a/n : wouldn't it be funny if i just ended this fic like.
"okay hanako! im sold! i'm gonna go live with all the babes in this fake world!" "y/n wait this isn't supposed to happen"
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
"and you are going to help me, shijima san."
said girl looked puzzled, before breaking into a smile.
"ah, you really startled me, but..." she slid her wrists out of your grasp with ease and straightened, grabbing your hand holding the palette knife and poking the tip. "please don't tell me you think you can threaten me with a palette knife. you can't even kill someone with this!"
you yanked your hand out of hers, fuming. "i've watched enough documentaries to know you can kill someone with literally anything if you try hard enough! and i'm not a fucking quitter!"
you thrust your hand through the bars, palette knife pointing forward, but your attack was quickly cut off by shijima san grabbing your wrist again.
"are you sure you want to leave this world?" she asked with furrowed brows. "if you go back to your own, your life will run out and you'll die very soon... remember?"
you breathed in shakily at her blunt words, narrowing your eyes.
"w-well, i don't know that!" you protested. "even if he said i'm gonna die, i just... it was so sudden. it doesn't feel real."
"what if it's true?" she hummed without a beat, leaning close to the bars of the cell. "what if your death is really just around the corner, and there's absolutely no way for you to avoid it? what then? would you still go back?"
you stayed silent, lowering your gaze as you fought back tears of frustration. shijima san's eyes widened, tipping her head.
"you're trembling. you're scared, aren't you?"
you looked back up at the brunette, shaking your head firmly.
"i... i'm not..." you wished your words would've come out a little stronger. "i'll find a way... i'll find a way to be alright. because i'm s—"
"still alive?" shijima san cut in, a foreign look on her face. "is that what you were going to say?"
you blinked at her, tipping your head as she continued to speak.
"your hope is baseless. you say you'll find a way, but that's just wishful thinking. it's no better than fiction. it's just stupid." the brunette spoke with a bitterness in her tone, her muscles tense as she gazed past you. "i knew someone... who used to talk like that. but no amount of dreaming ever changed reality."
"someone who talked like this...?" you mused, lifting your eyes to meet hers. "was this person close with you?"
"...close...?" shijima san echoed after a moment's hesitation. "...yes, in a sense. but it doesn't matter. i'll never see that person again."
her eyes shone in the dim candlelight, and she hurriedly blinked away tears gathering at her lashes. a wave of sympathy washed over you, and you reached out towards the girl hesitantly in an attempt to comfort her.
"want me to change that?"
you immediately recoiled at a sudden presence beside the two of you- a familiar boy, clad in dark clothes and donning a wicked smile as he spoke.
"tsukasa." you breathed, narrowing your eyes. shijima san seemed surprised, a look of confusion on her face as she struggled to maintain composure.
"how... did you get here?" she uttered softly. tsukasa laughed, his kokujodai circling his form.
"you called me, no. 4." he explained. "you made a wish, didn't you? to see that person close to you? i always come when someone makes a wish from the heart."
tsukasa raised his hand before pointing directly at the cell bars. there was a whoosh of cold air before the high pitched clanging of metal filled the room, the bars destroyed by his kokujodai. you crouched and covered your head as the bars split into pieces, careful to avoid injury as they loudly clattered to the floor. shijima san took a step back, eyes wide as tsukasa turned his attention towards her.
"and now that you've called me here, i've gotta grant your wish."
"what are you doing!? you can't just...!" shijima san protested indignantly. "honorable no. 7 will be mad at you!"
the dark haired boy blinked at her before whirling towards you again. youvstared up at him nervously, furrowing your brow as he strode closer.
"hey. you're the one who made this happen, didn't you? then you'll help, right?" he asked, though it seemed less like a question and more like a demand. "since you're the one who got no. 4 to fess up about her wish."
"...huh?" you mumbled, gaze flicking past him to the fourth school mystery. he beamed, his amber eyes seeming to sparkle with excitement.
"all right! ready to pay the price?" he pointed at shijima san as his kokujodai started swirling around him again. "then let's go, no. 4. it's time to grant your wish."
"what...?" she whispered, her face paling as she balled her hands into fists. "wait a minute... i didn't agree to this!"
ignoring her shout of protest, tsukasa's kokujodai swept around you and shijima san quicker than you could blink. black smoke clouded the room, and you felt yourself being lifted into the air beside the brunette. you spastically kicked your legs, trying to break free of whatever control tsukasa had over us.
"why me?!" you spat, twisting in an attempt to hold onto something. "you bastard! put me down, i'm not part of this!"
"have fun!"
"tsukasa!!"
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
huddled close together in the school yard were three figures- nene, kou and mitsuba leaned against each other, gazing around the yard blankly. the cream haired girl buried her face in her exorcist friend's shoulder, blinking back tears.
"if y/n stays here... she won't have to die." nene whispered, gazing at the two boys next to her.
"damn it, hanako..." kou cursed under his breath. "you know, maybe he's right, but... staying here forever? that's just..."
he trailed off, squeezing his eyes shut as nene continued.
"it's just not right." she murmured softly, picking at her fingernails. the pink haired boy on kou's other side sat up, narrowing his eyes at the exorcist as though offended.
"...i'm still hurting from when honorable no. 7 blasted me back there. i thought i was gonna die, you know." mitsuba deadpanned, pinching the blond boy's cheek. "i would really appreciate a little more kindness and consideration."
"gaaaaah! okay, i'm sorry!" kou squeaked, grabbing mitsuba's talon like hand and pulling it away from his face. "that must've hurt! really, thank you for shielding me!"
mitsuba huffed, yanking his hand out of kou's grasp. "tch. thoughtless earring boy. at least radish senpai listened to me earlier."
kou grit his teeth, crossing his arms as nene took on an offended expression. "just can't please some people..."
after a couple heartbeats mitsuba sighed loudly, turning to face the two brooding students again as he scowled. nene's twisted to match mitsuba's, her nose wrinkling. "we can't focus on just you, mitsuba kun! so sorry that our friend is going to—"
"i know you both have a lot to think about with jinxed senpai and honorable no. 7 and all, but..." he interrupted, scrunching his face up to seem as intimidating as possible. "pull yourselves together! especially you, minamoto kun. after that high and mighty speech you gave me, you'd better take responsibility and do what you said you would!"
kou fell silent, lost in thought for a moment before raising his eyes and smiling.
"yeah... you're right! okay, we're gonna go kick no. 4's butt!" he grabbed nene's hand and stood before immediately getting shoved back down by mitsuba.
"no you're not!" he exclaimed, waving his arms frantically.
"but... why not?" nene asked with a frown. "we can't beat hanako kun, but we could put a stop to all of this if we defeat no. 4, can't we?"
"are you that stupid?" mitsuba cried. "i mean, you're right, but if it was that easy to beat her we wouldn't be in this mess!" the pink haired boy sighed, taking in a deep breath to calm himself before continuing. "...and you know honorable no. 7 will try to stop you- so you can rush in all you want, but you're both gonna get yourselves kill—?!"
he was cut off by something thwacking against the back of his head, his eyes wide with surprise as he stumbled forward. kou immediately took on the defense, stepping in front of mitsuba with his staff brandished.
"what the— what happened!?"
"bullies?!" mitsuba wailed in confusion. "is someone bullying me?!"
"wait, look." nene hushed both of them, pointing to a small figure wobbling towards them. "is that a... paintbrush?"
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
you groaned, rubbing your head as you blinked open your eyes. panic struck you at the unfamiliar surroundings; a dark hallway illuminated only by the wide windows on one of the walls. it smelled strongly of cleaning supplies and echoed with whispers you couldn't quite make out.
"...where am i?" you mumbled as you pushed yourself to your feet. beneath the thick citrusy scent was the stench of illness, making you wrinkle your nose.
'this... is a hospital.' you realized with a sinking feeling, gazing at the doors leading to patient rooms. '...i hate hospitals.'
you glanced at the wall with the different rooms. shadowy figures glided between the doors, holding clipboards and donning hospital scrubs.
"but there's nobody here..." you mused, before being cut off by the whispers growing closer to you. you froze, looking around for the source of the conversation.
"i heard..."
"yeah, it's true..."
you turned to see two shadows of nurses leaning close to each other, their tones laced with sorrow.
"the poor thing... so young."
"i know! how sad..."
you furrowed your brow, watching the figures move across the wall and around a corner. you immediately turned the opposite way, shaking your head.
"fuck that. i'm not gonna be killed by some shadow witch knock off." you muttered, storming down the hall and turning a corner. "god damn it. i can't get one day in peace. it's always 'oh y/n, let's go get this supernatural but i'm gonna break your heart while we do it' or 'oh misfortune, you're gonna die and i'm gonna lock you in here because i have issues and i can't talk about my feelings.' jesus christ. sometimes i wish i never summoned that brat."
your angry mumbles were cut off as a familiar brown haired girl came into view. shijima san stood in the doorway of a patient's room, silent as she gazed into it. you let out a sigh of relief, padding closer to the girl and placing a hand on her shoulder.
"oh good, i wasn't the only one transported to this shadowy hell hole." you said, gaze flicking around the hall. "hey, we should get out of here... i don't think-"
you broke off as you glanced into the room, spotting a person laying still in the hospital bed. the privacy curtains swayed in the gentle breeze coming from the window, revealing a glimpse of the patient's pale face and light brown hair. shijima san took in a shuddering breath, squeezing her eyes shut and turning her face away. you tipped your head at this, moving forward.
"...shijima san?" you asked hesitantly. "who's that?"
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
————— ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎
a/n : maybe the real fanfiction is the friends we made along the way <3