Chapter 3

Even at this time of the night, Hyuuga was well dressed. Impeccable and ironed, with neatly pressed lines and fresh cologne. Sasuke supposed he looked casual in comparison, but effortlessly good-looking was the new trend. Neji stood at his door, all loose hair and amused eyes. Sasuke wasn't as amused.

"You can come in," said Sasuke. He didn't hold the door for his visitor and he didn't look back. His door could sense when the guests finished entering to shut and lock itself. This kind of luxury was, Sasuke suspected, something Neji was used to anyway.

Neji's eyes flickered for a moment. Then he removed his shoes and settled himself into an armchair while Sasuke sprawled on the divan. Sasuke rolled his eyes. There was something familiar about Neji's lack of attempt at small talk, something that was symmetric to Sasuke's own straightforwardness.

"Can they hurt each other?" asked Sasuke. The image of the shadows tearing Mei's spirit apart was fresh on his mind. It was definitely not normal. He sent away the thought that whatever destroyed her could still lurk around, ready for its next victim.

Hyuuga was here, after all.

"I've heard stories," said Neji. He was alert now, his pose no longer casual and mocking. He shifted, as if something was making him uncomfortable. "They consume each other to grow in power, until they can finally disturb the living."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow. "Something is wrong?"

"Something is here," said Neji. His eyes transformed. The veins around his eyes bulged until his pupils turned pure white. Sasuke watched the other mutant bloodline at work. Unlike his lingering Sharingan, Neji's Byakugan needed to be manually activated. Neji once told him with a mysterious smile that the Byakugan had a much more powerful vision.

Neji gasped, his body jerking twice before his Byakugan deactivated.

"It went away," murmured Neji. He looked surprised, and slightly confused. Sasuke could detect a veiled layer of fear in Neji's eyes.

"What was it?"

"I don't know," said Neji.

"How can you not know what you see?" Sasuke's words were angry, anxiety and trepidation mixing with the growing irritation. His mind reminded him of the yellow eyes he saw, the condensation of evil in two pupils. He had no doubt Neji saw the same thing; something that probably won't leave him alone. A placid wickedness awaiting onslaught.

"You only see their shadow," said Neji. He spoke with control, but a trace of vulnerability graced his steady voice. "When I open my eyes, I see everything. You expect me to define that monstrosity."

"For now, define your everything," Sasuke knew there was more to the shadows than simply dead people. His brother told him that until his Sharingan develop, he would only be able to see the half-spirits, the shadows.

"I see the shadows you see," said Neji. "Also the spirits; the ones in human form. I see demons, the beastly manifestations of raw agony, sorrow, rage and hatred."

"Yellow eyes?" Sasuke prompted.

Neji frowned. "I saw a serpentine shape. An infestation of pure and ancient malevolence."

"This isn't drama class," said Sasuke. He opened a nearby miniature fridge to take a bottle of Perrier for himself and offered one to Neji, who accepted it. He watched the graceful curve of Neji's neck as he tilted his head back to drink, feeling a sudden urge to mark and ruin the perfect skin.

If Neji caught his lingering surveillance, he did not acknowledge it as he lowered the bottle. Neji said, "I think it is after you, but it saw me."

"What?" Sasuke tried to remain calm. He called Neji here because Neji was supposed to know. The first thing the other boy said was that he didn't, followed by a vague description that could have come from a horror fiction.

Neji gave him a long look.

"Physical entities and non-physical entities generally co-exist without awareness of each other," said Neji. He spoke as though he was lecturing an impatient child. "Like air, light and heat. The shadows are caused by brief, fleeting disturbances by the incorporeal beings. Spirits are a lingering existences caused by an inability to move on due to some kind of strong emotion. Demons are corrupted entities formed by a compression of negative energy."

Neji spoke contemplatively and slowly, as if he wanted to explain clearly but did not want to waste a single word. "Most humans live life without seeing or feeling them and the incorporeal beings are not aware of humans. Certain humans are more sensitive to the disruptions, but few are actually able to see anything. However, if you can see them, then they can see you. To them, humans are a bright light bulb in an eternally dark room." Either painful on the eyes and ideally extinguished or a beacon of hope.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed at the implications. Unlike Neji, he saw the shadows all the time and spirits were able to latch onto him. If his brother could find him all the time and Mei found him recently, then it meant any other spirits could reach out to him. Sasuke had another question, "Why am I feeling causes of deaths?"

"That must be something unique to your eyes," said Neji. "An ability to trace and copy over the emotions that the spirits last felt."

If it was something unique to the Uchiha bloodline, then he would have to go through the archives at the mansion his parents reside in. Journals of his ancestors and whatever was left. Neji would probably not be much help. Putting the pieces together, the owner of the yellow eyes seemed to be a serpentine demon who commanded other spirits or demons. Except, Neji didn't say he saw a demon.

Sasuke shivered again when he thought about how the girl was brutally murdered and how her spirit was ripped apart.

"Do you think I should do something about the murdered girl?" asked Sasuke. He'd done his research and he knew who the murderers were. He knew they graduated three years ago and he knew where they currently reside. Yet, going to the police without tangible evidence was pointless. The girl's bathroom was now converted to an unused storage room and the mystery of who killed the soon-to-be Dance Queen remained unsolved for six years.

"I think the better question is if you can," said Neji. Neji had finished his water by now and Neji was observing him with indescribable calm. Sasuke stared back, eyes challenging.

A burst of music interrupted the moment and Neji appear puzzled about the loud, happy song emitting from Sasuke's phone. A dumb song Naruto insisted Sasuke used for him. Sasuke cursed, "What the fuck."

Picking up the phone, Sasuke said, "Dobe, it's almost 2AM."

"I know," Naruto's voice was panicky, almost shrill. He was shouting into the phone and Sasuke held it a safer distance away from his ear. "It's Kiba. When I woke up, he was grasping for air and was kinda fighting something until he rolled down from the bed. Then, his face turned purple and red, and he passed out. I called the ambulance and they're here now"

Sasuke thought about the situation. "Asthma attack? Allergy?"

There was muffled noises on the other end and Sasuke realized Naruto had covered the mouthpiece while he talked to someone else. When Naruto returned, the astonishment in his voice was matched by his anxiety. "There's two giant ass punctures on his hand and they're saying it's a snake bite. There ain't any snakes here. I live on the eighth floor, man."

For no reason, Sasuke's head whipped around his living room. He couldn't rationalize the sudden feeling of condemnation or the hurricane of guilt and terror. He wanted to tell Naruto not to panic and assure him that he would be coming over soon, but his throat was constricted.

"Sasuke? Sasuke? Hellooo," said Naruto.

In a daze, Sasuke watched Neji stand to walk over and there was a soft, warm pressure on his hand as Neji took the phone from his slack grip. Sasuke barely registered the silky compassion in Neji's suddenly saccharine voice. "Hang in there, Naruto. We are coming over as soon as possible."

The Hyuuga clicked the phone off in the quiet seconds of surprise that followed, not waiting for the inevitable outburst. When Hyuuga reached out to return the phone to him, Sasuke yanked the older boy down by his wrist and pinned him to the divan he'd been sitting on. Angrily, Sasuke hissed, "Naruto's going to have questions. You better have answers."

Sasuke couldn't explain why he felt a sense of disappointment when Neji didn't struggle against his grip. It was as if Neji knew Sasuke would eventually release him and he was above petty struggles. There was no sign of nervousness or regret when Neji said, "We are done with our first Biology project because we were working on it all night tonight."

"I don't invite people over."

"He called your cellphone. We could have been anywhere," said Neji. Sasuke caught the briefest hint of surprise in his impassive eyes. Sasuke pulled back with a scowl, provoked by how completely calm Neji always was.

"Let's go. You are going to drive," said Sasuke.

A/N: And I'm alive, I'm alive, I am so alive. And I'll tell you the truth if you let me try.

I don't know if anyone is still reading this by now, or if this fandom is even alive, but here it goes!

~Sychron