Mitsuba Sousuke X Reader - Blog Posts

“Come back to me, I’ll wait for you.”

Devastated and exhausted, you were still mourning losing Mitsuba a second time. You refused to get out of bed, and only did when Teru asked you to because your grades were a mess. Kou decided to show you the photos Mitsuba had took before. The incident. You tried spending most of your time with Yokoo and Satou, who didn’t really know why you were upset but still tried to comfort you. After the you did your part of helping them get rid of the hands, you thought you were done with supernaturals for the day. But when Kou dragged you off saying Yashiro had gone missing, and you needed to enter some boundary and he wanted you there. You kind of had to tag along. But unexpectedly, you find someone there.

Warnings: Cursing, reader feeling like shit (‘m sorry about that), comforting from Yokoo and Satou, Kou also sorta feeling like shit, your aunt trying to help you out of bed but still keep you safe, some angst again, etc,.

(A/N) : Last chapter of Act I!! Hope you enjoy it. I’ve been feeling like absolute shit these past few days so writing this to distract myself has made me feel so much better. I’m pretty sure this is proofread but if there’s anything wrong with it lmk!!

Prev. << Next end of Act I

You couldn’t bring yourself to get out of bed, not for anything. Not even after the countless times Yokoo and Satou begged you to come, not after Yashiro came over to try and get you up, not even after your aunt talked to you about it.

You just couldn’t.

You’d spent more nights crying than you could ever count, and kept thinking back to that moment. The squelching noise, that scream. It all haunted you like there was no tomorrow.

Your aunt had to bring you in food, and make sure you actually ate it. She sat with you while you cried about it, and she hugged you through it. She even called in sick from work to stay at home just for a day to comfort you.

“Shhh.. hey it’s okay.” She tried to reassure for the nth time this day.

You didn’t seem to be getting better.

“It’s not okay! There should’ve been something I could’ve done! Something I didn’t do.” You cried into your pillow, eyes red and puffy from all your tears.

She pursed her lips, not knowing what to do to comfort you. Nothing seemed to help. All she could do was make sure you ate and drink a little water. And of course make sure you didn’t do anything stupid, she was still a bit paranoid from what happened.

Out of no where, there was a knock on the door.

“Ah.. I’ll go get it.” She said, giving you one last pitiful glance before heading downstairs.

“Hey is (Y/N) here?” You heard someone say.

“Yeah she’s upstairs in her room.” Your aunt replied.

“Okay thank you.” They answered.

You heard footsteps, and groaned.

“Look Yokoo, I already said I don’t want to get up—“

“It’s not Yokoo.” Teru chuckled.

He walked over to your bed and sat with you.

“You doing okay? You and Kou both seem really out of it.” He asked, moving his hand to rub soothing circles in your back.

“No.” Was all you could answer, knowing how he felt about spirits you knew you probably shouldn’t tell him why.

“Listen, you need to come back to school. Your grades are plummeting so bad right now, and your friends miss you a lot.” Teru explained, making you lightly chuckle.

“Great, thanks so much for adding more stress! I thought it was impossible but somehow you did.” You answered sarcastically with a sigh.

He only playfully rolled his eyes, “Look, if it helps anything—I’ll help you with your missing work.”

“Just please come back to school? We all miss you a lot. And I think both you and Kou could use some support.” He pleaded, his pretty blue eyes sparkled with determination to get you out of bed.

You groaned, falling back onto your bed.

“I don’t know..” you mumbled.

“I won’t try to exorcise Hanako for..” he paused “a few days.”

You snorted, shaking your head with a fond smile.

“Deal.”

He smiled.

“Okay. It’s only 9:20, so you still have time to get to school. Even if it’s late, don’t worry I’ll excuse you.” He assured, “so get ready and I’ll walk you to school.”

You sighed as you got out of bed, and he went to wait downstairs for you.

You got dressed, and went into the bathroom to wash your face and do the rest of your skincare routine so you didn’t look like you’d been crying so much, and after you were satisfied that you didn’t look like a total mess as bad, you walked downstairs to find Teru.

He was sitting on the couch, just scrolling around on his phone. You went to go out on your shoes, and swung your backpack over your shoulder. He turned his phone off and stood up.

“You ready?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

.

.

Teru walked you into the middle school divison, and quickly took you with him to the student council room.

“Hang on, wait one second let me just do something real quick.” He hummed, unlocking his computer and opened what seemed to be an attendance sheet and marked your name off as ‘excused tardy’.

“Okay, ‘m gonna go drop you off at class and tell the teacher that you were late cause of my fault.” He explained, already leading you towards your second period class.

He opened the door for you and allowed you in, and went to go whisper something to the teacher. Yokoo looked at you excitedly, and Satou smiled upon seeing you. You didn’t see Kou in his seat, so you assumed he was out with Hanako and Yashiro.

“What made you feel like getting up out of bed?” Yokoo asked curiously.

“Are you hungry? I have some sweets with me.” Satou asked, digging around in his backpack to look for said sweets.

“Teru dragged me out of bed.” You exaggerated with a sigh, leaning against Yokoo dramatically.

Satou just shook his head with a smile, and Yokoo played along pretending to catch you.

“Well did you sleep good at least?” Yokoo asked.

You paused for a moment.

“..Definitely.”

“Liar.” Satou sighed “Here, have some.” He said, offering you some of his sweets.

You took a few, thanking Satou.

“You seemed pretty down enough to not come to school for a few days.. you hadn’t been that down since Mitsuba—“ Yokoo stopped himself.

“Oh god, I’m so sorry.” He winced apologetically, realizing what he just brought up.

You pursed your lips, but you couldn’t get mad at Yokoo. You knew he and Satou were only worried and meant no harm.

“It’s fine, but can someone catch me up on what we’re learning? I’m a little lost.” You chuckled nervously, trying lighten up the mood—trying to forget about Mitsuba.

“Yeah, no problem!” Yokoo chirped.

Yokoo and Satou explained the lesson for you, letting you copy down their notes so you wouldn’t fall too behind. You groaned as you leaned back in your seat, already hating how much you missed in your absence.

“Where’s Kou by the way?” You asked, sitting back up after a few more moments.

“Oh him? All he said is he’d be busy, I don’t think he’s been in class at all.” Satou hummed.

“You should probably go see him, he didn’t look too good.” Yokoo suggested, kicking his feet lightly.

“I will after class.”

.

.

The bell had long since rung, and kids rushed out to their next class. Yokoo and Satou had said their goodbyes and told you they’d see you at lunch, so you were trying to get your stuff altogether.

“Don’t think of running off with those cockroaches.” Teru sighed as he waited by the door for you.

You jumped a bit, not really expecting him to wait for you after class.

“They aren’t cockroaches..” you mumbled, slinging your backpack over your shoulder and he gave you a look that said ‘are you sure about that?’.

You sighed, “Okay, maybe some are. But they aren’t all.” you tried to explain.

You paused, biting your lip a bit “But I’m not gonna do anything having to do with the supernatural anytime soon, so I won’t run off.”

Teru gave you a satisfied smile.

“Why are you even here? Are you going to make sure I don’t skip off to Hanako and the others or?” You trailed off.

“No,” Teru denied “I was actually here to pick you up.”

“I talked to the teachers and let them know you’d be with me for the rest of the day,” he hummed.

“Working on your missing assignments.”

You groaned as you made your way towards the door, looking at Teru with pleading eyes as if it would convince him to just let you go with the others. He smiled and shook his head fondly, leading you towards the student council room.

“Oh and by the way,” he said opening the door for you “I let Kou know you’re here so I’m sure he’ll stop by soon.”

“Soon like now?” Kou asked as he entered the student council room.

“I thought you’d stop by later but yeah, soon.” Teru confirmed with a hum.

“Can I borrow (Y/N)?” Kou asked, leaning against the doorframe.

“For what?” Teru asked.

“Something.” Was all Kou managed to mutter.

“No, sorry. After she finishes at least half of this work,” Teru emphasized, referring to the small stack of packets and papers that you thought to be your missing assignments “then you can take her for a bit.”

You groaned, flopping down on the seat in front of Teri’s desk.

“So mean.” Kou mumbled with a pout, walking out.

“So,” Teru cleared his throat, dropping a small stack of papers in front of you “let’s get started.”

You pouted with a whine, letting your head fall forward and hitting the desk in frustration.

.

.

The bell had rung a fourth time since you’ve gotten there, and it was now time for lunch.

“Well, your a little bit close to halfway done.” Teru mumbled holding up a pinch of the paperwork, holding it up to examine it.

Kou burst through the door, swinging it open.

“It’s lunch time now, and I’m pretty sure (Y/N)’s hungry.” Kou said, trying to indirectly hint if it was okay to borrow you now.

“Go ahead but be back right after.” Teru instructed, and you just pouted with a nod.

“Great,” Kou mumbled, grabbing hold of your wrist “will definitely—“ he sprinted out with you “not.”

Kou laughed a bit, but when he noticed you didn’t seem to even smile his expression dropped.

He came to a stop, at the staircase leading up to the roof, sitting down on a bench nearby.

“You doing okay?” Kou asked.

“Not really.” You muttered, sitting by him.

“Well I have something to show you.” Kou smiled, bringing something from his backpack’s front pocket.

He took it out gingerly, as if it was the most fragilest of glass and would break with even the slightest wrong look.

They were Mitsuba’s developed pictures.

“I had them printed out as soon as I could..” he whispered, though he didn’t know why if it was just the two of you “I already looked at them last night, but—“ his voice cracked a bit as he chuckled lightly “I thought you might want to see them too.”

He carefully handed the small stack of photos to you, and you—just as carefully—took them.

There were many pictures.

Some were meant to be funny, and others were genuinely beautiful.

Like when Kou got attacked by the mother cat when he tried grabbing one of it’s kitten’s. Or when Mitsuba took that photo of Kou while he was standing on his shoulders.

There were also some like the birds nest, and of some he took while in the school garden. But the one that made you tear up—

Was the one he took of you and Kou.

You grit your teeth in frustration, in anger—thinking back to that moment.

“I’ll make that asshole pay one way or another.” You say through a choked out sob.

Kou looked at you with a solemn face, pursing his lips before placing a comforting hand on your shoulder “And I’ll be there to help you when you do.”

You looked at him, and he looked at you. And for the first time since you both had met, you didn’t laugh at the eye contact. Instead, your eyes welled up with regretful tears, tears of grievance at its finest.

“Oh, there you two are!” Yokoo exclaimed gleefully, practically skipping towards you both as Satou trailed behind him.

“What’re you two weirdo’s doing?” Satou joked, sitting beside you as Yokoo sat on the other side of Kou.

Yokoo shot him a glare after realizing you and Kou were on the verge of tears, and Satou immediately took the hint that now wasn’t the time for that.

“Wanna tell us what’s going on?” Satou finally said after a few moments of silence.

Yokoo pursed his lips when he got no answer from either of you, so he spoke up too.

“Look, whatever you both are going through. You can tell us, you know that right?” Yokoo asked, but continued after still the both of you didn’t answer “Just know we’re here for you. Whatever you guys are going through, we’ll get through it altogether.” he looked over at Satou “Right, Satou?”

“Yeah of course. We’re all friends, and as friends we have to look out for each other.” Satou agreed with a hum.

There was a few more seconds of silence before anyone spoke again.

“You ever know that feeling…” you finally managed to croak out after a while longer “when you thought you finally found something you lost a long while ago, someon—“ you stopped yourself before continuing “something very special to you, and then for someone to just. Snatch it out of your hands?”

Kou lightly chuckled, but it came out sadder than he intended “And when you actually got to see another side of a person you just met, and got to know them better—only for them to disappear the next second?”

Satou and Yokoo exchanged glances, as if they were trying to communicate with each other to see what you guys meant by that. But they found themselves empty minded.

“I don’t necessarily understand,” Yokoo started, already hugging Kou to provide some sort of comfort “but I know whatever it is. It’s really tough for you to be feeling like this.”

“Yeah,” Satou confirmed, hugging you too, connecting with Yokoo to form a group hug “we’re your friends. And as your friends we wanna tell you that you don’t have to go through this alone.”

And just then, you broke down in tears, babbling about how you lost someone so special to you a second time and this time you’ll never get them back. Kou followed soon after, except he just silently cried.

“Shhh.. there, there.” Yokoo whispered “Let it all out.”

The two boys hugged you both as you cried, comforting you in silence.

“God you guys are the best.” You hiccuped with a small chuckle that came out more as a sob.

Satou smiled, and Yokoo just replied “We know.”

.

.

After a while longer, the bell rang again. You, Satou, Kou, and Yokoo had been talking, the two mostly trying to distract you guys from crying—trying to get a smile out of you.

From around the corner, Teru came and you groaned.

“C’mon, it’s time to get back to your missing work.” Teru hummed, leaning against the wall as he waited for you to get up.

You pouted, but got up and said your goodbyes.

“You didn’t actually eat,” Teru began as you started walking back to the student council room “did you?”

And as if on cue, your stomach rumbled, and you flushed out of embarrassment. Teru sighed, turning in a different direction.

“Let’s get you something to eat.. I think I might have a spare lunch in the office.” Teru explained.

And he did, luckily for you. After taking one bite, you almost immediately recognized it as Kou’s cooking—and practically gobbled up the rest of it.

“Woah, slow down your going to end up choking.” Teru laughed.

“But it’s Kou’s cooking!” You pouted, taking another bite “You could never.”

“Okay that was ONE time.” Teru groaned, remembering how he nearly burnt down their kitchen.

“Yeah, that ‘ONE’ time was a near death experience for me.” You sighed dramatically, making Teru smile.

“It’s good to see your somewhat better now.” He hummed.

“What do you mean?” You asked, taking one last bite of the delicious lunch Kou prepared.

“I mean, your not as gloomy right now as you were earlier.” He smiled, ruffling your hair.

You swatted his hands away from your hair, “Must’ve been the magic of Kou’s cooking.”

“Must’ve.” Teru agreed, “Now that I know you won’t be complaining about an empty stomach,” he dropped the rest of your missing assignments in front of you “we can finish this.”

“So mean to me.”

.

.

For the next few days you tried to get over it. But I mean, you couldn’t, really. If you thought losing someone the first time was hard, imagine losing them a second time. Yokoo and Satou tried to help too, they kept you busy, and Yokoo even found out some way to let you in his soccer practice to ‘blow off some steam’ as he put it.

“God, I don’t understand how you’re able to do this for what?” You asked, taking a sip from the water bottle Yokoo had given you, to which he replied “About an hour and a half.”

“I can’t even last ten minutes.” You chuckled lightly.

“But you’re distracted, right?” He asked, gently nudging you with his shoulder.

You smiled, “I am actually.”

He smiled right back, “Then that’s all that matters.”

“Now c’mon, let’s go back to practice—“ Yokoo got up and beckoned you towards him, when Kou came along “Sorry Yokoo but I REALLY need to borrow. (Y/N) for a bit.”

“Okay, see you later then (Y/N).” Yokoo exclaimed as he ran back to the rest of his teammates.

“See ya!” You shouted after him.

“What is it?” You asked, turning around to Kou.

“There’s a bunch of hands, just popping around everywhere.” Kou explained “Hanako suggested we play with them so they’ll go away, so far it’s worked.”

“What is that have to do with me?” You sighed.

Kou gave you a playfully glare, rolling his eyes fondly.

“We could use the extra hands.” He hummed, making you chuckle a bit.

“Don’t you already have a lot?” You joked. “Need more hands to get rid of the extra hands.” You snorted.

“Well will you help?” Kou asked, he paused before adding “I know you’re trying to take a break from anything supernatural right now but we could use the help.”

You thought about it for a second, but gave in when you saw the pleading look in his eyes.

“Fine.” You sighed, making Kou cheer.

.

.

“That should be the last of them!” Hanako exclaimed, jumping around in the air excitedly.

“Whew.” You say, slumping against one of the bathroom stall doors.

Out of no where, a hand appeared from the bathroom mirror, and Yashiro approached it.

“Just one left!” Yashiro informed, looking back at it.

“That actually wore me out..” Hanako whined, making you chuckle “one of those guys hit me.”

You ‘coughed’, “Sounds like a major skill issue.” which earned you a playful glare from Hanako.

“Most of the pictures are all cleaned up too.” Kou confirmed, flipping through the yearbook.

“Wait..” Kou paused “now that I look at it.. you’re wearing a different uniform in this picture.”

“That’s from last year!” Yashiro chirped, looking over Kou’s shoulder to see better “When I was in middle school.”

“Cool!” Kou exclaimed.

“But wow,” he then continued “these are really good pictures.”

“Yeah! We had a kid from the photography club take them,” Yashiro hummed “I’m pretty sure his name should be on the last page.”

You and Kou gave each other a hesitant look, and you walked over to check too. And there it was.

Mitsuba Sousuke.

Out of no where, the hand from the mirror grabbed Yashiro’s wrist, and she hummed “What is it?”

“Have you decided what you want to pl—“ the hand cut her off, a mouth morphed onto its figure.

“Come to this side.”

It began to drag her inside the mirror.

“Yashiro!” Both Hanako and Kou panicked.

“Hanako!” Yashiro managed to yelp out.

Said ghost boy quickly got up “Grab my—“ but it was too late, his fingers just barely skimmed hers as she was sucked into the mirror like some type of portal.

“She’s…” Kou paused.

“gone.” I mumbled, and as if on cue—a droplet of water fell from the sink faucet.

Panicked, Kou got up and shouted “I’m coming Yashiro!” As he tried to force himself through the mirror.

“Kid! Stop it kid! Bad kid!” Hanako yelled, grabbing Kou from under his arms to pull him away from the mirror, making you giggle a bit at the way Hanako was referring to Kou as ‘kid’ “Don’t break the mirror!”

“That’s a boundary..” Hanako began to explain “specifically number 3’s”

“School mystery number three?” Kou asked.

“Yes.” Hanako muttered in agreement.

“I mean there’s a really only one supernatural mirror leading to this place—“ Hanako got interrupted.

“The hell of mirrors, right?” You asked “I don’t know how I know that but I do.”

“Yeah, so it has to be this one.” Hanako informed before sighing “I would like to go with her immediately but..” he paused.

“To put it simply, when you go into number 3’s boundary it attacks you.. with things you don’t want to see. Things you’re afraid of.” He looked at you both before continuing “In other words, the strength of the boundary changes based on who’s inside. If I’m not careful, I could make it stronger just by going I’m there.”

But you and Kou weren’t really paying attention, you were both looking at the yearbook Mitsuba had taken pictures for.

“Hey have you two been listening to me at all?” Hanako whined, grabbing onto your shoulders.

In a panic, Kou shut the book at faced him “You were telling us about how filthy your mind is sir!”

That alone made you burst into laughter as Hanako stared in disbelief, then muttered “Yeah well.. I won’t deny that.”

“We have to figure out what to do and fast.” Kou sighed, you felt bad seeing him look so worried for Yashiro’s safety.

“Yeah.” Hanako mumbled.

“Because number 3’s approach is most likely going to depend on what Yashiro is afraid of.” You mumbled, earning a shocked glance from Hanako which turned into a smirk.

“Hey you’re a quick learner aren’t you?” He teased “You caught on faster than Mr. Exorcist here.”

“I know you said you didn’t want anything to do with the supernatural or ghosts for a while, but I think Mr. Tsuchigomori might know something.” Hanako rambled.

“So can you please help?” They asked.

“Please?” Kou begged “For your favorite exorcist.”

“And your favorite apparition.” Hanako added with a sly grin.

“Who said you two were my favorites?” You asked sarcastically, but still smiled.

“Alright fine, but if he doesn’t know something I won’t be helping out.” You finally gave in.

Hanako and Kou both cheered, jumping around like children anxious to go trick-or-treating on Halloween.

.

.

Yashiro’s yelp seemed to echo aimlessly around the dimly lit room, hands began to sprout from the floor. She winced as she was met with something, something wet.

“Water!” She panicked, scrambling to her feet.

Little scale-like pieces began to emerge on her soft skin as she went on to see where she was at, or more so who’s boundary she was in.

Thump, thump, thump.

Footsteps? She thought, swiftly turning her head in panic that something dangerous might’ve been lingering in the dark.

“Hello?” she called, trying to see what she could in the dark room.

She saw a figure, one she thought was feminine, but upon closer examination she found it was a boy. More so, a middle school boy. His eyes looked a bit sunken, as the hands surrounded him. He tilted his head up, to look at her.

“Who are you?” She asked, tilting her head as well to get a better view of him.

Yashiro had a million questions running through her head, who was this boy? Was he a ghost? What’s he doing here? She was dragged out of her trance when said boy was towering over her.

Now that he was closer, Yashiro realized how he looked and a blush covered her face. His rosy eyes startled silently at her, before speaking up.

“You..” he called.

“Yes?” Yashiro panicked, standing up straight.

The boy looked left, then right, before sighing. His once innocent look was replaced with a taunting smirk.

“..have pretty fat ankles, huh?”

Yashiro froze in place, a bit dumbfounded that someone so adorable would say something so vulgar.

The boy sighed, crossing his arms.

“Aww, I thought someone was finally here to help me, but it’s just some horseradish..”

“I-I’m not a horseradish!” Yashiro retorted defensively with a pout.

“Yeah yeah whatever.” Mitsuba sighed.

Yashiro kept asking questions, and Mitsuba didn’t have any intention to answer much or any of them, so he walked to the door at the end of the corridor and opened it.

He then walked over to Yashiro and grabbed her by the little accessories on her belt. “This way.” He said.

“This is one of the boundary’s of the seven mysteries..” he explained after a while “the hell of mirrors.”

“Or..” he paused, stopping in his tracks to look at Yashiro with an unsure look “I guess that’s it’s name.”

“But that’s all I know.”

Yashiro looked around in amazement, everywhere she turned there were mirrors of different shapes, sizes, colors, and designs. But there was one thing they all had in common.

They all had an eerie feeling to it, it sent shivers down Yashiro’s spine.

“There’re mirrors.. everywhere.” She mumbled in awe.

“Yeah, I can see that Ms. Obvious.” Mitsuba sighed, playfully rolling his eyes.

But Yashiro wasn’t paying enough attention to care, she was too busy thinking.

“I’m Mitsuba.”

Yashiro made a small ‘huh?’ noise before turning to look at him.

“I’m stuck here and I have no idea to get out of this mess.” He complained, slumping down against the railings.

“Mitsuba? You’re..” she paused, eyeing him curiously “from the middle school division, right?”

“Are you a ghost? And..” she paused to look at him “have we met somewhere?”

“I..” he paused, swallowing the lump in his throat “don’t know.”

“Who cares? None of that matters now anyways.” He sighed, his rosy eyes flinched a bit, as if maybe trying to hold back tears.

“I guess we’ll have to get out of this place first! But..” she paused “why did you bring me here?”

Mitsuba didn’t say anything for a moment or two, clearing his throat and pointing at the hands still sprouting from the floor.

“Well I wanted someone who could help me,” he explained “so I asked them to find someone for me.”

The hands excitedly exclaimed a small “yeah!” popping around enthusiastically.

“Are they friends of yours, Mitsuba?” Yashiro asked sweetly, bending down to shake their hands.

Mitsuba scoffed with an offended expression.

“Are you suggesting I’m friends with my right hand??” He shouted “Would you please not be so vulgar!”

“I didn’t say they were right hands..” Yashiro mumbled, looking over at a few left hands.

“Besides..” Mitsuba sighed “the only friend I can remember, is..”

He looked at Yashiro and then away.

“Wait why am I telling you this?” Mitsuba scoffed.

“Who is it?” Yashiro asked.

“What do you mean?” Mitsuba replied, tilting his head a bit to show his confusion.

“Your friend,” she insisted “the one you could remember?”

“It’s..” he looked hesitant to tell her, but then thought she might know where to find her, so she gave in.

“Her name’s (Y/N)..” he whispered, Yashiro just managed to hear.

“(Y/N)?” Yashiro repeated.

“Yeah.. it’s kind of a weird story. I don’t know why she’s the only one I remember. I just remember waking up, no memory of anything or anyone.”

“Just her.”

Yashiro gave him a pitiful look, and put a hand on his shoulder.

“Well,” she began “first let’s get out of here. And then, I think I might have an idea of where she might be.” she said with a smile.

“Really?” He asked excitedly, shooting up from his slouching position.

“Of course.” Yashiro confirmed.

“Well then..” he mumbled, looking up at Yashiro, leaning his head down on his arms and batting his pretty eyelashes at her “will you help me out of here?”

Yashiro felt a pang in her heart, to her, Mitsuba looked like an innocent puppy. And when he saw that look of awe in her eyes, he knew his charm worked.

“I can’t make any promises,” she cleared her throat “but this isn’t my first time in a place like this. So I’m sure we can find our way out somehow.”

“God..” he smiled softly “thank you, Yashiro.”

Yashiro put her hand over her chest, her eyes tearing up dramatically as she gushed over him.

“What is it?” Mitsuba asked innocently.

“O-Oh..” Yashiro stuttered “it’s nothing!”

She turned her head away with a smile, and each time she wasn’t looking, Mitsuba made a face to mock her.

.

.

They continued to walk aimlessly around the boundary, looking at all the mirrors as they passed by.

“Mitsuba,” Yashiro spoke up after a while, uncomfortable with the silence “this is your first time in a boundary, right?” she then gave him a proud smile “Not to brag or anything, but this is my fourth time in one!”

“It is my first time..” Mitsuba admited “but—“

“Then as your upper-classman, or- err.. woman? I’ll teach you all about boundaries!” She exclaimed excitedly, grabbing his sleeve-covered hand with her own.

———

After a while of Yashiro explaining the basic understanding of a boundary as they further explored the place, Mitsuba nodded and ‘okay’ed’ everything she said.

“Woah.” He mumbled in astonishment at the new information he was given.

Before Yashiro could make a proud remark, he snickered “You seem to know an awful lot about this for a living person.”

“Scary..” he said, backing away in ‘fear’ playfully.

.

.

The three of you made your way to the library where Mr. Tsuchigomori usually would be. Not giving him a chance to ask why you all are there, you begin to all try to explain at once.

“Wait, back up a few steps. One at a time.” He sighs, almost like a father telling his children to wait their turn to talk.

Before either you or Hanako get the chance to speak first, Kou beats you both to it—and explains the whole situation.

“Why are you even bothering me with this..?” Mr. Tsuchigomori groaned, rubbing his forehead as if it will soothe the annoying headache the three of you were to him.

“Because!” Hanako wailed “It’s been two hours since they took Yashiro! And I can’t get into number 3’s boundary!”

“Yeah!” You sighed with a pout, very much worried for your friend.

“The kids and I even tried begging on our hands and knees for number 3 to let us in! But it didn’t work!” Hanako cried, dramatically flapping his arms all over the place.

You smacked the back of his head “Stop that, we didn’t even go that far.” you groaned.

“But still! We would’ve if it meant number 3 would let us in!” Hanako wailed yet again, clinging to your sleeve.

“Please spider-face!” Kou finally exclaimed after seeing a moment from where he could talk.

The sudden name made you snort, clasping a hand over your mouth to stop yourself from bursting into laughter. Kou smiled, seeing as this had been the first time you’d smiled since the incident with Mistuba.

“It’s Mr...” Hanako corrected.

“Whatever! Mr. Spider Face!” Kou yet again exclaimed, clasping his hands together as if to beg, making you finally let your strained laughter flow from your lips.

“Yes! Please help us Mr. Spider Face!” You snickered, doing the same gesture as Kou, you both were now laughing maniacally at this point.

“You little..” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed, you swore you saw his eyebrow twitching.

“I can’t let Yashiro get hurt..” Hanako spoke up, after having going silent for a while.

You and Kou both turned to him, confused by the sincerity in his voice. The Hanako you knew to be flirtatious and a pervert and sometimes even a jerk, being serious for once? It was a sight to see for sure.

“Tell me Mr. Tsuchigomori..” he uttered, finally looking up after staring at the seemingly more interesting floor for so long “won’t you help us?”

Even the disguised supernatural looked shocked to see the ghost so genuine, so with a sigh, he got up.

“Well, I do have an idea.” He hummed, walking over to a specific bookshelf.

He moved a couple of books to reveal Yako snoozing on the bookshelf. Effortlessly, he grabbed her, and tossed her over to Hanako—who luckily caught her. You, Kou, and Hanako looked down at the Nogitsune in Hanako’s arms.

“Number 2?” Hanako asked “Why?”

“Hear me out.” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed, sitting back down at his desk “The seven mysteries boundaries each serve to oversee a certain aspect of the school.”

“My ‘book stacks’ manage records, the clock keepers manage ‘time’, and number 2 manages ‘space.” He explained “If you go through her boundary you can get pretty much anywhere in the school.”

“That includes number 3’s boundary?” You asked, looking down at Yako.

“Pretty much.” Mr. Tsuchigomori sighed.

“But I thought Yashiro busted up her boundary?” Kou asked.

“Oh Kou.. poor, sweet, dumb little Kou.” You snickered, making said boy glare at you, more like aggressively side-eyeing you.

Mr. Tsuchigomori shook his head with a fond smile, before continuing “Oh that.. all she really did was take her right to manage it. The boundary itself is still existing. But with its overseer gone.. it’s probably a mess.”

“Isn’t that right echinococcus?” He snickered, making the latter snap up with a growl.

“Shut up emo spider!” Yako retorted, making you snicker.

“Emo spider..” you snorted in an almost whisper.

“And why should I even help you! I could care less what happens to your assistant!” Yako crossed her arms, turning her head with a ‘hmph!’.

“Beecause we’re your favorites?” You asked hopefully, but she didn’t seem to budge.

“Kitsune udon.” Hanako spoke, holding up his butcher knife as if to threaten her.

“Huh?” Yako gasped offendedly “I- It’s not even my problem!”

“Udon.”

“Fine..” Yako finally huffed, knowing Hanako wouldn’t go through with it—but still wanted to help him out.

.

.

.

“Let’s see…” Yako hummed, walking towards the bottom of the stairs.

“This is it right?” Kou asked.

“You’re kidding right?” You asked in disbelief, giving Kou a ‘are you stupid?’ look.

“Hey I was just making sure!” Kou whined, elbowing you in the side, which resulted in you two giggling and playfully shoving each other.

“Here we go!” Yako sung, breaking your guys’s laughter “One,” one at a time you were taking steps up the stairs “two,” and another “three..”

“Four.”

The Misaki Stairs were nothing new to you, you had come here with the trio before in search for Yashiro’s friend, Aoi. And hearing that it had been all out of whack since Yashiro destroyed it’s yoshiro, you weren’t surprised to look out into the distance and for the large empty void to be staring right back at you.

Though it was filled with pretty flowers to the brim, and sunny skies something still felt off. Like something was out of place.

“It’s..” Hanako marveled, staring out in disbelief.

“Woah!” Kou grinned, looking around like a child trying to pick which ride to go on first at an amusement park “It’s so pretty now!”

“Yeah..” you murmured, not being able to shake off the eerie feeling it gave you, but seeing as the other two seemed at ease—you tried your best to forget about it.

“I’ll show you to number 3’s boundary,” Yako hummed, now in human form “just keep up.”

The “click-clack” and “tut-tut” of your shoes against the stairs as you climbed was the only thing to fill the silence. You looked down from the stairs, only to be met with a void. It was empty. So empty it made you shiver, so you moved your focus elsewhere. Perhaps towards the flowers at the bottom of the stairs…

“Hey fox lady?” Kou finally spoke up, breaking the  deafening silence.

“What do you want stupid brat?” Yako spat, not turning back to even glance at him as he spoke.

“You know how before your rumor changed and you went totally crazy?” Kou asked, making you widen your eyes at the insensitive comment and elbow his side, making him glare at you as he winced “and you attacked me and the other students.”

“You like bringing up unpleasant memories, don’t you?” Yako scoffed, but you didn’t miss the way she winced at the mention of the things she had done before “What’s your point?”

“Oh it’s just.. I was wondering what that felt like.” Kou mumbled, now feeling unsure if it was okay to ask, though he felt the need to.

“What? Why would you wanna know that?! Talk about poor taste!” Yako yapped, turning to glare at Kou “I knew Misaki was the only human worth answering! The rest are lower than insects!”

Feeling a bit of pity, and knowing how curious he must have been cause you were too you placed a gentle hand on Kou’s shoulder and spoke. “Hey, give him a break. I understand what he said might have been a tad insensitive but..” you paused, looking down at the ground “recently, we had a friend of ours go a bit berserk after his rumor changed. And we- I mean Kou’s just curious if when your rumor changed, was it still you?”

“They’re kinda like you, huh number 2?” Hanako chuckled, but Yako kept her back to you three.

“Well..” Yako finally murmured as you all continued up the steps “it didn’t feel good, at least when I look back at it now. But..” she paused, and she looked unsure if she should continue, but when she looked at you two who were listening so intently, she couldn’t help but continue “It was definitely me. It was just a side of me that I kept bottled up, and it was forced out of me. That’s all.”

“Okay..” Kou mumbled, clearly unsure. You didn’t miss how his eyes shifted back down to the yearbook in his hands, and you patted his shoulder, as if to tell him I know how you feel.

“So if you tried to say something to your friend, even if he didn’t understand it, it still probably reached him.” That alone gave Kou hope, maybe. Just maybe, that last encounter with Mitsuba, he was able to talk to him.

“It doesn’t matter how warped he is.” Yako continued, seeing how he seemed a bit confused “or even if he changed form or shape.”

“That boy.. is still that boy.”

Just as you were about to ask a question of your own, Yako and Hanako—who were walking in front of you, stopped walking. “We’re here.” Yako announced.

“I assume our chat is over?” She hummed in more of a question, but then added “We’ve arrived, number 3’s boundary is straight through here.”

“Is that a mirror?” Kou asked, poking the frame.

“I don’t know.. looks kind of eerie to me. Hanako mumbled, floating above it as he exclaimed it closely.

“Yeah.. I mean..” you murmured, running your finger along the glass when you felt a force pulling you in.

You let out a surprised yelp as you were engulfed by the mirror’s glass, leaving the three in disbelief.

“Just so you know.. I’m not going further than here.”

You landed in some unknown place with a “oomph”, the place was filled with mirrors. You heard a loud yelp in what you could have only recognized as Yashiro’s voice.

“Oh right, your supposed to be nice to girls.”

You turned with teary eyes from the bright light that filled the room to find the voice, and you felt yourself freeze when you realized it was Tsukasa.

The ghost, no. The vicious supernatural who tore Mitsuba from you.

You watched as Yashiro fell to ground in deep slumber, she looked awfully peaceful given the circumstances and situation they were in. When Tsukasa got up, your eyes wandered to where Mitsuba was at.

“Now, time for you to eat up Mitsu!” Tsukasa chirped, his voice was sickeningly sweet but it made shivers run down your spine, as he held what looked like to be a heart in his hands.

“No, NO! PLEASE, NO!” Mitsuba cried, trying to back away from the entity.

Mitsuba’s eyes widened in shock when he noticed you were there, and you didn’t miss that hopeful glint in his eyes when you made eye contact, hopeful that you would save him.

“(Y/N)!” He cried, trying to get Tsukasa’s bloodied hands off of him, tears streaming down his soft skin “PLEASE, HELP ME!”

You don’t know what came over you, but you found yourself rushing over in attempt to strangle Tsukasa, but he threw you off of him effortlessly.

“Get—“ you coughed “GET AWAY FROM HIM!”

Tsukasa looked unfazed, his expression void of any emotion but it still made you shake with fear, not of what he would do to you, but of what he would do to Mitsuba.

“Now, eat up.” Tsukasa mumbled, his voice was low, and sounded inhumane. Distorted and horrifying. You wanted to get up, fight Tsukasa, and save Mitsuba. But this was no fairytale, so with a pounding headache—you watched as Tsukasa forcefully fed Mitsuba what you thought to be number 3’s heart, due to the entity that laid lifeless beside them with teary eyes.

You began to cry, feeling helpless. Tsukasa got up, walking towards you. You saw as Mitsuba looked distorted too, but he was still Mitsuba nonetheless.

“No-NO! PLEASE DON’T HURT HER! I’LL DO WHATEVER YOU WANT JUST PLEASE—“

A loud “WHAM” shook the room and two boys you could only recognize as Hanako and Kou came crashing down screaming like little girls. Kou was the first to get up, his eyes wandered to your shaking form, but you weren’t crying out of fear of Tsukasa—who he saw standing in-front of you—but when he followed your eyes to where they wandered, he realized why.

“..Mitsuba..?”

(A/N) : Oml, Act I is finished!! My hands are cramping from all the typing and I lost lots of sleep but that’s fine! But busy with French lessons but I still had time for this. This will be proofread and (hopefully) posted as well as the other chapters in Act I, tomorrow evening. Have a good day/evening/afternoon/night, and stay hydrated!! Eat smth too if you haven’t!

“Nostalgia.”

In attempt to jog his memory, you take him to all his old favorite spots, indulging him to take photos of the mesmerizing scenes. He feels something about you, but still can’t quite remember you. He feels attracted to you, but doesn’t understand why as he claims not to know you. After a while, you gave up, but it was then that he thought of trying to comfort you. But the second his fingertips brushed the warmth of your arm, it all came flooding back.

Warnings: a bit angsty, some ooc parts, cursing (if you squint really hard), mentions of bullying, flashbacks of memories you had with Mitsuba, etc,.

(A/N) : hope you enjoy!

Prev. >> Next

“(Y/N).” A voice called.

“(Y/NN).” It echoed.

You didn’t recognize this voice.

“It’s almost time (Y/N).”

You heard a horrible squelching noise, followed by a scream. But it wasn’t just any scream.

It was your scream.

Images of Mitsuba getting killed all over again flashed in your mind.

“No, no.” You cried in a hushed tone.

“Wake up.”

You shot up from your bed, panting softly and trembling. You ran a shaky hand through your (H/C) locks, biting your lip to stop yourself from sobbing.

You checked the time.

4:27 a.m.

Sighing, you laid back onto your bed. You draped your arm over your eyes, still trying to calm yourself down.

“You’re okay.” You assured yourself.

“It was just a nightmare.”

“He’ll be okay.”

“Nothing bad’s gonna happen to him.”

“It wasn’t real.”

You kept mumbling, reassuring yourself that he was okay.

“(Y/N), you okay in there?” Your aunt called from the other room.

Had you woken her up?

“Yeah! Just gonna go grab some water.” You croaked loud enough for her to hear.

“Okay.” She replied.

Sighing, you got up from your bed, quietly going down the stairs.

You grabbed a glass, filling it with water.

“What if he’s not okay.”

“Is something bad going to happen to him?”

“He’s not gonna disappear again right?”

“Why doesn’t he remember me?”

Your mind was plagued with thoughts, and it wasn’t until you felt the cold water spill down your hand and wrist that you realized. You took a few sips of water before heading back upstairs. You sat the glass on your nightstand, getting back under the covers and going back to sleep.

.

.

You were woken up by another phone call from Kou, followed by shout from your aunt.

"(Y/N), hurry your friend is here!"

You groaned, pressing "decline" on your screen.

"I’Il be down in a minute." You hollered back, going to your closet to get dressed.

You grumbled, slipping on your clothes. You quickly brushed out your hair and splashed your face with cold water to wake you up really quick.

Giving yourself one last look in the mirror, you nodded—somewhat satisfied that you didn't look like a total mess—before rushing downstairs.

Kou was on the couch, just kind of sitting there.

"Hey I'm almost done, let me just slip on my shoes and we can head out." You say, hurrying over to the door to grab your shoes and slip them on.

"You're not gonna eat anything?" Kou asked, standing up.

"Nah I'll be fine." you answer "besides we can't be late.”

Kou narrowed his eyes at you, before sighing.

"C'mon, if you hurry I can probably whip something up for you really quick." He says heading for the door.

“Really? Kou’s famous cooking? I’d love to.” You joked.

“Hurry, or you won’t be able to eat ‘Kou’s famous cooking’.” He quoted you.

.

.

After Kou made you some breakfast which was undeniably delicious, and you got to school—Kou had ran off to go get something because he forgot it, but you already knew he was going to go look for Mitsuba.

You sat monotonously in your seat for your first class of the day, only half-heartedly listening to the lecture the teacher was giving.

Ring, ring, ring.

Students flooded out from the classroom, hurriedly to get to their next class. You, however, seemed to be in no rush. To be honest, you were stalling. Why wouldn’t you be? You were going to see your dead friend and try to make help him remember you.

You were nervous, and had every right to be. It wasn’t until you realized Kou was dragging you out somewhere that you snapped back into reality.

“Wait, wait, wait! Are you sure this is a good idea?” You asked frantically, already unsure if you even should try or not.

“Relax, (Y/N). It’ll be fine. I’ll be watching you two from a distance so if anything goes wrong, I’ll swoop in and help you out okay?” He assured, pulling you by the arm towards Mitsuba.

“Okay.” You agreed hesitantly, still nervous.

Seeing as through you were nervous, and obviously a bit uncomfortable, he said;

“If you don’t want to, we can just step back a bit and not. I’m not gonna force you into anything.”

You looked at him, then at a distracted Mitsuba in the distance.

You had to do this. This wasn’t a “I’ll do it later” kind of thing.

You needed to do this.

“It’s fine, I want to do this.” You confirmed.

He gave you a brief nod before going back to leading you him. Kou finally came to a stop, pushing you forward a bit so now you were face to face with the pink-haired ghost.

“Um.. hey?” You greeted awkwardly, shifting around uncomfortably.

“Hey.” Mitsuba replied, eying you.

“I’m gonna head to class, I’ll ask for your work so you can do it later. See you!” Kou hurriedly said, shooting Mitsuba a quick look that said ‘don’t you dare do anything stupid’ and ran off.

“So..” you say, clearing your throat after a few moments of silence.

“So?” He repeated, crossing his arms.

You felt like crying again, he looked the same from before.

Before he had died.

“Uh.. here I think I know where to start.” You say, reaching to grab his sleeve.

“Woah start where you pervert!” Mitsuba yelped, pulling his arm back.

Your lips quirked up in a smile, you missed this. Missed him.

“Aren’t you the pervert for thinking I’m going to do something to you?” You retorted with a smirk, leaving Mitsuba speechless.

“Hey! You’re just as much of a pervert if you already know what I’m thinking! You think you can take advantage of me just cause I’m a cute little ghost—?” He babbled, a bit flustered.

“Get it all out of your system yet?” You asked, crossing your arms.

He thought of something to say, he even opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out. You smiled.

“Good, let’s go.” You hummed, grabbing his sleeve and dragging him away.

.

.

“C’mon Mitsuba! I got you something I think you might like!” You giggled, dragging Mitsuba with you.

“H-Hey! What’re you gonna do with me! Don’t think of trying to take advantage of me! I know I’m cute but still!” He practically wailed as he struggled to keep up with you.

You smiled, over time you found his attitude and remarks quite endearing.

“Okay close your eyes.” You instructed.

“What? I’m not gonna close my eyes. You’re probably just waiting for me to close my eyes so you can have your way wit—“

“Mitsuba.” You urged. “Please?”

He pouted, muttering something along the lines of “you’re lucky I love like you”.

Reluctantly, he closed his eyes.

You waved your hand in front of his face once, then twice. Once you confirmed he wasn’t peeking, you smiled and rushed over to your backpack to grab him something, a gift.

“Okay, now open them!” You giggled.

He peeled one open, and then the other. His eyes gleaming with joy when he saw what was in your hands.

A handmade scrapbook.

Sure, it was a bit messy. The letters were slightly crooked, stickers scattered and plastered on the front cover, bits of dry glue were sticking out. But to him it was perfect.

He stayed silent for a moment or two, just staring down at it once he took it from your hands.

“If you don’t like it just say so.” Your voice broke him out of his trance.

He smiled, but it wasn’t one of his cocky smiles.

It was genuine.

He shook his head, and huffed.

“It looks terrible!” Quickly adding “But I’m gonna keep it anyways so don’t ask for it back!” when he saw you reaching to take it back.

You smirked, “Just admit it, you love it.”

“What?! Of course not! It’s just not worth throwing out.” He insisted.

“So you love it.” You playfully teased with a smile.

“N-No!” He stuttered with a flushed face.

But his smile from before was enough to tell you, that he liked it.

.

.

You and Mitsuba were currently sitting near the stair case that led to rooftop.

“I gave this to you for your birthday before you..” You stopped yourself, instead opening the scrapbook that was very worn down.

You had managed to snag it from his house when they allowed you in.

Inside, were various pages of him and you together.

At the beach, sleepover’s, first and last day’s of school, of mesmerizing scenery you both took on your adventures together.

“Did you photoshop this? Are you that creepy?” He mumbled.

He felt something, like a pang in his cold lifeless heart, telling him that yes, he knew you.

But he didn’t remember you.

You ignored him, pointing at a picture of the school garden.

“You took this when I went out with you so you could take pictures to enter in some competition.”

He stared at them, then looked up at you. Maybe now he remembers who I am, you hoped.

But to your dismay, he gave you a confused look.

“Nope, nothing. I still don’t know who you are.”

You sighed.

“Let’s try something else then..”

.

.

“Hey Mitsuba?” You called.

“Yeah?” He hummed, he had been recently working on a new photograph for a project.

“You busy?” You asked, pulling up a chair and sitting by him.

“What? Can’t you see?” He asked sarcastically, before noticing the slight drop in your expression.

“Sorry.” He sighed “But yeah, I am.”

“With what?” You asked, placing your chin on his shoulder so you could better see what he was working on.

Shocked, and a bit embarrassed, he hid his laptop’s screen from you.

“None of your business!” He exclaimed with a flustered face.

You smirked.

“I bet you’re editing something perverted, aren’t you?” You teased, playfully poking his side.

His face flushed more, as he went on a ramble; “You think me, the cutest and sweetest boy you’ve ever met, could be capable of doing something like that? You’re the pervert then! What are you thinking of?”

You shook your head with a smile.

“I’m just kidding ‘mitsu. Calm down.” You say with a chuckle.

He huffed, going back to work. He hadn’t noticed he stopped preventing you from seeing his previous project, and what you saw made your face flush.

It was a picture he had taken of you two, you both were smiling, at an old sleepover of yours. You distinctly remember that night, so vividly.

As the last night you slept over.

.

.

Mitsuba looked at the picture in his hands, his cold ghostly touch contrasted against the warm feel the picture gave him.

“Huh.” He hummed, narrowing his eyes down at the picture.

You wait hopefully, for any sign that he remembered you, but when he just looked up at you confused, you sighed.

“Still don’t remember me?” You asked, thought it was pointless since you already knew the answer.

“Yeah.” He answered, his voice sounded a bit timid, honestly feeling a bit bad.

He knew what it felt like to be forgotten, so he kind of knew how you felt.

You sighed, letting your head fall forward hitting the wall. You stayed there, maybe for a second or less. Then suddenly, you perked up.

“Fifth time’s the charm right?”

.

.

“Where are you taking me?” He asked, looking around as if trying to identify his surroundings.

He opened his mouth to say something, but you quickly interrupted him.

“Just, be patient.” You sighed, clearly tired as it was already starting to be sundown and you still had no luck.

You lifted up a branch, to show some secluded area.

“Are you gonna kill me?!” He yelped, trying to pull his sleeve back from you.

“Can’t kill what’s already dead.” You hummed, revealing a hidden staircase that also led to the rooftop.

“Then what are we doing here?” He asked.

You sighed.

.

.

You had barely gotten out of your first class, exhaustedly dragging your feet to the nearest staircase. And that’s when you heard it.

A loud yelp, that you would’ve assumed was a girl’s if it weren’t for the slightest hint of masculinity in it. You rushed to see a pink haired boy, dressed in the elementary uniform. There were a group of kids, one of them was presumably holding what looked like to be the boy’s camera.

“Give that back!” He shouted, jumping up to attempt to reach for it, only to get shoved down.

Kind of frozen in shock, you didn’t know what to do. But you knew you couldn’t just turn around and leave him to their torture.

So you shouted what literally no logical person any normal person would.

“Hey!”

Really? Hey? What the hell was that gonna do?

They turned their focus onto you, a shocked look on what seemed to be the ‘leader’s’ face.

“What’d you say?” The guy scoffed, tossing the camera to one of his friends—making Mitsuba yelp again as he thought they’d drop it and it’d break.

Not wanting to back down, you stood your ground.

“Don’t you know what ‘hey’ means?” You asked sarcastically, glaring at them.

You were glad that you were at a far enough distance that they couldn’t see how your legs were trembling slightly in fear.

“You have some nerve—“ he started, but never got to finish.

“Like you’re one to talk. Picking on someone just cause! You must be really insecure of yourself to stoop that low.” You unintentionally retorted.

His ‘friends’ snorted, and he turned around to glare at them. He whipped back around to look at you, walking down the stairs. Slowly, or at least that’s what you assumed. Because it looked pretty intimidating to you. Like a snake staring down at it’s prey.

“I’m going to give you one last chance to turn your pretty face around, and act like you didn’t see anything.” He warned, and even though you were scared, you kept on a calm façade.

“And if I don’t?” That seemed like such a dangerous sentence, you gave a quick glance to the boy, as if trying to send him a message of some sort.

He gave you a look that told you it all if you didn’t, he didn’t need to use words.

“Fine.” You huffed, turning around to ‘leave’.

“That’s what I thought.” He scoffed, and just as he let his guard down and left to head back to the boy, you slammed your shoulder hard into his, unintentionally of course, but it made him stumble.

You quickly ran up a few steps, helping the boy up.

“Give me that.” You demanded, snatching it from one of his friends who was clearly stunned.

“Why you little—“ and you knew you had no more time to think, you grabbed the boy’s hand and ran.

You ran as far away as you could until you knew you were safe. You both ended up in the room for the photography club, panting heavily from the running.

“Are you,” you coughed “you good?”

“Yeah..” he managed to choke out as he desperately tried to catch his breath.

After a few moments, and when you finally caught your breath, you realized you were still holding his camera. You cleared your throat.

“I uh.. I think this belongs to you.” You say, handing the camera to him.

He smiled warmly at you, taking it from you. He looked down at it, before mumbling something inaudible to your ears.

“Huh?” You asked.

“My name, it’s Mitsuba.” He explained.

You smiled back, “Nice to meet you Mitsuba.”

“I’m (Y/N).”

.

.

The place you took him to, was the the place you first met him. You smiled, though it looked even more hopeless the more he looked at it. He gave you a puzzled look.

“You sure you’re not trying to have your way with me cause I’m such a cute ghost boy.” He asked, a little too seriously—flashing you his cocky grin.

Your smile faded, and you sighed, flopping down on the grass below you. You rested your head on your knees.

“You know what, I give up. I give up that’s it. It’s pointless anyway.” You whispered barely loud enough for Mitsuba to hear.

You couldn’t risk talking louder than that, you were scared your voice would crack. You laughed, but it didn’t sound too happy. Actually, it didn’t sound happy at all. It sounded pained, and it felt like someone stabbed Mitsuba right through the heart when he heard it.

“Hey,” he whispered, kneeling down with you.

“It’s okay.” He tried to assure, though he was looking around uncomfortably, unsure of what to say to comfort you.

“It’s not okay. How could this be okay?” You sobbed, finally breaking down.

You looked up at him, and when he saw that teary look in your (E/C) eyes, that’s when he broke.

He didn’t say anything else, only hugging you. Assuming that would be the only reasonable thing to do. But when he touched you, he suddenly tensed up. And a wave of emotions crashed over him, threatening to drown him.

He remembered you.

He smiled brightly, and you gave him a look of ‘what the hell?’ and ‘how could me crying make you happy?’.

He finally remembered you.

“(N/N)?” He called.

Your eyes widened in surprise, and without hesitation, you jumped in his arms.

“Oh my god! (Y/N) it’s you!” He practically squealed with how happy he was.

You sobbed into his shoulder, happy that he finally remembered you.

It took till 7:45 p.m. the whole school day, but god was it worth it. You hugged him tightly, and he patted your back awkwardly, but still welcomed your embrace.

“Hey! Just cause I’m cute doesn’t mean you can touch me however you want.” He joked, trying to get you to stop crying and maybe laugh a little.

And he succeeded, earning a wet chuckle from you.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Kou asked.

Mitsuba glared at him, as he thought his presence spoiled your guys’s moment.

You wiped your tears and laughed, it cracked a bit, but it was a happy one nonetheless.

“What’s up Kou?” You greeted, sitting up.

“Your aunt told me to come get you, I let her know where you were since she was worrying that you weren’t home yet. C’mon.” He says, smiling.

You looked back at Mitsuba, giving him one last hug.

A hug that Mitsuba swore made his heart flutter, though he’d never admit it to anyone of course. No matter if they were living or dead. Your hug felt warm, the first time he felt anything while he was dead, he was happy as you draped your arms around his neck—before letting him go and standing up.

“I’ll see you tomorrow?” You asked, wiping the last of your tears with a smile.

“Yeah.” He agreed with a smile of his own.

“Hate to break the moment here,” Kou said, “but your aunt just texted me if I found you yet.” showing you his phone screen.

“Shit we have to go then, bye ‘Mitsu!” You rushed, speeding out with Kou.

“Bye!” He shouted after you.

.

.

BONUS!! sorta..

“You know you’ll have to be careful, right?” Mitsuba heard Sakura’s monotonous voice echo, making him jump slightly from the unannounced presence.

“Geez you scared the crap out of me!” He yelped, sighing in relief when he realized it was her and not him.

“Did you hear me?” Sakura repeated, to which Mitsuba only let out a confused ‘huh’.

“You know what’ll happen if Tsukasa catches wind of this.” Sakura warned, genuinely worried for the dead photographer.

His expression dropped, contorted into a petrified one. He’s always thought it was thunder that scared him the most, but clearly he hadn’t met Tsukasa.

“Yeah..” he mumbled, reasonably unenthusiastically.

“Then, since you know the possible consequences, be more cautious. He pops out of no where sometimes.” She said with a sigh, shaking her head.

“Okay.” Was all he managed to mumble.

He couldn’t risk anyone or anything hurting you.

Especially not Tsukasa Yugi.

(A/N) : WOOOO I finished. My hands are so tired but I can’t stop writing. I can’t help but think I’m rushing this story a bit, but then again it’s only the 3rd chapter so maybe not? I’m trying to make it as much of a slow burn romance so lmk if it feels like it’s going too fast even though act II is literally just trying to help him remember Kou and finding him all over again and you don’t actually get to be with him till like act V(five). I’m tired so I think I’m just gonna crash sleep for a bit before I have to go to some college program. Hope you enjoyed it!! If not tell me and I’ll try to fix it.

“Remember me, remember you.”

Excited, you run over to him. You remembered him, but did he remember you? When you reached over to hug him and he backed away from your touch, you felt hurt. He didn’t. He remembered Kou who forgot him, but he couldn’t remember you.

(A/N) : Proofread, so don’t worry about any grammar mistakes or spelling errors. Enjoy!

Prev >> Next

“Mitsuba?” You cried, unsure if he was really there or not.

“You know this kid?” Kou asked you.

You didn’t answer him, only running up to hug him, only for him to back away from you.

“Sorry, do I know you?” He said with a raised eyebrow, genuinely confused.

Your heart sank to your stomach.

“You remember me, and I don’t know you? But I know you and you don’t remember me?” Mitsuba asked.

“Who are you?” Mitsuba asked another question, suddenly going from cocky to confused.

“What do you mean? I don’t know you?” Kou asked making them both even more confused.

“I’m gonna- er. Go. Yashiro could probably use the help.” You excused, walking off.

Your voice was shaky.

“What the hell?!” Kou shouted at the ghost who you called Mitsuba.

He grabbed him by the collar, he was confused when you recognized the ghost boy, but angry that he didn’t seem to recognize you despite asking people if they remembered him. Mitsuba yelped.

“I swear I don’t know her! I really don’t know who she is! I mean she feels familiar but I don’t know her!” Mitsuba yelled thrashing around in panic.

Kou huffed, he has never seen you that upset.

.

.

“You know him?” Yashiro asked.

You nodded, taking the tissue Hanako offered to you.

“It’s okay, knowing he’s not alive maybe his memories were thrown around and it’s just gonna take longer for him to remember you.” Hanako assured you, the mokke unusually backed him up, nodding and agreeing.

“Yeah, Hanako’s right! I’m sure he’ll come around.” Yashiro smiled.

“Thanks Yashiro,” you smiled warmly at her, though it still looked sad “maybe you’re right.”

“Just gotta wait.” Hanako confirmed.

You checked the time on your phone.

5:59 p.m.

“Well I’m gonna head out. Thanks for listening.” You said, standing up.

“No problem! You can always come to us with anything!” Yashiro beamed with a smile.

I smiled too, before leaving the school.

.

.

“That quick?” Your aunt asked as you opened the door.

She was sitting in the living room, watching some show she found in a channel.

“I got tired, so I’m just going to go to bed.” You said, but your voice failed you and cracked.

Your aunt raised an eyebrow at this, and stood up.

“Everything go okay at school?” She asked, and that’s when you broke again.

You told her everything, how when Kou finally found something on the ghost, you were happy. That you went to go leave your stuff down, and you hesitated to walk the rest of the way when you heard it. And when you had confirmed that it was indeed, Mitsuba’s spirit, and ran to embrace him, he backed away and said he didn’t remember you.

“Oh honey..” your aunt said in a hushed voice, hugging you.

“Maybe something went wrong with his memory. I don’t know much about the supernatural, but sometimes they forget things. Just give it time okay?” She assured, hugging you a bit tighter as you cried harder.

“Okay.” You sobbed.

“Go ahead and shower, there’s this new k-drama I found, wanna watch it together?” Your aunt asked.

“Sure..” you hiccuped, finally calming down.

Your aunt smiled.

“Alright, hurry and shower, get ready for bed, and then come down here. I’m gonna go buy snacks, you want anything?” She asked, already going to grab her wallet and keys.

“Maybe just some chips and something to drink..” you mumbled, wiping the last of your tears.

“Okay, I’ll be back.” She said, rushing out the door.

You hurried up to shower.

—

The feeling of the hot water splashing on your back was comforting. You were already done showering, just standing there to think.

“Maybe they are right. I just have to wait.” You assured yourself.

“Yeah, I just have to wait.” You confirmed.

—

You had already finished doing your skincare, getting dressed in your comfiest pajamas, and were now drying your hair. You were about to head downstairs, when you got the notification of a call.

—

Incoming call..

Kou

Answer / Decline

—

“Hello?” You called, your voice sounded raspy from crying so much.

“Hey, you ran out after seeing that ghost.” Kou said after a few moments, pointing out the obvious.

“I did.” You confirmed, sitting down on your bed.

“You okay?” He asked, pausing before adding “oh and Tiara says hi.”

You smile, and he swore he could hear it.

“Tell her I say hi too. And yeah. I should be okay. I talked to Yashiro, Hanako, and now my aunt about it. I should be fine.” You reply.

He gasped, acting offended.

“And you didn’t talk to me about it? How could you?” He asked, dramatically.

You chuckled, and he smiled.

“You were busy with Mitsuba, don’t know. How could I?” You replied.

He hummed.

“Well I’m not busy now, tell me about it.” He says, laying down on his bed.

He put the phone on speaker, laying it next to his head.

“Mitsuba. You seriously don’t remember him?” You asked.

“No, nothing.” He confirmed.

You sighed.

“He was that photographer in junior high. And..” you paused.

“One of my closest friends since elementary.”

“I told him about everything, about the rituals, about the ghosts, everything. He acted like himself around me. Even if he was cocky and arrogant. He was nice to be around.” You explain.

“You liked being around that? And Teru thinks I’m the crazy one.” Kou joked.

“But,” Kou added. “That still doesn’t ring a bell. You sure he didn’t go to another school?”

You sighed in disapproval.

“No, he wouldn’t be haunting the school entrance if he did. I used to tag along with him. He can come off as a jerk and a total asshole.”

“Oh no yeah for sure.” Kou snorted.

You rolled your eyes.

“But he’s got a kind side if you look really closely.” You say with a smile.

“Yeah I’m pretty sure I’d have to squint really hard to see it.” Kou scoffed with a smile.

“He died, I can’t even remember how long ago anymore. And since I’ve been looking for any sign of his spirit. It wasn’t until recently that something turned up. I had dreams, vivid dreams, of his death. I kept hearing his voice but if I turned around he wasn’t there. So I guess it kinda really hurt me when he said he didn’t remember me. Who was actually close to him when he was alive, but remembered you when you only briefly interacted with him once in junior high.” You sighed, lying on your back, shutting your eyes for a moment.

“Guess I have that affect on people.” He said with a chuckle, fiddling with his bedsheets.

You snorted, rolling onto your stomach.

“I guess. But it still hurt.” You groaned.

He went silent for a moment.

“Hey, how about tomorrow I’ll go find him, and I’ll leave you with him. You can try to jog his memory, talk to him. Do you have any old photos or videos?” He asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah, a few Polaroid photos.. some old videos that my aunt took. I could ask for them.” You reply.

“Yeah, do that. I’ll take care of the rest.” He said.

You smiled.

“Thanks Kou, you really are the best.”

“Your welcome.” He hummed.

“Well, I’m gonna head to sleep now, you should too. I don’t want to be left with Hanako the whole day.” He scoffed playfully.

“Yeah I will in a bit. Good night Kou.” You reply.

“Don’t sleep too late.” He reminded.

“Okay mom.” You answered sarcastically.

“Good night.” Kou said before hanging up.

As if on cue, your aunt unlocked the door and shut it behind her.

“(Y/N), I’m back. You ready?” She called.

“Yeah just give me a minute!” You shouted back, grabbing a blanket and rushing downstairs.

She set the bag of snacks down on the coffee table and flopped down onto the couch. Once you got there and sat down with her, she smiled.

“Take your pick,” she gestured to the bag of snacks “I bought a ton of stuff.”

You thanked her before grabbing what you wanted from the bag, settling down on the couch to watch whatever k-drama she chose.

.

.

You had ended up falling asleep on the couch, peacefully after halfway through the movie. She smiled warmly at your sleeping figure, but she knew you couldn’t fall asleep on the couch. She couldn’t leave you there knowing you might see something, someone again. So she woke you up.

“Hey, sweetie wake up real quick. C’mon you can go back to sleep in your room.” She urged, gently shaking you.

You groaned, rolling onto your side facing the other way.

“(Y/N), c’mon wake up. Go brush your teeth real quick and go back to bed.” She insisted, so with a grumble you got up and went upstairs.

You made your way to the bathroom, brushing your teeth. Once you were done, you left to your room.

You passed your aunt in the hallway upstairs “good night” she called.

“G’night.” You mumbled back sleepily.

You plopped down onto your bed, making yourself comfortable in the covers.

Closing your eyes to sleep, you felt that same weight on your chest. And out of exhaustion, you fell asleep.

(A/N) : Planning on posting the next chapter tomorrow. It’s already done, just needs to be proofread.