The next night, Kaoru woke once again around three AM, feeling… off. He reached for his lamp, blinking blearily, but then realized that he'd thrown away the shards the night before. He sighed and moved slowly to remove his comforter from his torso. There was this creeping feeling that he was being watched and he didn't doubt that he was.
He placed one bare foot down onto the cool carpet and his heart jolted temporarily as he imagined the things that could grab him from underneath the bed, and then he stood, crossed the room to the light switch. Flipping the light on, he glanced wearily around. There was no one in sight and it unnerved him. Dad hadn't been back from where ever he's been for the last two days.
Dropping his hand from the light switch, Kaoru crossed the room and sat down on his bed and rubbed at his eyes. He didn't know if he could sleep anymore tonight. Something just didn't feel right. "Where are you?" Kaoru called out, peering around his well-lit room. In the corner was a pile of boxes where he had started to put away old junk from this room. Otherwise it was generally clean.
After a moment of silence, he frowned. That girl had to be lurking around here somewhere, he just knew it. He internally cursed himself, wishing he had researched the girl at school that day. "I know you're here," Kaoru said quietly.
And he was right. She appeared right in front of the door, looking at him curiously. "You called?"
"You were going to come anyway," Kaoru replied.
She flickered out of view and reappeared beside him, staring down at him with cold eyes. "I have a proposition for you," she spoke softly.
Kaoru jerked his head upward. "What are you talking about?"
She tapped her chin and disappeared from view and reappeared on Kaoru's right. "I will leave your family alone, if you do a little something for me."
"But you haven't been bothering my family…" he trailed off. She grinned at him and his eyes widened in realization. "You wouldn't," he whispered.
"I would," she laughed hideously.
Kaoru rose slowly, glaring. "I'm not letting you do anything," he growled, curling his fingers into fists.
Her smile dropped. "We'll see about that." And she disappeared once again and did not resurface. Kaoru whipped around his room, looking for her, but she was nowhere in sight.
"Shit," he spat. His chest panged as he thought of his sleeping family, just down the hall. Quickly, he strode into the quiet hallway, not bothering to flick on the light.
The first place Kaoru looked was his mom's room. He wouldn't doubt that the girl would want to hurt the only living parent he had. The creaked just slightly as he slipped the door open; he heard no noise and saw nothing through the heavy dark. He stood a minute more, just to be sure, and then closed the door.
Then he went to Hikaru and was less hesitant to throw open the door, feeling his heart in his throat, but he did it as quietly as he could. Immediately he could hear the deep breathing of his sleeping brother, and nothing seemed out of place. Kaoru turned to close the door when the ghost girl suddenly appeared beside Hikaru's bed.
Kaoru froze with his hand on the doorknob as he watched the girl anxiously. She was staring down at his brother, her long brown hair covering her expression, but then she looked up with a smile. She leaned forward to touch Hikaru's face.
"Don't," Kaoru hissed, even though she wouldn't be able to touch Hikaru physically.
Her smile grew when she straightened up. So instead of touching Hikaru, she turned around and reached for Hikaru's large fan. Kaoru's breath caught as she lifted it easily with seemingly no effort. He'd almost forgotten that spirits could control objects but not living beings…
She took the fan, wrenching the chord from the wall and walked to Hikaru, lifted it over his head and…
Kaoru paced across the room to stand directly by her and she held still, raising an eyebrow in a question. Kaoru grit his teeth before saying, "What do you need me to do?"
The girl smiled genuinely, and moved the fan back to its original place. "Meet me in your room," she whispered, almost intimately, and then flashed out of view.
Kaoru turned; ready to move from the room, just as Hikaru shifted in his bed, turning over. Kaoru waited until his brother was settled before retreating into the hallway and returning to the harsh lighting of his room.
She was waiting for him by the window. "Your job will be simple."
Kaoru made his way across the room and came to stand by her. "Open the window," she instructed. He unlatched the window, pried it open, and exposed them to the cool autumn air. "Now jump."
Kaoru turned on her. "What the hell are you talking about?"
She looked at him as if he was an idiot. "I've been alone for the last twenty years. You are the only one I have been able to talk to."
"So you are trying to kill me, so you have someone to talk to?"
"You… or your brother if you prefer," she goaded.
Kaoru shook his head, taking a step back from the window. "No, I'm not doing it."
"That's okay, I guess," she said, but then she pulled an object out from seemingly nowhere. It was a knife, shiny and sharp. "I got this while you were looking in on your mom. I think I will cut the wrists instead of just stabbing. It will be more romantic, don't you think?"
Kaoru stilled. "You can't do this. This isn't fair."
"Fair? Do you think my life was fair? My life sucked and still does. So, you can either jump out this window, or I will slice and dice your precious older brother," she growled, gesturing with the knife dangerously.
Kaoru hung his head, sweating profusely, and nodded. He placed his hands on either side of windowsill and braced himself against the edge. "Just promise me you won't touch my family," Kaoru whispered.
"I promise," she said with more compassion than she had shown in any other instance.
Kaoru breathed out and lifted himself onto the sill. The dark, frozen winds, whipped his face, streaming through his orange locks. He breathed out and…