Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ A New Family ❯ Insert creative chapter title here ( Chapter 1 )

Okay, I don't own Laramie, Ki, or Kishi. They belong to my friend and they are used with her permission. I do own Josh, Katie, and Logan though.

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Walking through the forest, Josh sighed and brushed his bangs out of his eyes for what seemed the 100th time that day, thinking idly that they needed trimming.. "Hey now, what's this?" he murmured quietly. Through the trees he could just make out a form kneeling next to a brook. Moving quietly forward, he saw that it was a girl, wearing tattered and slightly bloody clothing splashing water on her face. Next to her was what looked like a tattered grocery bag. She stood up and stretched slightly and then moved over to the bag, reveling her tail and fox-ears. "She must be either a tall furling or a really short kitsune." Reaching inside the bag she rooted around for something. Taking advantage of her distraction, as Josh didn't want the little girl to be scared off, he moved forward until he was standing behind her. When the girl turned around, she stepped back in surprise and tripped over the bag, landing with a thud on the ground.

Kina looked up at the older, now smiling man in front of her. "Sorry about that little one. I didn't mean to startle you." He reached out his hand to help her rise. Ignoring it, she studied his face nervously then climbed to her feet and backed away from him. Crouching down to her level, the man smiled warmly. "I bet you're hungry," he said, picking up the orange she had dropped. "Come on; let's get you something a little more filling." Again he stretched his hand out towards her. Nervously, she looked at the man and hesitantly took his hand. Standing up the man smiled. "My name is Josh."

"Kilikina."

"Okay Kili, let's go back to my house."

Soon she was sitting down at a table and eating… a lot. "You have quite the appetite there Kili. How long has in been since you've eaten a meal?"

"Two weeks," Kina said between mouthfuls.

"Where are your parents?" THAT killed her appetite real quick. Slowly lowering the fork back down to the table, her eyes filled with tears.

"Mommy's dead, and I think Daddy is too." He silently reached over and pulled her into his lap. She buried her head into his chest and cried quietly into his shirt.

Katie sighed and hefted the bag once more, glad that she was finally home. As she mounted the steps, laughter was heard from inside. "What in the world…?" She quickly opened the door and stepped inside. Visible in the living room was her husband of 25 years, Josh, leaning over his favorite board game, Mouse Trap.

"Does it go here?" he asked someone sitting on the couch.

"No silly, it goes over here." A small hand reached out and pushed the piece to its proper spot.

"Hello Josh." Katie greeted, stepping into the living room and looking at their visitor. What she saw was a little girl with light blond hair and dancing blue eyes wearing an outfit that looked vaguely familiar. "And who is you're little friend?"

"This is Kilikina. I found her in the forest. I gave her some of Lilly's old clothes. I hope you don't mind."

"Of course not dear. Are you guys' hungry?" Kina shook her head. "…I just bought some Mint Chocolate Chip ice-cream if you want any."

Kina bounded off of the couch and into the kitchen. "Ice cream!" Josh laughed and followed her.

Later that night when Kina was upstairs in their guest room, they started talking, unaware that she could hear every word they said. "Josh, they were talking about her in town."

"Really? What were they saying?"

"She's a half-breed: half wind, half furling. Both parents were killed in a fire that was, from what I gathered, intentionally sat by some pranksters in town."

"That's horrible!"

"That's not all; most of the town has…had a grudge against the Jasinoasi's…"

"The who?"

"That's Kilikina's last name. As I was saying everyone had a grudge against them because of them getting married and having a half-breed child ruin their little `perfect' town." Kina's eyes widened as she listened; horrified.

"It's my fault? But I never did anything!"

"…wants to finish the job." Katie continued.

"But why would they want to kill a sweet little girl like her?"

"Their racists Josh. It doesn't matter how sweet or likable the person is; they still hate them."

Five hours later after Josh and Katie had gone to bed; Kina snuck down the stairs and into the kitchen. She started putting food into a sack she found in the kitchen, but she heard footsteps upstairs and quickly dashed out the door. When she had gotten far enough away, she slowed and looked at what she had been able to get: two cans of soup, three bottles of water, and a bag of pretzels. Deciding to stop for the night, she fashioned a makeshift shelter out of dead branches and tree leaves. Just as she was finishing, rain started to drip down from the ink-black skies. She curled up beneath the shelter and fell asleep as it rained harder and harder.

The next morning Kina awoke to find that her shelter had fallen over, letting the rain soak her; surprisingly not waking her up. Since she was officially soaked, she decided to go for a swim, as the day was already turning hot and muggy. Afterwards she ate two of the cans of soup and drank on of the water bottles, putting the trash back into the bag.

"It's been two and a half week since I've seen my parents." she thought sadly to herself two hours later. Her ears flicked forward as she heard talking coming form up ahead. She quietly moved forward until they were in sight. "They must be younger then I am!" she thought to herself, studying the pair in front of her. They were the stereotypical couple; the male obviously overprotective and the female jumping at shadows. Noticing a pack lying on the ground behind the boy, Kina glanced down at her own meager supplies. "Maybe they have food." She readied herself to go for the pack.

Trying to calm down Ki, Kishi reassured her that there was no one on the woods who would hurt her. Suddenly a tall furling jumped out of the woods, making Ki yelp and jump backwards. Grabbing the pack, the furling raced down the path away from them. Growling, Kishi gave chase.

Running down the path, Kina glanced over her shoulder at the boy, who was now chasing her. Turning back around, her eyes widened as she saw the branch in front of her face. Without having any time to duck, the branch whacked into her head. Stumbling, she twisted her ankle on a loose stone, tripping herself and hitting her head yet again, this time knocking herself out.

"Well, she didn't get far," Kishi said dryly. Ki ran up behind him and looked over his shoulder at the girl's motionless body. Walking cautiously up next to the girl, Ki looked down at her face.

"Look, she hurt her head!" Ki exclaimed.

"You were just running away from her and now you're running to help her!?" Kishi said in disbelief.

"She can't hurt me now," she defended herself. Ki's hand glowed slightly and she passed it over the cut/lump on the girls head. Soon after she finished the girl stirred.

Groaning, Kina put a hand to the small lump on her forehead. "Oww." Opening her eyes, she saw Kishi get jerked backwards a little as Ki darted behind him and grab his arm. Her ears perked up as she studied them, then hugged her skull when she noticed Kishi's glare. "Umm...hi?" she said, hoping he would calm down. He didn't. In fact, quite the opposite happened.

"Who are you!?" Kishi demanded.

"You're not a kid!" She exclaimed after hearing his voice.

"No, I am not. You however can't be old enough to be wandering about alone. Where are your parents? And speaking of them if they're the ones who taught you your manners they need to learn them too. Why would they let someone so…uncivilized run around without supervision is beyond me. Not only did you steal my pack, but you haven't even apologized for doing so or thanked Ki for helping you." Ki peeked over Kishi's shoulder cautiously and cocked her head when her head as Kina's bottom lip began to tremble. She bit her lip, which only furthered the advance of the impending flood. When she couldn't contain them any longer she dropped her head, hoping her hair would hide her tears from them.

Kina heard the boy grunt as Ki shoved him in the shoulder and reprimanded him. "Kishi Keanu, you should be ashamed of yourself, you made her cry."

"She's just being a baby." That harsh remark brought a swift end to her tears, which were quickly replaced by burning anger. Kina's head shot up and she glared at them, sending Ki back behind Kishi's back.

"My parents were the best people around, better then you could ever hope to be," she spit out. "They taught me fine, but when you have almost no food and no way to get any, you tend to do stuff you wouldn't do otherwise. The only reason I'm here and not home with my parents is because they're dead!" After her speech she again dropped her head, missing the twin shocked looks that passed between them.

Kina felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see a sympathetic Ki standing in front of me. "I'm sorry about your parents, and I'm sure that Kishi's sorry about what he said. Right Kishi?" Ki looked up at him expectantly.

"Yeah, sorry," he muttered quietly.

"There. Now you said you don't have much food, so here is some of ours." She said, holding out some bread. When Kina started to protest, she waved it off. "I insist. Now take it… what's your name?"

"Kina," the said girl spoke quietly, taking the bread.

"Okay Kina. Wait here for a sec; it seems my boyfriend desires to speak with me." Ki and Kishi walked a bit away and talked to each other as Kina watched apprehensively. They soon returned, Kishi having lost his angry look.

"Look kid, if you're going to be wandering around up here, watch out for a man named Laramie. He's a very bad man," he said as if she were a kid. Kina bristled inwardly at this but nodded, watching them walk away.

Stifling a yawn, Kina walked down a path she had found about an hour ago. So far, she hadn't encountered anyone else. Hearing a crackling noise, Kina froze, her ears flicking around, seeking the source of the sound. Feeling dirt shift beneath her bare feet, Kina glanced down just in time to see the ground collapse beneath her weight, sending her into a deep pit. The landing on her back knocked her breath out of her and she laid there; stunned. While she was on her back looking up, a blue eyed, brown haired head popped into her view. He studied her for a bit then disappeared, leaving her blinking at his abrupt entrance and exit. Rising to her feet, Kina began to try and climb out. That turned out to be harder then she originally expected since the walls were made up of crumbly dirt and the hole was about eight feet high. Eventually, she made it to the top and was about to climb out but a pair of boots appeared in her view, startling her and making her slip, starting to fall back into the hole. The man's hand darted out and caught me by the collar of Kina's shirt and lifted her up until she was at eye level with him. Still holding her so she was dangling over the hole, he studied her. Her ears involuntarily pressed themselves against her head and she let out a small growl, making the man smile broadly. Turning his head to the boy, he spoke. "Quite a catch you got yourself here Logan," he praised, making the boy grin.

"Let me go!" Kina demanded angrily.

"Okay," he said. Kina realized his intent an instant before let her go, right back into the pit. She glared up at the laughing man from her position once again flat on her back on the bottom of the pit. Growling, Kina got to her feet and started climbing again, still slipping and sliding every now and then. Finally she reached the top once again and climbed out, glaring at them.

"Who are you?" Logan asked. Kina looked over at him.

"Kina. I'm half wind demon and half furling." The older one groaned and ran a hand over his face.

"Not another half-breed!" He groaned. [1]

Kina studied him confused for a moment then something clicked. "Are you Laramie by any chance?" she asked. He looked surprised but nodded. "Ki and Kishi told me about you." Laramie sighed and shook his head.

"What did they say?"

"They said you were a `very bad man.'" Kina frowned. "Kishi treated me like a kid!"

Logan laughed. "You are a child! You're younger then me."

"No I'm not!!" Kina protested. "How old are you?"

"10," Logan answered with a superior look.

"When's your birthday?" Kina questioned.

"Feb. 2nd, 1994." Kina blinked in surprise then a mischievous smile spread over her face.

"Ha! You're not older then me! We have the same birthday!" A similar smile appeared on his face.

"But you're not older then me either," he said smugly. Kina stared blankly at him for a moment then pouted, only to blush slightly as her stomach reminded her that is was dinner time.

"I take it you're hungry," Laramie said with a laugh. "Come fight with Logan at supper." Logan smirked and then took off, Kina following close at his heels.

[1] Okay, in another story my friend wrote, Laramie captures Ki and Kishi, who are both half breeds.

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