Once Shattered, Now Whole

Salvatore's Work

Finally, the end of the day reached, no more Akane drama and no Yashiro clinging onto your arm to keep you from your goal- though she was really cute. Maybe when you got the chance to, you could hang out with her a little bit and have fun with the fact you're in the world of TBHK? Honestly it is a little fun to relax and unwind with your favorite characters, but now wasn't the time. The squeaky steps that echoed throughout the empty corridor now reminded you where you walked, the old school building. It was more rundown than scary now that you think about it, cobwebs were forming in the corner of the stairwells and the wooden boards for the steps seemed almost on the verge of breaking; whoever's job to preserve this place didn't do a good job. Hell the hallway floor was filthy too, it seemed that since this building wasn't a part of the high school or middle school division that they had no real use for it and likely couldn't afford renovations. Your teeth sucked in a deep breathe, noticing the particles of dust floating around in the air and grimaced, "Why would Nene ever come to a place like this?" You mumble to yourself jokingly as you find the next stairwell to ascend to.
Then after this it would be the third floor, then the girl's bathroom. As you begin to step up the stairs, a cold chill chased itself down your spine. A shuddered breath pushed out from your pursed lips and your hand gripped the railing tightly on instinct; "Someone there?" You call out in hopes there wouldn't be a response. You knew the story though, no one else was here and no one else could be here as to further the plot point but- no.. Considering that when Yashiro came, she was the protagonist of this story. If you made advancements where she hadn't, maybe this was the manga's way of stopping you from seeing Hanako before her?

Well damn, now you weren't so sure about going to see the ghost boy. But who knows how far in its been into the year now? You'd do Hanako a favor breaking him out of there after fifty something years spent in a literal shithole. You dart up the stairs suddenly, almost completely missing the hand that reached out to your shoulder to grab and stop you. Thankfully you didn't slow down despite not knowing what danger was just behind you, racing up the steps and watching the scenery barely change around you; as your hand zipped up the railing to adjusting with each step taken, you noticed your weight suddenly going forward.
Too forward.
As the ground came much more closer now, your hand still attached to the railing but you failed to get leverage to pull yourself up- thankfully something, or rather someone had stopped the fall abruptly. You couldn't see your mystery savior even as he began to lift you up, and in an instant you caught the familiar golden strands of hair and vibrant blue eyes. Teru Minamoto just caught your dumbass from nearly falling and also for some reason is in the abandoned old school building? Your brows furrowed while gazing up at him and for a moment he didn't say a word, he just weirdly smiled at you before helping you to stand at the top step leading into a corridor to where the girl's bathroom was; "Students can't be here, it's dangerous," he spoke up as he noticed your head turn to the corridor.

Shit, so this was the manga's way of keeping you from Hanako til Nene found him? Your brows furrowed in consideration but, if you could manage to diverge the canon timeline with already being here then maybe you could diverge the timeline more- just enough- to avoid some plot points like the Severance and hopefully the other heart wrenching ones. As Teru's hand began to reach out to yours once more, you reeled back instantly, "Sorry, I've got a friend to meet!" With that, your hand had smacked his away and without a sliver of hesitation you raced off down the corridor with the expectation he would chase after you.
He did.

Though he was stunned for a bit from your escape attempt and accidentally hitting his shin against the next step when trying to go after you, you had quite the head start set up for you as you ran down the hallway and frantically looked at signs you were passing only to see one that stood out to you in the best way possible. The girls' bathroom! If you could've, you would've stopped to give an Oscar-worthy speech of how you made it to this moment thanks to the isekai gods and goddesses but with an exorcist hot on your heels you decided against that. Your feet skidded as you slipped into the bathroom doorway noiselessly, pressing your back against the corner as to not be seen by Teru and avoid the risk of him hearing you open a door or going too slowly to open said door. Haha! You thought this shit through! As you began to pat yourself on the back, you noticed that there was now no sound... Meaning, no Teru in the area? You considered your next actions carefully because you could check and see if Teru was still around or sneak into the bathroom and hope he's not close by.
Your hand gingerly reached for the knob, breath stuck in your throat as you began to push it open and the loud ass creak that came with opening it made your gut wrench; did he hear that? As you opened the door wide enough to slip in, you heard those running footsteps once more. In an instant you rammed yourself through the sliver open from the door and closed it behind you as quietly and quickly as you could.

Your chest heaved at the adrenaline pumped through you, bending slightly to brace your hands against your wobbly knees and sighed; "Remind me to not do that shit again." You mutter as you slick back your hair and begin your way to the infamed bathroom stall. Your heart was heavy, thinking of all the possibilities that could come with summoning Hanako and none were good. Especially if it worked because then, that means, you're going to die soon. And you were literally just reincarnated into this isekai life! Why doth Kamisama betray you like this? Well it is your fault for running up here with your head barely screwed on thinking you had a plan, no you just wanted to summon Hanako and have it actually work for once; now here you are rethinking that decision despite running from the (currently) most powerful exorcist and still technically running from him because he was still outside.
"Now or never."
You bite your tongue, steadying yourself into a proper stand while approaching the third stall and began to knock, after the three knocks you looked at the stall door with a sort of uncertainty; "Hanako-san, are you there?"

Nothing.

Or at least, that's what you would have thought if not for a sudden- translucent- hand coming into your peripheral vision. You held the scream in your throat, turning your head slowly to see the infamous boy who haunted the girl's bathroom; Hanako-san of the Toilet.

"I'm here."

Congrats, you summoned Hanako-san!