A/N: This story takes place after the shinigami takes Shiba away. Some spoilers for chapter 16. My first fanfic. Whoo-hoo!

Disclaimer: I (sadly) don't own zombie loan or any of its characters. boo hoo.

Michiru adjusted her glasses after bumping into a wall for the fourth time that morning, due to the fact that she was holding a tall stack of towels to be handed out. She stopped in front of Chika's room to put down the towels and knock on the door. With a slight rap of her hand, the door creaked open to reveal that no one was there. Michiru made a split second decision whether or not to intrude before stepping into the room, towels in hand.

Chika's room was very different from Shito's. For one, there were no collectable Betty dolls in sight (Thank God, how could Shito stand those?) and there were random articles of clothing tossed everywhere. Literally. (How did those socks get on the light hanging from the ceiling?) Michiru thought she should do Chika a favor and clean his room up for him, since she was pretty sure he wouldn't have a hissy fit if his lamp was two millimeters off. While cleaning up his room, Michiru picked up a sock to find a cracked photo frame underneath. Curious, she blew the dust off of it and saw that it was a picture of Shiba and Chika in middle school. Her expression saddened when she remembered their latest, and last, meeting with Shiba. She still wondered if she had done the right thing, shooting him, even though, in doing so, she had saved Chika's life. Michiru shook the thoughts away before continuing her cleaning.

It was dinnertime at the dorms. Koyomi had just finished, and it looked like Shito was about to leave too. Just then, Chika turned to look at her. "Hey, Michiru, can I sleep in your room tonight? I've been feeling kind of lonely."

Michiru tried her best to resist Chika's pleading puppy-dog eyes, but found that she couldn't. The picture of Chika and Shiba suddenly came to mind, and she remembered how happy they had looked together. Michiru wanted Chika to be able to smile like that again. "…Fine," She said. Chika brightened considerably before following her to the girl's dorms.

"Ugh! You're so frustrating!" Michiru complained. Chika had absolutely insisted on sleeping in the bed with her. Dang those puppy-dog eyes! Dang them!

"Come on, I'm not that bad, am I?" Chika asked playfully, turning to look at her.

Michiru narrowed her eyes. "You don't have to pretend, you know. I can see through your words."

Chika's light playful atmosphere quickly disappeared. He rolled over again, this time to face the wall. "Am I really that easy to read?" He mumbled. Then he did something quite unexpected. He hugged Michiru tightly. She felt the heat rush up to her face. "Don't worry, I just need to make sure that someone here is real, and alive."

Michiru looked down at him, then wrapped her arms around his shoulders and set her head on top of his. "You'll always have real friends, and you'll pay off the loan so you can live again. And I'll always be with you."

A shadow fell across Chika's face. "Thanks, but I'm not just worried about me. Shiba…he's still my friend. So where would he go, now that he's dead? Where do all zombies go when they die?"

Michiru thought for a moment before answering. "There will always be a heaven and hell for everyone. I guess it's a longer process without being guided by someone like you or Shito. I can't say I know whether or not if Shiba will go to heaven or hell, but for the most part, I think he was a good guy. Maybe there's something in between the two, and Shiba will go there." Chika was silent. "You can cry if you need to. I'll cry with you, and I won't tell Shito." She murmured softly. And with those words, both of them cried themselves to sleep.

In the middle of the night, Chika woke up suddenly. He needed to do something right now. Carefully taking Michiru's arms from his shoulders, he then tucked her in and began to leave before thinking better of it. He returned to the bedside and kissed Michiru tenderly. "I'll be back soon." He promised. Chika then carefully opened the door and stepped into the hall.

Michiru opened her eyes moments after Chika left. She patted the empty space around her. "Chika?" She muttered sleepily. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes and flung off the covers. Where had he gone? She slipped on her robe and slippers before heading to Chika's room.

Michiru was disappointed to find that Chika's room was empty. She then noticed that while the broken picture frame was still there, the photo of Shiba and Chika was gone. She wondered sleepily where he had taken it. Her eyes slowly got used to the dark, helping her find her way back to her room. She was going to wait for him to come back before she noticed a bright light outside her window, and a black figure with an unmistakable spiky hair-do. She quickly rushed to the graveyard.

Michiru quietly tiptoed behind Chika. "What are you doing?" She asked sternly. She had finally found him underneath a pine tree. A nice dark secluded place, with only a candle to light up the graveyard. She saw, as expected, the missing photo lying at Chika's feet.

"Did I wake you?" Chika asked, completely ignoring her question.

Michiru puffed up her cheeks. "Kind of, but hurry up and answer my question or I'll drag you back to the dorms!"

He smiled cheekily and replied, " Do you really think someone with such a small stature could drag me back?"

"What are you doing, and more importantly, why are you doing it alone?" She said, hurt.

Chika sighed. "I was going to burn this picture. Sort of like a funeral for our friendship, and for Shiba," he said, looking away. Then he added, " Do you want to help?"

Michiru sat down next to him and asked, "What do I need to do?"

The two of them dug a pit in the ground and lined it with rocks. Chika then set the photo in it, and Michiru lit it on fire with the candle. Together, they watched it burn. Michiru then picked up a fallen pine needle from the ground and pricked her right pointer finger. A small bead of scarlet blood gathered on her fingertip. "Give me your hand," she said. Chika obediently placed his left hand on her lap. Michiru picked his hand up gently and pricked his finger too, then pressed the two spots of blood together. "You'll never be alone, okay? I'll always be your friend, and I want to make you happy again. Promise you'll always be there for me?"

Chika nodded. Michiru then took her finger from his and said, "You shouldn't kiss someone when they're sleeping. What if they never return it?"

Chika smiled slowly. "Then I guess you owe me." He blew out the fire and the two of them kissed in darkness. In that moment, Michiru knew that the sad look in Chika's eyes had changed to love, and she was glad that even though Chika and Shiba's friendship had ended that night, something new had begun.

Please review! ;P