Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own KHR. Which is probably for the best, knowing my update schedule.

I'm sorry for how late this is, Mocks, Coursework and 3000 word essays was just draining my free time, and before I knew it the date was December 24. Regardless, I really do hope everyone enjoys this chapter, and I want to thank everyone that Reviewed, Favorited and Followed (we're at 46 Reviews/143 Favorites/168 Follows. I honestly love you guys so much. You're all amazing for putting up with me.

The usual applies - any questions, don't be afraid to ask, and I hope everyone enjoys Chapter 8 :D

Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.

We sat in silence, the atmosphere tense and heavy and light and calm, the only sound the ticking and tocking from an old, nearby clock that was tastefully hidden away. Breathing heavily, I rested there in her arms, thinking. Just...thinking. Thinking about what to say, thinking about how to say it, thinking about whether or not this was even the right thing to do. It would be easy, you know. It would be easy to disentangle myself from her, toss a half-hearted grin and just tell her I was just being stupid, maybe make up a story about hormones or something. Girls do have those sort of things after all, so she'd believe me.

But no. I'm tired. Tired in a way that I have only ever felt once before, sat in that place. Before she came. That time, she came to me, stumbled her way through and swept me away. She came to me. I waited then, even if I didn't know I'd be taken away, but not this time. This time I'm not going to run away.

I'm David. But I'm also Nagi. It's a bit strange, like standing on the balcony of a burning building, looking down at the firemen and firewomen as they hold out a parachute, begging and pleading for you to jump, jump, jump. Do you jump, fall and plummet down and hope they'll catch you, or do you wait and watch as the amaryllis flames dance across the carpet, slowly stalking its way towards you like a panther?

Do I jump to Nagi, or do I wait for David?

Its a bit like that. Or maybe it isn't. That metaphor (or analogy or whatever it is they are called) was probably just me being an idiot, stalling.

I really wanted to tell her, just as much as I didn't.

I didn't like the feeling.

That indecisiveness...isn't pleasant. I had never entertained the thought of telling anyone before, but in my defence I hadn't ever entertained the thought of letting anyone close. But then the Yamamotos decided that they wanted to barge into my life and force me to feel something for them. Before I was just going to survive, it would be easier after all, and that's all that the divine entity wanted of me, but it wouldn't be fair to the friends I had made to leave them in the dark about such an important fact about myself.

So there I was, on that peculiar precipice, staring up into the eyes of the mother, uncertainty plaguing my mind. I knew what I had to do, what I wanted to do, but I just didn't know how to do it. For a dying woman, Kiyomi was far too serene, too patient, only waiting for my words with that small Yamamoto smile.

Lips dry and cracked, I prayed to any deity that was listening that she wouldn't hate me, and I began.

"Kiyomi-san," the words lodged in my throat, caught, "What do you know about...reincarnation?"

"Reincarnation?" She echoed, confused. "Dying and being reborn, that sort of reincarnation?"

I tossed her a rueful smile, "Yup, the very same."

"How do you know about reincarnation...why do you know about it?" She stilled, as if struck by a sudden realization. "I don't know why I'm surprised, Tsubaka did say that you were a smart little girl."

I winced. I was a smart girl indeed. I even had the dresses to prove it.

"Don't you ever wonder why I'm so smart?" She just giggled it off, denying it. For her, the thought had never crossed her mind.

"You're special, in the same way my little Yama is," laughing, she changed the subject, much to my annoyance, "Blue looks really good on you, you know?" A pale finger pointed at some of the designs, the birds dancing on the sleeves, "Much better than the yellow, it clashes with your pretty hair."

"Really?" I smiled despite myself, but I knew I was only prolonging the inevitable.

"It does. Maybe you should get some hair clips, I bet they'll make you look super cute." She sounded proud of herself, like she's figured out the cure for cancer.

"What…" ignoring how bewildered I was, I forged ahead, "can you keep a secret?" It sounded weak to my own ears, lame. I hated how vulnerable it made me sound.

"Sure, did you know I kept my pregnancy a secret from Tsubaka? He made the funniest face when I told him..." Kiyomi trailed off, eyes forward, reminiscing. "I almost kept my illness a secret too, but I couldn't do that to him."

Kiyomi let me go then, and I retreated. We sat in companionable silence; she was lost in her own thoughts, whilst all I could do was watch her. They must be pleasant thoughts.

I had to fight the curiosity to ask. It wouldn't be nice, and it wouldn't be fair on her, and I wasn't about to be so rude as to question her on what she was dying off. Already I had made the mistake of bringing it up in the first place - I knew how annoying it was when people brought up my own illness. The last person that did got sent to A&E.

"Want some?" She offered, lifting the tea-pot. I accepted the hot cup of tea with a thank you.

"I…I have another question for you." I didn't look at her, scared and frightened and determined, taking her silence as a cue to continue. After this, I will tell her everything. "Are you afraid of dying?"

"No." I almost dropped the cup in my hands, the cup's contents raging and churning angrily as I clenched my hands tight. She said it so easily, so nonchalantly, as if it was an ordinary fact of life.

"You…you aren't afraid of death?" She nodded once more, with the same ease as before. "Of not seeing your family again, abandoning all your hopes and dreams, of leaving everything you have ever known in life behind…how are you not afraid of any of that?"

"Easily." She giggled. "Death isn't that bad - they're could be worse things out there."

I remained silent.

"Death's nice. It puts things into perspective, you realise what you are in life, where you stand. I may be on timer, but at least I know when my clocks going to stop. I know what I want know, what I want to do, and I know how I am going to do it."

"And what's that?"

"Well, I want to live. What else is there for me to do?" I sat, digesting her words.

It was time. I had my answer.

"Dying isn't too bad." She stopped, the very image of a statue.

Her face was stony, frozen, a locked safe. I had no idea what was going through her mind, and to be honest, I was glad. I didn't want to see her hate.

Caramel eyes were hard and focused, strangely reminding me of when Yamamoto was serious. It was a look that I didn't like on him (too out of place, too out of character, too not him), and I certainly didn't like it on his mother either.

"It's nice," I echoed once more, "like waking up in a fuzzy room. Nothing there, though, and you have to wait a bit to move on, but it's nice."

"I don't understand..."

"Okay, before, I...I asked you about why I'm smart. And if you knew about reincarnation," Kiyomi tilted her head to the side, following, "I didn't just ask them out of curiosity. I was making sure that you would be able to understand what I'm about to tell you."

Kiyomi still didn't look like she understood, but I could see the gears turning. The raven-haired woman was painting the picture herself, without the help of the artist, and I could only grin weakly as I left her to think in silence. Coming to a decision, she sighed, tired, before pouring herself another cup of tea.

Kiyomi offered to refill mine. I let her.

"I...I remember some things. About my life before. Too much, you could say." Nervous, I cradled the tea, enjoying the fragrant mixture. If I stopped talking now, I'd stop forever. "I remember, most vividly of all, how I died."

"How did you die?" The words came out her mouth before she could censor them, shocking herself. "I..I'm sorry I...you're only..."

"Cancer. Terminal. No chemotherapy would work, the tumour was too persistent and it got to the point where I just couldn't carry on with the therapy anymore. All it would do was prolong the inevitable." It felt cathartic, telling her. "My mum wasn't happy, called me a coward, but she understood after a while. I spent the last few weeks surrounded by family and friends and I felt content, even if I didn't fulfill my dreams. No regrets."

"So you're cancer too, then?" I blinked, not expecting that. "You gave up on the therapy, then. What...what was it like?"

"It was painful. I'm not going to lie - both emotionally and physically. I regret it and I don't." I left it at that, "I don't want you to give up on it. So, you're taking those tablets then?"

"I am. I can't give up. Got to look after my boys after all." Her expression brightened, eyes laughing. "After all, they need me around."

"They do. They really, really do." They were both terrible as it was, they needed someone like Kiyomi around to take care of them. If they were both left to their own devices, who knows what could happen.

I grimaced, the thought horrifying. It would, without a doubt, lead to the end of the world. Alone, I wouldn't leave them with the oh-so important responsibility of using a toaster, let alone look after themselves.

"You see why I stick around?" Numb, I nodded, haunted by thoughts of what terror they would wrought if left alone.

"But the tablets aren't gonna last forever, though. What'll you do when they just...stop working?" It's sad, talking about it, but she didn't seem too down about it.

"When they stop working...they stop working." Nonchalant, it was as if she was making a simple observation; the grass is green, the sky is blue and if they stop they stop.

I had to respect her for that. That acceptance.

"I'll trust them to move on without me, and live their life the way they should." Brave. That's what this lady was.

"So you really, truly aren't scared?" I finally took a sip of the tea.

Lukewarm.

"I was scared, back when I was first diagnosed. But then again, anyone would be scared. I just knew, you know, but I knew that I had to be strong, if not for my family then for myself. I deserve it after all."

"You only owe it to yourself?" Happy that I understood, she beamed. "I wish I was as brave as you. It should have been you that was given this second chance."

"You'll be fine," without hesitation she took the cup away from me, refilling it. "I don't exactly envy you."

"I don't exactly envy me either. I wanted to do my teacher's degree, but can't do that anymore," I admitted. Kiyomi paused, thoughtful.

"What makes you think that you can't?" I paused. "In fact, why don't you help out Takeshi with his class-work? It'll be good practice."

"You just want a free tutor, don't you?" I said, without any real venom. She just winked, unrepentant.

"So, did you leave any boyfriends behind? They go crazy over that ice queen routine of yours." It struck me then, that everyone in bloody Namimori was interested in everyone else's sex life - how many times has it been that I've been asked? Twenty?

Wait. Did she just...

"Girlfriends." I corrected.

"Huh?" It looked cute, how startled she was. "Girlfriends?"

"Girlfriends." I simply reiterated.

"Girlfriends." The gears were grinding, you could almost hear them. "You liked girls?"

"Hn." Well, would you look at that. She looked lost for words, mouth opening and closing like a blubbing fish.

Blub Blub indeed.

"You were a lesbian?" I twitched.

You have got to be kidding me.

"I guess that's one interpretation. But then again, with that in mind, all guys are a little bit lesbian." I change my mind. All Yamamotos out there are made just to aggravate me.

Bloody. Totes.

"So...you were a guy?"

Yup. Definitely out to annoy me.

"I was."

"Oh."

"So, you had a…" I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying and failing to fight off the oncoming headache.

"I had a penis. There, I said it, I threw it out there." Infuriated, I wildly gestured towards myself. "I had a penis. I'm not gonna go into specifics, but I had one."

"And now you're a…" You would think she would be sympathetic, but no. She just sat there with that stupid Yamamoto smile acting like she had heard the funniest joke in the world.

"And now I'm a girl. A little girl, for that matter. I have to deal with dresses, a perverted dance instructor, and did I mention that, knowing who my mum is there may be an arranged marriage in my future?" Kiyomi was still smiling. It made me want to drop-kick Bambi.

"And puberty, don't forget puberty."

"...Puberty?"

"Did you think that girls don't go through it? Because we do? You are going to absolutely love menstruation."

"Are you trying to sell it to me? If you are, you aren't doing a very good job of that."

Puberty. Is going to. Suck.

I'll just have to write up my Last Will and Testament sooner rather than later. Puberty is not something that I want to experience a second time.

"Well, do you want my advice?" The pale beauty offered.

"I suppose…" Reluctant, I forced myself to calm down.

"Just be both." Owlishly, I blinked up at her. "Be Nagi, and be…"

"David." I finished for her.

"You've been given an opportunity that no one has ever had before - to come back to life, even after you die. You may have been David before, but now you are also Nagi. You don't have to choose one over the other." She reached out, placing a comforting hand over my own.

"Are you saying to forget about my life before?" I know I should be angry, but...I was just tired. Maybe it would be for the best.

"Forget your life before?" She said. "There is no before."

The look on my face must have betrayed my bewilderment, as she just sighed.

"There is no before. All there is really is living - and if I know one thing then it is that you are currently alive and well. If you are currently here then there must be a reason for it. You may not know it now, but you'll know it eventually, so just live your life how you want to live it."

"Live my life how I want it, huh…" Kiyomi grinned, happy that I was getting it.

"You don't have to be burdened by memories. You said it best yourself," knocking her hair out of her eyes, she quoted "No regrets."

"I want to live." I said it quietly. But I said it.

"Then live. Just do what you have been doing. I'll let you in on a little secret." She leaned forward, and spoke in a stage whisper: "Don't forget to smile."

"Really. I'll keep that in mind." I wasn't exactly the smiliest person around - I definitely was no Yamamoto - so that was one piece of advice I wont be following.

A comfortable silence lay between us, and we sat on our cushions, sipping our tea.

"I...I have a question." Kiyomi said, and for the first time she seemed uncertain. "It's not scary, is it? Dying, I mean."

I stopped, thoughtful. "No."

"Thank you." It was nary a whisper, but I still heard it.

"OH!" She exclaimed, bouncing right back from her melancholic mood. "I just remembered something."

"And that would be?"

"Aren't I supposed to be testing you?" Oh. Yea. That is a thing.

I just smiled, and laughed.

Maybe this whole smiling thing isn't so bad?

I was going to murder someone. I don't know when, I don't know how, but it will happen. It will be swift, and it will be gruesome, and chances are that the person I'll be targeting is Yuki Takeba. Just thought I'd let everyone know, just in case someone wonders where she went.

To be perfectly honest, I don't even know how she managed to do this, but she did.

"Yuki." She didn't even have the decency to look sheepish. She just sat there, in the front of the car, grinning dementedly.

"Nagi." I twitched.

"Takeshi!" Yamabaka chimed, all but vibrating in his seat.

"That's nice." Absentmindedly, I patted him on the head, before turning my attention back to Yuki. "And why is there a child I have never met in the front seat."

"This is Kyoya. He'll be the kinky one in your harem." That was all I got out of her. Not why he was there. Not why he was in the front seat. Not even what his surname is. Just his name.

"If you don't turn this car around I'll make it so they never find your body." She ruffled my hair.

"Please. You'll thank me when you're older." I very much wanted to say no I wont, but I settled for having a seizure in the backseat.

I was overdosing on Yuki, and it wasn't pleasant.

"Takeba-san, what's a harem?" Yamamoto, nice, sweet, innocent Yamamoto, asked my demon of a caretaker what a harem was.

Kyoya just tilted his head, interested.

"What's kinky?" The so called "kinky one" asked, adding on to my slowly forming headache.

"You say one more word and I'll tell Kiyomi on you." Yuki pouted.

"You wouldn't dare." I just ruffled Takeshi's hair. "You would wouldn't you?

"I would. Now, would you like to tell me what was going through your mind when you offered to take Kyoya home?"

"I did it out of the goodness of my heart." I snorted. She was probably paid.

"Nagi-hime, stop being mean." Takeshi poked me.

"Hn." The brat in the front seat, my seat, just grunted in my general direction.

"If it was Takeshi, I would understand. But no, it's a weird kid."

"Don't be rude to Kyo-chan, Nagi-chan. It's not nice to be rude to friends." Yuki admonished, taking one hand off the steering wheel to point at me.

"Yea, don't be rude." Takeshi tacked on, nodding ferociously.

"B-but I have never seen him before in my life!" All I got in response was a few tuts and a growl off the stranger. Cute.

He was glaring at me

I glared back.

"Aww, Takeshi-kun, look how cute they are - they're making friends." She's evil. Pure evil. Yuki is the source of all my problems, and now she has even poisoned Takeshi against me.

I must have pissed off some god in a past life to have this much bad karma.

Actually...I think I did.

Oh. Well. Never mind then.

"And we're taking Takeshi to one of his friends, right?" Takeshi beamed at me in response.

I sighed. This was going to be a long journey.

I might as well get comfortable.

When we both got back home, it was dark. The moon was at it's zenith, high up in the sky, dressed in a gown of starlight. The car pulled up the driveway, engine rumbling, before slowly coming to a stop in front of the house. I unclipped my seatbelt, sighing in relief, no longer feeling so constricted.

It had been a long day.

Stumbling out of the car, legs weak, I yawned. I was soon followed by Yuki, the sand of the driveway crunching underfoot, my so called "personal helper" carrying with her a small package.

"Have fun?" Her words were punctuated with the soft jingle of keys, her nimble hands trying to find the right one.

"I guess you could say that." Today had certainly been something, that's for sure.

"You're not the only one, kiddo." With a soft click, the front door unlocked, and I was ushered inside. Whilst she locked the door, I took off my shoes and socks, rubbing my feet into the soft, fluffy carpet of the hallway. "Enjoying yourself?"

I poked her in response.

I hissed, shocked.

"Static?"

"No. I'm just allergic to your presence, that's all."

"You love me really."

"I'm only after your money."

"Rude. If anyone is the old man in this relationship it's you. Colon Capital P."

Did she just…?

I slapped myself. Hard. Prolonged exposure to Yuki was damaging my sanity, soon I'd be just as insane as her, and that was a terrifying thought.

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't just say "Colon Capital P" and I'm going to brush my teeth." I was halfway up the stairs before she called me back. "What d'ya want?"

"Just thought I'd let you know that you passed." Inquisitively, I tilted my head to the side, trying to remember just what she was on about.

"What did I pass?"

"The tea ceremony, silly." She looked at me as if I was being an idiot, but to be honest I had just forgotten.

"Oh. Okay. I'm just going to go now." I just waved goodbye, scaling the stairs two at a time. "Goodnight, Yuki."

"Night, Nagi-chan."

I'm a bit like Alice. I fell through the looking glass, into a whole new world, full of infinite possibilities.

I looked in the mirror, staring at my reflection. I wonder what it is like, on the other side, back at my old house. I wonder if the banister is still wobbly, or if the doors still creak, or if they finally managed to fix the sink. I wonder if they managed to clean up that mess of a store room, or got rid of my cousin's anime stash, or managed to sell all of those old gaming figurines of mine.

I wonder if they are doing alright now.

"They probably are. Life goes on, and all that." I smiled in the mirror. It looked strange to me, unnatural, but I guess all I need is practice.

I didn't bother to stifle my yawn.

It was late, and I really should be asleep. Kids need sleep after all, and if I want to grow up big and strong I need all the sleep that I could get.

I turned the lights out, stepping lightly into my bedroom.

That mysterious package that Yuki brought with her was sitting on my desk. She must have brought it in whilst I was getting ready for bed. It was calling to me, seductively, saying "open me, open me, do it tool".

I must be more tired than I thought.

Unable to fight the urge to open it, I cursed my lack of self-control, before slowly unwrapping the package. There, underneath layers of fabric, was a small stack of photographs. Getting a better look, I just scowled.

The top picture was a bloody selfie of Yuki.

I should have guessed.

It was so typical of her to do something like that. I smirked, before putting it to one side, out of the way. If she saw it anywhere in view she would probably make up something stupid like "OMG I TOTES KNEW YOU LOVED ME BAE", and she'd somehow manage to make it all capitalised even though it was spoken, and I'd be forced to sit through more of her inane ramblings.

But I couldn't help but smile. It was nice of her, to get these pictures done for me.

Carefully, I set them to one side, before pulling up the photo album.

I picked up each picture, each memory, and slotted them into the album.

I don't know how long it took me, but I managed it, and when I went to bed I felt content for the first time in a long time.

Goodnight.

Chapter 8, Fin.

I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter - we get to see NaVi start the healing process, even if I don't feel as if I did a very good job with the great reveal. If you have any questions have no fear, just send me a PM or put in a review and I'll get to you as soon as possible. Also, if you see any errors, don't be afraid to tell me them and I'll quickly fix them (believe me, I have some really bad typos xD)

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