Aoshi had no idea what was going on. They ran into this guy who helped them carry their stuff in, Aoshi could personally guarantee that he'd never met the man, and there he stood watching this guy hold his closest friend like the two were lovers. Which he also knew wasn't possible since she'd only been with Kami. The three had grown up together, after all, and Kami had always been called Kami. Aoshi thought he knew everyone Amami did. Worse yet, she'd called him something that sounded an awful lot like the name of his little sister Mikako's favorite solo artist. On top of that, Botahn and Onkei had both come up to stand beside him. Onkei's mouth was hanging open and Botahn appeared to be rubbing his eyes in disbelief. Talk about an unexpected turn of events. Onkei placed a hand on Aoshi's shoulder, looking at him questioningly. Aoshi shook his head silently, not wanting to disturb Amami. He couldn't hear what Gakuto whispered to her, but she whispered back and Aoshi saw Gakuto's eyes widen in shock. What was going on?


When Gackt heard that one, softly whispered phrase leave Amami's lips, he couldn't help but be shocked. She spoke French as well as Japanese. Perhaps she spoke English as well. But the fact remained he had never met another person like her. She moved her lips like she was trying to speak, but no sound came out. He could only stand there and hold her, fully aware of the incredulous-and, in at least one case, murderous stares leveled at the back of his head. But he couldn't move. He felt like if he so much as wiggled a toe, she'd break. Stupid of him, he knew, it was clear she was stronger than that.

Oh, great, he thought. Camui Gakuto, mother cat. Hide and protect. I'm so glad the guys aren't here. He knew they'd just laugh at him. Especially You. You would be on the floor having a fit of the giggles right about now. Yet it was such a serious matter...

Amami stirred against him, her tiny hands gripping his arms incredibly forcefully. "Gakuto..."

He stroked her hair for a moment. "Shh...It's all right, Amami. You've done nothing wrong." Amami closed her fogged eyes again.

"No, and neither did you. Thank you, Gakuto, for helping me release some of that emotion. I know I've only just met you, but I thank you for your understanding."

He smiled, wishing she could see it. "You are very welcome. I'm looking forward to your performance."

She pulled away. Nodding slightly, she turned and picked her way across the room. Gackt left to enter the main room of the club, and as he closed the door behind him, he heard Aoshi hissing at Amami.

"What the hell was that, how the-"

As the latch clicked losed, he heard Amami cut Aoshi off. "Not now, Aoshi. It's not the most important thing r-"

He leaned against the door with a heaved sigh. He was an idiot. He was just too obvious. Gackt resolved, right then and there, to become a better actor. Wih his solo career taking off at a pace even he hadn't anticipated, he'd need to learn how to hide his personal life and his feelings. It had been easy in Malice Mizer, but he wouldn't be able to place the attention on others like he had then. You, maybe, but he doubted it. You had already told him not to shove him too far into the spotlight. He liked his privacy, You did. And Gackt realized he would be hard pressed for any at all.

He made his way to the front door of the club, handed his ticket to the woman at the front, and found his seat with ease. The line was fairly long, and he swore he saw the CEO of EMI Music Japan, but he decided instead to concentrate his attention on anyone who might sit near him. He really wanted to avoid that.

To his surprise, no one sat anywhere close to him. He had clear space for three seats on either side. Pleased, he settled in to watch GREYCE, eager for another glimpse of Amami, and even more eager to hear her sing.

That was when he saw the light.

It was a glowing, in the corner of his eye. He flicked his eyes towards it, but it moved away. He was looking at a wall now, but that glowing light was still there. It got larger, brighter, and he shut his eyes in pain. The light got so bright that it shone red through his eyelids, but to his surprise, he heard no sound around him aside form the sharp intake of breath that belonged, he realized, completely to himself. The glowing was now a shining, and he was about to bury his head in his hands in an attempt to block it out when it disappeared. He cautiously opened his eyes, blinking at the blank expanse of wall.

"What the he-" Gackt spun around in his seat and never got the last syllable out.

The man in the chair next to Gackt grinned, tucking long reddish-brown hair behind his ears. His eyes were a chocolate brown color, and he had three rings on his left hand. He was dressed simply enough, in a black t-shirt and jeans with a wallet chain, but Gackt wasn't staring for that. He was semi-transparent and floating almost an inch off the seat, no thanks to the large purple, pink and blue butterfly wings arcing out from his shoulders and through his waist-length hair. Gackt swallowed, his throat gone dry, and tried to speak.

"K-Ka..." He couldn't finish. The man placed a transparent finger on Gackt's lips, and Gack felt suddenly warm. His round face seemed to light up, and he spoke, his voice a light tenor that reverbrated almost as if through a dream. "Gacchan, be quiet."

The three words caused Gackt to realize what he was seeing. The spirit of Ukyou Kamimura, his treasured, beloved, departed friend, sat within inches of him. And was telling him to be quiet. Kami continued to speak.

"You're the only person here who can see me or hear me. Gacchan, don't say a word, and loosen up. People will notice you all tense and talking to yourself."

Gackt relaxed his posture, never taking his eyes of his best friend's image. He tried to speak without moving his lips.

"Kami? Kami, what...?Am I seeing things?"

Kaim poked Gackt's forehead. The spot seared with heat. "Don't be ridiculous, Gacchan. I'm a ghost, and you can see me."

"But...how?"

"Same way you could always catch glimpses of others that hung about. I'm just the first one to actually attempt to contact you."

"Why?"

Kami turned toward the curtained stage. He spoke in a voice hardly above a whisper, and Gackt heard something that never happened, not to Kami. Kami's voice was choked with emotion. "Tell me you met her."

"Her...do you mean...Amami?"

Kami laughed bitterly. "Yes, the net I almost let catch me. Amami."

"Net?"

"The net to my butterfly, of course. I should have stayed with her."

"She's the reason you've-what are you doing, exactly?"

Kami rolled his eyes in a wonderfully familiar gesture. "Amami is the reason I, the spirit and consciousness of Kamimura Ukyou, called Kami, have returned from eternal rest to counsel and guide my dear friend Camui Gakuto, called Gackt, in the pursuit of my former lover, Hayashi Amami. Official enough for you?"

Gackt chuckled under his breath. "If that's the case, good to have you back, Kami. Wait, did you say pursuit? As in courting?"

"You're so thick. Ye-es. She'd be good for you, and vice versa. Don't deny it, Gacchan, you've got it bad."

He did, Kami was right. Really, really bad. Still..."But what about you?"

Kami snorted laughter, now derisive in the face of his living friend's idiocy. "I'd like to point out that I'm dead over here. No living person has frikkin butterfly wings coming out of his shoulders. I don't give a damn. Anyway, she needs to move on. We broke up three years ago."

Gackt frowned, glancing at the still-dark stage. "She still loves you. She was at your funeral." He nearly choked on the last word.

"I know." Kami went quiet. "I was still there. I saw everything. I must say she has one hell of a backhand on her."

"I though she said she slapped Mana."

Kami laughed, wholeheartedly this time. "She backhanded him full across the face. Hit him so hard she knocked him out cold. I can actually show you my memory of that."

Gackt grinned. "Will you?" Kami grinned right back.

"We've got another ten minutes before showtime, so why not?" Kami stood and walked-no, drifted-in front of Gackt. He knelt and placed a hand on either side of Gackt's head. The contact between Gackt's living flesh and Kami's ethereal form burned. The club faded, then Kami himself. And it was all replaced with a very different scene.

Gackt stood in a modest, traditional room with a few things out of place. Primarily the dozen or so crying women and slightly larger number of stone-faced men. The coffin dominating the room was wrong, too. Gackt looked at it and saw the cold, stone-smooth face that belonged to the spirit who, he saw suddenly, stood right next to him. A woman was being led to the coffin, her black hair falling carelessly over her eyes. With a jolt, Gackt spotted the foggy irises, realizing that this was Amami only three months earlier. And her guide-Aoshi. She had large tears falling from her eyes, but she didn't notice. Another man, shorter and more delicate than Aoshi, held Amami's other arm. He had bleached hair tied into a horsetail, and his face, while studiously blank, betrayed sadness in his black eyes. Mana.

Amami's hands were carefully placed onto the face of the man in the casket. Out of the corner of his eyes, Gackt saw Kami shiver convulsively. Amami spent a minute tracing the contours of the dead face, brushing her fingertips on the smoky lavender-colored eyelids, tracing the bridge of Kami's nose. Gackt realized that the coffin-bound Kami's hair was short. "Kami, why is your hair long if it was short when you..." he trailed off.

Kami smiled a little. "It's how I spent most of my life, with long hair. Short hair wasn't my primary look, so I have long hair."

Suddenly, the black-haired version of Amami whirled and yelled words that Gackt couldn't hear at Mana. Mana stepped forward to caution her, trying to hold her arms and lead her away from the casket. Aoshi simply stood looking equal parts shocked and disgusted, though at whom it wasn't clear. Suddenly, sound crashed into Gackt's ears.

"YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY UNDERSTAND HOW HE WOULD FEEL! YOU DON'T EVEN UNDERSTAND HOW I FEEL!"

Amami was yelling at Mana. He was trying to caution her, his deep baritone voice slightly frantic. "Now, Amami, I-"

But he din't finish. Amami removed one hand from Aoshi's shoulder and, in a single, swift movement, neatly backhanded Mana across the face. The smack reverbrated around the room, and Mana crumpled to the ground. Gackt saw Yu~ki and Kozi run up.

"She's knocked him out!" That was Kozi.

"Amami, chill! Mana's out cold!" Yu~ki.

"She knocked him out with a slap?" asked Gackt, awestruck.

"She's strong," said Kami. "Being blind and all, she took special blind self-defense courses. She can easily knock someone out with just that."

"Ah."

Kami's burning touch hit Gackt's shoulder. "We need to go back." Gackt made no reply. He was busy watching Mana be carried away by Kozi and Yu~ki, and started when Amami fell to the floor and began to sob.

Kami sighed and slapped Gackt. The heat of the semi-solid slap brought Gackt back to his senses. He was still in the club, and the curtain was beginning to move. He glanced around for Kami, and saw the figure of his best friend moving away across the ceiling. He almost called out, and Kami turned and looked at him. He smiled his familiar, happy, joyful smile, reminding Gackt about how they all had called him their Monkey Man. Gackt heard Kami's voice again as his flying form disappeared through a wall, loud and clear.

"Don't worry, Gacchan. You'll see me again soon."