That night, as everyone was asleep in the Tsukumo home, a figure whose white color was broken up by the dark patches on its body roamed around the dark, silent house. It snapped, a sound that echoed throughout the house yet caused no one to wake, and a thin but sturdy needle shot out of its right hand. It looked at the needle attached to its hand with a blank stare before grinning dully.

Eerily enough, it made its way through the house as if it lived there its whole life. The being approached one of the rooms and looked at the door with dull eyes, the smile still plastered on its lips. It knocked softly to see if the person was awake. Not that she would put much of a fight, but it was still nice to have some fun before the night was over.

"Haru," he sang as he picked the lock with the needle that was jutting out of his palm. He opened the door softly. "Wake up, Haru."

The old woman was laying on her back, sleeping soundly while her attacker approached her, needle-hand out and ready to strike. But he wanted her awake. It wouldn't be fun if she didn't put up a fight, or at least scream. So, he started to shake her.

"Haru!" he sang softly. "Wakey, wakey!"

Haru woke up and looked into the eyes of someone she felt she knew.

~.~.~

Astral woke up the next morning and decided to make breakfast for the family before they all went out to work and school. This morning, though, it felt off. Haru wasn't out of her room when she was usually the first one up. Was she finally getting sick in her old age? After making breakfast for all of them, Astral made his way to Haru's room to see what the problem was.

"Grandma!" he sang cheerily. "Good morning!"

No one answered through the door. 

Astral frowned slightly, but he smiled again as he knocked the door. "Wakey, wakey! It's time for breakfast!"

Still, no one answered.

Another frown. Maybe she had a rough night and just needed some rest. Yeah, that had to be it. Still, he couldn't shake the bad feeling that something happened last night.

So he opened the door.

Akari and Yuma shot straight up out of bed when they heard a horrified scream. Not even bothering to change out of their pajamas, the siblings hurried to their grandmother's room, where Astral was shaking madly and pressing his hands to his mouth.

"Astral, what happened!?" Akari demanded, looking into the room only to go bone white.

"Akari?" Yuma called tentatively. "Is something wrong?"

She could only shake her head, though. Yuma had to keep shaking her to get a response, and when he got one, it certainly wasn't one he liked. "Yuma...you should see for yourself..."

Hearing her nearly dead mumble, Yuma gulped and steeled himself for the worst. He peeked into Haru's room and had to stop himself from screaming as loudly as Astral had.

Haru was sprawled on her bed, a look of surprise on her face, which was splattered with what could only be her own blood. Her mouth would have been a surprised o if not for the fact that her bottom jaw was ripped from her face. Her stomach was torn open, her organs splayed out from their origins. Unlike Tetsuo, Kazuma, and Mirai, she didn't go missing. She was murdered.

His breath nearly whistling, Astral fainted.

~.~.~

One nearly hysterical but firm phone call later, the police and paramedics were called. While there was obviously nothing they could do for Haru, Astral was almost breathless with hysteria and needed to be treated before he stopped breathing, and Yuma was paralyzed with shock and needed to be brought back to reality. Akari was the only one who recovered from her shock and made the phone call to the police and paramedics.

Finally, the body was taken, and after getting some information from Akari, the police left. The paramedics, having done everything they could do, were the last to leave. Yuma, who recovered from his shock, started pacing around. Astral was finally able to catch his breath, but he broke down in tears immediately after. In the end, none of them were capable of leaving the house that day.

In the afternoon, there was a knocking on the door. Both boys were finally calmed down, but it was Akari who opened it. "Hello?"

"Hello, Akari," Kotori said politely. Beside her, Cathy was twiddling her thumbs shyly. She softly echoed Kotori's greeting. "We noticed that Yuma wasn't at school, and we wanted to see how he was doing."

"They're in their room," Akari sighed. "We had quite a scare this morning. I hope you'll be able to help them."

The girls went into the room and made their way to Astral's room, where the brothers were sitting on the bed, Yuma holding Astral tight in his arms. The younger of the two was breathing in shuddering breaths, and both their eyes were ringed red, as though they'd spent the day crying. Not a word passed between them; it was odd to see Yuma so silent.

"Yuma?" Kotori called. "Astral?"

The brothers looked up. It was Yuma who spoke. His expression was pained, but he forced a thin smile. "Hey Kotori. Hey Cathy. What's up?"

"We thought we'd check on you after missing you at school. Akari mentioned that you two had a scare this morning."

Yuma nodded. "Yeah." He didn't say anything more. It was just like the time they'd lost their parents.

Astral managed to wiggle out of Yuma's grip and stand up. "I'll...I'll be back..." he mumbled as he walked out the door.

"He doesn't look so good," Cathy noted in her whispered tone. "This must be hitting him hard."

"It is. The last time he was like this, Mom and Dad disappeared." Yuma sighed. "I hope this isn't going to impact him too badly, though. He's always been the weakest one, emotionally."

The girls sat on the bed with Yuma. They didn't say a word, but the silence between them all was a comfortable silence.

~.~.~

Astral walked to Haru's room to see if something was there, just like when Tetsuo died. Would it be another card? If so, what number would it be?

He didn't have to wait long to find out. He was soon in Haru's room. Her body was gone, the room was clean, but it was still disturbing to enter; it was as though the spirit of the murderer still lingered, giving the room an eerie air. His feet carried him cautiously into the room and towards the bed. And there it was, just as he predicted. A card laid on the bed, pristine and neat, not a wrinkle or fold on it. Astral picked up the card.

It was Number 8. As soon as it was picked up, it glimmered and shimmered, absorbing itself into Astral's chest just like Number 25 did, though there was no passing out this time. A voice spoke in his mind again.

Remember why you're here. The boy will take care of you.

A/N: :D