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still didn’t know if he had a girlfriend and I wasn’t going to ask. Katie said she would ask for me.
    Mom reminded us all that it was getting late so I went upstairs.
    I put on a t-shirt and some pajama pants and turned out the light. Lying under the covers, I thought about Ren, how sweet he was to his little sisters and nice to everyone else. In the darkness I closed my eyes, thinking that I should get to sleep, but then I slid off my bed and knelt down to say my prayers. I thought about Ren, but I didn’t mention him. It didn’t matter. I’m pretty sure He knew.
     
     

 
     
     
                                                                         
    CHAPTER FIVE
    Ren
                 
                  Dad and I shoved the bookshelf against the wall. We could hear the girls giggling down the hall in the bathroom as they brushed their teeth before bed. The girls' bedroom looked cozy in the lamp light, their toys arranged  in baskets and bins around the room and their pink comforters pulled back and waiting for them.
                  I reached for the first box of books and opened it with the boxcutter. Dad held out his hand and I gave the cutter to him. We tried not to have more than one boxcutter out at a time so we didn't accidentally leave any lying around for the girls to get to. Watching out for them had become second nature to me. I was ten years old when they were born, so I kind of feel like I helped to raise them.
                  My sisters' Yurei had appeared to me the moment they were born, even before I saw them as babies. Jenny would be in college studying biochemical engineering. Jenny was in college for art and had no idea what she wanted to do. They were both pretty, and they had a strong bond with each other that I instantly envied. I still did, even though they were only five years old. Watching them grow up had made me wish I had a twin, a constant best friend. It made my peculiar loneliness even harder.
                  I picked up a handful of books and began stacking them on the shelf. I couldn't tell MacKenzie about her brother. Derek would suffer some kind of brain injury that would change him. He wouldn't be playing football much longer, I didn't think. I didn't know exactly when the event, whatever it was, would happen, but I felt like it was soon. She was so happy right now, and so unaware. Well, because she was supposed to be. I rearranged the books by size, my fingers lingering on the spines of the thick, childish books. Should I warn her? I knew I couldn't. I didn't even know what would happen, just that Derek would be different. His speech would be slower and he would have trouble finding words. I wasn't sure if he would be able to finish school. His Yurei had a strange innocence for a man his age.
                  My future wife's brother would be brain damaged. I shoved the books in a little harder than I meant to and Dad looked over at me. I ignored him and grabbed the next stack. I didn't want a future wife! I didn't want to get sucked into her life, but it was happening. Why was I so drawn to her? Would I have been attracted to her without having seen her Yurei ? I would never know.
                  “One more box,” my dad said, giving me a small smile. He still wore his button-down shirt from work, the crisp, starched sleeves rolled up. He wasn't a big man; I was already taller. He had the Tanaka features, the high arched brows and the thin lips. At the moment his eyes were worried.
                  He seemed to know that I always had something else on my mind.
                  “That didn't take long,” I said, apologetic. I hated when they worried about me. There wasn't anything they could do to help.
                  “How is school?” he asked, his eyes searching my face. He had a strong