Chapter 15

Danni was honestly surprised that she woke up the next morning. It was depressing to think about, but she'd been sure she'd fade into a puddle of goo like her brothers before her. She felt utterly exhausted, but that crazy, terrifying sucking feeling was gone, and so was the warm tingle of a foreign energy she'd fallen asleep to. All her limbs felt to be in working order, not even sticky and clammy like they usually felt after averting a meltdown, and judging by the lack of gloves covering her hands, she had reverted from her ghost form sometime during the night. There was something strange though, a cold, almost pins and needles feeling. It was almost like intangibility, but she couldn't be intangible, she barely had enough energy for conscious thought, much less ghostly abilities.

Her eyelids were extremely heavy, and greatly resisted her orders to open, but eventually will won over fatigue. Everything was fuzzy, bleary, and for a moment the world seemed to spin—Danni bit back the bile growing in her throat, forcing the world to stabilize before using her aching muscles to push into an upright position. Her arms trembled terribly, and it was only a cold, small, but surprisingly strong hand on her shoulder that kept her from collapsing back into a lump on the couch.

She lifted her heavy head, blue eyes meeting with relieved grey, framed by sea-green hair and an emerald sweatshirt. Youngblood, her memories of the past few days supplied. She opened her mouth to ask him what he was doing, but as soon as the first syllable was formed he quickly muffled it with his free hand, shaking his head.

Confused, Danni tried to follow his just as puzzled stare. At first she thought he was staring at the arm chair, the largish one, placed near the window, but eventually the cause of his attention became apparent. A small shape slunk out from behind it, and she realized with a start it was a child. Tea brown hair, and narrowed blue eyes, the girl was staring down at something cupped in her hands, something small black and metallic looking. Panic began to build—she'd been found! She had to get out, move on. It was a shame, but she'd find somewhere else to sta—

There was a tap on her shoulder and she swung her head too fast; it left her dizzy. Youngblood was holding her hand up, letting her see that, well; she couldn't see it, although she could feel his grip around her wrist. Relief flowed from the panic; she was going to give the ghost a big hug once this was all over. Once she could stand by herself. The pins and needles feeling made sense now, Youngblood had used his invisibility to keep her from sight—but why isn't he invisible?

"She can't see me." The words had her glancing worriedly back at the little girl, but she hadn't so much as twitched when the ghost spoke. Youngblood must've caught the confusion in her eyes before he just shrugged, "I don't know why either. She's a kid. Kids can usually see me."

Without warning he abruptly dropped her hand and the support left her shoulder, sending her reeling for a moment before she managed to find the support of the back-rest. She felt rather than saw the invisibility fading away—the girl was still studying the black thing in her hand—and there was the faint, washed out form of an intangible Youngblood. In less than a moment he dove into the girl, her blue eyes fading to grey and it was the ghost that looked up, directly at Danni.

"She's been snooping about for the past half an hour." Youngblood answered by means of explanation, raising the girl's hand and eyeing the black thing she'd been studying so intently. Danni hadn't even started on her demand, so she was surprised when he answered it, "I would've gotten rid of her earlier, but I wanted to know what she was looking for. What's this thing??"

It was so weird to hear Youngblood's voice from the mouth of a very human girl, though it was overlaid by what she assumed was the girl's normal speaking voice. Danni shoved the thought out of her mind, instead studying the thing that the girl—Youngblood—held out to her. It didn't mean anything to the hybrid, just a weird box of plastic and metal, about the size of her thumb. She shifted her shoulders in what she hoped was a shrugging motion, hoping it came out as more than an oversized twitch, "I—have no idea." Her voice caught after the first word, but after that it came out stronger, although she sounded just as tired as she felt, "She lives next door."

"With the guy who blows things up?" Although the girl's face had looked like it had a permanent frown, Youngblood managed to seem brighter at the comment, a grin breaking out, "There was a loud explosion and a lot of black smoke from the house over—I think there's a big hole in the wall now."

"Yeah…" Danni had to fight back a yawn now that the crisis was over, and resist her body's demand that she go back to sleep to regen, "Could you—"

"I'll take her back over. I have lots of practice making it seem like a dream." Danni felt she didn't want to know what he meant by that, or how he would have gotten that practice. As long as she didn't have to worry about discovery then she really didn't care right now. She wondered what the girl was doing over here, the old man obviously knew the people who lived here since he gathered the mail and everything. Maybe he'd asked her to come get something. Maybe that black thing, which Youngblood tucked securely in the girl's pocket.

"I would really like that explanation when I get back."

Danni sighed when the ghost-in-a-girl's-body started walking toward the door, closing it behind him. What was she going to tell him? Should she tell him? Youngblood hadn't been anything except a pest at worst, and a rather enjoyable companion, perhaps tentative friend at best.

He did save my life.

--

When Youngblood returned after dropping off the kid in the living room of the old man's house, he wasn't surprised to find Danni'd fallen back asleep. At first he was annoyed—he'd been gone all of five minutes, and she was probably faking the sleep anyway, to get out of explaining—but those thoughts were quickly swatted away. He could tell she was tired; she probably wouldn't have woken up period if he hadn't had to turn her invisible when that strange girl came into the attic.

A really strange girl, that one was. She hadn't seen him for one thing—that only happened with adults, no matter how mature the kid was. Sometimes adults would see him if they were acting particularly childish, and the limit was around high school if he took yesterday's fair into account, but for little kids…

And the way she felt when he overshadowed her…he shivered at remembering it. The body had felt strange. Weird. Wrong. He couldn't explain it. Stiff perhaps, locked. Normally when he overshadowed someone it was just like slipping into a costume, but with that one it was…was…like the costume had been two sizes too small. Height wasn't even the issue here, he'd overshadowed huge people, and small kids before and he'd never run into that…wrongness before.

He hoped she wouldn't come back today. Not until Danni could deal with the girl herself. He did not want to overshadow her ever again.

--

Ai woke up with a pounding headache. As little bits and pieces of her earlier activities came back she had to force down panic. She'd been in the Kudo house, picking up her equipment and then…and then…

She couldn't remember. There was no pain to indicate she'd been knocked unconscious, no lingering fuzziness or feelings that would indicate she'd been drugged. The last memories she'd had were blurred and a little fragmented, swamped with fatigue, and then she was here.

"Ai-kun? Are you up?" Agasa poked his head through the door and belatedly she realized she was in his living room, sprawled out on the couch. She was confused—she'd been expecting to wake up in a holding cell, perhaps even an interrogation room. She'd woken up with no memories of how she'd gotten here, when she should have been in the Kudou home, a situation that screamed abduction to her (justifiable) paranoia.

"Professor?" She asked uncertainly, putting the back of her hand to her head as if to stave off the headache. Rationally she knew that it didn't really do anything lessen the pain, but it made her feel productive.

"You looked so tired earlier; you didn't even greet me when you came in." She felt a twinge of annoyance, she was an adult, he didn't need to be worried, but it was easily smoothed out. It was a common reaction unfortunately; the Professor had only known her as a child, after all. Still, his answer came off as overly condescending to her ears. She quickly brushed it away; at least the answer proved that she'd made it back here, by herself, and not through other less savory means. She did not remember walking back, and she didn't have a history of sleepwalking, so the entire thing was a mystery. She HATED mysteries. Kudou could have all of them for all she cared.

"How long was I asleep?" It was around eleven when she left, and according to the clock on the wall it was around three. The professor's answer would let her know how long she'd been…indisposed.

"Around three hours. Is everything okay, Ai-kun?"

"Yes, yes." So an hour. Less if she factored the time she remembered checking Kudou's house. That wasn't much time for nefarious deeds. Somewhat mollified, Ai fended off the professor's further questions. She didn't feel sick. It must have been a temporary spell. Eventually Agasa got the hint and let her vanish back into the basement lab to tinker with the small, squareish item she'd found in her pocket.

--

Hungry… Danni became aware of the sharp pain as she pushed off the effect of rejuvenating sleep. It was a good sign, it meant she was healed enough to notice something other than that crippling tiredness lurking in the background. A decent meal, not to mention another long, uninterrupted nap, and she felt like everything might be okay.

Maybe.

Danni rolled off her makeshift bed and to her feet, swaying as she fought to keep standing. The sudden movement sent blood rushing to her head, vision momentarily swimming dark and a headache forming.

The attic was dim, the only light coming from the sliver of moon through the dirty window. Apparently she'd slept the whole day, and maybe even the next considering she still felt like she could conk out for a week at least. Unlike last time, Youngblood was nowhere to be seen. It was empty, not a shred of ghostly aura in sight. He'd probably gotten bored of sitting around, she figured. A few shaky steps led her to the stairs, and she managed to get down them without falling flat on her face, with no little thanks to a white-knuckled death grip on the hand railing.

Moving sapped her energy, but hunger drove her on.

Halfway down the main set of stairs—the huge grandiose ones leading to the main entrance—she saw light. It wasn't just the moonlight leaking through the windows in the kitchen, spilling out into the hallway and playing across the wooden floor. It was a soft yellow light from the living room, down the hall, running parallel to the stairs. She peered down toward the half-open door, considered checking it, but then her stomach reminded her of her priorities.

Youngblood can wait.

She could hear him chattering as she turned into the kitchen, not bothering with the light, the moon was enough. Plus, this side of the house faced the neighbors, and a lit window would attract attention. The living room wasn't a problem—there weren't any windows.

Snagging the entire box of jerky, along with a can of beans—there wasn't much here, she preferred to buy a little at a time, so she always had her unofficial wages saved up, just in case. That thought made her freeze in mid step—what day was it? She couldn't afford to miss taking the paper route on Fridays. She wracked her brain, trying to remember, the last time had been—right, the day before the fair. In that case she was fine, unless she really did sleep an entire week, which she doubted.

Danni absently munched on the jerky, heading through the kitchen to the connecting door to the living room, and her mind started drifting toward hamburgers. A huge, juicy Nasty Burger to be specific. The thought made her stomach growl painfully—and the jerky tasted like shoe leather in comparison, but she couldn't afford to be picky. Maybe tomorrow she'd hop down to the McDonalds for the 100 yen menu. It was too bad Youngblood couldn't be seen by adults, or she could send him for food.

The brightly lit living room was painful in comparison to the rest of the house. Once her eyes adjusted she found Youngblood sitting in front of the couch on the floor, a pile of random items sitting spread out in a loose ring around him. He looked like he'd ransacked the house and gathered all the interesting toys in one spot. Youngblood currently had his nose buried in a book—probably filched from the library upstairs. Hopefully.

Wait a minute, since when could he read Japanese?

Scattered among the books seemed to be various costume items, wigs, masks, and the like along with a soccer ball. There were a few other things, but Danni didn't recognize them. "I hope you plan on putting those back."

She was too tired to scold him about rifling through someone else's property, or deal with his annoying skeleton—it seemed to have found him again, and was currently perched on the ghost's shoulder. Was it a parrot now? She crossed the room and plopped down on the couch, ignoring the glare directed her way by a bone white parakeet.

"Danni!" –Youngblood.

"Halfa-brat!"—that was the bird, before fingers clamped down on his beak, soon followed by a whispered, "What did we talk about?" from Youngblood. Yeah, that was definitely the dog she'd met a few—was it really only a few days ago?

Youngblood grabbed a ribbon, a bright pink one, no less, and tied the parrot's beak shut, using it like a crude muzzle. It would take little effort on the skeleton's part to snap it, but it seemed content to glare at both Danni and Youngblood in turn, coupled with muffled, unintelligible grumblings.

"Sorry about that." The ghost said when finished, "I hope you don't mind me snooping through your house. You've been out all day, and a ghost needs something to do."

My house? "As long as you put it back. And it's not mine." The sounds were somewhat distorted by the stick of jerky she was working on tearing apart.

"It's your haunt right?"

She paused, considering the statement. It was true in a sense. "It's not mine. I just hang out here." A family lived here once; a family will probably live here again. She was just here in the meantime. She didn't have the right.

Youngblood gave her a blank look, shrugging, "Your haunt, your stuff. It's the rules." Before she could say anything else he suddenly picked up one of the wigs, "You won't believe the stuff I found! Wigs, tons of makeup, bodysuits—someone really liked to play dress up."

Danni snickered at the bright pink, curly wig the ghost plopped onto his head. It didn't really go with the grey skin or the eyes. He looked silly.

"I've even found these rubber masks and a fake ID." The ghost continued his identification of the various items. He was holding up a wallet, brown, slim and leather. "I can't find the wig for it though. It was stuffed in with the rest of the costume stuff."

Youngblood tossed it over to her when she asked before settling back into his book—The Night Baron. She remembered that book, a good portion of the library consisted of books by the author of it. That particular one was in English, which explained Youngblood reading it. The skeletal parrot was waving a bony wing in front of the ghost's face, letting out an annoyed sigh when it didn't garner a reaction. Danni suppressed a smile, flicking open the wallet.

The first thing she noticed was that it looked like it had been swiped from some innocent passerby's pocket. Money, credit and bank, along with subway cards, receipts stuck in the change pocket—the works. The second thing she noticed was that the ID photo looked familiar. The first thing that came to mind was that magician she kept running into, but that didn't ring right. The hair and face were wrong. There was something else that she'd seen…

And the name.

Kudou Shinichi.

"Where'd you find this?"

"I told you, with the rest of the costume stuff. There was a box in a closet in one of the spare rooms."

Which was the perfect place to hide something, come to think of it. Anyone who snuck in looking for valuables would take one glance at the box filled with wigs and latex masks and clothes and look elsewhere. The thing that didn't make sense was why would it be here? It wasn't due to expire for another two years, and there was still money and the other essentials with it.

Shinichi…I've heard that name before. I've seen that face before.

Danni set the half gone bag and empty can on the coffee table, jumping up, with the wallet in hand, and made a beeline for the stairs. She flicked the light in the library—no windows—and headed toward the desk. Aside from the computer it was empty, and she glared at the not-so-dusty corner where she knew a picture frame had once sat. She hadn't been here in a while, but she remembered seeing that picture.

She placed the folded leather on the top and pulled open the main drawer, there was something that looked like an address book, a couple spiral bound notepads, paperclips and other things typically found in a desk. Her searching hand landed on something heavier than the notebooks, shoved way in the back. Pulling it out, she set it up right next to the open wallet, the thin black finished wood frame surrounding two people.

It wasn't them. The man looked similar enough that she'd peg them as related, but he was far too old. Danni sighed and put it back in the desk. No luck there. She remembered that face. It was different…smaller…

The memory slipped away as Youngblood floated through the floor. "What's up?"

Frustrated, Danni flopped back into the high backed chair. "Nothing. I just thought I recognized the picture."

"You think it's real?" Youngblood settled down on the desk top, to the side of the keyboard, legs dangling over the edge.

"The last name matches' the house's nameplate." She muttered into her arm, which was slung over her eyes. "And it's current."

Danni heard cloth shifting, and silence hung for a few moments before…"You feeling any better?"

"Tired." She sighed. She'd hoped he'd forget about that."

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

She really didn't want to talk about this. But he did help her out earlier with that girl. Not to mention last night. But how much should she tell him? Admitting her instability…it was a weakness. A weakness that could be exploited.

But…

"…I'm unstable." She decided on the simplest explanation, trust ing the fact that he had helped her out last night, sinking even further back into the chair, "Using too much energy cause my body to degenerate. As for last night…I'm not sure why it was so bad." She hadn't really used much to fight off that dog at all. She'd been fine until it bit her... a ghostly vampire dog maybe? If that were the case then the effect shouldn't have lasted after she killed it. She still remembered that horrible sucking feeling long after Youngblood had brought her back.

"I figured that out." Youngblood's answer surprised her, "What I want to know is why. You have a haunt. Your energy is rooted in it. You shouldn't have such a bad problem! Even if you just recently claimed this place you still shouldn't be having—" He trailed off at her surprised look, grey eyes wide, "You really don't know?"

Of course she didn't know. Other than her brothers, she'd never heard of a fully formed ghost having stability issues. And what did he mean by rooted, and what did having a haunt have to do with anything?

"Everyone knows about it." The child ghost was looking at her like she grew and extra head, "New ghosts have stability issues when they are first created, until they claim, or create a haunt to tie down their energies. When a ghost loses their haunt the problems come back, but you still have yours."

Which might explain why her problems managed to settle down once she did. Still…

"That's not it. I'm not new. I literally am unstable." She groped to find the words, "I'm not natural—"

"Of course not. You're a halfa." Oh look, even the parrot had to throw its two cents in.

She shot it a glare. She was trying to explain here. She didn't have to. Come to think of it, why was she again? She just met the ghost.

"Look, forget about it. I'm going back to sleep."

"Danni—!"

She was already at the door, hand on the light switch, "I'm not real okay? I'm a clone. The others dissolved into goop already. I just happened to take longer to die."

She didn't look back to see his reaction, just flicked off the lights and went back upstairs.

--

Youngblood resisted the urge to follow her upstairs, ignoring his parrot's delighted preening at Danni's anger. He shot the skeleton a dirty look—that last comment wasn't fair. It just shrugged unapologetically.

"Maybe I should lock you in the brig." He muttered. He didn't understand why it hated the girl anyway. Sure she looked similar to the annoying halfa, had a similar name, but she wasn't that…halfa…

'I'm a clone.'

Danny. Danni. Daniel. Danielle.

I feel stupid now. It had been staring him in the face all along.

But…did it change anything?

He shied away from that thought, not wanting to consider it now. Instead he latched onto the whole "clone" idea. Was it possible? Obviously, if Danni was telling the truth. He knew some ghosts had to ability to clone themselves, but they generally didn't have an individual will. Or change genders. Or spontaneously become younger than the original.

I want answers.

But he didn't want to make Danni even more upset as is. Maybe…

An idea unfurling in his mind, Youngblood left the house, heading toward a certain ghost portal in the park. Time to annoy some answers out of a certain no-fun goody-two shoes halfa hero. If he had a clone, Danny should know about it.

--

A/N: Not dead. I'm not really happy with this chapter, but I'm annoyed with sitting on it, so here you go.