Ghost Memories

TT: Hey guys. You probably noticed that I hadn't update for a long time – well, I did say that these oneshots wouldn't be updated regulary!

I'm in my last year of college before I try to enter university, guys – its pretty stressful, and I've got a lot of work on my hands. I try to write when I can, but when I have time I'm usually to tired to get a spark of inspiration. You'll just have to humour me.

However, if you have any ideas you want me to write, then tell me in a review – I often find that I can get inspired quite easily with what other people tell me they'd like to see.

That being said; enjoy and review!

---ThIsIsAbReAkLiNe---

Kyo couldn't remember a time when he could see ghosts… Oh, granted, he hadn't seen them much when he lived with his mother, and was rarely allowed out. But on Halloween, he'd peer out the windows after dark, and watch the ghosts move; though he hadn't known they were anything other than ordinary people at the time, who just happened to fascinate him.
He'd been curious about the ghosts, well before he knew what they were. There was something different about them, and not just the way everyone else ignored them, or the funny way they dressed. Perhaps there was an aura they had, that Kyo had sensed subconsciously, and drew him to them. Or perhaps it was because they were the first people, other than his mother, to smile at him, when they saw him peering at them through a window.

He could remember, when his mother died; there had been a hush, the absense of sounds Kyo hadn't even been aware existed until that moment. And he'd been afraid, even more so afraid than when he'd been sent to see Akito.
It had taken him years to work out, that the 'sound' was the buzz of ghosts, their simple presence, somewhere beyond him, who were almost continuously coming to see the new cat grow up. They knew what his mother had done; it left them shocked and sombre, the buzz of the presence fading as they retreated, leaving the cat to mourn in private; they didn't watch the cat grow so much after that, as if they somehow felt responsible.

They had been there at his mother's funeral, some distance away and looking transparent, save for that one old man who'd comforted him. He'd seen them, watching from the headstones, some looking like normal people, some looking faint and shadowy, but all looking at him with eyes that had seen far, far too much.

When his Shisho had taken Kyo to live with him, and the cat started school, he would often pause at the graveyard, wandering through the graves and speaking to them, listening in awe to the many stories they told him. The groundskeepers grew used to his presence, and stopped giving him suspicious looks, instead murmuring to the elderly, that sometimes came by, what a good child he was, visiting his mother so often.

Kyo learnt how to identify a ghost; he felt more comfortable around them than most people, family or schoolmates – they never seemed to judge him in any way. Sometimes, secretly, Kyo wished that these people were his family, rather than the Sohma's. But then he'd think of his Shisho, and regret thinking such things.

There wasn't a set time when he realized they were ghosts… He'd seen them walk through things since he'd met them, and realized that no one else could see them. But it never hit him that they were ghosts; they were just unique. He could turn into a fluffy kitten, why couldn't some people be invisible? Slowly, over time, his brain had come to terms with something that the cat spirit inside him had known all along, until it seemed as if he'd always known they were ghosts, and just hadn't cared.

The years past, and Kyo became more obsessed with beating Yuki – anything to keep out of the cage, so that he wouldn't become one of those voices he could hear when he past. Gradually, without much notice, he began to distance himself from the ghosts, spending less time there. The ghosts noticed, and didn't say anything. They'd seen the cats get locked away many times before – they understood enough to not feel hurt, and to simply wish Kyo good luck.

Sometimes Kyo would go back for a visit though; to the ghosts he'd known for so long. They'd never been his friends, not really, they had so little in common; they were more like friends of the family, people he'd known for years and years. Kyo was part of a succession of cats, and there would be one after him. They treated him as though he were, say, the grandchild of one of their friends. Perhaps they'd been friends with a cat before him, but they weren't friends with Kyo. Maybe, when he grew older, a friendship would grow between them, but for now it was simply a fondness.

Usually, on Halloween, Kyo would wander the streets all night, feeling empowered in the same way the ghosts did. He would, inevitably, end up in the graveyard; which would be mostly empty, and those who were there would be silent. Kyo would sit by his mother's grave, as if hoping that, on this night of power, he could see her again, just once – just have her tell him that it wasn't his fault. It was painful for the ghosts to see, and more painful for Kyo.

Actually, now the ghosts thought about it, Kyo only stopped that habit the year he'd met Eris…
The graveyard ghosts contemplated this between them for a few moments, before shrugging with smiles; who'd have thought that the little chaotic girl would have been so good for Kyo?