Disclaimer: Me: Hm . . . now I KNOW that I came here for SOMETHING! It had something to do with uh . . . um . . . disregarding all fact and claiming that own Yu Yu Hakusho . . .

Random Dude: No! You're here to say that you DON'T own Yu Yu Hakusho so people don't sue you! Read the damned cue cards! That's what they're here for! God!

Me: ^_^, Eheh . . . um well, you heard the man. I actually don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of its characters. Surprised? You shouldn't be. Anyway, I'm out so you guys can move on. Thanks for stopping by!

Author's Note: Hello everyone! This story is going slow huh? I'm sorry. ^_^, I'm trying really heard to get it all together and I plan on ending it really soon here, but thanks to all of those who have been patient enough to bare with me. It means a lot to me, really it does. Please enjoy this chapter and while you do that I'll begin workin' on the next one! Do we have a deal? Great! Thanks again! ^_^

Chapter: 9

"All right everyone, the votes are in. Are you all ready to find out who's going to be the lucky girl?" Asked the announcer.

The classroom was utterly quiet, as though the slightest sound would shatter the silence like glass. Keiko's eyes seemed to burn holes in to the intercom, for their intensity was maddening. The class either watched her in wonder, or the intercom in suspense, and they were all glad that Amissa and Keiko didn't share the period. They were violent girls . . .

"Okay, so, between Amissa and Keiko, the one who received the most votes, but only by two is . . ."

Keiko's heart was beating in her head.

"Keiko Yukimura!"

Suddenly, the class erupted in cheers and clapping and congratulatory comments. Keiko let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding and smiled. 'By two votes . . . damn you're lucky girl.' She told herself.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yusuke let a small smiled spread across his face. She had won, he was happy for her, he really was. He was happy for her despite the fact that his stomach was terribly upset and his head felt heavier than the rest of his body. Oh well, he supposed that he only had one more hour to spend with Ms. Yugumai and then he could go home and finish the rest of his homework, which although it wasn't exactly relaxing, he could lay down and rest and pass his classes at the same time. Score! . . . Not really . . . Yusuke felt to tired to do his work, he felt to tired to rest . . . he felt as though he WERE the definition of the word 'tired'. He sighed as the bell rang, sounding the end of the last class of the day. He managed to pull himself up out of the desk and grab his books, and he managed to drag himself out of classroom, down the hall, and into Ms. Yugumai's room.

She was talking with another student so he waited patiently by the door. When she finished the student turned to leave. She stopped momentarily; quite surprised to see him standing there and then left the room without an uttered word. Ms. Yugumai smiled at him, but it was only a habitual greeting gesture, for it soon transformed into a slight frown of concern. "Yusuke you look exhausted and you're still so pale." She commented.

Yusuke shifted under her maternal eyes. "Uh . . . nice to see you too." He said in a sarcastically uncomfortable manner.

Ms. Yugumai still frowned at him and suddenly an awkward silence took up residence between the pair . . . or rather, an awkward silence for Yusuke. Ms. Yugumai seemed to wrapped up in her thoughts and concern to feel uncomfortable. He groaned.

"Ms. Yugumai, please can we just do this? I know that I'm not looking my Sunday best (so to speak) but I want to be here." He said.

The pretty young woman sighed. "Very well, but you have to promise me that you'll go home and rest . . . oh! And you have to let me drive you." She declared, fixing her favorite student with a defiant stare.

Yusuke sagged his shoulders. God! If someone saw him riding home with a teacher . . . well come on! Yusuke Urameshi riding in the same vehicle with TEACHER? It was just unheard of! But, Ms. Yugumai did not look as though she would take 'no' for an answer, so Yusuke nodded reluctantly. "Fine, I'll let you take me home, but it's stupid, I mean, I AM in walking distance." He said, crossing his arms over his chest in childish show of discontent.

Ms. Yugumai laughed. "Now, now dear, if I were you I'd tuck that lower pouty lip back in or someone's going to hook it!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ah! Keiko! Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod!" Squealed one of the many girls that surrounded her. "You won! This is sooooo great!"

Keiko laughed and hugged the girl. "I know! But oh God you guys we have so much to do! I won, but now we actually have to organize everything, and it all has to PERFECT down to the very last morsel of food. So do you think we can do it?"

"Yeah!"

"Duh!"

"Of coarse we can!"

"Damn straight!"

Keiko heard several more replies and she felt her blood just rushing through her veins in excitement.

"Yukimura!"

All talking ceased as the girls heard Keiko's last name being spat out as though it were poison to the tongue. They turned around to see Amissa marching toward them, her face twisted in rage. Keiko's friends seemed to back behind her a ways, but Keiko stood firm, fixing Amissa with an expressionless gaze. The blonde girl came very close so they were almost face-to-face. They stared at one another for a time and all was silent save for a soft, whistling breeze that attempted to soften the electric atmosphere between the two rivals. But alas, the breeze could do nothing and so it fell still. Then, Amissa stepped back a bit and dealt a slap right across Keiko's cheek. Keiko still stared at her expressionlessly and gently fingered her stinging, suddenly tender flesh. A small, if not victorious smile tugged at the corners of her lips and then Keiko stepped back. "What? Baby upset because she lost?" She asked in the voice that she used to talk to her baby cousin, although perhaps a tad bit smugger.

Amissa's fair cheeks flushed red and she raised her hand again, but Keiko threw her a warning look that Amissa dared not to ignore. She withdrew her intent and settled for a deep breath to calm her. "Just remember Keiko . . . you won by 2 votes. And one day you'll not be so fortuitous." And with that she turned on her heel and walked away.

Everyone watched her leave and as a true smile appeared on Keiko's lips all of the other girls began giggling and giving each other high-fives.

Keiko clapped her hands. "Hey, hey! Quiet down everyone . . . we've got work to do!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kuwabara sighed and laid down his pencil. He couldn't think about his science homework at the moment, for something else was bothering him. He kept getting this nagging feeling, no doubt spawned from his empathic and spiritual abilities. Something wasn't right, and he knew that it had to do with Yusuke and Keiko. He'd seen Urameshi earlier that day, and his friend hadn't looked so great. He looked ill, but Kuwabara had never seen Yusuke ill before.

And what about Keiko? Kuwabara hadn't seen anything but the occasional glimpses of Keiko zipping through the hallway, or surrounded by her friends, and he saw her in the one class that they shared, but he never was given the chance to speak with her. He wasn't really sure that speaking with her would help anything anyway.

He frowned deeply and absently began petting his not so little anymore calico cat a littler harder than he meant to. This resulted in the feline getting up, and giving him a nasty glare to know that his action wasn't appreciated. She did not leave though, for she loved Kuwabara as much as he loved her, and after all, the boy did take very good care of her. She glanced down at her midsection and back at Kuwabara. Yes, she never starved. The cat let out a yawn and lay back down. Kuwabara smiled at her briefly before going back to his pondering.

If he couldn't talk to Keiko and was sure that Yusuke was out of the question, who could he talk to who would know anything? Nobody he imagined. He shrugged. Well, he'd call up the smartest person he knew and see if HE could lend him a hand, although it was very unlikely. As often and as openly as Yusuke and Keiko fought, when it came down to the real heart wrenching stuff it was anybody's guess.

He picked up the phone and dialed Kurama's number. Two rings sounded before the phone was picked up and answered by Kurama's soft, tenor voice.

"Hey Kurama, this is Kuwabara." He spoke. "Yeah, so listen, do you have any thoughts on Urameshi? Hm? Well yeah, I got this nagging feeling that won't go away, and it's sorta worrying me. Now? Sure I can. Yeah, okay, bye."

Kuwabara hung up the phone. Kurama had said that they should meet and talk, and Kuwabara agreed. He glanced out the window. The sky was a light shade of blue, for the sun was nothing more than a sliver of light sinking into an inevitable sea of the night's dark. He sighed and threw on a baggy sweatshirt. "Bye Aikichee!" He said, waving farewell to his beloved feline.

He left the room and left a note on the table in case Shizuru came home and wondered where he'd wandered off. Then he made his way to the park where he knew Kurama was all ready awaiting him.

It was a pleasant evening, slightly cool, but yet refreshing in a sense. He took a deep breath and savored nighttime's unique flavor on his tongue. There were a few couples about, holding hands, talking, whispering, and every now and then laughing quietly. Yes, it was very nice and one time, he hoped to share such a night with his beloved Yukina. Why, the very thought of her made his heart flutter in his chest, and he couldn't help a big, goofy smile.

Kuwabara was so very indulged in his thoughts of the lovely ice maiden that he forgot momentarily his reason for being at the park. He also failed to notice someone come up behind him, so that when that someone placed a gentle hand on his shoulder, he yelped and jumped.

Kurama chuckled. "Could one conclude that your mind is elsewhere?" He asked in amusement.

Kuwabara looked at him with wide, annoyed eyes. "Yeah, ONE could CONCLUDE that." He said bitterly.

Kurama shrugged. And joined his friend's side. They began walking, and neither was sure if they ever planned on deciding on a place to sit, it was nice to walk.

"Man Kurama, you've GOT to give people fair warning before you just pop up outta nowhere like that. One day you're gunna hurt someone." Kuwabara said.

"Perhaps, but then, you're the only one who never detects me." Replied the redhead.

"Yeah." Kuwabara mumbled under his breath. He needed a subject change. "Okay, so anyway. What about Urameshi?"

"He's sick." Came the simple reply.

"Yeah I know that Kurama, but--"

Kurama looked at him, his eyes glinting in the dull lamps. Kuwabara shuddered as he thought he saw a flash of gold. Kurama was eerie . . .

"I mean heart sick." He interrupted.

Now this stopped Kuwabara in his tracks. "Heart sick? What do you mean?"

They began walking again. Kurama looked up at the sky for a moment and then straight ahead. "Yusuke's immune system in stronger than that of any normal human's and the reason for this is because of his Rei-ki. A normal cold that he could catch from say . . . being out in a rain storm too long would be fought off with no problem, but it hasn't and the reason is because he's fallen in to a state of depression." Kurama explained.

Kuwabara stole a moment to reflect on the fox's answer. It made perfect sense, but then, Kurama never said anything that didn't. "Heart sick." He repeated aloud. "That's the worst kind of sick." He said, and Kurama nodded his head slowly in agreement.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yusuke's head felt heavy and he could barely hold it up. His eyes seemed determined to shut despite his formidable efforts to keep them from doing so. His fingers felt haggard as he wrote the short answers required for his schoolwork, and it took tons of effort to move his hand across the paper.

He yawned. Yusuke did not remember a time when he'd felt quite so bad. Sure he had been beaten to a bloody pulp numerous times, had broken almost every bone in his body, died twice and was resurrected both times, and once when he was little Keiko go really mad at him and shoved him down a flight of stairs, but NEVER did he remember feeling so terrible.

At this thought Yusuke dropped his pencil and dropped his head, his entire body going completely lax, no longer able to fight off sleep. This however was a good thing, for his body was tired and he was over exerting himself, and it was 2:30 in the morning. Yes, sleep came easy, and this night no dreams came to haunt him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Keiko shifted in her bed, for some reason unable to get comfortable. She thought that maybe she was still on an adrenaline rush from all that great excitement of winning the campaign. It was such a wonderful feeling! However, something was nagging at the back of her mind. She felt as though she were forgetting something . . . perhaps a very important something, but the thought never occurred to the girl that she may have been forgetting a someone.