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when you and nene got to school that fateful morning, the two of you discovered that hanako had become a human- and nobody seemed to think anything was out of the ordinary. what's more, kou kun said that the same thing was going on with mitsuba; he was passing as a normal student, with no comment from any of his classmates.
well... sure. of course you wanted everything to be back to how it was, but... you were finding it hard to hate what was going on.
the day passed without any issue, right up until the end of your last class.
"come on, y/n." amane breathed, pinning his hand beside your head. "you're crazy. why don't you wanna do it?"
"i... i already said no.." you stumbled over your words, squeezing your eyes shut in frustration.
"you just said you wanted to the other day." he muttered in a low voice, fixing his stern gaze on you. "come on, it'll be fun."
"no it won't! hmph, asking me out and then treating me like this..!?" you replied shakily, pressing your back against the wall. "nene chan was right, boys really are manipulative... i told you, i don't want to clean the pool!"
amane huffed angrily, wrapping his arms around your waist and pulling you towards the door of the classroom like you weighed nothing to him. a couple classmates shot some amused looks your way, chuckling softly as you struggled in his arms- though, their laughter wasn't mocking or cruel; it was humorous, genuine- a pleasant change from what you were used to.
"come on!"
"no!" you wailed, burying your face in your hands. "i already said i don't want to!"
"god, why are you so stubborn?! you said you'd help when i asked you!" he spat, furrowing his brow as he tightened his grip on you. you squirmed, wrinkling your nose as you were dragged into the hall.
"no way in hell!"
"you did, remember? they need a few volunteers from each class."
"they'll get on fine without me!"
"i'm telling you, we don't have enough people!" he groaned. "listen. yashiro san's there with akane san now, don't you want to hang out with your best friends?"
"...i guess so." you muttered under your breath before sighing, placing your feet on the floor.
'let's get this over with so we can go check out the tower.'
"you can let go now, amane kun." you deadpanned, unwrapping the boy's arms from around your waist.
"a-ah, sorry... hey, don't look so gloomy. the kid will be there." he comforted. you sighed, shoving your hands in the pockets of your uniform.
"but... ah, that's it! i don't have a shirt to change into, whoops!" you spun on your heels, striding in the direction of the shoe lockers. "so i can't help out! wouldn't want to get my uniform dirty- too bad, so sad."
"it's alright. i figured this would conveniently happen." amane immediately shot down your attempt at getting out of this, flashing an innocent smile. "you can borrow the extra i brought!"
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"kou kun, nene chan, i'm here." you announced unenthusiastically, trudging towards your friends in defeat. you had on a ratty looking nasa shirt, courtesy of amane. the two of them looked up with welcoming smiles as you tied your hair out of your face.
"ah, y/n nee san!" kou kun exclaimed in greeting. nene dashed towards you, squeezing you in a hug.
"good, we're all here." you said, wrapping your arms around the cream haired girl's shoulders as you made your way to kou's side. "so. after we finish cleaning the pool, we're gonna look around that big tower for anything suspicious, right?"
"mmhmm, but... i'm not sure we should go in just yet." nene murmured. "we don't know what's in there. it could be dangerous."
"yeah, and we might need time to prepare if it's an evil supernatural." kou added. "i mentioned the situation to my brother earlier when i passed him in the halls, hoping he would know something, but he just smiled and nodded like he was talking to a child... he doesn't seem to have any memories of being en exorcist at all- and probably thinks i'm acting like a child." the blond boy paused, looking past you and nene. "...it's so weird."
the two of you glanced over your shoulders to see mitsuba holding up a broom, laughing as he mocked a sword fight with yokoo.
"everything seems perfectly normal... i'm wondering if maybe this is how things were supposed to be all along." you turned back to face kou, who had a conflicted look on his face. you dryly laughed, mirroring his expression.
"tell me about it." you muttered, picking at your fingernails.
"maybe... it's better this way..?" the blond boy in front of you sounded hopeful, longing lacing his tone as he gazed at the pink haired boy. nene looked between the two of you worriedly.
"kou kun, n/n chan..." was all she mumbled before leaning against your side. you and your friends' quiet, solemn moment lasted for only a few heartbeats before a bucket of water poured over kou's head, splashing nene in the process. as the boy let out a yell of surprise, you felt the sting of cold water pelting against the back of your neck. you hissed in alarm, spinning on your heels to face your attacker.
"that's your punishment for slacking off." an amber eyed boy laughed, spraying you in the face once more before holding out a white towel.
"amane kun, you bastard!" you spat, snatching the fluffy white cloth from his hand and wiping at your face. "i swear to god..."
you turned to nene, gently wiping the water off of her skin. you shot another glare over your shoulder as amane smiled back innocently, his cheeks slightly flushed. you opened your mouth to snap at him again for interrupting your friends, but was cut off by aoi calling out.
"nene chan, n/n chan! come on, everyone! we're gonna start cleaning!" she chirped, gathering the rest of the students around and handing out brooms. you felt amane sidle up beside you, sending a challenging grin your way.
"i bet i'll clean better than you." he whispered as aoi started instructing on where the class would start. you rolled your eyes, elbowing him in his side with a quiet hum of amusement.
"shut up. i'm still mad at you."
aoi waited until the class was all lined up before raising the whistle to her mouth. "all right, everyone! on your marks... get set..."
you tightened your grip on the broom as the purple haired girl blew into the whistle, raising her hand with a smile.
"go~!"
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and off you went, cleaning the hell out of the pool- which was surprisingly fun!
after a while the group finally took a break, all of you tired out from the heat of the day and the effort cleaning had taken. you all but collapsed into one of the benches around the pool, groaning softly.
"it's so hot..." you mumbled, trying to ignore the buzzing of bugs in the trees casting shade over you. you barely noticed kou padding up to you before taking a seat on the bench.
"here you go." he said, handing you a bottle of f/d.
"i would die for you."
you raised the cold drink to your mouth with a hum of satisfaction, swinging your legs as kou started to whisper.
"...um, about what we were talking about earlier—"
an accusatory voice cut the little exorcist off, sounding annoyed. "where's my drink?"
you glanced over your shoulder at the pink haired boy with a soft smile, a feeling of unease swirling in your stomach as the boy fixed you with a slightly irritated stare. "oh, hey, mitsuba kun."
"look at you, sneaking around. what's goin' on here?" the boy wrinkled his nose as he circled you and kou, gaze flicking between you. "wait..."
mitsuba suddenly gasped, a shocked expression crossing his face.
"don't tell me it's something lewd!?" he yelped, pointing at the two of you with wide eyes. "are you a dirty jinxed girl and a naughty earring boy!!?"
his cries were cut off by kou shoving two drink cans into his arms. the blond boy huffed in annoyance.
"leave me and y/n nee san alone. take these and go away- don't drink it all yourself." kou rolled his eyes before letting out a sound of surprise. "hey!"
mitsuba had snatched kou's soda, raising the blue can to his mouth with a mischievous grin.
"thanks, lame-o earring!" the pink haired boy hugged the other two cans to his chest, dashing back to his friends. "yokoo kun! satou kun!"
kou let out another angry huff, and you couldn't help but laugh. he furrowed his brow, glancing at you.
"what?"
"you two sure are close, that's all." you smiled with a tilt of your head. "sorry about the loss of your soda."
"whatever... and we're not close, really." the blond boy insisted, scratching his neck sheepishly. you shrugged, brightening as you noticed someone else walking your way.
"ah, here comes nene chan." you waved to the cream haired girl, who quickened her pace. "nene-!"
"n/n-!" she called back. the girl took a sip of the bottle of water in her hands, taking a seat on the other side of you and resting her chin on your shoulder.
"done clinging to aoi?"
"shh." the cream haired girl pressed her forehead into your arm with a yawn. "man, i'm sleepy. cleaning the pool was more tiring than i thought."
"will you have enough energy to check out the tower?" you asked, running your fingers through one of her pigtails. nene nodded, determination set on her face.
"yeah, we've got to figure out what's going on."
"hey, who's that girl?" kou cut in, confusion lacing his tone. you glanced at him before your gaze flicked to where he was staring.
"huh? what do you...?" you trailed off as your gaze landed on a brown haired girl crouched in front of a plant, her hair styled in two braids. nene peered over your shoulder.
"that's not our uniform... is it?" she asked in a quiet voice as the girl pulled out a sketchbook.
"wonder what she's doing." kou frowned. you gently elbowed him, rolling your eyes.
"it's obvious she's drawing, dude." you squinted your eyes to see the flower buds she was drawing more clearly. "and she's really good, it looks like."
suddenly, aoi's voice rang through the air. "nene chaaaaan, y/n chaaaaan~! oh, and minamoto kun! whatcha doin'?"
"aoi, akane kun!" nene waved the two over before pointing where the girl was. "um, well... there's a girl drawing a picture over there."
you glanced back to where the girl had been crouched before gasping. "huh? she's gone!"
"did she already move on?" kou mused as aoi leaned down beside nene.
"hm.. so what about that girl?" aoi asked the three of you.
"well, none of us recognized her." you replied. "and she wasn't wearing our uniform, so that was strange."
"a girl in an unfamiliar uniform..." akane held his hand to his face in thought as aoi finished his sentence.
"and she was drawing a picture... do you think..." aoi tipped her head. "maybe shijima san was here?"
"who the hell is that?"
"art room shijima san." aoi told you. "a long time ago, there was a girl who was a really good artist, but she died before she could graduate."
"huh, really?" nene glanced at where the girl had been once more. "...that was shijima san?"
"yes..." aoi confirmed. "they say that after shijima san died, she became a ghost and remained in the school... drawing the pictures she loved so much each day."
"how did she die?" you asked. aoi's voice took on a more somber tone.
"well, you see... shijima san wanted to go into the arts... but her family was against it. she'd only be allowed to draw until she left high school. that's why... she killed herself before she graduated."
a shiver ran down your spine at aoi's words, before she and akane stiffened. you leaned forward in concern.
"are you both o—"
you were cut off by a series of sharp whooshes, like a blade slicing through the air. straight lines that resembled cracks appeared in aoi and akane's figures before they crumbled into pieces, falling to the floor.
'...aoi? akane?'
"...huh?" you heard nene whisper. you took a staggering step back, holding your arm in front of the shorter girl as kou sprang to his feet in alarm.
"y/n nee san, get back!" kou pulled you towards him, and you hurriedly turned to nene.
"aoi... akane kun..." the cream haired girl was as pale as a sheet of paper, her grip on the fence loosening. you crouched beside the girl, gently grabbing her hand in yours as she started mumbling incoherently. "what...? why...?"
"nene, it's alright, it'll be okay." you tried to reassure as her breaths came quicker, hoping to calm her down before she went into a full blown panic. you glanced between kou and the broken remains of your friends, your chest tightening with fright.
"ah..." nene sucked in a trembling breath before shrieking, burying her face in your shoulder. "aaaaaaaaugh!!!"
"eep!" mitsuba jumped in alarm, dropping his can of soda. yokoo and satou glanced in your direction, worry written clearly on their faces.
"what!? what's wrong!?" amane shouted, dashing towards the three of you with lemon kun not far behind. kou swallowed before responding shakily.
"th... they..." he squeezed his eyes shut, gripping your free hand tightly. a look of genuine fear flashed across mitsuba's face for only a heartbeat, before he shakily smiled.
"is... is that all?" he laughed shakily, holding his hand to his chest. nene lifted her head, wiping tears from her eyes.
"...what?"
"they just fell apart. that's all." yokoo said nonchalantly, placing his hands behind his head.
satou let out an amused hum. "right?"
"you almost gave me a heart attack, screaming like that!" mitsuba exclaimed, sounding relieved.
"yeah, don't worry 'bout it." amane shrugged. "they'll be back to normal in no time- twenty, thirty minutes tops."
"i'll snap a pic to remember it." lemon offered, holding up his phone.
"huh...?" nene breathed. you pushed yourself to your feet, staring at the five students crowded around you.
"wait..." you muttered, your head spinning as the group started to disband. "wait, wait! how can you all act like this?! aren't you... aren't you at all worried? this isn't normal!"
"chill, l/n. you look like a ghost." lemon kun looked at you quizzically. "and it's not like it's that unusual."
"right?" amane bumped against your shoulder with a gentle smile. "anyways, we'll get back to cleaning."
"what the..." you turned to face kou as he spoke, his eyes wide. nene was clinging to him, still shocked by what had happened. "but this is crazy. it's so..."
nene reached out, tugging the hem of your shirt. you glanced down at her as she picked up a chunk of aoi's face.
"y/n chan... y-you think so too, right?" the cream haired girl was trembling, her magenta eyes flicking up to meet yours. "you don't think this is normal, do you...!?"
"nene..." you murmured, leaning down and wrapping her in a tight hug.
"hey!" mitsuba raced back to the three of you, tugging on kou's arm. "radish senpai, jinxed senpai- you too, minamoto kun! come on, get back to cleaning already! peel yourselves apart for a second, alright? we're gonna need to pitch in now that we're down two people for a while..."
"mitsuba..." kou mumbled, furrowing his brows. the pink haired boy ignored him, pointing towards the other students surrounding the pool.
"c'mon, hurry! hurry! let's get back to work!"
"mitsuba!" kou shouted again, grabbing his friend's wrist and pointing at the remains of aoi and akane. "...you don't see anything wrong with this!? really!? this is messed up, and you know it!!"
you nodded, pulling nene to her feet and glaring at mitsuba. "yeah. it is messed up."
"wait, minamo—" mitsuba started, before kou cut him off again.
"at first, i just didn't get it! i thought maybe he'd come back to life... that maybe mitsuba's wish came true, but..." kou swallowed, looking at mitsuba's hand in his own. "i was wrong. it's like... i don't know. it all... if all just feels wrong... it's like all of this is—"
"stop it!!" mitsuba cried, yanking his hand out of kou's grasp. "so what if it is...? can't you just leave it alone? what does it matter...?"
the pink haired boy glanced between the three of you, his eyes glistening.
"what does it matter if this world isn't real...?!!"
as though realizing what he said, mitsuba clapped his hands over his mouth. his eyes widened as he stared at kou, pupils shrinking.
"the world..." nene murmured.
"...it isn't real?" you finished, feeling your heart sink.
'oh... so i was right.' you closed your eyes, a sour feeling filling your chest. 'the sense i had that something was wrong... ended up being true.'
"you know something about this, don't you...?" you said shakily, reaching towards the pink haired boy. before you could grab mitsuba's hand he shoved past you, dashing away. "hey!"
"wait, mitsuba!"
"you have to tell us what's going on!!"
you, kou, and nene rushed after the boy, calling out for him as he ran off. you glanced over your shoulder to see amane staring after the three of you, his expression completely blank. you swallowed nervously, turning to focus on catching mitsuba and ignoring the way amber burned into the back of your head.
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