It was seven a.m., and Zain Sphynx was just waking up to the sound of her alarm clock. Sleepily, she stretched and climbed out of bed. Her twin sister, Zoie, would be ready to start packing by now, so she stripped off her night clothes and hopped into the freezing cold shower. So many thoughts filled her head that particular morning that it didn't take as long as usual for the frosty water to wake her up. "Zain!" she heard her sister call as she stepped out of the shower and began to dry off. "Zain, Yusuke's here to say goodbye! Zain, are you listening to me?" "Send him up," she yelled in response. In a matter of seconds there was a knock on her bathroom door. She wrapped a towel around her bare body and opened the door to see her long-time best friend, Yusuke Urameshi, standing in her room with a half smile. "Woke up late, I see," he said. Zain answered with a smile and walked over to where he stood, embracing him. "I'm gonna miss you like crazy, Zain," he said. She backed away and gave him a pleading look. "Then why don't you come with us?" "Aw, come on, you know college isn't for me," said Yusuke, sitting on her bed. Zain sighed and went over to her desk, where a pair of black, leather shorts and a t-shirt were laid out. "You're just using excuses," she told Yusuke in a pouty voice. "Close your eyes, I need to get dressed." "Need help?" he joked. "Don't you wish. C'mon, I'm not kidding." "Aw, you're no fun," Yusuke replied, doing as he was told with a sigh. He had known Zain and her sister Zoie since he had moved to Nokeshi his freshman year in high school. Zain had quickly become his best friend, with her love of fighting and voice of an angel. He had always thought that she would someday be the lead singer in some band. He had even dated her sister at one point. Now his best friend was leaving to go to college in America. He had begged her to stay when she had first told him, even to the point where he looked pathetic, but she wouldn't hear of it. Then, the night before they were scheduled to leave, he had realized something: he had fallen in love with his friend. "Hey, Earth to Yusuke, come in Yusuke!" Zain chanted. Yusuke opened his eyes to see the catgirl leaning over him, smiling and waving her hand in front of his face. She was wearing a tight red t-shirt, tight, short black shorts and her favorite black, leather, knee-high boots. He couldn't help but to stare, until Zoie came in the room. "Hey, Zain, hurry up already! Our plane leaves at eleven, and we still have a ton of packing to do!" Zain sighed and shook her head. Her sister was always so impatient. "Okay, I'm coming, just. gimme a few minutes, okay?" Zoie looked at her sister. Though they had only been three minutes apart at birth, it might as well have been three years. Her sister was always very level-headed and smart, while she had always played the role of the protective big sister. Together, there was nothing they couldn't do, and they were famous for causing trouble. "Fine, five minutes," she said before turning to leave. She felt bad for Zain. Yusuke was her best friend, and now they might never see each other again. A wave of self pity then hit her as she thought of all the people that she would be leaving behind, mainly her boyfriend, Harry. She sighed and held back the choking feeling in her throat. The last thing she needed to do was let Zain see her upset. Up in her room, Zain and Yusuke were busy putting her things into boxes and suitcases, laughing and sighing over fond memories. ".And then there was that time when Zuki-chan had a crush on you, so I pretended that I was your fiancée!" Zain reminisced between fits of laughter. "Ha, and she believed us, even though we were only in tenth grade!" Yusuke could not bring himself to laugh. He was too busy thinking about missing Zain. 'So tell her you love her, dumbass,' he thought to himself. Zain's laughter subsided when she saw the sad look on Yusuke's face. "What is it?" she asked. And then she smiled. "Cat got your tongue?" Yusuke smiled to himself and shook his head before looking up at Zain. Somewhere on the way from his heart to his mouth, the words he wanted to say to her became lost. "Zain, I." he began. 'What if she hates me? I could ruin everything!' "What I mean is." 'No! She'll think I'm stupid!' Zain let out a nervous laugh. 'Wow, I've never seen him so flustered.' 'JUST TELL HER, ALREADY!' "Gwah, ZAIN, I LOVE YOU, AND I'LL GO ANYWHERE TO BE WITH YOU!" he finally managed, eyes shut, in one nervous rush of words. Zain stared in shock at Yusuke. He slowly opened his eyes, just in time to see her begin to blush bright red. "Wha-" she began, but before she could finish, Yusuke covered her mouth with his, holding her to him. He backed away quickly to see her reaction. She was still sitting there, her face inches from his, with a look of sheer surprise in her eyes. 'I knew it! She totally hates my guts!' But before he knew it, Zain was kissing him, wrapping her arms around his waist, with the same urgency he had just shown. After getting over the initial shock, he shut his eyes and fell backwards, so that he was lying on the bed with Zain lying on top of him.