Author's Note: Yuuki~desu! Hi guys! Missed me? I bet you have! I've been pretty out of it for a while. Haven't written a single chapter for any of my stories. (It's going to be a hell to update them all.) Though I haven't planned for it, it seems like this chappie will be kind of a birthday present from me to you! My b-day is on 29th. Lol.

Many thanks to:

Tala Is Shining for reviewing so wholeheartedly! As I mentioned you have my permission to use the theme from my first chappie, if it is not the same, of course.

Neve for reviewing at all! Even a single word warms my heart!

Ava bee for agreeing with my plan for Yami to only like Yin, though it was always supposed to be like that. He was just meant to be exceedingly cold to the others. Now he just ignores them.

Edith for encouraging me to keep on writing!

Wizzkid for praising me with so few words, which however hold a great value! Thank you!

And lastly, thanks to all who favorited, alerted and read this story! I keep on writing for you!

YUUKI'S HANDY DICTIONARY!

Nothing in this chapter. Aren't you relieved? By the way, the names mentioned later were chosen randomly, so do not bother looking for any hidden connections. :)

FONT EXPLANATION:

"Characters Talking"

Main character thinking

Stressing something or time skips announcements

"Main character's spirit talking"

Chapter 13: Heart of a Spirit

While I lived at the Tao mansion, meditation was the only way I could forget about what was around me and pretend I was somewhere else. Yes, when I sat down and concentrated, I was someone else.

It worked most of the time, but there were certain circumstances under which that changed. One in particular made my meditation time quite interesting. The night.

Ever since I first met Yami, I was unable to meditate once the sun started setting. Whenever I tried, instead of entering my own mind, my consciousness would flare outwards, melding with the surrounding darkness. That's how I found out I was able to observe everything happening not only around me, but in the entire mansion.

It was as if I became one with the shadows of the night encasing everything and if I willed it hard enough, I would see everyone under the dark sky.

Half of the planet that faced away from the sun suddenly became my territory. Every single person, whether sleeping, clubbing or working was dancing in the palm of my hand and they didn't even know about it.

Even now, I wasn't entirely sure what made such a change possible, although I had my suspicions. Ones that ultimately made me crave to reach my goal so much more.

And sitting here, under the sakura tree merely two hours after I left my house, I hoped to reach that goal very soon.

"Not that it'll come true before the end of the Shaman fight." I grumbled under my breath.

"Mistress?"

I stared down into those falsely guileless eyes of my guardian spirit, not for the first time wondering just what kind of twisted fate allowed us to meet.

"I'm okay." I said, tearing my gaze away from those hypnotic orbs of his. "I was just over-thinking things."

I relaxed with the masculine chuckles resounding from my right. "You tend to do that a lot."

"Do I, now?" I smiled fondly, my eyes taking in the raw beauty of the ancient graveyard.

"Yes." he cut in curtly, making me smirk.

I was about to bite something back, when we were interrupted by a high-pitched female voice.

"Yin-chan? Is that you?"

I whipped my head to find the source, only to stare at a group of three spirits who I recognized instantly.

Relaxing once more, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the tree trunk behind me. "Good afternoon, Yamashita-san." I breathed out, my lips curving into a little, but sincere smile.

"I told you it was Yin-chan!" squealed the elderly woman of about fifty years at the time of her death.

"Out for a run again?" asked one of the two male spirits, his voice calm and collected, unperturbed by the woman's childish antics.

I didn't have to open my eyes to know Yami was staring at me, surely wondering what the human spirit meant when he said 'again'.

"No. I came to meditate." I answered shortly, but politely.

While being a relatively young spirit of about 40 afterlife years and roughly 60 of the living, Yasunaga-san came from a very prestigious and traditional family, making him little more reserved and detached than the other spirits that ended up being his constant companions. He always spoke in a very formal manner, though he didn't particularly mind when the others did not do so when speaking to him. I guess he got used to it and accepted the progressing times. In a way that's what earned him my respect.

"Oh? Are your flatmates giving you a hard time?" questioned the third spirit, youngest of the group.

I rose an eyebrow and stared at the man, curious how he came to that conclusion.

I am not that obvious... Am I?

"I knew it!" hissed the female. "I knew something was wrong when we hadn't seen you in two months! I am so going to give those two freeloaders a piece of my mind!"

I smirked at Yamashita-san's angry expression and outright laughed when I noticed how Yami gaped at her like she was crazy.

"I appreciate the concern, Yama-"

"Keiko!" she interrupted me, huffing.

Sighing, I corrected myself. "As I said, I appreciate the concern, Keiko-san, but the truth is I don't think there's anything you can do. At best, you would get exorcised. At worst, your soul would be eaten."

If it was possible, her face got pale as she blanched at the horrible image I just planted in her mind.

Probably feeling it was best to put a stop to her over-active fantasy, Yasunaga-san opted to engage me in a small talk.

"How are you doing, Yin-san? You look quite exhausted." he admitted with a little grandfatherly concern reflected in his brown eyes.

Silently thanking him, I saw no reason to hold back and answered him truthfully. "Good, I guess. I've been ordered to follow someone for two months and only recently returned from China."

"So you've been in China this whole time?" joined in the young Sawano, who gave up on trying to calm down the petrified Yamashita-san.

"Not quite." I replied, briefly glancing his way before looking back to the elder male. "I've been there the past twelve days and returned only yesterday."

Nodding in understanding, Yasunaga-san shifted a little to the side and lowered himself to the ground beside me and Yami, with Sawano and Yamashita-san following suit.

Finally snapping out of her daze, Yamashita-san bounced up and down happily, eager to question me on the trip. "Did you like your stay? Where exactly did you go? Have you met any cute boys while there?"

Yami practically climbed into my lap, trying to get as far away from the hyper woman as he could. He clearly wasn't a fan of gossip-loving housewives. Not that I found he was a fan of any particular kind of people. Or spirits.

"Keiko-san!" I scolded her softly, which made her freeze and blush as she realized her actions.

"Aw, come on, Yin-chan! You know how this old lady likes adventure stories! Not to mention romances..." The puppy eyes she was giving me clashed with the wrinkles on her face, but I found it somehow suited her.

"No I haven't," I rolled my eyes at her, making her pout. "We actually ended up visiting my family." I added, hoping the woman would see how there was no way to meet 'boys'. Not that I would care to. I wasn't even remotely interested in dating. I needed to reach the goal, not go around wooing men.

"You enjoyed the trip, then." said Sawano offhandedly, looking almost bored and tad bit jealous. "You got to see your folks and all..."

I shared a look with Yami. Oh, I got to see my folks, alright.

"I'd rather not see them." I growled darkly, showing I had no intention of saying anything else on the topic.

After moments of awkward silence, I decided it was time to turn the tables around.

"How are you, guys? I couldn't help but notice Kobayashi-san isn't here...?"

I watched with interest how their faces fell and they refused to look at me. Grief that showed in their body language was truly astounding. One would think that ghosts were above the pain of parting with their loved ones. Clearly, that was not the case. If anything, their feelings seemed to be intensified compared to those of the living.

"He-" hiccuped Keiko as she tried to wipe away her tears with the sleeve of her yellow festival yukata. "He passed on." she choked out between the sobs.

The other two looked a bit relieved that they didn't have to be the ones to say those words. It was a bit comical, really.

"Kobayashi-san's youngest son, Ryoutarou, came here about a month ago with his fiancee. He came here all the way from Kitami-shi to show his father the woman he would be spending the rest of his life with and to tell him he was never mad at him for leaving his mother." breathed out Sawano, managing to smile a little at the end.

"He is with the Great Spirit, then." I concluded, scratching Yami behind his ears. "You know, you guys should do that too. Pass on, I mean."

"No way!" cried out Yamashita-san suddenly. "I'm not passing on until I get to either dance on that whore's grave, or beat her into a pulp if she becomes a ghost! I can't just let her get away with seducing my husband! Not to mention I'll beat him up too, for cheating on me!"

Her eyes that were full of tears and sadness seconds ago now burned with all fires of hell as she revealed her reason for staying.

Nodding, Sawano smiled wistfully. "Yeah, I can't just up and leave. I promised my little brother I would watch him become a famous shamisen player."

Resigned, I turned to Yasunaga-san waiting for him to tell me his own reason for delaying the inevitable. The corners of his mouth lifted with amusement. "I stay to watch over my descendants. My gambling is the reason we lost almost all of our heirlooms and lands. It is only fair I suffer by watching my line die out."

I bit my lip, eyeing the group of spirits before me. They were all so different, yet every single one of them had a reason to stay. Reason they were not hesitant to admit, whether it was honorable or not. I found myself envying them. They had no reason to hide who they were, what they felt. They all looked so self-assured, peaceful almost. As if the death gave them the closure they needed in order to be truly the people they were meant to be.

My own inner thoughts consumed me, calling for me so enticingly I had not noticed when my companions left me, or when the afternoon turned into an early evening.

"Mistress."

I blinked several times, trying to bring my focus back to the reality and the spirit nestled beside me.

"The sun has begun to set." he informed me, his voice low, energized even as he watched the orb of light hiding itself behind the horizon.

"Good." I replied simply.

Shifting my position into a more comfortable one, I ran my hands through the dewy grass, enjoying the feel of the cool sensation covering my fingers and eagerly breathing in the fresh air which held a promise of a cold night approaching.

As I was trying to attune myself to my surroundings, Yami sat up beside me, watching me closely.

"Mistress..."

"I never trusted people, you know." I interrupted him, no doubt in my mind about what he was dying to know. "And I still don't."

If a wolf could frown, I was sure Yami was doing it now. Nevertheless, I continued, feeling a bit exposed as I tried to relay to him what I felt.

"But the spirits... I feel I can trust those. To an extent, of course." I smirked. "After death, humans seem to lose most of their reservations, desires, even the need to blend in. They are themselves. Only one thing remains. Their desire. The single feeling that keeps them bound to this earth. It's like besides that one reason they have no ulterior motives."

"But there are also evil spirits." he argued back, though something in his voice told me he agreed with what I said wholeheartedly. And it warmed me up on the inside to know I was not wrong.

"Yes there are. But it's so easy to tell them apart... When they have no other agenda and don't care for either secrecy or safety, they stop pretending, hiding. They are proud of who they are and what they want. It is by discovering that desire they so like to announce that you know whether the spirit is evil or good. And I've learned that all from those four." I nodded to the group of merrily laughing spirits before us, which consisted of my three spirit acquaintances and three others I did not know.

"That is why you made sure your running route went through the cemetery. You wanted to learn more about the inner working of spirits."

It was a statement. One that didn't need to be even confirmed by me, it was so clearly true.

We didn't speak or move for a few moments, we simply watched as the last sun rays made their towards us, the light slowly dying out and giving way to the darkness we both seemed to revel in.

"I should have known you would be scared." Yami stated emotionlessly, like he was not quite sure what he himself should feel at those words.

I bore my golden eyes onto his unnaturally stiff form, watching as his fur darkened with each passing second. "I wasn't scared." I pronounced. "I am never scared."

His stare, now fully reflecting the millenniums upon millenniums of ages he witnessed turned to me slowly, scrutinizing my small but strong and prideful frame, looking for that which he desperately hoped to see in me.

"I simply needed to know. Nothing more and nothing less. We shall reach our goal." I swore, meaning every single word I uttered and accepting that my fate has been permanently sealed this very moment.

"And so we shall." he whispered, sad smile spreading on his face as we both turned to gaze upon the rising moon.