clair de lune
miyaios 4 miyaio.....happy birthday anise! . . . "wanna hear a story!" hibiki shakes his head. his arms are crossed over his chest and he gives daichi a look that would've sent most running. "absolutely not."
but daichi, no, he takes it in stride because when he says "wanna" he doesn't actually wait for a response. it's not a question. it's an exclamation. io smiles politely and twirls a strand of hair between her fingers and waits for him to compose himself and hibiki sinks into his muffler. they're all hanging around his desk, anyway, and daichi takes this moment of undivided attention to slam his hand against hibiki's desk. "there's this rumor--" hibiki is suddenly all ears. io isn't surprised. conspiracy theories were his favorite thing, he leans forward ever so slightly and daichi grins. ah. well. io clasps her hands over her lap and takes a seat on the desk in front of them. daichi's center stage now. "about a haunted house! a couple train rides away, deep in osaka! this kid, keita, posted some pictures online the other day, said there was ghosts!" "as opposed to?" daichi ignores hibiki and presses on. io hides a smile with a practiced flourish. "apparently, a pair of siblings were trapped in a big fire, something catastrophic." daichi waves his hands around and hibiki pushes his chair back lest he gets smacked in the face. "and their ghosts roam the premises, giving any and all unsuspecting visitors the fright of their lives!" he's glittering. hibiki gets up to pinch his nose. "ah, ow! hibiki! bro!" he flails his hands and io finally laughs, giggles behind an open hand and then gently tugs the boys apart. daichi makes a big deal out of rubbing his nose and hibiki's got the beginnings of a smirk on his face and io sighs a little, but very quickly opts for another smile. she hopes it looks fine. "well, in any case..." she wants to be convincing and the boys immediately turn their attention over. "what if we went to go visit it?" daichi's jaw drops and hibiki gives her a peculiar glance, an arched brow and tilted head. the lighter haired boy fiddles with his yellow scarf. "i mean! it's only a couple of trains down, and it sounds like fun!" io flails for an explanation, she's actually very curious about this house but considering the look on daichi's face (he looks like he's half way down to the floor, faint and wide eyed) maybe she made the wrong move. "i would be down." hibiki shrugs a little, his bunny ear hood slides off of his unruly head. his dark hair is a mess of thick tangles and curls and io tries not to beam. "ah, well, you see--" . they're on the last train and daichi is sulking. of course he is. io thinks it's kind of endearing. kind of annoying. if he didn't want to go, then why bother bringing it up? for someone so intrigued by the spooky and supernatural, he was always so terrified. well, they were definitely past the point of return. she pats down her skirt and pulls up her knee highs and pinches her pantyhose until it's smooth against her thighs. spring was the worst. it was sticky, and humid, and the chafing was absolutely unbearable. io sighs and rolls up the sleeves of her blazer while daichi calls for the next stop, and hibiki becomes one with the atmosphere, or something. he's been on his phone the entire train ride and io reconsiders her bravery the day before. it's only a reevaluation, though. it's too late to really do anything. "hey, we're here." daichi sounds miserable but they all get off the train anyway, walk quite a way, and end up in the sketchiest part of the district, in front of an ancient and decrepit two story home. it's not even that big, io wants to say, but considering the big sign that said DO NOT ENTER and the caution tape, well, maybe it was next to stay quiet and lead the way. "oh come on, daichi. do you need me to hold your hand?" hibiki is teasing but io knows that daichi, despite his very flustered refusal, will end up latching onto hibiki's hand at some point in time, and that they'll probably kiss in some weird corridor of the house, and that's something she really doesn't want to think about. instead, she decides to focus on the flashlight she fished out of her book bag. she clicks it on and they walk past the chain link gate and into the house, after pushing the door open with her foot. the three of them yell when there's nothing behind the door except some musty foyer. they take a second to collect themselves, and daichi mumbles something under his breath that io will probably hear again in full volume when he gets his bearings. hibiki sniffs loudly that his hoodie will get all dirty and daichi is praying to at least twelve different gods and io tries her best to stay positive. they venture forth. . well, sort of. daichi insists that they don't split up but they end up doing so, and io's in the attic, looking a collection of expensive vinyls and a vintage record player. she drags an index finger down the dusty surface and scrunches up her nose a little bit. ew. she's flicking off the dirt particles and about to exit the room when she hears a scratch. and then, a transition. the opening notes of a song she hasn't heard since she was a child. io nitta grits her teeth and tries to smile. that's always the appropriate response to unwelcome situations, she lifts her hands up and wills herself to keep walking, she will not look back at where the record player was, she will not look back-- "it's been a while since someone's shown interest in my father's heirloom piece. usually, they find themselves entranced with my mother's sword." io whirls around and drops her flashlight with a loud thwunk. a girl. maybe her age. maybe older. she had something timeless about her face that made it hard to place, but god, if you're out there, know that this girl is stardust. she's covered in it, silver hair neat and pulled back. everything about her ebbs and flows. but she's got the most lonely look. "well, um, i didn't actually, see the rapier. and if i had, i would've left it alone, probably." io nitta finds herself face to face with an actual ghost god come down to smite her and she's trying to justify her choice of item. the girl laughs. it doesn't sound quite like a laugh, but she goes through the motion just the same. the dress she's wearing slides off her shoulders just so, it's the color of dark matter and a tokyo night sky, and io is not only going to die, she's going to die knowing she's so very gay. aughhhhh. she puts her hands over her mouth and the girl tip toes closer, a curious expression on her face, but nothing she puts on quite reaches her gaze. "it's interesting. you are very interesting." the girl takes io's shaking hands. io does the next best thing when the ghost's gloved hands do not phase through her skin. "HIIIIIIBIIIIIIIIIIIIIKIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!" she runs. . she doesn't run very far and the girl looks almost hurt, an upturned lip and a furrowed brow. "did you think i was a ghost? those aren't real, you know." ah, right, of course. she says this so matter of factly that io nods like, totally, ghosts don't-- "OF COURSE I DID." she slaps her hands over her mouth and the girl blinks. "sorry, sorry." sorry, she says again and the girl awkwardly pats her shoulder and io shies away. "it's fine." "not really..." the girl gives io a steady look. "you reacted in what seemed to be the most appropriate way at the time. i don't see anything wrong with it." "i do! i'm having a conversation with a ghost who doesn't go through walls!" the girl sighs. "spirits and apparitions do not exist, i'm as human as anybody else." "then what's your name?" io looks at her and waits. "miyako. my name is miyako hotsuin." "i'm io!" let's try this again. "io nitta. i'm sorry for calling you a ghost." she offers her hand and the ghost girl miyako hotsuin looks at it with a confused expression. io takes her hand this time and oh, i see, miyako threads their fingers together and that's not quite a hand shake but her hand is comfortable and familiar and io's cheeks flush red. "so...if you're not a ghost..." io takes her hand back and clasps them over her lap. "what are you doing here?" "i live here." so forward. so plain. "oh?" "with my brother. you came here with two others, right? maybe he's entertaining them now." miyako tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear. io pales at the thought of daichi meeting a not-ghost. he's probably passed out in a corner somewhere, leaving hibiki to deal with whoever the other hotsuin sibling was. ah, that wasn't good at all. "well...in that case...maybe it's better if we figure out where they are." io gets up and miyako follows, only to take the lead afterwords. they go down the stairs and into the main floor, where daichi is holding a lamp shade over his head and hibiki is chatting amicably with a gangly kid with stringy white hair. they're sipping tea without a care in the world. io is about to open her mouth and say something, anything, when miyako steps forward briskly and knocks her brother over. "that's no way to treat a guest." "he set up camp there, who am i to trample on the will of our lovely guests." "be more considerate, yamato." he shrugs. "i made tea." io stares blankly at the scene unfolding before her. and then she helps daichi out. . jeez. they're all sitting in a cozy alcove, with an aging fireplace and five sets of tea cups and saucers. "so." daichi starts. hibiki is practically lying on yamato's lap. miyako is doing her best to remain composed but her presence is overwhelming, to be quite honest. io can feel her emotional range, and lacking expressions associated with such, and it makes her nervous. "want to explain why the hell two kids are living in this dingy house?" after being relegated to lampshade duty after passing out upon seeing yamato for the first time, daichi has a lot of reasons to be upset. it makes sense. "it's kind of a long story." "it'll take years, maybe." miyako and yamato stare at them with those silver eyes and io gulps. "we have time." hibiki pulls on yamato's hair. . they're on the train back to tokyo, and none of them want to really talk about their day trip. io doesn't know where her flash light ended up and she's going to need another blazer because the one she previously owned was draped over the shoulders of a very particular girl. they said they would stop by their side of town one day, but. "never again. don't you ever let me do this again." daichi's got his legs crossed at the knee and his hands shoved into his jacket pockets and hibiki's got his head on his shoulder now and io scoots over so she can put her hand on his thigh. they're dumb kids. spring was awful. they met a pair of ghosts with pretty hair and bad attitudes and she's got a date next week. it could be worse. . it could be better. miyako hotsuin pulls off the high school uniform better than anyone else and gently presses her borrowed jacket back into io's hands and thanks her earnestly for the item, and that if necessary, she would be willing to share her jacket at any moment's time. io wants to fall over and never be seen again but miyako is brighter than the stars, and takes her hand. "lead the way, nitta."