Yokoo Shun - Blog Posts

CRIES SCREAMS CRIES SOBS SCREAMS CRIES

Chapter 7 — “Forbidden.”

Summary : Days pass from the Hell of Mirrors incident, you can’t stop thinking about it. Hanako is no help, so what better option than to drag Kou with you!

Warnings : Not much, minor cursing here and there, reader going a bit manic and expressing signs of PTSD at some point, obvious implications that reader is female (ex. Use of she/her pronouns, etc.), mood swing-ish reader.

( A / N ) : I tried not to procrastinate but I got busy with work and stuff so I didn’t have much time. I didn’t let myself sleep tonight till I got this out. I will try my best to be more consistent with chapters and at least get these things posted every other week. This is proofread so enjoy!

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A couple days have passed since the Hell of Mirrors incident, and you’ve tried to find for another way back in. You tried every mirror possible, but none would budge. Hanako didn’t care much either, he said to just leave it alone for now and they’d figure it out another time.

Even Kou seemed a little odd about it. He wanted to see Mitsuba too, but it was like at the same time he was avoiding it. Part of you understood him though, you knew what it felt like to be forgotten before, and it was certainly not a good feeling.

“Can you hand me the sugar?” Satou asked, looking over at you.

You finally had snapped out of your thoughts, “Sorry, what was that?”

Satou chuckles “The sugar, can you pass it to me?” He repeats.

“Oh, yeah.” You nod, eyes scanning over the counter before finding the sugar. “Sure.” You grabbed the bag of sugar, and a measuring cup.

“We need one and a half cups of sugar.” Kou mumbled, eyes scanning over the list of instructions.

You nodded, and scooped up a cup of sugar.

Satou looked over at Kou, and Kou only shrugged.

“(Y/N), are you okay? You seem a bit zoned out..” Satou finally spoke.

“Yeah, just tired.” You excused, pouring the sugar. It was more than just being ‘tired’ — you were anxious. You wanted to see Mitsuba again, talk to him. But you didn’t know where to find him — and the Hell of Mirrors was not an option anymore because you couldn’t get in. Maybe you could ask Yako again?

“(Y/N).” Satou panicked “T-That’s too much sugar.” He yelped, quickly taking the measuring cup from your hands.

Flinching, you snapped back to reality “Shit— I’m sorry..” You muttered, pinching the bridge of your nose with a sigh.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Satou frowned, putting a hand on your shoulder “Usually you’re the one who’s the most focused out of all of us.”

“Yeah, I am, don’t worry about me okay?” You assured him with your signature smile “I’m just tired.”

Satou eyed you suspiciously, then glanced over at Kou who in turn only shrugged his shoulders. He then sighed, letting his hand drop back to his side.

“We’re your friends, don’t forget that okay?” Satou offered you a smile “So don’t feel like you have to hide anything from us. If you’re not feeling good you can tell us.”

“I know, I know,” You sighed, leaning forward and propping your elbows on the counter, burying your hands in your hair “—I’m okay, I promise. If I’m not, you guys are the first people I’m going to.”

Satou was skeptical but didn’t push the topic, nodding and going back to the batter. “We need to put in a little bit more of each ingredient to make up for the extra sugar.”

There you stood, in front of the mirror in the girl’s bathroom. Your hands holding onto the sink, staring into the mirror as if doing so would magically bring Mitsuba back.

“How long has she been there?” Yashiro asked, walking in through the bathroom doors and setting her bag down by the entrance.

“A while.” Hanako shrugged, he’s too busy playing hanafuda with the mokke again to care.

“Well you’re no help.” Yashiro sighed, walking behind you and placing a hand on your shoulder.

Your gaze didn’t falter, staring intensely at the mirror. “You think Yako will help me get in again?” You asked before Yashiro could get a chance to speak.

Yashiro raised an eyebrow “Again? By yourself? I-I don’t think..”

“I dunno, I don’t think so.” Hanako shrugged a second time.

You frowned, finally turning around to look at Hanako instead “Are you sure?”

“I doubt it but you can try.” Hanako simply replied, glancing up from his cards for a second to look at you before focusing back on his game. “She probably will if you keep asking her to the point of annoying her, go give it a try.”

Yashiro looked between the both of you “I.. um.. she shouldn’t be going alone, if that Tsukasa guy shows up, she could get seriously hurt or something.”

“Then get the kid to go with her.” Hanako suggested “I’m sure she’ll be fine. That Mitsuba.. (Y/N) was the only one he was trying so hard not to hurt.” He noted, “So I’m sure she’ll be fine. Worst case scenario, Mitsuba will probably just send her out again.”

“But—“ Yashiro tried to protest, concerned for your safety.

“Okay, thanks Hanako, bye.” You shouted as you grabbed your bag and ran out the door.

Yashiro frowns “Hanako, and if she gets seriously hurt?” She would feel responsible, having gotten close to you since the whole spiritual thing, she saw you as her younger sister.

“She won’t, she’ll be fine.” Hanako assured, placing his cards face down onto the space next to him and standing up “Now come on, you have to get to cleaning toilets!” He beamed, teasingly nudging her.

Yashiro’s frown deepened.

“Kou, Kou, Kou!” You called out, running up to said boy, who was currently with Satou and Yokoo.

“Oh, hey (Y/N)!” Yokoo hums, smiling at you with his signature smile.

“Hey Yokoo, Kou, come with me I need to do something.” You grabbed the sleeve of his shirt, tugging on it.

“(Y/N), are you okay?” Satou asked, raising an eyebrow at your eager.. whatever it was.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.” You half heartedly answered, brushing them off. “Now let’s go!” You began practically dragging Kou with you, who in turn yelped.

“Oh okay..” Yokoo muttered, glancing at Satou.

“No idea, she was like this earlier, except zoned out.” Satou shrugged. “And she wouldn’t budge when I asked her what’s wrong.”

Yokoo pursed his lips, obvious concern written all over his face. “She.. it’s gonna affect her not letting anyone know.”

“Yeah.. I know. I tried getting her to open up but she kept saying it was nothing. It may just be nothing, but we’ve known her for a while to notice this pattern.” Satou mumbled. “I just hope it doesn’t get as bad as last time..”

“Let’s not look too much into now though. If she’s not okay, we have to trust she’ll come to one of us or all of us. And if she says she is we have to trust her on it, even if we think she isn’t.” Yokoo shrugged, fidgeting with his sleeves.

“Yeah I guess you’re right,” Satou sighed “I just wish she’d tell us what’s going on.”

.

.

“So what are we doing exactly?” Kou asks, trying to keep up as you sped through the halls.

“Yako, we’re going to Yako.” You look behind at him for a moment before looking straight ahead again “I wanna see Mitsuba again.”

Kou flinched and froze in his tracks, making you stop as well. He pursed his lips.

“What’s wrong?” You asked, you didn’t try to pull him along — not wanting to force him.

Kou frowns, looking away. “What’s the point if that guy won’t remember me anyways?” He mumbled, pulling his sleeve from your grasp.

Your gaze softened “Kou.. just because he didn’t recognize you doesn’t mean he doesn’t remember you.” You sighed, moving to wrap your arms around his torso.

Kou went stiff momentarily, then relaxed, his arms coming around to wrap around your waist as he buried his face into your shoulder, trying his best not to stain your school uniform with his tears — his shoulders trembled.

“I’ve got you.” You assured, leaning your head on top of his. “I promise, we’ll get him to remember you.”

Kou chuckled dryly “You can’t make that promise you know.”

“I know,” you smiled “—but I sure as heck can try to fulfill it.”

Kou took a deep breath, smiling. “So then what’s holding us up?” He asks, wiping the last of his tears with his wrist “Let’s go find us a kitsune.” He grinned.

“Nope, nuh uh, I won’t do it.” Yako frowned, crossing her little fox arms across her chest. “I only did it for number seven because it was emergency — I’m not gonna do it just say cause you say so.”

“But this is an emergency.” You insisted.

Kou joined in “Yeah, we’re on a mission to—“

“Find that ghost boy friend of yours? If he doesn’t wanna let you in you know he’s not gonna.” Yako sighs, trying to make herself comfy in the bookshelves.

“Yako, please. I.. I know you probably wouldn’t understand but this is important.” You pleaded, “All we wanna know is if he’s okay.”

Yako paused for a moment, thinking deeply on whether she should or shouldn’t. “Hmm..” she hums, her eyes shifting from you to Kou and then back to you. “Fine, but this is the last time I help you.” She sighed, finally giving in.

You and Kou both smiled widely, glancing at each other and looking at Yako again. “Thank you so much!”

“Don’t mention it, but this is the only time I’ll be helping you out!” Yako insists, when really she has a soft spot for the two and she definitely would do it again.

.

.

“Well, here we are.” Yako hummed, back to the liquid mirror-like portal from before.

You brought your hands up to slide them across the surface, watching it create ripples under your fingertips. “Last time we were here I got sucked in.” You mumble, dipping your hand in the mirror and flexing your fingers before removing your hand and letting it rest at your side again.

“Not this time, fortunately for you.” Yako pointed out, you hadn’t gotten forced in.

“So..” you turned your gaze to Kou “Here goes nothing, right?”

“Yeah.” Kou nodded, taking a deep breath in.

Three…

Two..

One.

Suddenly you were falling, reflections all around you with people — no, they weren’t people — entities of people you both knew laughing and mocking you both. Kou reached for you, holding you close to him as he protected your head. It started to get brighter and it felt like you were getting closer and closer to the bottom. That was what it felt like, until..

“Jeez, are you trying to get yourself killed?” A familiar voice scoffed.

You both found yourselves caught in the hand of a bony limb as it moved you towards one of the floors, and that’s when you saw him.

“Mitsuba!” You immediately cried, running towards him and throwing your arms around him.

“H-Hey, I get I’m cute and all but there’s no need to cling to me you perv!” The boy in question yelps, but there’s no denying the way he reluctantly wrapped his arms around her waist and the flush of his cheeks.

“He didn’t hurt you did he?” You asked, bombarding the poor ghost with loads of questions “Why didn’t you let me back in you jerk.” You pouted, punching his shoulder.

“Ow, ow, ow! I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Mitsuba laughs, feigning hurt. “And no, I’m not hurt.”

“Good, you better not be.” You sighed in relief, letting yourself relax a bit.

Mitsuba looked behind you to Kou “Oh.” He muttered, making eye contact with the other “It’s you again.”

“Yeah, it’s me again.” Kou repeated, shifting from one foot to the other a bit awkwardly.

“What.. what’re you guys even doing here?” Mitsuba asked, gently grabbing you by the shoulders to push you off a bit.

“I dunno, we just wanted to visit I guess?” You shrugged, it was an obvious lie and a good cover up but Mitsuba seemed to buy it.

“Visit the Hell of Mirrors? Really?” Mitsuba lets a laugh-like scoff slip past his lips. “Yeah this isn’t really the type of place you’d want to visit.”

“..definitely.” You nod, “Okay fine, truthfully we just wanted to see you.”

“We?” Mitsuba inquired, raising an eyebrow as he looked between the two of you.

“You remember Kou, right?” You asked, grabbing Kou’s arm and linking it with yours. “He was your friend too.”

Mitsuba narrowed his eyes at Kou and frowned “Sorry, doesn’t ring a bell.”

Kou sighed, rubbing his forehead “Figured.”

Boy.. this might take a while.

.

.

The three of you ended up talking to pass the time, flipping through the pages of the yearbook from which Mitsuba had photographed the pictures within it, all that he did not seem to remember.

“Hey um.. earlier you guys mentioned something about Tsukasa doing something bad to me.. what’d he do?” Mitsuba asked suddenly, making the both of you look at him. “I mean, he’s the one who brought me back here so I wouldn’t disappear.. he can be mean and scary sometimes but he won’t hurt me.” And then at each other.

“Um..” you looked a little uncomfortable, shifting around in your spot. “It’s complicated I guess.”

“It’s really hard to explain, I have no idea how to put it in words.” Kou was equally uncomfortable.

“What? It can’t be that bad?” Mitsuba laughs, but his smile faltered as he realized you two weren’t joking. “Was it?”

You decided to be the one to tell him, taking a deep breath. “It was just after I got you to remember me, the day after, actually.” You began, fidgeting with your sleeves. “We were altogether trying to figure out your ‘unfinished business’ as Kou called it.”

“To help you cross over to the afterlife.” Kou added.

You nodded along “You had told us it was a probably a picture, so we got your camera and we went around different parts of the school to take pictures.” You continued “It was funny, especially since most of the time you were basically just bullying Kou.” You giggled.

Mitsuba smiled, yeah that did sound like something he would’ve done.

“I think I have the pictures? I don’t think I ever gave them back to Kou.” You admit, fishing into the pocket of your shirt, and there were the pictures in question. “Here, see for yourself.” You hand them over to Mitsuba.

Who in turn tenderly grabs them, looking at each of them individually.

The pictures varied. Some were genuinely beautiful, and the ones he took when he was messing with Kou made him have to stifle his laughter.

Mitsuba laughs “Yeah you’re right, I probably did bully him. And had a blast doing it.” He smiles, showing you guys the photo where — he assumed — he was trying to take a photo of some kittens and Kou ended up getting attacked by their mother.

You giggled at the memory, while Kou only pouted.

Mitsuba froze as he saw the picture of you and Kou, and his gaze softened. You looked so pretty to him, and.. there was Kou too, I guess. He stared a bit mesmerized but then cleared his throat, handing them back over to you. “A-And then what? You two didn’t do anything dirty to me did you?” He teased.

“No you pervert, we didn’t.” You sighed, but smiled fondly nonetheless. “We ended up going inside cause it started to rain, and probably gonna leave at that point since school had already finished by then. But that’s when Tsukasa found us.” You had to clutch onto your stomach to prevent yourself from throwing up, the nausea already settling itself in. “The rest of it was a blur. All I can remember was feeling a bit scared. No, that’s an understatement.”

“I was absolutely terrified.”

“He said something about how you left without his ‘permission’ and you looked scared too.” You continued, feeling your hands start to tremble, to which you clearly balled them into fists to stop them from shaking. “He..” the squelching noise and the sound of Mitsuba’s cry rung in your ears. “He hurt you.”

Mitsuba flinched “Hurt me?” He repeated in question, reaching forward to try to hold your hand, seeing as though you were shaking and you looked like you were about to cry. The second his fingertips brushed your knuckles, it all flooded back to him. The empty feeling he felt, the pain, the shock, the fear. It was drowning him. He quickly stood up. “No, no, no that’s not true, not true.” He mumbled to himself, backing up as he buried a hand in his hair.

“I blacked out after I yelled at him, he knocked me out when I tried to attack him.” You admit, voice trembling and small.

Mitsuba’s head whipped around to Kou, eyes watering. “Is he gonna hurt me again?”

“No, don’t worry Mitsuba.”

The two of you froze, Mitsuba flinched.

“I’m not here to hurt you, remember? I brought you back so I could grant your wish.” Tsukasa grinned from ear-to-ear, swinging his legs as he sat on top of the railing. He hopped off, inching closer to Mitsuba.

You stood up immediately, though your legs were shaky, willing yourself to stand next to Mitsuba, stretching out an arm in front of him. “I won’t let you hurt him again.”

“(Y/N)..” As much as Mitsuba admired your bravery, if Tsukasa was really as dangerous as you two claimed he is, he doesn’t want you to get hurt either.

“That’s funny,” A child-like giggle left Tsukasa’s lips. It didn’t last long though, quickly etching into a frown. “What makes you think you’re strong enough to stand against me?” He asks, crossing his arms over his chest. “Mitsuba, kick them out if you don’t want me to deal with them.”

“B-But Tsukasa..” Mitsuba protests.

“Mitsuba.”

Without another word, Mitsuba did as he was told, sending you both away. Just like the first time, you were dragged out through the mirrors. Yours and Kou’s protests fell on deaf ears.

“From now on, you can’t talk to them, ‘kay Mitsuba?” Tsukasa spoke commandingly, frowning upon said boy like a mother scolding her child.

Mitsuba flinched, mouth agape “But—”

Tsukasa didn’t let him finish “No buts. Do you understand?”

Mitsuba hung his head low in response. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Dude, you’ve got to be fucking kidding me right now.” You groaned in frustration, standing perched up on the sink and slamming your fists into the mirror.

“Hey, hey, let’s calm down a bit okay?” Kou yelped, “If we break something, Hanako will be upset.” He warns.

“Like hell if I care,” you frowned, turning around slightly to glance at him.

“Kid, what the—“ Hanako stood there dumbfounded. He sighed, floating up behind you and picking you up from under your arms.

“Put me down!” You protest, squirming in his hold.

Hanako dragged your squirming figure to a corner, setting you down. “Time out.”

“Time out?” You scoffed “I’m not a kid.”

Hanako hugged you, ruffling your hair. “You’re not, I know. Just cool off.”

You huffed, crossing your arms.

Kou frowns “He’s right, just sit still. Don’t do anything stupid.”

“This is stupid.” You retorted.

.

.

It wasn’t long before Yashiro arrived for her daily bathroom-cleaning duties, setting her bag down by the door. “What.. happened.”

It was definitely a strange sight. Kou and Hanako were just sitting with the mokke and playing hanafuda, and you were sitting in the corner just drawing shapes on the floor with your finger.

Kou sighed, setting his cards down for a moment. “Long story short, we got Yako to take us back into the Hell of Mirrors, we talked with Mitsuba, and just when he finally realized Tsukasa came back and forced him to kick us out. (Y/N) got on the sink and starting banging on the mirror again so Hanako put her in time out.”

Yashiro gave you a pitiful look. “(Y/N)..”

“I need to get back in there, there’s no telling what that thing might do to Mitsuba.” You speak before she could get a chance to.

“And there’s no telling what he might do to you if you’re not careful.” Hanako frowned “Kid, I care about you. Don’t go doing anything stupid that can get you hurt or possibly even killed. You can’t go up against a supernatural as dangerous as Tsukasa.”

You groan in frustration, burying your hands in your hair. “It’s all so infuriating. I want to do something about it, but I can’t do anything. I feel so useless.” You mumble.

“I know the feeling.” Hanako replied sympathetically, putting his cards down to put a hand on your shoulder. “I was scared too, when Yashiro got dragged into the Hell of Mirrors. I felt useless because I couldn’t get in, I couldn’t do anything, really.” He rambled on. “If you’re going to get into trouble like that, at least have a plan, and an exit route.”

“You didn’t have a plan going to save Yashiro.” You scoffed, but a smile found its way onto your lips.

“You get what I meant.” Hanako pouted, playfully shoving your shoulder. “Don’t dive head first into danger. Make a plan and then you can.”

“But you did it.” You quipped with a smirk, nudging him.

“Cause I can’t technically can’t ‘die’ a second time.” Hanako frowns, ruffling up your hair “You can. Be careful, figure something out and then you can try, okay?” He sighs “That boy will be alright, Tsukasa probably won’t destroy something that has the potential to destroy us.”

“Probably? That’s reassuring.” You snort sarcastically.

“I’m serious. Focus on one thing at a time.” Hanako groans, scolding you.

“Hanako’s right, you two could’ve gotten seriously hurt going in there alone without a plan.” Yashiro sighed, leaning on the bathroom stall door. “Tsukasa is dangerous from what I can tell, there’s no way you can beat him if he was able to kill number 3 in his own boundary.”

“I guess..” you mutter, standing up and crossing your arms.

“You guess? He knocked you out when you tried to interfere with him and Mitsuba.” Kou narrowed his eyes down at you, “They’re both right, no more dragging me with you if you don’t have a plan. I don’t want you getting hurt.”

“Fine, fine, jeez. I’m not a baby.” You whined, a pout resting on your lips.

“No but you are reckless, and incredibly selfless.” Yashiro smiles.

“Uhh thanks?” You trail with an awkward smile.

“I don’t think that’s a compliment.” Hanako snorts.

As you both quickly got into your usual playful banter, Yashiro turned to Kou.

“Hey, keep an eye on her please.” Yashiro asks, her voice spilling with concern “I don’t want her to get hurt. I’m sure none of us do.”

Kou nodded “I will, I promise.”

.

.

It was getting harder and harder to sleep at night. Tossing and turning in bed, trying to get Mitsuba off of your mind but it wasn’t easy. He’s okay, they assured you, but why did you feel like he might be in deeper danger than he started? You need a plan, and fast. But what can you do? Tsukasa won’t allow you near him, and Kou will probably keep an eye on you for awhile to make sure you don’t go manic from the whole ordeal. But.. Kou’s not watching you at night, is he?

( A / N ) : Finally got this done!

Tag list : @tr-mha-fan

Act II — Until we meet again.

Ready to continue your adventure?

Yes / No

Chapter 6 — “Is it really you?”

Summary: After finally finding Mitsuba, all hell breaks loose. Between fighting Hanako though failing miserably and replacing the Hell of Mirrors No. 3 of the Seven Mysteries, but that isn't half of the chaos just waiting to unfold.

Chapter 7 — “Forbidden”

Summary : Days pass from the Hell of Mirrors incident, you can’t stop thinking about it. Hanako is no help, so what better option than to drag Kou with you!

Chapter 8 — “Is it worth selling my soul for you?”

Summary coming soon.

Chapter 9 — “There has to be another way.”

Summary coming soon

Chapter 10 — “Free now, but at what cost?”

Summary coming soon.

(A/N) : Aaah it's been a while hasn't it? Late start, but here we are! Get ready for Act Il !! The rest of the summaries will be loaded later, chapter's will be released every two weeks on Sunday’s. (Hopefully, anyways) :]

“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!

“Don’t leave me yet, it’s too soon.”

You were hanging out with him again, when a ghost you knew as “Tsukasa”, who referred to himself as “Amane’s” younger twin brother, horribly tore Mitsuba’s soul out. Literately.

Warnings: a whole shit ton of angst, cursing/foul language, mentions of death, maybe mentions of suicide(? from reader), Tsukasa needing some serious mental help, implications that reader is female (she/her), implication of some type of sh?, etc,.

(A/N) : So again, it’s proofread. But if there’s anything I missed lmk!! Also it switches to your aunt Autumn perspective after a bit, so you have explanation, then Kou’s. And, yeah I did add more conflict lmao.

Prev. >> Next

"Soo.." Kou hummed as he walked home with you.

"So?" You repeated, your voice a little giddy.

"How did things go with your little ghost lover huh?" He teased, a knowing smirk on his face.

Your face flushed, "He's not my-"

"I'm just kidding, calm down." He laughed.

"But." he said "I think it went well by the way I saw you two hugging each other like that."

"Like what?" You asked.

"Like you weren't gonna see him again." He hummed.

But the way you tensed up didn't go unnoticed by him.

"What's wrong?" He asked, turning back to kick a pebble on the sidewalk as you walked.

"What do you mean?" You replied.

"I'm not blind." He sighed, obviously knowing something was up.

You bit your lip turning the other way.

"It's nothing."

"You swear on my life?" He asked, sighing again when he heard you go silent.

"I had a nightmare." you finally confessed.

You had already got to your house, so you just sat down on the steps of the front porch to explain.

He sat by you, waiting patiently.

"What was it about?" He asked, careful not to make you uncomfortable.

“He died again, Kou.” You struggled not to sob.

Before Kou could reply, or say something to comfort you, you continued.

“Last night. I heard this voice. It kept telling me, it’s time, it’s time. Then I heard a scream, my scream. But it wasn’t pained, so I knew I was just horrified or something.” You winced, memory fogging up.

“T.. There was this horrible squelching noise, like you know. It sounded like something was being torn out of something, out of someone.” You rambled, eyes darting all around the street, desperately trying to not cry.

“And then I..” you stopped, choking out a sob.

You felt sick just remembering it, clasping a hand over your mouth, as if that would help keep the bile down.

“And then I saw him, dead.” You choked.

“He was dead, Kou.” You sobbed.

“The last thing I heard before I woke up, was a voice echoing for me to ‘wake up’.” You cried out, and Kou’s arms instinctively wrapped around you as an attempt to comfort you.

Kou pursed his lips in a tight line as you sobbed into his shoulder, he knew this meant something. And he knew he had to tell Teru about it.

He gently pushed you a bit, so he could look at your face. He wiped your tears away.

“He’s going to be okay.” He assured, though he wasn’t so sure himself.

“He’s going to be okay.” He repeated, though this time it sounded like he was trying to reassure himself.

.

.

After a while, and after you finally collected yourself. You had said your goodbye to Kou and went inside your home.

Your aunt seemed to be waiting anxiously by the kitchen counter, but she sighed in relief when she saw you.

“Oh good, I was seriously starting to get worried.” She looked like she just saw a ghost, or maybe it wasn’t a ghost she saw, but she looked terrified.

You noticed the home phone cell was hanging off the counter by it’s cord, and there was a bat on the ground.

“Everything okay?” You asked, noting the way she rushed to lock the door.

She made a sort of ‘pssh’ sound, following it up with “Of course, why would anything be wrong?”

Which honestly made you worry a little, but when she assured you everything was okay and she was just worried for you, you dropped the subject.

“Well, I’m going to go shower and then go to bed.” You say, already starting up the stairs.

“Okay, you do that.” She called as you already were halfway up.

You thought it was weird, she never acted that way. If anything, she encouraged you to stay out later if it meant you were having fun, as long as you let her know. And Kou did let her know. So why was she freaking out? You wanted to pry into it, but seeing as she wouldn’t budge you decided against it. Opting to just take a shower, get ready for bed, and go to sleep. Though you couldn’t help but worry as she seemed really shaken up.

.

.

Once she was sure you were asleep, she climbed up the stairs to check on you. She sighed, relieved that you were okay. She slumped herself against the corridor wall, sliding down till she ended up sitting with her knees bent in front of her.

What had happened?

She was just doing what she usually did while she would wait for you. Cleaning, tidying up, and doing her self care before you got back. When suddenly she heard the voices too.

At first, she didn’t believe it, thinking that maybe all this talk about the supernatural and dead friends was getting to her head.

And she did end up believing it was all in her head and was just hearing things from the anxiety.

At least, for a bit.

She had heard a loud screech, an inhuman one. It shook her down to her bones with how intense it is.

Then there was a thud, but it wasn’t just a small thud from something she knew she left almost hanging of the counter, it was a loud THUD.

Like a body falling to its death.

“Hello?” She called, turning her head to where she heard the sound.

No response.

“Anybody there?” She called again, setting the lathered up dish to the side and dried her hands to investigate the racket.

She tiptoed, thinking maybe someone broke in. So just in case, she grabbed a bat she had laying around in case of this kind of situation.

But as she swung around the corner, she was horrified.

It was you.

But it wasn’t you at the same time.

You hung there, kind of just dangling. A rope tied tightly around your neck, making said spot purple due to the lack of oxygen, she assumed.

The sight alone horrified her, making her drop the bat she was holding so tightly.

She didn’t even notice she wasn’t blinking until she did, and the image in front of her was gone.

She backed away, slowly, eyes stuck on the exact spot—as if it might reappear if she didn’t. She grabbed the home phone, quickly dialing Kou’s phone number, which she had memorized knowing he’d know where to find you or he’d be with you if you weren’t home yet.

Once he picked up the phone, she began mumbling out stuff.

“Where is (Y/N)?”

“Is she okay?”

“She’s not in trouble is she?”

“Is she with you?”

“IS SHE OKAY?”

Her voice practically echoed in Kou’s ears, as he tried to make sense of what she was saying, and reassure her that you were still at school, probably talking to that ghost you called “Mitsuba”.

She asked him frantically if he could go get you, that’s its too late for you to be out, insisting you’d be safer at home.

Which was unusual to Kou too.

“Yeah, hang on.” Was all he said so he could try to register why she was panicking like that, before hanging up and heading out the door.

Were you in danger? He thought. But if you were he knew you were more than capable of protecting yourself. Still, your aunt’s frantic panic from earlier worried him.

He was relieved to see you, safe, with Mitsuba.

He was going to call you over, tell you it was time to head home cause your aunt was worrying so much, but he waited. He wanted for your guys’s moment to last a little longer.

So when you hugged Mitsuba after he said he finally remembered you, he thought then was a good time.

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

He didn’t miss the way Mitsuba glared at him, and he chuckled lightheartedly at it. He watched as you wiped your tears, your laugh coming out a bit choked, but he knew it was a happy one.

—

Back home, your aunt was pacing around in the corridor.

You hadn’t gotten home yet,

Kou kept only reading her messages and not telling her if you were okay or not,

You weren’t answering your phone,

She was panicking.

Quickly she texted Kou to hurry over with you, and continued to anxiously pace the halls. She looked back at where she saw it, saw you. And shakily exhaled in relief when she didn’t see it again.

Finally, she thought as she heard the door crack open.

“Oh good, I was starting to get worried.” She laughed, hurriedly going to lock the door.

.

.

And that brought you to the moment at hand.

She kept glancing at your sleeping figure every few minutes, as if you’d somehow be dead if she didn’t. You could feel it, someone watching you while you slumbered. But you shook it off, not really interested in it.

Eventually, exhaustion caught up with her. Both from the anxiety and nerves, and from having acted so frantic. She fell asleep right outside your door.

You yawned, feeling the warm sunlight leak into your room from the crack in the curtains. You got up, getting dressed, and went to the bathroom to quickly wash your face before deciding you looked well enough to head out.

The yelp you let out when you saw your aunt outside your door was loud enough to wake her up.

“Oh, okay good.” She sighed after seeing you were alright.

You raised an eyebrow.

“What’re you doing outside my door?” You asked, a little startled.

“Am I in trouble?” You asked again, to which she shook her head.

“No, no. Just. Personal reasons.” She sighed, standing up and dusting herself off.

“Alright,” you said after a moment of hesitation “are you sure you’re okay?”

“I’m fine,” she said, but after noticing the slight attitude she gave you she added “thanks for worrying, I appreciate it really. But I’m okay.”

You gave her a suspicious glance before mumbling a quiet ‘if you say so’ and heading downstairs.

“I didn’t make breakfast cause you know, but if you finish getting ready I should have something ready by then.” She suggested, already getting the items for it.

“No it’s okay, I’m good. You seem tired, you should rest.” You say, grabbing your shoes.

Slipping them on, you continued “Besides, I’m not really hungry anyways.”

“Oh okay, you sure?” She asked.

You nodded.

“I’m good, but thanks! Rest mom!” You shouted as you ran out the door.

“Don’t be out too late!” She warned, before she heard the door shut.

You walked out, bathing in the cool morning air, sighing—it felt peaceful. You looked over, and Kou shot you a smile from the end of the street, so you ran to catch up.

“You ready?” He asked, to which you nodded.

“Let’s go.” You confirmed.

.

.

Arriving at school, you both decided to hang out at school, not really interested in the activities. You knew Teru might bite you guys in the ass about it, but you also knew he’d help you with the work.

You headed over, with really no direction. Just the sole intention of finding Mitsuba.

And after a while you did, greeting him with a smile. He only rolled his eyes, but you noticed the slight twitch in his lips. He smiled. Kou cleared his throat.

“Before you had that.. remembrance, I was going to say we should help Mitsuba figure out his unfinished business!” Kou exclaimed excitedly, making you laugh.

“Shut up you hella lame pervert with a traffic-safety earring,” Mitsuba scoffed “she had every right to react like that.”

“And I’m not saying she didn’t.” Kou sighed, “point is—“

“I don’t even know your name, and you’re going to supposedly help me?” Mitsuba laughed sarcastically.

“Oh that’s right.” Kou began, before pausing in realization “Wait haven’t you heard my name from (Y/N)?” He asked.

“Maybe but.. can’t remember.” Mitsuba lied shrugged, with an ‘innocent’ pout.

Kou’s eyebrow twitched, making you laugh.

“Well then,” Kou started, clearing his throat “my name is Kou Minamoto. The second son in an ancient and honorable exorcist family!”

Mitsuba clasped a hand over his mouth, struggling not to burst out in laughter “That has got to be the most stupidest thing I’ve heard, you’ve been watching too much anime, creepy.” scooting away to make it even more dramatic.

Kou pouted with a huff, and you leaned against the nearest wall, eyes glimmering with amusement as you watched.

“What does the self proclaimed ‘exorcist’ ,” Mitsuba snorted “with a hella-lame traffic-safety earring want with me?”

“It’s Kou!” Said boy corrected.

“So, the hella-lame pervert with a traffic-safety earring.” Mitsuba repeated with a cocky grin.

“Kou! It’s Kou!” He insisted, his patience running thin when he heard Mitsuba laugh at him “damn I’m seriously gonna erase you!”

Laughing, Mitsuba looked at you and put on an innocent face.

“Please don’t be violent?” He taunted, before bursting out into another fit of giggles.

Kou sighed, grabbing him and pinning him against the ground with his staff directly above him, making Mitsuba yelp.

“(Y/N) he’s gonna kill me! He’s gonna kill me!” He wailed, as if asking you for help.

“You have five seconds to tell me your unfinished business, or I’ll erase you! You hear me?!” Kou demanded, pressing him into the ground with his knee.

“I’m sorry, ‘m sorry!” Mitsuba dramatically cried, nodding frantically.

Kou got off of him, and Mitsuba sat up with a pout on his face.

“I already know your name is Mitsuba, but..” Kou paused, thinking of something to ask him “how old are you?”

No answer.

“Year in school?”

“He died in middle school, Kou.” You sighed, feeling sick as you remembered the nightmares.

“What’s your ‘unfinished business’?” Kou asked, turning to you miserably, as if asking “Can I?” when Mitsuba didn’t reply, but you just laughed and shook your head, with a smile that said “No it’s fine, it’s endearing after a bit.”

Growing frustrated, he grabbed Mitsuba with a glare, fistful of his scarf.

Mitsuba yelped.

“Stop, it’s a picture! It’s a photograph!” Mitsuba cried, struggling to escape Kou’s grip.

“A.. picture?” Kou asked, a bit confused as he let go of Mitsuba’s shirt.

“I.. I think.” Mitsuba mumbled.

His eyebrows furrowed as he glared up at Kou “You can’t just go asking me about my ‘unfinished business’. I honestly don’t have an answer at the top of my head.”

Then adding, “But before I died, there must’ve been a picture I wanted to take.. I think.”

“If you’re actually going to help me finish my ‘unfinished business’, then go get my camera. I’m pretty sure (Y/N) knows where to find it.” Mitsuba muttered, awkwardly shifting around.

.

.

“He’s so annoying..” Kou sighed as you both were on your way to the photographer club’s classroom.

You laughed.

“I think it’s funny.”

“Yeah, when it’s not you.” Kou groaned in annoyance, earning another chuckle from you.

You entered the classroom, only to see it empty.

“I remember Mitsuba once tried to get me to join the photographer club.” You sighed, grabbing his camera from a counter that had Mitsuba’s name written under it, and then a date. His death date.

“Why didn’t you?” Kou asked.

You shrugged, already making your way out.

“Didn’t really interest me. But god are Mitsuba’s photo’s good. It feels like you’re actually there.” You explained with a smile.

“What do you mean?” Kou asked again, not really understanding what you meant.

“Oh, most of the pictures I’ve seen him take were of scenery.” You hummed, turning on the camera and opening it’s gallery.

“Look,” you said, showing Kou some of the pictures Mitsuba took.

Kou looked in awe, his eyes widened at all the beautiful scenic photos.

“It’s..” he mumbled.

“Beautiful? Yeah I know.” Mitsuba said with a grin, taking the camera from my hands.

“Shouldn’t we head outside then?” You suggested, to which both boy’s agreed.

CLICK.

Another picture Mitsuba had snapped, and another second you struggled not to burst out into giggles.

“Mitsuba,” Kou called, groaning when the ghost boy didn’t reply.

“Hey Mitsuba?” He repeated, struggling to keep himself balanced.

Mitsuba hummed, as if to say “what is it?”

“This hurts!” Kou cried out dramatically, making you press your hand harder over your mouth to make sure you didn’t laugh.

Mitsuba looked down, “you look good under my feet” he laughed with a cocky grin.

“Damn it you’re gonna regret this, I swear!” Kou shouted, trying to keep him and Mitsuba balanced.

You burst out laughing, no longer being able to contain the laughter spilling out of your soft lips.

A sound Mitsuba thought was melodic, and smiled at it. Kou glared at you, as if that would stop you from laughing at his torture, before sighing.

“I mean, this better be the picture you wanted to take.” Kou grumbled.

Mitsuba scoffed with a grin, turning his focus back to his camera.

“Uh-huh.. this is totally it.” He snickered, making you laugh along.

You, Kou, and Mitsuba had already taken a few photos. Some of kittens, which had unfortunately strangled didn’t like Kou. Of a beehive, somehow the bees didn’t like the idea of being photographed and attacked Kou. And of a rainbow, which ended up with Kou almost getting rid of Mitsuba on the spot.

“That’s got to be the fourth time you’ve said that.” Kou sighed, helping Mitsuba off his shoulders.

Mitsuba went over to go show you the pictures he took. He did end up taking a few of the birds in the nest before he and Kou startled them, but he also took a picture that made you cackle.

It was a photo of the view he had from Kou’s shoulders. Kou’s eyebrow’s were furrowed in frustration, trying to stay balanced and not fall or drop Mitsuba. His blonde hair was slightly ruffled from Mitsuba’s pant’s brushing against it.

It was very amusing to you, Kou groaned when he heard your laughing and snickering with Mitsuba.

“You two are so mean I swear.” Kou whined, letting his head fall forward against the nearby wall.

“Can’t we just rap this up already?” Kou complained, lifting his head slightly to look for your response.

Mitsuba gave you a look of ‘watch this’, and headed for Kou.

“Whaaat?” Mitsuba asked, dragging out the ‘a’ letter.

“But I thought you guys were gonna stick with me until I found the picture I wanted to take?” Mitsuba brought his sleeve-covered hand up to his mouth, to create a ‘innocent’ look.

“Or what? Is the ancient and dignified exorcist with the hella-lame traffic-safety earring,” Mitsuba snickered making Kou angrier “a promise breaking liar with a hella-lame traffic-safety—“

Within seconds, Kou had Mitsuba pinned to the ground again. “Don’t be so full of yourself!”

Mitsuba screamed, frantically writhing around to escape Kou’s grip once again.

“I’m disappearing! I’m gonna disappear!” Mitsuba wailed, making grabby hands for you to help.

But you were laughing your ass off, as this had been the umpteenth time this had happened.

.

.

“So hey,” Kou mumbled, looking over Mitsuba’s shoulder to see what he was photographing “you’ve only been taking pictures of animals and scenery.”

“Yeah, thanks Mr. obvious.” You joked, making Mitsuba laugh with you whispering a quiet ‘good one.’

Kou glared at you both, but nonetheless continued on what he was saying.

“What about people?” He asked, looking over at a couple of kids playing at the school field “you don’t want to take pictures of people at club or practice or, anything?”

Mitsuba paused for a moment, taking his focus away from taking the photo. “Uh.. well.”

Mitsuba cleared his throat, and even you went quiet to listen.

“Pictures of people do have an easier time winning awards but..” he paused, but then moved his focus back to photographing.

“What about me?” Kou practically chirped.

“What about you?” Mitsuba repeated.

“Why don’t you take a picture of me?” Kou asked with a grin.

“Yeah..” Mitsuba gave him a weird look.

“I’ll pass.”

You burst into laughter for the nth time, falling down from the crouching position you were in.

“Why?!” Kou whined, clearly confused why Mitsuba wouldn’t take a photo of him.

“I’m pretty particular about the pictures I take,” Mitsuba said as a matter of factly “it’s my policy to only take pictures of things I like..”

“Or things that are important to me.” He mumbled, glancing over to you who was still trying to stop laughing.

“Oh?” You all heard, turning around to see who it was.

“Oh, hey Yokoo!” You greeted, barely being able to catch your breath from laughing so much.

“Hey (Y/N), Kou.” Yokoo hummed in reply, adding “What? Did Kou suddenly become a jokester too?”

He gestured to your frame that was still sitting down, only holding yourself up by your elbows.

“No..” you giggled, getting back up.

Yokoo shook his head fondly, smiling. “What’re you guys doing out here?”

“Uh.. we were—“ Kou stuttered.

“Having a photo shoot! Yeah.” You blurted out.

Yokoo raised an eyebrow, chuckling at your odd behavior. “Never a dull moment with you two, huh?”

He looked down at Kou’s hands, narrowing his eyes down at it. With a hum, his eyes stared intensely at it.

“That camera..” he mumbled, “wasn’t that Mitsuba’s?”

“You..” Kou paused. “..know him?”

“We were in the same class in first year..” Yokoo explained “but.. he died. In an accident or something.”

You shuddered, turning your head the other way, as if that would help drown out what he was saying.

“Sometime last winter..”

“What?” Kou mumbled in disbelief.

“I was never really close to him, but you were in that class too, weren’t you Kou?” Yokoo asked, turning over to look at Kou, but he was looking at Mitsuba, who Yokoo couldn’t see.

“Sorry for talking about that.” Yokoo apologized after seeing you wince. “I know you were close.”

“WHAT? I WAS?” He panicked, feeling a bit bad.

Mitsuba gave Kou a side glance, but it looked kind of like ‘see your friend remembers me, even though I literally sat in front of YOU that whole year’.

“Sure were!” Yokoo confirmed, continuing to ramble on “Well I guess it’s hard to remember now, since we’re all in different classes.”

Yokoo noticed Kou wasn’t exactly paying attention and turned to look at where he assumed he was watching.

“Hey.. What’re you looking at?” He asked.

“Oh, probably another ‘supernatural’ again, you know Kou’s a little..” you spun your finger in circles on the side of your head, ‘crazy’.

Yokoo laughed, making Kou glare at you both before looking back at Mitsuba.

“Mitsuba.. that Mitsuba?”

“Yeah, I—“ Yokoo was about to speak again when his teammates called him back over “guess that’s my cue to leave. See you two later!”

“Mitsu—“ Kou stuttered out, but Mitsuba interrupted him.

“I tried talking to..” his voice cracked “every person I ever thought was my friend..”

He laughed lightheartedly, “Well except for you know, the one I didn’t remember.”

You smiled a bit, but your expression dropped when you saw Mitsuba’s face.

“But none of them knew it was me.” He mumbled, a little too sadly. “Only I remembered.”

“Ah.” You gasped when you felt a cold drop of water fall onto your skin.

You extended the palm of your hand out, as if to catch the water droplets. Kou had gone silent.

“…It’s starting to rain,” Mitsuba spoke after a few more moments of silence.

“We can see that.” You answered sarcastically, making Mitsuba playfully roll his eyes at you.

“Yeah I know that.” He retorted, then adding “we should probably go inside.”

So you all made your way up the stairs to the nearest entrance. The walk was silent once again, until Mitsuba broke it.

“I..” Mitsuba cleared his throat to speak more coherently “..was bullied when I was in elementary school.”

He turned to look at you “That’s kind of how I met (Y/N), she was the first to actually step up for me.”

You shot him a warm smile, as you continued up the steps.

“They would say it’s because like I ‘look like a girl’ and cause I’m ‘cocky’. Stupid reasons like that.” He explained.

“Oh yeah..” Kou unintentionally agreed.

Mitsuba turned around and shot him a glare “Could you not agree, please?”

“Sorry.” Kou stuttered.

“Anyways,” Mitsuba continued “that’s why I wanted to make things work out in junior high. I’d take the hint,” he used hand gestures with his sleeve to express himself better “I’d be nice so no one would call me cocky. I’d be friendly,” he paused before laughing lightheartedly “but not pushy with everyone.”

“And this where is where it got me.” He sighed “A boring guy who just barely stands out from the background.”

“(Y/N) tried to tell me that if they couldn’t accept me for who I was, and only did as a background character. Then it wasn’t worth it. But..” Mitsuba paused.

“He didn’t listen to me. Everything went through one ear, and straight out through the other.” You explained with a disappointed sigh.

“Nobody bullied me,” Mitsuba continued on “but I couldn’t make any more friends than (Y/N) either.”

Kou went silent, actually he had been silent since the whole time Mitsuba had been rambling. He finally perked up.

“He’s cocky.” Kou stated, pointing an accusing finger at Mitsuba.

Mitsuba hummed in confusion, swiftly turning around to look at Kou.

“Looks like a girl” Kou added, pointing out another finger as if to count.

“Sarcastic,”

“Selfish,”

“Has an annoying voice,”

“Obsessed with his camera,”

“Goes ‘emo’ sometimes,”

“And is only fake nice.” Kou finished, by then he had about nine fingers laid out.

“What’s your deal?!” Mitsuba shouted defensively.

“If anybody asks me ‘What kind of guy was Mitsuba Sousuke?’ that’s what I’m gonna tell them.” Kou explained.

“What?” Mitsuba mumbled with a confused expression.

“I’m sorry..” Kou apologized, looking directly at Mitsuba “I didn’t realize it was you.”

“I just didn’t recognize you, because you were so different from we met in first year.” Kou explained. “And, you know..”

“I agree with what (Y/N) had told you, I don’t think you had to force anything. You just had to be yourself.” Kou lightly chuckled, looking over at you who smirked at Mitsuba with a look in your eyes that said ‘I told you so’.

Mitsuba laughed softly, shaking his head.

“I do think you’ve got a warped personality.” Kou added, before speaking again “but I don’t hate it.”

“..A lot of good that does me now.” Mitsuba muttered.

“Yeah.” Kou hummed in agreement.

The rain had somehow magically stopped, and the sky was clear again. Mitsuba stopped at a sort of small balcony in the middle of the stairs to take a picture of some birds that looked to be doves passing by.

“Kou, (Y/N).” Mitsuba called, stopping his photo-taking for a moment.

Kou hummed in response, to tell Mitsuba to continue talking. And you just mumbled a “Yeah?”

“If I were still alive,” Mitsuba began “do you think the three of us could have been friends?”

“Are we not your friends?” You asked heading over to wear Kou was walking to, not really knowing where else to go.

“Yeah, can’t we still be friends even if you’re dead?” Kou asked with a pout. He sighed.

You looked at Kou, and he did the same. Over time whenever you made eye contact you found yourself laughing, and that what happened.

Mitsuba smiled, feeling his cold heart warm for the first time since he died.

CLICK!

You and Kou stopped your giggling for a moment, a bit shocked by the flash from the camera’s lens.

You raised an eyebrow as if to say ‘what was that?’ but still smiled, “Oh?”

Kou smiled, turning around to look at Mitsuba “What’d you take a picture of?” he asked.

“The sky?” He thought.

“Who knows?” Mitsuba chuckled “Maybe somethings important to me?”

The grin you had made Mitsuba’s smile even wider, and but Kou was still confused.

“Huh?”

“It doesn’t matter, let’s just go!” Mitsuba laughed, already pushing Kou towards the door leading back into the school.

You shook your head with a smile, walking beside Mitsuba.

“You guys can help me develop them tomorrow!” He suggested.

“And then..” he mumbled, looking at you and then back at Kou “..then I think I’ll be okay.”

“…You think so?” Kou asked.

“Yeah.” Mitsuba agreed.

“Then we can pick this back up tomorrow?” You asked hopefully.

“I’ll be waiting at the school’s entrance.” Mitsuba hummed with a nod.

“Miitsubaa..” you heard a voice chirp from behind you, dragging the ‘i’ and ‘a’.

It didn’t sound cheerful, in fact. It frightened you. You’d never felt so afraid to hear a spirit’s voice, it sent shivered down your spine. You shuddered. All three of you froze in place, but the look on Mitsuba’s face said it all.

You should be scared.

“It bothers me when you do these things,” the voice continued “without my permission, too.”

You hesitated, but turned to look behind you.

The boy had almost the same appearance as Hanako, except he had a more traditional uniform on, and a different seal on his cheek. A black one with the same red letters. His orbs were different too, they gave you a eerie feeling when you looked over at them. But besides that, he had the same choppy hair, and the same amber eyes. They looked ambitious, but not the type of ambition that’s curious and innocent.

No, the ambition in HIS eyes terrified you.

By then, Kou and Mitsuba had turned around too. And Mitsuba, he looked petrified. You all stood there like a deer in headlights, not knowing what to do.

“It’s rude.”

Kou narrowed his eyes down at the guy, and you knew he was thinking the same thing as you.

“Hanako?” you both mentally thought.

But unfortunately for all three of you, it wasn’t.

“Trying to move on.. without telling me too.” He continued to muse, walking closer to Mitsuba, who tried to back away.

“That’s not nice.” The boy said, finally stepping in front of Mitsuba “We can’t be having that.”

And with that, he shoved his hand straight through Mitsuba’s chest. He let out a choked cry, and there was a squelching noise—the same sound you heard in that dream—you shook your head in disbelief, backing away from the view.

The guy then tore his hand back out, holding what looked to be a dim light. Mitsuba’s soul.

“Wh—“ Kou choked.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?” Kou shouted angrily, attempting to attack the ghost from behind.

But the spirit didn’t do anything to to stop him. Instead, he grabbed Kou by his head, and slammed it straight into the wall. Kou winced as he slid down the wall, holding his head in his hand as if that would soothe the pain.

“Remember Mitsuba?” The ghost hummed, walking back over to said boy. “You asked me to grant you your wish!”

The ghost chuckled as it finally stopped right in-front of Mitsuba, “You said, ‘I want to stay in everyone’s memories.’”

He bent over, harshly pulling his head up by his silky pink hair “You just have two people and your happy with that?” The boy asked, his frown turning into a terrifying grin “No you’re not.”

“Are you, Mitsuba?”

“YOU BASTARD.” You practically shrieked, gritting your teeth as hard as you could to prevent yourself from sobbing.

“YOU FUCKING BASTARD!” You screamed, lunging at the spirit.

But just like with Kou, he was unfazed. His face void of any sympathy. His orbs swarmed around him, the force shoving you back, and you hit the wall with a loud cry that made Mitsuba’s heart ache. With a swift motion, his arm was behind Mitsuba’s back, he couldn’t move at all.

“I’m a supernatural.” The spirit hummed “For the right price, I will grant the wish of whoever summons me.”

“Amane grants the wishes of the living on the near-shore,” he explained “and I grant the wishes of the dead on the far-shore.”

“Mitsuba made a wish, and I answered.” He stated, looking at you who struggled to get up.

“And now I’m going to make his wish come true,” he said with such a smile that if you hadn’t known any better, would’ve seemed so innocent “and I’m going to do it my way.”

click.

There was a small snap-sound when the ghost flicked on some switch to a radio. Wait, a radio? What was going on(?), you thought.

“Okay Mitsuba,” the boy chirped “it’s time to grant your wish!”

“Sakura!” The ghost called in the direction of the speakers. “We’re all ready!”

There was a bit of static, before a monotonous voice spoke up.

It was a girl’s, you didn’t know who’s though, cause the voice wasn’t familiar to you.

“Have you heard this rumor?” The girl the ghost had called ‘Sakura’ asked.

“The bent-neck boy at the school entrance.”

Suddenly, Mitsuba’s eyes shot open, and there was an unsettling crack as his head snapped backwards.

“They say a ghost with a broken neck,” the girl continued “appears at the entrance of the middle school division.”

“He is a very lonely ghost.”

“So he might talk to you too. He’ll say ‘Hey..”

“Did you forget about me?” A voice that didn’t sound like Mitsuba’s asked, still the words pushed past his lips in a croak.

The voice sounded distorted, unpleasant.

“Mitsuba..” Kou whimpered, holding on tightly to his head.

“If you can’t tell him his name,” she started to explained “then.” She paused.

“He’ll break your neck to make you look like him.”

Then there were more voices. Other voices. They echoed. Bouncing on the walls and flooding into your ears.

“Did you hear? A friend of a friend told me..”

“Ew that’s disgusting!”

“Was it the middle school entrance?”

“Your neck!”

“He’ll break your neck?”

“That’s scaary”

“No,” Mitsuba whimpered, holding on tightly to his head out of frustration “no, no, no..”

“DISGUSTING.”

“LONELY GHOST.”

“BREAKS YOUR NECK?!”

“LOOK LIKE HIM?”

“SCARY.”

Mitsuba cried as he thrashed around violently.

“(Y/N)..” he wailed “Kou.”

The teary look in his eyes, the crack in his voice, the petrified look on his face.

It all made your blood boil.

How could anyone do that, to anyone really?

“There.” The ghost hummed in satisfaction.

“Now,” he smiled “no one will ever forget you.”

The way his lips twitched up into a smile, was twisted. It made your stomach churn and you felt the bile rising up from your stomach.

Mitsuba began to rise, but the the person—no. It wasn’t even a person. The thing that rose wasn’t Mitsuba. It was a large blob of this black liquid that felt like acid to your eyes the more you looked at it. It was covered head to toe in eyes, where his chest was—where his heart should’ve been was torn open. A rib cage was visible from that opening, and it was covered in bandages. It was made of many more parts, parts your couldn’t identify. Parts you didn’t want to identify.

The only part you could identify, was Mitsuba’s head slightly peeking out from the top of the monster.

His eyes were shut, and he looked almost lifeless as the only part of him you could see was limp.

“The school’s seven mysteries..” the ghost sighed walking towards where Kou was and where you were still trying to stay conscious. “Say they maintain correct relationships between humans and supernaturals.”

“But who needs that?” The ghost beamed, but his smile just made you shudder “Humans and supernaturals should just be however they want.”

“If that’s enough to break the world..” he trailed off.

“Then it’s better off broken.”

“Don’t you agree?” He asked with a hum.

You swore you saw red when you saw him touch Mitsuba, holding him like it was the most innocent thing in the world.

Holding his head in his hands as if he didn’t just grant his wish in a way he never wanted.

You felt your entire body shake with rage the more you looked at it. You stood up on legs you swore were made of jelly by the way the wobbled and threatened to give out on you.

“You’re..” you coughed violently “you’re one to talk!”

The ghost gave you a confused hum, an amused hum. A hum that scared you, but you continued on.

“All he wanted was someone to call he friend! Someone to tolerate his cocky personality and like him for who he was!” You say through choked out sobs.

“HE DIDN’T WANT EVERYONE TO FEAR HIM!”

Your shouting rattled Kou down to his bones with the way it scared him. It didn’t even sound like a shout, a yell, or even a scream.

No, it was a screech.

Hot tears threatened to spill from your tired (E/C) eyes, trembling with anger.

“Humans and super natural should just be however they want?” You scoffed “YOU DIDN’T EVEN LET HIM BE HOWEVER HE WANTED.”

“He was happy with what he had! Even if it was for a moment!” You cried, violently wiping the tears that began to spill out of your eyes and down your cheeks.

“You fucking asshole..” you whimpered.

“YOU FUCKING ASSHOLE HOW COULD YOU?!” You shrieked, throwing yourself at him, only for him to shove you right back with the force of his orbs.

And that, was when you blacked out.

Just in time, and luckily for Kou, Hanako had arrived.

.

.

There was silence when you blacked out, but then there were tons of laughter.

“Oh no.. poor sweet (Y/N)..” a voice whispered.

“It’s only just begun.”

“You’re not quite done yet.”

.

.

You shot up with a gasp, looking around frantically. Sighing when you saw it was just Hanako and Yashiro in the room.

“Ah..” Hanako mumbled. “You’re awake.”

“Are you okay?” Yashiro asked worriedly, pressing an ice pack against your head.

You winced at the ice cold feel, and Yashiro squeaked out a small ‘m sorry’.

You didn’t say anything though. You couldn’t, you didn’t know what to say.

Losing Mitsuba again was like losing the missing puzzle piece you’d been looking for and just when you think you’ve found it, you lost it again.

Tears began to well in your eyes and before you knew it, you were sobbing.

“I’m sorry Mitsuba, ‘m so sorry..” you cried.

Yashiro gave Hanako a pained look and he only responded with a sad smile.

“It wasn’t your fault kid.” Hanako sighed, sitting beside you.

“Yeah, it’ll be okay!” Yashiro tried assure me.

“No, no, no there should’ve been something I could’ve done! God— I-“ you wailed, wiping the tears harshly as they fell from your sunken eyes.

“No, (Y/N).” Hanako sighed “There’s nothing you could have done.”

“Once someone dies, that’s just the end.”

He sighed again when he saw you sob at the mention of death, knowing your friend died a second time just moments before.

“It’s over,” he continued. “You can become spirits and wander the near shore but that’s just it.”

“There’s no where else to go after that.” He whispered.

“We have no future.”

“No, no there must’ve been something I could’ve done!” You whimpered, but the more you cried, the more your head began to hurt.

Yashiro noticed this and sat on the other side of you, rubbing your back comfortingly as if it would help.

“Destruction was the only salvation for him, it’s better this way—trust me.” Hanako whispered after a few more moments of sitting in silence, the only sounds to fill the void were the sounds of your sobbing and hiccups.

“No there had to be some other way!” You screamed, Yashiro winced at how pained your voice sounded “It can’t end this way. I just had him. He was just here!”

“(Y/N)—“ Hanako tried to speak.

“BULL SHIT.” You shouted, slamming your fisted hands down hard onto your legs.

“BULL SHIT, BULL SHIT! ITS ALL A LOAD OF FUCKING CRAP!” You kept slamming your fists down onto your thighs repeatedly out of frustration, so much that Yashiro had to grab your hands and forcefully keep them from harming yourself any more than you already were.

“(Y/N),” Hanako whispered, making you turn to look at him through angry tears “there’s nothing you could’ve ever done to help him.”

“There’s no saving the dead.”

You broke out into hysterical sobs, shaking your head ‘no’ in disbelief.

There had to be some other way, there had to be some way to save him.

“Don’t leave me yet Mitsuba..” you cried, as if he would be able to somehow hear you from where he was.

“It’s too soon.”

(A/N) : I’m not feeling well right now, mostly mentally cause of some issue. So I thought of putting all that into here. Hope you liked it.

“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.

“When light meets blue.”

Starting your last year of Kamome Academy’s Middle School Divison (KAMSD), not really surprised that you can still seen these spirits roaming the halls not interested either, until rumor spread of this ghost that asks if you remember them. You can’t help but get curious. Luckily for you, Kou unintentionally comes to the rescue. Excited, he drags the dead photographer to you, and you meet. You were happy to have finally found the spirit, but surprised and shocked was all that fogged your mind when you realized it was Mitsuba.

(A/N) : We’ll call your aunt Autumn, just cause. Oh, and I proofread it.

Prev. >> Next

You struggled to get yourself out of bed, feeling something heavy on your chest. You knew what it was, ever since Mitsuba‘a death you always felt it weigh you down, preventing you from healing and moving on.

Not that you wanted to anyways, you were afraid if you were to move on, you would forget all about him.

Still, you needed to get up for school. It was your first last day of middle school, so really nothing more out of the ordinary could go wrong than the usual.

You got up, after a few more minutes of laying stiff. Getting up and dressing up for school. You made your way to the kitchen, in no particular rush. Feet dragging across the wooden floor.

“Oh good morning.” Your aunt, Autumn spoke turning around to glance at you before turning back to face the stove.

“I’m making some pancakes, so just sit there and they’ll be ready in a moment.” She added, flicking her wrist and flipping the pancake on it’s uncooked side.

You hummed, as if to say ‘okay’ but then quickly rushing out for your shoes. You sped back into the kitchen and sat down on a chair near the kitchen island. Slipping on your shoes and tying them, you sat down patiently waiting for your aunt to finish fixing up breakfast. It wouldn’t hurt to check my phone real quick, you thought, grabbing it out and unlocking it.

You noticed you had a few messages from Kou, and opened them to see what he had to say while your were sleeping.

—

Kou

Did you fall asleep already?

Make sure you wake up early for school, I don’t wanna be alone for the first day.

Hello?

10:37 p.m.

—

You snorted, rolling your eyes.

—

(Y/N)

Don’t stress it, but maybe I should stay home. — 6:34 a.m.

Kou

Your so mean to me ☹️ — 6:34 a.m.

(Y/N)

I’m kidding, I’m just gonna eat and I’ll be on my way. — 6:35 a.m.

Kou

You better, that’s what you said when we went to that cafe with Teru. — 6:35 a.m.

(Y/N)

You didn’t wait that longg — 6:35 a.m.

Kou

You made us wait 20 minutes cause you kept seeing this old lady in your room. — 6:35 a.m.

(Y/N)

To be fair I had a reason, I was creeped out. — 6:36 a.m.

Kou

I guess so, but shouldn’t you be used to it already? —6:36 a.m.

(Y/N)

She was chanting in some foreign language 😨 — 6:36 a.m.

—

“(Y/N),” your aunt called “breakfast’s ready.” she followed up, sliding you a plate with a few neatly stacked pancakes.

“Thanks.” You responded, getting up the grab some syrup and a glass of milk.

You quickly ate your food, checking your phone again.

—

Kou

Suree 😟 — 6:36 a.m.

(Y/N)

Shut up I know where you live — 6:41 a.m.

Kou

And I’m under your bed <3 — 6:41 a.m.

(Y/N)

HWAT — 6:41 a.m.

WHAT. — 6:42 a.m.

Kou

I’m kidding, I’m outside your door hurry up. — 6:42 a.m.

—

“Heading out already?” Your aunt asked, slipping her shoes on and grabbing her purse.

“About to.” You replied, putting your plate in the sink.

“Thanks for the breakfast mo- oba. It was good.” You quickly corrected yourself.

“It’s okay, you can call me mom I don’t really mind. Have a good day at school (N/N).” She smiled opening the door and she paused.

“Oh! (Y/N), your friend is here so you might want to hurry up. You can wait inside sweetie.” She said, inviting Kou inside.

“Thank you.” He said with a smile as he entered, seating himself on the couch.

“Give me a second I just need to grab my backpack.” You shouted as you ran up the stairs.

As you rushed upstairs you heard a faint voice, but not faint enough for you to not recognize.

“(Y/N).” It echoed, making you stop in your tracks.

You knew that voice from anywhere, and quickly turned around.

Nothing.

You were met with an empty corridor, nothing was there. You sighed, going up the rest of the stairs to grab your backpack. Once you did, you ran downstairs and stopped in front of Kou.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Ready.”

There were kids crowding the entrance, students from all grades scattered throughout the perimeter.

“So many people..” you mumbled, feeling a bit uneasy.

“First day jitters?” Teru asked coming from behind you both.

“Probably.” You replied.

“We’ll do just fine, don’t worry (Y/N)!” Kou assured, putting a hand on your shoulder.

“Just make sure not to embarrass yourself too much Kou.” Teru teased, making you snort.

Kou groaned, mumbling something along the lines of “you guys are so mean to me I swear”.

Just then the bell rung, making the what looked like mountains of students flood into the different schools.

“Well, I have to head over for student council, but stay out of trouble you two.” Teru said, ruffling Kou’s hair and patting your back as he walked off.

“C’mon we should be heading in too.” Kou suggested.

“Yeah probably, let’s go.” You agreed, following Kou into the doors of the middle school.

“Hey Kou! (Y/N).” Yokoo called out, running after you both.

“Oh hey.” Kou spoke, turning around.

“Did you guys grab your schedule’s yet? What’re your classes?” Yokoo asked, walking with you two.

“We were just going to, come with us.” You suggested.

“Oh, okay!” He agreed, tagging along with you two.

.

.

“Oh sweet, (Y/N) you and I have the same first period!” Kou cheered.

You let out a celebratory cheer knowing you wouldn’t be alone for your first class.

“Woah really what class is it?” Yokoo asked, peaking over Kou’s shoulder to look at your schedule’s hopeful that he would be with you two.

“Awh man.. I have science first.” He sighed in defeat.

“It’s okay! Cause look we have gym together afterwards.” You tried to reassure him.

“Well at least that’s good—“ Yokoo added, but the bell rung a second time as he finished.

“We should really get going now.” Kou insisted, turning around and rushing towards class.

“Kou Minamoto, wait for me you jerk!” You complained running after him.

.

.

“Welcome to your last—“ the teacher was cut off by your entrance.

“Oh, have a seat wherever there’s a free spot.” She ordered, “As I was saying, welcome to your last year of middle school.” you and Kou quickly rushed to a desk in the back and sat with each other.

“We made it.” He whispered to you with a smile.

“Woo!” You silently cheered with a chuckle.

“Right after this we’ll be going to the gym for an assembly, they’ll tell you a few things then we’ll come back here and we’ll do a few ice breakers to get to know each other better.” The teacher explained.

The rest of the school day went by fast, but you weren’t complaining. You groaned as you stretched your arms above your head. “Long day?” A voice asked.

But when you turned around no one was there. Of course, you weren’t really scared. Just curious.

“Helloo?” It spoke again.

You kept looking around till you looked up.

“Hey.” It greeted with a smile.

“Hi-“ you squeaked in surprise.

“Hey (Y/N), thanks for waiting—“ Kou paused when he saw it.

A ghost was floating right over you. He had choppy dark brown hair, and amber eyes. There were two orb-like objects floating along side him—one red, one blue.

Kou gripped his spirit staff tightly, looking for the perfect moment to strike.

“Got ya!” Kou swung, hoping to hit the ghost with it.

But he missed.

“Missed! Your too slow.” The ghost teased, before running off.

“Why you little—!” Kou sighed in defeat.

He looked over at you and you offered a nervous chuckle.

“Well, we should start walking home then.” He said after clearing his throat, ignoring the whispers and stares that were now on and about him.

“Yeah..” you agree “let’s go.”

.

.

The walk home wasn’t silent, you two ranting about the teachers who were nice and those who were absolute assholes. You told Kou how you would see spirits in the halls, and he groaned about how you should have called him immediately. You guys finally ended it as you two stopped in front of the road separating your houses.

“See you then. Tell Tiara I say hi!” You call as you walk across the street.

“I will!” He shouted back as he rushed inside.

You felt the wind ruffle your hair, feeling someone else’s presence. But you knew your aunt wasn’t home for at least another hour.

“Hello?” You called, turning around with a hand on the door knob.

No response.

You just shook your head “it’s probably nothing” you thought, opening the door and closing it shut behind you.

Slipping off your shoes at the door, you rushed up to your room to rest, being absolutely exhausted from the long first day of school.

—

“(Y/N)...” you heard a voice whisper, but you fell asleep before you could check what it was.

“(Y/N), wake up!” It echoed.

“Why can’t you hear me?” The voice trembled.

Your eyes shot open, as you were in some place you couldn’t remember falling asleep in. So there was only one clear answer.

You were dreaming.

And you knew where you were, more importantly. You knew when this was.

The day you were supposed to help him make his mother curry for her birthday.

He planned to wish his mother a happy birthday by cooking curry for her, which you knew she would love.

But in the midst of running to buy the missing potatoes in winter, he died in an accident on the road while on the way for potatoes and it would become the last day that you, and more importantly, the last time his mother would ever see him.

You could barely make out the blurred out face of Mitsuba, mumbling something inaudible to your ears. The silence was so deafening, you tried talking to them, but it was as if you were invisible.

And you knew you were.

You were just so desperate to talk to him again. At least one more time. All of a sudden the silence was broken, and there were screams.

Except, these weren’t screams of joy or any type of excitement.

They were of pure horror. Agony.

You were petrified as you saw the scene in front of you.

There was Mitsuba, laying lifeless on the cool pavement.

You choked out a sob as it all settled into your head. You shook your head in shock, you’ve had nightmares before, but never like this. Never vividly showing these scenes, especially of those you knew.

You felt sick, fighting the urge to empty your stomach at the view.

And that’s when you woke up.

Crying and sweating, you sobbed.

The lights turned on, revealing your worried aunt Autumn.

“Oh god, (Y/N)! Are you okay?” She said, rushing over to hug you.

You sobbed in her arms. You explained to her your nightmare, the gruesome scene, the horrifying screams. She looked so upset that she couldn’t do anything to help but just listen.

“Shhh.. it’s okay honey. I know it hurts. Well, actually I don’t know. But it must be rough losing someone you were close too. But you should know he’s in a better place now right?” She assured.

“But what if he isn’t? What if he’s out there, confused and scared. Unable to cross over?” You wailed, hiccuping as you did.

“But,” your aunt said “what if he’s perfectly fine. And in a better place?” she tried to sympathize, knowing you were hurt.

“I don’t know.” You croaked, your throat hurt from sobbing, and you eyes hurt from all the crying.

“Here, tell you what.” She said, getting up.

“I’m going to go get you some water, and I’ll come back and I can talk to you until you fall asleep. You can tell me about your day at school? How about that?” She suggested, stopping at the door waiting for your response.

“Okay.” You hiccuped, wiping away the remaining tears.

She gave you a quick smile, before rushing downstairs to grab a glass of water.

And true to her word, she returned with said glass of water, sitting beside you on your bed. She stayed with you until you felt comfortable enough to go back to bed.

“Thank you, mom.” You smiled gratefully.

Shocked, and honored, she smiled warmly that you would consider her your mother.

“Good night sweetie.” She said, switching the lights off and heading to bed herself.

The next couple of weeks were strange. You kept hearing these voices, usually that wasn’t something out of the ordinary, but this time something was different. They sounded like him.

You sighed, leaning your chin on the palm of your hand. You buried yourself in your thoughts, thinking about what it meant. But you couldn’t come up with a logical reason.

It wasn’t until you heard the start of a new rumor that you were forced out of your thoughts. You always listened to them, just to tell Kou about them since you knew he liked to investigate them.

“Have you heard?”

A bunch of ‘no’s’ and hushed giggled responded as people crowded around to listen to the latest rumor.

“I’ve heard from my sister who’s friend with Aoi that the entrance to the middle school is haunted!” The girl gushed.

“They said there’s ghost that haunts the middle school lockers, grabbing people as they change their shoes and asking them "Do you remember me?".” She explained in a hushed voice, earning a few silent giggles.

“Do you remember me?” You pondered.

You thought it sounded a bit stupid, but nonetheless you were curious.

.

.

You continued on with your day going off to tell Kou immediately as the bell for lunch rang.

“Kou!” You called, making said blonde boy stop in his tracks and turn around.

“There’s a new rumor, did you hear about it already?” You asked.

“Maybe, what’s this one about?” He asked as he walked with you to eat in the cafeteria.

“Supposedly there’s this ghost haunting the middle school entrance. All I heard is that when you’re going to change your shoes it asks you ‘do you remember me?’.” You explained.

“Supposedly?” He asked, sitting down with you at the nearest table.

“Did you see it yet or?” He added on another question as he took out his lunch, thinking it’d be a good idea to start eating while they waited for Yokoo and Satou.

“No, not yet. I kind of want to though.” You confess.

He raised an eyebrow, taking a bite from his lunch.

“Since when were you curious about a rumor?” He asked as he chewed.

“I..” you stopped yourself.

Truth was, you didn’t even know why.

“..don’t know.” You muttered, a confused look etched on your features.

“If you want we can investigate it together?” Kou suggested, taking another bite.

“I would, but I promised Satou I would sign up for some cooking class with him.” You whined.

“Oh alright.” Kou said.

He paused.

“Want me to keep you updated?” He offered.

“Would you?” You asked hopefully.

He knew he couldn’t say no when he saw that ambitious glint in your eyes.

“Sure.” He smiled.

“You’re a god send Kou!” You exclaimed excitedly as you hugged him.

Soon after, Satou and Yokoo arrived, and you all talked about whatever it was that was on your minds.

The bell rung shortly after you all had finished eating your lunches, and wished each other all your good byes as you separated to go to your next class.

.

.

Kou walked off with Satou and Yokoo after gym, heading to the entrance to change shoes.

“So hey, did you hear?” Yokoo asked, a bright smile on his kind features.

Before Kou could reply, he continued.

“They say the entrance the middle school is haunted! When you’re changing shoes, the ghost will grab your arm and then it’ll say, ‘Hey’” Yokoo explained but something seemed off.

Something echoed. And suddenly Yokoo felt chills.

He quickly turned around to face Satou.

“Woah, cut it out Satou!” He yelped a bit startled.

“What? But I didn’t do anything.” Satou mumbled a bit confused.

Yokoo let out a confused ‘huh?’ before asking “Then—“ he never got finish his sentence, a cold, ghostly hand grabbed hold of Kou’s wrist.

“Did you forget about me?” It whispered, making Yokoo and Satou both shout in terror.

They ran off in fear, leaving Kou with the supernatural being. Kou smirked, grabbing the ghost’s arm.

“You’re haunting the wrong guy!” And with that, he threw whatever ghost it was.

It hit the wall with a loud thud. He walked up to it, slamming his foot against the wall right beside it.

“So the rumors about you were true, damn evil spirit.” Kou spat.

“I’m gonna capture you and— um—“ he paused as the ghost was more visible.

His eyes went wide when he saw a boy in uniform, pink hair and pink eyes with a green hue in it.

He didn’t know what to do, so he did what anyone not Teru would do.

.

.

“Hey kid,” Hanako greeted, looking over at Kou.

“What ya got there?” He asked curiously.

“He’s an evil spirit who was causing trouble at the school entrance, and I caught him!” Kou exclaimed triumphantly.

Hanako hummed.

“And your going to exorcise him.. now?” He asked, making the poor ghost shake his head frantically in fear.

He would’ve yelled if he could, but his mouth was tapped shut.

“Uh..” Kou muttered, rubbing his neck a bit.

“I stopped doing that kinda thing.” Kou explained.

He perked up again with a smile.

“So!” He began “I was wondering.. there’s gotta be some other way we can deal with the problem right?”

The ghost sighed in relief, but it was short lived when Hanako stared intensely at the spirit.

He pursed his lips before standing up again.

“Well he’s probably here cause he has some unfinished business right?” Hanako asked.

“So maybe you just need to finish that for him?” He suggested.

The ghost turned pale, even more if possible.

“Of course!” Kou exclaimed.

“Now that we know that, this should be easy!” Kou cheered excitedly.

“Let’s go evil spirit! We’re going to go take care of your unfinished business!” Kou beamed.

He ran out, dragging it along.

He stopped for a moment.

“That’s right I told (Y/N) I’d update her. She’d probably want to come too!” He exclaimed.

Kou looked down at the panicked ghost and smiled.

“We have to make a quick stop first!” He explained, rushing off with him which earned a few stares from others.

.

.

“Okay, wait here.” Kou ordered, as he ran out to go look for you.

He finally find you at your locker, and dragged you away without a word.

You yelped in shock, “What’s this about?”

“Found it! Hanako said we should help it so I thought you’d want to join.” He said smiling at you.

You grabbed your phone real quick, noticing it’s after school hours.

“Wait! Let me just text my aunt real quick that I’m staying with you for a bit.” You say, stopping him.

Kou was basically jumping up and down with excitement as he waited for you to text her.

—

(Y/N)

Hey mom I’m gonna stay with Kou after school for a bit, he found this spirit that I asked him to find out more about. I’ll be home later! — 3:31 p.m.

Mom [aunt]

Okay but be safe, don’t be later than 7 alright? — 3:31 p.m.

(Y/N)

Okay! — 3:31 p.m.

—

“Alright let’s go!” You cheered, quickly turning off your phone and practically running down the halls with him.

“Wait, let me just go put my things in my locker. I don’t want to be running around with it.” You said, he nodded and went to go walk to where he left him, knowing you’d catch up.

“Okay! Tell me about this unfinished business of yours! We’ll solve it in a flash! And you can go happily get the hell outta here and go to the next life!” Kou cheered.

He bent down to remove the tape from the ghost’s mouth and he winced. He looked curious when the ghost didn’t talk, and was about to speak again when he did.

“Shut it you hella lame traffic safety earring boy.” The ghost spat, looking at Kou so intensely, that if Kou wasn’t standing he’d feel small.

To say Kou was shocked was an understatement, he didn’t think that the boy in front of him would say something so vulgar. I mean he looked so innocent and weak sweet.

“What do you mean traffic safety?” Kou mumbled.

“Your brain’s already been in an accident, spun around a million times and died.” Kou spat back.

“That stupid earring!” The ghost boy scoffed.

“Taking advantage of my delicate frame to have your way with me!” The ghost wailed dramatically.

“I know what you’re up to! You’re gonna rough me up, all because I’m such an adorable little ghost guy!”He continued.

“What? No I’m not!” Kou retorted.

“Like in those dirty videos! Like in those dirty videos!”

You were on your way back, but hesitated to continue.

That voice, it couldn’t be.

Could it?

Taking a few shaky steps forward, your breath hitched.

It really was him.

“Oh there you are (Y/N), I—“ Kou paused.

“Are you okay?” He asked worriedly.

You had started crying.

“Mitsuba?”

(A/N) : Lmao I’m tired. But I didn’t want to stop until I finished a few chapters knowing I procrastinate a whole lot so I tried to write as much as I could before my motivation died down. Also I’m not sure if that’s how Mitsuba actually died, it’s just what I’ve read cause I don’t know much of his character aside from his girly look and overconfident cocky personality. But from what I read, that’s supposedly it? If I’m wrong please correct me. Hope you liked it. :)