Chapter Text
𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒;
𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑎 𝑚𝑒𝑒𝑡-𝑐𝑢𝑡𝑒
*
There were over nine million people in Tokyo. However, only a handful of them was unfortunate enough to be called hanyou.
You were one of those unfortunate souls.
The night was pitch-black and moonless on the day you were born. There was no heavy gust of wind, there was no storm—the lights were out at your grandmother's home, you were apparently upside down inside your mother's uterus, a sign that things were not normal, and yet, the worst part of it all was how you were perceived after you were born.
Not a sound out of you; you were born asleep. Almost as if the world's chaos did nothing to wake your soul. You were sleeping so soundly, one could wonder what even caused the birth. Were you sleeping because you were content? Were you sleeping because you were aware of what the world was to offer you?
It was three years later did they realize why. It was because you could see spirits, and you could exit your own body as a spirit, whenever you pleased. While this new ability proved to be interesting indeed, the maiden from your mother's shrine convinced you that this power was evil. A human being was not to exit their body whenever they pleased, the spirit world was not to be accessed like that, it was not a welcome area and they definitely did not welcome tourists. While you believed they were marking your ability as something you had to fear, it only worked when they told you about ghosthunters.
Ghosthunters lived to exterminate the living world of ghosts. As simple as this job sounded, its similarities to exorcism scared you since you had the ability to become a ghost whenever you pleased. It wasn't that you could control this ability really well, only when you're allowed to use an ability could you learn to control it, however, the maiden from the shrine did assist in keeping this unfortunate ability of yours under wraps. Tying a sacred magatama around your wrist was one way, which you were specially allowed to wear despite being in school. So, whatever the fear was, as long as the magatama was around your wrist, you were just a regular human being.
You laughed and lived through your middle school years, avoiding the area of sports because you couldn't dare displace the beaded bracelet around your wrist. Despite it all, despite your unfortunate ability that you were forced not to ever use, you were happy—a teenager living the life of a teenager, away from any ghosthunter that might deem you a threat.
Apparently, hanyou were not particularly welcome by the ghosthunter race. They weren't a race per se, but the spiritual affinity that hanyou had despite being human beings was something that they considered impure, and anything impure needed to be severed. It wasn't that they were allowed to kill hanyou for just being hanyou, but they were indeed allowed to sever your ties with the spirit world; and because your grandmother, the Miko of the shrine your mother had belonged to before marriage, had never told you about what this severing would do to your psyche, you were cautious enough to listen to her about wearing the magatama around your wrist at all costs.
You were thankful that she did tell how of how vengeful spirits might take advantage of your hanyou self, and jump into your body when you were out and make use of this chance to wreak havoc. The thought of an external spirit inhabiting your body made you nauseous even as a child, so following a cautious lifestyle was rather stringent for you.
Everything was fine and dandy until your third day in Nekoma high school.
Your new friend, Katagiri Mimi, had a desperately pathetic crush on one of the volleyball players and had forced you along to the gym to watch them play. Despite having a strict rule to never go within ten yards of any sport, Mimi-chan was rather forceful that day since Morisuke-senpai was just amazing at everything he did. Perhaps, you were standing too close to where they were playing that you didn't realize a ball was approaching your head. Perhaps, your habit of playing with the beads around your wrist finally had the beads snapping exactly at the moment you needed them most.
Perhaps, it was fate that it happened the way it did; you could never tell.
"(y/n)-chan!" Mimi screeched, but you could see her.
You stared at her as she looked down and screamed at what looked like your body. You let out a terrifying sigh at the sight of the broken magatama, before wondering what your grandmother would say at how easily your soul slipped out of your body right then. You tried to remember how you would jump back into your body as a child, but seeing your unconscious body right then gave you full access to how your hair actually looked like from another person's point of view. It was tempting to stay outside for just a few moments longer, but it was then a person's gaze burned so hard into your soul that you froze.
People weren't supposed to see you.
Yes, you remembered this fact quite clearly. Only spirits could see spirits. And since you were a spirit right then, that meant only spirits could see you.
You gulped. There was one other race that could see you in your spirit form.
You looked up toward the volleyball net and noticed two cat-like eyes glaring at your form, eyes wide and gaze sharp, boring into your skull. Your breath was stuck in your throat as this boy glared the daylight out of you, making you wonder what in the world was going on but the answer was screaming into your face as you watched how his gaze was unwavering. Yes, only spirits could see spirits, but...
...so could ghosthunters.
Taking a deep breath, you jumped on your body but failed to enter yourself again. Mimi was crying now, and the entire volleyball team had huddled around your unconscious form. You had no idea what to do, but this blond boy's gaze had petrified you to the spot. What the hell should I do!? You screamed within your own mind before thinking of the least rational yet the only idea your mind could come up with.
You turned to the possible ghosthunter and screamed, "What the hell should I do?!"
His eyes widened just a tad bit before he looked away, almost as if he no longer could see you. You knew he was just ignoring you, you knew he was doing this just to make sure your spirit self stayed out of your body so that when everyone was away, he could come to chop you into little ghost pieces and end your miserable life. You were shaking now, and you were certain that your lower lip was quivering.
"Come on, ghosthunter-kun! I have no idea how to get back to my body!"
"Take her to the infirmary." The ghosthunter said, lowly, before everyone agreed.
A tall pale-haired individual picked you up, but you were right there. The entire volleyball team seemed to disperse, as one first-year whose name you remembered began with an 'I' started to apologize profusely. Mimi's crying could be heard all over the corridor, and now you were alone with the ghosthunter.
"You really can't hear me or—"
In one quick movement, you were pinned to the ground with something cold and sharp on your neck. As a spirit, you wouldn't feel things hit you but you could feel this boy touch you, pin you to the ground, and his weird looking tiny katana was pressing to your neck. You were scared it was drawing blood. Your eyes welled up with tears and he paused, just for a moment, before narrowing his eyes.
"I should kill you before you change my mind."
"W-What?" You were crying, just great, "What makes you think I can change your mind?! Y-You're practically pressing this baby katana to my neck!"
His eyebrow twitched with apparent annoyance, "It's a tanto."
"O-Okay..." You cried, tears leaking out of your eyes.
He looked at you as you cried, your cries increasing with intensity with each passing second. He was actually a tad bit cute if you looked closer, his hair was a funny shade, but it suited him strangely. He was wearing the Nekoma practice jersey and even though he was sweaty, he looked like he could snap you in half like a twig, despite the tiny frame he adorned so well. While his features were screaming at you, your heart was palpitations, even though you were sure you had no heart. A moment later, he pulled the tanto away before releasing you. You cried harder now, before sitting back up.
"You really have no idea how to get back to your body?"
You shook your head, "Are you really a ghosthunter?"
He chose to ignore you. "They'll think you're dead, you know. It was just a volleyball that hit your head. You should get back."
You stared at him in awe, "Aren't you supposed to kill me?"
He offered you a cheeky grin before saying, "I kill ghosts that threaten peace. The most you can threaten is a fly."
While you knew you had to feel offended by his remark, what you felt was absolute elation. You stood up right away, fighting the urge to hug this ghosthunter for sparing your life before you saw the tanto vanishing from his hands. You were confused as to what a ghosthunter was doing in the middle of Tokyo, especially in a school like Nekoma, but those questions were for later.
"Do you have any idea what I can do?"
He shrugged before looking at you nonchalantly, "Nope. You're lucky I found you, if it was any other ghosthunter, things would have been different."
While you were indeed curious as to what 'different' meant, since your grandmother never had explicitly told you what the fate of hanyou were at the hands of ghosthunters, you knew you had to get back to your body. Mimi was quite practically terrified of volleyballs by now, and her crush on Morisuke-senpai would have been entirely eradicated from the blatant display of how weak your composition was. However, just as you walked away, you felt the ghosthunter clear his throat.
"It's not safe for you," He said, "To be the way you are."
Your eyes widened at what he said before biting your lower lip, convincing yourself that speaking to your grandmother was your best bet before doing literally anything else. You walked toward the infirmary where your body was, and the entire volleyball team stood outside waiting to hear about your fate. While the school nurse did confusedly tell them you were breathing fine and were simply unconscious and even she couldn't understand why you weren't waking up.
You held your own hand before shutting your eyes and feeling warm all of a sudden. A moment later, you woke up.
"(y/n)-chan! Oh my god!"
Mimi crushed you with a hug, and everyone cheered. However, your heart was the one that felt a little bit broken. It's not safe for me? What does he mean? You stared at your now empty wrist before feeling for the first time that your grandmother had conveniently missed out on telling you something.