Hikaru took his spoon in a trembling hand and scooped it into his frosted flakes. He almost brought the soggy cereal to his lips but he dropped the spoon back into the milk with a loud clunk. Crazy is what he was, he just knew it. Was it possible to catch whatever Kaoru had? He put his head in his hands, trying to ignore the figure that ghosted through the side of his vision.

The man had been following Kaoru around all night and this morning. However, for some reason, Kaoru didn't seem to notice him anymore.

Suddenly Kaoru walked into the room, whistling with a smile on his face. Ever since yesterday, Kaoru had become noticeably happier. Hikaru wondered what happened.

"Hey, Hikaru," Kaoru greeted happily.

Hikaru sat up straighter and dropped his hands into his lap all while avoiding looking directly at the man hovering just behind Kaoru. "Hey," Hikaru returned quietly.

Kaoru moved to the fridge and grabbed the milk for his own breakfast, and plopped down into the chair on Hikaru's left. "Are you okay?" Kaoru was scanning Hikaru's face with a scrutinous gaze. "You look a little worn."

"I didn't get much sleep," Hikaru muttered his reply and looked up at the ceiling. "I'm okay." He stood abruptly and Kaoru watched him warily, not quite believing Hikaru's excuse.

"Hikaru?" Kaoru called after Hikaru as he fled the room, sweeping past the eerie man standing near the door. "Aren't you going to put your bowl away?"

"I'll do it later!" Hikaru called over his shoulder just as he mounted the spiral staircases and rushed up as swiftly as he could. His hands felt clammy and there was a fluttering feeling in his chest, and not of the good kind. So he paced his way into the hallway and directly to his shared bathroom.

He closed the door and immediately locked it before turning to the mirror to inspect his downtrodden face. Although he had gotten freshly showered and dressed just a little while before breakfast, he still looked like hell. His eyes seemed sunken in the glow of the bathroom light and he was pale; paler than he's even been before. His hands shook as he brought his fingers to the cold glass, gracing his fingertips across his reflection but he froze, feeling ridiculous. So he dropped the trembling hand down and instead braced himself against the white porcelain of the sink and stared into his face.

No, no. He wasn't crazy, he tried to convince himself. Maybe this was just his reaction to seeing his brother jump out a window. But what if he was stuck this way forever? "God, I hope not," he whispered, looking down into the sink.

Time ticked by as he stood there; he spent it thinking, considering. Then, finally, he made his decision. His eyes snapped up to the medicine cabinet and he wrenched it open without hesitation, revealing the bottles there, but he zeroed in on a row of familiar bottles with Kaoru's name printed across the front. His hand dove for the newest one; the strongest one.

Quickly, Hikaru swallowed one of the pills down dry but then stuck his mouth under the faucet to chase it down with water. When he was done, he was once again staring at his reflection, panting, and his face was dripping wet.

"Hikaru?" his brother suddenly called through the door.

Hikaru jolted, upsetting the open orange bottle in his hand, but he caught it just in time, so only three or four pills spun down the exposed drain. "Hikaru, are you almost done?"

"Yeah," Hikaru called, quickly turning the cap back onto the bottle and replaced it back into the cabinet.

Hearing the noise, Kaoru tapped on the door again. "Hikaru are you sick?" he asked through the door. His voice was muffled.

"Just fine," Hikaru called back, closing the cabinet door. He then turned the door, unlocked it, and revealed a concerned Kaoru who had both hands on either side of the frame, blocking the exit. "Move Kaoru."

"Something is going on," his brother accused, not moving an inch.

"Nothing is going on. And why is it that you can hide everything but I have to you every detail that happens to me?"

"That is because I am obligated for answers Hikaru. It is because you opened my bottles and don't bother denying it," Kaoru snapped as Hikaru opened his mouth to reply. "I know what my pill bottles sound like." He glared at Hikaru.

Hikaru glanced behind Kaoru. The man was standing there again, leaning against the far wall of the hall. "Nothing's going on," he muttered, pushing Kaoru out of the way and rushing past the phantom man once again.

Kaoru followed him down the hall. "I know that look on your face Hikaru! You are scared and I want to know why."

Hikaru spun on his younger brother. "Kaoru, can you just leave me alone? I need to get ready for school!"

Glaring back, Kaoru slowly nodded, finally giving in. "Fine."

"Good," Hikaru said and turned to go into his room. "Holy shit!" he cried, coming face to face with the man who was peering at him curiously. Hikaru stumbled away into Kaoru and the man followed.

"Hikaru?" Kaoru asked in a rising panicky voice.

"You can see me?" the man asked, approaching just a bit closer, reaching.

Hikaru's eyes widened and his breathing sped as he watched those reaching fingers. "Hikaru?" Kaoru asked again.

"No," Hikaru whispered, shaking his head. He didn't want to be touched. No, not by this thing. "No…" But the man didn't stop. His hand was inches from his face. Suddenly a complete rage swallowed Hikaru, fizzing through his veins, building and building and building until, "GET AWAY!" The power ripped and tore at him in a blast of complete pain.

It burst from him in a flash of bright light and harsh wind. And before Hikaru knew it, he was standing in the middle of the hall, alone, with Kaoru against the wall but on the floor. "Wha… what?" Hikaru questioned to himself, looking at his trembling hands that were still burning with a faint, invisible fire. He felt weaker but more… powerful perhaps. He looked to his brother.

Kaoru was looking at him with wide eyes. "What did you do?" Kaoru gasped out, scrambling to his feet.

"I didn't… I didn't do anything. I don't think I did!" Hikaru panicked.

Kaoru grasped Hikaru's shoulder, making him look at him. "What. Did. You. Do?" he annunciated.

"The man. He was following you and-and-and-" Hikaru struggled to explain. He began to tremble again.

"Wait," Kaoru interrupted. "Did you see Dad?"

Hikaru's breathing caught.