Disclaimer: not mine. Not making money. If I was, I wouldn't be broke…

It is night and everyone has disappeared into their rooms. I wander around without having to worry about floating through anyone, a feeling that would be unpleasant for both me and that unfortunate person. The moon streams through the windows and suddenly, I have the urge to be outside, a floating spectral in the dark night woods. How romantic. So I walk outside and muted silver light hits me and seeing everything so dark and shadowy is both creepy and beautiful. I float to my favorite tree and rest in the branches, like I used to do when I was alive. It feels so good to be here, alone, with the leaves rustling in the slight breeze and feeling the moonlight. I find myself staring absently into Yuki's room but something isn't right. My brain, still spinning with what has happened recently, doesn't notice at first but… I bolt upright. There isn't anyone inside. Yuki should be asleep but there is no lump under the covers, no splash of dark silver hair spread out on against the whiteness of his pillow. Where is that damn rat? Curious, I beam through the windows (gods, but I love not having to open anything) and roam through the house, searching for him.

I stop at Shigure's room where I can distinctly hear moaning and was that a thump? I cross my eyes and shake my head. The mental picture that arises will probably never go away. Ugh. And then the screaming starts, muffled but tearing through the silence of the house. It's a wonder Yuki hasn't woken up. Incoherent words and low moaning and panting. Have they always been like that? Or had I just not noticed? Thanking the gods that they were only together rarely, I move away quickly, unwilling to hear anymore. But the sounds follow me. My hand rests on the door to my room and amidst the lust-filled groaning, I can hear another sound and I push my way through.

In MY bed there's a lump. On MY pillow there's a head of hair. Silver hair. And Yuki is sleeping in my room.

"NO!" Yuki suddenly screams out and sits up. His chest is heaving and his eyes are wild as they dart around the room, lingering on the shadowy corners and ominous shapes on the wall. He grips his hair in two clenched fists, looking like he's trying to tear out those silver locks, and bows his head. "Dammit, baka neko," he curses, "stop haunting me. Go away. Is this payback for something?" and my heart stops.

"Well it's not MY fault, damn rat!" I scream, sudden anger filling me. "I didn't ASK to be here. I just died and now, by some freak accident or whatever the hell that was, I'm back. And I sure as hell wasn't the one who asked me to stay!"

"You keep appearing in my dreams. I can't stop thinking about you. Just go away," he mutters.

"I don't WANT to be here!" I scream at him, my fist clenching as I give way to my infamous temper. He always hated the way I wore my heart on my sleeve, how I could never control my emotions. I am about to throw a punch at him (though I know it will just pass right through him and do him no harm) when he speaks.

"I don't want to think about something I can't have," he whispers to his knees. "I don't want to feel this—agony every time I see you in my thoughts. It hurts too much." The anger dissipates. I am left feeling—what am I feeling? I feel confused, sad, lonely, and strangely happy at this new revelation. I allow my arm to go slack and suddenly, I want nothing more than to hold him in my arms, hold him until he stops crying.

But the thought is futile so I push it away and watch him staring out the window in my room. His eyes are misty, haunted as if he is not simply looking outside but looking through at something he alone can see. It was in that moment that I finally saw the true Yuki, the one who wasn't so mysterious, wasn't the Prince, wasn't the child of the rat. He is just Yuki and he looks younger than ever, more vulnerable and somehow, so much more beautiful. He is realer tonight than I have ever seen him before, as if all those years of hating him, I hated a hologram, an echo of the one inside. I had stopped hating him and now, I think I am even beginning to feel something rather akin to like towards him. It's funny how seeing someone exposed, without the barriers they have put up, can really change your mind about them. Watching Yuki is almost heart wrenching, the way he has ceased to stop living. Because of me. Because I died. It's strange that all that hatred we felt towards one another may actually have been something different, something sweet.

"Yuki-kun, kuso nezumi, you really shouldn't say things like that. It makes being dead so much harder." I growl and I can literally see him jump.

"What was that? Who's there?" his eyes once again dart around the room, searching for something and I'm not sure if he's heard me or just something else. "This isn't funny, you know." And I think, maybe he HAS heard me. But he couldn't have. "Kyo?" he pauses, then shakes his head, slightly hitting the palm of his hand against his forehead, "what the hell am I thinking? He's dead, Yuki, and he's not coming back. So FORGET ABOUT HIM!" Lapsing into a brooding silence, he stares through the barriers of time, haunted amethyst eyes lost in old memories.

As the first of the sun's rays peek over the horizon turning inky blue skies brilliant colors of red and orange, Tohru awakens like she always does, eyes still cloudy with sleep. Pretty soon, the mundane sounds of morning rituals chases the silence away with cheery chattering, yawns, and the tempting smells of breakfast. Yuki is still sitting in my bed, awake but not in tune with what is going on outside the door and dark bags under his eyes attest to his late night insomnia. I can hear Shigure stomping around the house, calling for him.

"Shii-chan, Yuki's still in his room." Ayame says, a sly tone lacing the helpful words.

"No, he isn't, Aya-san," Shigure replies irritably, "I just checked. I'm not stupid, you know."

"Oh, I know. It seems he's taken up residence in Kyo's room." I can just see the gleam in his eye as he hisses these words in Shigure's ear. I can almost hear the mirth bubbling up in his throat, not cruel laughter but good natured, as if he is truly genuinely happy that Yuki really doesn't hate me after all. The door opens, silver and black mingle together as both dog and snake poke their heads in. They catch sight of him, wrapped up in my blankets, propped against my pillows and begin to giggle. Yuki slowly turns his head, brought back to the present by the high pitched sniggers.

"You know, if I was anything like Haru, you'd be in big trouble." The smiles melt off their faces and he jumps lightly off the bed, gasping silently as the sensitive flesh on the bottom of his feet comes in contact with the cold wood floor. He brushes past them, shoving his older brother out of his way and departs through the door to the shower.

"Good morning, Sohma-kun!" Tohru cheerfully greets him when he walks in, hair still a bit damp from the shower he's just taken. He serves himself to the food Tohru has arranged on the table and I notice that he eats only slightly more than yesterday. His eyes keep darting to my former place at the table, where Ayame and Hatori are currently sitting but his glances go unnoticed by everyone but me. "Sohma-kun? Are you sure you want to go to school today?" Big brown eyes watch him worriedly for signs of sickness and her hands go to his forehead to check for a fever. "You don't look very well." He smiles at her, the corners of his eyes crinkling, his lips stretched tight over his teeth, a forced smile.

"I'm okay, Honda-san." He goes back to eating; pecking at his food the way a bird pecks at crumbs on the ground.

"No you're not. You couldn't be more not okay." I tell him. He yelps and jerks violently, knocking over a water glass. Everyone stares at him but he doesn't see; his eyes are too busy trying to find the source of whatever it is he heard.

"Yuki-kun, what's wrong?" Shigure places a hand on his shaking one.

"D-did s-someone hear th-that?" he stutters, looking around the pristine kitchen for someone or something. They all give him strange looks.

"No one said anything, Yuki." Hatori says slowly like he's speaking to a child. Yuki glares at him.

"I know I heard something. I HEARD something." He insists. "Someone said that I wasn't okay. That I couldn't be more—more not okay, I think." Hatori, Ayame, and Shigure exchange meaningful glances. I can practically see their thoughts floating between their eyes. 'He's hallucinating now, oh God.'

But it's strange that suddenly he can hear me. No one can hear me. I don't understand it but maybe I'll be able to use this to my benefit. Although in the future I don't think it would be very wise to speak to him while others are around. He may be freaked out about hearing me without being able to see me but that would be nothing compared to what others would feel if he keeps insisting that he's hearing a disembodied voice speaking directly to him.

A/N: hmm, a bit fluffy but next chapter will be quite angsty. Thanks to all my reviewers! It's very encouraging.