"𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩. 𝐇𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐬... 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐱 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 (𝐘/𝐍) 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐝."
You were walking with Ryuusuke as today, the fog came down again.
"𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐡𝐨𝐰! 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭? 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐫𝐥𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐥𝐲? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞? 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭!"
"Wait! I'm coming too, guys!" You turned around to see Midori approach both of you with the bouquet in her hand. "I said I'd always come with you guys now, didn't I?!"
"Midori... it must be boring, though." Ryuusuke said, but it didn't change her mind.
"It's just, I'm worried! You both are trying to catch the crossroads boy, right?!"
"Of course." He replied before you both walked again.
"I don't think he's human. Getting mixed up with him is too dangerous. You both should stop."
"It's okay, Midori. You should go home so you can be safe." You suggested before she cut you out.
"No, (Y/N). I'm coming with you. Don't you think the Crossroads boy wants something for you? That's why he's targeting you out of all the girls."
"Yeah..." You hummed lowly, you then noticed the bouquet as you asked her. "What's that flower?"
Midori blinked before she realized you were mentioning the flower. "Oh... pretty, right? I got them at the florist."
Ryuusuke glanced at it before he asked her. "But... why flowers?"
"Oh. I was going to place them on the spot where my aunt died." Midori answered, you nodded as Ryuusuke stayed silent. "You're probably wondering why now of all times. Well, you know... you guys saved me from the boy at the crossroads before, right? I know you'll say it was just a coincidence. But I'm really grateful. And then I figured I should be thanking my aunt, too. Like maybe that coincidence was her watching over me. I just get that feeling. So I wanted to thank her. Will you come with me, guys? Please!"
"Yeah, sure." You replied, Ryuusuke started to sweatdrop as he remembered what happened two months ago.
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"𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐰𝐞'𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐌𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐢'𝐬 𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐈 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤."
You and Ryuusuke watched Midori place the bouquet down on the spot where she killed herself and prayed for her soul. "Yes. This is definitely the spot. So she really was Midori's aunt."
"Maybe you should pray." You looked down as Midori talked to you. You and Ryuusuke nodded as you both prayed with her.
"I still haven't told Midori the truth. About how it's my fault her aunt killed herself here eight years ago." Ryuusuke thought before he heard someone cry out, you and he turned around to meet with a woman in a white skirt and blouse."What the... she scared me. I thought it was her..." Ryuusuke thought as you and Midori turned both of your heads as well.
The woman spoke up. "Say... would you hear me out? I'm seeking a crossroads fortune. Tell me the answer to my problems." You three kept silent as the woman explained her problem. "You see, I'm in love. I'm in love with this man. But... It's a forbidden love. After all, he has a wife and children... but, well... but there's a baby inside of me."
You noticed Ryuusuke sweatdropped again, just like when Midori's aunt was mentioned. "His baby... Aah, I want to have it. But my boyfriend! He told me to get rid of it!" Your hand went to his to calm him down, he didn't realize it but his grip on you got much tighter. "So... you three... what do you think I should do?"
"AAAHHH!" Suddenly, he ran away from the woman and Midori, pulling you along with him.
"Wha- Ryuusuke!" You exclaimed quickly, he then suddenly stopped on his track as he realized that he was far away from them now. "Why did you do that?!"
"She said the same thing as Midori's aunt. Too creepy to be a coincidence... she was even standing in exactly the same place." You heard him mumbling under his breath. His hand let go of you as he took a breather.
"Feeling deja vu?" You said.
He silenced before he began to think about the woman. "Who is she? It can't be... did the spirit of Midori's aunt possess her?"
You started to grow worried as he began to panic, you pulled him to you and rubbed his back and his head slowly and gently. "You need to calm down first, Ryuusuke. Maybe it's a coincidence. She might have the same issue as her. It's not like they're the only one who has that problem."
Ryuusuke's eyes widened as he didn't think about that, you were right. Midori's aunt wouldn't be the only person with a problem like that. He nodded slowly as he hugged you back by wrapping his arms around your waist. "Thanks, (Y/N). That helps me a lot."
You hummed as you both hugged each other, unbeknownst to you, someone's eyes glared at you with slight anger and jealousy in the mist.
"𝙏𝙘𝙝." The Crossroads Boy said before he disappeared inside the mist.
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~Time skip~
The sound of a bell rang loudly, meaning it was break time now. You walked to Ryuusuke's desk as he noticed you coming. "Hey, Ryuusuke. How's the weekend?"
"I'm fine, thanks." He said.
"How about you, (Y/N)?" You looked down to the ground, he quickly realized that it must be a bad one for you.
"What's wrong? Is it not okay?"
You rubbed the back of your head as you replied. "The crossroads boy bothered me every time. Even when I wasn't alone, he kept doing that."
Ryuusuke frowned madly before he noticed Midori come to his side. "Ryuusuke. (Y/N)."
You snapped out of your thoughts and quickly turned to Midori. "Huh?"
"You were awful to just run off by yourself. On Friday. You even dragged (Y/N) with you."
"Yeah, sorry. I wasn't feeling good." Ryuusuke said, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Well, thanks to you guys, I had a terrible weekend."
You frowned at what she said, you then asked her in worry. "Why? Are you not feeling well?"
"You remember that woman we met before?" you both nodded in answer. "That woman kept pestering me about whether or not she shouldn't have her lover's child. I didn't know what to do. But I felt like she was in the same position as my aunt so I couldn't walk away from her."
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~Flashback~
"𝐈 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐝𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝."
Midori listened to the woman talking as her mother served them the water. She suddenly gripped her arm as she begged her. "So? What should I do? ...Hm?"
"𝐌𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. 𝐌𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐭𝐨𝐧, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩, 𝐬𝐨 𝐈 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫..."
"Fine... Have the baby! That's the only option!" Midori yelled out of patience. It made the woman stop immediately before she started walking out of her house.
"𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭."
"You're right. I'll have it."
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"Huh. Weird Lady." Ryuusuke commented.
"She's so overreacting." You said.
"But that's not the end of it!"
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"𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐲, 𝐭𝐨𝐨! 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐥 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠!"
"Hey? I know I said I'd have it yesterday, but I'm not sure. Should I really have it? Aah, what should I do? I mean, if I do have it, the baby won't have a father. The poor thing!"
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"She's so weird... There's no way this is normal, right?" You frowned at her story as she was completely weird.
"Yeah... you're right. That sounds awful, Midori. I guess she's honestly struggling. But there are limits! The worst part was after that. She came again yesterday!"
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"Hello... Midori, open the door." The woman called out as she knocked on the door.
"𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫."
"Come on... talk to me... I want to have the baby... but the poor thing..."
"𝐈 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫!"
Suddenly, the window opened roughly, and appeared to be Midori's father. "YOU THERE! GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF! IF YOU KEEP THIS UP, I'LL CALL THE POLICE!" Midori peeked through the window behind her father's back along with her mother.
"W-What? The police? THIS IS NO JOKE! WE DON'T NEED THE POLICE HERE! I'M PREGNANT!"
"HOW ABOUT YOU ACT LIKE IT AND SETTLE YOURSELF DOWN?!" He yelled which the woman yelled back.
"OH! FINE! I'LL SETTLE MYSELF DOWN!" She then grabbed the flower pot and smashed it against her stomach, shocking all of them.
"IDIOT! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" Midori's father yelled as he tried to stop her. "STOP... STOP IT!"
The woman groaned after she hit her stomach countless times, she dropped the pot down and cried out in pain.
"YOU! AH, SEE! I TOLD YOU! ARE YOU OKAY?! HANG ON!" Midori's father yelled as he came out of the house to help her while Midori watched with horrifying.
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~Back to the present~
Your hand went to your mouth as you were shocked by her action. "Can you believe that, guys?! This actually happened."
"I don't expect that from her." You commented.
"So then what about her?" Ryuusuke asked.
"She was taken to the hospital right away... but... my dad said they couldn't save the baby." Midori's eyes began to tear as she felt guilt. "Hey... guys? Maybe it's my fault. Maybe it's my fault she did that."
"What are you talking about, Midori?! How could this be your fault?!" Ryuusuke said, standing from his chair as Midori leaned her face to her arms.
"It's just if I hadn't asked her to the house, none of this would have happened..."
"Don't feel bad about it. From what I heard, she's not a normal person from the start. It's her own decision to do that." You said to soothe her down. Your eyes went to the view outside as you saw the fog today.
"Will I meet him again? He may come out today."