Attending Kuronomei was no picnic; not that Gareki thought it would be. A full day of academics and training had left him exhausted. Tsubame and Ranji had invited him to eat dinner with them but he refused; mostly cause he didn't have and appetite but more so because the faster he could get to bed the better. He strolled to his room before opening the door and entering. Shishi wasn't back yet much to Gareki's joy. He couldn't handle that amount of happiness right now; he needed to sleep. He turned off the lights, lifted the sheets and crept in under them before lowering himself onto the pillow. His eyes were dreadfully heavy and all his muscles were aching. It couldn't have been more than two or three minutes before he drifted away.

Gareki opened his eyes. He stared at the night sky which was dotted with stars. Why was he looking at the sky? Why was he outside? He was at Kuronomei but now. . .

Something rustled beside him. Gareki shot up and reached for his weapons but soon came to the realisation that he did not have any guns on him. The rustling ceased. He looked around to see if there was anything he could use to make a dent if anything were to try and attack him. Gareki froze. He knew this place; he had been here plenty of times before. How could he have not realised this sooner. The trees he used to climb to escape Tsubaki when she was trying to scold him, the river he used to sit by and fiddle with gadgets, the fields he used to lie in during the evenings watching the sun go down. He was home. Wait, that was stupid. Why was Gareki thinking of this as his home? He has never had a home and he never would but he thought that this was probably the closest he had ever come and probably ever will. Karasuna hadn't changed from what Gareki had remembered. Still dilapidated and unsightly, especially during the night when it seemed like a ghost town of sorts. There wasn't a soul around.

There was no point in staying in one place so Gareki decided to move seeing as how he was unable to find a makeshift weapon in his surroundings. He walked for what seemed like forever but Gareki soon realised that no matter how far he walked, he wasn't getting anywhere. It seemed like a never ending road. This was ridiculous. What the hell was he supposed to do? Stay still and get nowhere or keep walking and get nowhere? Both options were as appealing as the other.

The rustling that he had heard before started again. Gareki flinched and tried to pinpoint the exact source. He edged towards where he heard the noise coming from. He found a house with the door wide open. He peaked his head inside but saw nothing so he entered the house. Before long he realised that it was the house he grew up in with Tsubaki, the twins and the old man but it didn't have the warm, homely feel that it did when Tsubaki had just finished cooking dinner and there was chatter all around the table about what had taken place that day. Instead it was bleak, dark and unwelcoming. Gareki walked across the room where he found a frame that contained a photo of the inhabitants of the house. Tsubaki was at the centre with a smile that could melt the hardest of hearts. The old man was sitting at the side clutching his walking stick and smiling heartily like his eldest granddaughter. The twins were both grinning ecstatically and each had hold of one of Gareki's arms. Gareki of course had a face that would equal that of a spoilt child who had been scolded. He smirked.

The floorboard creaked and Gareki spun around so rapidly that the frame slipped from his grasp and shattered. Tsubame stood in the doorway of the house. Something was not right. She was not the Tsubame he knew; the one that was smiling happily within the frame. She had a look of despair with a manic grin. Gareki was trapped in the house, the only way out being blocked by her. . .

". . . fault. . ."

What? What had she said? Gareki tried to stay as still as possible but wanted to edge closer to hear what she had to say.

"It's your fault." Tsubame whispered.

His fault? What was his fault?

Tsubame giggled like she was in pain. "Tsubaki onee-san is dead because of you. You said that you would protect her but you were just a useless kid who didn't help anybody. You couldn't do anything to stop that man from killing her. Stupid useless Gareki."

Gareki felt his heart twinge. What was this? Why was she saying something like this? This wasn't Tsubame.

"Yotaka. He also died because of you. You couldn't save him either. You couldn't stop that man from circus from killing him nor could you stop him from turning into a varuga. What are you good for Gareki? Huh? You seem to make more of a mess than you can fix."

Stop it. Stop it. Stop it. Gareki placed his trembling hands over his ears. Enough already. Enough.

"Grandpa will probably end up dying soon too no matter how much money you make to try and help him. And me. You left me all alone. You ran away when Yotaka and I needed you the most. What kind of cowardly human are you? You should have been the one to die. Why did our family have to be torn apart? It's all your fault. It's all your fault."

Tsubame edged closer to Gareki while chanting the same phrase over and over. "Your fault. Your fault. Your fault." No stop. Please enough. Your fault. "Your fault. Your FAULT. YOUR FAULT!"

Gareki sprang up in the bed with sweat dripping down his forehead stinging his eyes. At least that's what Gareki told himself; it was the sweat, not the tears. Gareki reached over to the bedside table to turn on the light but it was dawn already. What the hell was that? He hadn't had a dream involving his past since the incident with Yotaka. His breathing was rapid and he could feel his heart hammering in his chest. He inhaled deeply to slow them down. He lay back on the pillow and continued breathing meditatively to relax. A tap on his head brought him back to reality. Shishi was standing above him.

"Everything all right roomie?" he smiled.

"Perfect" Gareki stated sarcastically. He rose out of the bed and began to get dressed to head down for breakfast. Since he had not eaten the night before he was famished. He needed to get out of the room too. He needed to get that dream out of his head for a while. He grabbed his uniform, put it on and headed out the door with Shishi strolling along side of him. Shishi was trying to make conversation but Gareki wasn't interested. They entered the dining hall to see Tsubame and Ranji already at a table. Tsubame waved to Gareki and laughed. She was the opposite of the one that had appeared in his dream but he still could not shake the horrible feeling that the dream had instilled in him. Did Tsubame really hate him for what had happened? He sat at the table and placed his head on his arms. Stop thinking about it. Stop.

Gareki's phone began to vibrate. He took it out of his pocket and stared at the screen. Two unread messages. From Nai and Yogi.

He opened Nai's message:

Hi Gareki. How are you doing in school? Just wanted to let you know that everything is fine here. I am working hard and Karoku is allowing me in to his room every so often. I feel like I'm getting closer to him. Hope to hear back from you soon. Nai.

He proceeded to open Yogi's message straight after:

Hi Gareki-kun! Um I will try to keep this message short as I know you hate long ones. Nai-chan has been having nightmares lately; I think it's because he misses you a lot. I'm looking after him though so don't worry! I hope you are doing well in school. I have no doubt that you are though. I hope to hear back from you soon. Hurry up and graduate at the top of the class so you can come back to the ship! Bye-bye! Yogi. J

Gareki grinned at the two messages. Both idiots. It did make him feel better however. That was weird. He replied to Nai's message stating that he was doing well and that the news about Karoku was great. He told Nai to keep on working hard and that he would talk to him soon. He also replied to Yogi. He told him that his texts were still too long and that it was annoying but he thanked him for giving him an update on Nai. He also stated that school was fine and that he would undoubtedly graduate at the top of his class. Gareki sent the two texts before placing the phone back inside of his uniform pocket. Nai was having nightmares too, huh? Hopefully they weren't as bad as his. The text messages had alleviated some of his horrid feelings though. It's amazing what a few words of encouragement can do. Gareki turned to the others at the table to join in on their conversation.

A/N Aplogies for the long wait for this chapter. Exams are the devil's work! But here it is and I hope you guys like it! Please review to let me know if I should continue on with this story. I am surprised how many people are actually reading my stuff - didn't think anyone would! Thank you! :)