If you haven't seen it, there's now a Komahina fic set in this same universe! The first chapter is currently up, and can be found at s/13059145/1/Hellbent . Maybe wait until you've finished this chapter to read it, though.

After Komaru left, Shuichi figured he'd go back to his mirror tricks. He wanted to figure out just how far his newfound control of his abilities could go. For the first time since becoming a ghost, he could believe that he was really doing magic, and he wanted to savor that feeling as long as he could.

When he went to draw on his focus, though, he realized that Kaede had started to move. He supposed Komaru had implied that classes were about to let out.

He made his way back to the lecture hall, at which point a new problem occurred to him. He needed a way to get Kaede's attention without freaking anyone else out. Given the number of people streaming out of the building, that was going to be difficult.

Then again, maybe not. He had been able to hide from Komaru in particular with a bit of effort. Maybe he could reveal himself to Kaede the same way. It was worth trying, at least.

He closed his eyes and began to concentrate, doing his best to ignore the fact that Kaede was getting closer. There was no pressure. If he failed, no one would know. Or else everyone would know, and he would have bigger problems than Kaede being disappointed in him. It was hardly a reassuring thought.

When he opened his eyes, though, no one was pointing at him or screaming in horror. He was going to count that as a win.

Even better, when Kaede walked out a moment later, he could see that she saw him by the way her eyes widened. She made her way over to him. "Hey," she said, scanning the crowd nervously. "Is this really okay?"

"Don't worry, I'm pretty sure you're the only one who can see me," Shuichi said.

"Really?" Kaede's expression went from concerned to excited in an instant. "Nice! How'd you figure out how to do that so quickly?"

Shuichi fidgeted with the brim of his hat. "I mean, the focus is doing most of the work."

"Still, that's really impressive," Kaede said. "You've only really had this morning to figure it out."

Shuichi shrugged self-consciously. He wasn't sure how to respond, so he settled for changing the subject. "By the way, if you have your phone on you, you might want to get it out. That way you won't look like you're talking to yourself."

"This is a college campus, I wouldn't be the only one," Kaede said. She pulled out her phone anyway. "So, I don't know if you had any plans, but I'm going to meet up with Maki and Rantaro for lunch. If you wanted to join us, I'm sure they'd be happy to have you."

Shuichi made a noncommittal noise in response. He wasn't quite as sure about that, and he didn't want them to feel like they had to include him.

The dining hall was close by and the line for food wasn't too bad, so it wasn't long before Kaede was approaching Maki and Rantaro's table and Shuichi had to make up his mind. "No, I see where you're coming from," Rantaro was saying. "I'm just saying that you shouldn't discount humanity's pent up rage and aggression. If you gave them an acceptable target, most people would be happy to beat an alien to death with a chair."

"Okay, but there's a difference between willingness to kill and ability to kill. Even if we assume they've got the same level of technology as us, the invasion force is going to be made up of soldiers." Maki shook her head. "We wouldn't stand a chance."

The conversation was ridiculous enough that Shuichi's need to hear more overrode his fear of intruding. He sat down beside Maki and thought about letting her and Rantaro see him.

Maki startled. "If you do that again, I will hurt you."

"I'm… sorry?" Shuichi hadn't meant to scare her, but he wasn't entirely sure what she was threatening either. Maki seemed to realize the problem a moment later, and her cheeks flushed, though her glare didn't falter.

Rantaro defused the moment before it could get too awkward. "Hey, Shuichi!" he said. "Good to see you. You figured out how to leave after all?"

Shuichi nodded.

"Nice."

"Congratulations," Maki said, stoic once more.

The pleasantries were nice, but Shuichi had more pressing concerns. For instance: "What were you talking about when we came over, anyway?"

Rantaro shrugged. "Nothing important. I was just complaining about how alien invasion movies always have everyone cowering in fear instead of trying to fight. We're an entire planet, we could take a single army."

"And what he's missing is the difference between an army and an untrained population." Maki shook her head. "Do you blame civilians when a country loses a war?"

"What? I never said that. You're twisting my logic."

"I think you're both missing something," Kaede said. "Why would aliens invade in the first place?"

"Yeah," Shuichi said. "If they can get to Earth from another planet, they can definitely kill us all from outer space. There's no reason to risk their own lives."

"Wow, that got dark." Kaede frowned at Shuichi. "What I was going to say was that it wouldn't make sense to travel all that way just to kill us. Why bother, you know? We're better off assuming they come in peace unless they actually attack."

"And then it's too late," Maki said. "We'd need to be prepared if we wanted to have any hope of surviving."

"No, she has a point." Rantaro looked thoughtful. "I mean, our tactics would definitely have to depend on what started the war. There has to be a way we can use their motives against them."

Shuichi wasn't sure how, but they kept talking about it for another hour. They considered the likelihood of every country in the world managing to work together against an outside force, the chances that the aliens would be Supermen vs the chances they were sentient slime molds, and whether you could stop the attack by showing them pictures of puppies. The final consensus was that Earth should send Ibuki out to greet the aliens. The sheer confusion she'd generate would hopefully buy enough time to figure out what to do next.

As soon as that was settled, Rantaro stood up. "Alright," he said. "My next class started five minutes ago, so I should probably get going." He walked away casually, apparently unconcerned by this fact. Shuichi couldn't help but wonder how Rantaro's grades looked.

Maki stuck around for another few minutes, then left as well, not bothering to make an excuse. Shuichi and Kaede were left to themselves once again.

"All right," Kaede said. "I don't have any other classes today, but I do want to get some piano practice in while I'm on campus. Again, you're free to come with me, but it'll probably be boring for you, so I understand if you don't want to."

Shuichi didn't have to think about his answer. "I'd love to hear you practice, if you don't mind." She spent a lot of time playing the keyboard in the apartment, and it was always beautiful, but he wanted to see what she could do on a real piano.

"If you say so," Kaede said, but she looked pleased.

They headed to another stately building, this one made of brick. Kaede spent the walk talking about her upcoming performance. Shuichi didn't understand half of it, but she was so enthusiastic that he had no trouble getting invested by proxy.

He couldn't ignore the way his energy was fading, though. Maybe staying visible to three specific people for an hour had been overdoing it.

They got to the music building, and Shuichi hung back while Kaede checked herself in. He followed her to a room with a piano in the center, padding on the walls, and absolutely nothing else of interest.

As soon as the door was closed, Shuichi released the magic that had been keeping him invisible to everyone else. He let out a sigh of relief. It was like he'd been carrying around a weight and could finally put it down. Default visibility was easy, and no one but Kaede was around to see him anyway.

He stretched while Kaede began warming up. The motion didn't really accomplish anything, given that he didn't have muscles to stretch, but it seemed appropriate anyway.

Kaede finished her scales with a flourish. "Alright!" she said. She turned to face Shuichi. "Now that that's out of the way, any requests?"

"Whatever you want to play, I guess?" Shuichi wasn't exactly an expert on classical music.

"I should probably keep working on my performance piece, but I've already played it a million times this week." Kaede made a face. "One day off won't hurt, right? Besides, there's something I want to try."

"Sounds good to me," Shuichi said. "Whatever it is, I'm sure it'll be great."

Kaede didn't respond, simply started to play. Shuichi didn't recognize the song, but it felt somehow familiar. It was soft and slow and a little sad. It wasn't depressing, though, and there was an undercurrent of hope throughout. It was absolutely mesmerizing. Kaede herself was almost captivating, her express one of pure contentment. It was as if she was born to play this piece in this moment.

The song ended, and Shuichi shook himself out of a daze. He felt like he could have stayed there forever if Kaede had only kept playing. After a moment, he realized that she was looking at him nervously, so he tried to find the words to describe the performance. "That was – that was incredible! I knew you were good, but that was amazing. Seriously. I just… the emotion behind it, and of course the song itself was beautiful, and…" He trailed off, knowing he was rambling. He hoped Kaede had gotten something out of that mess.

"Really? I'm so glad you liked it." Kaede's cheeks were pink. "I actually associate that song with you, so…"

"Oh." Shuichi tried not to read into the fact that Kaede was associating something that gorgeous with him. She probably didn't listen to music that wasn't beautiful, that was all. "So, uh, do you do that a lot? Associate songs with people, I mean?"

"Yeah generally when I know someone well or put some thought into it, I can think of a song that fits them. It's easier when they're right in front of me, though." She looked away. "I know it's weird, but it helps me understand people, you know?"

"No, that makes sense," Shuichi said. Of course Kaede would come up with such an impressive way to relate to people. "Can I hear someone else's?"

"I can try, but like I said, it's easier when I have them in front of me." She thought about it for a moment, then started to play once again.

This one was darker than the last, faster-paced and more intense. The hopeful theme was still there, though it was often lost behind the harshness of the melody. Kaede only played a few measures of it before stopping and shaking her head. "That's about as much as I can remember."

"Still, that's impressive! It sounded really complicated." Shuichi thought for a moment. "Was that one Maki's?"

"Yeah!" Kaede grinned. "I'm glad I'm not totally crazy."

"No, I definitely see where you're coming from," Shuichi said. "Even if I'm a little scared of how good you are. That was all from memory?"

"It sounds more complicated than it is." Kaede paused, apparently considering something. Her eyes lit up. "I know, why don't I teach you! It'll be fun. You can practice at home too, if you like, and if anyone hears they'll just assume I'm brushing up on the basics or something."

"But isn't this your practice time? I don't want to get in your way."

"You're not getting in my way, I'm offering." Kaede tried to look earnest, which mostly consisted of opening her eyes very wide. Shuichi had to stifle a laugh. "Please?"

"Okay, but don't be surprised if I'm not very good." Shuichi made sure he was tangible and sat down on the bench next to her.

He'd tried to give her some space, but Kaede immediately scooted so their legs were touching. "Oh," she said. "You're colder than I expected."

"Oh, sorry. Do you need me to move?"

"No, I just wasn't expecting it. It's kind of nice." Kaede rested her hands on the piano. "Okay, so to start, you'll want to have your hands like this."

"Okay." Shuichi copied her as best he could.

Kaede hummed thoughtfully. "Could you try cupping your hands a little more? Imagine that you're holding an egg."

He did, and the lesson began.

Shuichi had no idea what he was doing, but Kaede turned out to be a great teacher. She explained things in a way that made sense without making him feel like an idiot for not already knowing them. She also just really loved the piano, and Shuichi found himself trying to do better just to see the way she smiled when he got something right.

She was in the middle of explaining something about keeping track of both of his hands when the door opened. Shuichi vanished instinctively, so startled that he fell through the bench in the process. Kaede didn't react as quickly. She made it to the end of her sentence, only trailing off when she noticed the confused look on the face of the woman who'd walked in. She smiled nervously. "Oh, hi, Ms. Yukizome! I was just… thinking about how I'd teach my sister's kids… if she ever decided to have any… Anyway, what's up?"

Thankfully, Ms. Yukizome didn't question it. She just held out a folder. "I've been going over the arrangements for next month's performance, and I wanted to make sure that they worked for you." She smiled. "I have to say, I'm looking forward to it. You've chosen an intricate piece, and I can't wait to see how you handle it."

Kaede's laugh sounded strained. "Thanks, but I just chose it because it looked like fun." She gestured vaguely with the folder. "I'll be sure to take a look at this when I can."

"Excellent," Ms. Yukizome said. "Well, I don't want to interrupt, so we can catch up later. See you around!"

"Yeah!" Kaede's expression could barely be called a smile anymore, but she kept it up until Ms. Yukizome left the room.

Shuichi reappeared gradually, as if being seen translucent would somehow be less incriminating than being seen fully materialized. It turned out not to matter either way. The door remained closed, and he began to relax.

Then, without warning, Kaede burst out laughing. "Oh my God, that was so bad. 'My sister's kids'? She's never even dated anyone, why would she have kids?"

"Really?" This time, Shuichi couldn't suppress his laughter. "That's… that's pretty bad, yeah."

"Yeah." Kaede shook her head, still giggling. "I'm going to pretend that it's because we were practicing for too long and say it's time to be done. I need to look at this anyway." She shoved the folder into her backpack. "Are you ready to go?"

Shuichi thought about the walk back, when he'd have to make sure that only one person could see him again. It was not a comforting thought. He wasn't going to make Kaede wait for him though, so he just said, "Sure."

"Great." Kaede shouldered her bag. "Then let's go."

The walk back to the apartment was mostly silent, Kaede lost in thought and Shuichi caught between wonder and weariness. He was both relieved and disappointed when they made it back to the apartment building.

It wasn't until they were on the elevator that he spoke up. "Hey Kaede?" he said. "Thank you for today. I had a lot of fun."

"Yeah, of course. Let me know when you're ready to go out again." Kaede smiled softly.

Shuichi hummed in acknowledgment.

He felt it when they got to the limits of his former range, a humming that settled in what he would have called his bones. It was enough to take the edge off his weariness.

It didn't cure it, though. He barely had the presence of mind to say goodbye to Kaede before he reached out and let the void overtake him.