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Blessed Spirits

Chapter 1: Familial Dispute

Yoko's honey-brown eyes fluttered open. She turned her head to face the window. The baby blue and pale pink blended together in the sky and the bright, orange sun smiled through the partially closed shutters. She did not know why she always woke up when the sun rose. Every day, she beat her alarm clock by two hours and never felt groggy in the morning. She lifted herself up out of bed, stretching her arms and twisting her torso to crack her spine. She turned to see her blond rabbit best friend, Jade, in the bed next to her. She was snuggling her teddy bear and her eyes were dancing under her eyelids while she dreamed. 'Why is Jade in my room?' thought Yoko. Yoko scanned the area of the room. Fuchsia paint coated the walls and ceiling and stuffed animals of every species littered the shelves. 'This is definitely not my room,' Yoko realized. Then, she remembered. Jade had invited her to stay at her house while Jade's parents were out of town. Yoko yawned and headed to the bathroom.

Yoko picked up a washcloth, turned on the faucet, and began to wash her face. She peeked through the towel and saw her reflection in the mirror. She was a gray wolf. However, unlike most gray wolves, the gray on her fur was possibly the lightest shade of gray a gray wolf could have. It was almost pure white. She picked up her comb and properly groomed her disheveled hair. Her raven black head fur was styled into a pixie cut with the bangs swooped to the left side of her face. She grabbed a peculiarly colored lock of hair in her bangs. The strange, light yellow streak in her bangs seemed to glow under the sunlight through the bathroom window.

Approaching footsteps brought Yoko out of her reverie. "God, Yoko, I can never understand how you always get up this early so easily," commented Jade. Her golden fur was ruffled and her green eyes were droopy.

"What can I say? I'm a morning person. Did I wake you?"

"Yeah, I heard water running, but it's fine." Jade smiled gently. "Wow, I can't believe it. In a month, we'll be going to college."

"God, don't remind me," Yoko sighed. "Summer is going by way too quickly. College is going to suck."

"Don't say that. College will be the best years of your life. It'll be fun. I promise."

"Of course our class valedictorian would say that."

"There's way more to college than just academics. No parents can tell you what to do there, so you can do whatever you want."

"True. No one breathing down my neck would be great right now."

"You and your grandma still having fights?"

"Yeah. Lately, she's been nagging me a lot. I don't get it. Normally, she's really cool. Now, she rarely lets me leave the house. Letting me spend the night here took a full day's groveling."

Jade put her hand on Yoko's shoulder, comforting her, "Yoko, her methods may be a bit extreme, but you know she just looking out for you. You can't hate her for that."

"I seriously doubt that, Jade. That's not even the worst of it. When I'm not stuck in my room, she forces me to come with her to her meditation classes. I have to spend hours upon hours sitting Indian style on some hard, starchy mat, chanting 'Ohm' for hours."

"Why would she do that?"

"She says it's to calm and relax myself. She says it's important to never lose my temper."

Jade tried to stifle it, but couldn't. The rabbit broke out into laughter. Yoko turned to her, face red with anger. She glared at her and shouted crossly, "It's not funny, Jade!" Her fists were balled, but she had to restrain herself from hitting her best friend.

Jade held her hands up in a surrendering position in order to calm down the angered wolfess. Her laughing slowed down and she regained enough composure to say, "Sorry, sorry. It's just...you do have a history of beating the crap out of people when you're mad."

Yoko scoffed, "I haven't done that in so long. The last time that happened was..."

"...a month ago, during the Baker twins' graduation party" Jade interrupted. "Last time I checked, you punched both of them in the face. Their noses started bleeding and you got kicked out of their house."

"The bastards started it when they kept groping our asses. Besides, Grandma's forgiven me for that."

"Maybe she's starting to miss you. We're going to college in a few weeks after all. My parents won't leave me alone lately either. Whenever I go out, they call my cell to make sure I'm still alive, and ever since they went to Spain for business, they call me almost five times a day."

The landline phone downstairs rang, surprising both girls.

"Don't Mr. and Mrs. Thompson know it's like six in the morning here, right?" Yoko questioned, raising an eyebrow.

Jade rolled her eyes and groaned in frustration. "...and sometimes they forget that Spain is seven hours ahead of us." Yoko giggled at the comment while Jade left the bathroom to answer the phone.

---

Four hours later, after the girls ate breakfast and watched two movies, Jade challenged Yoko to a game of soccer. Yoko, having received an MVP trophy as a soccer player, could not refuse. The girls got dressed. Yoko put on her favorite yellow tank top and denim capris, while Jade put on a purple and white tube top with jean shorts. They both went outside to Jade's backyard and set up the goals.

"Are you sure you want to embarrass yourself like this, Jade" Yoko said with a cocky smile and her foot on the ball, ready to serve, "you've never won against me, you know?"

"You're winning streak has to end sometime, Yoko," Jade retorted, "and I'm pretty sure today is the day."

Yoko chuckled. "Fine by me. Whoever scores seven points first wins." Yoko served the ball.

About an hour passed, but the girls kept playing. Surprisingly, the game was tied at five to five. Jade was able to keep up with Yoko. "Wow, Jade, I'm impressed," Yoko complimented while she juggled the ball with her feet, running towards her opponent's goal, "you've been practicing, haven't you?"

"Thanks," Jade replied, running after the wolf to steal the ball from her, "I guess having these rabbit legs must be good for scoring goals." Jade swiped her leg and successfully stole the ball from Yoko, making a mad dash for the goal. She saw that Yoko was quickly catching up to her. She brought back her leg, putting as much potential energy as she could. Then, which a strong grunt, she let all of that energy go into a powerful kick. The sound her foot made when it came in contact with the ball echoed throughout the backyard. The soccer ball shot out like a cannonball, landing in the goal with a swoosh.

'What a shot,' Yoko thought while catching her breath.

"OH YEAH!" Jade cheered, doing the cabbage patch as her victory dance, "Looks like I'm going to win, Miss MVP. You'd better step your game up."

Yoko chuckled at Jade's attempt at trash talking. "Don't get too cocky. It's not that hard for me to catch up." Yoko and Jade raised their ears, hearing the sound of tires crunching on asphalt.

"Are you expecting company?" Yoko asked.

Jade shook her head, "Mom and Dad aren't supposed to come back 'til next week." The two girls rush into the house. Jade made sure to lock the backdoor. The girls peeked through the Venetian blinds of the front window. They saw a familiar, silver Toyota Corolla parked in Jade's driveway. Out of the driver's seat came a slender, elderly wolfess with her hair in a ballet bun. She was almost the spitting image of Yoko. She had the same brown eyes, same pale grey fur, even the same light yellow streak in her hair, although she was a few inches taller and had a few wrinkles on her face. Walking to the Thompson's door, she bore a worried expression on her face. Yoko recognized her as none other than her...

"Grandma?!" Yoko shouted, confused as to why her grandmother had come. Jade went to open the door and greet her.

"Morning, Ms. Matsumoto, what brings you here?"

"Hello, Jade." Yuriko replied, "I came to take Yoko home."

Yoko walked to the front door and asked "Grandma, what's going on? You said Jade could drop me off..."

"There is no time, Yoko. Grab your things. We have to go." Yoko furrowed her brow, offended by her grandmother's discourteous behavior, but complied with her demand. The young wolfess quickly packed her suitcase, put on her blue denim jacket and placed it in her grandmother's trunk. She reluctantly climbed into the front passenger seat, arms crossed and face scowling. She heard her grandmother tell Jade to stay inside the house and lock all the doors and windows until her parents returned. With that, the elderly wolfess started her car and drove away with her miffed grandmother, leaving Jade extremely confused and somewhat worried for her best friend.

---

Yoko leaned against the elevator wall as they rode it to Yuriko's condo, legs shaking impatiently eyebrows furrowed and twitching, glaring angrily at her grandmother. She figured that her grandmother would be open with her and would explain her reasoning for ripping her away from Jade during the road trip, but, on the contrary, she proved to be even more frustrating than before by telling Yoko to meditate quietly during the entire trip.

Yuriko unlocked the door to her condo, letting her in. Yoko placed her suitcase against the wall and opened her mouth to ask questions, but Yuriko placed a finger on her granddaughter's lips to silence her.

"Yoko, I want you to listen to me carefully. I know you're upset because of what I did, but there was a news report saying that three kids, teenagers, from Jade's neighborhood disappeared two nights ago. I couldn't let you be the next victim."

Yoko took Yuriko's finger off of her mouth to say, "That's it?! What the hell, Grandma?!"

"Watch your language, Yoko!" Yuriko said sternly. "Who do you think you're talking to?"

"And if that's the case, why would you just leave Jade there alone instead on taking her with us?"

"She'll be fine if she stays indoors like I told her, too. The victims were attacked only while they were outside. Now, young lady, go to your room and meditate there for the rest of the day."

"No, Grandma! I'm taking my car and going back for Jade. She shouldn't be alone if there is some freak kidnapping people." Yoko went to get her keys, but felt Yuriko grab her wrist, stopping her.

"You will not leave this place, Yoko!"

Yoko struggled to break free from Yuriko's grip, but was unsuccessful. She bore her fangs and growled, "Let me go! You can't keep me here, you crazy bit..."

SLAP!! The sharp sound bounced off the walls. Yoko stood there, eyes wide and mouth agape with shock. She brought a shaking hand to her sore and stinging cheek. Yuriko released her granddaughter's wrist and pointed to Yoko's room. She growled and bark at the young wolf.

"GO TO YOUR ROOM NOW AND DON'T COME OUT UNTIL I TELL YOU TO!"

Yoko, seething with frustration, rushed to her room and slammed the door hard.

Yoko screamed into her pillow. "That stupid bitch! That crazy, stupid..." She brought her hand to the cheek. "How could she? How could she hit me like that? She never hits me like that. She's actually gone crazy." She buried her face into her pillow again, screaming loudly.

Yoko stuffed her hands into her pockets and felt something smooth and cloth-like in the right pocket. She fished into that pocket pulled out the small, silk pouch. She examined the smooth, ivory fabric and the Japanese characters written in glossy, red ink and immediately recognized it from when she was twelve.

---

The twelve-year-old Yoko had returned home to her grandmother's condo from store, carrying groceries in both hands. When she unlocked the front door, she was assaulted with the warmest of hugs and a series of wet kisses.

"Happy Birthday, Yoko!" Yuriko greeted, snuggling her granddaughter.

"Thanks, Grandma, but...can I just go back to my room now? I'm tired and I'm not up for a party."

"WHAT?! You can't go to bed now! You haven't even seen the cake yet," said the voice Yoko heard a voice from the dining room. She turned the corner to see one of her favorite people, happily waving at her.

"Jade!" Yoko shouted, as she ran to embrace her friend, "What are you doing here?"

"Celebrating your birthday, of course. What else? Me and my mom spent hours on this cake and I know you're gonna love it," Jade said gesturing to the silver platter next to her.

Yoko's eyes lit up. "Ooh! What kind of cake is it, Grandma?"

"I don't know, Yoko. Jade hasn't shown it to me, either."

"Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls," Jade proclaimed dramatically, "I now present to you...the finest cake in the nation, the most delicious pastry you will ever see in your lifetime...The Strawberry Paradise!"

Yoko's eyes widened when Jade removed the lid. The confection was about the size of a soccer ball and was covered in frosting of the colors red, black, and green that made it look like an actual strawberry. Surrounding it, was a thick, fluffy ring of whipped cream decorated with slices of real strawberries.

"I know how much you love strawberries, Yoko. So my mom and I found the recipe and baked this for you. What do you think?"

"It...it's beautiful," Yoko stammered. "It's just like...the one...Mom and Dad used to make."

The young wolf clutched at the locket around her neck. Her lips quivered and her eyes began to water. Her knees buckled and she dropped to the floor. She held her face in her hand and sobbed her heart out, tears streaming down her cheeks and between her fingers. Yuriko ran to cradle her granddaughter. Yoko buried her face in Yuriko's bosom, her tears staining her blouse.

"Oh no," Jade gasped, "I'm so sorry, Yoko. I didn't know."

"Jade?" Yuriko asked gently, "Can you give us a minute?" Jade nodded her head. The two wolves went to Yoko's room to talk in private. Yuriko continued to embrace her granddaughter until Yoko said.

"I'm sorry, Grandma." Yoko whimpered while wiping the tears off of her cheeks. "I didn't mean to ruin the party. I just...I miss them so much."

"You have nothing to apologize for, Yoko. I miss them, too." Yuriko held up a small pouch made of white silk, hanging from a piece of yarn from her finger. Four Japanese characters were stitched into it with red twine

"What's that?" Yoko asked?

"This is called a yokuyake omamori. Think of it as a charm. It'll work to remove misfortune and bring happiness and joy to those holding it. My mother gave me one of these when I was about your age and, each year, she would replace it with a new one. Now, I'm going to continue this tradition with you." Yuriko gently placed the silk pouch in Yoko's open palm.

Yoko raised her eyebrow, skeptical of the powers of this so-called "charm." "Grandma, all of this sounds...cheesy. It looks kinda like bloody toilet paper."

Yuriko chuckled. "Cracking jokes, huh? See? It's working already."

"Thanks, Grandma."

"Don't worry about it. Now, let's go have some of that cake."

---

Yoko held the charm in both hands, 'Happiness, huh?' she thought as she examined the silk pouch. 'Bullshit!' She threw the silk pouch at the wall in front of her.

"I have to get out of here now." Yoko stood up from her bed and slowly opened her door, peeking through the thin crack. She saw her grandmother sprawled out on the living room sofa, snoring loudly with drool running down her lip. 'Thank God she's a heavy sleeper,' Yoko thought. She tip-toed across the floor, grabbed her car keys, and left the condo.