"No, no, Y/N. I can handle this myself." Mitsuba cleared his throat, stepping in front of a stunned Aka Manto. He crossed his arms and put on a brave face, trying to look intimidating. If there was a time to show he was a worthy assistant, it was now.
"If you wanna' electrocute her, you have to go through me!"
Yashiro happily obliged, walking forward and phasing through Mitsuba.
The pink-haired ghost stood wide-eyed, dumbfounded. He reached out a hand to swat the fat-ankled girl away, but it went through. He let out a choking sound of horror as she walked up to Y/N, who was slowly backing away with knife still in hand (Mitsuba reminded himself that he had to tell her the knife couldn't touch Yashiro. She was holding it like her life depended on it.)
"Don't." Kou, the blonde who had saved them earlier, put a hand on his shoulder. "You're a ghost, so you can't touch her."
"Then how can you touch me?" Mitsuba indignantly moved out of his grip. He felt uncomfortable by the sad stare he kept giving him.
"Let's just say," he lent out a hand in a friendly manner.
"I'm Kou Minamoto, a training exorcist of the Minamoto Clan."
"EXORCIST!" Mitsuba gave a repulsive gasp, looking at Kou as if he were the most putrid thing in the universe. "You evildoers banish us! We don't even do anything wrong!"
"I'm not here to banish you." Kou sighed, losing his patience.
"You wretched, lame-"
"If you keep that up, I'll change my mind." He scowled, holding the staff to his chest and earning a terrified squeak from Mitsuba.
In the meantime, Y/N wasn't faring well with her own newcomer either. The mask, which made her look intimidating and emotionless, obscured her frown of uncertainty. Like her face, she hid the fact that the moment she saw this girl, she knew she could trust her.
"Y/N! It's me, Yashiro!" The silver-haired girl pleaded, red eyes shimmering with hope. "I'm your best friend!"
She tilted her head, strands of H/C hair falling on her white mask. Yashiro shuffled back a little. She certainly knew how to make herself look creepy.
"'Best friend?"" Y/N hissed, red coat trailing on the cave floor and collecting dust. Her movement was slow and stealthy as she slowly circled Yashiro, who stood perfectly still. She tried to rid her look of disappointment with fear; Hanako was right. Y/N had drastically changed.
"Are you a part of my hidden past?" Y/N asked, taking Yashiro off guard. She lifted her face, then realized how close Y/N's was to hers. Her ears burned; the mask was the only thing that kept them from touching. Her head was tilted again, as if she were inspecting her.
"Have you and your friend come to help me?"
Yashiro sought any sign for Y/N warming up to her, but by the way her shoulders were still tense, expectant, and steely, she knew there was no hope. Old Y/N wasn't coming back. She swallowed a lump in her throat; maybe next time, she could build their bond again.
"I-I'm with Hanako!" She stammered confidently, which she hope would cover for her shaky legs.
"Hanako." Y/N repeated, eyes growing wide behind the mask. She turned around, and her eyes grew wider when she saw how Mitsuba had tackled Kou to the ground.
"Mitsuba!" She exclaimed, rushing towards her assistant.
"Call me a weakling again-" Mitsuba scathingly seethed.
"Weakling." Kou grinned brightly. Y/N tensed when she saw his hands curl tightly around his staff, but no electric bolts shot out. It was only to contain his laughter. To her surprise, he didn't look like he had any intention of fighting back; suspiciously, he looked like he was enjoying it.
"I'M GOING TO PLUMMET YOU INTO SMITHEREENS!"
"That's cute."
Y/N pulled Mitsuba away before he could actually plummet him into smithereens. Much to a disheveled Mitsuba's disgust, Kou continued laughing, telling a worried approaching Yashiro that was "the softest attack he had ever experienced."
"They're with Hanako!" She gripped Mitsuba by the shoulders. Even with the mask, he could tell she was getting excited. His expression of continuing repulse at Kou instantly changed into petrified horror as he looked at his companion.
"Are you sure? The lame traffic-earring guy is unbearable!"
"He saved our lives." Y/N reminded him. Mitsuba looked to the rocky floor.
"Y/N!" For the first time, Kou approached her. Just like Yashiro, he was still unused to their unfamiliarity with them. He forced a smile similar to hers, extending a hand.
"Kou Minamoto, training exorcist for the Minamoto Clan."
"Exorcist!" Y/N exclaimed in a tone similar to Mitsuba's. Kou furtively pulled his hand away for a second time, starting to feel like he shouldn't mention his bloodline at all.
"How is an exorcist allied with a 7th Wonder?" She started suspiciously, taking off her mask. Yashiro's eyes lit up, seeing her friend's face for the first time.
"Kou sort of does errands for Hanako. He's an assistant, similar to Mitsuba."
Mitsuba crossed his arms, looking completely offended that he was being compared to the likes of Kou. Yashiro continued anyway.
"I'm sort of like him too."
"Really?" Kou frowned. "Whenever we're on a mission, you just get frightened once and start screaming 'Hanako-kun, save me!'"
"And we have a specific task from Hanako today." Yashiro nudged Kou in the ribs, making him double over in pain. Y/N and Mitsuba looked at eachother, wondering how on earth these two strangers got along.
"He wants to meet you somewhere, and it's our duty to help you navigate to it."
Y/N looked at Mitsuba, and suddenly, they had those silent agreements they usually did. If their only hope were these two people, as foreign and unfamiliar as they were, they would take it rather than stumble into another skeletal bird.
"Show the way." Mitsuba spoke for both of them. Yashiro's hopeful eyes shone even brighter, but it died in an instant as Y/N slithered up to her, staring at her intensely.
"If you try anything, it's instant."
Y/N drew a line across her neck with a loud "tsk." Yashiro yelped, seeking for Kou's hand, when he saw him already in deep discussion with Mitsuba.
"So how are you? I heard Tsukasa was your master, is that true? Has he hurt you? Is it bad to be with him?"
"Fine. Yeah. A bit. Sometimes." Mitsuba answered shortly, clearly not as eager to talk as him.
The journey was silent. Yashiro and Kou shared glances of the same pity and pain in the middle of conversations. Tsuchigomori's instructions were better said than done: "Don't try to spill out their past to them as a whole. They'll get confused and distrust you."
As they finally reached the mouth of a cave and a familiar door, Yashiro opened it so that they could step into a less dank, musty place; the Hell of Mirrors. Y/N, after creepily staring at Yashiro the whole time to see if she deserved her trust, perked up at the surroundings she knew and leapt ahead.
"Wait!" Yashiro stumbled after, running as fast as her daikon legs could. Had they missed the door to the Alteir tower?
"What is it?" Y/N turned to her, frowning. She jumped, thinking she would lash out impatiently, but her E/C eyes were wide with curiousity.
"Uhm... uh... the exit to the Hell of Mirrors is this way. This brown door."
She gestured to a door with fine golden accents; it was surprisingly easy to recognize it, Yashiro and Kou thought. They were both worried they would miss it in the multiple doors around the place.
"Alright then. Come on, Mitsuba."
Her assistant looked up in instant relief, enthusiastically bounding away from Kou who was in the middle of asking if he "still liked to take pictures."
"Enjoy your stay with Hanako, Y/N." She forced a smile as Kou held out the door. "I-I mean... Aka Manto."
"You know, Yashiro."
Yashiro looked up to see Y/N glancing at her thoughtfully.
"Right now, I'm in the middle of a dark place, which makes it hard to trust. I feel like I can't depend on anyone, or make any friends..."
She settled her eyes on Kou as well.
"...But if I feel better, I'd love to have you both."
Yashiro and Kou contained the urge to bawl and embrace Y/N on the spot. She took a deep breath in, taking a step forward....
"Wait!" Mitsuba called out, crossing his arms. "What did you mean by, 'Enjoy your stay, Y/N?' I can't come with her as well?"
"Hanako requested her alone." Kou sighed impatiently.
Mitsuba riled up in disgust.
"Alone? What's he gonna' do?"
Y/N turned as red as her coat. "Probably just a private conference, Mitsuba."
When Mitsuba still looked anxious to let her go, she pulled something from her robes. Mitsuba's fingers ran along the rim of a lens in surprise as Y/N handed him the Mokke's camera.
"Investigate on that while I'm at it. Maybe it'll help."
"Yes!" His head shot up alertly, eyes gleaming. Kou cracked a smile, his earlier question finally answered.
With a final nod, Y/N stepped through the door. A shiver went down her spine as Kou slammed it after her. She looked forward, slowly tugging off the hood of her coat.
Her legs nearly gave away in relief. She was in Kamome, just like she wished. All that was left was to find Hanako.
"Hello!"
Y/N whirled around in surprise, instinctively reaching into her pocket for her knife.
The brunette who had spoken jumped, red eyes wide. Y/N forced herself to relax once she saw the girl's uniform.
"Who are you?" She tilted her head.
"Osane." The brunnette quipped, bowing her head politely. "Are you looking for Amane?"
Now it was Y/N's eyes that went wide. How many correspondents did this 7th Wonder have?
Y/N nodded tentatively, to which Osane smiled at. She turned on her heels, walking down the halls. Aka Manto gaped at how quick she was, hurriedly tailing after her.
She tried to fight a sinking feeling down as they passed through sliding windows, old, creaky wooden doors, and cobwebbed lights. And she had used the term "Amane," which meant...
Osane turned a corner, making fussy quick checks over her shoulder to make sure Y/N was following. She rose a brow in response; why was she being so jumpy? Finally, as if she could never stop walking, Osane stopped underneath a concrete arch, nodding to a tree far in the school's lawn.
"He's over there."
Y/N followed her red eyes.
Traveling back in time or not, Hanako was there.
Hanako was there, holding a knife.
She bit her lip in uncertainty, about to question Osane about what she should do, but the brunette had disappeared as quickly as she appeared.
"There you are." Amane spoke, eerily calm. Then, as if talking to an old friend, continued happily:
"I want you to kill me."