If there was one person Yusuke could always count on, it was his older sister.

His older sister was the only person in his family who he could always trust to be in his side, the only person in his family who actually cared about him. His mother cared about him sure but she was an irresponsible woman, who always left most of the work on his older sister, who was barely a year older than him. His sister never complained and never said a damn thing to their mother about her behaviour even though she had the most right to complain about how unfair their mother was being.

His sister never complained about anything, instead, she would just smile widely for everyone to see and do the work without any complaint. How the hell his sister balance school and housework was a mystery to him but he did know it was unfair for his sister to act like his mother.

To be honest, Natsuko acted more like a mother than their own mother did.

Natsuko was the only person, besides Keiko, who nagged him to go to school and always gave him disappointed looks whenever she saw his grades. Natsuko was the one who made him dinner and gave him long lectures about how he shouldn't pick a fight, which she had no right to say because Yusuke had seen his own sister fight gangs without any problem. His sister was the person who always gave him long, boring lectures about how he should focus on his studies and become somebody important.

He knew his sister loved him but Yusuke hated her nagging!

"...You're going to school even if I've to drag you by the ear," Natsuko said, putting her hands on her hips as she glared at him.

Yusuke quietly snorted at his sister's words and nodded his head, hoping it would be enough for the older girl to believe he was listening to her. Shaking her head, his sister slapped him in the back of the head. Yelping, Yusuke rubbed the back of his head and raised his eyebrow at his sister, who rolled her eyes at him.

"What was that for?"

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Natsuko yelled, stilting her blue eyes at him. "You think I'm actually going to believe that this time you're going to listen? Nope, you're coming with me to school. If I've to go through hell which is school then you've too!"

"I'm not going to school," He snapped. "You can't make me."

"Wrong answer," Natsuko said, giving him a smile before grabbing his shirt collar. "And if you even think of doing that disappearing act of yours, I'll hunt you down and make you regret thinking you fooled your sister."

"You never fall for the traps!" He pointed out as his sister grabbed the lunchboxes she prepared for them. "And why do you always want me to go to school? I'm always getting crap from the teachers."

"Because I get crap from the teachers about why my brother doesn't bother to come to school," Natsuko answered, wrinkling her nose at him. "Do y'know how many times I have to deal with teachers talking crap about you? Oh and don't get me started about Keiko, your girlfriend tries her hardest to convince me to talk to you about going to school. Of course, she only does that when you don't listen to her! Seriously, why does Keiko put up with you?"

"She's not my girlfriend."

"Out of everything I said, the only thing you heard was the fact I called Keiko your girlfriend?" His sister asked in disbelief. "And Keiko is practically your girlfriend. She comes to our house to check on you and she is always worried about you. Don't get me started on the fact she refuses to go on any dates because you're the only person in her mind. Seriously, why don't you two just admit you like each other and start dating?"

"Why do you care so much about my dating life?" He asked his sister, who finally let go of his ear when the two of them were in the street leading them to their school. "Shouldn't you worry about your own dating life? You should start searching for a strong guy who could beat me so you don't end up a spinster."

"Isn't it my job as your noisy big sister to worry about your love life?" His sister asked, tying her blond hair into her signature braid. "And who says I'm not dating anyone dear little Yusuke? You don't know everything that goes on in my personal life."

"Because if you're dating someone, they would rub it in my face," Yusuke said as the two of them walked through the school gates. "After all, you're my sister."

His sister rolled her eyes. "If I was dating someone then I would make sure for them not to rub it in your face until I'm certain it's serious. Besides, if you think I can't protect myself Yusuke then you've another thing coming after all who taught you how to fight? And if said boyfriend can't beat you up then they aren't worth my time."

"No boy is worth your time," He told her. "You're going to be the fun aunt to any child I have and you'll be taking care of Kaa-san when she is too drunk."

"So basically, you want me to be the caretaker?" His sister said, shaking her head. "You're lucky I don't want to get into trouble in school or else I would kick you in the ass for saying that. I'm not going to be Kaa-chan caretaker until I'm fifty...who knows if Kaa-chan would live that long with the amount of alcohol she consumed."

"Why not? You're the one who cleans up after her mess till now and you practically said you aren't going to marry."

His sister raised her eyebrows at him. "I never say that."

"You just said you're not going to date a boy who can't beat me," Yusuke pointed out, grinning at his sister. "So that means you're not going to date anyone since there's no one in school or the other schools who can beat me in a fight."

Natsuko rolled her eyes at him but Yusuke could see the smile in his sister's lips, which told him more than anything his older sister found amusement in his declaration. He clenched his hands into a fist. Natsuko didn't believe him when he said there was no one in this city who could beat him. His sister saw him fight, always cheered him on (though she would scold him later) but when it came to him declaring he was the strongest, his sister would just laugh at him.

He was going to be the one who was going to laugh when his sister became an old spinster.

It had been nearly fifteen years since Uzumaki Naru had been reincarnated into Urameshi Natsuko but unlike her last life, Natsuko had a little brother to worry about and a mother to look after. She had an irresponsible mother to take care of, a bratty little brother who she wished would just listen to her but Natsuko knew that her brother was just like her. No matter what lifetime, Natsuko was a stubborn person who didn't take anyone's advice even if it killed her.

One of these days, her brother was going to die if he didn't listen to her advice. She may not look like it or even act it but Natsuko had a lot of advice when it came to education because the importance of education doesn't change in any lifetime. If she hadn't skipped her lessons so many times, Natsuko had no doubt she would have graduated from the Academy at a younger age but being the idiot she was, Naru skipped lessons as much as her little brother did.

There was no chance of getting a good job for her brother if he continued to do this since there was no chance of him becoming a shinobi in this world.

"Urameshi Natsuko, Takenaka-sensei would like to see you," Her English teacher said, snapping her from her train of thought.

Natsuko blinked her eyes and furrowed her eyebrows while everyone in the class snickered, no doubt thinking she was going to get a long lecture about her brother skipping lessons again. She glared at her fellow students before walking towards the door, where she could see the mournful and sympathetic expression on her brother's homeroom teacher's face.

Did something happen? She couldn't help but ask herself as she closed the door behind her as Takenaka rubbed his hands together, looking almost uncertain on what to tell her. Did her mother get into a fight again? Oh, kami did that meant she was in the hospital again and they needed to pay the bills? Oh god no, she hadn't saved enough money to pay the hospital bills again. No, it had to be something else. Her sensei might want to give her a long lecture on Yusuke's behaviour again and how she was supposed to be the responsible one between the two of them.

"Urameshi-san, there's no easy way for me to tell you this," Her principle finally said, taking in a deep breath. "A couple of minutes go, we've got a phone call from the hospital regarding Yusuke…"

"Did Yusuke got into a fight?" She asked, blinking her eyes. "No, if Yusuke got into a fight he would be at home, waiting for me to patch him up! Did he pass out? Why is my little brother in the hospital? Takenaka-sensei, why the hell is my little brother in the hospital? Does my mother know about this? No, even if she knew about it, she wouldn't even care! She never cares about Yusuke enough."

"Yusuke skipped his lessons again as you've no doubt known," Takenaka said, making her blink her eyes at him. "And he left school before school has ended…"

"What are you trying to tell me, Takenaka-sensei?" Natsuko demanded, clenching her hands into a fist. "What does my brother leaving the school have to do with a hospital? Did he get into a fight again?"

Takenaka curled his lips, glanced out at the window before slowly shaking his head at her. She furrowed her eyebrows, crossed her arms as she waited for the middle-age man to begin telling her about what the hell happened for her brother to be in the hospital. Kami, if her brother did something stupid for him to go to the hospital then Natsuko was going to yell at him and hit him in the head for doing something stupid.

"There's no easy way for me to tell you this, Natsuko," The teacher finally said, giving her a sympathetic gaze. "Your brother was in a car accident; he saved a little boy from the car but he didn't make it. I'm so sorry for your loss Natsuko, he'll be missed."

Her brother didn't make it, those were the only words that rang through her mind as she gazed at the middle-aged man who gave her sad eyes. Her bratty brother, who she always worried about didn't survive the car crash. Her little brother who she adored, who she swore to protect was gone. No, her little brother couldn't be gone! He just couldn't be gone. For goodness sake, he was just here in the morning.

Yusuke wasn't supposed to die.

Her little brother wasn't supposed to leave this world before her. That was the one thing Natsuko swore to herself when her mother presented her little brother wrapped around a blue blanket. Her little brother was the only real child their mother had because Natsuko wasn't really her child. She may call Atsuko her mother but Natsuko could never really bring herself to consider the woman her mother.

Still, her mother was going to need all the support she could get because Natsuko knew from her own memories that it was never really easy to know your child died before you.

"C-Can I be excused from lessons," Natsuko asked him, keeping her voice steady as she gazed at her teacher. "My mother needs someone to be there for her...and I need to see his body. I-I can't accept the fact he's dead until I see his body."

"Of course, you have special permission to leave the school," Takenara-sensei said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry for your loss Natsuko…"

"Sorry won't bring my little brother back, Takenara-sensei," Natsuko said softly, clenching her hands into a fist. "If you excuse me Takenara-sensei, I've a mother to comfort, a deadbeat father to talk to and a wake to organise because knowing my mother, she can't organise it by herself."

With those words, she went back inside of her classroom, grabbed her bags and ran out of the door, ignoring the cries of her sensei who asked her to explain herself. He could screw himself, she thought to herself, clenching her hands into a fist. There was no way in hell she could be in school or explain herself to the teachers when her little brother, the little brother she practically raised was dead.

No, everyone in school could screw themselves.

Yusuke looked down at his house, where he could see all of classmates and teachers walking into his wake, laughing and joking as they did so. What was the point of him coming here? His mother would be better off if he was dead. If he was dead then his mother had more chance of finding a good man for herself. His big sister would finally go on dates without worrying about him hating the guy or beating the guy up. If he came back to life, he was just going to irritate more people.

"I'm so sorry for your loss, Natsuko-chan," One of his sister's classmates said to his sister, who stood by the door to greet the people coming to the house. Yusuke smiled when he saw the lack of tears on his sister's eyes. Out of everyone he knew, his sister was the one person he knew who wouldn't cry in public. Nothing could make his sister cry in public, he thought, watching as his sister nodded at them and said the typical words a host had to say.

Even though he was dead, his sister could still put on a mask.

Yusuke knew from a number of times he annoyed his sister that his sister was irritated with the people around her. He knew it from the way she clenched her hands into a fist, knew it from the way she would secretly glare at the people joking at his wake. Most of all he knew from the fact his sister kept closing her eyes; it was something she always did whenever she was trying to hold herself back from crying.

"This isn't good, let's go back!" A familiar voice yelled.

"Shut up and let me go!" Another familiar voice yelled and to Yusuke's surprise, he saw Kuwabara being held back by a couple of his friends.

He glanced at his sister, who just blinked her eyes and stared at the orange-haired boy with such blank eyes that it unnerved him. Natsuko never looked like that. His big sister always had emotions in her eyes but this was the first time he had seen her look so blank, so lifeless and it made him want to hit himself for hurting his sister like that. For as long as Yusuke could remember, he hated seeing his sister look so sad.

"Despicable! You win over me and go right up to die!" Kuwabara yelled, drawing everyone's attention at him. "I'm the only one who's supposed to kill you, you hear!"

Yusuke winced as he saw Kuwabara's friends tried to hold the boy back from his wake, struggling to stop the kicking and screaming boy from harming his body. They kept glancing at his sister, who just stared at them with such expressionless eyes that Yusuke felt for the first time remorse for making his sister become like that. He always thought if he died then his sister would have been able to handle it, would have been able to act as if nothing was wrong because that was what she did when their father walked out on them.

It seemed like he was wrong about that.

"Come back, you idiot!" Kuwabara snarled, drawing the attention of his sister. "Come back and fight me!"

His friends pulled the boy back, glanced at his sister and said in unison, "Sorry for the disturbance, Urameshi-san."

"It's okay," His sister said to them softly, rubbing her hands together. "Kuwabara is the first person I saw besides Keiko and my family who actually gives a damn that my brother is gone. He's the only person I know who actually cares about the fact my little brother is dead!"

For the first time since his waking started, Yusuke saw his sister cried her heart out. It was strange for him to see his sister cry, Yusuke thought to himself, until he was seven, he had been the crybaby in the family. Natsuko had never cried in front of anyone, not even in front of him but for her to cry in front of a crowd just showed him how much his sister missed him.

"Who's that?" Iwamoto asked, glancing at the disappearing form that belonged to Kuwabara.

"Looks like someone who hangs around with Urameshi a lot," Akashi said, wrinkling his nose at them.

Iwamoto grunted. "What a bunch of mindless jerks! Good thing he died doing something good before he died, that's why the name of our school went up…"

"Who knows, it could be that he was kicking the boy when the car came by," Akashi commented.

"That's a high possibility."

Yusuke barely blinked his eyes when he caught sight of his sister hurling a punch at the two teachers. He gawked at the sight in front of them, rubbed his eyes and glanced at the door, wondering how the hell his sister had gone from standing by the door side to being in the middle of the field. Not only that, how the hell was his sister able to hear that far? He knew his sister and he knew Natsuko would never punch someone for no reason.

"Urameshi!" Iwamoto yelled. "We're at a wake! This is…"

The man trailed off and gulped when he saw the cold fury in his sister's eyes. Yusuke swore he could almost see his whole sister's body glowing red and the whisker marks darkened as she glared at the two teachers. He shivered and looked at everyone else in the backyard, noticing how each one of them was gazing at his older sister in a new light.

Yusuke couldn't really blame them since no one had ever seen his sister pissed.

"We're at my brother's wake and you're insulting him by saying that he would beat up a little boy," his sister snarled, clenching her hands into a fist. "My brother gave his life for that boy and all you do is insult him! What Kuwabara did wasn't disrespectful since he's in denial that my brother is dead but you guys, you guys insult the dead when you talk like that! Hell, why the hell did you go to my brother's wake if you're going to insult him!"

She looked at everyone surrounding the area and yelled. "Why the hell did you guys come if you're going to say so many bad things about my little brother! I know he wasn't the nicest person to you guys but he was my little brother. Do you think it's nice to make jokes at his wake? That's the most disrespectful thing to do! If it wasn't for the damn fact that it's my brother's wake, I would punch every single one of you for being disrespectful to my family and me! Now if you're going to insult my brother anymore or insult my family then get the hell out of here before I show you that Yusuke wasn't the only one who is scary."

With those words, almost everyone in the area cleared, giving his sister an apologetic look but Yusuke knew his sister would never forgive them for the way they acted in his wake. It was funny, Yusuke thought, watching his sister as she walked inside their small apartment. he had always wanted to see what his sister would do if she was pushed to her limits and now he saw it.

It terrified him just how furious his sister could get.

Shaking his head, Yusuke went inside the house and noticed his mother had slumped against the wall. He felt his heart clenched when he caught sight of his sister hugging her mother, who kept crying out his name. He felt his heart constricted as his sister looked around the room, her eyes lingering to where he was.

"Kaa-chan, Yusuke may be gone but he'll always be watching over us," his sister whispered, her eyes lingering to where he was floating. "Y'know what they say Kaa-chan? The dead people will always be in our hearts...Yusuke will always be in our hearts."

"Yusuke! He's gone Natsuko!" His mother cried.

Natsuko gulped. "I know Kaa-chan. I know but you know what? Kaa-chan, Yusuke would always watch over us because he's an overprotective brother and son. Yusuke is always going to be watch over us. That little brother of mine might be a lot of things but he always had a good heart. Remember how he beat up a boy because he thought he was stalking me?"

"Yusuke always took things too far," her mother hiccuped. "But he's gone! My son is gone. He's gone."

His older sister closed her eyes and hummed to herself. "I know Kaa-chan, my little brother did something so heroic but I wish that idiot didn't do it. Why the hell did he have to get himself killed? Why the hell didn't the car driver thought of the speed limit? And most of all why the hell couldn't he have been lucky? I want my brother!"

It might have been the fact his sister was crying, the fact his mother was clinging to his sister for comfort or it may just have been the fact he caught sight of Keiko crying that Yusuke made his decision.

He hoped he didn't regret his decision.

A/N: Please review