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Mitsuba felt really awkward asking N.7 this. It was obvious N.7 didn’t like him very much and he was honestly afraid of what might happen to him just from approaching the boy. But he had no one else to turn to. Hanako was the only person he knew experiencing what he was.
He went to the mirror that led to Hanako’s bathroom and braced himself. ‘Here goes nothing’ he thought.
“Number 7, sorry to disturb you but may I ask a question?”
Hanako was sitting at the window, playing cards with the Mokke. Yashiro had already finished cleaning for the day so it was just the two of them.
“Aw, Number 3, I’m surprised you’d come to me on your own.” Hanako answered in a somewhat malicious tone.
“Well, I had no one else I could ask this.”
“Really?” Hanako said. There was a slight pause and Mitsuba was sure he was about to be destroyed until Hanako spoke up again, “Lucky for you I don’t feel like fighting right now so as long as you don’t cause trouble ask away.”
Mitsuba felt relieved and re-gathered his courage before asking his question. “How do you deal with it?”
Hanako only gave a look of confusion. “Deal with what? Being dead? Well honestly-”
“No not that!” Mitsuba interrupted. Geez. He was really gonna make him say it. “How do you deal with...with...being in love...with someone living?”
There was another pause and the longer it went on, the more embarrassed Mitsuba felt. He didn’t have body heat anymore so why did it feel like his face was going to melt off? He could barely bring himself to make eye contact with Hanako. Yet when he did Hanako looked a lot like how Mitsuba felt.
“What In love? With someone living? Pssh! I’m, I’m not in love! Hehe, wh-what on earth gave you that idea?!”
“Don’t you like Yashiro-”
“Yashiro! WHy would I like Yashiro? She’s just my assistant, and fun to tease, and I totally don’t think her legs are super cute! What? No!”
Hanako let out his words in quite a rush. It was obvious he was in deep denial. Or at the very least, unwilling to admit it out loud. Mitsuba felt hopeless once again as it seemed he wouldn’t be getting an answer.
Sadly, he started to float back into his mirror. “Never mind then.” he sighed as he retreated.
“Ugh. Wait!” Hanako yelled, causing Mitsuba to pause.
“I...I don’t love anyone living, but I think I know some advice I can give you.”
Mitsuba finally felt a bit of hope. Hopefully Hanako had the right advice to make this horrible longing go away.
“I would just...treasure the moments you do have. I mean, it's not like you could ever hope to have an actual relationship with them. Not only are they alive, but we are bound to the school. An apparition would never be able to take them on a real date, a normal date. On top of that once they graduate, we just aren’t enough to be worth the trouble of sneaking in here. So we need to make the most of what we have. We can still have conversations about our days, and as you know there are plenty of adventures to be had in the boundaries. Just be sure to let others in on your memories sometimes. By that I mean the other apparitions in the school. That way you won’t be lonely when this person leaves. If you’re still here that is.”
Despite the threat, Hanako’s advice wasn’t bad. Mitsuba will admit, it's not what I was hoping for. But it’s probably what he expected. At least Mitsuba has more time than Hanako will have with Yashiro. He really feels pity for Hanako in that regard.
There wasn’t much else he could ask for at this point though.
“Thanks so much for your answer. I’ll be sure to take it to heart.” Mitsuba was about to enter his boundary until he was once again stopped by Hanako.
“Wait. May I ask who it is that’s stolen your affections?” He asked with a teasing grin.
Mitsuba wasn’t in the mood to play games so he quickly answered “Don’t act like you don’t already know,” and went on his way.
He re-entered his boundary and brought out his photo album that had thankfully been returned to him. He looked at all the pictures he took the day he tried to resolve all his regrets until he found the one he was looking for. The one of Kou with his back turned but his face still in frame. Right after he had told him they could still be friends even though Mitsuba was dead. Treasure the moments he had, hun? Well his camera will come in handy for that, and he felt he could create many more with Kou. As many as he needed to get by when he was gone.