Chapter Text
Mei opened the door to her house and stepped through the threshold. She had been processing the day’s events on her walk home, but none of it felt real yet.
“Mom, I’m back! Sorry I’m late,” she yelled as she kicked off her shoes.
Her mother, an older woman with messy hair like Mei’s own, rushed out of the kitchen.
“I was about to get worried! Are you alright?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, I was with a friend and I lost track of time.”
“Okay… just make sure you let me know next time you plan on coming home late,” Mei’s mother said, breathing a sigh of relief that nothing bad had happened. She ruffled her daughter’s hair affectionately, which was met with a grumble of protest. Mei’s mother smiled, before remembering something. “Oh, and you have an appointment at the hospital next week, by the way.”
Mei walked past her to get to the kitchen. “Again? They’ve been getting more and more frequent since the school year started.” Mei rummaged through the pantry for a snack, but didn’t find anything that she wanted, so she decided to just work on some homework instead. She wasn’t really hungry, anyway. Annoyance dampened her already gloomy mood; all she wanted to do was go to her room and work on personal projects.
“I know it’s not… the best, honey, but you know it’s probably going to get worse-“
“Yeah, Mom. I know.” Mei cringed when the reply came out harsher than she had intended. Her mother froze for a minute, an unreadable expression on her face. Well, that’s not completely true. Worry was written all over the mother’s features. She opened her mouth, then closed it, looking intently at her daughter.
Mei didn’t look her mother in the eye as she walked down the hall to her room.
“Mei?”
Mei stopped dead in her tracks, turning her head back just enough to make eye contact with her mother.
“Yes?”
“I’m proud of you for making a friend.” Mei’s mother smiled, but a hint of bittersweet sadness made its way onto her face. “…You should bring them to visit sometime.”
Mei smiled back, her expression somehow even more melancholic than her mom’s, and simply replied with “Yeah, maybe,” before going into her room and closing the door behind her.
She pressed her back against the closed door and slid down until she was sitting with her knees pulled close to her chest.
She sat in silence like that for a while, trying to regain control of her emotions.
While she was worried about the upcoming doctor appointment, her mind kept going back to Sakura and the ghost’s proposition. The more she thought about it, the more ridiculous it seemed. There’s no way she was cut out to do anything magical, especially if she’s not even in school half the time due to her frequent appointments. Logically, Sakura had to have some sort of ulterior motive.
Mei took off her glasses and set them beside her. Pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, she analyzed the proposition in her mind for probably the hundredth time. Sakura seemed so anxious. When she grabbed Mei’s hand, Mei had been so surprised that she was barely able to make eye contact. Looking back now, though, Sakura’s face had been bright re-
Oh.
Mei’s eyes widened. ‘No no no, no way. I’m reading too much into it. Yeah. Definitely.’
Nevertheless, she felt her own face getting warm. Sure, Mei had her fair share of crushes, boys and girls alike. But it was always one sided!
“You must be the human I’ve heard so much about!” The ghost boy - Tsukasa’s - words echoed in her ears. Sakura had dismissed it, so Mei assumed he was just joking. But then again, many a truth is spoken in jest.
She shook her head, trying to get these stupid thoughts to leave her alone. The notion that Sakura - the mysterious, beautiful Sakura - might have feelings for Mei was borderline unrealistic. Mei herself didn’t even know what she was feeling during half of their interactions. Distinguishing between platonic and romantic attraction was always a pain.
She took a breath and put her glasses back on. The only way to know for sure whether what she was feeling was platonic or romantic was to spend more time around Sakura.
And her best shot at that would be to accept the deal.
With a determined look, she shoved on her jacket and ran out of the house, being careful to close the door quietly on her way out.
---
Meanwhile, Sakura was definitely not panicking.
Not at all.
She was just… pacing back and forth, muttering self-deprecating nonsense to herself! That’s normal! Nanamine Sakura is 100% mentally stable!
Tsukasa floated a few feet above the ground, watching her. At first it was entertaining watching her spiral, but after 10 minutes it was starting to get boring.
“Are you done yetttt,” he complained, drawing out each syllable for emphasis.
Sakura glared at him.
“This is your fault. I don’t know how, but it’s your fault.”
“Hey, hey! She was your candidate! I’d say that you’ve dug your grave so you should lie in it, buuuuuut that really only applies to living idiots, not dead ones.” He floated over until he was right beside her. “If you want, we can wipe her memory and find someone el-”
“No!” The reply was a quick shout. Sakura slapped her hand over her mouth, but the damage was done. Her face became warm as she composed herself. “I’m sorry,” she began with her usual monotone voice, “what I meant to say was: no, there’s no need for that.”
She stood in silence for a moment, crossing her arms and refusing to look at him. Her blush seemed to intensify with every passing moment.
“A rare outburst of emotion? From you??? That’s out of character…”
Tsukasa’s face lit up as the pieces in his mind fell into place. He floated above her until he was upside down and once again looking her in the eye.
“What??!” She snapped.
“I’m helping you.” He stated matter of factly, his ever present smile both terrifying and genuine.
“With…?”
“You are very clearly in denial,” he began, poking her forehead to punctuate his statement.
“What is this, the five stages of grief?”
He paused for a moment, and then burst out laughing.
“Close enough!”
“I’m confused.”
Tsukasa did a flip in midair so that he was once again right side up. He lowered himself until his feet were hovering right over the water, but still had to look up to maintain eye contact.
“Tell me, Sakura, why exactly you are so fixated on this human.” His voice was quiet, secretive, and his tone was unusually serious.
Sakura looked at the ceiling, the water on the ground, her broadcast equipment, basically anything that wasn’t the piercing gaze of the young ghost in front of her. The words seemed to force their way up her throat.
Of course he had to go and phrase it in a way where she was magically bound to respond. That little brat.
“I-” She began, before cutting herself off with a stubborn pout.
“You what?”
“I don’t know!” Her panicked voice, both quiet and ear piercing, startled the both of them.
She fidgeted with the bow of her uniform, silently cursing herself and her stupid emotions. Composing herself once more, she looked him in the eye.
“I don’t know how I feel about her. I’ve never felt like this about anyone, I just-“ she took a shaky breath and stared down at her feet. “I need some time to figure this out, okay? Please?”
Tsukasa was shocked. The open display of emotion was a miracle in of itself, but the fact that it seemed so genuine was what really surprised him. Usually she gave short remarks or witty insults, but now she seemed so unsure of herself. It was strange.
Tsukasa smiled, for once his expression showed no trace of malice. He was distracted, though, by movement in the doorway behind Sakura. His usual mischievous grin replaced his previous sincere one, and he looked back to Sakura.
Noticing his shift in demeanor, Sakura regained some of her cold, condescending attitude that he was so used to.
“What’s with that look?”
“I’m just… thinking about what you said!”
Sakura rolled her eyes, a signature response of hers.
“Alright, alright, you win!” Tsukasa put his hands up in a gesture of surrender, “Although I have a feeling that you’ll find an answer about your feelings sooner than you think.”
Sakura tilted her head, and Tsukasa pointed behind her. She looked past him, confused, and scanned through the darkness.
Sakura panicked as green eyes met blue.
There, in the doorway, breathing as if she had just ran a marathon, stood Shijima Mei.