I noticed the chandelier of heads first. Past the view of the obvious table and plants. It swung slightly, shadows playing across the decorative heads. If that's what you wanted to call them. I shivered and slowed my pace, wary of the far too many and large greenery. They certainly didn't look like the plants from the apartment anymore. Even though I recognized the pots, I didn't recognize what was inside of them anymore.

And then I saw Yuu.

My chest hitched.

I ran to where he lay.

"Yuu! Yuu!"

He didn't move one iota, one centimeter, one twitch.

The pastel green orb just out of reach of his outstretched arms sputtered, dimming, and then flashing bright a couple times. It faded back to a faint flickering. Noticing where they had automatically gone toward, I pressed my hands tight to my chest, leaning forward and trying not to breathe too much. Pressing my eyes closed, I opened them for a better look at the orb, the soul, and ignored the pinpricks of moisture tickling at the corners of my eyes. Not seeing anything off, I squinted, carefully studying it and moving around Yuu to do so from every angle I could.

There didn't seem to be anything wrong, but I didn't know what to look for or what was supposed to be considered normal. Were the swirls of movement a good thing? What of the stirring of darker and lighter shades? Or the twinges of creamy white and sea green blues, those shocks of electric yellow and peek of purple in my older brother's soul? My eyes drifted back to his face and my tears trailed hot down my face.

"Yuu."

I hovered near him, feet shifting. I wanted to help him. But I had no idea how. If it would be worse. I clutched my hands tighter to myself, terrified about doing something and recalling words on a page far too well. This was painful. Not doing anything.

There was fear gnawing inside of me. I could see the nightmare lingering here, the ghost of a person looming over me and raised a hand, fingers closing the gap to do nothing or something or… I hadn't seen what followed. Just Yuu. In danger of the very same thing that…

I couldn't finish the thought, horrified by the idea, for him possessing a broken soul, tainted delicately with those nightmare fingers. Even more horrifying was me nearly cementing the event Yuu caused in the depths of my mind. The words were the truth, but it sounded awful, not giving the right viewing of him. Like how the bare facts of how my brother wound up with his foot in a boot. I drove over his foot. Details, details, all the details of a story mattered. He had exited the car when I was still parking, slowly into a space, then complained a cousin was on his foot before I realized what had happened and quickly reversed over his foot again in a joint filling of panic and blame for what I did to my brother.

Gut reaction of wanting to grab and put it back was teaming full of ugly consequences, just as the gut reaction of quickly reversing and thus running a then struggling foot over had one.

I sucked in my breath, digging my hands into my chest, terrified of going through on my initial gut reaction.

Denying Yuu from any help was unspeakable.

How could I not do anything?

How could I do anything?

"Yuu. What do I do?"

I should find help. But who could help with this? Much less trust? Should I have waited upstairs after all? I tried to remember who'd I'd seen, if any clicked in the recesses of my mind to be able to handle something like this. But I would briefly see the broad back of Kuwabara with the group before panicking over the calculating eyes on the sharp shadowy features from my nightmare. Focus. Kuwabara. Not the one who did this to Yuu. Yana and Asato. And, and, and who else was there?

Kuwabara's words floated back to me and I remembered the name brought up in conversation before. Master Genkai. She was upstairs. Some sort of coach is what was brought up, but I knew she was important. Clearly noted as older and experienced with that title. Perhaps she had the ability to handle situations like this. A diminutive older lady screaming with a cleansing white light shining from her hands flashed through my head. It looked alarming, but the picture instead soothed me.

There were all sorts of special abilities inside Yojigen Mansion tonight after all.

I looked up to the ceiling, wincing at the sight of the chandelier.

There was no way I wanted to deal with that upstairs.

For one, I didn't trust myself to handle a face to face meeting so soon well. At all. Despite knowing who he was with memories coming through, he still was the person responsible for removing Yuu's soul. With the possibilities of doing more than just that.

The trumping of many feet echoed both muted and sharp off the walls. I tensed. A loud voice cut through the din of noise. "I swear there was a little girl." There was a snort, another voice ribbing back. "You're a little low on the sensing, ain't no little girl anywhere in here." Kuwabara snipped in return. "Ha! Like you're one to talk. You can't sense jack unless it's for a fight and even then you're crap at it. Look, I promised this girl I'd help her find her little brother." The other voice burst into laughter. "You can't sense anything! You're useless right now Kuwabara! You've already lost the kid you're supposedly helping. Ow! What was that for Grandma?"

I didn't stick around to listen anymore. Through the doorway, the first pair of feet were descending far enough down for me to see the oncoming group. And catching sight of the long hair, I didn't stick around to see the eyes going with it.

Even when I found a spot and peered through the leaves to see what was going on, hoping for Master Genkai to take control of the situation, I couldn't get it out of my head that I was hiding from a completely petrifying person who easily wielded terrifying plants…behind a plant.

He seems a bit distracted at the moment, thankfully, because so am I. I didn't even notice taking my attention off of him or not paying attention to my previous mantra when I snuck down the stairs. My attention, as was everyone else's, was on my older brother. Breathe drawing in, I strained my toes upwards. I stood as tall as I could to peer around the shifting plant. "Stop that," I muttered to it. "I have to see." Its leaves drew toward me and I froze. Quickly, I focused, pulling the tingling feeling and burying it into my veins again. I'm not here, I'm not here.

A step, swish, and shout echo. I quickly push up against the large pot with my hands, straining to see, squinting. The white light seers the room. Long shadows give an even more unsettling vibe to the curves and features of the room. But I can see it.

The small bit of pastel green, Yuu's soul, sinking to his chest and settling back down inside of him.

Air whooshed out of me. Relief. Pure and utter relief. A tear rolled down into the creases of my lips, of my smile. Yuu was sitting back up. Studying the room already, putting it all together, and making some dry comment I couldn't quite hear. I sagged.

Yuu, and his soul, were fine.

I've said it before and I'll say it again. I don't belong here.

As a fan, showing up in a story, being involved, alive, with Yuu, on anyone's radar… I've never been high up on anyone's radar. It was baffling, confusing, and terrifying.

Come on, admit it. You would be terrified too.

And if certain people are listening in, well…you already know, don't you? You've already been terrified. While Kurama can be scary and tend to overkill his attacks in flairs of dramatics, the preparation and planning and pulling it off from this person is something else. He was able to force Kurama into killing a child after all.

And that was only a sliver of what he's done and capable of.

Side one, easy. Side two, not so much. I swung my feet and contemplated the blankness in front of me. Glancing over to the other decorated bookmarks the rest wanted to give, I blew out a puff of air. There was nothing wrong with what I'd done on the other side and I knew I didn't have to do both. But. Yuu deserved something special on this side. Not just a plain 'You're the best' like Aoi scribbled onto his. Maybe something to the fact Yuu had written his own pieces? But it didn't feel right.

A quote!

I perked up at that idea, various ones from Shakespeare swimming to the forefront of my mind. No. Those seemed obvious choices. Something a little different. But book related would be nice. There was something about reading one book is like eating one potato chip. Except, potato chips weren't really Yuu's thing. He'd eat them, but they're weren't something he went out of his way for. And the idea of the quote was it being a treat you couldn't stop eating. Yuu wouldn't like that. Books were as diverse as the food you ate and I think he'd rather I went with the obvious substance of a Shakespeare quote.

"Rin?"

I looked up to see Mitsu waiting still waiting for me and I ducked my head. She and I always walked back together. Even if the others rushed home, to an after school activity, or tagged along with us. It was something I came up with last year since we shared class and activities. Her cousin more often than not ditched things at school early and also walking with her back. We'd waited around a few times before walking ourselves toward home together. Biggest reason heading back together was all in the fun though. And here Mitsu was waiting on me since I can't figure this out.

"Sorry. I know I'm taking up more time after everyone finished the cleanup."

I paused, hearing a slow and steady voice echoing distinctly in my head. Everyone stop. And listen. It is now time to get things cleaned up. No walking, no talking, just listen. It was the voice of an art teacher. Which, made sense with me trying to think of something to decorate the other side of this bookmark.

I should hurry and figure a something special out soon. It was getting time to leave. I can't stay here. Humming, I stared at the blank side and tried to think. Oh! It was a song. Humming it over again, the words finally came forward.

I hope you have found a friend. Closing time. Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. Yeah, I know who I want to…want to take me home.

"It works," I cried out happily.

"What does?"

"The quote! I know what I'm putting on this side now!" I carefully penned the lyrics from the song down, not wanting to smear it, then blew on it. With multiple other colors, I squished long rectangles next to each other like a row of books on a shelf. "Every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end."

"Or you'd be left with not finding out what happens if you never finish a book," Mitsu spoke up after a few seconds. She tucked her short hair behind an ear. "It does work. Ready to go soon Rin?"

"Almost. Just need the box to put them into. And tie the ribbon on."

With a twist and fancy little flourish, I smiled at the end result, the mellow yellow color displaying fine loops. Humming to myself, I switched over to something a bit catchier, even if it was early to sing 'The Hottest Summer in the World'. I looked over to Mitsu and waggled my eyebrows. Her face lit up and she started singing it as I cleaned up my things. Can't go wrong with PRINCESS PRINCESS and Mitsu.

Most of our conversation as we walked, wound up about various outrageous birthday things my brother would likely never want to do or appreciate, giggling all the while. By the time we reached our morning meeting place, Mitsu had asked of me, once again, to wish Yuu a happy birthday from her. I said I would and we parted ways.

I looked down to Yuu's present, happiness soaking through me and soaring. "Heh." Hugging it close to my chest, I sprinted off with a hop.

"Hey dummy. Nice skipping."

"Bahack!"

Flinging my arms out, I stopped fast enough not to run into who just popped up in front of me from the bench, managing to keep my balance. Amusement burst out and the popper clutched a hand to their stomach. I couldn't stop myself from smiling though. Being able to see something silly and lighthearted on his face was pleasing to see.

"Hey Tsukihito. Nice try, but you didn't manage to scare me off my feet," I half teased and condescended him. Something in me was looking forward to him doing this again, to see him play and laugh. I rocked back on my heels with grin. "I have excellent balance."

Peering through his bangs at me, Tsukihito blinked, a brief surprise showing on his face. Then he grinned back, straightening, rubbing under his nose. "You know what, I think you're starting to grow on me this past week dummy. Ah-ha!"

From my outstretched arm going back to my side, he made a grab for Yuu's present. With a flick of my wrist, I underhand tossed it, snagging a hold of it with my other hand. At Tsukihito flabbergasted face, I snickered. His mouth snapped shut.

"I take it back." The boy looked away and put his hands behind his head, leaning back casually. Or it would be if he didn't have such a scowl on his face.

"It's for my brother."

"I know, I know. Don't think me a dummy like you. It's all you and the rest yammered on about this morning. The bigger dummy's birthday. Like things like that matter. It's just another stupid day."

That was kind of odd for a kid to say. Most kids anyway. Was it not really celebrated for him? Actually, I can't even recall him bringing it up last year. Or Mitsu mentioning it to us so that we could wish him a good one.

"When's your stupid day?" Wide eyed, his eyes peeked through the crook of his arm to look at me. "So that I know when things don't matter."

"Uh." He stuttered for a bit, then lowered his arms, shrugging and fidgeting. "It was… It was actually last week. When you started talking to me. The day you were… Last Monday."

I was already primed with my answer. "Things matter today then! A very merry unbirthday to you!"

Blinking, Tsukihito stared. A bit of color entered his cheeks. His reaction was adorable and I beamed up at him. He didn't expect these types of things much, did he? That was how Sensui was able to recruit the kid. I pursed my lips. Tsukihito didn't deserve what was going to happen to him. And while I knew full well the wheels were already set in motion, I still wanted to help bring a new exception, besides Sensui, to his belief of being not wanted in life. I found I had grown to like him.

"Dummy," he mumbled and glanced away from me again. An unexpected flash of excitement crossed his face and he twisted around to face me, expectance etched across his typically grumbly sort of face. "Today matters then. Play a video game with me and I'll show you where the real fun is at. Not some cruddy bookmarks."

Twisting, he stuck his hand into his school bag and I caught sight the edge of a game controller. My breath caught, hands clenching together, tingling at how tight I pressed. Naïve, excited, trusting and crying out a plea all wrapped up in feeling the inkling of a territory and seeing the key device to call upon this particular territory. Breathing easier when his hands moved off of the controller, I relaxed.

"Do that again!" Tsukihito's face took up my entire vision and I pulled back, confused. Do what again? Flushed, eyes lit up in glee, body brimming in elation, Tsukihito pulled back and jumped. And crowed up to the sky. What did I do? I barely had time to wonder before he was off again. "This is awesome! No wonder Sensui is interested in you! This is so cool! You're like me! Do it again, do it again! What is it? I didn't get a proper look, come on dummy! Make them do that orangish thing again and show me what your territory does!"

Intent, he stared at my hands, feet bouncing impatiently. I lifted them up and stared at them myself, squinting. They turned orange? All I noticed was they kind of tingled, but that was from fisting them so tightly. Right?

Curious, not quite believing my too small fingers wouldn't just keep looking like fingers, I slowly made fists and tried to get them to feel all tingly again. Focusing on them, I watched for any change, searching for the orange color Tsukihito mentioned. Blinking at swearing to see a speck of something, possibly a trick of the sunlight, I zeroed in on the spot. I just wanted to see if it was or wasn't. With almost a zing, the tingling feeling thrummed the inside of my palms and down to the tips of my fingers.

And my fisted hands were swathed in orange.

But not like from a crayon or fruit. This was closer to describing a very minute sun. Shocking white compressed towards the middle, yellow lining it, and oranges of all shades licking their way outwards.

Slowly, disbelieving, I turned and opened my hands. A pale rim of disc gleam rainbow shone ever so faintly some distance around my hands. Like sun dogs. But it was a full circle. And not cold enough for the air to crystalize. But there it was.

Loud and rambling on without signs of stopping, Tsukihito was far more excited than I could be right now.

Stunned.

I rotated my wrists, not able to tear my gaze away.

This wasn't like Yuu. Or Yana, Asato. Nor Tsukihito.

I mean, I could go along with the memories of another life. It was like a cousin to Yana copying people. My physical appearance didn't change and it was less emulating memories as it was the memories being part of me. For just one person. I could possibly go along with the idea of that being some territory if I wanted.

But this.

Territories weren't…this.

This was more like…more like…

This was more like Yusuke of the story when he was told to point and focus and discovered spirit energy for the first time. After dying. Like I should have.

I didn't know what to think about this.

I lifted my hands up and rotated them again.

But what I felt was a rock in my gut and then an entire mile stretch of gravel road rocks being poured on top of me. I let go of the tingly sensation, shaking my hands out a bit, barely aware of the rest of the conversation. I didn't understand. I couldn't have something like this. I didn't belong in that world. The world of having spirit energy and all that came with it.

The why crashed over me, uncertainty of what came with it terrifying.

Sensui.

Tall, thin, tanned skin. Calm confidence, certainty, and convincing. Powerful with pride and a planner, plotter, positively not persuaded elsewise. And full of vested interest, involvement, and intentions that he'd guarantee I'd be included in all of his manipulations.

It was downright terrifying.

Mentioned
Closing time by Semisonic, released in 1998
The Hottest Summer in the World by PRINCESS PRINCESS, released in 1987