere,” I said. “Isn't this town called Nemoi? That means `sleepy', right?”

 

He chuckled. “Indeed. It is a rather sleepy little place. I find it soothing, myself.”

 

“Yeah. I like the Ma-n'-Pa atmosphere. Say, where's our school at, anyway?”

 

“We'll have to leave early in the morning,” Shuichi said, almost as a warning. “It's about half an hour away by bullet train.”

 

We'd reached the bottom step. A short hallway held four doors. The first on the right was Shuichi's room, very clean and organized. The second was my room, bare with the exception of a bed, a desk, and a dresser. On the left was a bathroom, followed by a laundry room.

 

Shuichi set my suitcase on the floor (when had he picked it up?) and I followed suit with the one I was carrying. I slid my backpack onto the bed. He turned to me and asked what my favorite color was.

 

“Red,” I answered. “And blue.”

 

He left without another word and returned shortly with a bright red bed sheet and a blue pillow. While he made my bed, I set to work piling clothes into the dresser. At least for the moment, my room would be organized. I made sure he was still working on the bed and jammed my underwear and bras into the bottom drawer.

 

We were done in about ten minutes with the suitcases, which he vanished with after I told him I was done with them. I piled my CD player, purse, and small selection of books onto the dresser as he returned. My backpack hung on the knob of the bare closet.

 

“Shuichi, Bri, lunch is ready!”

 

“Shall we?” I grinned and pranced up the stairs. I was starving. Forget manners. Shuichi followed at a slower pace.

 

***

 

So, what do you think of Bri? Wow, I've never written about someone so different from myself before in the first person. I keep writing “she” instead. ^__^ The story is from both Bri and Kurama's point of view, though this was just to get you introduced to Bri.

 

Yes, you did read correctly. Her heart stopped beating after the night on the hill.