Chapter Text
Komaru took only a day to inform Makoto of the plan before she asked Hina to come with the two of them to the lake. She expected a lot more pushback than she got; maybe Hina was waiting for an excuse to go there with them again, in order to have some company while visiting.
“So?” Hina said, hugging her midsection. “What did you want to talk about out here?” Even though she agreed to go, she did still look apprehensive. Like she’d rather not be there. Of course, none of them really wanted to be there, but Komaru was going to make damn sure it was at least a somewhat pleasant experience.
Makoto just looked at her and nodded at her. She really did feel pretty bad for dragging him along on basically every matter that had to do with ghosts. She was glad he was a good sport about all of it. That didn’t mean she still didn’t want to come up with a way to make everything up to him. He deserved a weekend away from all her crazy.
“I know this isn’t the most pleasant place for any of us,” she started, chewing on her words. Understatement of the century.
“That’s my bad,” Yuta added. He stood right next to her, like he was sharing in her announcement.
“But I also wanted to apologize for being kind of absent since we moved here. The truth is, well… I can see ghosts.”
Hina blinked at her. As friendly as she was, she seemed wholly unimpressed. Komaru imagined that was a face she pulled with her students quite often. “Komaru, you’ve had a lot going on, I get that, but you don’t have to come up with some kind of excuse for it. Especially not one like that.” Her eyes slid to the water. “Don’t you think that’s kind of in poor taste?”
About the reaction she expected. “It’s not an excuse,” Makoto said, almost sighing the words out. “It’s real. I’ve seen proof of the ghosts myself.”
“Do you think she can feel me here? Even a little?” Amongst the conversation, Yuta was practically vibrating with excitement. Komaru kind of fluttered her hand at her side in response, keeping her focus on Hina.
Hina looked out to the water again as she shook her head. “No. Just … no. You can’t claim that you can see ghosts, that—that my brother is here.” Her voice broke on the last word.
“I am here.” Then, quickly, Yuta wrote it in the sand. Komaru and Makoto both looked down at the words, prompting Hina to do the same.
“...This has to be some kind of trick.” But the small light in her eyes told Komaru that she wanted to believe that it was real. “Something that someone wrote there before. That I just didn’t notice.”
Yuta laughed. He wrote something else in messier handwriting that Komaru could hardly make out, let alone understand the context of. “Little inside joke,” Yuta explained as he finished. A moment after, it showed up in the human world, an assumption she made given Hina nearly shrieking in surprise.
“That—but—” She swallowed. “Only Yuta knew about that. Not even you two. Then…”
Komaru smiled gently, taking Hina’s hand and squeezing it. “We figured out he could do this just a little while ago, otherwise I would’ve brought you and told you sooner. But now you can talk with each other! I know it’s kind of weird, but—”
Hina cut her off by crushing her in a hug, trembling. Yuta grinned from over Hina’s shoulder. “Thank you,” she whispered, her voice thick. She wiped at her eyes once she let go, clearing her throat. “And he can hear me, right?”
“Loud and clear!” Yuta confirmed. Komaru simply nodded. “Gotta make up for lost time.”
“We’ll give you guys some space,” Makoto decided, taking Komaru’s arm. The two of them walked back towards the car, picking a not-as-sandy place to sit. “This feels…”
“Yeah.” No words needed. It was kind of indescribable. He could only see one of them, but to her, Hina and Yuta both looked over the moon. They always looked alike when they were excited like that. That was the kind of closure she’d been hoping to give the ghosts in her house when she started her since-abandoned research. Unlike them, Yuta still had Hina nearby. Maybe she could track down people for Chihiro and Sayaka, plus Hifumi’s daughter, but then she’d feel useless to help the others.
So, so long trapped in one place, with people they couldn’t interact with coming and going.
Komaru stretched her neck, rolled her shoulders back. Hina and Yuta were laughing about something or other. All that could wait just a bit longer.
X-X-X
Hifumi was, perhaps, more observant and problem-oriented than Sakura imagined.
She had noticed him checking in on the others, and even herself, often since Mukuro was sucked off. While she thought that would be the end of it, he approached her with his idea. And she had to admit, it was perfectly suited for what he wanted to accomplish.
She and Hifumi stood in front of everyone in the living room. Hifumi’s currently vacant seat was filled by Komaru, integral to his plan and the household in general. The other empty seat remained empty.
“I will keep this simple,” Sakura said to start the meeting once everyone settled in. “I am sure we have all realized since Komaru and her brother moved in how little we know each other, despite some of us living here together for decades, if not centuries. I agree that this needs to change.”
“The issue I’ve been running into is how,” Hifumi continued. After all, it was his idea. “It’s hard to find somewhere to start since we have known each other so long. We may have picked up on some things, and not others, or we might have talked to one person more than others.” Sakura pretended she did not see a knowing look pass over Sayaka and Leon’s faces. “Which is why—if it’s alright with Komaru—I’d like us to start a weekly discussion group to get us talking. Really talking.”
Komaru raised her hand, waiting for his permission to speak. “Why me?”
“Frankly, your skills in psychology would very much come in handy.” Hifumi supplied his answer easily, thought out. Sakura appreciated his dedication to the topic. “And, if any individuals wanted, you could look into our remaining friends and family as well?”
“I’m in.” Unsurprisingly, Chihiro was the first to speak, the lights flickering with his words. He looked at everyone else. “Please? I really think we need this.”
Sayaka and Leon both looked at each other again, as did Mondo and Kiyotaka. “I think that’s a good idea,” Sayaka said, seemingly surprised by her own admission. Celeste rolled her eyes off to the side, but Sakura knew from experience that if everyone else was involved, she would at the very least be in the same room. Most of the time, she could not be bothered to leave the room for anywhere else. “I think … we’ve all been too quiet for too long.”
“Yeah, sure,” Leon agreed with a half-shrug. “Couldn’t do much more harm, right?”
Nobody offered any objections. Knowing that, Komaru nodded with a smile. “In that case, I’d be happy to help! I can set it up a few different ways, and…” She bit her lip as though sensing she would ramble on for a while if she did not stop herself. It was that kind of passion that made Sakura grateful for her presence. “I’m glad you all want to do this.”
So was Sakura. Maybe then, their afterlives would be a little less lonely.
All thanks to the influence from Komaru.