Hey guys! You know, when I first started writing this, I told myself I'd update regularly. That isn't happening and isn't likely to happen ever. Sorry.

Also, I know I haven't been answer to all you're PMs and reviews properly, and I'd like to apologize for that too. The reason for that is because I posses about as much social finesse and grace as T-rex on cocaine. I assure you it's not out of spite.

Thank you for all your support. It really does help. :)

Rin had the horrible feeling it was getting darker. When they first set out, she'd been absolutely certain she was doing the right thing, but now, doubts were starting to chip away at her brain. She stopped walking and put her hands on her hips.

"Is there something wrong?" Luka asked

"I- No," Rin turned resolutely to the right and kept going.

"Do you need to stop?" Kaito asked.

"No, do you need to stop?" Rin asked, then she kept going before they could answer.

"Do you?" Luka asked Kaito as Rin stormed off into the darkness.

Kaito shrugged and smiled weakly, "I don't mind. You're not very heavy." Kaito attempted to speed up, but stumbled instead.

"Rin!" Luka called, "Come back, we need to rest."

"I'm fine," Kaito insisted,

"No you're not," Luka said, "Put me down."

Kaito would have argued the point further, but he was feeling tired, so he set Luka gently down on the forest floor, then sat down next to her. "How do your legs feel?"

Luka's brow creased. "I still don't have any feelings."

"That's ok," Kaito lied, "You'll be fine, you just need a bit of rest."

"That's the thing," Luka insisted, "I'm not tired."

"See," Kaito said, "You're in shock. That's the adrenaline."

"No, I am tired," Luka said, "I just- I feel- I'm afraid."

"Afraid to sleep? Why?"

"I don't know, I just feel like something bad will happen."

"There you guys are!" Kaito and Luka both jumped out of their skins. "What?" Rin asked, emerging from the fog, "It's just me. I wouldn't leave you losers alone out here."

"Really?" Kaito asked, "Because you've threatened to do that plenty of times."

Rin chose to ignore Kaito.

"Did you find your brother?" Luka asked,

Rin grinned, "No. I found something else though," she waved her hand, "follow me." The lost couple followed Rin, and after a short time, they came to a clearing. Low and behold, a building stood before them with the word "Kokoro" lovingly carved into the doorframe.

"Is it safe?" Kaito asked

"I haven't checked inside yet," Rin admitted, "so I don't know." They heard the crunching of leaves and someone came into view from around the inn. Rin recognized her hair. It was Gumi. "Gumi!" she shrieked.

Gumi nearly had a heart attack as a blazing yellow comet came hurtling toward her. "Rin?" she asked, as the comet wrapped her arms around Gumi's neck, "You're ok?"

Rin released Gumi from her embrace. "Yes!" She laughed with relief, but her tone quickly became serious again. "Have you seen my brother?"

"He's in the inn," Gumi pointed to the Kokoro, "so is Miku."

"That's fantastic," Rin said,

"The inn's safe then?" Kaito asked. Gumi nodded and Kaito breathed a sigh of relief, "Good. We found a place to rest until morning. We can sleep there, can't we?"

"Yes. There's a pretty good room we found for that."

"What about Meiko?" Rin asked,

"Who's that?"

"The bus driver."

Gumi shrugged, "Haven't seen her. But I'm sure she's fine," She added, when Rin looked worried.

"We should get inside," Kaito said, "I'm not sure if it's just me, but it feels like it's getting darker."

"Yeah, I'm exhausted," Rin agreed. The group followed Gumi inside the inn.

Meiko woke upside down. She was laying on her back which felt warm and sticky. Above her, the tops of the trees reached up like dead fingers praising the black sky. Getting up was a particularly nauseating thought, so Meiko stayed lying on her back for a while. It wasn't a particularly horrible sky, sure, there weren't any stars, but it wasn't too bad. Surely it wasn't as bad as getting up and facing the headache that would be sure to follow.

The forest was dark around her, and after some thought, she decided that it was indeed menacing, but she felt no sense of urgency at all. It was peaceful in this dark, scary wood, and she knew somehow nothing could touch her. So even when she attempted to get to her feet and discovered she could not move. She was not upset, not afraid. Meiko was content to just lay there.

Out of the blurriness of her mind, a shape condensed into being above her. It was wearing long flowing white robes.

"Why can't I get up?" Somehow, Meiko thought the apparition would have answers.

"Because you're dead," said the shape in a masculine voice.

The realization that she was dead didn't have as much of an effect on Meiko as it should have. She didn't feel any different. "Who are you?" she asked.

"I'm a ghost."

Meiko absorbed this information. There were a lot of questions she had, but one of them stood out from all the others. "Are you a man or a woman?" she asked.

"A man!" The ghost was highly offended,

"Your hair is long and purple, and you're wearing a white dress,"

"It's a robe." The ghost, who's face Meiko could clearly see now, huffed indignantly and adjusted his robe. "For you're information, these clothes were considered very fashionable when I was your age."

"So, you were my age in the feudal era?"

"I'm old." The ghost said. "When I was still alive, I got lost in the woods, just like you did. It wasn't long before I realized, this forest is not what is seems."

"What do you mean by that?"

"It would take a very long time to explain."

"So it's haunted?"

"For lack of a better word, yes," the ghost said, "although I would have used the term magical. When I got lost here, it had an effect on my aging. I lived much longer than most humans."

"Like, how long?"

"600 years."

Meiko was surprised, but she thought the ghost would get angry if she acted unimpressed, and making him angry gave her a sadistic sense of satisfaction. "What's you're name old man?"

The ghost looked offended again. "My name is Gakupo!" He said with another swish of his robe.

"Wait," Meiko felt her headache flare up as she jumped to another conclusion, "you mean old man Gakupo? The bus driver?"

"The very same."

Meiko looked her predecessor up and down with new eyes. "You look much younger."

"Of course I do. If you had the choice to live forever as a spirit, who would choose to appear as a crotchety old man instead of a dashing warrior at the height of his life?"

"Who looks like a girl?"

Gakupo glared at Meiko, who was snickering like a school girl. "I suggest you show me a bit of respect Meiko, I'm your only chance of getting out of here alive."

"But I'm dead already,"

"Yes you are," Gakupo nodded, "but it is possible for you to return to your body in this wood with my help."

"Why don't you go back to your body then?"

"Were you not listening? The contract is only possible in these woods. I died outside the woods so I couldn't make the contract."

"Wait, what contract?" Meiko gave Gakupo a dubious look. "What's the contract?"

"It's nothing," Gakupo waved aside Meiko's suspicion, "you just need to contract your eternal soul to me."

"What?!" Meiko laughed hysterically. "Hell no!"

"Oh?" Gakupo raised an eyebrow "You don't really have a choice. A soul without a body is a vulnerable thing, and yours is in an open state now. It's up for grabs for any monstrosity that happens to come along, and not all of them will have to ask nicely like I do. Of the creatures who could own your soul, I am undoubtably the kindest. Not only will I put you back in your proper body, I will give you free will, and I will lend you my power, so long as you lend me some of yours."

There was no reply. Meiko was still trying to organize her thoughts. The fact that she was dead was finally sinking in, and with it came an increasingly urgent need to be alive again. But why? She didn't really have any reason to be alive other than to not be dead. She decided to ask more questions in order to distract herself from this depressing realization. "What's in it for you?" She asked Gakupo, "Usually people don't offer to do something unless there's something in it for them."

"I led people through this wood for over 500 years, before the bus was invented." Gakupo said grimly. "I died so suddenly, I didn't get to train an heir. Now, I'm a spirit with power I never had in life, yet I am helpless to save the victims of the woods."

Meiko smiled, "You talk about the wood like it's alive."

"I'll explain that to you later," Gakupo said nervously, "But I need you to make a decision quickly. I'm not sure how much time we have. Will you be my successor?"

"I can't just sell my soul for no reason. How do I even know you're not lying?"

"You don't."

"You talk about monsters," Meiko said, after a pause, "what type of monsters?"

"The type that can do that to a human." Gakupo indicated Meiko's legs. She craned her neck to try and get a better look. From the waist down, her body had been ripped off. Blood was dripping halfheartedly from her stump of a waist. She'd already bled out. If she really made an effort, she could prop herself up on her elbows and see a glimmer of white where her spine was protruding from her flesh. "Oh." Meiko felt her head spinning. She lay down again, then remembered her headache. Meiko reached up and gingerly ran her fingers over her face. It was covered in blood.

"You've got a gash," Gakupo explained, "it runs from your scalp to your jaw. The thing that did that to you would be here consuming your soul right now, but it got bored waiting for you to die. It dragged you from the wreckage of the bus crash and all the way here, and if your wondering where your organs and legs went, well." He laughed dryly. "Actually, it should be back any second now."

Meiko lay on her back, looking through Gakupo's spectral face at the starless sky. She was starting to feel sick.

"Time's up," Gakupo said.

"Wait! What do you mean?" Meiko's voice cracked a little. Gakupo just sighed. His form began to fade away. "Tell me what you mean! Dammit," Meiko tried to get up again, then remembered she had no legs. Falling back, she realized the forest wasn't so silent anymore. Something was coming. She could hear twigs and branches snapping and footsteps.

"Crap!" With a colossal effort, Meiko flipped herself over onto her stomach. It didn't hurt, and that made her feel nauseous. Her brain was reeling. Digging her forearms into the dead leaves, she dragged her useless torso across the forest floor. She reached the nearest tree, stopped, and looked back. A trail of blood marked her progress. "Gakupo!" She shouted, "Come back!" Meiko looked over her shoulder and saw something in the darkness, slithering along the bed of drying dead leaves. "I'll make the contract!" Meiko yelled, "I'm selling my soul to you, you stupid asshole! Help!"

With remarkable speed, Gakupo materialized in front of her. "With pleasure," he said, then he put his hand on her forehead.

The contract hurt more than Meiko expected. To be fair, she wasn't sure what she'd been expecting. There wasn't any paper for her to read or sign. Instead, when Gakupo reached forward and touched her forehead, there was a blinding, burning light, that seemed to read the intentions of her soul. The contract was written on her hands and her feet and she signed them with the words of confirmation that she spoke. It seemed to her that around her was the roar and thunder of things she could never understand. To an outside observer, the contract was as simple as a gentle spirit of wind and a breath, then Meiko was alive again.

The song Miku was singing was indeed Last Night Good Night. Five points to Porky the King. Yeah, that was pretty easy. I also realized afterward that you could find out what the song was by simply copy-pasting the lyrics into the search bar.

If you have a spare moment, I would like you to consider donating a review to the LordofCamels morale fund, keeping me from giving up and crying in a corner since 1990. Every little contribution counts.