As much as I wanted to watch for longer, I wanted to get away more. At least, at that moment. I shifted my feet. How fast could his substantially longer legs pump and catch up to me? Panic rumbled up through my throat, squeezing. I would feel awful about being rude, but the growing need to find Yuu was steadily eating away at my first stunned reaction and fascination.

His narrow eyes bulged with a breath and a socked foot stomped at me, his hands flying up and waving wildly as he continued. The large palms and calloused fingers talked just as loud as his facial expressions. I watched his feet and hands carefully, slowly bracing my legs to take off, listening for any audible change in response to what I was attempting to do. His voice was scratchy, but deep, surprisingly not yelling in favor of increasing the speed of his tirade.

He'd probably slide around sharp turns. With those socks on.

I slide my foot sideways, preparing to take off. And his voice petered off to nothing. Eyebrows pinched over his narrow eyes, jawbone working slightly, the sharp features of his face tilted in consideration.

"Hey. What are you doing climbing up and in this house anyway kid?"

Surprised, I blinked up at him.

"Rin." Would he let me run off if I told him? Or possibly lead me to Yuu? It seemed obvious now that I could possibly trust him in this moment. Before he was, well, worried about me. Almost like Yuu was at the park in going off on a safety lesson to follow. Only Kuwabara spoke with motion too. "My name is Rin."

Everything on his face lit up, mouth turning upwards. "Kuwabara. Kazuma. Most everyone calls me by Kuwabara. But is everything okay?" The delight of my introduction and his own fled his face as though it'd never been there. "I'm a pretty trustworthy guy, ya'know? A kid your age…what's going on to getcha all worried to do such dangerous stuff so early in the morning?"

"Climbing isn't dangerous. There's the soul and life of…" How do you know? A nightmare dream, a former life's trickling memories, a story come real or real made into story flashed through my head and I faltered. Telling might not be the fastest option. Explanations would be needed. I shook my head and looked up at him beseechingly. Leave it simple. Emotional. "I have to find my brother."

His eyebrows flew up. "Your brother? Er, well, I guess all big sisters can go to extreme lengths for their brothers," he mumbled to himself. Then, he visibly winced and pulled wobbly lips up at me, quick to correct with nervous laughter cracking through it. "I'm not saying anything against it, I swear! I have a big sister myself! Shizuru! She's uh, she's the best!"

At such a vehement insistence that trilled up to terrified, I couldn't help but let out a snort and giggle.

Startled by my reaction, he suddenly grinned with his whole face. "Heh. You're real cute when you smile. Okay. So, Rin. I know you're the big sister here, but an extra hand never hurts, right? Or foot. I got some big gahemoths."

Kuwabara lifted up a foot and waggled it. For a startled moment, he stared and then put his foot back down and shuffled. Suddenly bashful, he ducked his head to the side and scratched just behind his ear, checks flushing with pink. He'd forgotten that he only wore his undergarments during this entire encounter, hadn't he? I pursed my lips and tried not to get entertained by the shear character of him again.

"Do you think you can wait a little bit?" He tilted his head, straining his ear to hear the muffled voices just beyond the only door in this room. "My clothes and shoes are just in the other room, close to being done. It'll take a while though, because there's this conversation I have to be part of in there soon. I swear on my honor I'll be back, with extra feet, in like, ten minutes. Fifteen tops."

Minutes? I gapped at him. His tone was so earnest and promise to me so stalwart that something inside leaned toward it a bit. Everything in me apologized to him. There would be no waiting and doing nothing when I already wasted time.

"Sorry," Kuwabara said, full of genuine distress. "It's kind of one of those serious issue things and Master Genkai is part of it so… But I swear! I'll be back to help you find your brother. If he's still here or somewhere else near here, I'll help you."

"I can wait."

Letting out a sigh that slumped his shoulders and relaxed his tall frame, Kuwabara nodded. "Okay. Good. Sounds like a plan. All right. So, quicker I leave, the quicker I come back. See you in a little bit, Rin."

With a wave behind his back, he disappeared into the other room, door not quite closing fully behind him. I double checked for any other exits and scurried over to the cracked door to peer through. There were seven people. My eyes quickly spotted Asato and then found Yana in an ill-fitting school uniform, Kuwabara storming over to demand it back. But no Yuu.

A row of doors appeared to be the only exit out of the room all of them were in with no Yuu. Looking back to the group, they were all being drawn to a monitor, faces intent. One stood out from the rest, chilling me to my toes, their eyes going up to sweep across the surrounding area in a decidedly wary way. I gulped and hid fully behind the door.

A face from my nightmare. A face towering over my older brother, Yuu defenseless. And a person something inside of me deeply assured could be horrifically dangerous.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I chanted inside my head. I'm not here, I'm not here, I'm not here. You can't see me, you can't see me at all. I'm not here. A tingling feeling buried down into my veins. Cautiously, hopeful at my body's response to my mantra, I took another look through the crack. No one was looking. The conversation with the person on the monitor was sufficiently distracting.

Slipping through the open door, I darted along the edge of the room. I paused at the first in the row of doors. No shouts. No screams. Made it. I glanced back. The broad back caught my eye, despite switching from a wife beater to a faded blue school uniform.

Sorry.

I can wait.

I didn't say I would wait.

And I scampered on down the stairs as fast as I could to find my missing brother.

Being mistaken as a big sister wasn't necessarily wrong. Of course, at this point, you would know why.

But I'd also always been the younger sister, trusting Yuu completely. And I feel that with him, it was, it could be effortless to cave in and soak his caring affection up. That was huge. The idea it was possible and I could, that was huge. Perhaps too tall of an order.

With everything Yuu piled on himself, I couldn't seem but help take care of him and try to shoulder some of his burdens. I couldn't help it. Being able to understand how he was as a responsible older sibling that resonated inside of me, I was able to see all the worry and care so clear on his face. And if anything, it made me far more protective than I'd ever been before.

At the sound of my name, so close and frantic, I startled. Yuu. The source of my own frantic thoughts. Curls coming loose and undone, a scrap of paper sticking out of his pocket, he quickly strode the last few steps toward me. Fear shot through me. He knew. He can't know. It'd…it'd… Just no. He can't know. Hurriedly, I clasped my hands behind my back and stuck the paper down the edge of my yellow jeans.

Yuu shook his head, almost abashed. Then he smiled, warm and relieved, shaking his head at himself and easily moved beside me to ruffle my hair. I tilted toward him. After his distraction today following his breakdown and subsequent meeting, I was glad to see my older brother back to normal. And without the bombshell that Tsukihito handed me.

"Lost track of time?" I made a grin grow wide on my face, nudging him, trying to tease to keep it light hearted and normal to get him to lose the slight pinched worry between his brows. It had the opposite effect. Yuu's faint smile faded, losing composure. Before I could open my mouth to try a different joke, he answered.

"Yes."

The single word answer was strained and my forced grin fell.

"I'm sorry. I was late, no, I didn't even make it there. You were waiting this whole time, weren't you." It wasn't toned as a question and I recognized the look in his eyes before they flicked to the side, his head shifting slightly away. I understood the look. I knew and could practically hear his mental reprimands of not showing up, joining us for the last half hour of our day at the park as he always, unfailingly did. Of falling short in a responsibility he felt as an older sibling. I recognized this feeling all too well.

There was no way I was going to even hint at what happened during the time he wasn't there. No way.

No matter how much I was freaking out about it.

"I didn't even realize until Mom asked after waking up," he muttered, disgusted with himself.

I jabbed him in the side, scowling. "Stop that," I scolded. Taken aback, Yuu gaped slightly at me. "You're my heart of gold brother. Even if you fall prey to being human, you do absolutely nothing wrong Yuu. You're always looking out for me, honest and sincere, letting me tag along to things, maybe annoyed, but always welcome to my company, warm and concerned for all the right reasons, never angry with me, and the upmost important thing…you buy me ice cream."

Startled, a laugh coughed out of him, eyes crinkling to amusement over the self-loathing. "Ice cream, Rin?"

"Yes." I nodded firmly, glad it worked. "The ice cream."

The smile lingered. But as we continued walking to the apartment, it disappeared into a contemplative look. Shifting his eyeglasses by the corner arm, Yuu slowed his steps, then squatted to my height. I stopped to look at him. Both curious and wary.

"You are not like Kurama," he said in a careful tone of voice. I went slack, my eyes unable to look away from him and his declaration, feeling like an utter lie. But I didn't have a chance to respond before he continued. I couldn't speak.

"You overheard our…conversation yesterday. His past life is his life. There is no remembering a past life, it is all him, just him, his history. The comparison came from…he has not always looked as he does now. There is no Minamino, only Kurama. Kurama living through Minamino." His face twisted oddly at that, as though he wanted to say more on the subject, before he refocused on me. "But you are still you. You are not from another world like him. There's been quite a few strange things going on as of late. Remembering a past life…it is strange, but not the strangest one I have heard. Still Rin. Only…more. Like Yana. Or Kido. Or…me. You are still you Rin. You belong here in this world."

I moved uneasily, the muffled sound of crinkling paper loud in my ears.

No I don't. I really, doubly do not belong here.

I had thought of the connection between Mushiyori City and territories before. Even more after I witnessed one firsthand. If I had a territory, ignoring the timing of Yuu's experiment and my following nap, recalling past lives could make sense. People said things like that. Could believe in reincarnation and past lives and blaming or praising luck of their current life off of karma of the last one. Say 'In a past life, I was probably a…' fill in the blank. But my remembered past life knew, and loved, the story of YuYu Hakusho.

Remembering the past is one thing. Remembering the future is another.

Wrong time.

I reached back and touched where the paper was hidden. The paper torn out from a guidebook for a grim reaper to have at hand when ferrying a soul of someone deceased to the Spirit World. Mine. And last Monday, it claimed for me.

Wrong world.

Yuu can't know. He can't know I'm supposed to be dead. By his own hand. Yuu can't know. Can't. I wasn't going to shatter and devastate him.

'You're welcome. Sensui.'

I definitely was not going to have him see those terrifying marks of a pleasantry.

I was not going to let Sensui use this. Use me. According to Tsukihito, the man had already expressed interest in Yuu and possibly tried to recruit him before. And I certainly was not going to express any thanks of being alive thanks to him. He had an agenda. One that killed and would kill people. I knew it. Deep inside of me, I knew he was someone to keep far away from. I was not going to allow my brother to be crushed and directed into Sensui's agenda.

Clenching behind my back, my fist tingled something fierce at the idea of Yuu being used and killed for this man's agenda.

His concerned voice broke my thoughts. "You hear me Rin?"

Startled, I blinked over at him. Determination swelled through me at his face. And then my whole hand thrummed with my pulse. With a quick shake, I opened and closed my hand at my side, trying to get normal feeling back. Cocking his head, Yuu's small eyes peered down near the edges of his frames at my hand, confusion wrinkling his forehead at it.

I shook my head. I'm the younger one here, I reminded myself. Yuu's always looked out for me.

Was there anything wrong with me looking out for him?

I gave another little shake of my hand and the tingling sensation faded for the most part.

"Okay," I answered softly. Let him have some semblance of reassurance after feeling like he's messed up and let me down lately. I pressed close up against him, grasping. A longer arm wrapped around me. Relishing the feeling that pooled through me, I gripped his shirt under the sports jacket tightly. "I belong here. I just…I just have a strange thing like Yana does."

A breathy little exhale came from Yuu. "Yes," he confirmed.

Clearly he didn't like this.

"And like you," I quickly said. Yuu went completely still. I pressed on, hopeful. "Can I see?"

Small eyes flew wide and he snatched his arm away, pulling back, his face starch white. Alarms rung through my head at the sight of his horrified face. The scream echoed through my head, remembering the view from too far up, seeing two others standing agape near him and a smaller person laying on the floor.

"NO."

"Sorry." The apology blurted out immediately. "Sorry. I'm sorry."

Eyes squeezing shut, Yuu dropped his head to his chest. Groaning, he rubbed a hand under his glasses, then dragged it down his face. He peered back up to me. "No. I'm sorry, Rin. I am…handling this poorly. It's not your fault. I…"

He faltered.

"I've already seen it, haven't I?" I ducked my own head, not wanting to see the emotion on his face. "Last Saturday when I went in the bedroom about the ice cream. Sorry. Can…can you tell me? Please?"

Hesitatingly, I played with the extra fabric of his shirt and peered up at him. Distracting with humor hadn't worked, trying to reassure him hadn't worked, switching the topic from my strange thing to his strange thing definitely didn't work. Maybe having him talk about things out loud would help. Air it out, figure out things to everything going on to work through this like he said he would. Except I was helping. Or trying.

Yuu studied me with some surprise to my silent pleading. Uncertain, the fear pinched across his brows, torn toward being evasive for a brief moment. I knew the look from the couple times I'd asked about our dad. The single thing he never talked to me about. Refused to talk about. And with the look that crossed his face, that aching look, I don't ask about. Hoping he'd go for it and it'd help, I kept beseeching him with my eyes. His shoulders sagged.

"Taboo. The game of Taboo I enjoy playing from time to time is more real than it should, enforcing consequences to breaking the rules. When I win the game, it's over and the biggest effect ends. Violence isn't the name of the game, so the aftermath of attempting that…still stings."

I didn't ask him what the consequences were. I already gathered an idea from his spill of words before he broke down crying yesterday. I knew from the paper Tsukihito handed me earlier. I swallowed. Your soul forced out of you.

I still was curious. And seeing him holding back, I tentatively asked, needing to know for myself. "What was different when I entered our room?"

Yuu's breath caught and his throat moved. "I hadn't expected you and… I ended the game and it didn't work. I broke the Taboo myself."

My soul. Marred in some way. His soul. Yuu gave up his soul in hope of ending the biggest effect for me and my soul. "See?" My voice came out watery. I swiped at my face. "A heart of gold brother. So tall and distinguished."

Yuu let out a huff, letting me fluff his undone curls hanging down his forehead, one clump reaching an eyebrow. "As you like saying." A larger thumb swiped the top of my cheek. "But I don't know about that. I will figure this out. We'll get through this. Territories, I am told, are likely temporary. If it perpetuates, well—"

"Stop that." Yuu gaped at the interruption. But I didn't want to see him putting everything on and punishing himself, hurting because of me. "I'm not holding you responsible. Just for the promise you'll stick around the entire time on the next park day."

He blinked. To my joy, his mouth quirked up and he chuckled, ruffling my head. "Promise." Yuu stood and we finished the walk to the apartment. He asked how everyone else was and what sort of antics Aoi was up to today with Natsue. I happily told him, glad to take his mind off his worries. And glad I could momentarily shelve my concerns with the name of Sensui entering the equation.

I could see the faint surprise and gears spinning behind Yuu's small eyes at times. Times I must have done something slightly off. But then he would chuckle at silly things I said and shake his head in amusement when I skipped along backwards in front of him and smile at my reaction to his offer of a piggyback up the stairs of the apartment building. And everything was okay. It was okay with us.

Chest swelling in thick emotion, warm and secure and wanting, I squeezed my arms tight around Yuu from where I sat on his back. A large palm let go of one of my legs to ruffle my head next to his. I pressed our checks close and swiped at his drooping curls.

I'm not letting anyone take my brother away.

A special call out and thank you to allebiouqruop for reading through previous chapters (1-5) for any grammar and odd mistakes. Nothing major to the story has been changed, but I have updated those chapters with said changes. Allebiouqruop also went through this chapter before I posted, being a great sounding board.