Hi! This is myanime91

Thank you all so much for your reviews! I don't usually post review responses in my chapters, so I probably e-mailed most of you my thanks.

I decided to update a little early, and I'll probably update again next week, and I always stay true to my promises.

Disclaimer: I wish I did…but I don't. I do, however, own my pets.

Chapter 3

Keiko didn't know that she could feel so many different emotions at once.

They were everywhere: pulsing through her veins, flooding her mind, and squeezing her heart. Every feeling was like a stab to her skin, yet at the same time she felt numb all over. She couldn't hear, couldn't breathe, and couldn't move. All that she could do was stare with wide eyes at the tall, familiar body of Yusuke Uremeshi: the man who betrayed her with one of her close friends.

Coffee eyes met chocolate eyes, as Keiko and Yusuke stood only feet away from each other. Neither were moving their mouths, but so many words traveled between them. Yusuke's eyes were guarded, swirls of brown protecting the emotions that Keiko yearned to read. She knew that while his feelings were being hidden, hers where shinning visibly within her own eyes. She wanted him to see the hurt and anger and sadness that shone as plain as day, and Keiko wanted him to react with something other than silence, even if she was very far from speaking herself. Her prayers were answered as Yusuke stepped forward and opened his mouth, preparing to speak.

Keiko was still frozen and couldn't talk or move. She could only watch very much as the object of her depression looked hesitant, struggling with what to say. Then he cleared his throat and let out a strangled, "Kei—"

"Hello Yusuke." Kurama's smooth voice cut through Yusuke's voice and the tension like a sword. It was cool and calm, yet there was an undertone to it that sent shivers down Keiko's spine. It was dangerous and intense, and had a sense of protectiveness to it that made Yusuke close his mouth and stare wide-eyed at the Kitsune before him. Kurama looked back as him, as he took a step towards the silent Keiko, which did not go unnoticed by the young spirit detective.

"Kurama? What are you doing here?" Yusuke looked dumbfounded, as he stared at Kurama, who stood only inches away from Keiko, as if shielding her from Yusuke.

"It should be obvious, Yusuke. I am here with Keiko, whom I ran into this morning. She seemed to be suffering from some kind of incident that had happened recently. You wouldn't seem to know what that was, would you?" The question was perfectly casual, but the three in the group knew better.

Keiko, if possible, went even paler at the question, while Kurama stared challengingly at Yusuke, who avoided his gaze.

The silence stretched for miles, and no one moved an inch. Yusuke broke the silence, his voice quiet as he stared at the ground.

"So you know then…"

"Yes, Yusuke, Keiko told me all about it."

Yusuke glanced up questioningly at Keiko, who sucked in air and looked to the side. His eyes then found their way to Kurama, who was staring at him with a mixture of disgust, disappointment, and anger. Yusuke, trying to cover up his surprise, narrowed his eyes and squared his shoulders at the strong red head.

"Look, Kurama, this isn't any of your business. It's between Keiko and me."

" I beg to differ, Yusuke. This became my business the moment she came to me this morning, with tears in her eyes."

Yusuke's face turned red as he ambled up to Kurama, stopping only inches away from him. The spirit detective and Kitsune locked challenging gazes for long moments, their faces turning totally expressionless, as an invisible force pulsed through them both. Their power levels began to slowly rise, and around them the wind picked up, flowing through their hair, though none of them noticed.

A silent battle was being waged, realized Keiko, who watched as Yusuke and Kurama tried to stare each other down. What really surprised her was that it was over her! She glanced at Yusuke, and emotion bubbled up in her stomach all over again. Feelings flooded her already confused her mind and unanswered questions sprouted up. Yet the main question that really plagued her thought was the question that she had been dying to ask Yusuke all day.

Keiko wanted, no needed to know the answer, or else she would not be able to go on with her life.

"Why?"

Her soft voice visibly startled the two men, and they whirled around to stare at the willowy female, whose face had regained some of her color. She stepped closer to the pair, her clouded eyes resting on Yusuke, "Why did you do it?"

Yusuke stared at her, his face paling as his eyes searched desperately within her own for some kind of help, but found none.

So he tried to reason with her in the only way he thought he would work: pleading.

"Keiko, listen to me! It was all a mistake, I swear! You know I love you—"

"Then why did you sleep with her?"

Keiko's cry seemed to make everyone in the café pause for a second, but then go back to their meals. The only ones who stayed silent for longer were Yusuke, Kurama and Keiko. Kurama stared at Keiko, who stared at Yusuke, who stared once again at the ground.

Yusuke stayed quiet, his thoughts awhirl with everything that had been happening. He had been dreading Keiko's question for a long time. In fact, he had been anxious about it ever since he had started doubting things with Keiko.

It had started innocently enough. Ever since he had come back from the Makai, Yusuke had been spending every moment possible in Keiko's presence. He had been in love with her at the time, or else he probably would have died in the Makai Tounament. She was seemingly everything to him, and he thrived on her spirit, beauty, and smile.

But then things started to change.

Keiko began to make small comments about their future. Whenever she heard a name she liked, she would say how she wanted her kid's name to be that. She would casually and offhandedly tell Yusuke during conversations that she one day wanted a large house, or a lot of kids, or a place near the ocean where she could walk with him everyday on the beach.

When Yusuke closed his eyes to imagine what she was saying…he couldn't.

He honestly could not see himself waking up next to Keiko, eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with her, having small children who bore resemblances to both of them chasing after each other, and giving her that special kiss that only happily married people can give each other everyday. He could not see his future with her as the love of his life, and his wife. It scared and confused him, and things only went downhill from there.

He suddenly lost the urge to have Keiko around him at all times, and do things with her that normal boyfriend and girlfriend would do. He cringed whenever someone made a joke about them being so in love, and began to distance himself from her. Of course Keiko was confused, but she never outright confronted him about his sudden absence, both physically and emotionally. Yusuke had begun to realize that maybe he didn't love Keiko as much a he thought he did.

His point was proven one night, when he and Keiko had gone to the movies. Everyone around him was paired up and, much to Yusuke's dismay, kissing and whispering sweet nothings to each other. He knew Keiko was expecting a kiss, and was patiently waiting. But he couldn't do it. He had kissed her in the past with ease, but this time he couldn't move his head, or pucker his lips, or even close his eyes from the sensations. He was frozen, because at that moment, Keiko seemed more like a sister and less like a lover than ever before.

He and Keiko didn't do anything past hugging that night, and for Yusuke, that felt as right as it could be. After that, all romantic love left him, only to be replaced by a sisterly kind of love. This left him feeling guiltier than ever, because he had committed himself to Keiko. He had told her that he would marry her, and be with her forever. He couldn't stand it if her heart was broken because of him, after all of the promises he had made. So he tried to think of a way to rekindle the flame between them.

His answer was sex.

Yusuke believed that if he and Keiko shared that kind of closeness, than all feelings of doubt would cease to exist. Making love to Keiko would make him love her in that special way again, and she wouldn't feel like only a friend to him. So he pitched his idea to Keiko, who was far from enthusiastic. She was confused by his sudden need to have sex with her, and further more, she refused. Keiko claimed that she wasn't ready for that kind of advancement in their relationship, and Yusuke took it as her pushing him away the way he was pushing her away. At first, he had argued with her, telling her that sex would heighten their love and that she was just nervous and being stubborn. Keiko had gotten red in the face and a fight had broken out between them.

It had ended with one of her deadly slaps, and in that moment, Yusuke knew that he could never love her the way she wanted. She was destined for someone else, and that there would be nothing more than deep friendship between them. Of course, Keiko had not realized that yet, and this made it harder for Yusuke to reveal his true feelings to her.

At this same time, Yusuke had started paying more attention to a certain grim reaper. Botan was spending more time in his presence, from his job as spirit detective to the get-togethers the gang often held. She was always cheerful and loving, much like Keiko was. Perhaps that was what drew him to her. Yusuke, for some reason, could not get her out of his head. It only made things more complicated, because he was still technically dating Keiko, and couldn't possibly feel anything for anyone else…

Yet Botan still hung around in the back of his mind, and as they hung out more, she started to seep into his heart. After months of being in her presence, Yusuke found himself thinking of her all of the time—even during his dates with Keiko!

Then one day he found himself alone with her, after she helped him home from a particularly difficult mission. Keiko was away with her family, and Botan had volunteered to look after his wounds. It didn't take too long before he had her in his arms, his lasting hunger for her taking over him. They had spent the night together, reveling in sensations neither of them had ever felt before. Not once did Keiko flicker through his passion-filled head. It wasn't until after they both revealed their hidden feelings for each other, did the realization that he was still in a relationship hit him with full force. Yusuke and Botan were consumed with a kind of guilt that they had never felt before, but their feelings for each other could not be denied.

When Keiko returned from her trip, Yusuke acted as if nothing had happened, and had welcomed her return with a giant hug and a kiss on the forehead. Yet the entire time, his mind had been focused on his blue-haired lover, who he desperately needed to see again.

And so the affair began.

For weeks after their first tryst, Yusuke and Botan met secretly and expressed their love for each other in ways that would leave any romance novelist gaping. Yusuke was completely infatuated with her, and yet kept everything a secret from a clueless Keiko. It pained him to see her so oblivious, and so in love with him, when he could never return that kind of feeling. With Botan, he could see a bright and beautiful future, but with Keiko, he could only see friendship.

And then everything came crashing down, when Botan arrived at his house for a surprise visit. Yusuke hadn't minded in the least, and had promptly thrown her onto the bed with a hungry glint in his eyes. Then suddenly, Keiko had shown up and everything stopped. Yusuke swore he could see a part of Keiko perish as she stared at the couple sprawled out on the bed. She had run, of course, and Yusuke, feeling a wave of guilt consume him, followed her.

Yusuke nowknew that their relationship was over, but it scared him to think that he could loose Keiko as a friend forever. And so he had searched for her, to try and explain what had happened. Now he had found her, and she was with Kurama, one of his best friends. Yusuke didn't know what to make of it.

Now she was asking him to bear his soul, and reveal why he had betrayed her, and Yusuke didn't know if he could summarize the many conflicting emotions and unexplainable feelings that had flooded his mind and heart.

He stared at Keiko and gave her the only answer that he could find.

"I did it because I love her."

Keiko looked like she had been punched in the gut, and Yusuke didn't want to know what Kurama looked like. The Kitsune was being oddly protective of her, and it was kind of baffling as to why.

Keiko felt her world spinning again as those seven words were spoken. She could see Kurama out of the corner of her eye, and he was not looking pleased. In fact, he looked like he wanted to punch Yusuke very, very hard.

Keiko was shaking, and her bottom lip quivered as she whispered, "You don't love me?"

Yusuke blinked, then moved his head so that his hair hid his eyes. His voice was quiet as he told her, "Not in the way you want me to, Keiko. I can't. I… just…can't"

Keiko closed her eyes as the information sunk in. Why? Why would he say that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and then turn to Botan the next minute.

Then the reason hit her like a ton of bricks.

"It was…because of that…argument we had, right?" She asked, looking him dead in the eye.

Yusuke shook his head and replied, " No. I started that argument because I wanted to convince myself that I could save our relationship. I tried to…." He glanced at a silent Kurama before continuing; " I tried to pressure you into doing it because I wanted to prove to myself that I felt more than friendship for you." Keiko widened her eyes at the confession.

Yusuke thought of her as a friend. Not a girlfriend or lover. Just a friend.

Keiko began to put the pieces together for herself: Yusuke lost all romantic feelings for her, and had instead fallen in love with Botan. He couldn't bear to see her hurt, so he started seeing Botan in secret. She had caught the pair during one of their secret rendezvous.

Keiko surprised herself with the amount of calm she was feeling as the facts fell into place. She remembered that Yusuke had been distant for the last few weeks, but this was totally unexpected. Yet, at the same time, Keiko had a feeling those couple of weeks that something wasn't right. She knew that something was amiss, and she knew that something big was about to happen. This cleared up everything for her, and it only served to hurt her heart even more.

"You don't love me the way you love Botan. You only love me as a friend." Keiko said, not really as a question, but as a statement.

Yusuke slowly nodded his head and replied, "I'm sorry…but yes."

Keiko wanted to scream at him, and demand a larger explanation of how this had happened. She wanted to be angry, and cry that she would never talk to him again. Most of all, she wanted to ask why he had led her on, and not break it off sooner, preventing the giant wound in her heart.

But she couldn't.

Yusuke, for all of his faults, deserved happiness. Even if it wasn't with her. Keiko was still upset and confused, but at least now she could begin to understand. She didn't know how long it would take, but she hoped that one day they would both find the kind of contentment they deserved. She had wanted to spend the rest of her lift with him, but now Keiko wasn't sure what she wanted. For now, it was time to pick up the pieces and comprehend what had happened to turn her life upside-down. She needed to go somewhere and think, and get a handle on her life.

With a newfound spark in her eye, Keiko looked into Yusuke's chocolate orbs and spoke the words that she knew would changetheir lives forever.

"Then good luck Yusuke. May you find happiness with whomever you choose."

As she spoke those words, the hand clenching at Keiko's heart loosened, and she could breathe normally again for the first time in a while.

Yusuke stared, his mouth open, obviously shocked. He was probably expecting one of her slaps, Keiko thought with asmall grin. Then the words finally seemed to sink in, and Yusuke looked at her with a mixture of respect, admiration, caring, thankfulness, and hope. Keiko could sense his heart warming as he looked at her with a new kind of love that Keiko knew would always be reserved for her. She had set him free; he could now love Botan the way she deserved to be loved.

Yusuke reached out and took her hand, and said in a tone full of feeling, "Thank You, Keiko. You'll never know what this means to me."

Keiko smiled weakly and Yusuke continued, saying " And I also hope you find love. You deserve the best, and I hope to be at least half the man that you end up with."

Yusuke glanced at Kurama as he spoke, and Keiko didn't catch the look that passed through his eyes. He finally let go of her hand, and Yusuke turned to bid the both of them goodbye, before leaving. Keiko guessed that he was off to see Botan, and oddly, the thought didn't hurt as much as she thought it would.

Keiko and Kurama stood there, silent, for a couple moments, letting everything sink in. Then Keiko felt the soft pressure of Kurama's hands as they rested on her shoulders, and the tickling sensation of his breath on her ear as Kurama whispered, " In all of my years fighting demons, I have never seen someone with more courage than you, Keiko."

Keiko shivered at the feeling of Kurama so near to her, and turned her head so that she was staring into his eyes over her shoulder, giving a small smile.

"Thank you." She whispered and involuntarily leaned her back against his chest. Kurama wrapped his arms around her stomach and held her tight.

She knew he was smiling and closed her eyes and let a feeling of peace wash over her. She didn't know what was happening, or why it was happing, but at that very moment, at that very place, Keiko felt nothing but serenity in Kurama's arms.

---

"This is me." Declared Keiko, as she and Kurama stopped their leisurely stroll in front of the Yukimura Ramen restuarant.

Kurama had insisted on walking her home, and Keiko was too full of thoughts about that day to protest, not that she wanted to. She liked spending time with him; Kurama was a great friend, and an amazing person. He was, in fact, easier to talk to than any of her friends.

"Thank you again for spending time with me today, Kurama. I really don't know what I would have done if I'd been alone with Yusuke like that." Keiko said, making a face at the thought.

Kurama laughed, "No problem, Keiko. It was my pleasure having lunch with you, even if Yusuke showed up. It didn't make a difference in my view. I still had fun."

Keiko smiled brightly, and Kurama felt his heart speed up again. It had worried him at first when Yusuke had come, and Kurama was greatly angered at the way Yusuke hurt Keiko with his confession. But in the end, Kurama was mostly surprised at Keiko's compassion and understanding. He had never seen that kind of trait in anyone before, and it served to make Kurama like her even more than before. Keiko accepted people for who they were, and that was what made her special. That was what drew him to her in the first place, and Kurama wanted to stay andsimply be in the presence of such empathy.

Keiko was someone he had never encountered before, and he wanted to keep encountering her as much as he possibly could.

Before he could think, Kurama was saying, " I hope to see you at school, Keiko. The campus isn't that small, and I look forward to meeting up with you again."

Keiko blinked, and her smile became bigger as she replied, "Yes, I can't wait to see you again either!"

Kurama grinned and said, " I'll be keeping an eye out for you, Keiko. We'll meet up soon enough, trust me."

He could see the slight shiver that ran through her body, and it very much pleased him that she reacted the way he'd hoped.

Keiko nodded and said, "Good bye, Kurama…"

Kurama reached forward and brushed the tiniest of kisses on her pale forehead, noting how soft her skin felt under his lips. He briefly wondered if the rest of her body felt as soft, before blinking and hastily throwing the thought away. Giving a large swallow, Kurama replied, "Yes, good-bye Keiko…" before swiftly turning his body away from hers before his thoughts could stray once again, and making his way away from the pretty brunette.

Keiko watched as the tall red-head gave a small wave, before heading farther into the bustling crown outside the restaurant. She sucked in air, pondering the kiss just bestowed on her, before entering the building.

Now filled with more excitement for the upcoming semester, Keiko hurriedly went to her room, and began to pack her things with a new vigor, thoughts of a certain kitsune running through her mind.

Keiko was getting over Yusuke, and ready for a new beginning. And whether or not this beginning included Kurama, Keiko was all set to find out…