A/N: Well, here is chapter two, I'm glad that people are enjoying this. Onward, ho!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fatal Frame (unfortunately).

Rain was falling on the one year anniversary of his death.

Kei had taken the girls out for a while so that she could be alone; Rei had carefully planned all engagements so that this day was left free. She had donned clothing and umbrella and gone out into the rain to visit his grave, but very soon after she had arrived she had turned right back around and come home, opting for a roof and her memories instead of cold stone and water.

She did not like being in the rain.

But it was more than that. The altar at home seemed so much more… close, somehow. As though when she was kneeling before it with candles lit and incense drifting around her head and his picture, he was there looking back at her with that smile of his that was small and only for her, with his eyes that glittered when he looked into hers.

Try as she might, she could not keep the tears from flowing. She sobbed and sobbed, crying for what was and what was never to be, pouring her grief out in a torrent stronger than the one that fell outside. "It's not fair," she whispered through her tears, over and over again. "It's not fair. It's not fair. It's not fair." I'm not strong like you. Yuu, why did you have to leave me all alone? Why? It's not fair! Yuu!

Rei clung to the altar as though it were Yuu himself as her body and mind screamed her anguish, not even caring when one of the candles toppled, spilling hot wax onto her fingers. Hours she knelt there, heedless of her own discomfort, at the end clutching the picture of Yuu to her chest as she cried herself to sleep where she sat.

Rei had no idea what it actually was that awoke her soon after she had fallen into a dreamless sleep. She simply suddenly snapped awake, gazing around her blearily. An inexplicable shiver suddenly wracked her thin body and Rei wrapped her arms around herself, drawing in a breath in an attempt to reorient herself even as her back prickled. She knew exactly what this feeling was, but she refused point-blank to admit it to herself.

Even as Rei was in the process of convincing herself that it was not what she thought it was a crash and the sound of shattering glass sounded, quite near to her, from the hallway outside the living room. Rei whirled around with a gasp, trying to calm her wildly beating heart. "It was just a picture falling, that's all," she murmured to herself. Kei had warned her about that in the past. Shaky even though she knew what the noise had been, she forced herself to stand, a groan escaping her lips as her stiff body protested the sudden movements. Still clutching the beloved picture for her fiancée, Rei hesitantly poked her head around the corner.

The picture that had crashed to the ground happened to be none other than the one covering the stain on the wall. Without so much as glancing at the stain Rei transferred Yuu to her left hand and threaded her way through the broken glass so she could reach down and pick up Mt. Fuji with the other. She carefully turned the heavy frame around, frowning as she saw that it was all completely intact- there was no reason that the picture should have fallen. Only once her inspection of the picture was complete did Rei look up at the wall.

Yuu and Mt. Fuji crashed to the ground at exactly the same moment, though the sound of Yuu's protective covering breaking was masked by the short scream that tore itself from Rei's throat. She flattened her back against the wall next to the door to her darkroom, trying to hyperventilate and keep from breathing all in one, with a result of something in between. Her horrified eyes could not tear themselves from the stain no matter how much she wanted to curl up into a little ball and hide from what she saw.

What had once been an unknown man's face screaming on her wall was now Yuu. Yuu, his beauty vanished, screaming, screaming, eyes glaring at her accusingly, blaming her for his pain. Yuu, his features twisted into a mockery of the face in the picture that lay forgotten at Rei's feet, eternally tormenting agony etched in every line of the man that Rei knew so well.

No. She did not know him like this. Never like this.

With something akin to a strangled gasp she fled, sock-clad feet crunching though the shards that lay scattered on the hardwood floor. Pain flared, but she ignored it, plowing through the door and into the living room with force enough to make the door crash into the wall. She ran, pounding up the stairs and nearly going to Kei's room before she remembered that she now inhabited Yuu's room. Into the correct bedroom she scampered, slamming the door behind her. Rei dove onto the bed and pulled the covers fully over her head before she allowed herself to give in to the sobs that once again wracked her body and made her heart ache.

The three of them were quiet as they entered their home, respectful of the fact that Rei was suffering, today more than normal. As a matter of fact, the girls had been fairly quiet all day long, and Kei had not felt much inclined to speak overmuch himself. They had gone to see a movie together, some silly romance that Kei had nearly fallen asleep in. The two teenagers had seemed to enjoy it enough while it was playing, but once the distraction had ended, all of them returned to their depressing thoughts.

Kei was the last in the door, sighing as he placed his shoes on the rack and put on his indoor slippers. Mio and Miku had already gone into the kitchen area, quietly discussing what to eat for dinner. Other than the noise the pair of them made, Kei heard nothing from any part of the house.

Figuring Rei was simply still kneeling before Yuu's altar in silence, Kei glanced down the hall as he passed, unwilling to bother her. There were a couple of dark spots on the floor, and he stopped to frown as he looked at them. Kei hesitantly walked to the first, only a couple of feet away from where he stood, and knelt down to observe them more carefully. His heart thumped uncomfortably as he realized that the splotches were blood smeared onto the floorboards.

His gaze stretched farther down the hall toward Rei's darkroom, following the path they made. Abruptly Kei rose, attempting to keep quiet as he approached the unused living room though worry began to prick at him. What if Rei was hurt? What if something strange had happened? What if-

Kei relaxed slightly as he peeked into the room to find that the space before the altar was empty. He deflated, releasing a breath that he had not even realized that he had been holding. The altar seemed undisturbed, and Kei made to turn away before something- or rather, lack of something- caught his eye. He inspected the altar again, realizing with a jolt that Yuu's picture was gone.

He approached until he stood before it, looking with a frown at the spot where the photograph ought to have been and the candle that had been overturned. Confused but figuring that Rei had an explanation, he turned, once again stopped by the sight of something odd on the floor, again close to the darkroom. Pieces of glass caught the light, and there was what looked like a picture frame on the ground.

Growing more wary by the step, Kei walked over and squatted down, picking up the small picture frame and turning it over to reveal Yuu, bits of glass sticking out from underneath the frame here and there, distorting his image slightly. Concern pierced Kei; Rei would not have left Yuu down here like this, not on her life. Something had to have happened.

His eyes traveled to the other picture that lay on the ground, immediately meriting a glance up at that awful stain. It looked just the same as ever, perhaps a little bit larger around the edges, but that could simply have been his imagination. The blood led away from it and down the hall the way he had come, just little spots here and there, sudged as though it had been smeared by feet.

The thought of the blood worried him anew, and Kei jumped to his feet, Yuu still in hand, and rushed toward the bedrooms. Mio jumped as he crashed through the door into the living room, looking at him with surprise. Miku glanced over from her position in the kitchen, the same expression on her face.

"Are you all right?" Mio asked, looking slightly worried.

"Have you seen Rei?" Kei demanded.

Both girls shook their heads. "Isn't she at the altar?" Miku asked, resuming her stirring, though her eyes did not leave him. Kei shook his head.

"Maybe she's asleep," Mio suggested.

"I hope so," Kei muttered, heading for the stairs. Actually, a large part of him did not want her to be sleeping, not with all that sleep had brought them in the past. Unfortunately, it seemed to be a rather necessary bodily function, and there was nothing they could do about that. Even still, Kei much preferred Rei awake, especially during the day.

He crept down the hall to her room and tapped lightly on the door. When he got no response he opened it a crack, trying to catch sight of Rei though he knew full well that the bed was not visible with the door half open. "Rei?" he asked quietly, walking fully inside.

Still nothing.

She was asleep, then. Resisting the temptation to wake her, he padded softly over to the bed and stood, watching the back of her head for a long moment, darker spots on the pillowcase that he had no doubt were from tears sticking out from underneath her black hair. He gently set Yuu down on the table and walked out of the room, shutting the door softly behind him, feeling completely useless and hurting for Yuu and Rei and all of them at the same time.

Rei listened as the door shut and Kei's footsteps retreated down the hallway. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her face into the pillow, hands squeezing it, though it brought her no comfort. She wanted to cry again, but the tears were all long gone and she could produce no more. Her throat ached with the effort of trying to cry and trying not to all at once, and she simply whimpered.

It had been her imagination, she knew that, it had to have been her imagination. She was distressed over Yuu, had not been eating or sleeping well again over the past week, and she had simply imagined it. A waking dream, nothing more.

She just wished that Yuu was there to fight the waking dreams with her. Yuu, who, despite his words, despite her words, would never really be with her again.

Yuu…