To The Stars | Tokito Muichiro x OC

09 • Shared Happiness

"I'm sorry?" Inori tilted her head to the side, unsure of what to say.

Shinobu laughed lightly, covering her mouth until she calmed down. "I didn't tell you that to compare us, Inori-chan," she assured. "I want you to know that even though you lost so much, as long as you're alive, you can still find happiness. Nobody can ever replace my sister, but the girls at the Butterfly Estate are my precious little sisters who give me happiness." Shinobu grabbed Inori's hands, holding them gently in her slightly bigger ones.

"I want to invite you to stay over at the Butterfly Estate again. Please, let us share our happiness with you."

·̩̩̥͙＊*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚☆.｡.☆.｡.:*☆ ˚*•̩̩͙✩•̩̩͙*˚＊·̩̩̥͙

"Eh! Inori-san, you're trying to make your own breathing style? That's amazing! How many forms do you have?" Kiyo was leaning so close to her that Inori worried she would fall on the table.

"I only have five forms at the moment, I haven't really gotten any more ideas." Inori had accepted Shinobu's offer to stay over at the Butterfly Estate again. She didn't admit it out loud, but the girls there have really left an impact on her. They were like the sisters she never had.

Naho clapped her hands enthusiastically, jumping on the balls of her feet. "That's amazing! Can you show us?"

"Hey, eat first!" Aoi scolded, trying to get both Naho and Kiyo to sit back down. "And I'm more interested in the 'communicating with the dead' part. How does that work?"

Oh, right. For the first time since she told Kagaya everything, Inori decided to open her heart to the girls who had accepted her as if she hadn't run away from them.

"That's right," Shinobu piped in, clapping her hands with her head tilted to the side. "I'm also curious. Oyakata-sama didn't tell us much, only that you managed to escape and that Kibutsuji Muzan still can't conquer the sun."

"Really? I would've thought you all knew by now," Inori mumbled in response, chewing another piece of meat. "Basically, when people die with regrets, they become ghosts that stay in the land of living. They're restless souls who can't go to the stars. I can communicate with those restless souls. Well, I used to be able to communicate with them. Ever since I woke up, I can't see or hear them anymore. I wonder if I can still feel them though."

"What do you mean by stars—" Shinobu's question was drowned out by Naho, Sumi, and Kiyo who were screaming in fright.

"You can feel the presence of the dead?!"

"You can too actually," Inori pointed out, remembering how Getsumei always said the air grew a bit colder whenever the dead were visiting them. "You know, when you suddenly feel chills for no reason or when you feel like there are eyes on you but there's nothing there. Those are most likely the dead. I just have a stronger sensitivity toward their presence because I can see and hear them. Well, again, I used to."

Inori drank her miso soup, humming in delight. She should ask Aoi to teach her how to cook next time. "As for the stars. It's just a saying," she explained. "They say that if you die peacefully, your soul will go to the stars and reside there, and when that star dies, your soul will be reborn."

"Is it hard? Being a ghost?" Sumi asked with a tilt of her head.

"Well." Inori chewed on her lips. "I heard it's very hard." Because Inori had never died, at least she thought she never. "They said that being stuck in the living world when you're dead is like being sleepy, but you can't sleep. You'll feel very tired, but there's nothing that can ease the exhaustion because you're not alive." At least, that was how they described it to her.