Melissa: Whoo! I'm back! ^_^

Miyu: Oh, dear Kami, not again…

Melissa: Anyway, um, crap, I kinda forgot what I was gonna say…

Miyu: . Let's just start the chapter.

Melissa: Okay! ^_^

Disclaimer: Still don't own it u.u

Note- TISSUE WARNING!!!

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

Chapter 7: Living for another day, another person

        Another day. Just another day to get through. Days were fleeting past, blurring by just like the arrows on the on the Dance Dance Revolution screen.

        Up, right, jump, jump, pause, freeze arrow…

        The mall. It used to bring Keesho such happiness, but now…now, it just reminded her of the past. The past was something she never wanted to relive. It was too painful. For now, she would simply bury her sorrows inside herself and try to move on with the life she had before Kitayu. She had to stay focused. Take one arrow at a time, hit it with the precision she had always had, keep her rhythm flowing, and hope it brought her the happiness she once had.

        Three right one-eighth steps… A diagonal jump…

        "No!" Keesho scolded herself, stumbling over the lit dance pads and falling backwards, grabbing the metal safety bar for support. She took a couple of staggered breaths and scowled at the screen. That was the sixth step she'd missed in that song alone. She was off today. Very off.

        Beside her was a short black blur that bounced up and down slightly, then came to an immediate halt just as the song ended. The blur turned to Keesho, it's figure now steady enough to make out spiky black hair and a set of crimson eyes. Hiei. He had grudgingly accepted Keesho's offer of free DDR lessons, noticing that she needed something to preoccupy her. It was the least he could do after failing to capture Kitayu.

        "Hn," he declared, casting a look at Keesho, who was crouched next to the safety bar. "What's wrong, Takanaga-sensei?" he asked, sounding resentful of the word "sensei". "You've lost focus."

        Kitane crouched down from behind Keesho and put a hand on her shoulder. "Doushita no, Keesho-chan? You've been out of it for days now."

        Keesho pushed off of safety bar to help herself up and stepped off of the playing console. She grabbed her jacket, sent a bored and unfeeling look toward her companions, and walked off. With each step, she sent off a vibe that said, "Don't follow me."

        Kitane stood up and hugged her shoulders, showing off a feeling of discomfort. "What's wrong with Keesho-chan?"

        Kanu mused for a while, then glanced menacingly at Yusuke. "I don't know, but I think I know who would!" She suddenly sprang forward and grabbed Yusuke's collar, jerking his head closer so that she could stare him down. She looked him straight in the eyes, angry irises clashing against vulnerable brown ones.

        "What did you do to Keesho, Urameshi?!" Kanu growled, her tone almost lethal.

        "Nothing," he answered, loosening Kanu's grip on his collar. "A close friend of hers died recently, that's all."

        Kitane perked up, fidgeting her hands around uncomfortably. "She told you and not us? But we're her KO's!"

        Yusuke looked away, wearing the same expression that Keesho did when she explained her plan a couple days earlier. "I stumbled onto it. She didn't plan on telling anyone."

        "Will she be okay?" both Kitane and Kanu asked, the same sound of worry ringing in their voices.

        "Yeah… Well, she should be once she comes back to reality."

*~*~

        Keesho lay sprawled out on her hunter green bed with empty blue eyes staring dully at the top of the canopy bed. Her hands were folded across her stomach and she lay still. She hadn't moved for hours now. Then again, there was no need to. At least, there wasn't a need that occurred to Keesho.

        She'd been thinking those past hours on everything. Her friends, her fate, her existence. Why would things turn out the way they had? Why had she been dealt such a bad hand in life? Things had been going really well before it happened. She had friends, a boyfriend that she was starting to really warm up to, and a lot of monetary possessions that many people didn't. So, why did it all have to fall apart? Her parentless past and unreal present clashed together; ultimately creating her the dark void she currently resided in, waiting for her to be sucked into a deep abyss of no return.

        Yusuke. He'd spited Keesho to no end before, and he'd killed her best friend twice. Surely he was the cause of her pain, right? No. Despite his 'wrong-doings', he had also shown Keesho a hurting, vulnerable side. A side that had a broken heart that needed to be mended.

        And he cared for her. Sure, the emotions he showed were minimal, but they were there. Why he cared for her, he didn't know, but he did care for her nonetheless. He'd revealed them in a timid and shy way, as if he were afraid. "I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted to get rid of our hurting." Those were the words he'd said to her after Kitayu's funeral. She'd been stunned by his revelation, and it brought an afterthought to her mind.

        She cared for him in return. Her feelings may have been confused and hazy, but they were there. She couldn't blame him any longer, not with knowing what she now knew. He didn't want to hurt her. He wanted to protect her.

        But that still didn't explain why she had been deprived of such integral things in her young life. She'd lost her mother at the tender age of four. Her father was never around. Her best friend had been killed right before her very eyes. She died in her arms. Why would life be so cruel to her? Why? Keesho found herself wondering more and more on the subject with each passing moment. Each second left more questions unanswered.

        Wiping the tears off of her face with her sleeve, Keesho sat up and tried to regain her composure. *I have to put all of that behind me now,* she ordered herself. *I have a future to look forward to with Yusuke and all of my other friends. I have to get out of this slump for them.*

        She stood up, sniffing one last time. *Besides, it's not like I'll ever see Kitayu again. She's gone for good. She told me so.*

*~*~

        Keesho was in another dream sequence, she was sure of it. But this dream realm was nothing like the ones she'd visited before. The ones prior had been completely blank, and full of a pure aura. But this one…this one was a dull gray, streaked a black that emitted a dark force.

        "This is my soul room. We've been meeting in yours before."

        In front of Keesho was Kitayu, now garbed in a flowing white gown and without her usual bow and arrows. She had on a wistful smile, and her eyes no longer possessed their mischievous twinkle. Now they were full of regret.

        "Kitayu?" Keesho choked out, hardly able to contain her emotions. Kitayu was once again in her presence, though she had thought she'd never see her again.

        "I've come to say goodbye, Kee-chan." Kitayu spoke with a calm vibe to her voice, looking serene and strong. "I'm sorry that I deceived you. It's just…I knew no other way."

        "It's okay," Keesho replied, smiling happily at the tiger demon. "You were misguided before, I understand."

        Kitayu exhaled with relief and smiled back at her ningen friend. "I'm glad. Well then, I guess I'd better be off."

        She turned to leave, her figure fading slightly, but Keesho stopped her. She turned Kitayu around, making the youkai look right into her emotion-filled eyes. "Kitayu, I'm really going to miss you. You were my best friend. We knew everything about each other."

        Kitayu nodded, shimmering tears brewing in her green eyes. "I know. I'm glad you're my friend, Keesho."

        Keesho clasped her hands together, looking timid. Goodbyes were hard to say. "…Kitayu, could you do me a favor? Could you…could you tell Keiko not to worry?"

        "What?" Kitayu's mouth gaped open slightly. "But why…?"

        Keesho's lips bore a small smile as she spoke, her head tilted toward the ground. "I don't want her to worry. I know it's been hard for her, not being with the one she loves. I want to take care of Yusuke for her. I know he'll never love me like he loves her, but I don't mind. I just want to ease his pain. So, could you tell her not to worry for me?"

        "I…" Kitayu wanted to say yes, but she didn't want to leave Keesho with a lie. She couldn't do that to the only person that had ever shown her compassion. "I can't do that, Keesho. I won't see Keiko in Limbo."

        "Limbo?!" Keesho's eyes bulged out of their sockets due to the mind-blowing news. "Why Limbo?! Do you want me to talk to Koenma for you? I could probably lighten your sentence—"

        Kitayu shook her head, cutting Keesho's rant off. "Limbo is where I deserve to go."

        "No!" Keesho cried out, tears pooling in her eyes. "Do you know what Limbo is? It's a purgatory of souls that will cause you nothing but sheer pain for ten thousand years! You don't deserve that! You won't be able to see Inayu!"

        Tears were now flowing freely from Keesho's eyes. She was clearly upset by Koenma's sentencing. It didn't seem fair to her at all. That is, until Kitayu calmed her tears. She put a hand on Keesho's shoulder and smiled reassuringly at her.

        "Shh… I'll be okay. I already saw mother, and I'm content now. I have all I ever needed, so Limbo wont be so bad."

        Keesho sniffed back her tears, looked up at Kitayu's smiling face, and then flung her arms around Kitayu's neck. "I still don't think it's fair! Limbo's only for the most wicked souls, not you!"

        Kitayu patted Keesho's back like a mother would to her young child. "I was a wicked soul, and this is how I shall atone for it. You, on the other hand, shouldn't beat yourself up over my screw-ups. You have the rest of your life to look forward to. And if Urameshi hurts you, tell him I'll come and haunt his dreams."

        Kitayu stepped back, freeing herself from Keesho's grasp. "Take care of yourself," she whispered, waving slightly. Her figure was fading, and before Keesho knew it, Kitayu had disappeared, leaving only the memory of a smile that had never been known.

*~*~

        Keesho opened her door and stood in the empty hallway. She was smiling sadly, reflecting on the dream of a few nights back. "I'll live a great life, Kitayu," she said, whispering into the wind. "That way, you can live the way you should have through me."

        She began her descent down the stairs, eager to rejoin her friends at the mall. Keesho's story hadn't ended with Kitayu's death; it had begun. And so she would live again, using the memory of her beloved friend to live life to it's fullest.

*~*~*~*~ Owari ~*~*~*~*

Melissa: Whoo, it's done! (sniffs) And so ends the tale of Takanaga Keesho.

Miyu: Wow, it's finally over. (Blinks a couple of times)

Melissa: I hope you all liked it! ^_^ I LOVED writing it.

Miyu: Uh, here's your dictionaries. (Hands dictionaries to the reviewers)

Keeper of the Apocolypse-

Miyu: (whacks Kota with a dictionary) This is a dictionary, baka ningen!

Melissa: . No need to be mean, Miyu. How many times must I tell you that?

Miyu: It goes in one ear and out the other.

Melissa: Figures. Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

kuruna icefire-

Melissa: Wai! Thankies for the complement! I love the plot line too!

Miyu: I don't.

Melissa: Whatever. Thankies for reviewing! ^_^

Melissa: Squee! So, that's the end of Possessed! I hope you all liked it! ^^

Miyu: I didn't.

Melissa: Who cares if you did? Um, please review and have a nice day! ^_^