"Denying it all just means you're confessing it all."
----------
"Nene!" You called, running up to the smaller girl and trapping her in a tight hug. She gasped and staggered back. She wasn't expecting a hug right when she walked onto campus! You normally weren't like this, excited to see her and all. She saw you just yesterday, so she wondered why you were so happy to see her less than a day later. But, nonetheless, she hugged you back. "Hi, M/n," She said shakily, recovering from her state shock.
Apparently, anyone who had been affected by the Misaki Stairs didn't remember anything after they were turned back to normal. But that didn't matter right now, Nene was safe, Aoi was safe, everyone was safe, that was the only focus for today. You let go of Nene. "Let's get to class, yeah?" You said with a smile, leading the way to English, the first class of the day. Nene wordlessly followed behind you.
"You're kind of odd today. . ." Nene pointed out. She didn't mean it in a bad way, it just stood out to her. You chuckled lightly, remembering yesterday's events. "Yeah, sorry, I had a rough day yesterday," You sheepishly replied, opening your classroom door for Nene to walk through first, then letting yourself in. You sat in your assigned seat just as the bell rang, signaling the official start of the Wednesday.
"Alright class, make groups of three, we're doing a group writing project," Your teacher, Mr. Haru said, a pile of papers stacked high in his hands. You immediately glanced at Nene, then to Aoi, who was also in your class. The two girls looked at each other, then to you, silently agreeing to be partners. Once kids started moving around, you did as well and decided to go to Aoi's desk, over by the giant windows letting in yellow rays of bright sunlight.
"I'm going to keep it pretty vague, but you're going to create a suspenseful short story, you have until the end of class to finish and turn in the first draft." Mr. Haru explained, sitting down behind his cluttered, oversized desk. You looked over to Nene and Aoi. "We should do something about someone who has a sixth sense, or something along those lines." Ghosts were the first thing that came to your mind. That was suspenseful enough, right?
Or, you had just been hanging out with Hanako too much. He could be quite suspenseful when he wanted to be.
"Good idea! Maybe we could have it as a person who can see ghosts, and doesn't know it?" Aoi agreed, adding her own original ideas to the mix. Aoi was always like that, when there was a small idea she liked, she would always add to it, making it even better.
"And maybe a little bit of romance!" Nene said excitedly.
"You and your romance. . ." You mumbled, amused.
"I think that could work, actually. We can have the main character be a guy, and he sees a ghost that's a cute girl, but doesn't know it." Aoi suggested, coming up with the plot on the spot.
"Alright, then let's start drafting it." You said, happy that there was already a plot. There was more time to write. Nene grabbed her pencil, and Aoi opened her notebook to a fresh page.
* * *
"Class is almost over, your stories better be finished," Mr. Haru said aloud for all the class to hear. It had been about an hour now, and your group's story looked almost done, just a couple more sentences and it should be good to go!
"And. .finished," You said, writing the last sentence down. Since you had the best handwriting out of your group, you were the writer, while Nene and Aoi played out the story for you. You looked over the finished product.
–STORY–
It was cold out tonight. But that was to be expected, it was Winter, after all. So then why? Why was Sergio outside? Instead of the comfort and warmth of his home. Well, that was because of the moon. Sergio sat atop a grassy hill, the green blades scratching at his exposed ankles. Telescope in hand, Sergio angled it upwards, towards the full moon. It already looked big from afar, but seeing it through the lens of a telescope, it was as if the moon was inches away from Sergio's face, shining in all its glory.
There were no clouds to shield away the moon, unlike most nights during Winter. So, when Sergio saw a cloudless sky, he had to grasp this perfect opportunity. Up close, the moon shone a bright blue tint, the craters in it looking like they were painted on by a careful hand. Sergio gaped up at it, did such an amazing sight deserve the blurry eyes of Sergio? He didn't know, but he didn't care either. A breeze pushed past the trees surrounding Sergio, creating a rustling sound when their branches brushed together. The grass moved, tickling Sergio's ankles. The boy shivered, regretting not bringing a jacket with him. All he had was jeans and a thin sweater, a scarf wrapped around his neck loosely, moving up and brushing his nose when a breeze pushed past. Sergio was quick to get over the cold, looking back into his telescope, gazing over the moon and the stars that surrounded it.
Speaking of the stars, there were so many of them! Even brighter than the moon when in a cluster. Sergio was certain that if the moon were to suddenly disappear, the stars would make up for the missing light. Everything seemed so close, even without the telescope, although they were light-years away. It was fascinating, Sergio smiled.
"Beautiful. Isn't it?" A sudden voice broke the comfortable silence, startling Sergio in his session of gazing. He looked back to where the voice originated from. It was a girl. She wore a flowing white dress with pink flowers, Sergio wondered how she wasn't shivering. Or maybe she was, and was just really good at hiding it.
Not wanting to make things awkward, Sergio responded to the girl. "It is." The mysterious girl smiled and walked to Sergio, placing herself next to him, sitting on her knees and fluffing out her dress, hiding her knees.
"I always like to come out here and just stare at the sky, sometimes even until the sun starts peaking its way through the tips of the mountains." She said, tilting her head upward, her green eyes perfectly matched up with the moon's surface.
Another breeze emerged from behind the pair, more rustling sounds coming from the trees and bushes. The girl smiled, her long blond hair moving in the direction of the wind. Sergio watched her, she was beautiful.
"Do you come out here often?" Sergio asked her once the zephyr subdued. She hummed and nodded her head. "Every night," She answered.
"That's impressive, especially in this cold," Sergio commented, turning his gaze to the sky like the girl.
"I'm Anya." The girl suddenly said. Anya. The name fit her well.
"I'm Sergio. It's nice to meet you," Sergio said, turning his head back to Anya, who did the same for him.
"Likewise," Anya responded, her forest colored eyes looking kindly into his bland, dull brown ones. The two stared at each other for a moment. But it only lasted a moment before something buzzed in Sergio's pocket, a musical tune emitted from the device. Sergio quickly looked down, fishing through his pocket to get out his phone. He had forgotten he'd brought it with him. Checking the caller ID, Sergio saw that it was his Mom who was calling him. Why would she be calling him this late?
"Sorry, Anya, I have to take this real quick. ." Sergio said and looked away from her, picking up the phone. He placed the device to his ear, the screen felt cold against his exposed skin.
"Hey, Mom. Why are you calling so late?" Sergio Asked, his eyes to the green blades of grass.
"Sergio! Sweetie! I'm sorry to be calling so late, I'm just making sure you're alright!" Mom said, her voice sounded panicked and out of line. Sergio instantly became worried.
"What do you mean? Of course I'm alright, why? What happened?" He spoke skeptically, not understanding why his mom was so panicked.
"Is everything okay?" Anya asked, noticing the tone of Sergio's voice, he looked at her, smiling dismissively, then waited for his mother to speak again, looking away from Anya.
"Sergio. .You don't know about it?" His mother asked. She sounded surprised, what should Sergio know about?
"Know about what? You're starting to worry me, Mom."
"A young lady was murdered a few minutes ago! The address was on the news, she lived next door to you. Did you know her? Her name was Anya." Sergio lifted his head in surprise, eyes widening.
"Hold on a second," Sergio said before he hung up the phone, not giving his mother any time to speak. Sergio waited a couple of seconds, then looked over to where Anya was supposed to be sitting.
But she wasn't there.
Sergio was alone.
"I like it," You said, re-reading it over a few more times. Nene and Aoi both agreed with you. Without another word, you took the few pages of the story, and brought it up to Mr. Haru. He thanked you and took the papers gently, putting them on the pile of all the other stories. Sadly, Aoi and Nene had science after this, and you had history. But that was alright, you had lunch together and you would hang out at the gardening club after school.
In the meantime, the three of you sat around until the bell would eventually ring fifteen minutes later. "How are the plants coming along?" You asked them. You remembered to talk to them like nothing had happened, the Misaki Stairs had nothing to do with Nene and Aoi. You did not risk your life to save theirs.
"Despite the recent warm weather, The fruit has been holding up really well!" Aoi responded passionately, "They'll be ready to eat in maybe a month or two."
"And the flowers are finally starting to bloom!" Nene said bashfully, sparkles in her eyes. The main type of flowers the gardening club would plant was roses. All colors of roses, and you remember Nene giving you a bunch of yellow roses on your birthday. Yellow roses represent friendship.
You found it cool that every flower had a unique and different meaning. Red carnations meant deep love and affection, daffodils meant new beginnings, and white egret orchids meant happiness. That was only a few, the list goes on and on.
"Alright, time's up! Turn in your stories," You teacher called, it was a minute before the bell was timed to ring. Some students looked worried, and others looked as confident as hell. You watched as your peers turned in their work, then returned to their seats and waited for the bell to ring.
Brrring
"See you guys at lunch?" You said, your belongings in both arms, walking in between Aoi and Nene.
"See you!" Nene said happily, turning down the hall alongside Aoi. You walked the other way, to your own class.
* * *
History was boring. Your teacher talked the whole time, no work was completed.
Science was boring. The whole thing was spent on a computer, watching a video and answering questions.
Lunch was alright. Boy talk with Nene, you just nodded and pretended to understand why she liked Teru so much.
Math was boring. It's always boring.
And now the gardening club. Usually, it was pretty good.
You weren't an official member of the club, and honestly, you didn't really have an interest to join. But sometimes, it was nice helping Nene and Aoi out. Sometimes, you'd even talk to some of the other gardening club members. Your conversations wouldn't last long, but it was nice to talk to them every once in a while.
Currently, they were all outside, pulling weeds, watering plants, working hard to keep everything alive. You mainly stayed with Nene, but that's how it always was. You watched as Akane tried to woo Aoi into going out with him, it wasn't working out so far. You felt bad for the poor guy, he tries so hard, just to get shut down every time. You looked away from the two and followed alongside Nene as she went to the fountain to refill her watering can.
"Something on your mind, M/n? You look all spaced out," Nene asked while watching the water fill up the can. She gave you a side glance filled with worry. To be honest, she had the right to be suspicious, your mind just wasn't in school mode today. And honestly, you were quite tired from yesterday.
"Oh, I'm fine, Nene." You responded, turning the water off just as it was about to spill over. You didn't want to worry her, that's the last thing you wanted.
"A good luck charm, to make you feel better."
You shook your head, an image of Hanako flashing in your mind. You shook your head, erasing the image with a small blush.
Why were you thinking about that now of all times?
"You okay. . .?" Nene asked, you nodded and gave her a thumbs up, brushing off the memory of Hanako. Nene nodded slowly and started carrying the water can back to the flowers and fruit. You followed.
"You've been really weird today," Nene pointed out, kneeling down and pouring water onto a patch of red gladiolus, they were almost finished blooming. You didn't reply to her, simply because you weren't paying attention.
'Why would he do that?"
'You don't just kiss someone out of the blue like that!'
'. . .Right?'
'It's just Hanako being Hanako.'
'It isn't that big of a deal. . .'
'Right?'
'Yeah, definitely. . . .'
'But why would he kiss you and not Nene?"
'Is it because of that "bond" thing you have with him?'
'Yeah, that's gotta be it-'
"M/n!" Nene shouted, pulling you out of the clouds.
"W-what what?" You said, startled.
"This is exactly what I'm talking about. . .Seriously, what is going on?" Nene asked, giving you her full attention, watering can on the floor. She was no longer leaning over the sword-like flowers. Her body faced you fully, face showing worry. She wanted a complete and truthful explanation.
"I'm sorry, I'm just all over the place today. I promise it's not anything bad. Just. . .Didn't get enough sleep last night," You responded sheepishly, rubbing the back of your head in embarrassment, it was that noticeable, huh? Nene's squinted closer together, you knew that look. She didn't believe you. She had every right not to believe you, you were lying to her.
"I promise you I'm not," You pushed, looking right into Nene's amber eyes, trying your best to make her believe you.
But it wasn't working out, she still looked suspicious as hell about your response. But nonetheless, she turned away from you, picking up her can and watering the plants once more. "I still don't believe you, but if that's all you're going to say, alright." She said, a smile back on her face. You sighed and smiled, at least she wasn't going to push any more about it.
You turned your attention to behind, where the sun was. It was just starting its descent behind the mountains. An array of orange and pink and purple stretched all throughout the sky, blending into one another. It was a beautiful sight to witness.
"Stay there for a second,"
Not again! Why why why why. . .
"Is it a guy or something?" Nene asked, deadpanning. She was lying when she said she wasn't going to pry anymore.
"What!? No! Of course not," You quickly responded, your face flushing with red. You never told Nene that you were gay, it was like she's just always known, and asked you a few months into your friendship. At the moment, she was the only one who knew, at least from what you knew. You trusted that she wouldn't say anything about it. Although it was the present time, and having a sexuality that wasn't straight was fine, you still didn't really want to announce it to the world that you liked guys. There were still people that didn't like that kind of stuff, you didn't want to risk anything. It was comforting knowing she didn't care who you liked as long as it brought happiness.
"Who is it?" She asked teasingly, leaning towards you with a smirk on her face.
"No one, I told you already." You responded sternly. But, unfortunately, you still couldn't help the pink that spread across your cheeks and the bridge of your nose.
"Your blush says differently, M/n. . ." Nene smiled, a smug look.
"It's not, I swear!" You looked away from her, whipping your head over to see the bright colors of tulips, strawberries stationed next to it.
"Is everything alright? I heard yelling. . ." A new voice entered the conversation. It was Aoi, she was smiling, but you could tell she was a little confused from all the commotion. Nene immediately latched onto Aoi. "M/n has a crush!" She squealed, shaking her violet haired friend.
"Nene! How many times do I have to tell you? I. Don't. Have. A. Crush!" You quickly butted in. Aoi stood there, confused, looking back and forth between you and Nene. Aoi smiled slightly, chuckling a little. "Let's talk at the indoor garden," She said before leading the way to the small building on the side.
The building had big windows that let in an abundance of light, which was perfect for growing greenery. These plants, the gardening club didn't have to worry about much, there were sprinklers overhead that sprayed mist a few times a day, watering every plant. So, there wasn't anyone in there at the moment, it was nice and secluded, also cool from the heat outside. It felt much nicer in the indoor garden than outside.
"So. . .Tell me." Aoi gestured for you to talk, a calm smile on her features. You replied, sheepishly, "It's no one I swear. . ."
"But you've been weird all day, and when I mention someone you burst into a blush! You can't tell me you don't like anyone, it's an obvious lie!" Nene quickly countered, placing her hands on your shoulders, squeezing them. "Just tell us!" Nene pushed, shaking you. You didn't reply for a second, but gave in. "Look, all that happened was someone kissed me on the cheek. Don't ask me who it is, I'm not saying," You said, blushing more and more as you explained. Aoi smiled, and Nene squealed, stars in her eyes. "So cute!"
"It didn't mean anything!" You protested.
"I mean, it sounds like this person likes you," Aoi replied, hand rising to her face. Aoi was happy to be talking to you about it, the only other person she's known that talked about crushes with was Nene.
"You think?" You asked, it was more of a question of disbelief than relief. Aoi and Nene nodded happily. "I mean, people don't go around kissing other people on the cheek, unless it's your parents," Aoi responded. Nene silently agreed by nodding her head.
"What are you gonna do when he confesses to you!?" Nene asked, excited in her tone. You blushed from the question, speaking gibberish, blush now covering your face.
"Oh I didn't know it was a guy," Aoi said curiously. It wasn't until then that Nene openly told the gender of the person you were talking about. You looked at Aoi, awaiting her next few words.
"Then he definitely likes you, boys don't just go around kissing people, unless they like them," Aoi said with certainty. You knew she was going to support you, but it was still relieving to hear it outloud from her herself.
"You should try going out with him when he confesses. And if it doesn't work out then it doesn't work out." Nene said, pushing you. Your blush finally started to subdude, "But why. . ?" You asked, oblivious.
"Well, from what I know you've never had a boyfriend, so for one: you need experience. And two: you have nothing else going on with love!" What Aoi said was true, but it still made you slightly embarrassed hearing the ugly truth from someone else. You hung your head low. "I. . .I guess. . .'' You replied meekly.
"You'll also need to prepare yourself mentally. He's probably going to want to talk to you soon and you need to know what to say to him." Nene said, determination in her eyes. She was getting way into this. . .
"You think?" You asked, tilting your head slightly. It wasn't until now that you realized how clueless about liking someone you really were.
"Yeah, it's kinda trendy now." Aoi stated. When did it start to get trendy to tell a person you like them? You swore trends were so weird sometimes. . .
Aoi pointed out the window, both you and Nene looked towards the direction of Aoi's finger. Out in the distance, there was a tree, standing tall, pink blossoms blooming confidently off its branches.
"You see that?" Aoi asked, both you and Nene nodded.
"Well that tree over there is the confession tree. They say it was planted by a Love God. It says that if you confess your love to someone under that tree, they'll instantly feel the same way about you!" Aoi said. You didn't see anything special about it, but Nene was beaming.
"You actually believe in stuff like that?" You deadpanned.
"Look, someone's doing it right now!" Aoi said, Nene jumped up and looked out the window, face practically up against the glass. You were squished between the two girls and had no choice but to watch along with them with a bored expression.
You watched as a boy with yellow hair stood next to the tree, and as Akane emerged from behind it. He looked like he was confessing to this yellow haired guy.
But didn't he like Aoi? You watched with confusion. Maybe he likes the yellow haired guy, too? And has a better chance with him or something.
But, apparently the boy in yellow said something to tick Akane off, he grabbed the blond by the shoulders and started shaking him aggressively, yelling something you couldn't hear.
"I guess they were just messing around," Aoi said.
"Or practicing," Nene replied, knowing Akane was head over heels for Aoi. Aoi leaned towards you. "Anyways, do you see what I mean? Look around, haven't you noticed more couples in your classes than usual?" Now that she mentioned it, Aoi was right, there were more couples than ever in this class. And looking back on it, a lot of students in your class seemed to be couples as well, a lot more than usual. . .
"I guess." You replied.
"And most of them were after having a talk under that tree," Aoi explained, emphasizing by pointing back at it.
"Better be ready M/n!" Nene spoke loudly, drawing your attention once more. You tried to calm the excited girl down, "Sure sure." You replied dismissively, shushing the girl.
-----
"So for tomorrow, I let Nene off the hook on bathroom cleaning. But I need your help with something, so instead of meeting here, let's meet up at the big tree in the garden." Hanako suggested, leaning against the wall, close to the window that showed the setting sun. You were in the middle of collecting all your things when Hanako had said that, and it surprised you quite a bit. Nene had already left, bolting once Hanako said the bathroom was clean enough.
'Are Aoi and Nene psychics or something?' You thought indignantly, looking at Hanako.
"Are you talking about that Confession Tree thing?" You asked, a small blush spreading across your face, hoping Hanako was talking about something else. Hanako smiled, walking towards you. "So you know about it. That'll make things much easier," He said, his voice showing clear playfulness. Standing in front of you, Hanako started floating, now being taller than you. He leaned down, your noses almost touching. "See you then." Was all he said before walking away, his shoes making the floorboards creak when he stopped floating.
You stood for a moment, silent. Then your face exploded into a blush, Nene and Aoi were right!? This doesn't make any sense, Hanako probably had something up his sleeve and didn't want to tell you until the very last moment. That had to be the answer, this was Hanako, after all.
For a good while, all you could do was stare out the window, face flushed, watching as the sun completely escaped past the mountains.
* * *
The day went by quicker than usual, and before you knew it, here you were, walking to the confession tree to meet up with Hanako. 'Just Hanako being Hanako, this is probably for some weird plan he has.' You thought, pushing a strand of hair out of your face when a breeze passed through, brushing into your eyes.
You hesitantly approached the tree, it made shuffling noises from the wind. You quickly found Hanako, who was currently facing away from you. Another breeze pushed past. You stood there for a moment, looking at Hanako. Was he always this endearing? The sun that reflected off the tree made small parts of Hanako look transparent, it was weirdly enchanting, you were drawn to it. You took a step forward, the fallen leaves crunching under the soles of your shoes. Hanako turned around from the noise, his amber eyes meeting your own.
"I was wondering when you would show up," Hanako said, shoving his hands in his pockets, now facing you fully, it was then when you saw the playful smile on his face. He definitely had something planned.
"Sorry, my teacher wanted me to stay and help clean up." You replied sheepishly.
"That's alright, what matters is that you're here now." Hanako responded, walking towards you. Once close to you, he grabbed a hold of your shoulders, pushing you down so you were eye-level with him.
"Listen to me, this may seem sudden." Hanako said, leaning closer to you. The close proximity and words he was saying made you blush, "Extremely," You responded, eyes widening from the situation. Another breeze, leaves fell silently to the floor, joining the others.
"M/n. I love you! Please go out with me!" Who knew nine words would be the reason for your death. . . .Nine words to get your face to look just like Nene's when she runs into Teru.
All reason left your brain. You probably looked like an idiot right now, blushy face, eyed as wide as saucers. You were so caught up in your own surprise and flusteredness you almost didn't notice Hanako whispering to you.
"Why are you stalling, M/n? Hurry and say no." Hanako's hushed voice said. You simply looked at him.
""I don't like you like that. . ."" Hanako ushered.
". . .You don't?" You dumbly asked, confused.
"That's your line!" He shouted. You jumped."Oh! I-I'm sorry!" You responded, blush worsening from the misinterpretation.
"Sorry? No No No, this is not how it works at all! The only thing to do when someone confesses to you is to reciprocate!" A deep voice emerged, you looked towards the origin. . .Which was the tree? But no one was there. But the tree started growing, its branches reaching farther and farther out, becoming threateningly big. Hanako stood in front of you, his knife pointed out in front, "Stay back," He advised, you listened and moved behind him. Who knew you'd be afraid of a talking tree?
"Stand back?? Why would anyone back away from this amazing thing called love!? It brings such happiness, how preposterous of you!" The voice boomed again, their volume rising with every word it spat out. The center of the tree started morphing into a face. Slowly, two eyes and a mouth revealed itself. It was unsettling to watch.
"Now, young man behind Number Seven, please, tell me your unhappiness. Are you sad? Lonely? How may I be in service for you to find your love?" Why was the tree asking about your life? All you did was stare up at it, going against responding to it. You still wondered why it had a face.
One of the tree's branches reached out for you, a hand forming on the bark. "How rude of you to not respond to me!" The tree apparition yelled. You covered your head and closed your eyes as the bark-like hand swerved around Hanako and to you. You prepared for the worst.
But the worst never came.
You opened your eyes, watching as the tree tried to reach you, but was stopped by a barrier that surrounded you.
What was this?
The tree quickly retracted its arm, yelling once more. "What!? A protection charm?!" It screeched, knowing it couldn't do anything to you. Your legs wobbled and you fell down to your knees, terrified and confused.
"Hello there, Kodama." Hanako greeted, Haku-jodai circling him. "This is my assistant's cute little friend, because you only appear to couples, isn't that convenient for me to have him?" The wonder said, standing confidently in front of you.
"I am guilty of nothing other than healing the hearts of others! Broken hearts and ruined relationships!" The tree yelled, Kodama, was it?
"Maybe you should learn to mind your own business!" Hanako shouted, lunging forward and slashing at the tree. Everything started turning into a bright white once Hanko's knife came in contact with Kodama's sentient bark.
When the bright light subdued, you opened your eyes. The tree was gone, nothing but a patch of grass and the fallen leaves left to prove its existence. You looked over to Hanako, who was bending over something, you shakily stood and walked over to him, seeing what he was looming over.
It was a small tree in a pot, a familiar face on it.
"This is disgraceful! All this time I've been saving up rumors and power, all to be reduced to this? Shrubbery?!" The tree belched, its voice sounded shrinked, then compacted. Almost as if it had inhaled a year's worth of helium.
"Encouraging love is fine, but you took it way too far." Hanako said, hands back in his pockets.
"So. . .this is the tree. . .'' You said, "What happened to it?" You asked, ignoring the insults the tree spat at you.
"This is a Kodama. It's a type of tree apparition. He's the reason there's been an unusual increase in couples around the school." Hanako explained.
"Oh," You replied, looking back down to the tree.
"I wouldn't have been able to summon him on my own, so thanks for helping me and playing along." Hanako said, facing you. You stuttered out a response, "O-oh yeah! Of c-course! Anything to help!"
. . .this was awkward. . .
You should've known, it was obvious Hanako would pull something like this. You even had your suspicions about it! He always toys with people, why'd you think this was genuine?
Because you were hoping for it? Why should you care in the first place?
But why was a feeling of disappointment present, if you truly don't care?
"We're going to have to come up with a new rumor for this apparition, also for the Misaki stairs. Any ideas, M/n?" You heard Hanako ask, you were facing away from him, not wanting to answer, more keen on keeping to yourself at the moment. Not long after Hanako had spoken, you heard his footsteps nearing you.
"What's the matter?" Hanako asked.
"Oh, I know," He said, placing a hand on your shoulder, squeezing it slightly, "You're disappointed that it wasn't a real confession, aren't you?" Hanako teased.
"You're a jerk, I hope you know that." You said angrily. Hanako let go of your shoulder, surprised. You turned around and pushed him away, he only went a few feet or so. "You were scolding that tree thing for toying with people's emotions, you're such a hypocrite! You're doing that, too," You said bitterly, glaring at him.
"I'm sorry! I didn't know you would feel this way about it. . ." Hanako said, regaining his balance.
"Do you know how embarrassing that was? Why didn't you just tell me what was going on? And why'd you do that the other day? Why'd you kiss me? All just for fun?" You questioned, your anger spilling over, you couldn't help but yell at him.
"You were vulnerable and tired! I gave you a protection charm so apparitions wouldn't harm you! We're bonded, remember? You needed a protection charm," Hanako explained quickly.
". . .Why did you make me come do this for you? Why didn't you do it to Nene? Why the hell am I here, when you could "confess" to her?" You asked, crossing your arms across your chest. Unlike the rest of the time, Hanako had trouble answering you, stuttering and messing with his words.
"W-well I. . .I-I d-" Hanako was cut off by a loud sigh from you, "Whatever, I have to go." You said, turning and heading for the school gates.
"No! Please J. . .Please wait!" You hear Hanako shout desperately, but you didn't want to deal with it, and ignored the shorter boy, not bothering to turn around. You glowered down at the grass.
Once reaching the gate, you pushed it open, starting to walk through. But you were stopped. A hand was on your wrist, it was cold. You looked back at Hanako, glaring. But once you faced him, your glare dimmed.
Hanako had his hat off, he looked so different without it. Almost like a normal human, no different from you.
He looked scared, why? Hanako's grip softened, speaking to you sternly, but his voice was shaky, "I'm sorry. I promise you, I never meant to make you cry. Please believe me." His eyes reared to the side, refusing to meet yours.
Nothing was said for a moment. That was until Hanako wrapped his arms around you, pulling you closer to him in a hug. "Stay here, please. At least until you stop crying," He said, his head atop your shoulder. You didn't even realize the tears that fell down your face.
You still refused to say anything, but hugged the ghost back.
So as the sun escaped from all its problems behind the mountains and trees and oceans, the two boys stood there in each other's arms, nothing was said, but nothing needed to be said, for it was better that way.
----------
"A single action could be the change of someone's future."
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