Kaoru sucked in a shuddering breath but swallowed his fear as best he could. "No, no. I'm okay, Hikaru," Kaoru lied with butterflies in his stomach. He glanced up to see Hikaru looking back at him in determination.

"Are you sure?" Hikaru asked, grasping Kaoru's shoulder and blocking his view of the others in the car.

"Yeah," Kaoru said quickly. He would not freak out, he would not have a meltdown; it was a mantra he repeated in his head. Yet he did not look out the window. Too afraid of what he would see there.

"What's going on?" Honey asked, leaning around Hikaru to get a good look at Kaoru.

Kaoru instantly plastered his face into a neutral smile. "Nothing, I'm fine. Just a little headache…" Hikaru frowned at him but did not say a word.

"Do you want us to leave and drop you off at home?" Tamaki asked softly, looking through his rear-view mirror at him.

Kaoru looked around him and suddenly realized that everyone was staring. "I'm fine guys. I just think I'll stay in the car while you do your thing."

Tamaki nodded and silenced the engine. "Okay let's go." The large group of their friends began to pile outside.

But Hikaru stayed inside, waving his friends off, and leaned back in the seat to settle next to Kaoru. Kaoru's veins were jittering with terror and clutched his arms closer. "You don't have to stay," Kaoru uttered quietly and he pressed his forehead against the seat in front of him.

It was a minute before Hikaru replied, "I know something is going on here, Kaoru. You looked terrified when you saw the cemetery… Are you really cured?"

"Yes!" Kaoru cried, turning to his brother furiously. "How many times do I have to tell you-?"

"Stop Kaoru," a soft voice whispered from the front seat to halt Kaoru mid-rant.

Kaoru casted a fleeting glance at his father's stern gaze before sighing and turning back to his brother. "See? Just like that! You are always focusing on something else, just like before!" Hikaru yelled, leaning closer to Kaoru.

"I'm not!" Kaoru yelled back. "I just… This place brings back memories, you know?"

Hikaru placed a light hand on Kaoru's shoulder, which he almost flinched away from. "Dad's funeral?"

"Yeah," Kaoru confirmed. "I just had a meltdown, seeing all of those dead people…" He trailed off as he noticed the exasperated look in Hikaru's eyes. "But they were hallucinations, right? Cemeteries still creep me out." Kaoru sucked in a stuttering breath.

"You are going to have to get used to the real world soon though, you realize that don't you? You can't freak out every time something reminds you of the past."

Kaoru steeled his eyes at Hikaru. "What, am I embarrassing you in front of your friends?" Kaoru growled, his tone rising with each word. "Am I just a burden to you and Mom? Huh?! Because it sure seems like it!"

Hikaru's eyebrows shot up and he squeezed Kaoru's arm a little tighter. "Kaoru you off your meds?" he asked in desperation and the worry was utterly apparent.

"Fuck off!" Kaoru roared and yanked his arm from Hikaru's. He turned and forced the car door open and leaped out of the car.

"Kaoru!" his brother called after him, but Kaoru marched away, seething. His arms were shaking with rage and he ground his teeth together as he stared at leaf-covered terrain.

But then he froze, remembering himself.

He stilled by a freshly covered grave; its dirt was in disarray with clumps of grass torn to the side. There was not a headstone in place yet. Slowly, Kaoru raised his eyes from the ground.

A woman was standing there, right in front of him, covered in dirt and blood. A gash in the side of her head was teaming with blood. The new ones were always the most hideous.

Kiyoshi was instantly by Kaoru's side but Kaoru could not move his gaze from the dead woman before him. "Kaoru, you have to move," his father urged. He reached out to nudge Kaoru, but his hand passed right through like usual. "Kaoru!"

"She-She-" Kaoru began, trying to get his words out.

"It's dangerous here," Kiyoshi hissed. "You have to leave. NOW!"

Kaoru jumped, startled, at his father's yell. He swung to face where his father had stood but he was gone. Instead, he could see Hikaru heading his way.

Kaoru whirled back to the girl but she was closer, just a foot away. Yelping, Kaoru moved a step back, but froze in terror as he noticed that the two of them weren't alone. There was more of the dead, standing in a semi-circle on the opposite side of the woman's grave.

"You're one of us," the woman said ominously, raising a single finger to trail across Kaoru's cheek. It passed right through but Kaoru could feel the cold presence, which made him stumble backwards into a cracked grave.

"What? What are you talking about?" Kaoru asked, horrified.

One of the men disappeared from the semi-circle and reappeared beside Kaoru, peering just as closely as the woman. He was cleaner, looking more like the living, meaning he was an older soul. Kaoru pressed himself against the stone. "You're right," the men uttered in his scratched, unused voice. "How did you cheat death?" he demanded, pressing closer.

"Kaoru!"

Kaoru turned his head, seeing Hikaru just over the woman's shoulder. "Help me," Kaoru begged.

Suddenly the ghosts' looks of awe turned to anger. "How do you live?" the man demanded, yelling directly in Kaoru's ear. Kaoru flinched horribly, closing his eyes, and gasped out a dry sob.

"Oh God," Kaoru moaned.

Hikaru grabbed Kaoru's hand in his own and yanked him roughly. With his eyes tightly shut, Kaoru felt the shuddering cold pass through him and it felt like anger and fear, and it choked him. His legs gave way and he dropped messily to the ground. Hikaru went with him but wrapped his arms protectively around him. And they stayed like that while Kaoru felt Hikaru dig out his phone and begin to dial someone.

So, the last 2 chapters made me feel like a failure. I wasn't writing very well and things were happening in my personal life... and it just sucked. I even contemplated for the last 3 days whether I would reconstruct the last 3 chapters and go in a different direction. In summary, I just felt like things sucked. But I decided just to move onward and see what would happen. I think this chapter went pretty good... maybe. Please let me know what you thought because I am very conflicted right now. Thanks!