Author's Note: ~groans~ No, I've done my Yuki POV for this universe. ~grins~ Sorry Lady Kazune Kikenshi, you'll have to read Not Human if you want to see that. (end shameless plug)

Yes, that's right, this is a prequel to Not Human. It also ties in with Moon's Dance and Shadow. But you don't have to read all of them to appreciate it, really. I'm trying to make each story stand alone, but still tie in. ~braces Peacewish's spinning head~ It's okay, the only head that should be spinning around here is mine...just sit back and enjoy this, okay?

~pounce~ So, all my reviewers totally rock. ~glomps~ I'm so glad you all love Touya so much and want to read my story because I'm writing about him!!! ~giggles~ The hall of fame for last chapter includes: Kira, Kitty Neko, Peacewish, Lady Kazune Kikenshi, Askani Blue, L-chan, and Lily. Three cheers!

I just hope this chapter makes sense...you'll tell me if it doesn't right? ~hides~

Shades of Discovery

Days Go By

"You know, you don't have to have Sakura along as an excuse if you want to visit me at work." I tried to say it as casually as I could, slipping it into the lull in the conversation. I wasn't happy with it, so I tried again. And again. That casual quality eluded me and I finally just glared at the face in front of me.

He glared back.

I finally turned away from the mirror with a frustrated sigh. Why was I rehearsing saying something stupid like that? In front of a mirror even. What was wrong with me? I'd never been the type to practice conversations ahead of time, especially in front of a mirror. It was stupid.

Why did I want to say it in the first place anyway?

Did I want to see him that bad? Did I want to spend that extra time with him? Why? I was making such a big deal of this in my own skull suddenly and I just didn't understand it. It just--it made me uncomfortable that he thought he had to drag her along. We had been friends for months.

With a frustrated groan I took off the silly work uniform and threw it in the corner of the bathroom. Sometimes I hated my schedule. Hated it with a passion. Today was one of those days, probably because it was the middle of the pay period. I didn't have to do chores today at least, but it had irritated me to see Sakura sleeping so peacefully when I got home. I wished I could collapse like that as soon as I was done.

No, I still had homework. Sunday was never an easy day, chores or no chores.

And she had woken up in time to eat her share of the cake.

Well, maybe I wouldn't have had her slice. Then again, she had managed to do all the chores, take a nap, and still go out with Yuki long enough for me to get to wait on them. Maybe that's the real reason I was irritated. It seemed like I had waited on her all her life until recently, and now Yuki was trying to get me to do it the one time and place where I shouldn't have to.

I slipped into the warm water, letting it cover me up to my neck. It was warm and relaxing and I could feel the stress of the day flow away with the water. I indulged in a relaxed smile, and just sat there a while. The harder I tried not to think about things though the more the thoughts I didn't want pressed in on me. When I tried to not think about Sakura's strange behavior lately my mind moved on to being laid off from the aquarium after the large tank in the center broke and they couldn't afford to keep me on. When I tried not to think about that my mind drifted over to thinking about Yuki and how fast we had become so comfortable with each other lately. When I tried not to think about him I found myself thinking about Kaho...and that was the last straw. I busied myself with actually getting clean, trying to banish the ghosts of the past.

I especially didn't want to poke and prod at any reasons my thoughts would drift from Yukito to her.

I finally got out, getting dressed and toweling off my hair. I was still drying my hair when I swear I heard voices in Sakura's room again. "Wai! Wai! Cake! Cake! Ah, Sakura-sama, you are so sweet to me!"

Yes, that was someone else. I scowled, knowing it was way too late for her to have company over. Legitimate company at least. If she was sneaking boys into her room at her age I was going to have to kill someone. Slowly. Painfully. And with great joy.

I opened the door suddenly hoping to catch whoever it was she was hiding.

Instead she was playing with one of her plushies. "Okay, kaijuu, where is he?"

"Onii-chan!!! You didn't even knock! Get out!"

"I know I heard voices. It's almost bed time, you can't have guests over."

"No, I was just playing! See, I even got this one to hold a fork! Isn't that cool?"

Sure enough, the toy had a fork propped up against one paw and was sitting next to her cake.

"Okay, well, play a little quieter. I have to wake up early tomorrow for soccer practice."

She giggled nervously, closing her door behind me. She was doing that a lot lately. I shrugged, remembering that she was about that age where I had stopped trying to figure out girls at all. They acted too strange at that age, started changing and acting unpredictable. Before that girls had just been other kids, but around that time they became...something else. Then again, when I was her age I'd had too much to think of to try to figure out why girls were acting strange.

~~~~~@~~~~~

"It's strange not to hear Sakura on her skates behind us."

"A little." I just kept pedaling to school, sparing Yuki a glance as we passed through the park.

"How was she this morning?"

"Sleeping still. She had a nightmare in the middle of the night and was thrashing around, but I managed to get her calmed down before it woke her up." I shook my head, worried and angry and wondering, "What the heck possessed her to be up near there anyway? Right where the railing is broken too."

"Do you want to go up there after school and check it out? See if it was your mother up there?"

Yes. And no. I looked off to the side, thinking about it. I mean, what if? What if she was there for some reason? But, she wasn't. I would know. There's no way her ghost could be anywhere near here without me knowing, right? But, if she didn't want to see me, if she wasn't there for me....

And why was this something Sakura could see? She never saw spirits before, so why now? It couldn't be a simple ghost if Sakura saw it. Besides, there were so many spirits in that part of the park, she could have seen any one of them. Or something else.

"She's not there, Yuki, but I think we should check it out. Just in case."

"Yeah, I wouldn't think it's your mom. I can't imagine someone who loves you coming back just to trick you into hurting yourself after all. That just wouldn't make sense."

I nodded. That was a big part of what was bothering me about this. Sakura being put in danger like that, and thinking it was Mom. It just wasn't right. We were too close to the school to talk about it anymore though. "After we check things out, we'll go to your place to study, okay? I don't have work 'till later tonight."

He nodded, smiling as we locked our bikes up. After that we--or, he--filled the time until class started with the usual chatter about nothing in particular. I should have been annoyed that he could talk about nothing at all so much, but it kept everyone else at bay and I didn't have to pretend to go over my homework to be left alone by the other students. Of course, I wanted to keep them at bay so I didn't have to put up with their inane chatter--but somehow if it was Yuki it was different.

I smiled, shaking my head as we sat at our desks. It was nice having a best friend for a change.

~~~~~@~~~~~

Soccer practice ran late and when we got to my place there was a message from work asking me to come in early. Going to the park was out of the question until tomorrow. Sunday.

Mom's birthday.

Did I really want to be looking for her ghost in the park with Yuki on her birthday?

I was still mulling that over Sunday morning when, glancing at the newspaper while my mind drifted, when Sakura came downstairs. She was wearing her school uniform which startled me. It was Sunday, right? I wasn't in the habit of losing track of the days, but neither was Sakura when it came to Sundays. Hmmmm....

"You're in your uniform on a Sunday?"

"Cheerleading practice," she explained as she ran around, scrambling to get ready. She must be running late. As usual. Then I smiled to notice that no matter how late she was, she still placed a birthday present in front of Mother's picture with a happy birthday wish. "I love you," she said with a smile in her voice that made me look up to see the real thing. She was such a good daughter, and a good little sister too despite being--

Mother?

Mother was there. Right there. Hovering over Sakura's shoulder...and looking right at me with that sparkle in her eye that--

Sakura ran out of the room and I could hardly believe she didn't notice Mother there. No glance, no shudder at the presence of a "ghost", nothing to say that she felt a thing. We both watched Sakura leave, but my eyes snapped back as soon as she was clear of the kitchen.

I should say something.

What???

How long had it been? Before we moved into this house...and I remember the child I used to be had been worried that she'd never find us when we moved. But, being the "grown up boy" I was then, I couldn't say anything about it. I couldn't admit to being worried. Dad didn't quite believe me when I talked about seeing her anyway, so I couldn't talk to him, and that nagging worry had sat in the back of my mind until now.

Mother.

"I was just a little worried this time, so I came by. But, it looks like she's okay now." Her eyes were riveted on the doorway Sakura had just left through. Then, she turned her smile on me and faded away.

Her voice was as beautiful as I remembered and her face hadn't aged a day.

My eyes fell back to the paper, picking up some of the words as I mindlessly scanned the pages. I finally set it aside when I realized I wasn't really paying any attention to it. I finished my coffee with a sigh, then started the internal countdown.

Ten...

Five...

Three...

Two...

One...

Ring, ring...

"Ohayo, Yuki."

"That's amazing, Touya! How did you know it was me?"

I entertained a smile as I pictured the smile he would be wearing across the line. "Just a hunch I guess." I implied the shrug with my tone of voice, not actually doing it. He'd know I meant it.

"Well, what if you had been wrong?"

"I haven't been yet."

"Sugoi! That's an unusual talent, it must come in handy sometimes."

And his talent of always knowing when Sakura was about to knock on my door wasn't? I sighed, really wanting to shift the conversation but unsure how.

"Oh, by the way, we're still going to the park today, right To-ya?"

Now I smiled in earnest. It was easier that he had changed the subject first. "We don't have to."

"Oh." He sounded both curious and disappointed.

"If you wanted to get out of the house and do something we still can though. I worked extra hours last night so I wouldn't have to come in today. We just don't have to go to the park, that's all."

"Oh!" It was a much different sound this time. Happy, excited. "Can I ask what happened?"

So touchy of verbal boundaries...he pushed against my defenses by observing them too strictly sometimes and ignoring them at others. Was this the same guy who accused me of having a "sister complex" the other night? He could tease me like that, but now he wasn't sure if he could ask me why we weren't going to the park today. I shook my head in wonder. "I saw her. Here. This morning."

"Ah."

That's it? That's all he was going to say? Frustrating.

"She said she was worried about Sakura, but everything is fine now." I smiled again as I remembered seeing her there. I felt at peace, calm, happy. The opposite of the last time I'd seen her--

Oh, but I didn't want to think about that day.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"Maybe later," I said. Not over the phone. I hated the telephone.

Yuki laughed. "Okay. When should I come over?"

"Any time. I'm not doing anything all day, so whenever your grandparents let you go."

He paused. "They let me go wherever I want, whenever I want. I could head over right now if you don't mind."

He sounded so distracted when he talked about them. I got that strange feeling again, the feeling that there was something he wasn't telling me about them. "Do you want to talk about it."

"Maybe later."

I frowned. He sounded so much like me when he said that. Did he realize how closed up he got when he talked about them? He either became distant or just closed. It was strange to see. Or, to hear in this case. It didn't seem like it should be like him. "So, you'll come over soon?" I knew when to change the subject too.

"Yeah, I'll be over in a few minutes." He was back to sounding happy. Back to his usual self.

He made me dizzy with how fast he could bounce back to happy. He made me dizzy with how he could stay happy. He just made me dizzy sometimes....

"Happy Birthday, Okaasan." I hope she doesn't mind that I'm spending it with Yuki. I couldn't think of why she would. I also couldn't think of why I wondered if she would.