Just when Ishiguro Hotaru, a ghost of 16 years, was ready to move on and restart a new life, she is reincarnated back to her human form as the 16-year-old student that she was at the time of her death, for 48 days. She crosses paths with the present...
—a 'hi bye, mama!' inspired fiction for treasure's visual and low-tone rapper 하루토🦙
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Hotaru walked along the streets of Fukuoka city. She looked up at the dark, night sky and sighed.
"It's going to rain again." She murmured and continued walking.
Following that was a roll of thunder and soon, rain started pouring down heavily. People on her left and right reacted immediately, most of them seeking to find shelter and taking out their umbrellas.
Hotaru stopped walking. She lifted her hand up and tried to feel the rain. But all she could see was the tiny droplets going through her hands.
She watched in envy as a group of teenage girls huddled together in a tiny umbrella briskly walk past her. Even she wished she could feel drenched like that.
As Hotaru reached the columbarium, she heard a familiar voice call her from behind.
"Taru-chan!"
She turned around and smiled.
"Ayaka!"
Ayaka smacked her arm lightly and folded her arms.
"What took you so long? Your night walks can take up till 3 hours, jeez."
Hotaru laughed and apologized. "I just wanted some fresh air. Always being cooped up inside the ossuary is causing my limbs to ache."
Ayaka stared at Hotaru with a revolting look.
"What are you, a human? Come on, since when did ghosts need fresh air?!" Ayaka scoffed in disbelief and shook her head. "Something must've happened again."
Hotaru didn't speak. Despite the fact that it has been years since she became a ghost, she still felt miserable every time she saw girls her 'age' having fun together. She was so envious of them.
She watched as the pretty and model-like ghost head over to the bench and sat down. Hotaru joined her and the two stared into their surroundings quietly, with no one speaking at all.
Just then, they saw a familiar crowd of ghosts storming into the columbarium. They immediately stood up in alarm.
"W-what's going on?" Ayaka demanded, staring at their angry expressions.
"It's Isa! She's left the place. Apparently her son got into some trouble and she had to move districts to help him. I don't know... but that's not the point!" Old Madam Mari spat in frustration.
Isa was the columbarium's shaman. The middle-aged lady had been taking care of the ghosts here for years.
"Then... what's the point?" Hotaru questioned, a little shocked that Isa had suddenly left without even saying goodbye.
"The point is, there is a new shaman taking over and he's a nightmare!" The grumpy former businessman Mr Takizaki fumed.
Hotaru still didn't understand what these old folks were rambling about. Could they just get to the point?
"The shaman's really young! A young boy!" Dancer Mako clapped her hands gleefully.
"Wait, how young is young?" Ayaka asked.
"I went to stalk this guy and he's born in 2001, that's the year we died!" Young former footballer Taki exclaimed, in which his mother emerged from the crowd and pulled him behind.
2001? That wasn't too young. I was still alive then... Hotaru was now even more curious how this shaman looked like.
Speaking of the devil, the doors at the entrance of the columbarium busted open. Everyone gasped and turned around and watched as heavy footsteps began to approach them.
A dazzling-looking guy with refreshing looks walked in. The ghosts watched in amazement as he came to a stop in front of them.
"I'm Asahi, nice to meet you."
Ayaka squealed in Hotaru's ear as she held her arm tightly in excitement. This handsome man was going to be their new shaman!
"Damn... he looks like Leonardo DiCaprio." Hotaru whispered in her ear and Ayaka nodded in agreement.
Asahi scratched his head awkwardly when no one gave a reply. "Er... I'll be the new shaman taking over so if any of you have queries, please come over to my hut. If not, good night."
The ghosts waited until he had left and continued their gossiping.
"He's definitely a fraud! How can someone with a face like him be a shaman? He should be a model or singer instead!"
"Asahi is so cute... I might actually choose not to go up just to stay with him here."
"Visit the temple with me tomorrow! I'm going to thank the deities for giving me the best gift: Hamada Asahi."
Hotaru watched them in amusement as the ghosts continued to fawn over this mysterious new shaman. Ayaka pulls her out from her seat and towards her ossuary.
"It's getting late. We should head inside. Are you coming?"
"Um... later. I have to do something."
Ayaka rolled her eyes. "What's up with you today?"
Hotaru shrugged. "Mood swings, I guess. Don't worry, I'll head in soon."
Ayaka waved her off and went inside her ossuary. With one last look, Hotaru headed out of the columbarium and out to a nearby pond. She stood at the edge and looked down at it. She couldn't see her reflection.
I'll leave in two days. I'm done with my life here as Hotaru. I don't have anything left in this world. My family has moved on, my friends have all settled into their new lives as adults into the working world, time has gone by without me. I can go up with ease now.
If only, the deities would have allowed her to. Little did Hotaru know, that there was still something left for her to do.
To Be Continued...
hello i'm back!! sorry this took so long omg this was supposed to be published 2 months ago but i had to go on a hiatus due to my exams that are FINALLY OVER and had it unpublished because there were a lot of changes that i've made to the plot as well as the characters (my apologies!)
hope you guys will enjoy reading this book and i would highly recommend watching the netflix drama 'hi bye, mama!' to better understand the references because i'll be using that a lot here lmao.it's a really sad and touching drama and i cried buckets just watching that drama ugh.
also, support TREASURE and give them lots of love too <3 yay
