'Useful? What do you mean?'

Confusion must have been all over my face, as I watched the mountain god, whose face was smooth like marble betraying no hint of emotion.

'Exactly that, in fact very useful.' the calmness contrasted greatly with the raw anger just a few moments ago.

'You are precisely what I need to bring Gin back. You are the power that I need.'

'Power?' I replied dumbly, head spinning trying to figure out just what he meant by this. Last time I checked, I am an ordinary girl with nothing special, the only extraordinary that happened to me was Gin. Now that he is gone, I can't think of anything that can set me apart from the millions of other girls out there.

'What power?' I asked, prompting him to answer. A sly smile tugged at the corner of his lips, adding an almost cruel edge to his inhumanely beautiful face.

'Like I have said before, human body is an imminence store of power. Before you came I had no power to be able to bring Gin back, but with you here, everything is about to change.'

It was then it drawn on me that I am the power that he needed. I am what is needed to bring Gin back, with the power that I have inside of me, Yamagami could work his magic and gin would be with me once again. Oh how I would give anything to see him and hear his voice again.

'I understand. But where is Gin's soul? You said you found it.'

'Indeed, I have.'

'But where is it?'

He held out his hand, gracefully, palm up towards me. At first there was nothing, and then a breeze started, whishing through the clearing from the forest around, circling towards where we are standing. Quickly, the breeze picked up its speed as it headed towards his up turned palm, my hair wept around my face, blocking my eyes, forcing me to shut them momentarily. The breeze quickly died down, I opened my eyes again, brushing strands of hair from my face, in contrast, the mountain god seems as collected as ever, not a single hair out of place.

It was then I realized that above his palm floats small glowing orb of green, the same color as the sparkles that Gin turned into on that summer night. It was small, surprisingly small, no larger than a tennis ball. As I watched, it flared up and changed shape like the flame of a candle in the wind.

'Is that...' I took a step forward without thinking, hands reaching towards the little orb. He must have sensed my intension, because he gently placed it into my out stretched hand. It was a peculiar feeling, holding Gin's soul in my hands. It was warm, and pulsing, like a living thing. I watched as it flares in my palm, amazed and in awe of how beautiful Gin's soul is and how surreal this all seems. Here I was, thinking I would never get to see him again, and now, I am holding his very soul in my palm and being told that I am what is needed to bring back. Not that I have any souls before, but I can't help but wonder if this tiny little orb is could really be all of his soul.

Once again, Yamagami sensed my thought before I even voice it.

'It is not all of it'

My head snapped up and looked at him in confusion.

'But, you said...'

'This is only half of his soul. The rest is inside of you.'

'Inside of me... how is that possible?'

'Think back to the day Gin disappeared, you held him when it happened, right?'

'Yes, but...'

'When his soul started to scatter, the little pieces will look for a vessel to contain them. That vessel can be anything, anyone. You were the closest to him, so most of the pieces entered into your body.'

'I heard his voice last night and today when I stood in front of the torii, telling me to come. Is that because of the pieces inside of me? But how come I never heard it before?'

'Parts of a soul does not have a voice, it is only possible when all the pieces are together, which is why you weren't able to hear him before. Sensing that you were nearby and all the pieces are finally about to join together, I gave it my powers to the half of the soul inside of you and allowed it to call to you. When you were at the torii, I released the half that was with me so that they may lead you to me.'

'So you are saying that all this time a part of Gin was with me. And the breeze that led he here... was that Gin?'

Calmly he nodded, inclining his head ever so slightly. Without thinking I closed my hands over Gin's soul and pulled it towards me. I felt the drumming of the little orb slowly fell into place with the drumming of my heart, feeling the warmth of it slowly seeping into me. I closed my eyes, I allow myself to give into the calming feeling that I have always associated with Gin. His soul felt like the florescent glow of a firefly, not bright and warm like the sun, but comforting and reassuring. And that is what Gin was like, protecting me, constantly by my side. With him, I was fearless, because I knew that he will always be with me, my personal guiding star in the unknown world of Yokais, chasing away the dark with its ever present glow. He may have constantly berated himself for his inability to truly help, but for me, his mere presence was more than enough to chase away any fear I had.

I felt the orb pulse strengthen in my palm, pulling my hand away from me, I peered at the little orb. The orb's glowing grew steadily stronger with each pulsing, spinning in the air above my cupped palms. It slowly started shift, becoming less orb-like and more like a little flame as it danced in the air. Then a glow appeared where my heart is, I looked down, stunned by the sight, the light grew brighter and bigger in rhythm with the Gin's soul. It grew in intensity until it enveloping me with its light to a point I was forced to close my eyes. Even through closed lids, I could still see the glow of the strange light.

The next second, without warning, the light was gone. Hesitantly, I opened my eyes, the light just now leaving a glare in my eyes, forcing me to blink a few times before truly able to make out what is in front of me.

In front of me, stood a man in his late teen. Messy silver hair swaying lightly in the breeze, a simple gray yukata, tied loosely around his lean form, just like how I remembered. His face serene and calm, not a day older than I last saw him. He opened his arms towards me, lips curved into the heart warming smile I always loved and treasured. The sound of his voice was gentle like the summer breeze:

'Hotaru…'

I felt weak and faint as all the emotions that have been bottled up inside of me since that fateful night escaped in a rush. Tears streamed down my face, but I didn't care. For that moment, nothing in the world mattered, as I rushed towards him.

'Gin…'

A/N: Once again sorry for the delay, Sixth-form is a pain with the exams and essays. I apologise in advance as this will be my last update before my AS exams finish. Doing well in my exams means a lot to me, so please try to understand. A million sorries.

As always, I hope you like this chapter and hope you are not too mad to leave a review.

Love

-L