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She could hear him calling her but the whispers started to speak up again louder than before. Was she still in the dream? Was she just in another dream? The Shun in her dream said it would be alright too. It wouldn't be alright, that's what she kept hearing. That's what the whispers kept telling her.

Even as he wrapped his arms around her Mitsu curled up tighter, her hands placed firmly against her ears as she tried in vain to block out the noise. What she had witnessed in her sleep had been too much for her to bear. "Ginji...." She whined, the tears still falling freely down her face.

"Is Ginji here?" She couldn't bring herself to look up but Mitsu moved her hand enough so that she could listen. If Ginji was there she knew she was still in the dream, still stuck. What would she do? What if she was stuck in a trance forever. Would she just wither and die?

"But he was here and so were my parents," She spoke in broken words in between her tears. Taking a few deep breaths she tried to calm down, letting everything settle back into place. This was reality wasn't it? It felt familiar yet still confusing.

"I...I still hear them...the voices..." Mitsu said softly. Already her knees were touching her forehead. She could curl up no tighter but her body was stiff and rigid and anxiety.

It took a while but Shun finally got some results out of lightly rubbing her back. "T-They kept trying to keep me...keep me in a strange place that wasn't my home. I...I didn't want to leave them but it wasn't real." Talking about it only made the tears flow more but she finally unwound enough that her body wasn't so tense.

A little more and Mitsu's arms were reaching out toward Shun, seeking to wrap around his middle as she pulled herself close. It wasn't entirely reassuring to hear that the voices had left Shun and she could still hear them. While she was glad he was no longer afflicted it made her worry if it was ever going to fade. Would she hear them forever? Would they only get worse? The louder whispers seemed to make her think so.

"I..I don't understand why I can still hear them....I want it to stop." She wanted just a moment of peace and quiet. Only a moment where her paranoia wasn't spiking and she wouldn't ask for anything more.

Furrowing her brow, Mitsu simply buried her face in Shun's torso. The thought of meditation, if it worked, sounded promising. It was just concentrating so that it worked. Mitsu hadn't been very good at it before and now with an added distraction she was sure it would only be worse. It was worth a shot though, it was better than sitting here miserable listening to whispers.

"I..It's worth a try," Mitsu nodded. Slowly she began to relax against him, despite the lingering noise, doing her best to focus on the hand brushing against her hair. It was soothing on its own. "T-tea doesn't sound bad..." Mitsu agreed.

Despite the agreement to tea Mitsu wasn't all that quick to move away. She was still soaking up the fact that she wasn't dreaming, that this was reality. Being close to Shun was at least helping the waking process though it didn't really ease the whispers.

She finally loosened her hold after he bent down to give her a kiss, pulling away as he scooted off the bed to heat up some water. Slowly she pushed herself up, sitting on her knees on the bed, a hand coming up to lightly touch the side of her head. Instantly she flinched as soon as her fingers touched the still healing wounds. Yes, this was certainly reality. It hurt too much physically to be otherwise. Mentally though, the dream was much more painful.

It wasn't long before a hot cup of tea was placed in her hands and Mitsu held it close, staring down into the contents while she waited for it to cool. She could almost picture her brother's face. It had felt so good to see him, such a relief after the shock had worn away. She had just settled into the fact that he was actually there along with her parents...and she had chosen to abandon that false reality. It was for the better though wasn't it? No one could dream forever.

"I...I guess I'm ready when you are." Mitsu said finally taking a sip of tea, the warm liquid soothing her just a little.

Get into a comfortable position. Alright that seemed easy enough. Mitsu set her cup of tea aside for the moment before crawling back to the edge of the bed to have a seat with her legs crossed Indian style. She did her best from that point to follow his instruction allowing herself or rather forcing herself to relax as she took in slow deep breaths.

He said to focus on her breathing and so that's what she did, paying careful attention to the way the air entered and left her body, the way it filled her lungs before she exhaled outward. Breath in, Breath out. She kept thinking this over and over until she was no longer paying attention to the whispers. It was sort of relaxing in a way...but now what?

"W...what do I do now?" Mitsu asked softly, opening her eyes to look at Shun. She didn't seem to have the same pained expression as before. Whatever she was doing was working it was just a matter of focus.

"O..oh so I just....keep going." Before when Mitsu had tried this the incense had forced her into a calm state. Now she was on her own trying to clear her head. She hoped nothing like what happened before would come up. The visions and random thoughts.

Closing her eyes she tried again. It was a simple process just breath, don't think just breath. But now she was thinking. She was thinking of the time on the Isles and when she had tried to meditate before. The horrible things she had seen not to mention the nightmares she had since.

The more she thought the louder the whispers became, her lips pulling into a tight line as she fought to keep up what she was doing, her brow creasing with the mental effort.

The moment in the haunted house. Mitsu could remember herself sitting by as Shun drew his blade across Stacey's neck.

The whispers were closer, whispering doubts about her decision to do nothing. She couldn't even decide what she thought was right she just knew the hunter was a danger. Was that a good enough reason to take his life? He wasn't just a bug or other non-sentient being. No doubt he had friends, family even, feelings, and maybe even dreams just like that they did and they had all been taken away.

Suddenly the moment on the battlefield was clear. The hunters had won. The four clans were in ruins and all the remained was an angry phoenix made of insanity. As it ravaged the battled field Mitsu could remember the anger that had taken over.

The whispers were close now, coming from all angles. It was like she was listening to them in surround sound. They would fade in and out but they all said the same thing. She was a failure, she was incapable of doing anything, incapable of helping and making a difference.

Riley's body of stone, lifeless and petrified. Mitsu hadn't attacked her but she had been unable to help her.

Mitsu's expression was pained and distressed, she couldn't concentrate on anything but the noise and the terrible visions that kept popping up in her mind because of them.

A different vision, Shun standing at the end of a long corridor. He looked back toward her the door beyond dark and ominous. Dark tendrils of smoke were billowing out of the door wrapping around the reaper and pulling him in. Mitsu knew if she couldn't get to him in time that it would be to late but she couldn't bring herself to move. She was losing him and she couldn't even run to him.

Dead silence. For a brief moment there was nothing and then the whispers were all around her in full force. Finally Mitsu brought her hands up to her ears shaking her head as she tried to block out the noise.