𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 | 𝘠. 𝘈𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘦

ᴾʳᵒᵖᵒˢᵃˡ

"How ...is...to sleep?"

"I... be gentle...sleep spell... extremely..."

"..Tried to be gentle...spider was in the way."

You felt yourself drifting in and out of consciousness, only catching bits and pieces of the conversation going on in the room next to you.

'Where...'

Your entire body felt heavy, and you had to resist the urge to go back to sleep. The smell of tea and fresh pastries filled your nose, but even half-asleep, you noticed that the atmosphere of the place you were in felt indescribably different somehow. You slowly opened your eyes, blinking a few times as you looked around.

In front of you was a table with a plate of pastries. The room you were in was similar to a dining room, but something about it was off, and you instantly knew you weren't in the human world.

'Is this a boundary?' You knew little about boundaries, but you knew enough to tell when you were in one. But the question was, who did it belong to?

"So you're awake."

You turned to see a familiar girl with green hair enter the room, a trey with a teapot and three teacups in her hand, but your lingering grogginess prevented you from remembering where or when you had met her. You squinted your eyes and tilted your head slightly as you racked your brain, trying to remember.
"The sleeping spell that was placed on you was really strong, you may be experiencing some grogginess," she explained, and as she spoke, you began to feel more awake and aware.

"Sakura, is she awake?" You heard someone else call, and you turned to see Tsukasa standing in the doorway. The sight of him made what happened at the roof rush back to mind, and you jumped up, reaching for your staff only for your eyes to widen when you realized it was no longer in your bag. 

The green-haired girl set down the trey before taking out the object you were looking for, and you glared at her.
"Give that back," you demanded, but she instead placed it back in her pocket.
"I'm sorry, but to make sure no one gets hurt, I'll have to keep this for the time being," she explained. "Please sit down, and I assure you that I will return it to you."

You turned to look at Tsukasa, who stood there with an innocent smile. As much as you wanted to resist, you knew you wouldn't be able to leave this boundary without the permission of the owner, so you reluctantly sat back down.

"Let's start over," Sakura said as she poured the two of you some tea. "I'm pleased to meet you Y/n L/n. Since you don't remember me, I'll just reintroduce myself. My name is Sakura Nanamine. I graduated from this school a few years ago, but I recently returned as a teacher in training. Like you, I'm a bound human. After making a wish, I consented to be in an apparition service."
"You're like me?" You asked skeptically, and she turned to smile fondly at Tsukasa, who was too busy stuffing his mouth with pastries to notice.
"Correct. I've been bound to him for some time now. He may act childish, but he's surprisingly dependable."

'I could say the same thing about Hanako.'

"So why did you bring me here?" You asked as Sakura took a sip of her tea.
"Well, as I said before, I've been bound to him for some time now, but as much as I want to, I won't be able to stay in this school forever, and he'll need a new assistant once I'm gone," she explained.
"Well, that's too bad," you said, crossing your arms over your chest. "I'm already working for Hanako."
"Yes, but do you enjoy it?" She asked, and you raised a brow.
"Why would I not?"
"Well, I don't mean to be impolite, but it can't be enjoyable to have someone constantly toying with your memories and emotions," she said, and you narrowed your eyes.
"What are you talking about?"

"Despite what you might think, I'm only telling you the truth," she assured. "Almost ever since you came to this school, Hanako has been manipulating you. One of the most efficient ways he's been doing this was by erasing your memories." You nodded. Your entire demeanor made it clear that you didn't believe her, but you decided to let her speak. "So far he's killed two people and erased your memories about both of them. The first one was a boy named Yuki Yurino. When you first came to this school, Yuki greeted you, and after a while, he began to develop feelings towards you, but he thought you wouldn't return his feelings, so he came to Hanako with a wish that you'd fall in love with him, and out of jealous rage, Hanako murdered him and erased your memories about him." You lowered your head, repeating the name Yuki in your head, trying to see if it sounded familiar, but none of it did, and as much as you wanted to argue that Hanako wouldn't do something like that, the fact that he was a murderer made you bite your tongue. "The second was some things that happened with the exorcist Teru Minamoto. A while after what happened with Yuki that Hanako was about to be exorcised by Teru but his little brother managed to convince his brother not to, and in return for sparing him, Hanako threatened Kou's life and killed Teru. I tried to warn you the same day that it happened, but Hanako's slowly becoming unstable. He took you away and erased your memories as soon as I told you who kills you and before I could tell you how to stop it."
"T-then tell me now," you replied, trying to cast aside the feeling of worry you got as you prepared for her answer.

"The truth is, Y/n, that Hanako is the one that'll eventually be the cause of your death."

Mr. Tsuchigomori rushed to the third floor, bursting into the girl's bathroom where Hanako was busy playing cards with the Mokke.
"You know this is the girl's bathroom, right?" He asked teasingly, and the spider-like apparition frowned.
"Number seven," he said, the urgency of his voice catching Hanako's attention. "Your brother...He took Y/n." Hanako sat there for a moment, so still, you'd think he was frozen. In a split second, he had disappeared and reappeared directly in front of his former teacher. Hanako took out his knife, his glare sending shivers down Tsuchigomori's spine.
"You let this happen?" Hanako growled.
"I tried to fight him off, but he caught me by surprise, and if I had continued, Y/n would've gotten hurt." Hanako stayed silent for a moment.
"I'll deal with you later. Right now, we have to find her."

"What did you say?" You couldn't control the shakiness of your voice as you spoke, her words making your blood run cold.
"I said that Hanako will be the one that kills you. I wasn't able to read the rest of your future, but I at least read that much," she responded.

You tried to keep your composure, but it clear that the news had shocked you.
"Wh-why are you telling me this?" You stuttered, trying to convince yourself that she was lying, but a feeling in your gut told you that she was telling the truth.

"Because..." You flinched at the voice coming from beside you and whirled around to see Tsukasa now standing there, a smile on his face, but the sadistic look in his eyes made you gulp nervously.
"I want you to become my assistant." Before you could react, he cupped your face in his hand, pulling you close enough to where your faces were inches apart. He squeezed your cheeks together, and you grabbed his wrist, trying to get him to let go, only to realize that he was a lot stronger than he looked.
"If you become my assistant, you'll be under my protection. I'm not as bad as you might think, and I'm not like my brother. I won't hurt you or lie to you, and I'll keep you safe." As much as you wanted to answer, you felt torn, and part of you didn't want to believe that Hanako, your first and only friend, would hurt you, let alone kill you.

"How about we give her some time to think about it?" Sakura suggested, taking another sip of her tea, and Tsukasa sighed as he released your face, floating back to his original spot at Sakura's side.
"How about after all of tomorrow's classes? I'll visit you then, and you'll give me your answer," she said.

"I think-"
"Alright! Tomorrow it is!" Tsukasa spoke up before you could, answering for you.

"Hold on-"

"Oh, and one more thing." Your eyes widened as Tsukasa appeared in front of you again, pressing his lips to your cheek and pulling away before you could react.
"Consider this a token of appreciation for listening. It will keep Amane from erasing your memories."

With that, he pressed two fingers against your forehead, and like last time you fell asleep.

"I'll see you tomorrow, little miss exorcist, and I hope you make the right decision..."

"We'll have to get to Yako. She might be able to help us get to Tsukasa's boundary." Hanako and Mr. Tsuchigomori rushed down the hall, heading towards the stairs only to stop when they saw a familiar figure standing at the end.

Tsukasa stood there, his usual grin on his face, but when Hanako's landed on your limp form in his arms, he immediately thought the worse.
"What did you do to her?!" He shouted, pulling out his knife.
Tsukasa giggled childishly, setting you down gently on the floor as black smoke began to come from Koku-joudai.
"All I did was tell her the truth," he said innocently. "Something you've been too scared to do since day one." With that, he disappeared, and Hanako rushed towards you, kneeling beside you and pulling your body close to his chest, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw your brows furrow for a moment before you once again relaxed.
"She's just unconscious," he breathed, gently shaking you.
"Y/n," he said softly. "Wake up."

You slowly opened your eyes, the strength of Tsukasa's sleeping spell again making you disoriented. You looked up at Hanako, not recognizing him for a moment, but as soon as you did, you let out a shriek as you shoved him away and stumbled back fearfully.

Hanako and Mr. Tsuchigomori exchanged a look of confusion before Hanako turned back to you.
"Y/n, it's me," he said, holding his hand out towards you, but remembering what Sakura had told you, you made no attempts to get closer to him.
"It's me, Hanako," he repeated. "I need you to tell me what Tsukasa told you." You opened your mouth to speak but quickly decided against it and just sat there.
"Y/n," Hanako said softly. "Tell me what he told you."

Mr. Tsuchigomori glanced down at his former student, his brow furrowing when he noticed the male's hands trembling.
"I...I need to go-" Just as you got to your feet, Hanako grabbed your wrist, and you turned to see his eyes glowing red.
"What. Did. He. Say?" His voice went from soft and comforting to cold and threatening. "Don't make me ask again."

Seeing that this would get out of hand, Mr. Tsuchigomori put his hand on Hanako's shoulder.
"That's enough," he said. "Let go of-"
"Do not interfere," Hanako yelled, making you jump.
"I think it's best if I do," Mr. Tsuchigomori countered. "Look at her. She's terrified." Hanako turned, and his eyes widened when he saw your fearful expression. Your lip was trembling, tears filled your eyes.

Lowering his head, he released your hand, listening to your quick footsteps as you rushed down the hall.

"No..." He muttered. "This isn't how it was supposed to be. Why can't I get it right?"

Mr. Tsuchigomori stood behind him, sighing as he watched everything in your book play out precisely as he'd read it would.