and i'm back! i really couldnt wait to put this up, so im doing the first chapter today, though the updates wont be as frequent as they were before. between school and work im kinda full. however, i can garuntee an update every saturday. i dont work those days so...

this is the sequel to Facing Your Inner Demons so if you havent read that, then you wont understand this one bit. please read that first!

full summary: Seven months have passed since Hiei returned to the Makai and Kelly has found herself alone again. But the rest of the gang must help her as she overcomes trials of the body, mind and spirit as she tries to fit in to a world where half-demons will never be accepted. All of that on top of the fact that two of her best friends end up going out and you have one long and wild ride!

disclaimer:i dont own Yu Yu Hakusho, its characters or its plot. i only own my OC Kelly and any other OCs i throw in (cause there's more this time!)

Spreading Your Wings

Ch 1: No Going Back

The bell rang in the background and Kelly gave a sigh of relief. The school day was finally over and spring break was about to start. She really needed that break.

She walked slowly through the halls of her high school. Students passed her, barely even glancing at her. She made it to her locker, packed her books in her bag, and left the building. She walked towards the parking lot, her car being one of the lasts ones there.

All the students ignored her. They had gotten used to her ghostly appearance. It was like she was a zombie; dead but still functioning. It had been like this for four out of the seven months she had returned from the "therapy session" she had undergone in Japan to help her deal with her kidnapping. At least, that's what everyone thought she had been doing.

Kelly had been doing well the first three months. She had tried, she really did. But nothing seemed worth it anymore.

She unlocked the old maroon car her grandmother had given her. It was as old as Kelly was, but it still managed to get her to and from school, and that's all that mattered to her.

She got in and lowered the head board to look in the mirror. The reflection never ceased to startle her.

She was paler than she had ever been. The only color on her face was the dark purple shadows under her eyes, barely concealed by the cover-up she wore. The light from her eyes was gone, replaced by a dull, hollow look. Even the purple in her now cropped short hair had lost its vivacity.

She ruffled her hair a bit in order to give it more life, but to no avail. She sighed and started the car, ready to go home.

She was just about to pull out of her parking space when a ringing noise came from her bag on the seat beside her. She grabbed the bag and pulled out the communicator she had gotten from Koenma almost a year ago. She quickly opened it.

"I'm fine, Kurama," she said in an annoyed yet dull tone. Sure enough, it was Kurama's face on the screen.

"Yes, you always say that," he said back with a worried tone.

"And I always mean it."

Kurama sighed. She really was stubborn. "I've talked to your mother."

"And? What did you two talk about this time?"

"We're coming and spending your spring break with you."

"But you guys aren't on spring break. You can't just skip your classes."

"I've talked to the others and they all agreed with me. Even Shizuru and Botan are coming."

Kelly sighed. She was happy, she really was. But seeing them all again would make it that much harder in the end.

"Your mother thought that it would be a good idea. She didn't want you to be alone on your spring break."

Kelly nodded. Her family was going to Texas to visit her mother's best friend who had moved out there for college, but ended up getting married and so stayed there. Kelly wasn't going. She didn't like the heat and traveling wasn't very good for her now.

"What is this, a farewell party?" she asked.

Kurama's eyes saddened. "No, Kel. We just don't want you to be alone."

"I've been alone for the past seven months, Kurama. Nothin' will change that."

"Kelly… you've got to try."

"I did try, Kurama. I tried so fuckin' hard! I tried livin' a normal human life. I tried to act like nothin' happened. But I can't do it anymore! I can't do this without him. I tired because I know that's what he had intended. But… I found out I can't do it," she said in frustration. She leaned back against the head rest of her seat and closed her eyes, not wanting to see Kurama. "And stop talkin' ta my mom. She talks too much."

"If I hadn't talked to her, I would never have found out. None of us would have."

Kelly looked back down at the screen and Kurama's face.

"That's the way I wanted it to be," she told him blandly.

"We're still coming."

"I know you are."

"Look at it as a birthday party if you want to. We missed it."

He was right. Her birthday was back in February. She had turned eighteen. There was no party, she didn't want one. The only thing she asked for was a Les Paul guitar. She got it. But she never played it. It was more of a "what if" kind of gift.

"How's Yusuke and Keiko?" she asked.

"Doing very well, actually," he answered. "They said the honeymoon was great."

Kelly nodded. The two had gotten married three months earlier, one of the reasons why everyone had missed Kelly's birthday. Kelly had been a bride's maid. That was when Kurama had started to be suspicious. He had called her mother that very same day and then confronted her about it that night.

"That's good. They deserve happiness," she said with a small smile.

"So do you," he told her.

She sighed. "I know, Kurama. You tell me that all the time."

"And I always mean it," he said, quoting her from earlier. Only, his wasn't a lie.

"I know you do. Listen, I'll call you back later. I really need to get back home or my mom will think something happened and I'm back in Spirit World. Then she'll call Koenma and he doesn't need that."

"Okay. But, Kelly?"

"I know. Take care of myself. I will."

"Right." But his voice gave him away. He didn't believe her. But then again, he shouldn't believe her. It was a lie after all.

"Kurama?"

"Hm?"

"Thanks…for everything."

His face softened. "Your welcome. Good-bye."

"Bye." The screen shut down and Kelly placed the communicator back in her bag.

So much had happened in the seven months Kelly had been home. But her time was dwindling.

From what the doctors of Spirit World had told her, she only had a month to live by now.

hehehehe im so evil. kind of a teaser of a first chapter right? well just wait and youll see what happens! like i said ill update every saturday and any other day that i can. but actually im not very far in this story. i had 25 chapters done when i finished posting the first, and now i only have 28. it been really hard to wright...

anyway Hiei shows up next chapter but like i said before hes not back in Human World with Kelly. In fact Kelly's really not in much of the next chapter... o yeah, i gave her the same birthday as me cause it fit in with the story and i know the birthstone (plus it matched her hair) cause the birthstone plays a little part later on. no big deal, i just needed it that way.

alright then, see you in the next chapter!