Melissa: Shmuck! I didn't know that many people liked this fic already… --^_____^-- THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!!

Miyu: I can't believe it… ELEVEN REVIEWS?!?!

Melissa: (crying tears of joy) I'm so proud!! You guys have totally made my day—not that watching my dear and beloved Yu-chan didn't (I was watching a YYH DVD earlier… ^^). And since I love you all so much, I'm giving you another chapter!

Miyu: Another one?

Melissa: Yep! I love my reviewers! Well, maybe not Kojiro-kun, that bastard that called me "Missy"! _# Da name's Lissa, dammit! (ha ha, Brandon, I'm just kidding… Or am I? O_o ^^)

Miyu: Actually, your name's Melissa.

Melissa: Shut up!

Disclaimer: If I owned YYH, Hiei and Keiko would be an actual couple (either them or Hiei/Kurama or Hiei and my buddy Lynx or Hiei and my buddy Aohiki, or him and any of my rabid Hieinatic buds) and Yusuke would be all mine for the taking! ^_~

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Chapter 2: Confession

      Keiko had been wandering the forest for half an hour, now hopelessly lost and confused. It was getting dark now and with the darkness came the cold. Keiko wrapped her coat around herself tighter and shuddered. If she didn't get to the hotel soon, she would die of hypothermia or at least suffer from frostbite. It was freezing outside!

      *Maybe I should've asked Hiei to take me back to the hotel,* she thought as she walked past a familiar looking tree. Then she noticed the shoeprint in the muddy ground near the trunk of the tree. She had definitely been here before.

      *How am I gonna get back to the hotel now?* Keiko thought with a grim expression on her face. Her dark idea then turned to pessimism, causing pools of tears to form in her chocolate eyes. Before she knew it, she had collapsed on the floor, curling herself in a ball and muffling her sobs with her arm. The dark of the night and the increasing cold was weighing heavily on Keiko now, and it was breaking her down.

      And there was also the matter of how she would deal with Hiei later on. Right now, she was extremely confused. Hiei had just been the picture of rudeness to her, but he seemed so tender in her dreams. On one hand, she just wanted to run to him and love him, but another part of her wanted to kill the smug little youkai. But that didn't matter now. It was cold and had lost all hope of making it back to the hotel alive.

      She was giving up.

      "Keiko! Keiko-chan, where are you?!"

      "What?!" Keiko sat up in a flash, puzzled by the voice. She wasn't sure if she had really heard it or not, but she did know one thing for sure; the voice belonged to Yusuke. Yusuke's voice—real or not—revitalized her and she began to walk again. She followed the voice for a while, and then made it out of the forest. The first thing she saw was Yusuke, pacing back and forth worriedly outside.

      "Keiko!" he gasped, finally finding her. He ran over and instinctively draped his thick red jacket around her shoulders. "Where have you been? You've been missing for hours, and you're almost blue!"

      "I-I-I was…" Keiko's teeth were chattering, making it very hard for her to speak. "I took a walk a-and g-got l-lost."

      "A walk?" Yusuke asked, still not convinced. His face still wore the worried big brother expression and he said wryly, "More like a hike through the hills… C'mon, let's get you inside."

      Yusuke led Keiko into the hotel lobby and sat her down on one of the comfy couches inside. He bought her a hot cup of coffee, which she accepted gratefully. She carefully held the cup of coffee, trying to steady it with her still trembling hands. Eventually the cup's heat coursed it's way through Keiko's hands, ceasing her shivers. She took a long sip, and then brought the cup down and smiled at Yusuke.

      "Feel better?" Yusuke asked. She nodded.

      "Yusuke," she began, looking a little timid, "thanks for everything."

      Yusuke chuckled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders protectively. "Hey, it's no problem, imouto-chan," he added with a smirk.

      Keiko returned his smirk with one of her own. "Ha ha, but shouldn't you be calling me 'Oneesan'?" Yusuke irked an eyebrow at her, and then they both laughed at their own silliness.

      "Keiko!"

      Yusuke and Keiko both turned to see Botan running towards them. Botan sat down beside Keiko and enveloped her in a warm hug. Pulling back, Botan flashed a huge grin at Keiko.

      "Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" Botan exclaimed, feeling overwhelmingly relieved. "Daijobu?"

      Keiko smiled back at Botan. "I'm fine. I'm all warm now too." She took a while to explain to Botan what had happened ("I, um, got lost? Yeah, that's it!") and then paused for a moment, recalling her rendezvous with Hiei. It was then that she finally worked up enough courage to ask them about what had been on her mind for the past couple of months.

      "Um, Yusuke, Botan?" Keiko started, trying to get their attention. She looked somewhat bashful at that moment, as if she was holding back.

      "Doushita, Kei-chan?" Yusuke asked, vexed by the look on her face.

      Keiko took another pause, as if she was trying to collect her thoughts or though she was embarrassed over something. Her cheeks were even flushed with a slight bit of color. "Um, how exactly did you come to meet Hiei?"

      Yusuke turned to Botan, who shared the same surprised look as he did. They weren't quite sure what to answer Keiko. Botan was fidgeting around, small sweat drops falling down the side of her head. Yusuke was acting pretty much the same, except for the fact that he was scratching his head instead of fidgeting around.

      "What is it?" Keiko was perplexed. She couldn't figure out why they were so freaked out over her simple question.

      "Uh, Keiko, do you remember when Botan was helping you run away from those freaky zombie guys that were trying to kill you?" Yusuke asked, looking uncomfortable. Keiko nodded, still as baffled as before. What the heck did that have to do with Hiei?

      Yusuke leaned back in his chair and put a hand behind his head as if he trying to remember or something. "Well, while you and Botan were running, Kuwabara and I were fighting off demons in Makai to try to stop them. Koenma ordered Hiei and Kurama to help us, and that's how we all met." Botan nodded in agreement, but that still didn't settle anything for Keiko. It didn't explain the dreams.

      "Oh," Keiko said, looking disappointed. Her lips were pursed in thought, like they always were when she did heavy thinking. "Well, then that makes the dream a dream," she said, deep in her own thoughts.

      "What dream?" Botan asked, confused. Keiko hadn't told her about any dreams, and the expression on Yusuke's face showed that he knew as little as Botan did on the matter.

      Keiko was blushing and sweat dropping in embarrassment. "Well, promise you won't think I'm weird or anything, 'kay?" she asked, receiving nods and "mm-hm's".

      Keiko took a breath. She was about to tell them about the dreams that had been plaguing her for months now. Of course, she would omit the kissing sequence; she wasn't going to tell anyone about that for a while.

      "Okay, um, well, in these dreams," she began, "I'm lying on the ground and I can't get up. Botan's right above me, and she looks like she's in a lot of pain. And you, Yusuke, you're behind a wall of crates so I can't see you, but I can hear you. You're fighting Hiei."

      Yusuke and Botan's eyes widened. They were shocked. How was it possible for Keiko to know about that? How could she have those dreams? She was unconscious during that time, wasn't she?

      "How did you know about that?!" Botan shrieked right before Yusuke clamped a hand over her mouth.

      "You mean it's true?!?!" Keiko stood up, looking puzzled and bewildered. "Why didn't you tell me?!" she screeched, amazed that they had never even bothered to tell her about this. Her hands were balled into fists, and her emotions were beyond intense. They didn't tell her! If they had, she could have had so many less sleepless nights where she wondered about what the heck was going on in her mind. She couldn't believe it. They didn't even consider telling her once.

      "Keiko, we were trying to protect you," Yusuke said in their defense. He had a horribly guilty look on his face that much resembled the look that Keiko had when Yusuke had died and she was blaming herself. "We thought it'd be best if you didn't know anything about the demon world."

      "You should have told me anyway!" Keiko scolded, making them shrink back. "This is why you were always gone, isn't it? I was so worried when you kept leaving; I thought you were going to die and leave me again!" At this last statement, Keiko flung herself into Yusuke's arms and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I was SCARED!! Don't you get that, you big jerk?! You scared me so badly!"

      Yusuke felt so guilty at this moment that he was beyond words. All he could do was pat her back and say an occasional "I'm sorry", which was more than Botan could do. Botan had drifted over to the other side of the couch, and was sulking in her own shame. Keiko wailed into Yusuke's chest for a few more minutes, each heaving breath slowing her sobs a little more each time. When she had finally regained her composure, Keiko spoke again, perplexed once again.

      "…But…that doesn't explain the kiss," Keiko said almost inaudibly, but just loud enough for it to reach Yusuke's ears.

      "Kiss?!" Yusuke pushed Keiko off of his chest and looked straight into her still-teary eyes. "What kiss?!"

      Keiko was freaking out once more. This wasn't the first time she'd gotten herself into this situation. In fact, Hiei was questioning her on it just a couple hours prior. Her pupils had shrunken, and there were sweat drops all over her head.

      "Er…um… no kiss! There was no kiss!" Keiko denied, obviously lying. She was a very bad liar, since she hadn't really had much experience with lying in the past. Being the responsible student and conforming daughter she was, she had found no reason to lie before hand.

      "Keiko…" Yusuke growled, giving her a glare that said "Be a good girl and tell me and you won't get hurt."

      This look sent shivers down Keiko's spine, and she threw her hands down in defeat. "Alright, fine! Before you guys showed up, Hiei kissed me! Happy now?" she exclaimed, saying that entire statement in about two breaths.

      "HE WHAT?!?!' Yusuke bellowed, scaring the bejeebies out of Keiko. He stood up, clenching his fist tightly. Even his spirit energy was rising. It was scary. Enough said.

      Botan was giggling mischievously, cat ears sprouting out of her head. "I knew there was something going on between you two. Meow…" she purred, playfulness glinting in her lavender eyes.

      Yusuke was already heading toward the door, sending off murderous vibes to everyone in the lobby. Keiko was tugging on his arm, pleading for him to just forget about the whole thing, but to no avail. Yusuke's mind was set on something, and nothing would keep him from doing it.

      "Yusuke, yamero onegai!" Keiko begged, trying to keep him from killing someone that night. "Please, the kiss really meant nothing to me!"

      "That's not the point!" Yusuke roared back, sending fear into Keiko. "He kissed you! He took advantage of you!"

      "NO!!!" Keiko negated his speech. "That's not true at all!"

      Yusuke gawked at her, unable to comprehend what she had just said. "What? So, you just let him kiss you? What the Hell are you talking about?! I mean, none of this makes any—"

      WHACK!!

      Yusuke was now face down on the ground with a red hand-shaped blob on his cheek and swirly eyes. Keiko simply took a breath and shook the pain out of her hand.

      "Get a hold of yourself, Yu-chan," Keiko ordered. "Do you really think I'm that kind of girl? I'm not! Sure, when he initially kissed me, it was without my permission. But after it started…I kind of…didn't want him to stop."

      Keiko's revelation stopped Yusuke dead in his tracks. "So…you liked it?" Keiko nodded with a slight giggle.

      "Yeah, I kinda did."

      Yusuke gave her a smile. "Do you love him?" he asked, not really knowing what to expect.

      His question took Keiko aback. "I don't know…"

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Melissa: Yeesh, I did NOT like this chapter…

Miyu: I don't like any chapters at all.

Melissa: . Meanie. But really, I don't know why, but I didn't like that chapter. It just seemed a little dry to me. Anyway, for all of you people that are limited on Japanese knowledge, here's a dictionary as to the words I used this chap!

-Chan: C'mon, just about EVERYONE knows this one, ne? It's an honorific used between friends, mostly on girls or children.

Ne: It's added to the end of sentences when asking for agreement. It's kind of like "Right?" or something like that.

Imouto: Little sister.

Oneesan: Big sister.

Daijobu: Are you okay?

Doushita: What's wrong?

Yamero/Yamete: (I think I spelled those right…()) Stop.

Onegai: Please.

Melissa: See how much I love you guys? I'm teaching you Japanese! ^_^

Miyu: But you can't speak Japanese.

Melissa: () I know… u.u Time for review responses! ^_^

FoxCryingBlood-

Melissa: Shmcuk is copyrighted to me…but I'll let you use it just because I'm nice like that. ^-^

Miyu: Don't you just love the slap scene?

Melissa: I do! ^_^ Thankies for reviewing!

sailorearth1023-

Melissa: HieixKuwabara? I don't think I've ever read any of those… O_o

Miyu: (looks up from a pile of fics) You don't wanna. They scare me.

Melissa: O_o And I'm glad Keiko's not OOC and that it wasn't repetitious. I have a tendency to think too much… ^^;; Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

IvyRaine-

Melissa: Wow, you don't like HieixKeiko pairings but you like my fic? Thanks! ^_^

Miyu: What was with the "you go girl!"?

Melissa: (shrugs) I dunno, but I appreciated it! Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

bit-Blackmage-

Miyu: I loved the slappage! Sucked for Hiei, but I thought it was hilarious!

Melissa: Of course you did, you love slapping people!

Miyu: I wouldn't be talking; you slap people with fish!

Melissa: () Yeah, that's true… Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

Keeper of the Apocolypse:

Miyu: (flipping through a dictionary) Baka ningen. "Repetitious: Tediously repeating." Got it?

Melissa: No need to be mean, Miyu-chan. I just have a vocabulary that's too big for my own good. ^^;; And you're right, Keiko is kinda hard to make OOC; I was just afraid I made her seem like a love-sick puppy. Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

isisrin-

Miyu: BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Melissa got called a dog! XD
Melissa: . Shut up, you. Anyway, thanks so much for the compliment! I feel so special! Thankies for reviewing!

Kojiro-kun-

Miyu: (holding back a rabid and foaming at the mouth Melissa) Baka yarou! You just had to call Melissa that name, didn't you?!

Melissa: _# I'M GONNA KILL YOU!!! Temee! Hiretsukan! Dobutsu! Kuttabachimae! Kono yogore! Kuso kozo! Kutabare!!

Miyu: I'm so glad she's cursing in Japanese and not English… Anyway, only a select few people in Melissa's family get to call her (whispers) "Missy". Got that? Now, if you value your life, you will take back that name, NOW.

Melissa: (deep breath) Thankies for reviewing! ^_^ (goes back to cursing again)

Miyu: ()

DemonLady1-

Melissa: Was that soon enough?

Miyu: I think it was too soon.

Melissa: What ever. Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

Edainme-

Melissa: O_o OMG, that's exactly what I was thinking! Yep, I'm really planning on having Botan screw some things up.

Miyu: It's gonna be fun! Oh, and I so agree that Hiei deserved the slap around. XD

Melissa: Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

Blkwidow77-

Miyu: Wow, someone else likes it? Yeesh, that's a lot of fans…

Melissa: Thankies so much! ^_^

Melissa: Wow, FINALLY done with the review responses!

Miyu: Kami, it took a while.

Melissa: Anyway, I've decided on there being a reviewer's poll in each chapter. Today's poll is:

Okay, since I didn't really like today's chapter, I'd like for you to rate it, kay?

A rating of 1 is "OMG, you suck so much! You should just give up writing, because this was the worst thing I've ever read!!"

A rating of 10 is "OMG, this was so amazing! You are so talented and you are possibly the world's greatest writer ever!"

Miyu: I'm gonna give it so many 1's… XD

Melissa: . Meanie. I'm really hoping for no 1's… Some 10's would be nice. REVIEW!! Oh, and have a nice day as always. ^_^