Hisashi sat in his brightly lit kitchen, absently nursing his cup of coffee, all the time staring at the new occupant of his apartment.

Jiro was sitting on the floor, leaning comfortably to the sofa behind him, playing with Ayu, as the afternoon sunlight that streamed through the wide windows of the apartment bathing him with its reddish light.

They said that cat and dog could see things that ordinary people couldn't see. Like ghost. He had laughed at that, couldn't imagine that the pretty Ayu can see ghost.

But heck, look at what happened. Hisashi didn't really notice it at first when out of nowhere Ayu would start meowing and purring. He dismissed it as her period. Well, Ayu had a period when she would act strange, and Hisashi had gotten used to it. But then, in the spare times where he spent his time watching Jiro and trying in vain to analyze what had happened, he came to realize that Ayu could see Jiro.

And she loved him, Hisashi knew that. Ayu would purr like crazy whenever Jiro's transparent fingers brushed her soft furs. And when he pet her or cooing her softly. She would swing her little foot, trying to touch Jiro, but her foot always went through Jiro. That didn't stop her though. That didn't even scare or bother her any bit, that she couldn't touch her new object of affection.

Hisashi shook his head inwardly. Cats…

But he secretly loved to watch Ayu playing with Jiro. He would smile a little, unconsciously or consciously, at Ayu happy meows or at Jiro's childish glee.

His gaze shifted a little to the chair beside him and he frowned a bit. The newest addition to his strange household. Jiro's little electronic dog, which were sitting prettily on the chair besides him.

How pathetic. Here he was, one of the most famous, handsomest, prettiest, most talented guitarist with a horde of fangirls that would faint whenever he threw them a small smile… and he had a household that consist of a human, a cat, a ghost and an electronic dog. How splendid.

He didn't know what had possessed him into agreeing to bring Jiro's dog here, along with piles of Jiro's personal collections of Californian Rock CDs, papers with scribbles of unfinished songs and Jiro's personal, beloved toys to his apartment, … but he had agreed.

// Well, I can't appear in my own apartment because… you're not there. Remember? I can only show up in places where you are. So you see, I love Ayu, but… I miss my lil' dog and I'm the one who usually taking care of him and now that I can't take care of him properly again in this state. And I'm sure he misses me too. Not to mention my unfinished songs and my rock cds and my toys and… my point being… can you bring all of them here? Please, onegai? //

Hisashi's head dropped when he remembered Jiro's argument. Add with it his extra big puppy eyes and Hisashi was left with no other choice but agree. So he brought all of Jiro's "survival package" and put it in the spare bedroom of his apartment. He didn't know whether he should regret his decision or not.

But truth to be told, Hisashi did enjoy Jiro's company. Eventhough he was now a ghost, it felt good to have someone to talk to, to banter with, in his usually empty apartment. He enjoyed having Jiro sitting opposite him on the table when he was having breakfast or dinner, hearing Ayu's happy meows and the dog's cute barks as they play together. He enjoyed watching television together, and smiled fondly whenever he saw Ayu and the dog curled up together, sleeping peacefully.

He got to show Jiro how to make good cocktails - eventhough he doubted that it would be much use considering that Jiro was not that much of a drinker - and Jiro taught him how to cook *properly* so that he didn't have to eat those pathetic cooks of his or have to buy takeaways whenever his housekeeper didn't come.

He didn't know that Jiro was a good chef, and he had told the blonde so when Jiro first taught him to cook. Jiro had just shrugged and grinned a little.

//… There is a lot of thing you don't know about me, Hisashi…//

That was indeed the truth and oh, how Hisashi regretted it. He wished he had got to know Jiro much better before the accident happened. He wished they were better friends. But it was too late, and there might not be any second chance to start it all over again.

He regretted it. He really did.

"What are you staring at, Hisa?" Jiro's voice snapped him out of his reverie.

Hisashi stared at Jiro who was still playing with Ayu. "…Nothing…" he mumbled.

Jiro grinned, his eyes twinkling mischievously. "Neee, you're jealous, aren't you?"

"About what?"

"Well, Ayu loves me and that she loves playing with me?" Jiro grinned, offering an answer.

Hisashi snorted. "Yeah right. I'm jealous over a cat"

"Well," Jiro shrugged. "You're usually very posessive about her, right, Ayu-chan?"

Ayu meowed happily in agreement. She jumped towards Jiro, hoping to land on Jiro's chest or shoulder, but instead went through Jiro and crashed the sofa. Hisashi couldn't help but snorted at the sight. Ayu looked particularly dazed for a moment, but then she brushed it away and happily trotted back to Jiro and lay comfortably near Jiro's hand, expecting to be petted. And Jiro did as she expected, which made her purred in contentment.

It had been almost a week since the first time Jiro's ghost appeared in front of him. And things weren't so bad either.

Hisashi gulped down his coffee and stood up.

"Where are you going?" Jiro asked.

Hisashi threw him the look. "Duh, to the practice" He grabbed his coat and guitar. "C'mon, or we'll -- *I'll* -- be late"

"Okay, okay," Jiro rolled his eyes, reluctantly stood up and petted Ayu one last time before he followed Hisashi. Ayu meowed dejectedly, but she stayed where she was. There'd be time to play again later.

* * *

Jiro frowned disapprovingly as the new song ended. Yeah, sure, Takuro had said it was good, but for Jiro, it wasn't good enough, especially the bass lines.

"That wasn't really good…" Jiro mumbled.

"Yeah?" Hisashi murmured, careful so the others didn't hear him.

"Yeah… okay, tell takuro to repeat this part and tell Ryo to play two notch higher at the end"

"Jiro, he knows what he is doing"

"Yeah, but when I come back, I won't play it that way. I want him to play two notch higher in this part" Jiro said stubbornly.

Hisashi sighed. Time for Jiro's very own stubborness. "Jiro…" he murmured warningly.

"Please, Hisa?"

Hisashi hissed lightly but surrendered anyway. Besides, he also wanted to know whether Jiro's suggestion was right or not. Jiro's feeling about bass lines was usually right, but if this proved out to be wrong, he'd laugh at Jiro's face later.

"Hisashi, something wrong?" Takuro asked. "You don't look particularly satisfied…"

Hisashi sighed. Blame it to the ghost beside him. "Ano… can we try to play it once again?"

Takuro raised an eyebrow. It was a bit unusual that Hisashi wanted to re-play the practice. Usually it was either him or Jiro who asked. "Why? Is there something that you think need improvisation?"

"…I just think that my guitar didn't really sound so good in the reff part and…" Hisashi stared at Ryo. "I think Ryo needs to play two notch higher towards the end of the song"

Ryo frowned, looking somewhat upset. "Hey, I know what to do, and I think my lines that I just did were good enough".

"It was good, but not good enough"

"How could you suggest so? I mean, I'm the one who play the bass and I think my lines fit the song very well!"

Jiro growled at Ryo's answer, but Hisashi looked as calm and cool as usual.

"Jiro would play it two notch higher" Hisashi replied cooly.

"Well, do take notes, for now I'm the bassist, not Jiro, and I'll do my lines"

"Only momentarily. When Jiro come back, he is the one who will play the bass, and he will play his own lines and why don't we just try it so that we don't have to try it all over again when Jiro insists to play his own lines, okay?"

Ryo was about to shoot back when Takuro cut him off. "Okay, why don't we just try it? If it turns out to be good, then we'll use it, but if it doesn't, then we'll use Ryo's lines, okay?"

All nodded in agreement.

They played the song again, Hisashi made some improvisasation with his guitar lines and Ryo, reluctantly, did what Hisashi just told him to do.

By the time the song ended, Takuro was grinning broadly. "Yeah, that did sound better!" he said excitedly. Hisasi just grinned, knowing that Jiro was grinning too beside him, and Ryo huffed and reluctantly agreeing that it was indeed better than his own lines.

"Wai!" Jiro said happily. "Thanks a lot Hisa!"

Hisashi just smiled a little. There gone his chance to laugh at Jiro's face, but since it did made the song sounded better, he didn't have any objection. He'd laugh at Jiro later, in other situation.

"Kewl job, Hisashi!" Teru complimented him. "I dunno that you can suggest improvisation for bass too!"

"Yeah, good job. I'm sure Jiro would be agree with your suggestion about the bass lines," Takuro added.

"Ah, it was nothing," Hisashi cooly answered. He grinned inwardly, knowing that Jiro would pout because they complimented him, instead of Jiro.

"You could tell that the idea was from me," Jiro pouted.

"Yeah, and have them thinking that I'm crazy?"

"Who thinks you are crazy?" Teru asked.

Hisashi was caught off guard. "No one!," Hisashi answered quickly, laughing a bit nervously. "Why would someone think I am crazy?"

Teru stared at Hisashi unsurely. "…Why indeed…," he mumbled.

"Man, Teru's getting suspicious…" Jiro said. "You should watch what you are doing, Hisa…"

"Then stop talking with me when there are other people around!" Hisashi snapped, annoyed, and he was rewarded with Teru's stunned expression.

"Gee, Hisa, do you have a problem or something?" Teru asked, upset at Hisa's sudden snap, not knowing that it was acually not directed to him.

"No!," Hisashi quickly said, grabbing Teru's hand who was about to turn to leave. "No, I'm sorry. Look, I don't mean to say it to you! I… I don't know what's wrong with me lately, but… I'm sorry. Okay?"

Teru stalled for a moment, looking deep into Hisashi's eyes, then his expression softened. "…Okay," he smiled. "That's okay. I guess. I understand, sometimes out of nowhere we are doing strange things like that"

Hisashi smiled, relieved, silently making a mental note to berate Jiro later. "Thanks, Teru"

"It's okay. Hey, we're going to bar after practice, you wanna come along?"

At any other time, when he hadn't been haunted by Jiro's ghost, he would've said yes. But now… he remembered the last time he went to the bar with them, got deliriously drunk and then unconsciously he started talking to Jiro's ghost. God, he wondered what the rest of them thought when they saw him talking to no one…

"Ah, … sorry, I pass. I've got an appointment with Izumi," he said, as a sudden excuse popped up in his head. Well, that wasn't entirely a lie either… he did have a date with Izumi tonight. He just hoped tonight would end well, not another of argument that happened quite often between them lately.

Teru laughed in understanding. "Oh, okay," he said. "I understand about things like that, Hisa"

Hisashi laughed a little too, small fake laugh, hoping that it was enough to trick Teru. When Teru turned away and left him alone, he turned to Jiro and glared daggers at him.

For Jiro, it only meant one thing, those Hisashi's trademark glares. And he silently hoped that he could just poof away so that he didn't have to face the long berate Hisashi had in store for him.

* * *

"Okay, so let's analyze this," Teru said as soon as Hisashi's was out of the listening range.

"Analyze what?" Takuro asked as he packed his guitar.

"Hisashi," Teru said simply, as if just by pointing out the guitarist name had made things clear for the two other people that was in the room with him. When neither Takuro nor Ryo gave him any reaction, Teru sighed. "He's been acting strange lately! C'mon, don't you guys notice?"

"Yeah, actually I did," Ryo said. "He has been somewhat nervous lately"

"That too," Teru nodded. "Besides, he sometimes… I dunno, sometimes it was as if he was talking to himself"

"I don't know about that talking to himself bit," Takuro spoke up. "But I did notice that he sometimes stared to something… well, let's just say something invicible"

Both Teru and Ryo turned to him. "…Something invicible?" they chorused, doubt clearly painting their voice.

"I *knew* I should've kept it to myself," Takuro muttered. "My reputation as a leader is at stake now…"

"Well, whatever it is, Hisashi did act strange lately," Teru said. "Did you guys know that he even snapped me to just stop talking to him?"

Silence.

"I guess that will happen sooner or later…" Takuro answered thoughtfully.

"Oi! I'm serious here!" Teru pouted. "He then quickly apologize and said it hadn't been meant to me, but besides me, who else could he have talked to? I was the only one with him!"

" I told you," Takuro said. "Something invicible"

"Something invicible like… he is delusional or something?" Ryo asked.

"It could be" Takuro shrugged.

"You don't look like you are worry, Takuro," Teru said. "With Jiro still in coma, what will happen if Hisashi behaves like this?"

"Speaking about Jiro," Takuro said. "How is his condition? You visit him before going here, right?"

Teru's shoulders slumped. "Still no progress in his condition," he answered sadly. "The doctor said that his condition doesn't improve any bit…"

Takuro patted Teru's back, trying to comfort him. Teru and - surprisingly - Hisashi were the ones who visited Jiro the most.

"Well, back to Hisashi," Ryo said suddenly, trying to ease up the mood, and he received thankful glance from Takuro. "Maybe Takuro is right afterall"

"You think so?"

"Yeah, maybe Hisashi really is seeing things… you know, things that only he can see…"

"Like what?" Teru quirked up an eyebrow. Then his eyes widened as a thought dawned on him. "… Ghost??"

"If it's ghost, why can't we see it too?"

"Maybe Hisashi has a special ability to see things like that…"

"Like what?" Takuro asked. "That he has genes from cats or dogs? I hear that cats and dogs can see things that are invicible to ordinary people"

All three of them burst out into laughters as they tried to imagine what Takuro had just said.

"Yeah right," Teru said between his giggles. "Maybe hanging out too much with Ayu did rub off some of her special abilities to him"

"Well, it doesn't always have to be ghost," Ryo said after they finished laughing. "You know, maybe he has… I dunno, an …imaginery friend?"

There was sudden silence as Teru and Takuro gave the red head a long, blank stare.

"Hisashi and his imaginery friend?" Takuro raised his brows. "And her name is Alice, I suppose?"

Teru broke into giggling fit at Takuro's answer. "Well, duh, Ryo," Teru said. "This is *Hisashi* we are talking about. Hi-sa-shi. He and the cute idea of imaginery friend really doesn't match"

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Ryo said, grinning a little.

Teru took a long drag of his ever-present cigarette. "But Hisashi did behave strangely," he said again. "Do you remember the last time we went to bar with him? Two nights ago? He got so drunk and then he was practically talking to the empty seat beside him!"

"Maybe that was why he declined your offer to go to bar again"

"But it's a bit worrying too," Takuro said thoughtfully. "It'll be bad if the media hear about this. Imagine one day, printed on some mags, that GLAY's guitarist - not me of course - has this habit to talk to himself. Man, we'll be in danger…"

"Maybe we should warn him not to talk to himself in front of public" Ryo said.

"You'll be dead before you even have the chance to say that," Teru said. He shuddered. "How Hisashi would react if he knew that we thought he was crazy… hey, on the second thought, do we think that he is crazy?"

"No, of course not, Teru," Takuro sighed, grabbing his guitar case. "Now why don't we just stop discussing about this? We don't know what is really happening, besides, I wanna go home. I'm drop dead tired and I need my beauty sleep"

Teru and Ryo stared at him as if he had grown two heads and was speaking martian, gaping slightly.

"I'm just kidding! Sheesh," Takuro shook his head. "Besides, only Teru does the beauty sleep. Not me"

"Hey!"

"Well then, I'm going home now," Takuro said as he walked to the door. "Ja, and don't be late to practice tomorrow! And Teru, don't worry too much about Hisashi. I'm sure he's okay"

Ryo picked up his bass too, preparing to leave. "Yeah, Teru, maybe it's just his period. You know, when he would act all strange and things like that. We all have those times, don't we?"

Teru smiled a little, walking to the door as well. "Yeah, maybe…"