There was light somewhere in the darkness. It was hard to pinpoint the exact location but it was up ahead, wavering as if it were immersed in water. Kaoru reached for it.

Hikaru fell to his knees by Kaoru's body. "Oh God, Oh God," Hikaru panted. Kaoru was still alive even without his soul. That had to mean Kaoru was coming back, right?

Beside him, Dad just stood silently by with an unfathomable look on his face. Distantly Hikaru was mad that his father wasn't freaking out. Why wasn't he trying to find Kaoru? Hikaru carded his hand through his brother's hair whispering soft comforts.

"Hikaru," Dad began.

"No!" Hikaru hollered at his father. "No, he's not dead yet! Kaoru is coming back!"

"He may going beyond the veil. Any moment—"

"NO! Don't tell me that!" Hikaru cried. His tears spilled over as he ran his fingers through Kaoru's hair more desperately now.

Suddenly Hikaru heard the front door slam shut. It was Mom. "Boys?" she called.

"Mom!" Hikaru called miserably through his tears. "MOM!" Hikaru continued to pet Kaoru's hair and twisted his other hand into shirt. He heard his mother pound up the stairs and down the hall.

She appeared in the doorway to find Hikaru hunched over Kaoru's body and the room was in disarray. "Something's wrong with Kaoru!" Hikaru sobbed. "Mom, Dad won't help! He won't help Kaoru!"

"Oh my God," she whispered, rushing to Kaoru's side.

"There's nothing I can do," Dad growled at Hikaru as he continued to sob over his brother. "What do you expect me to do?"

Mom grabbed her phone from her purse and dialed. She was talking into it but Hikaru couldn't hear anything but his own cries. "SAVE HIM!" Hikaru hollered.

As the light appeared closer and closer, it also became brighter and brighter. It was like looking into the sun but instead, it did not hurt. It just felt warm and blissful. It was like a sunny Sunday afternoon, lying in the grass. Or it was like floating in a pool, so warm and peaceful. Kaoru ventured closer but then he stopped, hearing floating words. He looked back into the darkness. Save him, it said. Save who?

They were in the ambulance when Kaoru began fading. Hikaru's head shot up when the steady flat line droned hauntingly. The emergency rescuers began resuscitation immediately and Hikaru watched with wide eyes, filled with shock. Mom, sitting beside him, was leaning into his side, crying. Hikaru's ears pounded as he watched them work in a blur. Please, if there is a God, please.

"Clear!" The sound came rushing back to Hikaru as the man pressed the voltage into Kaoru's body. His body shuddered but did not regain a heartbeat. The sirens were loud, the voices were loud, and Hikaru's heart beat was so loud. He squeezed eyes shut and held his mother tighter.

But then, as they tried again and a then a third time, he heard Kaoru's monitor restart. There was a pulse.

"Temporarily stabilized," someone said.

Kaoru was reaching for the light. It was so close now that it was all he could see. The darkness only ringed the edge of his vision and it was becoming long forgotten. He was forgetting something, he knew, but what was it? But the light was right there and everything felt so good. He guessed whatever he had forgotten could wait. He would remember after he went to the light.

But then something burned, so sharp, so painful, through his world. For a second the bright light shuddered out of sight and he only saw deep, swallowing dark. But it flashed back in no time.

He picked up his pace, racing towards the light. It shuddered out of view again and he felt so lost, so alone. He tried to cry out but he could not make a sound.

Then the light was back, closer than ever before. If he just reached forward…

The pain was so sharp that he fell through something solid and fell and fell into the void. He was drowning, then drifting, and then… He landed, no longer in pain. Kaoru could see the light again but it was far away. He began walking.

"I'm going to get coffee," Mom said tiredly. She was a mess. Her makeup was smeared and her hair was matted.

Hikaru nodded, staring at his brother. She patted Hikaru's arm and left the room, leaving Hikaru alone with his ghost of a father and the hollow shell of his brother. He clutched Kaoru's hand tighter as she left. A coma is what the doctors had said. They didn't know if he would wake up.

"Hikaru," his father said quietly. Hikaru didn't respond, continuing to stare at Kaoru. "There is one thing you could do."

He looked up blearily at his father. "What is it?" he said forcefully. "I will do anything."

"It'll be beyond dangerous. You could die with him."

"Tell me," Hikaru growled.

Dad sighed but came closer. "Follow him into the veil. Follow him and drag him out. You have the power to."

Without another word, Hikaru did exactly that. He stood and leaned over his brother, placing one hand over Kaoru's heart and one on Kaoru's shoulder. Closing his eyes, Hikaru concentrated. Effortlessly, he slipped into darkness.

The light flickered before Kaoru and he paused in his tracks, looking around. A breeze whisked through the pure dark, waving through his orange hair. Kaoru raised a hand against it in confusion. There was no wind here. Something was deadly wrong. So he ran.

Kaoru! the wind said.

Kaoru ran faster. Something was after him. Something wanted to take him back to the darkness. No, he wouldn't let it. He would make it to the light.

I've come to save you, the wind said.

I DON'T BELIEVE YOU, Kaoru roared into the wind.

And then he turned and stopped in shock. It was Hikaru, standing there in the darkness.

Come back with me, Hikaru said.

No. No I won't. Kaoru turned to run again but Hikaru appeared there too.

I can't let you die, Hikaru said.

I'm not. I'm not. I just want to go into the light.

You can't, he said. You have to go back with me.

Kaoru looked to the light and immediately felt drawn towards it once again. I have to go, Kaoru said.

But then Hikaru was grabbing him.

Epilogue is next!