The next morning I woke up with millions of thoughts and emotions twirling in and out of my mind. The only thought that remained consistent in the mess known as my mind was Gin.

The voice I heard last night ringed loud and clear through the tempest of emotions, which did nothing to drown it out. It was Gin's voice, soft, gentle and tinged with sorrow, a voice that I can recognize anywhere, a voice along with its owner that had been unconsciously tattooed into my mind. A voice I could never forget no matter what happened. A voice as familiar to me as my own. It echoed again and again, through the chaotic inner tumult:' Come to the forest, Hotaru, come and find me…'

I dressed and got ready for breakfast in a daze and walked distractedly to the dining room where my grandparents were waiting. After mumbling a quick good morning, I took my place opposite grandma, with grandpa at the head of the table. I was unfocused all through the meal, poking at the food with my chopstick, while staring listlessly at the plate. In the end, I only ate a little, my grandparents must have noticed my weird behavior, because they kept shooting worried glances towards me, but in the end they kept quiet about it, and didn't ask any questions. I felt bad about making them worry about me, but my mind can't help but keep returning to those words that keeps repeating over and over again in my head like a broken recorder.

The silence of the dining room started to change from comfortable to depressing, unable to stand it anymore, I laid down my chopsticks and took the utensils to the kitchen, while my grandparents looked at me worried. I quickly apologized and excused myself. Grandpa opened his mouth as if to say something, but he quickly closed it, nodded his head to grant me leave.

Without realizing, I was running down the dirt road that leads to the entrance of the forest of the mountain god, yamagami. A place where I've spent countless summers in the company of Gin. Soon, the stone torii of the forest entrance came into view.

Four moss covered stone steps leaded to the equally moss covered stone torii, bleached white by the sun, with a pair of stone lanterns standing guard on either side. Behind the Torii, a path of stone stretched towards the distant horizon, stone lanterns lined the path at regular interval, like sentinels guarding the entrance to the sacred forest.

Standing at the foot of the steps, I could almost imagine Gin leaning against the stone lantern or sitting on the steps of the torii waiting for me, like he always did, each and every summer, without fail. Tears rolled down my cheeks, through blurry eyes, for a split second I saw him standing there like he always had. The dog-like mask over his face, wearing the same white shirt over the red tee, hands stuffed in the pocket of his dark colored trousers, completed with a pair of clogs on his foot. It was so real, almost like he was never gone, forgetting myself for a moment, I rushed forward, only to have the image shimmer and fade before my eyes.

It was that moment, did the realization finally set in, Gin was gone. until then, a part of me have always thought that no matter what happens, Gin will always be there on the steps of the torii waiting for me, that all this was just a dream, and I'll be spending another summer contend and happy in the shade of the forest with him.

I was just about to turn around and walk home, ready to believe that last night's voice was merely a fragment of my imagination caused by my overwhelming desire to see him, the most incredible thing happened. Once again, I heard gin's voice whisper in my mind: 'come on, Hotaru, Yamagami-Sama is waiting for you.'


Author Note: So sorry about not updating in a very long time. A big thank you to all those who reviewed this story, put it in their favourite and those who has it on their alert. Thank you for sticking with it and please review!