Hanako had been hiding out in Tsuchigomori's office, a distant look on her face as she stood by the window. Her head rested in her arms as she avoided Amane and Yashiro for the time being- mostly to avoid the conversation at hand. Tsuchigomori didn't need to say anything, they talked about it briefly, but he knew as much as anyone how much the girl hated to talk about her past. In both Amane and Yashiro's books, there were mentions they'd try to pry, and Y/N was in no hurry to confront that.
Y/N knew that nothing would have been the same after that first incident. Somehow her friend was beyond what she knew about the girl, and not in a good way. The change went from bad, to worse, and she had Y/N tangled up where she wanted her. Y/N had no options out of this, she had nothing to trade in. The girl would sit at her desk, notably worse off than she'd like to admit. Tsuchigomori was getting more pushy about her situation, and she sat and nibbled on her nails for a bit while ignoring the teacher's lectures.
Her friends started pulling away. That was the first thing that was obvious. They would make excuses to avoid hanging out anymore, they'd whisper when she wasn't looking. Y/N became more and more isolated- the one factor that did not change, was her blonde-haired friend, Yana. Whatever the hell Yana was at this point, anyways. The girl's change in personality was beyond her, since that fight, and the incident that followed after- Y/N found herself more and more distraught by the girl's change in demeanor, as if there was a collar around her neck and an invisible leash to match it. Nobody was going to save her from then on.
"Y/N~" After class, the girl's shoulders tensed as hands wrapped around her shoulders, nails digging into her arms. "We should go back to my house after club activities." The [h/c] girl gave out a sigh, avoiding the girl's pink eyes that held worse feelings than the friendly tone she used to have. "I really don't want to today, Yana-chan.." [Y/N] muttered. She gave a strained noise, the arms around her tightening. "Did I say you had an option?"
Not anymore.
"...Okay." She went limp a bit, defeated, knowing that Yana could drag her around like a ragdoll as she pleased now. Her clingy 'friend' gave a giggle, letting the girl go. "Good." She was satisfied for now, thank god. She sat at her desk a little longer, laying her head down into her arms. It was quiet.
"...[L/N]-san right?" Her head was back up the moment she closed her eyes, meeting that of a boy in her class, all she knew was that he recently transferred to the class.
"Yeah, what do you need?"
Pink eyes squinted at the new interaction, just outside the classroom.
Amane sat at his desk, head resting in his hand as he duly ignored his teacher's lectures. It'd have been a couple of days since the new encounter on the rooftop. He hadn't seen Hanako since then. Both he and Yashiro had tried many times throughout the day to figure out her whereabouts, but that was neither here nor there. She had completely vanished for the time being- even Kou was confused. He asked what happened at the time, but Yashiro seemed depressed at the thought. He even admitted to himself that it was unusual, and how he still could not erase the mere image of the girl being that afraid. Who was that apparition anyways? He knew that she was part of Hanako's past- a sensitive part of it, at that. He never thought the girl he bonded with could emotionally react that heavily.
He'd glanced over at Yashiro, who- at this current point in time- is mumbling and daydreaming to herself, enough that Aoi was once again concerned for the silvery haired girl. At this point, nobody was blinking an eye at Yashiro's strange habits of talking to herself, and fantasizing about whatever her fixation was through the day. Today, she was on the same thought as he was- Hanako's whereabouts, and her past.
"Ah... I guess people from different species really can't understand each other..." She murmured, eyes a bit blank as she held her lunch out.
"Nene-chan..." Aoi started, looking with great concern. "What have you fallen in love with this time?" She inquired.
"Donuts..." Yashiro responded absentmindedly, was it even a response? Amane raised an eyebrow at his daikon-looking friend, it was obvious she was thinking about the rooftop accident, but maybe she's losing her marbles a tad bit more. "Donuts??" Aoi repeated.
Yashiro continued to think to herself for a while, muttering random and small tidbits to herself as Aoi tilted her head in complete and utter confusion at the girl. "Maybe it would be better if I were a supernatural too..." She mumbled.
Amane didn't disagree for once. "Maybe." He murmured under his breath. It wasn't weird for other supernaturals to know what just had happened to Hanako, at least for supernaturals like Tsuchigomori, and Yako, to a fault. Was that easier for them, for her?
'Oh-ho! Do you desire to become a supernatural?"
Amane perked up a bit, eye twitching at the sudden void out of nowhere and Yashiro whipped her head around with the biggest surprise, her eyes might as well have been the moon. "Who?!" She yelped at Amane, in which Aoi officially came to the conclusion that Yashiro was out of her mind.
'How very convenient! Allow us to grant your wish...!'
As if. Amane seemed uninterested, staring at a puddle in the floor with fish, servants of the Mermaid. Hanako did warn him there was a chance the Mermaid would come running back for him at some point- not when. How very coincidental that the moment Hanako isn't looking, the Mermaid's henchmen come crawling, or in their case, swimming...
'It is our deepest pleasure to make your acquaintance, m'lord!'
How he cringed at the mere gesture. "Can't say the same to you." He said flatly. Yashiro begged to differ however, jumping out of her seat and squealing. "Nene-chan, are you okay?" Her violet haired friend inquired, as the class started mumbling about.
"FISH!!!" She yelled out, causing Amane to jump out of his seat the same, grabbing the girl's wrist, and making a run for the door and courtyard before a scene was dragged out- over something that nobody would understand but themselves. The attention brought heat to the boy's face, in embarrassment. "Yugi-kun! Nene-chan!!"
Amane deadpanned as when they're outside, Yashiro was in a tree while he stood at the trunk, staring at the girl while the fish were also giving the most ridiculous expressions. "I'll have you know!! We're best friends with one of the seven school mysteries! We also are friends with a powerful exorcist!!" Well... Yashiro was only maybe half-right. Amane wouldn't say Kou was that strong, but he'd appreciate the ego boost if the blonde caught wind of the things Yashiro says sometimes.
"I have no idea what you're all on, but lay a fin on me or Amane-kun, and you'll get more than just burned!" Yashiro screeched, while Amane twitched with amusement.
"Begging your pardon, human... But your claims hardly seem convincing..." One of the fish said, and Amane had to hand it to them, there was kind of a point.
"Well, that being said... Stay where you are, M'lord, you should at least hear us out for what we have to say! We'll even extend the offer to your friend!" The mustache fish urged, nodding. "We have come to release your honorable person from the clutches of that loathsome school mystery!"
The boy raised an eyebrow in confusion, still mildly uninterested in these fish and their interest in making him become a servant of the mermaid, he didn't personally care. "What do you mean, release me from Hana-chan?" He muttered, blinking blankly. "What's the point of that?" He inquired, hands in his pockets as Yashiro seemed equally as confused where the benefits lied.
"You contain within your body a piece of the flesh of our master, The Great Mermaid."
"You mean those scales?" He responded.
"Yes."
"Our law states that those who have eaten the flesh and blood of our master... Will eventually become our next master."
"Ergo... You, m'lord, are our prince."
He tilted his head as Yashiro's jaw dropped. "You're mermaid royalty now?!" She shouted at the boy, who merely sweatdropped and gave a half-hearted shrug. "Didn't think it mattered?" He said dumbly.
"DOESN'T MATTER??" Yashiro was going to lose her brain cells, isn't that a fantasy of a dream? Amane was honestly not paying attention to any of this conversation from there, these fish rambled about his physical attributes and even poked at Yashiro, which in turn, did annoy him. Plus, he didn't care for any of that about himself, nor was he interested in having a harem of women at his feet- though he saw the cogs turning for Yashiro, she was definitely interested in the aspect way more than he was. Good grief.
"...This would be for your own benefit."
What benefit?
"We've been watching you these past few days, and that school mystery's treatment of you is far too barbaric."
"She didn't even accept the gift you had so thoughtfully prepared! And such violence from a lady..."
"That was-" Yashiro started, only for the fish to keep talking, interrupting the girl.
"She never speaks a word about herself, she takes advantage of you every turn she gets! That vile offender thinks nothing of you!" They couldn't be more wrong. Amane frowned, eye twitching.
"Despite appearances, our master is very kind, unlike that knave, we have great love and respect for you. Please, accept this!" Amane huffed at the fish, who was now handing them a fish shaped glass bottle- filled with blood, dark and red, with a faint glimmer of iridescent qualities that shifted in the light between hues of gold and purple.
"This is the Great Mermaid's lifeblood. Please, drink it without delay. And then, your horrid bond with that school mystery will be overwritten, only then will you be formally bound to the Great Mermaid."
"To be honest, I don't care." He said casually, shocking the fish. "I don't see what's in it for me anyways." He added, tone completely and utterly aloof. Yashiro twitched, how could that not sound appealing! Then again, she had a different ideation for life compared to Amane. The fish continued talking, mentioning to return in the next day or two before completely jumping ship and leaving them alone.
"About time!" Amane snapped, irritated at the fish for being nothing but an inconvenience. "So what are you going to do?" Yashiro inquired, Amane shrugged again, brushing the issue off his shoulder. "Absolutely nothing." He grunted. "Is it not tempting?" She then asked, and he shook his head. "Not particularly, no."
... And so they wandered off.
"Still thinking about things, brat?" Tsuchigomori inquired, as Y/N still stayed in his office. She gave a momentary sigh, she was reading Amane's book again. "I can't help it."
"I know."
"Then why did you ask?"
"Why not?"
Y/N groaned as she pulled the book over her head, annoyed momentarily. Granted, she's never mad at Tsuchigomori. Most of the time anyways. "I know, you care about this issue as much as the next person." She mumbled, putting the book down and staring down at her lap. She thought she could enjoy her peace and quiet for at least a few more decades, but that wasn't happening any time soon. She hasn't seen the blonde antagonistic girl in so long, nor did she want to. Yana had other plans, it showed.
She still remembered the look on her face, that crazed, wide eyed expression with a smile that was far from innocent. Planned, drenched in blood from the boy she had killed.
"I did you a favor, Y/N, didn't I? It was for you, after all!"
She grimaced, remembering what happened, it wasn't just his blood that was on her hands, not just his blood that was printed on her cheek when Yana had approached her- and she repeated that motion when they met again. Enough to trigger a reaction, anyways.
"You better move over, unless you'd like to talk to your humble assistants." The spider-like wonder snapped her out of her thoughts, and she floated over behind the curtains. She let herself go invisible for the time being, she wasn't ready yet.
"What should I say?" Amane and Yashiro had entered the room minutes later, explaining the situation of the Mermaid Servants, Yashiro was questioning how logical it was, and Amane was just... Being Amane.
"Royal treatment? No experience required, no academic background or qualifications required? Sure, why not?" The male snorted, reading through his books.
"Why would you say that?" Yashiro wailed, having to have come to the man's office in hopes he'd persuade them otherwise. "Sounds good to me." Tsuchigomori shrugged.
"THAT'S THE PROBLEM!!" Yashiro screamed, Amane twitching. "Pain in the—"
"Have you consulted Honorable Number Seven?"
"No.... It'd be totally too awkward to talk to Hanako-chan, plus... it's not like we know where she is right now anyways." Yashio said, sulking with a defeated and dejected look as she reminded Amane that they're missing their friend, and suddenly he sulked just as much, shoulders slumping.
"What about Minamoto?"
"He's been busy, but it'd be just as awkward considering the turn of events." Amane said simply.
"Sensei, you've known Hanako-chan for a long time, right?" Yashiro inquired, looking at him with pleading eyes. He didn't necessarily respond, pipe in his mouth.
"Can you tell us about her past?" She then asked. Y/N flinched a bit behind the curtain, but stayed where she was, as Tsuchigomori side-eyed her location from where he sat.
"...No can do, kid." He said simply. "You're going to have to ask her. At the very least, Honorable Number Seven isn't ready to let you in just yet."
"That's why she hasn't said anything?"
Amane felt a bit dejected this time, looking at him with a disappointed expression. "Why? Does she not trust us?" He inquired quietly, Yashiro looking at him with surprise, because Amane isn't usually like this- at least not that she had seen.
Tsuchigomori started laughing and cackling, much to the two teens' displeasure. "It's probably 'cos if you found out, you'd stop being so nice to her! You're always babying her...!" He cackled, wheezing to himself. His tone switched again afterwards, a sad smile on his face.
"Either that... or she's afraid of you two finding out."
He couldn't have been wrong in either case.
"At any rate, go ahead and make your own decisions. Just make sure you don't regret it." He said simply.
When it was quiet again and the door was notably closed shut, a gloved hand pulled back, the [h/c] haired girl glanced up at Tsuchigomori, her expression sad and tired.
"So what are you going to do, Honorable Number Seven?"
Y/N stared at him for a number of seconds before glancing back to the window, saying nothing at all.
"I'll take care of them, don't worry."
Her work was never done, afterall. It was her job to keep unwanted rodents in check.
And now we're back outside, it's been about two days. Yashiro and Amane have found themselves harassed by fish again. Amane wished Hanako had been around so he could borrow her knife, because he's ready to filet these fish into sashimi at this point.
"M'lord, please honor us with a response to our offer from the other day!"
Amane stared flatly, a shadow over his eyes. "No thank you. I have no interest in cutting ties with Hana-chan." He responded without hesitation. "We're not interested."
"Wh-What?!"
"I get that you're offering special treatment, but I'm just not interested in it, the appeal doesn't matter to me. I'm not going to jump ship from Hana-chan, I'm already into the thick of this." Amane said bluntly.
"She might just be using me now, and maybe she doesn't think anything more of me- but I know that's not the case." He added, putting a hand on his chest- an honest gesture. Yashiro admired him for his actions and genuine feeling with Hanako- she was beginning to think there was maybe more than that. He's been worried and notably anxious the last week. "I like being with Hana-chan." He muttered, Yashiro looking with interest at that sentence.
"P-Please think about this rationally! We'll do anything to convince you otherwise! We have images of the ladies and even other lords!" They were so persistent.. So... annoying.
"Like photos of hot mermen?!" Yashiro asked, looking intently.
"No, I already said, we're not interested." Amane twitched, covering Yashiro's mouth.
"If you keep pressing us, I'll make sure to make you into sashimi myself." Amane said, a downwards casted stare was aimed towards the supernatural fish, a chill ran down their spine at his cold gaze.
"I can vouch for that." Y/N appeared behind them, hands behind her back before she pulled out her knife, a mischievous smile on her face as she casually let Amane take it. He pointed the knife down to them. "I won't hesitate either." He said with a sly grin, making the fish notably squirm for their lives.
"Sure, your world may have more benefits, and this one may be cruel and sickening, but come hell or high waters, Yashiro and Amane still like me." Hanako stated, smiling tiredly to them.
"Hanako-chan!"
"S-School mystery! Let our lord go!"
"Come on..."
"Now, now, we can't have this behavior at all..." Hanako muttered, moving back to the fish and taking her knife back from Amane. "Didn't your master teach you not to take something that doesn't belong to you?" She asked, tilting her head.
"If you get too full of yourself... I'll personally turn you into a feast worthy of a royal dinner table." She smiled widely. "I'm sure all the school mysteries would enjoy it." She added, somehow getting more menacing by the second. Half the fish had scattered to the wind at that point.
"You cowards!!!"
"How vexing! Confound you, school mystery! We will never give up! Until we meet again, m'lord!"
Hanako's shoulders dropped a bit as she let out a small sigh, turning back to the two before feeling arms wrap around her body, a mop of choppy raven hair in her sight. Her eyes widened at the sudden embrace, tensing up momentarily as she felt his warmth flood through her for a moment. She let the shock wear off, soon relaxing into his hold.
"I'm sorry." He muttered into her ear, as she tilted her head slightly, feeling him burying into her shoulder. "I didn't have plans to go anywhere." He added, tightening his hold on the supernatural.
"I know that." She murmured. Yashiro watched the two interacting, smiling softly to herself. It was like watching a heartfelt movie..
"If anything, I should be the one who's sorry." Hanako stated, glancing up at Yashiro over Amane's shoulder. "Huh?" She responded, looking at Hanako while Amane finally let her go so she could talk.
"It's just... You made me those donuts, and you got me some other things too... I'm sorry I ruined them." She murmured, looking away awkwardly, before glancing back at them. "Will you forgive me?"
There was a small moment of silence before Yashiro sped over to the ghost, and grabbed ahold of her hands lightly. "Yes!" She beamed, smiling.
Hanako smiled warmly, almost melting at the two. "Also... thank you." She hummed slightly. "I never got to mention it before, but it's been a long time since I've had genuine friends who liked me. It makes me happy." She said with a smile, walking ahead of them a bit and turning back to them with her hands behind her back, hair blowing in the wind lightly.
"I used to have a close friend, you know." She said gently.
"Two, at least that's what I thought at the time." Hanako added, looking down and away from them, her hat covering her eyes. "One of them died trying to save me, and I killed the other." She sighed out.
"So, Amane, Yashiro... Do you really want to get to know me more?" She murmured, looking at them with almost a fearful gaze.
"If you do, then... Some day, I'll tell you everything." She approached them again, holding up her pinkie as if making a promise.
"So stay with me until then, okay?" She asked, with a friendly smile. Amane reached over to her, making the pinkie promise with the ghost.
"Okay. Just try not to ghost me too long next time." Amane added, teasing with a smile at the girl, and she sweated and looked away. "I'm sorry for that too."
"I'm just kidding, Hana-chan."
The broadcasting room, where everything creepy and crawly lives and dies- literally. There sat four unique and terrifying individuals. The room itself was nothing but an enigma, how it got into its current state is as good of a guess as anyone else's. There were mouths, eyes, radios... If it was abstract and creepy, it belonged in such a room.
"Was that really a good idea?"
"Letting the boss go off and do whatever she wants?"
A kind of cool flirty voice sounded through the room, his expression annoyed and tired more than anything- like he was babysitting children.
"It's fine. Even if I had tried to stop her, she wouldn't care to listen anyway." Another voice piped in, but much more dull and calmer.
"But if they find out we're the ones changing the rumors... The four of them might come after us, right?"
"Shut up Natsuhiko, you're so stupid." Tsukasa said casually, hands behind his head with his eyes void, pools of black where orange usually swam.
"Besides, when that happens, you'll protect me won't you? Natsuhiko?" The girl with green hair, Nanamine, inquired. Natsuhiko bent down and took hold of her hand. "But of course! My la-" SMACK!
"Don't touch me."
"Y-Yes ma'am, I'm sorry!"
Simp.
Swirls and wisps of black and yellow started manifesting, catching the eyes of the crew in the room. "Oh!" The brown haired male perked up, noting their boss was back.
"Honey~ I'm hooooome~" Yana sang out, with Tsukasa immediately clinging onto the ghost. "Hiya Yana," Tsukasa beamed.
"That's an unusual outfit." Sakura pointed out. "I mean~ I was seeing Y/N for the first time in decades." Yana added, her lips curling into a mischievous and menacing smile that met her eyes way too well.
"So you went out of your way to specifically wear that?" A similar clothing to what Y/N wore, a more formal uniform anyways.
"Yep~ ♡"
"She was so happy to see me, too." Yana hummed, bouncing around the room.
"Is that so?" Sakura asked, glancing over her shoulder from the desk with the broadcasting system. "I still can't move around too well, they managed to chase me off so fast." She added.
"Your brother was there too." Yana added, over to Tsukasa who grinned extra wide.
"Did you know there were fish too? Talking fish~ I wonder what they look like on the inside, aren't you curious?" She inquired, looking at the dark haired boy with eyes that had no remorse. He nodded vigorously, as they both started bombarding Sakura. "Aren't you interested, Saki, aren't you~ C'mon! Tell us~" She sang, as Natsuhiko was getting sick of Yana and Tsukasa's bullshit.
"C'mon, we need to get those rumors going." Natsuhiko huffed, hauling Tsukasa away for a moment as he was the worst one in terms of physical attachments.
Yana manifested a radio out of thin air, smiling as she hopped onto the desk with her legs crossed, blonde hair flowing around her. "Okay Sakura, what rumor should we spread today?" she asked, holding the radio to her shoulders. Sakura gave a hum, placing her headphones over her ears and head.
"Let me think..."
'We found her! The specter on the roof the other day!'
'The school mystery seemed weary of this one... If we can get her to join our side, maybe we can cross swords with the knave!'
'Still... Why was she close to that accursed school mystery anyways? And what is she doing here, something about spreading rumors?'
'Could they be—?'
"Hey."
"What are you?" Natsuhiko picked up the mustache pufferfish by its tail. "And it talks. My lady, boss, I think we've been spotted by this thing." He grunted.
'Unhand me! I am of the high and noble water people!'
"Hey look! It's the fish you were talking about, Yana!" Tsukasa smiled widely, hopping down from the desks. He then grabbed a pen, wandering over to them.
"It's not really a problem, just let it go." Sakura brushed them off, Natsuhiko nodding. Before he could consider letting the thing flee, Tsukasa had already snatched it from his hands.
'C-C-Cease and desist!! Do not treat me so violently!'
"Aha! It talks!" He beamed. At least before he set the fish down on a solid surface, fear striking the fish in ways Hanako and Amane could never.
"What do you think is on the inside?" He asked, tilting his head over to Yana.
"Don't kill it." Sakura scoffed, annoyed at the boy, as his eyes went void again with no intent on listening. "Oh don't worry~" He said, twirling the pen in his hands as Yana hopped over to him, smiling.
"We're just going to take a little peek!" She squealed, as Tsukasa raised his arm, the fish in utter shock as Natsuhiko looked away and Sakura sighed, notably done with the two. Like Amane and Y/N, they were two rotten peas in a pod. Great minds, or in this case, sick minds, think alike. Next thing you know, there's a weird substance over the walls and boy.
'I told you not to do that..."
"Did you hear?"
"They say the entrance to the middle school division is haunted."
"When you change your shoes, the ghost grabs you arm, and then says..."
"Hey.
"DID YOU... FORGET ABOUT ME...?"
Wc: 4412
I'll probably be making these chapters up as I go! I have most of my outline lined up for the most part, but I'll be adding more crumbs of history as we go (smiles innocently), until the next chapter! Just a fair warning, I will NOT be making a big chapter out of the Mitsuba ark, only because I personally don't see it being significant in this chapter for anything more than Kou getting a glimpse of Y/N's history and yknow. The ending of that arc in general- so I'll probably make that a small intermission before we get into the more serious stuff! I'll make it up with the emotional rollercoaster C:
Happy haunting!