"He's gonna be okay, isn't he?" Hikaru asked for probably the hundredth time, holding the warm washcloth to Kaoru's forehead. Kaoru was lying stock-still on his bed, breathing slowly, with flushed cheeks.

"He'll be fine," Yuzuha reassured him softly. "Let me go get some more hot water." She placed a soft hand on the small bowl of warmed water and stood in a hurry, sloshing the water just slightly over the bowl onto her home-made sun dress. It created a dark run down the waist but she barely gave it a second glance as she made her way to the door. She was worried; it was obvious.

Hikaru turned his attention back onto his brother, breathing softly. The puffs of air from his lips teased at his orange bangs. Hikaru leaned forward, frowning. He could feel something, but he wasn't sure what it was. It was something he often felt but it was hard to put into words. It was like feeling a connection to someone's life—like he could feel Kaoru living.

Sitting quickly back into his seat, Hikaru shook his head, confused. What did that even mean? Then the weird sensation in Hikaru's gut broke and suddenly he could breathe easier.

As he put those thoughts aside, he leaned forward once more, poking Kaoru in the forehead. "Hey, brother, you awake in there? Come on, Mom's worried about you." There was no response. Hikaru sighed, offering a small smile. "Wake up so we can give you your pills, okay?"

A sudden crash filled Hikaru's ears, vibrating eerily down his spine. He spun around in surprise at the terrifying sound with eyes wild, searching for the source, and there, on the floor, was a broken vase. The same vase Mom had put a bouquet of fresh flowers into the day before for Kaoru's homecoming; and those were the same flowers as the ones wilted on the floor surrounded by a pool of dirty water.

"What was that?" Yuzuha called from somewhere from down the hall.

"The vase just fell over!" Hikaru called back in the direction of the door. His call was met by silence.

Hikaru turned back to find Kaoru with open eyes, staring in the direction somewhere near the broken vase. And here's the thing: Hikaru thought this kind of thing would stop. Granted, he loved his brother and Kaoru had always been a little… off... but he'd thought that if Mom had struggled through two years of paying for mental hospital, that at least the staring would be cured. It didn't bother him, but it sure made him curious.

"Kaoru," Hikaru said, jolting his brother from his thoughts. Kaoru's eyes switched to Hikaru, looking somewhat wary. "How are you feeling?"

Kaoru huffed, crinkling his eyebrows together in just that slight angle that screamed his irritation. "Just fine Hikaru," Kaoru replied in a low tone. He pushed himself up so that he could lean back against the headboard. He grimaced and addressed Hikaru once more, "You don't have to baby me."

"When a guy has a panic attack and faints in the cemetery, I think it's okay to baby them," Hikaru smiled.

Kaoru's eyes snapped to Hikaru's once more. "I'm really sorry about that," he said, his voice softer that before.

"You don't need to apologize… But I gotta know. What happened back there?"

"Like you said, it was a panic attack."

Hikaru cocked his head and set his jaw, raising one eyebrow.

Kaoru rolled his eyes. "Fine. It reminded me of Dad's funeral. Couldn't take it, you know?"

It was a plausible explanation, Hikaru acknowledged. Dad's funeral was a memory of haunting horror. Kaoru had screamed and screamed, refusing to go into the cemetery. So he was resigned to sit in the back of Mom's car. And Hikaru, being the good older twin, had planted himself next to Kaoru in the cold car and held Kaoru's shivering cold hand. The rain had pitter-pattered relentlessly across the grassy yard of the nearly winter afternoon. But what had been the most frightening was the hollow look in Kaoru's eyes as he stared down at the car floor and nowhere else.

It was much like the look on Kaoru's face now.

Hikaru reached for the nightstand, needing distraction, and plucked up the prescription bottle. It rattled in his hand as he lined up the arrows and pried it open; revealing the bright red pills Hikaru had grown up seeing. He dumped two into his hand and held them out to Kaoru.

A frown flickered across Kaoru's face before he grabbed them from Hikaru's fingers. He held them stiffly before looking up at Hikaru. "So… what happened after I passed out?"

"Fainted," Hikaru corrected. Kaoru cracked a smile and shook his head. "Well, I called Mom. She came to pick us up and that's it." Hikaru noticed the disbelieving look on Kaoru's face. "No, really! Our friends don't know a thing. They were too busy making their video, or whatever, to notice that we had left and that you… weren't conscious. I shot them a text to tell them we had to go… There were no questions asked. You're safe."

Kaoru smiled warmly, clearly relieved. "And Mom didn't want to take me to the hospital?" Kaoru laughed.

"I convince her otherwise," Hikaru replied with a grin.

"You're the best Hikaru," Kaoru said happily, relaxing against the headboard.

Hikaru rustled Kaoru's hair. "And you're the best little brother ever."

Kaoru glared. "We're only a few minutes apart."

"What can I say? I like to tease you." Hikaru stood, stretching his legs. "I'll go get you some water for those pills." He turned and left through the open door.

Kaoru sat awhile, not alone, but completely silent, listening to Hikaru's hurried steps down through hall. As soon as he heard steps down the stairs, Kaoru whipped to face his father. He was examining the items across Kaoru's old dresser. "What the hell was that back at the cemetery?" Kaoru demanded of his dead father.

Kiyoshi turned slowly; his expression was of the utmost seriousness. "I don't know, but I will find out, Kaoru. And get rid of those damn things," he growled, pointing at the red pills in Kaoru's hand.

"Right," Kaoru said, sliding them under his bed to the hole in his box spring that he'd used before the mental hospital. "We don't want to go without communication again, do we?" Kaoru added, thinking of the recent lapses in seeing ghosts. The effect of the pills sometimes lasted hours, sometimes days. And each time, Dad wasn't happy about it.

"Don't joke about that," Dad said sternly. "I don't like not being able to reach you."

Kaoru nodded looking away. "So what do we do now?" he asked, fiddling with his fingers.

"You wait. I'll go ask around. And Kaoru? Don't trust anyone but me, okay?" It was a reminder Kiyoshi gave often.

"Yeah, I know," Kaoru said, just as his father disappeared.

Snap! It's been a whole week! But then again, I was studying for two tests, working, and other things... But what am I kidding? I have no excuse! Well, I am out of my funk now and I have a destination for this story, so everything is a GO! That means more frequent updates unless I get swamped by school once again. Look forward to the plot twists coming up soon.