2.

It was strange but in all the time that Sai had spent by his side, the thought had never entered his mind. Even the couple of years after Sai had abruptly left him it never came to him to think… Ghosts are real. Ghosts are around us.

What other supernatural beings are as well?

It only came to him now, hands sweaty with nervous apprehension, as he watched the horror movie while trying to sit calmly beside his friends. The movie, Shojo-rei: 14 sai no tamashii, was still at the beginning. The main character Tooru had just listened to that Hana girl about the local legend. The girl gave Hikaru the creeps.

He glanced to his right to look at how the others were taking the story. Waya's amber eyes were glued to the flickering screen, his jaw tense as he finished chewing the last of their take out dinner. Beside him, Isumi fidgeted, trying to get more comfortable. He finally settled, hugging a pillow to him while his body leaned towards Waya. Whether it was a conscious or unconscious move, Hikaru didn't know.

Things had changed between the two friends ever since Isumi had come back from his second trip to China. The difference wasn't readily discernible. In fact, Hikaru had overlooked it completely but Touya had made an offhand comment one day that had struck him. "Those two seem much closer." The words played in the back of his head, Touya's voice serious yet distant. He was just commenting the obvious. Why he had on that particular day decided to share his observations with him was still a mystery. But it had opened his eyes. The two were a lot closer. Again though, he couldn't exactly pin point the changes and Waya and Isumi hadn't offered to let him in on the news. But he was ok with that. He had his share of secrets he wasn't ready to divulge to anyone. The music changed and his attention was jerked back to the television screen along with a skipped heart beat or two.

He'd never realized how lucky he'd been. Sai had been kind. He'd been a teacher and had loved life and shared that love. He hadn't been… angry or vengeful. Hikaru sank deeper into the couch.

"It hasn't gotten scary yet." Waya whispered to him, a smirk revealing his teeth. Great. Hikaru though. Just great. He should've just gone to the go salon with Touya as usual. Why in all hells had he agreed to do this instead?

Because he was currently avoiding Touya. Right. That's why. He felt an ache in his chest that he'd been desperately trying to ignore whenever his thoughts strayed to the other man. Way to go Hikaru. Stupid. He further sank into the couch, grabbing a pillow to hold as well, and prayed it would be over soon. Whether it was the movie, the awkwardness between him and his rival, or the pain he was in…he wasn't sure.

A discussion lasting two days had taken place after Thea's announcement. Acadia's dream had been picked apart and analyzed with all of the circle trying to bleed it dry of any information that would be of use to them when finding the fifth power.

The final decision had been made with a little twist that he hadn't seen coming. Well hell, he hadn't seen any of this coming. He could make a very brief list in his head, summing it all up.

First, came the realization or hope that there was a fifth power, different yet the same as the other four, along with the fact that Kierlan Harman would not be coming back. Second, that his leaving and betrayal had even been meant to occur all along... It had been prophesied since the beginning! God, he hated fate! Third, that someone would have to go find the fifth power before the other side did in the land of the rising sun.

Whatever that meant.

Their best guess was that this new power would probably be found in Japan. (At this little piece of information, Ash was seriously hoping that Acadia hadn't lost it completely. Thank god none of the witches in the group could read his thoughts. They would certainly have come up with new ways to torture him for the obvious lack of faith in their blind seer. Or whatever she was. However, Poppy had been able to hear his thoughts perfectly well and had snorted herself silly.) And of course, since he knew some Japanese he was a perfect fit to find this little lost witch. Ri-ight. Throw in his gentle natured cousin who was to help explain the entire messy and scary situation, Thea and her soulmate because really those two were sickeningly sweet and inseparable and here was the chosen retrieval team. Everybody had found it to be the right decision. Everybody perhaps except him. He couldn't even begin to point out all the glaring flaws in the grand plan. There were simply too many.

Ash sighed, his head resting comfortably against the window pane. Eric was driving right now. They'd switched off and on since the beginning of the trip. Thierry in all his great kindness, had given him permission to warn his sisters and invite them to LA. They would be safer there. And maybe, just maybe…he could get Mary-Lynette and her family to follow. He doubted it but he could hope, couldn't he?

"Are you nervous?" Eric asked, glancing briefly at him before returning to studying the road. Thea was sleeping in the back. The question made him sit up straight and he stared at the other young man in bleak confusion. Nervous about what exactly? His mind could come up with several caustic replies that were all terribly reasonable. But Eric probably didn't deserve any of them. "I mean, you haven't seen her in a long time…" Oh. He sighed. He hadn't even thought about that aspect of it. He realized belatedly that continuing to stare at Eric's profile would not take the question back. He forced himself to look back out the window.

"I'm ready to be verbally whipped into shape." He answered a bit shortly with a small smile. That was the one highlight in the whole fiasco. He'd at least be able to see her one more time and for that he was grateful. Though he wasn't really sure if he'd slain enough dragons to win his lady's heart fully.

A couple hours later, they pulled up in the middle of nowhere. He stretched his long legs out and took only a few steps before the door of his sister's home erupted open.

"ASH!" His youngest sister ran out, nearly knocking him flat as she leapt at him and grabbed him in a bear hug. It was quite a different welcome than the last time he'd been here. And definitely not what he'd been expecting. "Why didn't you say you were coming? We would have waited for you before eating and we would have had Mary-Lynette over! She's…" Jade trailed off and frowned. He put her back down on the ground, waiting for her to continue before replying. He had tried to call and hadn't been able to get through and then they'd been on the road and he figured, hey…a surprise could be good too. "I think she's at the school with Rowan still, tutoring some of the younger kids. She should be home soon though."

Jade hadn't changed much in a year. Her long blond hair still swung around her petite form and that blasted cat of hers wasn't too far from her. Twiggy? Tigger? Tiggy. It was Tiggy. He glared at it and sighed.

"Jade. Hi. It's nice to see you again." He tugged at her hair gently, realizing with a bit of a pang that it was still awkward being the big brother. Jade didn't seem to mind the awkwardness, shrugging it away with a smile as she chatted about this and that. Her fear of him had dissipated last summer. He'd proven himself to her in any case.

It made him remember what it had been like before. When they'd been really young and his father had still let him play with his sisters, they'd gotten along alright. Oh he'd been the typical brother, teasing and riling them up as much as he could. Though riling Kestrel had always been a tougher sport.

"Who are they?" Speak of the devil and she appears. His younger sister's amber eyes flashed defensively. Her body was poised—ready to fight if needed—as she stayed perched on the balcony. Jade twirled back, startled at the fact that she'd completely missed the two strangers still in the car.

"Thea, your cousin and her soulmate, Eric. He's human." Ash threw out the introduction, grinning apologetically at Eric who just good naturedly gave him the finger. "These are two of my three sisters. Jade." He tapped the youngest on the head. "And Kestrel. Watch out she's the one with the temper." He turned back to the car and grabbed the rest of the bags. "Let's go in though. There's a lot of stuff that we need to talk about. Is there anyway we can get Rowan and Mary-Lynette home earlier? Mark should come too. The news will be affecting him as well. How is he by the way? Has he gotten into hunting yet?"

Jade shook her head with a fond smile. Which answered his unasked question—those two were still love struck with each other in the way only the young could be. With no thought of the future or the consequences. Just living in the moment. He wished he could still be like that but realized that he'd never been that naïve in his entire life. His father had made sure of that.