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Drown

Tick.

Tock.

Tick.

Tock.

The monotonous clicking of the clock was the only sound in the range of Kitsune's hearing. But she didn't hear it.

Konno Kitsune, indestructible resident drunk and advisor on relationships, was crying. Silently, of course. Why even bother when no one was around to lament with her? She was going to die.

It was only a few weeks ago she had made the conclusion that her life was worth living. And now…now she was living to die.

Steps were approaching. Voices were growing in volume. Kitsune turned her head towards the door, contemplating what she could do. Either she could run up to her room and lock herself in until she was ready to face them, or she could give them the teary and dramatic.  Kitsune chose to run and hide.

Quickly, Kitsune shot up, slipping on the hardwood floor. The remnants of the exhaustion were still there. She balanced herself with her hand then took off.

The others wouldn't be seeing her today.

.~.

Kitsune reached her room and shut the door behind her. It was soon locked.

Kitsune made her way over to her messy futon. She gently lay down, drowning in her sorrow.

She couldn't be dying. It had to be a hoax, right?

Frantically, Kitsune searched her emotion worn mind fro something to blame. She conveniently found it.

Liquor.

Alcohol.

Booze.

It was the alcohol that poisoned her! The one substance meant to give her pleasure during pain now caused her pain in her pleasure.

Kitsune turned to her stash of liquor. From where she was lying down, she glared at the crystal bottles with swollen eyes. Making a rash decision, Kitsune stood up from where she was lying down and made her way over to the Death. There she surveyed it with hateful eyes before taking her balled up fist and hitting it against the closest bottle.

The result was pain in her fist. None of the bottle had been harmed. Just herself. Like always when it comes to the amber liquid.

It was never hurt. It always hurt her.

Always.

Even when she was totally oblivious to the damage it was causing to her body. Kitsune's fragile, human body.

With that last thought, Kitsune slowly drifted off to a peaceful slumber.

.~.

Knock knock.

Kitsune cracked open her heavy eyes. Someone was knocking at her door. Groaning she sat up, occasionally grimacing at the dull pain in her upper left abdomen area.

"Come in." she managed, flicking her eyes to the screen leading out to the hallway.

The screen silently slid open. There stood a jubilant Naru. She hopped into the room with a large smile on her face.

"Guess what?" She asked. Her body language was oozing happiness.

"Chicken butt." Kitsune muttered. Naru threw back her head and laughed. Kitsune quirked an eyebrow at this gesture. Why the hell was Naru so happy?

"Umm…Naru? Is there a reason for your…your umm…bounciness?" The change was instantaneous. Boisterous and joyful Naru became the shy and demure Naru, blushing like a schoolgirl.

Naru shyly whispered her answer to Kitsune. "Keitaro's coming back today."

Kitsune couldn't help smiling at this. Around two weeks back, Keitaro and Seta had left for South Asia to excavate what they thought was a colony of the turtle civilization. So they were coming back, huh?

"I bet Sarah's real happy."

"Yes she is! She even helped decorate the living room! We're going to have a party Kitsune!" Kitsune's smile fell. Naru failed to notice. "There's going to be food, karaoke, dancing, smiling and-just for you Kitsune, a whole bar filled with the best booze!"

Kitsune had turned her head away. Naru now noticed and ventured to put her hand on Kitsune's shoulder. At the contact, Kitsune turned to face Naru. She was crying.

"K-Kitsune? Why are you crying? Is something wrong?"

No answer.

"Kitsune! You h-have to answer me! Did the d-doctor call? What did she say?"

There was a pause before Kitsune took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak.

"I-I'm…going to…die…" she whispered. Naru stared at her in shock then slowly recovered. A small smile was playing on her lips.

"You scared me there for a moment! I thought you were serious! Come on, we have a party to go to." Kitsune lifted her tear worn eyes to Naru's face and shook her head.

"I wasn't kidding. I'm going to die from liver cirrhosis."

The dam in Naru's eyes broke as her tears began to fall.

.~.

Downstairs, voices could be heard celebrating as Keitaro and Seta entered the Hinata House. They were all happy. Not for long.

Naru came down the steps gently, still crying. She made her way over to Keitaro who was talking with Haruka.

"Keitaro?" He turned around. A genuine smile placed itself on his face before fading.

"Naru? Is something wrong?" By now, the room was silent.

"I need a hug." Naru buried herself in Keitaro's arms. As he stroked her hair, he sent questioning glances to the other surprised occupants of the room. Finally, Naru pulled back.

"Kitsune…she got a call from the doctor's. Sh-she is suffering from liver cirrhosis. She could die from it."

Hands flew up to faces, smiles dropped.

Hands gripped with joy became hands gripped with fear.

Tears began to fall; content moods began to fall.

The pale dusk sky splashed with gold and pink began to give way to night. The dark, lonely, eternal night.

.~.

Seta was the first to speak.

"How?" His voice was breaking. The ever-pleasant Seta was breaking.

"Drinking. She drank too much." There were a few scattered nods, as if accepting this fate as theirs too. Slowly, the crowd began to disperse, leaving Keitaro, Naru and Seta alone.

The three who had known Kitsune longest and knew her best.

"What are we going to do?" Keitaro asked, his eyes watching as Naru wiped away tears.

"She needs comfort. Sh-she is keeping it all inside. There might be some medicine she could take to help herself out! We have to help her! I can't lose her! She's my be-best friend! The only person th-that understands me!" At that outburst, Naru fell forward again into Keitaro's arms, crying, sobbing and losing hope.

Seta placed a hand on Keitaro's shoulder and nodded. Keitaro could take care of Naru. Seta would take care of Kitsune.

Seta made his way upstairs slowly, contemplating what to say. Ever since the tutor days had ended, he hadn't spoken to Kitsune much.

Better now than never.

He stood in front of Kitsune's door and held up a hand to knock. He took a deep breath and let his knuckles resonate against the screen. A feeble voice sounded inside. Seta let himself inside. There he found Kitsune tidying up her room. She was rolling up her futon right when he entered.

Kitsune started with surprise when she found it was he. She hastily tried to stand up but quickly fell down with a frown, clutching her upper right abdomen.

Seta was immediately at her side, helping her sit properly at the nearby table. Once she was settled, he sat down across from her, analyzing her.

"Am I that good-looking?" Kitsune remarked, slyly smiling at him. Seta managed a small grin. Kitsune took one last look at him before letting her smile drop.

"What do you want to know? Go ahead and ask." Seta paused before he began.

"How?"

"Alcohol consumption." He nodded.

"When did you find out…?" He trailed off.

"Ummm…earlier today. Around…oh…ten or eleven o'clock." Once again, he nodded.

"You are allowed to cry Kitsune." Kitsune's head snapped up to look at him with that comment.

"Why would I cry?"

"You might die."

"That was brutal."

"So is life."

"I think I would know."

"Yes you probably would. Better than any of us, I suppose."

"What are you now Seta? My shrink?"

"I want to be."

Silence.

"You never paid much attention to me before. Why now? Is it because I'm going to die?" Seta looked startled.

"What do you mean?" Kitsune brought a slim finger up to the tabletop. There, she traced lazy circles on the surface.

"Well…" Kitsune let out a light laugh. But she wasn't drunk, "To tell you the truth Seta, I've always had a little crush on you."

'That was the biggest understatement of the year.' Kitsune thought.

"Really?" He looked genuinely surprised.

"Yeah. I-I just came to terms with it recently. You would be a friend, nothing more. Maybe something less."

Seta nodded. "Kitsune…I think you should let out all your feelings right now. Then tomorrow, we can all take you to the hospital, see what you need and get out of there. You know, make sure you live."

"You actually care?" She was crying now. He reached for her hand and grasped it firmly.

"We all do Kitsune. You just need to let go. Say what you feel and…trust me…" Kitsune nodded and began.

"Suicidal tendencies. That really sums it up. I-I figure, kill myself now and get it over with. When I first got the call, it was surreal like. I was getting better and finally on my…my own. So it was odd when the doctor called and was like 'Oh you're going to die'. She wasn't really like that. In fact she was real nice about it. But…but I'm so young! I-I can't die! The stupid alcohol was always there for me! So I drank it and now look where it got me! I feel so-so helpless!"

With that, Kitsune fell onto the table, sobbing her heart out. Seta got up and sat down next to her. He took her in his arms and held her. Gently, Seta rocked Kitsune back and forth. Soon, she was only sniffling.

She sat up with a smile.

"Thank you Seta. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here."

"So now you know Kitsune. You can count on the rest of us to be there for you."

Kitsune nodded with a smile. She could count on them. She could find solace in her friends.

.~.

Thank you guys so much for the reviews. You have no idea how much it means to me!

Mantis Man- You've been there from the beginning. My first ever reviewer and for that I'm very grateful to you. You also gave me the push to continue and are so supportive! Thanks ^.^

mr-winkie- I absolutely love your name! I thought it was the best! Thank you for the review! Second reviewer ever!

dennisud- Yes the Kitty might lose her life. Thank you for the support! I added Keitaro in. I hope that's okay!!

Dark_Shadow- Thank you for the compliment! Because of your review I'm actually considering adding in her past. What do you think? And as for Kitsune dying…I really haven't made up my mind yet.

If there are any typos I haven't found or some suggestions, feel free to give them! Thanks so much you guys! Love you all!