“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.
"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 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.
"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.
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.
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.
“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.
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.
“She’s not in trouble is she?”
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,
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.
“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.
“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?”
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
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.
“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?”
“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.
“Obsessed with his camera,”
“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.
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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
“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.
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.
“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.”
“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.”
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..”
“Was it the middle school entrance?”
“No,” Mitsuba whimpered, holding on tightly to his head out of frustration “no, no, no..”
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
(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.
