Itsuki's stomach wriggled as he stalked the perimeter of the park. He didn't want to make a big deal of it when Ashiya suggested they split up, but he was worried. Ashiya had not looked okay, even though he pretended he was.

The truth was Ashiya hadn't been okay for weeks. Not since his run in with the Executive. Itsuki had nightmares now of the abject terror on Ashiya's face, of tears streaming down his cheeks. In the worst nightmares, Itsuki forgot how to use his Influence and he could do nothing but stand by, helpless, paralyzed by the sound of Ashiya's wheezing breaths.

He was so sure he'd lose Ashiya after that. Who would want to come back to work after being traumatized that severely? What human wouldn't be terrified and suspicious of youkai after such an experience?

But Ashiya did come back. He refused to stay away.

Itsuki couldn't believe it, but he couldn't deny the relief that pulsed through his veins when he saw the resolve in Ashiya's eyes. He wouldn't lose him after all.

The gears had started turning the day he betrayed the Executive's trust and used his Influence on him, but when he saw how brave Ashiya was, how dedicated he was to their cause despite his fears, a definitive switch flipped inside Itsuki. He wouldn't lose Ashiya. Never again. He would do everything in his power to ensure his safety and keep him by his side.

But he doesn't let me take care of him! Itsuki fisted his hands at his sides and started to jog toward the playground where he last saw Ashiya. He always insists on doing things himself, and it drives me insane!

"For god's sake, Ashiya, where are you?" he muttered to himself.

Itsuki stumbled. The youkai energy suddenly spiked, and it was big and very bad. The presence rammed into Itsuki's body and knocked him off balance. But the worst was that the energy was strongest from the direction of the darkened playground.

"Ashiya!" Itsuki broke into a run.

The light was poor. He couldn't see Ashiya anywhere. Not on the swings, or the slide, or by the monkey bars. Maybe he isn't here anymore. Maybe he was somewhere else when the youkai appeared. He cut around the faded metal merry go round and nearly tripped over the body.

"Ashiya!" The dark-haired boy was lying unconscious on the ground. Itsuki kneeled and shook him, but he didn't wake. "Ashiya? Ashiya, come on." No matter what he did, he wouldn't wake. Itsuki sat back on his heels and tried to think.

Assess the situation, figure out what's wrong and fix it. Itsuki took a harder look at Ashiya's prone form. He looked unharmed, but not at peace. His breathing was normal, and when Itsuki pressed his fingers to Ashiya's throat, his heartbeat wasn't elevated or too slow. His brow was creased, though, as if he were having a bad dream.

A dream? Itsuki searched for the youkai's presence, but he realized he couldn't feel it anymore. He swallowed. Something scratched at the back of his mind. Deep in the recesses of his memory, dots of Aoi's teachings were aligning, and the picture they painted made sweat bead on Itsuki's brow.

"Astral possession…?" Itsuki remembered Aoi mentioning it, but they had only trained for the occasion once or twice, because the chance of it occurring was so rare. But it explained the situation: why the youkai's presence seemed to be all around them, but veiled, and why Ashiya was lying unconscious on the ground, looking like he was waging a war in his dreams.

Somehow, the youkai had access to the astral plane, and it had taken Ashiya with it. Judging by the other cases, it only meant to leech energy from him, but…

None of the other cases mentioned sleeping or falling unconscious… Which could mean… Itsuki swallowed. If the youkai brought him to the astral plane, it might mean to break Ashiya's mental defenses and hijack his consciousness. If it succeeded, the least of his worries was possession. Astral attacks done wrong could kill.

Itsuki wouldn't let that happen. He had to go in and pull Ashiya's consciousness back to the solid world.

The only problem was he had never tried it before.

Itsuki spent a few long minutes picking through his memories, trying to cobble the process together. He would need to lull himself into a hypnotic stupor, focusing on his destination: Ashiya. And he had to get in and out fast; the spirit untethered was vulnerable and easily corrupted, and the astral plane was made up entirely of spiritual residue, so sensing a youkai versus a human soul within its boundaries was extraordinarily difficult.

It's fine, Itsuki. All you have to do is perform an astral projection with barely any practice, locate Ashiya among hundreds of threads, and find a way out with both your and Ashiya's spirit without being possessed by the powerful youkai lurking in the shadows. Sure. Should be a piece of cake.

If this was anyone but Ashiya, he would seriously consider walking away and never returning.

Itsuki drew in a steadying breath. "Hang in there, Ashiya," he murmured as he lowered himself to lay at his side. "I'm coming; so be the annoyingly persistent guy you are and don't get possessed before I get there."

Okay, so… Itsuki stared up at the pitch black sky. The air was chilly, and he shifted a bit to pull his jacket tighter around him, then chastised himself for caring about the weather when he was supposed to be astral projecting. Focus! What's the first step?

He had to make a tether, some kind of connection to the corporeal world that would act as a cord and lead him back to his body. Lying down against the earth as he was doing now was a good start. Next he had to make sure his spirit sought Ashiya's. This could be achieved by thought alone if he were skilled enough, but Itsuki didn't want to take any chances. He grabbed hold of Ashiya's wrist. This was doubly useful in that it would further connect him to the solid world and help him resonate with Ashiya's soul.

He could feel the steady thrum of Ashiya's pulse against the pads of his fingers. It made him feel more centered.

Okay. Itsuki drew in a slow breath, held it, then released slowly. He meditated like this on his breathing until he felt his mind stray. He pointed his thoughts toward Ashiya then, letting his intent stretch until the tide of the unconscious carried it away.

Hanae stood in the middle of the park, centered on home plate. He couldn't remember how he had gotten all the way over here. I could have sworn I was in the playground… His heart spasmed. The youkai!

Hanae swiveled from side to side, but the youkai was nowhere to be seen. A shiver crept down his spine, remembering the creature's hollow eyes and searching tendrils. It had been all over him. He patted himself down, but he was unharmed. But why? It was attacking me, but now it's gone and I'm somewhere I wasn't.

"Something weird is going on…" Hanae leered around the darkness, focusing his spiritual powers. He wanted to find Abeno, but the last thing he needed was to be ambushed by the youkai again.

There was nothing but static in the energy around him, and for once Hanae knew his inability to sense the youkai was not his own fault; this place was buzzing with strands of energy, so crowded together it felt like he was swimming in white noise.

"Great..." Hanae murmured.

He took a tentative step off home plate and started walking back in the direction of the playground. He wasn't sure how much time had passed from when he and Abeno parted, when he was attacked by the youkai, and now, but he knew that if it had been more than five minutes, Abeno would have come looking for him. The park wasn't that big, after all. Hanae's elementary school teachings kicked in and told him to go to the place Abeno would expect to find him and stay put until he was found.

His instincts paid off. Before he was halfway there he saw Abeno striding across the field from the direction of the playground. Hanae stopped and waved his arms. "Abeno-san!"

Abeno's expression was grim when he approached, and Hanae hoped that meant his friend was only annoyed that he had to come looking for him.

"Where were you?" Abeno said.

"Well, that's the thing! I was in the playground, but then the youkai appeared and jumped on me, and all of a sudden I woke up all the way out here!" Hanae wrapped his arms around himself and hunched his shoulders. "I can't remember what happened. And I don't know what happened to the youkai. But it was..." He shivered.

"I know. The youkai's probably lurking around here somewhere. We're on the astral plane right now."

"The astral plane? That's a real thing?" Hanae's eyes widened as he took in the space anew. It looked just like the real world, but now that he studied it more closely, it was perhaps a little duller in color, less substantial in shape. Like someone's recollection of the world.

"Real enough," Abeno sighed. "It's really hard to get in here; you need substantial spiritual energy to get back and forth. I've used practically all of mine to get here."

"Does that mean…" Hanae swallowed thickly. "Are we trapped?"

"No, not trapped." Abeno sucked his bottom lip. "You have a lot of spiritual energy, too, right?" Hanae blinked at him. Abeno shifted and cleared his throat. "You could lend me some of your energy."

"...I can do that?"

"Yeah, of course you can. You didn't know?"

"How was I supposed to know something like that?" Hanae uncrossed his arms and threw them out in a show of irritability. "You're the Master of the Mononokean. I'm just the employee."

Abeno's eyes widened, but his expression went placid again so quickly Hanae couldn't tell if he had just imagined the surprise that flitted across his face.

"Right…" Abeno said slowly. "Well, you can lend me energy. Will you do that for me?"

"Uh… Okay? If it gets us out of here. But how do I do it?"

"You just have to lower your defenses and let me in. I'll do the rest."

" 'Let you in?' That sounds a little creepy," Hanae said with a laugh. But Abeno didn't laugh.

"It won't work unless you allow it to." His eyes simmered as he took a step forward. "You have to want to do it."

The expression on his face was hungry, and suddenly they were standing less than an arms length apart. Hanae's heartbeat kicked up a few notches. Why does this feel a little…? Abeno's fingers ghosted over the back of his hand and Hanae's head filled with cotton balls.

"Well?" Abeno prompted silkily. "Do you agree?"

"I..." Hanae tried to wet his lips, but his body felt suddenly numb. An electric current buzzed through him, short circuiting his nerves.

"Don't look so scared," Abeno said, his smile honeyed. "It won't hurt. Just let me in, Ashiya-san."

Hanae's heart jumped. Oh HELL no.

He backpedaled away so quickly he nearly tripped himself. With the distance between them, the fizzy feeling coursing through his body started to fade. He could think clearly again, and he realized just how wrong everything was.

"You are not Abeno-san," Hanae growled.

"What are you saying?" Abeno blinked at him, face hurt and confused. But the hunger still crackled behind his eyes.

"Abeno-san never calls me 'Ashiya-san,' and Abeno-san would never be all—" Hanae stuttered, feeling his face heat. The not-Abeno raised an eyebrow. "He wouldn't be all...all over me!" Hanae finally managed to spit out. "He doesn't do stuff like that to me."

"Doesn't he?" The not-Abeno sighed and began checking its nails. "Guess I judged wrong. I could've sworn you had that kind of relationship. Or you were at least working up to it." It sighed again and half smiled at Hanae. The smile was shadowy and sharp and so un-Abeno it looked doubly terrifying reflected on the face of his friend.

"You're that youkai, aren't you?" Even as the words left his mouth, Hanae knew it was true. They can shapeshift? He balled his fists to try to crush the fear welling in his chest.

"I was so close," said the youkai, and its voice didn't sound like Abeno's at all. It sounded the way chalk felt on your fingertips. "If only I hadn't messed up your name..."

Hanae blinked and the nails on the youkai's hands were suddenly long and tapered. They browned before his eyes, turning soft and slithery. Abeno's gold hair and eyes began to slough off, melting away like wax from a candle. The skull beneath shone stark white.

"It's too bad," the youkai rasped. "I liked wearing that face. Made me feel pretty."

Hanae took a few steps back. A rivulet of sweat rolled down his neck. As the youkai reverted to its true form, its demonic presence grew, and the air became thick and hard to breathe. It was nowhere near the level of the Executive, but the presence was strong—much stronger on the astral plane than in the solid world—and the memory of the Executive's malice flooded his brain. Hanae's chest spasmed.

Abeno-san. But he knew he couldn't rely on Abeno to save him this time.

He was alone.

Don't panic don't panic don't panic! Hanae doubled over, trying desperately to squeeze air into his lungs. Breathe, Hanae! You're stronger than this! But the harder he tried to control it, the worse it felt.

"Your defenses are already pretty low," murmured the youkai, close, so close now. It smelled like rot and death and nothingness. Hanae wheezed, dropping to his knees and curling further into himself.

His vision began to spot. I'm going to die. I'm going to die.

"I don't even need your permission at this rate."

He could feel the youkai looming over him. Any second now it would reach into him and strip his energy away. And he would die. Or worse, he would be trapped on the astral plane, his spirit in tatters, just another ribbon of residual energy among the hundred thousand.

NonononoNO!

Hanae's mind cut out. Coolness spread through his body, pooling in the palm of his hand. His thoughts swept blank.

Why had he been scared again?

Hanae looked up. The youkai was above him—the same feelers, the same skull and hollow eyes—but he wasn't scared. The youkai, though… Its eyeless sockets locked onto Hanae's hand, and even though it had no face, he could sense its fear.

What were we doing? Hanae looked down at his hand. Energy swirled around it, circling like a vortex. Oh, that's right. It wants to kill me. But I won't die.

Hanae raised a hand up toward the threat. The youkai jumped back, impossibly high and far. It landed at the edge of the playground and quivered. Hanae watched it cooly from behind his outstretched hand.

"Forgive me," the youkai said quietly. "I didn't know." It winked out of sight.

Vaguely, Hanae guessed it had just dropped out of the astral plane. He didn't really care. The threat was gone.

Hanae closed his eyes and collapsed to the ground.