~*~*~*~*~*~*Chapter Two~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She was sitting on the roof of the flower shop thinking over everything that had happened that day. She had started out as an unseen spirit and now her life, or afterlife, was intertwined with the lives of four flower guys. True only two of them could see her but they all could hear her and they had taken her story surprisingly well…for the fact that they were housing a dead girl…

~*~*~*~*~*~Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~

"Okay miss, would you explain what's going on and why Yohji and Aya-kun cant see you?"

He was cute. They all were actually; she wondered how they would take this. Omi came down the basement stairs holding a first aid kit, the confusion still very clear in his eyes. He sat down next to her and pulled out a large roll of gauze.

"Here, I know you said I can't touch you but I can at least hold it steady while you wrap it around your cuts."

"They bother you don't they. If I put this on it will look like its floating in mid-air. You still want that?" He just unrolled the gauze and held it out to her. While she was wrapping one arm she started her story.

"I'm seventeen…well technically I suppose I'm eighteen but you don't age when your like me. Ever since I was fourteen I guess I started traveling down in depression due to…a discovery, but I refused to let it show or bother me. Everything was fine and I had everything I could ever want but then the depression hit hard and I was unprepared and the one person I trusted would help me out of it…"

She was starting to bleed again so she sped up in wrapping the gauze. The one smoking a cigarette finally seemed to notice the floating material as his eyes widened considerably. Before he had a chance to say anything however she finished her story in a rush of words.

"So anyway I took my own life a year ago in three days with a boning knife on the floor of my room. So I'm dead, your talking to a ghost and most people cant see me so its you and Omi that I have no idea why you two can see me…though I'm not complaining."

"Dead?"

"Ghost?"

"Hnn."

"Who was the person you thought would help you?"

"I would rather not discuss it Omi-kun. Please don't make me."

He looked into her eyes and gave her a small smile. Despite her sadness she returned it. He really was a sweet person. She could see a bit of her past self in him.

"So…who is everyone again? Wait! Let me guess. The other person who can see me is Ken so…the red head is Yohji and you are Aya."

Omi and Ken started snickering at the glare her bandages received from the red head. Darn, she really thought she had it. "Um, sorry Aya-kun." She looked over at Yohji to see him not there. A sudden poke at her bandaged arm made her jump so she turned to the right to find the missing Yohji staring in amazement at the floating gauze. He poked them again so she smacked his hand away. He jumped back and stared at his hand.

"You're a ghost?"

She sighed.

"Yes Yohji-kun, I'm a ghost."

"But your eighteen...Are you cute?"

This was going to be interesting.

~*~*~*~*~*~End Flashback~*~*~*~*~*~

She sighed. The sound of a door shutting and soft footsteps sounded from behind her. Turning her head slightly she watched Omi make his way towards her and sit next to her on the ledge. They sat in silence for a few minutes, him chewing on his lip and her fiddling with her bandages.

"I…I still cant believe you're a ghost. I mean, I guess it really hasn't settled in yet, the fact that your…dead. What's it…what's it feel like?"

"Well…there's always this cold sensation in the air around me. Sometimes the temperature will drop if I'm in a state of extreme anger or sadness. And when someone walks through me or I walk through something its like walking through ice water, for both me and whatever I walked through. I've gotten used to it by now I guess, I don't really notice that stuff anymore."

She looked down at the street below and watched as a few people walked by now and then. Beside her Omi was lost deep in thought as he stared straight ahead into the night sky. She could feel the warmth of being alive generate off his body making her long to be held by him, just so she could be enveloped in that warmth once again. Her body went rigid with that last thought and her pale eyes glared out into the darkness. There was no way she was going to start thinking like that. She was dead damn it, she had no right to try for the attention of a living being.

Especially one like Omi.

"You okay Usagi?"

He went to touch her shoulder but stopped halfway remembering that he couldn't. She sent him a small smile before slowly phasing out of view and reappearing in a darkened bedroom. Walking up to the figure curled snuggly under the covers she peered down at the sleeping face and frowned.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Omi lay in bed staring up at the slowly rotating ceiling fan, thoughts of a certain blonde ghost stuck in his head.

She was hurting.

She was hurting and there was obviously something keeping her here. And for the strangest reason he wanted to help her. Sadness and anger wasn't who she really was, he just knew. Deep down he knew that she was meant to smile and fill the world with joy. So what had happened that caused such a turn around. What important info was she keeping from them? There was much more to her story then she let on and he wanted to find out what it was.

She had said that no one had ever seen her before so why could he? Did that mean he was supposed to do something? Something like helping her? Arrg! Now his head was starting to hurt. Closing his eyes he decided to think about it later. But a few last thoughts crossed his mind before he succumbed to sleep.

Where had she gone too? And would she come back?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

She moved a strand of raven hair off his forehead and stared intently into his face.

He was so handsome.

She smiled sadly and traced his jaw line with one moonlight pale finger. His body rolled onto his back, mumbling incoherent words into the air. She traced his lips and leaned over inches from kissing him…

"Rei-chan…"

Hissing she pulled back as if burned and glared dangerously at his peaceful expression. Crystalline teardrops slid noiselessly down her cheeks and white gauze turned crimson.

"Why? Why Mamo-chan? Why did you do it? I thought you loved me! And why can't I stop loving you? Why can't I just hate you, Mamo-chan? I have every damn right to hate you, and I try. Oh Gods I try Mamo-chan but…but…(sob)…why…?"

Her body fell limply to the floor and disappeared into the darkness. Mamorou sat upright in the bed gasping, a pained look on his face. Clenching his fist he shut his eyes, a lone tear cascading down.

"Usako…"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Yohji awoke earlier then he would have liked to so he rolled over to try and get some more sleep. After tossing and turning for some time he finally gave up and decided to get a glass of water from kitchen. Deciding against the use of a robe he made his way silently down the hall rubbing his eyes tiredly. The sounds of pots and pans filled the air as he got closer to his destination.

"How the hell do you wake up this early Omi…uh…Omi…?"

No one was in the small kitchen. Well, no one except him and that floating butcher knife. He blinked.

"ARRGGG!!!!!!!"

"Yohji-kun! Calm down its just me…its"

Holy shit! Now it was talking to him! He flattened himself up against the wall and watched knife. A soft sigh filled the air and the knife lowered its self onto the cutting board next to some…bacon. He noticed the eggs and cheese and other breakfast items set out around the counter. White gauze floated slightly closer to him and it was then that the happenings of the previous night flashed through his memory. There was nothing to be afraid of; it was just a ghost. Heh.

"Yohji-kun…are you okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry. I didn't mean to freak out like that. I guess I thought last night was a dream or something."

He ran a hand through his hair and threw a smile in the direction of the bandages while making his way to the table.

"What'cha making?"

"Omelets. Its one of the only things I'm fairly good at making. Most of the time anyway. But since I'm dead I don't have to worry about food poisoning, do I."

Yohji sweatdropped at the last comment she made, not being able to tell whether she was serious or not. She seemed to know what she was doing as she continued where she left off in cutting the bacon into small bits though. It was slightly unnerving however, to watch the food, pans and cutlery hover about the countertops and move about the stove withought any visible help aside from two floating bandages.

"So…what do you normally do with your time? Haunt people? I can tell you right now if I was a ghost I'd haunt a couple people."

"Somehow Yohji-kun, I get the feeling that if you were a ghost you'd spend every waking moment hanging out in women's changing rooms and showers."

She was very perceptive. She'd only known him what, a couple hours? Ah well, she was probably right. A plate with a fluffy looking omelet slid across the table in front of him followed by a cup of coffee and a pack of cigarettes.

"You do drink coffee, don't you Yohji?"

He shook his head yes. She really was thoughtful, he wished he could see her. And why was it that only Ken and Omi *could* see her. Hell, why was she even a ghost anyway. He didn't believe she was being punished for something, she didn't seem like a bad person. So why…

"Aren't you going to try it? I'm sure its not *that* bad."

"Wha? Oh, heh, sorry."

He cut a piece and popped it in his mouth. It was actually really good! He smiled in her general direction and cut another piece. The room seemed to radiate a certain warmth as he could feel her smile beam down on him.

"You really think its good! Oh! What till Mako-chan hears about this! She'll be so…proud…"

The warmth in the air dropped to freezing in a matter of seconds. The chair across from him skidded out a bit and a soft thud filled the room.

"Usagi? You okay?"

The silence that greeted him made him think she had left the room but the chill in the air must have meant she was still around. Finally she sighed sadly and got up to fix more breakfast, the room beginning to return to its natural temperature but still a cool breeze drifted around him. They sat in silence for awhile, him finishing his food and her laboring over her cooking before she spoke, her voice soft and yearning for a time she could never have again.

"I've always been bad at cooking. No. I sucked. Nothing was worse then my attempt at baking cookies. But everyone smiled and ate them despite the stomach cramps they'd receive later. Mako-chan, she was a great cook. Her dream was to open her own restaurant. Anyway, she was always trying to get me to be better. Teach me cooking tricks and what not. The first time I ever made an omelet for her it came out looking something like a disfigured charcoal brisket. She ate it anyway, that's how great a friend she was. She got food poisoning a few hours after that and I felt so bad I swore to myself the next time I made an omelet for her, or any dish for that matter, that it would be edible and that for once in my life no-one would get sick. None of them knew how hard I was working. My poor family, how they must have suffered, forced to eat my attempts at cooking and baking day in and day out. I never did get to make anything for Mako-chan before…"

She slid two more omelets onto the table and then took his plate and placed it in the sink.

"When you actually liked my cooking it was the first time that had ever happened so I guess I just got excited. I guess I sorta forgot the small fact that Mako-chan won't ever get to know about my omelet success."

She slid the last omelet onto the table and began cleaning up her mess. Yohji sat watching the skillet and other dishes clean themselves in the sink. There had to be a reason she was still here. A reason why he and the other guys knew she existed. She was suffering so much and for some reason it hurt him to know she was hurting. He didn't know what to say but thankfully at that moment Omi chose to wander in.

Omi could smell something delicious cooking in the kitchen as he got ready for school so he sped up the process and quickly made his way down the hall. Expecting to see Aya he was surprised to see Usagi standing over the sink washing dishes. Then he noticed Yohji and his surprise went to shock.

"Yohji? What are you doing up? Its 7:30 in the morning."

"I knew that there was a young lady with us who needed my presence to keep her company."

He snorted. Honestly, how long had Miss Usagi had to put up with that.

"I'm really sorry you had to put up with him Miss Usagi. Normally his lazy butt doesn't crawl out of bed until noon."

She smiled at him and the chill in the room seemed to disappear. He wondered what had happened to make her drop the temperature in the first place. She then handed him a glass of orange juice and pointed to the omelets.

"Oh! I didn't even notice them. Gomen nasai."

"I hope you like them."

She plopped herself into a chair next to him and watched him take a bite.

"This is really good Miss Usagi. Thank you."

"Please, call me Usagi or better yet, Usa-chan. Oh! Yohji, you asked me what I normally do to waste time. Normally I hang out at the park and watch people. Sometimes I check-up on my friends and family, just to see how they're doing. A lot of the time though I go back home and lay on my bed, looking through old pictures. You see, after I died my mother refused to do anything to my room so it's stayed the same for the last year. Almost everyday she goes in keeps it clean. She believes I'm still there because I often move stuff around when I go through it. So for the most part I don't have anything to do."

It must have been so hard on her mom and for her to say all that stuff so nonchalantly. She was acting so cheerful now, like everything was fine. How bored she must get and how depressing. Wait. He had an idea.

"You can come to school with me!"

Her entire face lit up and he blushed but for some reason he felt really good to know he had made her smile like that.