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(Y/N) stared at the cream-haired girl, who seemed to have a distraught look on her face as she gardened, but after a while of staring, the (H/C)-ette finally decided to approach the girl.
"You're scaring the mokke, Yashiro-chan," she said, patting her cream-colored hair as she cut the radish away from her thoughts.
"Oh! (Y/N)-chan, how long were you standing there?" looking up, feeling somewhat nervous from seeing the female apparition.
"Long enough," the (H/C)-ette giggled and squat down to her level, "You seem...upset. Hanako seemed worried because you were acting weird, too. Is it about what happened the other day?"
Yashiro stared at the girl for a bit before nodding her head, "Are you going to tell, Hanako-kun?"
"No, it's your guys' problem, not mine, not anyone else's. I'm just here, if you need me," She warmly smiled at Yashiro, still patting the girl's head, "-I mean. We could stay like this for hours, in silence, if that's what you want."
Yashiro smiled and somewhat laugh at the thought of staying in the same spot for hours with the apparition, then sighed, leaning her forehead on the (H/C) haired girl's shoulder.
"I see you have chosen the silence option," she giggled and kept comforting her.
"Oh wow! So you're the ones taking care of this garden, senpai? (Y/N)?" the familiar energetic voice, snapping the two's attention to the child walking up to them, "I always wondered who was in charge of it."
"M-Minamoto-kun?!" Yashiro said in surprise, lifting her head.
"Ah, Hello Kou-san," the apparition smiled at waved at the boy.
The blonde looked at them and smiled, beaming with endless happiness, "'Sup!" then squatted to their level.
"What are you doing here...? Oh! Is it time for toilet cleaning already? Did you come to get me?" she asked the blonde while (Y/N) stayed quieted, continuing Yashiro's garden duty instead.
"Actually, I have kind of a favor to ask you..." he nervously asked her.
"A favor...?"
"Um..." he nodded then scratched his cheek with his index, "Senpai...can you make donuts?"
"Huh?" surprised from the question then hesitantly nodded, to his excitement.
"Great! Can you come with me to the Home Ec. room?" he excitedly jumped back up, helping her stand up as well.
"Sure!" Her magenta eyes from the tall blonde to the ghost, who was picking up the gardening tools left on the ground, "(Y/N)-chan!! Minamoto-kun and I are going to the Home Ec. room to make some donuts! Do you want to come with?!" she called the apparition, surprising her in the process.
"Ah! Shi-," she phased through the shed as the tools fell to the ground once hitting the shed's door, popping her head from the shed, she looked at the tools, "Do you think if I murder this, It'll phase through with me?" she mumbled under her breath then turned to the now happy radish. "Yeah, sure! Just go ahead of me! I have to test out something! Just boil a lot of water for me!"
"Okay!" the two said in unison as they exited the practice garden.
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"Ah, I'm done with the thing I needed to do! Turns out no-" the apparition happily said as she stepped into the room, her expression quickly changed once fully scanning the whole room, "-holy! What in god's earth, did you humans do?!"
The two looked at each other and nervously laughed as the continued to put the burnt "donuts" into an empty trash bag, simultaneously saying, "make donuts." The apparition sighed and helped the two, clean the mess.
"Why're you making donuts all of the sudden?" Yashiro asks, turning to the now surprised blonde.
"N-No reason...!" he started to stutter, "F-for my sister...oh, I have a little sister! And suddenly she just started going on and on about how she needs donuts. Sorry to spring this on you."
"No it's fine," the cream-haired girl assured as she started to make the batter.
He then turned toward the apparition who was listening in to their conversation, "and (Y/N), y-your boiled water is over there." he pointed to a different counter space, where a pot was sitting there. (Y/N) smiled and thanked him, floating over to the pot.
"What're you going to do with that boiling water, (Y/N)-chan?" Yashiro peered up from stiffing flour to ask the ghost.
"Making some earl grey tea latte for us," The (H/C) smiled and took out tea-bags and without breaking eye contact, put them all in and aggressively dumping some lavender in as well.
"But why are you making us tea, (Y/N)-chan?" the curious girl questions once more.
"Because it'll taste better with the donuts! Now, go on, talk about whatever. I couldn't give a care in the world." She waved them off, switching all her attention on making tea well until the loud outburst from the radish.
"I mean! Hanako-kun is dead!" the girl exclaims while crying as she put a donut into the pot to fry. The apparition laughs and rests her cheek on her palm, looking at the duo, as the radish continued with her small outburst resulting in her going on the floor on distraught.
"He's carrying too much baggage," she trembled, "What should I do? I don't know how I should act around him now!"
"Ah, Yashiro-chan, you should calm down," the (H/C) haired apparition said as the blonde tried calming her down.
"-But for some reason...I can't just forget him...but I want to know more about Hanako-kun. Maybe there's nothing I can do...but I want to help him. Even if he's a ghost...even if he's a murderer"
"I'm with you!-" the blonde said, surprising the weeping girl.
Though (Y/N) could care less about emotions at the moment and rushed to the unattended pot of oil, preferring a bitter tea due to it being steeped too long instead of a burning school building.
"-Actually, I wasn't sure what to do either. Should I exorcise him? or not? I didn't know what was right. But now...for now, anyway, I'm not gonna worry about what's right or wrong. I'm just gonna do what I want," he smiled and put both hands out, "We both have no idea what to do...we really are two of a kind! So let's do what we can together!"
Yashiro's sad magenta eyes quickly closed as she double high fives him, her now feeling somewhat reassured that someone with the same problems as her is sticking by her side, "Yeah."
As the two got their composure back and helped each other stand, they were met with a passive-aggressive smile accompanied by a soft yet malicious tone from their ghost friend. "I'm quite sorry to interrupt your little moment but, Kou-san, next time turn OFF the heat--hell put a lid on it before you leave oil unattended."
"S-sorry (Y-Y/N)!" the boy bowed profusely until the apparition stopped him by patting the boy's head.
"Just don't do it again," she giggled and turned to the cream haired girl, patting her head as she did with Kou, "If you ever need to vent anything, we're here to you. Okay?" she asked which the two nodded.
"Now finish those donuts, 'kay?" "Okay!"
The (H/C)-ette turned and floated back to finishing making her drink, as she strained out a portion of the tea into two different cups then pouring in the steamed milk soon after. She turned and brought the cups toward the two humans.
"Oh, you guys are done with the donuts! They smell delicious," she smiled, reaching out and giving them the cups, "Here, try it, you both deserve it."
"Earl grey helps with some stress relief and anxiety, and it seems you both need to...what's that term? Chill?" she added as the two looked at the latte and blew on it before taking a sip.
"Wow, (Y/N)-chan! This tastes great!" Yashiro exclaims as the boy nods in agreement, both taking another sip.
"Oh dear, you both flatter me!" she laughs, "Yashiro-chan, give me your thermos so I can pour some so you can drink some later!" The girl happily nods as she gives the apparition her thermos. As the ghost poured in the drink, the other two looked at the golden confectionery in front of them.
"Crisp on the outside, soft on the inside. Nice, firm donuts!" Yashiro looked at the donuts in surprise, "This might be the first time I've made anything that turned out this good."
The boy wiped the drool coming from his mouth, "They look so good..." turning toward the radish girl, he happily smiled, "Okay! Let's taste them!" he turned to the apparition, giving Yashiro back her thermos, and gave her a donut, "You too, (Y/N)!"
"Time to ea--" about the chop down on the donut, only to be stopped by a clipboard to the head from his older sibling. "N-nii-chan!!"
Putting his younger brother in a loose yet playful chokehold while also giving him noogies, "And who bought you those ingredients? You weren't going to eat those without your dear older brother, were you, Kou...?
"Minamoto-senpai!!"
"Ah, Mr. Student Council President~ is here," the apparition said in a teasing tone, turning toward the much taller figure, unfazed of his capabilities of exorcising her.
The male turned to the cream-haired girl and happily smiled, "Hi there, Yashiro-san." then turned to the smiling ghost and his facade faltered, "(Y/N). What are you two doing here? Making donuts too?"
"Minamoto-kun asked me to help because he's a bad cook..." the cream haired girl nervously yet happily responded, which surprised the other brother causing him to turn to the younger blonde.
"Kou's a great co-" "Oh, Nii-chan! Here, want a donut!" Kou quickly shoved a donut into his brother's mouth, hoping he wouldn't get exposed.
"Ah, so that's what's going on," the apparition giggled, quickly catching on, as she poured more of drink into a different thermos. She looked at the flustered boy and putting some of the donuts into a small bag, gave it to Yashiro and whispered something into her ear.
"Kou...shoving donuts into people's mouths--" "What's that, Nii-chan? You want seconds?!?" Kou shoving another donut into his brother's mouth, resulting in the apparition laughed hysterically.
"I'm going to see Hanako-kun!" she said, walking out with the bag and thermos in hand.
"Okay, see you later!!" He exclaimed, peeking his torso out the door while having a small quiet conversation with the girl once more, and Teru expose him once the girl left their line of sight.
"Do you like her, Kou?" Teru smiled.
"More like smitten. Enamored maybe?" (Y/N) interjects their little conversation, floating in between the two, thermos in hand.
"Wha--?! I a-a-am, not!" the boy tried to defend himself from their accusations.
"Oh dear, he's stammering..." she giggled, putting a hand over her mouth.
"(Y-Y/N), what are you still doing here? I thought you were going to follow Yashiro?"
"Ah, yes, I'll go to them after this," she smiled and hands the thermos to the older sibling, surprising him, "For you, Mr. Student Council President~"
The older male opened the thermos, scrutinizing every bit of the liquid. The girl huffed, "It's just an earl grey tea latte. I made some for Yashiro-chan and Kou-san earlier, and it turns out I made too much. Don't worry it's not poisoned or anything of the sort." she said then giggled.
"W-wait, (Y/N)...I thought you were mad at nii-chan for trying to exorcise you and Hanako?" the younger blonde asked the cheerful female.
"Oh, no, no, no. Kou-san. I'm quite infuriated." She still smiled, yet her tone said otherwise to them. Letting out a long sigh, taking and closing the lid from Teru,
"But...from what I learned from "living" almost 300 years is that I don't want to feel resentful anymore." She place back that thermos into his hold and happily looked into his dead expression, "So if you still want to exorcise me, kid, let's reschedule in a few months, 'kay?"
He hesitantly nodded and with that, she happily walked to the roof. Turning around halfway through the hall, wearing down the last of her false bravado as she yelled out, "OH YEAH! THAT DRINK! IT'S DECAF TEA! FROM WHAT I'VE BEEN TOLD, IT HELPS WITH FALLING ASLEEP BETTER! IN OTHER WORDS, GO TO SLEEP, MORON! DON'T BE LIKE YOUR ANCESTORS AND PASS OUT FROM A LACK OF SLEEP! PLUS EYE BAGS LOWER YOUR QUALITY AS A HUMAN BEING! YOU'RE A SHI--TERRIBLE HUMAN AS IT IS, WE DON'T WANT YOU TO TURN INTO AN EYESORE TOO! LOVE YAH! MWAH!" then sprinted.
....
On her last steps, she saw his familiar figure, hugging his knees. She was reluctant about approaching the boy, thinking his interaction with Yashiro today didn't go so well, but setting those thoughts aside, she sat next to the brunette.
"Did something bad happen?" she softly asked him, his head shot up seeming to not know the girl took a seat seconds before. Her question left unanswered, leaving her in silence.
"Do you want to talk about it?" asking another question. Silence.
Deciding not to press further, she sighed and gave him a soft, kind, and understanding smile as she extending her arms out. His glassy amber eyes stared at her, welting up once more as he fell into her embrace as nothing but silence filled the room.
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Yashiro steadily made her way to the science prep room, in hopes to meet the other school mystery that she could trust with her current situation, only to be met with not one but two of the mysteries.
....
"A servant to the mermaid? Well...why not?" Tsuchigomori had bluntly said to her, which wasn't the response she wanted to hear.
The female apparition laughed, "I mean, it's such a tempting offer. A FREE seafood buffet? Why not take it?"
"Wait! Whaaat?! Why would you say that!? I came here to get you to stop me!! And what do you mean seafood buffet?!"
He leans back on his creaking chair, "The princess treatment, no experience required, no academic background or qualifications required...sounds good to me."
"That's the problem--it does sound good!! But what about the seafood buffet, (Y/N)-chan was talking about?!!?"
"Pain in the-" he sighed, ignoring the question and taking another puff, "Have you talked to Honorable No. 7 and Minamoto?"
The ghost girl laughed once more as she leaned her cheek to her palm, "Why would she? She and Kou-san made the donuts together, then tell him it got trashed? Oo have fun with that."
The radish nods at what the ghost had said and added, "And Hanako-kun..." she looked off the side, "I haven't been able to find him lately..."
"Sensei! You've known Hanako-kun for a long time, right?" turning to the apparition, looking bored as she twirled a pencil between her fingers, "And (Y/N)-chan! You're dating him! Can either of you tell me about his past?"
They looked at each other and sighed. The (H/C)-ette was first to speak, "I'd like to keep his trust...You should ask him yourself, Yashi-chan. Maybe there's a reason why he hasn't told you anything."
"...But why won't he tell me? Is it 'cos...he doesn't trust me..." she asked, looking a bit dejected of the thought.
"It's probably 'cos if you knew, you'd stop being sweet to him! You're always babying him!" The teacher laughed like a manic but regained composure a second after, "Either that or he's afraid of you finding out." He then stood and walked past her, putting the book he was reading back on the shelf, "At any rate...go ahead and make your own decision. Just make sure you don't regret it."
She stayed quiet, looking at the necklace around her neck and exited the room. He leaned against the window and pulled back the curtain, revealing the eavesdropping ghost boy. "So? What're you going to do, Honorable No. 7?"
His amber eyes looked to the side and stayed silent. She tilted her head then stood in front of him, "I know it's your decision and all...but if you care that much about her, then chase after her." Pushing him out the door, "She'll forgive you because she's the type of person to do that..."
He looked up at her figure, "Thanks, (N/N)..."
She simply hummed in response, "Now go before I actually go through my seafood buffet idea."
He laughed and left. She smiled and turned to the taller apparition, who was back on his creaking chair. "Were you serious about the seafood buffet thing?" Arching an eyebrow, in disbelief.
"Hm? Yeah!" She smiled wider and took out a very thick book with bolded words labeled "Dictionary" and dropping it on the man's desk, "Now teach me, Teach."
"What the-"
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2783 Words! WHOOH!
How to undo character development in just one yell.
My two back to back colds is almost gone. Yush. Nu Virus.
Well I hoped you liked the chapter!
Have a great day!!!!