When Hikaru left the room, Kaoru continued to lie there on the bed, staring at the wall. "You didn't have to distract me," Kaoru said, muffled by the blankets. He shifted his eyes to the spot by the chair.

But his dead father was now sitting in the spot Hikaru had just vacated with his legs crossed, staring at Kaoru inquisitively. "Well, you were making things worse."

Kaoru huffed in indignation and scrunched his fingers into the familiar sheets. "You are so lucky I didn't freak out when you just showed up next to him. It took me by surprise."

"It never took you by surprise before…" Dad trailed off.

"You were gone. For three months. You start to get used to the silence," Kaoru said slowly.

His father stood from the seat. "I had important things to attend to."

"What could a dead man possibly do all that time?"

Dad didn't answer him. He just ground his teeth. "Hikaru, just trust me."

"Kiyoshi," Kaoru sighed, speaking his father's name because he knew it irritated the old man. Kaoru shook his head, deciding to change the subject. "You aren't going to follow me around at school tomorrow are you? I'm old enough to do this by myself now."

"You'll be okay?" he asked, clearly worried.

Kaoru shrugged. "Yeah, I can do it. The less ghosts I see during the day, the better things will be."

"Then I'll stay out of your way, scout's honor."

"Good," Kaoru said in relief, and he allowed himself to drop tiredly back into the soft comforter.

Kiyoshi cleared his throat, catching Kaoru's attention again. "Your mother's coming."

"What?" Kaoru asked, throwing his head back into the air to look at his father but he was gone… again. The coward didn't like being in the same room as the widow. It was something about ghosts being able to sense strong emotions…

Sure enough, there was a soft knock at the door. "Kaoru? It's mom… Hikaru said maybe I should come up to see you."

Kaoru almost snorted. Hikaru was always butting into their arguments; it wasn't surprising anymore. But Kaoru sat up against his headboard and swallowed his lingering anger. "Come in," he called.

The door was edged open and Mom slipped in through the small crack. "Oh baby," she said in complete despair. Kaoru felt his grudging anger completely wash away. She was using that voice; it was the voice that was terrified and he had only heard it three times: When he 'died', when Dad died, and when she had hugged him before Kaoru's rehabilitation.

"Come here, Mom," Kaoru said, standing, and he held his arms out for his mother.

She took the hug in stride, pressing her cheek against his. Her hair smelt of cinnamon and brown sugar, just as always. "Sorry Mom. I know you were worried… but I guess I'm still a bit touchy about it."

"No I should be sorry." Her words, brushed past his orange hair over his right ear. She moved away but was only an arm's length away. "This is my entire fault."

"Mom, what are you talking about?" Kaoru questioned. He tilted his head and peered into her watery eyes.

She shifted and looked away. "If I just watched you at the park, if I was just a better mother-"

"Stop!" Kaoru urged, grabbing her by the shoulders, drawing her attention. "No, this isn't because of you."

"But it's all my fault," she whined. She was on the verge of tears. "I didn't watch your father's blood pressure before his heart attack and I didn't pay attention at the park…"

"It's over now," Kaoru cut in. "I'm cured. You can't change the past, even though it wasn't your fault. Let's focus on now, Mom. I'm still alive. I'm healthy and so are you and Hikaru… Let's just move on."

Her eyes searched his and whatever she saw there made a smile appear on her lips. "Yeah, we should start fresh."

"Yeah," Kaoru agreed, dropping his hands from her shoulders. "Now, why don't you get Hikaru and we can eat those Macadamia cookies?"

She laughed, clapping her hands together. "Okay. You know I made those cookies for you, Kaoru."

"I know," Kaoru replied with a smile. "I'll be down in a bit."

After she'd left the room, Kaoru sat back down on his bed, waiting. Finally his father appeared, standing near the door. "Great acting," Dad said.

"Thanks," Kaoru said, still staring at the door. "I can get through this." He shifted his eyes onto his father.

"You can," he agreed.

At seven A.M. Kaoru's obnoxious alarm blared out into his dark, shadowy room. He slammed his hand down, silencing the clock, and rose, disgruntled, to his feet. In a fleeting thought, Kaoru recognized that he was probably one of the few that got of bed immediately at his alarm.

His bare toes hit the cold wood floor and he immediately dug his fingers into his pajama pockets. He yawned, stepping into the hall, and walked down the hall in a daze. But then he paused at the bathroom door. The light was already on.

Kaoru pushed lightly at the partially open door and he revealed a bleary-eyed Hikaru, putting toothpaste on his toothbrush. They both froze like that, staring at each other for a second, but then Hikaru continued to squirt the tube with a laugh, "You scared me."

"You did too," Kaoru said with a crooked smile. "I almost forgot we shared a bathroom." He brushed past Hikaru to stand on the left side of the mirror and grabbed his own toothbrush, just as they used to do every day.

"Me too," he mumbled just as he began to brush.

They moved around each other, falling back into their old routine. Hikaru takes his shower first and Kaoru eats breakfast, and then they switch. It was easy to go back to normal, Kaoru realized, eating his Frosted Flakes.

And then it was time to leave. Kaoru grabbed his bag and followed his brother out the door, into the nippy October day. Boy, it was going to be awkward to be the new kid so far into the semester on a Wednesday. But then again, he wasn't exactly new, was he?

They walked to the end of the street to the bus stop. There were two other kids there; one he vaguely remembered from their school and the other he knew to still be in junior high. Hikaru groaned. "I can't till we can get our licenses. I hate the bus."

Kaoru nodded. He couldn't agree more with his brother. "But first we have get our permits."

"Good point," Hikaru replied, giving him a smile.

Kaoru smiled back. Things were going to be fine, he was sure of it. Hikaru certainly did not change. Why did anything else have to change?

Turning at the loud whir of the bus, Kaoru watched the ugly yellow thing slow at the curb and open its annoying sliding door. Kaoru sighed and followed Hikaru unto the bus.

The smell of the harsh plastic hit Kaoru immediately. He blanched, following Hikaru to a seat in the middle and they sat down together, shoulder-to-shoulder. Kaoru breathed deeply, preparing for the day.

Note: I made up the Dad's name since there isn't one for him in the manga/anime.