The following morning, Yui returned to the kitchen to clean up her mess from last night, lest Reiji find she had left it unclean. To her surprise, it was clean.

"The servants must have cleaned up after I left. Oh, now I feel bad," The broken madeliens had been swept away. On the counter were the remaining bags. She could hear the commotion of the others as they gathered in the foyer, awaiting the limosine.

"I'd better hurry," she grabbed the bags, stuffed them in her school case and hurried from the kitchen.

The car ride over was strangely quiet. Usually the brothers always had a conflict over who got to sit next to Yui for the ride, but lately, a tension had been developing between everyone. Not so unusual considering they rarely seemed to get along, but ever since the arrival of their unwanted guest, the brothers had been on edge.

Yui thought back to the nights before, all the way to last night when she was within arms reach of the apparition. The sensation of dread she had during the whole encounter. Her stomach felt cold like she had eaten ice. She wondered, had it done something to Kanato, like it had to Ayato? The way it smiled and hushed her.. it didn't give a positive impression.

The only evidence she needed was to look over at Kanato. His attitude had never been very positive overall, but the way he hugged and hunched over Teddy. He looked so much more like a child. Something must have happened, concluded Yui. Part of her felt bad and hoped he wasn't too badly shaken up, the other part reminded her of all the times he blew up in her face about things she wasn't even responsible for. She remained quiet, not wanting to break the brittle tension that occupied their limousine and hoped their ride wouldn't be long.

Before homeroom started, Yui wanted to surprise Mina with her creation. Mina waited by her desk as she retrieved the madeleins from her bag.

Mina stared at the bag in her hand. "Wait-wait, you made these? For me?"

"Mm!" Yui smiled, "I made a big batch last night. I thought you'd like some." She pulled another from her bag. "I brought one for Fuyumi too,"

Mina hadn't responded, staring at the bag in her hands with wide eyes. Her look of awe wavered and she covered her eyes with a sleeved arm.

"What's wrong?" Yui worried.

As if holding back sobs, Mina replied, "I'm truly blessed to be given this gift from Yui. I almost can't accept it."

Yui realized Mina was only teasing and smiled in relief. "I brought these specially for you, so please enjoy them!"

Mina completely recovered. "Hey, I said 'almost'." She opened the bag and took a bite of one of the shell shaped cookies. Still holding half to her mouth, her words were muffled. "Wow, theesh are acchally good-"

Yui looked indignant, " I can cook some things, you know."

"Right, say that to the rice omelette you burnt the other day in class." Mina finished the other half of the cookie. "Hmm, these remind me of the cookies they sell down by the station. Y'know, the one with the cat in the window?"

"No, I don't know that one."

"Really?" Mina closed up the baggie before she ate the rest of them. "It's super popular lately. I'm surprised you don't know about it. Do you live under a rock?"

No, I live in a mansion with six over possesive vampires. I'd prefer to live under a rock. "I don't get out much these days. Just school and home,"

Mina stared at Yui, "That's not healthy. You need to get outside. Feel some sunshine!"

"I guess I just don't have anywhere I'd go," trying to find excuses to downplay her behavior was a difficult venture she never considered going through.

"You've gotta be kidding, there's tons of places!" Mina's voice was louder than she intended and dropped it to a mutter. "There's the theater, the mall, the shopping districts, even the zoo-" She counted on her fingers. "You need to get out of the house more. How long has it been since you moved here?"

"A little over a month,"

"And you still haven't seen what this city has to offer? Those boys you're living with aren't doing a very good job."

Tell me about it. "I'd love to get out of the house more but-"

"Are you free Sunday?"

"Eh?"

Mina leaned onto Yui's desk with both palms flat in support. "Sunday!" Mina repeated in English, then switched back to Japanese. "Doesn't matter, cancel whatever you were planning to do. There's an open market near where I work that's loaded with shops."

Yui was somewhat overwhelmed aback by Mina's sudden excitement. It might have been contagious as she felt a rising sensation fo butterflies in her stomach. But they were squashed when she remembered six reasons she wouldn't be able to go. "I wish I could but-"

"No 'buts', we're going-"

Before Yui could reply, the other side of her desk was suddenly occupied by another person.

"Ah, Ayato.."

"And just what are you two talking about?"

Yui had learned it was better to be honest with a Sakamaki, than get caught in a lie. Even though either response sometimes had the same outcome. "She was just inviting me to hang out this weekend."

"Tch, as if."

Mina was now standing up straight, almost challenging Ayato by her body language alone. She was only slightly shorter than him but glared at him with a ferocity Yui had never seen any one else do. "And why not? Don't want her associating with riff-raff like me? Am I too poor for your standards? A lowly waitress can't hang out with a classmate? Are you that much of a froo-froo aristocrat?"

She fired off her questions faster than Ayato himself was prepared for. Clearly he wasn't used to anyone standing up to him, especially the female classmate variety that would usually shy away. The students knew of his temper and preferred to steer clear. He finally managed to catch his tongue.

"Listen here, Pigtail, Pancake's mine. Got it?"

"You can have pancakes all you want, but this person here has a name and it's Yui. And last time I checked, people aren't property, Tomato-head."

"Wh-what'd you call me?"

"Toh-may-toh," she repeated in English, then switched back, "it's a red round thing you eat. You should try one sometime provided it isn't rotten like your personality."

If looks could kill, both of them would be goners, Yui thought, stuck in the middle of a similar argumentative atmosphere - over her. "Guys, please don't fight," she timidly interjected, "People are staring," As much as she didn't want a fight to break out, she was appreciative that someone not in the Sakamaki household was standing up for her.

Their homeroom teacher entered the room and immediately broke the tension caused by the two. "Okay, class is starting, please be seated!"

Ayato and Mina continued to stare daggers at at one another. Surprisingly, it was Ayato who backed down first and returned to his seat, muttering about the oddity of the classmate he just faced. Mina dropped her head.

"I thought I was going to die- never let me do that again," her voice tremored as she slowly returned to her seat as well.

Saved by the teacher, thought Yui.

Once classes were over for the night, Yui was walking across the school yard driveway to where the Sakamaki limo waited. Reiji, as always, was overseeing their timely departure. She was somewhat startled as a flurry of footsteps behind her, followed by an arm linking with her's.

"Ah! Mina, you scared me!"

Mina smiled a toothy grin. "Sorry, but I'm determined to get you out of that house, even if I gotta sneak you out a window like they do in the movies."

Yui briefly imagined sneaking out of a second story mansion window and found it amusing. The pair walked towards the limosine, but Yui became more and more apprehensive the closer they approached.

Reiji gave a passing glance to register Yui but returned upon seeing she wasn't alone.

"Hey, you're in charge of the whole family stuff, right?" Mina, though polite, sounded far too casual for a first meeting with the always proper Reiji.

He didn't respond to her question and asked one of his own, in a cool tone that gave Yui a sense of warning, "And you are?"

"Oops, I'm Minako Tamura. I'm in Yui's grade."

"What is it you want?"

Mina's arm tightened and she pulled Yui closer. "To borrow this one for an outting on Sunday! Figured I should get permission from the Captain first."

Reiji regarded her with a cold gaze. It usually worked to intimidate unwanted company away. He seemed to be weighing the pros and cons of her request. A rock sank in Yui's stomach. It was too good to hope for. He wouldn't let her go.

"So long as you return her before sun down."

"... eh?" Yui wasn't sure if she had heard correctly.

"Sweet!" Mina replied and Yui felt a pressure against the side of her head as Mina leaned against her. "I'll have her home early! Don't you worry. See you later, Yui!"

Yui felt a one armed squeeze around her before being released. Mina didn't have a ride, as the busses stopped once school let out. She had to set off on foot.

Once she was well out of earshot, Yui turned back to Reiji. "You're really letting me go?"

Reiji didn't look up from the thin black book in his hand. "If I had said no, she would have started asking questions. The less hassle the better."

Yui wasn't going to question his reasoning and climbed into the limo. By then, the others had gathered and taken spots, leaving Yui to be sandwiched between Ayato and Subaru. On the drive home, Yui noted Ayato was still nursing a sour mood since that morning. It was oddly amusing seeing him agitated after having someone stand up to him that wasn't a family member.

"Why do you hang out with her?" He asked.

"Mm? With Mina? She's my friend, is that a problem?"

"You don't need friends." He retorted. "I'm all you need."

I wouldn't want to be friends with you if someone paid me, Yui thought but lacked the drive to be a stonewall like Mina. "Well, I like her company." She replied in a level tone, considering she had five others listening in on the conversation. "So I'm going to continue being friends with her. There's no harm in it."

She couldn't - wouldn't - let their vicious over protectiveness ruin her good mood.

The prospect of leaving the house lifted Yui's mood considerably. Some things were starting to feel normal again. Only, a small seed of worry planted itself in her mind. How long would it last? And.. how would it be ended? Was Mina in some sort of danger now? She'd feel so guilty is Mina got in trouble for being her friend.

Dinner was eaten alone, as always, and now all Yui wanted to do was take a bath, alone, as preferred. On her way back from the kitchen, she pondered over that nights homework and if she should finish it before bed or wait to work on it with Mina.

The hallway had been quiet- had. Yui stopped walking. Eh? Am I hearing music? She wondered. She couldn't pick up the tune clearly but she knew she was hearing something. With quiet steps, she walked forward to find the source of the noise. Is someone singing? She wondered if it was Kanato, as he enjoyed singing to himself, but his mood had been bad since last night. It didn't sound like him either, as he preferred singing Scarborough Fair. What she was hearing sounded more like a lullaby.

She approached a closed door to a spare room. She had never had a reason to go in there, but she knew for certain someone was singing inside. A strange determination took her over and she gripped the doorknob. It was ice cold. She pushed the door open and looked inside. The room was dim, full of unused furniture covered in white sheets to keep the dust off. The singing had stopped the moment the doorknob clicked. The feeling drained out of Yui when she noticed a figure crouched on the empty floor space of the room. When the door opened, it looked up.

"Oh, you found me," said a small voice, hardly impressed.

Was she seeing things correctly? The person stood up, her full height slightly shorter than Yui's. Her hair was dark and short, and her eyes had no color. They were completely black. A girl wearing a black dress and dress shoes. She looked like she was going to a funeral.

"Now it's your turn to hide."

"H-hide?"

The girl ran her hands along her dress to smooth out the wrinkles. "Well, we are playing hide-and-seek."

The room was so cold. Yui could see her breath, but the same couldn't be said for the girl. "... we are?" She replied. "I-I didn't know."

The girl smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. She looked at Yui like someone would view something pathetically amusing. As she spoke, she turned away from Yui. "When there's a ghost in the house, you're always playing hide-and-seek."

The words sent a chill through Yui. She suddenly recalled the girl standing in the garden. "You were here before, outside by the fountain."

The girl went on, "I'm very good at finding people, but people take forever to find me."

Yui stared at her back, crossing her arms over her torso to hold some warmth to herself. It felt like it was being leeched out. "A-are you the one that's been causing all this trouble around the house?"

"Trouble? Hmm," The girl sounded amused, looking over her shoulder. "This house is a mess... a little trouble is the least of your worries."

The smile on her face froze Yui faster than the room was. She felt a horrible sense of dread, the same as before, in the kitchen and the hallway. Then, the girl turned back and began walking.

"One.. two.. three... four.." Her image disolved in a wisp of smoke, her voice and footsteps lingering on before it faded away all together.

The room was quiet...

How long would it be before it found her again?