Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

“You can’t claim to be sick all the time.”

A deep growl escaped his lips, his head ducked deeply as his hands balled up. He shifted a little, glaring at the girl. His face scrunched up, with a deep whine escaping his pale lips.

“I’m not faking!”

The girl frowned, “Maybe in the past, but now? Hmm…”

A twitch ran through him, “I am not faking! I don’t feel well, and my stomach hurts! Mama said I can come home whenever I don’t feel well.”

“Seriously, what’s wrong?” the older girl asked, a hand lifting to rest on her white skirt. She clocked her head, making her golden hair bounce and the ribbon on the back of her head bounced.

“I don’t feel well,” he stated sternly, lowering his head to glare down at his feet.

The girl stared at him for a good five minutes before she let out a deep sigh, “Look, if you still feel unwell by lunch, then you can go home. But you have to try, you can’t just keep refusing to attend school.”

The boy doesn’t reply. Instead, he turned away, his arms crossing behind himself. His hands twisting together with his fingers digging into the sleeve of his sweater. Annoyance crumbling across his face. Why don’t anybody believe him?

He glanced back up at the building, a sense of overwhelming doom sunk through his stomach, making his eyes water – he doesn’t know why! Why he always felt so uncomfortable whenever he saw the school. Such an sensation of despair had wrapped its arms around him the first time he saw the school. At the time, he had been relieved he did not need to attend it…but now? A year later? All results had come back clear, and he was healthy enough to finally attend it.

‘I don’t want to go into Kamome Gakuen.’

~#~#~#~#~#~

“This isn’t funny!” he bellowed, slamming his fists repeatedly against the janitor door, “Let me out!”

Snickering and giggling came from the other side of the door. The laughter and chanting growing with every passing second. It was really making him angry! Of course this would happen! Of course this would happen on his first day!

“It’s not so funny now, is it!” a voice on the other side laughed, “Trash belongs locked away! You should know that!”

He jerked back, his back becoming stiff and shoulders square. His hands twisted together in front of him, “I am not trash! Don’t call me that!”

“You are so!” more laughter erupted, “People like you don’t belong on earth’s ground, you know!”

He grinded his teeth together, “That’s not true…I was just curious.”

The silence on the other side was going to drive him insane! He pressed his hands on either sides of his head, pulling at his dark hair in frustration! All this because he asked a question? Just a simple question! He doesn’t understand! He just wanted to understand, why was that such a bad thing?

‘I don’t understand. Why is that funny? So what if he likes boys and not girls!’

‘…Are you a puff-puff too then?’

His face scrunched up, and he grumbled deeply, huffing and puffing, throwing himself back against the door. His back touched the door with his arms crossing tightly over his chest. Looking like an angry little cat.

What’s the point in being so mean!

The whispering and giggling of his classmates suddenly increased. He couldn't quite make out their words, but he had a feeling he knew what they were saying. His eyes began itch, and a glassy layer formed across them. He fought the urge, but a warm shiver ran through his body, tears slowly began to peek from the corner of his eyes.

“You think I am gross for not understanding?” he muttered, “How can you guys be so mean?”

It wasn’t far! He hadn’t done anything wrong! Well, maybe other than ‘ears dropping’, he had always been told he shouldn’t put his nose where it didn’t belong. It wasn’t like he had been mean or cruel to somebody else!

Curiosity killed the cat, what a thing to say!

The whispering from his classmates increased in volumes. It sounded as if they were arguing among themselves, before finally, one sighed loudly and exhaustedly. Without so much as a warning, the door swung open, and he flopped backward with a surprise yelp. His body collided into another, making both crash to the ground in a lump of arms and legs.

“Owwwwww!”

He winced, trying to wiggle his way free. A wave of disgust tingles ran over him. Oh how he disliked being touched. His throat burned all of a sudden, as if somebody had brought a knife to the sensitive flesh and slit it! He grimaced, pulling back and rubbing the spot.

"Ew!"

"He's touching you!"

He barely had time before rough hands shoved him. He yelped once again, his head smacking against the wall painfully. A loud crack ripped through his ears, and a throbbing bump was most likely already forming on the back of his head.

"He-He touched me!" the boy sobbed, "Oh god! You don't think it would spread, do you? I don't want to be like him!"

One of the girls gasped, hands covering her mouth, "We should hurry! Quick, to the boy's bathroom! You can wash his germs off!"

A dark, defined eyebrow raised, he stared at them in disbelief. He had read thousands of textbook in his time at the hospital, he can confidently say that was not possible!

A total of five students, three girls and two boys. All had the very same expression of distain and disgust. He pulls his feet close to himself, pressing his back up against the wall as they glared at him.

What would they do now?

“Go away,” he huffed, “Leave me alone already!”

One of the girls huffed, rolling her eyes dramatically, “Stop overreacting! It was just a little prank! To welcome you to the class! You don’t have to jump down our necks like that!”

“Jumping down your necks?” he repeated, sneering in return, “It wasn’t just a prank! I don’t understand why you’re being so dramatic about this! I mean, it doesn’t change somebody!”

The others stared down at him in disbelief. A boy edged away in horror, his arms raising to cross in front of him.

“Are you serious?” he yelled, “You’re so disgusting! Of course it matters! It’s not natural, at all!”

Clocking his head confusingly, he pouted, “It is natural. Mama said you’re born this way, and if somebody can’t accept that, then they’re not worth anything at all!”

“Your ‘Mama’ is wrong!” the girl sneered, stomping her foot, “It’s a disgusting, and toxic choice! Why somebody would pick that life style is beyond me! You’ll damn your soul straight to hell!”

Eyebrows moving further up his forehead, he shook his head, “That is the most stupid thing I have ever heard!” he said, getting to his feet quickly, “God says to accept everyone, as everyone is built in his form, so if you don’t accept me or Kane-san, then you’ve damned yourself to hell!”

“If you really believe that, then you shouldn't even be at Kamome Gakuen! It is such a disgrace that they let you stay!"

"I'm not unnatural. It's normal!" he hissed in return.

"No it isn't!" the girl snapped, "Why can't you just disappear! We don't need you here!"

He sunk back like an bullied rabbit, his back pressing against the wall. Even thought he was much shorter then the others, he still tried to make himself seem braver then what he was. He held his head up, tugging at his oversized dark sweater.

“I don’t want to be here either!” he bellowed out, “Why would I want to be in such an clueless school like this? Around people like you?! If I had my way, I wouldn’t be at Kamome Gakuen at all!” 

He yelped loudly as he was shoved back again, his head smacking the wall again. His body jerking as this time, two powerful kicks were delivered to his stomach. He grimaced, curling inward as the others stalked away – laughing among themselves.

Delicately, he raised himself up, rubbing his bruised stomach. This was ridiculous. Why was his curiosity always taking him to dangerous places? Always delivering to worlds of pain? Nobody had ever reacted his questions like this before, not his family, his Mama, the nurses or even the doctor!

It was already hard enough as it is. Why should he be the one to change? When he is the one that gets hurt the most?

"Stop," he huffed, "Don't cry! There is no point in crying over spilled milk!"

He blinked the tears away, and peered off to the left thoughtfully, “Maybe I should tell Miya, I’m sure she would make them stop.”

Dragging himself onto his feet, he winced, rubbing his stomach again. A deep frown appearing across his face, was this the reason why he was getting the ‘heebie-jeebies’ whenever he looked at Kamome Gakuen? The building just radiated bad vibes! He begged not be sent here, but his begging fell on deaf ears!

With a deep but painful sigh, he gathered his forgotten items across the floor. Shoving them into his messy, hand-painted backpack. The paint was faded, but it held good memories for him.

Straightening himself, he sniffled while looking at the ripped up purple paper between his hands. He groan escaped his lips as he recalled how the group had grabbed his origami crane, something he spent hours doing, and ripped it apart right in front of his eyes.

If this is what Kamome Gakuen is going to be like, he hated it! Hated it so much and would have preferred to have stayed at the bloody hospital!

With a deep groan, and a shake of the head, he throw the paper away. With a click of the tongue and a sad whine, he turned around to drag himself in a random direction. Where should he go? He could try to find Miya or even Kana? Miya would 100% let him sit with during lunch, the problem being she was apart of the student council and sat with the other members. He didn’t want to sit with strangers! He would prefer to sit with her alone, then a few guys he didn’t know! Kana, on the other hand, would tease him and even mock him for wanting comfort.

What was he supposed to do?

“I still don’t feel good being here,” he mumbled, dragging himself away, “Maybe I can go home now? I’m too sick to be here.”

Slouching downward with a broken sigh, he closed his eyes briefly with a pout. There was no way they would believe that. He would be forced to complete the whole day. With another whine, he dragged himself through the hallway. Anybody he passed ignored him, few students that did take notice of him immediately began to stare and whisper among themselves. The poor boy could only sigh depressingly to himself, and clench at his backpack straps, keeping his head down.

His stomach felt heavy, like a large rock was thrown within him. Every footstep he took, made him feel like there was heavy, thick chains thrown around his feet. He just wanted to sleep already. Why did school days have to drag on so much? Would all school days drag on like this? He hoped not! He felt as if he had been at the school for hours, when really he had only been there for a few hours…it was only lunch time.

He supposed he should try to discover a good spot to hide while eating his lunch.

“This sucks!” he grumbled, pushing the door open carefully, and stepping into the staircase. A soft beep came from his side, but he ignored it with a shrug. He crept into the dark area anxiously, peeking over the rails to look down at the base of the staircase. 

He could see the group of his classmates gathering together at the bottom. He frowned deeply, with dread beginning to wiggling within him, throwing bags of concrete onto his shoulders.

“Hey? Have you seen that new boy? The one who transferred in this morning?”

“Hmmm? Yeah, what about him?”

“He’s a puff-puff! You know a fairy! Disgusting! Just like Kane-san!”

"No way!”

“Oh, yeah! We locked him in janitor closest! You should have heard him! He was crying so much!"

Eyes narrowing into a dark glare, he hissed to himself and dragged himself back. His hand moving to his sides, tugging at the over-sized purple sweater. He hated this school!

“Ew! Why are we getting so many disgusting freaks?!”

“Did you see how he was looking at you this morning?"

"What?! Don't be creepy!"

"I'm serious!"

With a dramatic eye roll, he snorted. He wasn't looking at anybody! He would never looked at anybody, nobody had ever gained his attention – however that be because he spent most of his life in the hospital hooked up to machine…but that wasn’t the point!

He hadn’t ever had crush before!

"Are you for real?! That's disgusting! Ah! I have Goosebumps!"

"Hahaha! Maybe he likes you!"

"Shut up! That's gross!"

He shook his head, stepping back with disbelief, he turned around to walk back through the door behind him. He was not about to let them beat him up again, even if they were being too full of themselves.

"Let's go find him!"

"Yeah! Let's go teach him an even bigger lesson!"

He paused, eyes widening in surprise, a horrible chill ran through him. The beep came from him once again, making him jerk his head forward.

He didn't do anything!

"Oh! Look!"

"The newbie is already here! How lucky we are!"

He glared down at them, “You all are a bunch of vile arses!” he snapped loudly, his voice shrilly and bouncing from the walls.

He arched his back, peeking back at the grinning students from the corner of his eyes. It was like a bucket of freezing cold water was thrown over him, he could feel the heavy footsteps vibrating through the steps. His new classmates beginning to climb up the stairs towards him, their voices hitching louder and louder, becoming dark, almost demon-like to his ears.

With a curse, he spun around and throw himself through the door. Their laughter bubbling through his ears.

“Where’s Kana when you need her?” he whined, eyes almost beginning to water.

A door that slightly open caught his attention. He shoved the door open, rushing into the room. However, as soon as he entered, his feet twisted together and he tripped over, falling face first against the ground. He laid still, twitching a little while listening to the thundering footsteps of his pursuers, thankfully they passed by the door.

He laid on the dirty floor in relief, his head slowly rolling onto his side. He puffed out the tiniest of hums.

“Homerun! Yay me!” he cheered pitifully.

Carefully, he raised himself up from the floor. A grimace appearing across his face as he looked over himself. He was filthy.

Sweat began to gather on the back of his neck upon seeing the sinks, and cubicles. Light pink and red in colour, his heart automatically skipped a beat in shock, dancing through his throat and forcing a high pitch whine wedging itself free.

“The girl’s bathroom?! No-no! I must never go into the women’s bathroom, because that was bad!” he reminded himself, and climbed to his feet. He calmly turned to the door, humming a quiet tune as he pushed against it.

Immediately his humming silenced. His eyebrows pinched together in deep confusion. Why? Why wasn’t the door opening? No matter how much he tried to push the door open, it wouldn't budge. It was almost like there was a heavy boulder on the other side of the door, keeping it shut.

"What? Why is it locked?" he pouted, “Is this another stupid prank?”

Grumbling deeply, he scuffed and turned back around, he crossed his arms stubbornly. What a stupid prank this was!

The bathroom itself looked like it was falling apart, the paint was chipped and faded, and the wood of the cubicles were all split. There was a musky smell in the air as well, and Tsukasa grunts a little as he covered his nose, inching further into the area.

“I thought the girl’s bathroom was supposed to be nicer then boys,” he chimed thoughtfully, tapping his fingers to his dimple chin. He giggled to himself as he scanned the mess of the bathroom.

With an amused smile, he inched further into the bathroom, his eyes shimmering with fascination. It was like something from a novel! Like the horror novels he had read while in the hospital!

With another laugh, his eyes caught was the window across from him. It wasn't very big, quiet small and more rectangle in shape. The glass of the window were stained brownish, with tiny cracks in them. There was cut-out shapes of purple and blue shapes stuck to the window, butterflies and flowers. It was probably the nicest thing in the bathroom. Even the light above him was looking old, blinking every so often with little sizzled sounds gobbling through the air.

He actually enjoyed the chill of creepiness taking over him, it was probably the most exciting thing in his life. With a shrug, he reached for an empty bucket to the side and dragged it with both hands to the window. He flipped it upside down, and stood on it, to reach the window. His plump fingers wrapping the rusty latch, and forcing the latch to move upward.

He leant up against the wall, prompting his chin onto the sill. His eyes gazed out into the playground, seeing all the students running around.

“They’re like ants!” he laughed, unaware of the whisp fizzling behind him in wonder, "Ah! So much better than the musky smell!"

He smiled, enjoying the sensation before his ears tingled. A tiny thud from behind him made the him jump. He almost toppled off the bucket, but was able to gain his balance before he could hit the dirty ground again.

Awkwardly, he turned around to stare into the dirty bathroom in wonder, “Helllloooooo?” he called cutely, “Is somebody there? If you’re from my stupid class, you’re not funny! I’m not even scared~”

Of course nobody replied. It made his snort, with a roll of the eyes, and turned back to the window. He hummed quietly, laying his head back onto the sill.

“Stupid-stupid-stupid~” he sang repeatedly, giggling to himself. His eyes slid shut to enjoy the cool breeze when his stomach growled.

Letting out a cackle of laugh, he leaped of the bucket with his arms stretched out. He grinned as he flopped down underneath the window, pulling his backpack onto his lap. Well, this might as well do!

“Aww, I really wanted to find Miya~” he hummed, tugging out the white bendo.  

His eyes dropping to his hands, and swiftly, the smile on his face dropped and a frown took its place. How dirty! His hands were dirty! A disgusted grumble escaped his lips, and he twirled towards one of the bathroom sinks. Like everything else in the bathroom, the sinks weren't in any better shape. They were old looking, and filthy, with tiny smudges of dirt all over them. He shrugged, face scrunched up and reached for the tap, and forcefully turned it. The tap made a gurgle of a sound, and then, water erupted from the tip. He made a surprised yelp when the liquid flushed from the tap tip, however, unlike what he was hoping for, the water was a thick brown colour.

"What the hell," he let out, "How can this bathroom be like this? I'm sure this is breaking thousands of rules!"

"How could the Principal or our teachers let this happen? How could they leave it like this?"

How could a bathroom be left in such a state? Surely this was dangerous?

“Oh!” he gasped in happiness, eyes brightening immediately, “If I tell Mama I was locked into such a place! Then maybe~”

He giggled to himself. Maybe his mother will take him out of the blasted, bad vibe school! This could be chance to leave the school and never-ever return!

He shook his head, and returned his attention to the bento. His stomach growled, goggling out a pray for food that made his face glow. Hungrily, he ripped the top of but immediately crumbled into disappointment.

“Of course. I should have known…” he whined, sniffling, “Whyyyyy! Not even a rice ball?! How mean!”

Stupid healthy food! It wasn’t far! His Doctor said he could eat some ‘treats’ now! So why do they keep giving him healthy crap?

“I’m so tried of this…” he mumbled, seeing clump of bushed up tofu and melon. His nose scrunched up and twitched, “Bitter Melon Salad…again…aww…”

With a grimace, he immediately slammed the lid back down and held it down with stiff fingers. However, as soon as his stomach growled, he opened it again. A defeated whine escaped his lips, and he began to reluctantly eat it.

A wheeze escaped his lips as the bitter melon coated his tongue, his eyes by change caught a locked cubicle door. It was in that moment, he noticed there was writing in the corner of the door. It was written in faded red marker pen, and his eyebrows pulled together in confusion.

With a powerful curiosity he leant forward and eyed the writing in wonder. What did it mean?

"The seventh mystery?" he read, "What's that?"

"Knock three times, and call for Hanako-san….she will grant you a wish?”

A wish? What type of wish? What would he wish for if it was real?

He burst into laughter again at the silly thought. Wishes weren’t real! If they were, he would wish to live! He giggled until his cheeks burned, shaking his head and rubbing his wet eyes with the sleeves of his sweater.

“Silly-silly-silly~”

With a quiet hum, he leant back against the wall, "Hanako-san? I've never heard of that name before…I wonder who she is, and why she would be locked in the bathroom cubicle…" he giggled even more, “Locked inside a bathroom cubicle! Haha!”

How could this 'Hanako-san' really be inside?

"Is this supposed to be a ghost story, or something?" he wondered, picking at a loose dark hair.

There would be a massive catch underneath that sugary coating. Still, he doubted it was real and was probably just something another student had written after seeing the state the bathroom was in.

He couldn’t stop laughing as he dragged himself closer to the door, lifting a hand to rank his knuckles across the wooden surface. Each time he felt a vibration through his arm, the way his fist hit the wooden door echoed around the bathroom strangely.

With a wide smile, he clocked his head, "Um. Hanako-san, are you there?"

The wind outside the window picked up. A high pitched windy whistle crawled through the open window. He snapped his head towards the window with large curious eyes. Nothing replied to his question. The bathroom stayed still, and quiet. He laughed even harder then before.

“A bogyman story after all!” he giggled.

It was then that he heard an odd clicking sound come from the door. His head whipped back to the door with his eyes growing wide, and cat-like. His eyebrows pinched together in francisation.

“Ohhhh~” he let out.

The clicking sound morphed into a more of a scratching sound. The space below the door were eerily much more darker than before. He crouched down once again, moving slower than a snail as he placed his hands flat against the floor, and laid his head on top of them to peer into the space.

Amber eyes stared back at him.

He paused, unsure of what to do or say, his heart even made a strange jolt. He shocked, but not shocked? It was so strange, but he found himself shooting back eventually. An eery and awkward laugh spitting through his trembling lips.

He flung himself backward, speeding across the unkept bathroom floor, and smashing his head painfully against the sink. He whined deeply, holding his throbbing head and pulling his knees close to his chest.

“Owie!”

Shaky hands suddenly took his face, and he found himself being roughly tugged upward. The round amber eyes stared at him, looking dark and glassy, becoming teary-like. A face much like his own leered close to him.

“T-Tsukasa?!”

“What?”

~#~#~#~#~#~

It was quiet. The bathroom spun with a strange electric tension that made his skin crawl. Tsukasa was trapped in clue, staring back at an boy that looked so much like himself but yet not. There was the tiniest of differences between them, but it could easily be overlooked. The hands that held his face so gently, so tenderly, was beginning to make him feel so uncomfortable that Tsukasa was beginning to feel dizzy.

What was going on? Who the hell was this? Why was he holding his face like this? He had a million of questions on the tip of his tongue, but nothing came out.

“Tsukasa?” the boy repeated, shock coating his voice, “Tsukasa? Tsukasa?”

Tsukasa winced, feeling the teary-eyed boy’s hands suddenly tighten. Fingers pressing harshly into his skin all of a sudden. Then, within one swift and painful second, the sound of the loudest snap echoed through the room. Tsukasa’s head cracked to the side, a horrible red mark forming across his cheek. He slowly raised a hand to touch said cheek, his bottom lip beginning quiver.

“What the hell are you playing at?! Tsukasa, why would you do this? Don’t you think you have put Mitsuba thought enough pain!” the boy yelled, grabbing Tsukasa by the sweater and shoving him back into the wall behind him, “I swear to hell Tsukasa, whatever you’re playing at, I will stop it! I’m getting so sick and tired of having to clean up after you!”

For the first time in a long time, a sense of fear boiled through him. Tsukasa’s eyes grow wide in shock, the skin around his eyes beginning to burn and crackle. His heart begun to echo through his ears, The fear increased as the strange boy began to shake him by the shoulders, bellowing out words that made little to no sense to him. It was beginning to seriously hurt him! Sending the worst type of stings through his veins.

“Stop it!” Tsukasa finally screamed, shoving the boy back with a harsh thud to the chest, “Stop it! Don’t touch me! Don’t come close to me!”

He could feel tears beginning to swell at the corner of his eyes, beginning to drip of his eyelashes. Tsukasa took the opportunity of the boy falling back stunned with wide eyes, to scramble to his feet and racing towards the bathroom door. He grabbed onto the handle with both hands and begun to yank on it as hard as he could. The door didn’t budge, didn’t move as he pulled and pulled, tears beginning to stream down his cheeks now.

“Miya! Miya! Miya! Kana! Miya-Kana! Somebody! I need you right now!” he screeched in horror, his stomach twisting painfully and sending a burn throughout his body.

“Tsukasa? What are you-“

A hand grabbed his elbow, roughly yanking him but Tsukasa spun around in fear. He slapped the hand holding him, but stumbled backward, tripping over his feet. As his body jolted, twisting about, his hand flung out to brace himself just as the heat ran up his throat. His back arched forward, and he opened his mouth in horror, throwing up harshly.

“I-what?!” the boy gasped in shock, “You…You’re throwing up! B-But that’s not possible!”

Tsukasa hissed, tears streaming down his plump cheeks. He glanced back at the boy, just as his legs gave out from underneath him. He barely was able to roll out of the puddle of puke and crumbled down the wall, drawing his knees close to himself.

Neither spoke. The boy that looked so much like himself, sat across him on the ground too. His hate hiding most of his face, his eyes darkening as they stared intensively at Tsukasa. Almost like he was judging him? Staring into his soul, it truly made Tsukasa feel uncomfortable. He pressed his knees into his chest, hiccupping and sniffling into them.

What should he do? What was he supposed to do?

“Tsukasa…” the boy began almost darkly, but yet tingled with pure confusion.

Tsukasa jerked, shuddering with fear. He peered at the boy for a few seconds, before he clenched his eyes tightly, sending a blanket of stars across his view, hoping this was sort of mental breakdown but when he peered through his eyelashes – the boy was still there.

What was happening?!

“Are…are you feeling better now?” the boy asked sheepishly, looking off the side with…concern in his voice?

Tsukasa made a face at him.

“What? Why are you looking at me like?” the boy said, his eyebrows raising to his hairline, “You’re being weird, well, weirder then normally. You didn’t jump on me or anything…”

Tsukasa stared, “Why would I jump on you!” he yelled, puffing his cheeks out in annoyance, “Oh! Are you apart of my stupid class? Are you mocking me again?”

The boy just stared at him, mouth opening and shutting, seeming stunned. Every time he seemed to gather himself to speak, it disappeared.

“What did you do?” he asked finally, sternly, “Tsukasa, what are you planning this time?”

Tsukasa stared in return, “What are you talking about? I’m not planning anything. I have only just transferred in to Kamome Gakuen today!”

“Stop messing around!” the boy finally snapped, “Enough! I don’t have time to deal with you! Just hurry up and tell me what you’re doing, so I can deal with it as quickly as I can!”

A hot, acid knife ran through him. Tsukasa straightened himself, “Shut up!” he finally said, feeling so exhausted, and weak all of a sudden, “Just go away! Leave me alone, I don’t know what type of prank this is, but I’m done with this! With all of this!”

“Tsukasa Yugi-“

“That’s not my name!” he bellowed out, interrupting the boy, “My name is not Yugi!”

“I don’t know who you are! But my name is Tsukasa Fajr! The youngest child of Beatrice Fajr! I am not a Yugi!” 

The boy’s face became white, and his jaw became slack. He just stared at Tsukasa, looking lost and so very confused, like a kicked puppy. The boy slowly raised a hand to scratch at his head, his eyes franticly over Tsukasa.

“Where is your seal?” he finally asked.

Tsukasa swallowed thickly, “What are you talking about?”

It was then that two ball of light snapped into view, appearing from nowhere all of a sudden. They glittered red and green, dancing back and forth around the boy. The boy’s head immediately snapped upward, his eyes growing so wide that they looked like they would truly pop out of his face.

“What are you talking about Hakujoudai?!” he screeched in shock, “T-That…I don’t understand!”

Stubbornly Tsukasa wiggled backward, tightening his arms around his knees. He glared at the strange boy, a scary chill running up his spine. He stared at the whisps in a pinch of wonder, but that was overwhelmed by his fear of this strange boy.

Suddenly the boy got to his feet, he stomped towards Tsukasa, making the boy shrink back. The dark honey orbs narrowed at him, and roughly grabbing Tsukasa by the arm. He yanked the boy to his feet, with a grumble.

“You’re coming with me, right now!”

~#~#~#~#~#~

Tsukasa’s face was white, he struggled against the strange boy’s iron grip. His feet kept slipping about, twisting and buckling as he was dragged alone.

“Let go! Let go! Let go!” he whined repeatedly, pushing against the hand wrapped around his wrist, “I said let go!”

The boy roughly yanked him. He doesn’t say anything as he forcefully dragged Tsukasa alone, the two whisps of green and red slowly hovering around them, circling around their bodies.

Tsukasa almost went straight into the boy’s back as he came to a stop in front of a door. Tsukasa yelped, barely able to gain his balance. He straightened himself, and once again, tried to pull his wrist free but failing. Rubbing his head with his other hand, he peered at what the boy had forced him to.

A majestic, and gorgeously carved butterfly door. It was black and purple, with a silver spider-like handle. Tsukasa stared at the door in wonder, the bubble of fascination beginning form once more. His eyes inspecting the spider handle, seeing the legs stretched out wide and when Tsukasa leant in closer, the spider legs wiggled almost as if they’re alive.

The boy stomped up to the door, instead of grabbing the handle, he delivered a powerful kick to the butterfly door. He effortlessly booted it open, revealing a library.

The library was gigantic, completely different to the school’s normal library. There were thousands of books of all sorts, pilling as high as Tsukasa could see. The bookshelves were thick and full with all sorts of books, on first glance, all Tsukasa could see was white books. Thick spider webs were roped across the ceiling, and the pillars. There were many staircases leading higher and higher, revealing more and more shelves of books.

“Whoa…” he mumbled quietly.

“Tsuchigomori!” the boy bellowed out, dragging Tsukasa into the library.

As soon as they stepped into the strange area, Tsukasa bristled. He felt like cleanlier wrapped around him. His face paled into a surprised grimaced. Thick green slouch coated the floor, and lined the walls, the pillars. As he stepped into it, he shuddered as zips of warmth washed over him. His back arched, and his shoulders hunched to his ears, fingers trembling around.

“Tsuchigomori! Where the hell are you!” the boy exclaimed.

“I am right here.”

Tsukasa jumped at the surprisingly calm voice. He once again tried to twist his arm free from the boy’s grip, but just like all the times before, he was unable too. A deep frown over took his cherry-shaped face, and instead arched his body to the side, looking around the boy’s form. He squinted his eyes, seeing a man seated in the middle of the glorious library.

A man? He was sitting at a table, with a china cup of tea in one hand and an open book in the other. Slowly, his silk eyes tilted to peer at them, they widened briefly upon seeing Tsukasa. It made him withdraw, feeling that familiar flame of fear blaze inside his stomach.

“What have we got here?” Tsuchigomori questioned, putting his china cup down.

The boy finally released his grip, “Look at him! Is he…I don’t understand what’s going on!”

Tsuchigomori hummed, slinking towards them. Tsukasa jerked back in shock, as a gloved hand to his face roughly. The fingers pinched his chin painfully, forcefully make Tsukasa look up into his long face.

“Is he…?” the boy asked quietly.

Tsuchigomori leant closer to Tsukasa, “What is your full name?”

“My full name? Oh! I’m not, er, what did you call me?” Tsukasa began, peering at the boy darkly in annoyance. Why was everyone manhandling him? He hated this.

“Yugi. You mean Yugi,” Tsuchigomori spoke smoothly, “Are you saying your second name is not, in fact, Yugi?”

Tsukasa bristled, slapping the hand away heatedly, “No! I am Tsukasa Fajr! Tsukasa Krul Fajr!”

“Tsukasa Krul Fajr?” Tsuchigomori repeated, straightening himself with a look of pure fascination crossing his face. The way his eyes glimmered and soon became hidden by his glasses made Tsukasa shiver.

The boy’s large round amber eyes frantically looked between the two, “Well? Tsuchigomori! What’s going on! Hakujoudai said-said he was – he was!”

“Tsukasa Krul Fajr,” Tsuchigomori hummed, turning around to his massive bookshelves. He slinked up to one of the closest shelves, his hands gliding across the thousands of white books. He made a rhythm of different sounds as he searched through the books.

The boy made a deep grumble, clicking his tongue and cross his arms. He tilted his body, putting all his weight onto his right side, “Tsuchigomori!” he whined, “You’re not going to find a book. You know that.”

Tsukasa frowned. He had thousands and thousands of different questions on the tip of his tongue, he wanted to ask so many different things but found himself swallowing the mouthful of questions instead. His eyes rolled around the library, taking in the oddness of it. He didn’t understand what was happening, why this was happening. Tsukasa wrapped his hand around his wrist, rubbing his wrist with a deep grimace. He glanced towards the boy, seeing him staring daggers at him. Tsukasa bristled, and childishly stuck his tongue out at him in annoyance. It seemed to take the boy by surprise, jerking backward with his eyes widened.

“Ah!” Tsuchigomori suddenly let out, tugging a white book free. He held it up with an unreadable expression, “Tsukasa Krul Fajr.”

The boy gapped, his head cracking around to look at Tsuchigomori, “He has a book?!”

Tsuchigomori twisted the book, peering down at it, “He does. It is white, which means…”

“…He’s alive…” the boy whispered afterward. His eyebrows pinched together, looking incredibly troubled, “But how?”

Turning fully to them, Tsuchigomori brought the white book up for the boy to truly see, “It is bounded. I have only seen a white book bounded twice before.”

“Bounded?” Tsukasa finally spoke, jerking upward in curiosity. He stared at the white book that was bounded by thick blue straps, “What does that mean? Why is my name on it? What is this place?”

“Are you saying…” the boy began quietly, scratching at his cheek, “He…he’s real?! This isn’t any trick? He really is here?”

Tsuchigomori nodded his head, “It would seem so. Another mystery can do all sorts of things, can create fake books, but they are unable to create a blue bound-book. It is impossible. Only god, themselves, can create such a book.”

“Then, Tsukasa…this isn’t?” the boy asked, “How can we read it?”

Tsuchigomori stared Tsukasa down with a look of transparency, “Only when god has given their blessings, can a person read one of their blue books. Until then, we will have to keep a close eye on the bearer.”

“God’s blessing?” the strange boy said, his dark eyebrows raising to the cap-flap, “Then Tsukasa is, what? Alive? No! That’s not possible, it is impossible for that to happen!”

“My books do not lie,” Tsuchigomori said drily, narrowing his eyes suspiciously at Tsukasa as he spoke, “This boy doesn’t just have a white book, he has a god bound book.”

Tsukasa, who had been silent between the two conversation, finally snapped. He grinds his teeth together, hands clenching at his sides as he glared heatedly at nothing really in particular but if bookshelves could feel, they would be quite uncomfortable right about now. Talking about him being alive, and that he shouldn’t be alive, all that! It was really beginning to bite at him! Especially after he had spent all of his childhood in the hospital and had only just been released, and allowed to attend school – allowed to act like a normal child! He had been eagerly waiting for it! Tsukasa had spent endless hours in the room of white, listening to Miya and Kana as they both told him tales of their days at school!

“Stop!” he finally burst, his voice echoing throughout the glorious library, “Enough! Enough! Stop it! You’re both creeping me out! I’m leave now!”

He went to storm away, charging towards the double doors when a claw grabbed him by the elbow once again. The strange boy with a face so similar but yet so different pulled him back, preventing him from truly leaving.

“Tsukasa! Don’t you dare walk away,” he grunted.

Tsukasa’s eyes widened, a wave of pure bitterness coating his skin. He abruptly yanked his arm back as if the boy had truly burned him, he sneered, spitting at the boy and swung his foot up. His foot twisted, and he did the first thing that wrapped around his brain. Tsukasa delivered a painful kick to the strange boy’s gut.

The boy let out a high-pitched, dog-yelp. He stumbled back, falling to the ground with a loud thud.

“Don’t touch me!” Tsukasa yelled, inching away from the boy.

Tsuchigomori observed the two with a hand on his chin, like a butterfly, his expression flickered into something completely knew. His eyes seeming to widen with realization, “Tsukasa, is that anyway to treat your brother?” he said calmly, testing his theory with ease.

“Brother?!” Tsukasa immediately let out without thought, a shudder of disbelief. He directed the boy with such a look of bitterness that the boy crawled backward, “I don’t have a brother! I am the only son of the Fajr family, and I have two older sisters!”

Tsukasa’s chest was beginning to hurt, the frantic beeping blurring from his hip. It took him a few seconds to calm himself, pressing his hand stiffly against his chest, breathing in deeply until the frantic beeping sizzled into gentle beeping. Once it had, Tsukasa straightened himself and with as much care as possible, he lifted up his sweater to check the box strapped to his hip. Wires surrounded his stomach, and up to his chest, with a weak frown, Tsukasa checked the back.

“I’ve already ran up the batteries…” he grimaced, sniffling deeply. He had been told to watch the box, to make sure it doesn’t reach a certain level, unfortunately he had gone way over that level. With a stressful hand, he pushed his sweaty hair out of his face, “No. I’m done, I’m going home.”

The boy blinked wildly up at him, slowly arching forward, “Home? W-What do you mean?”

“I mean home!” Tsukasa pouted, “Leave me alone! I don’t know who you are, or what you want! But leave me the hell alone! My god! I knew Kamome Gakuen was a bad idea! But did they listen to me? Noooo!”

“Your sisters go to Kamome Gakuen, don’t worry Tsukasa, it will be fine!” he snorted, mimicking the voice with a shake of the head.

He levelled the strange boy with another look, and pointed at him, “Stay away from me! For now on! I don’t know what your playing at, what type of prank this is, but I don’t want any part of it!”

With that, Tsukasa spun around and ran straight out the library. Unaware of the pink sock bunnies staring after him, or the puppy-confused and hurt expression of the boy he was leaving behind. All Tsukasa knew was some weirdo had dragged him into some sort of twisted school play? Maybe? He wasn’t sure, but it freaked him out to much.

Tsukasa rushed along the corridor, missing the midnight whisps sparking behind him before vanishing. As the boy finally reached the doors leading out of the school, he noticed a familiar figure in the distant, near Kamome Gakuen’s entry. His eyes widened, becoming round and watery, before charging full speed.

“Miyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!” he cried, arms stretched out.

Tsukasa throw himself at the older girl, throwing his body up against hers like a money. His arms wrapped tightly around her middle, her body dragging backward with his legs spread out behind him.

“Miya!” he sobbed, tears peaking at the corner of his eyes.

Miya wrapped her arms around him, hugging him in return. She tilted her head with a gentle smile appearing across her face, “Are you not feeling well, Tsu?” she asked sternly, reaching for his box, “This is beyond your balanced levels. What have you been doing?”

“Miyaaaaa!” he whined in return, tugging on her arm like a child, “Miya! I want to go home, please?”

Miya nodded, eyes shimmering kindly, “Mother said to bring you home if you were feeling unwell. I will take you home then,” she said, taking his hand gently and beginning to lead him out Kamome Gakuen’s courtyard, “How was your first day?”

“Terrible!” Tsukasa sniffled, but happily wrapping his fingers around the older girl’s hand, “I was harassed by this guy! He was saying some stupid, silly things that confused me so much! Miyaaaa, I don’t want to come back to Kamome Gakuen!”

Miya hummed sweetly, “Maybe he wanted to be your friend?”

“No!” Tsukasa snapped, “He’s a weirdo! A creepy boy! I don’t want anything to do with him!”

The girl was chuckled in amusement, “I’m sure he isn’t that bad, but I won’t force you to give him a chance. However, I think you should give Kamome Gakuen a chance. I am sure it will grow on you.”

“Doubtful…” Tsukasa pouted childishly.

“I didn’t like it either when I first attended Kamome Gakuen either,” Miya said in a gentle toned voice, the two contained to walk away from Kamome Gakuen. Walking along the street, Tsukasa glanced over his shoulder and let out a breathe of relief upon seeing the building a tiny thumbtack, “I eventually grow to love it after I made a couple of friends. I’m sure once you have made a few friends too, you’ll enjoy your time there too.”

Tsukasa snorted deeply, “I won’t! I told Mama I didn’t want to attend Kamome Gakuen! I would have liked to attend Chestnut Manaka instead. It’s a lot closer then Kamome Gakuen…why wouldn’t she let me go there?”

“Mother wanted you with Kana and I,” Miya smiled, patting him on the head. Tsukasa immediately keened into her touch, making her laugh.

Tsukasa glared off to the side, “Kana’s going to tease me…she knew I wouldn’t make it through the first day…”

“Kana’s way of showing that she cares is a little different,” Miya admitted, nodding her head, “She can be harsh and tough, but she cares for you a lot. Remember that, okay?”

“…Fineeeeee~” Tsukasa sighed.

~#~#~#~#~

Entering Kamome Gakuen the next morning, Tsukasa had never felt so sick before. His stomach hurt, as if there was a real stone forming in the pit of it. He glared up at the building, narrowing his eyes into slits.

“Don’t be a baby,” Kana grunted out next to him, fixing the ribbon holding her braid back, “It’s only school. Six hours max. You will be fine.”

Tsukasa snapped his head around to the girl, “You don’t know! You haven’t seen him! The guy was so creepy! He dragged me through the school!”

“Are you sure you wasn’t day dreaming?” Kana sighed, rolling her eyes.

“I’m not making it up!” he cried hopelessly.

Why didn’t anybody believe him? There really was a boy, a creepy boy that had appeared out of now where and freaked out on him! Tsukasa did not know why, but the boy had an breakdown as soon as he saw him. Tsukasa didn’t understand! He doesn’t understand many things, and he wished he did. After he had told his sisters about the boy, neither one believed him and thought he was having a medical induced metal break again. His beloved Mama had worriedly taken his temperature.

She had almost kept him home…almost…

“Tsu, if you begin to feel not right again, come find me,” Miya interrupted Kana, taking his shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze, “And keep an eye on your monitor, Mother was very worried when she saw the rate your heart was going. Remember what the Doctor said.”

Tsukasa sheepishly nodded, “I couldn’t help it!” he whined.

Kana snorted, “It’s not that scary, Tsu-Tsu. Come on. It’ll be fine. If anybody is seriously bothering you, then come find me. I’ll teach them not to pick on my little brother,” she grumbled darkly, cracking her fist with her other hand.

Tsukasa hummed, a wide grin spreading across his mouth. He bounced on his feet, with a nod of the head. Miya smiled down at him when they caught eachother’s eyes. Kana really did care! He laughed quietly, following his two older sisters into the monster’s mouth, a sickening chill running down his spine as he looked up at Kamome Gakuen.  

Tsukasa closed his eyes with a deep, tried sigh. His monitor beeped casually, calmly beeping every so often. He peered over at his new classmate’s, following them into the classroom slowly. Tsukasa noticed the whisp of light beginning to dance through the air, slowly inching higher and higher until it was brushing along the ceiling. He glared at it until it fizzled out of sight, he shook his head and rubbed his eyes harshly.

Maybe he was seeing things? From stress! His Mama had said it could be stress related! It probably was in fact stress! Tsukasa was feeling incredibly stressed! Especially upon seeing the orb, even if it did disappear when he blinked.

It was then that he remembered what else happened yesterday. His peers begun to chuckle among themselves, murmuring quietly as they stared him. Tsukasa’s face scrunched up in annoyance, recalling how the other people reacting to such a small stupid thing.

‘So what if I like boys! So what if Kane-san likes boys!’ he thought, sinking into his chair. He crossed his arms over his desk, and laid his head on top of them, his lips twisting into a deep frown, ‘They’re just a bunch of bigots!’

Tsukasa closed his eyes, listening to the teacher drown on and on. Honestly! Why is this happening to him?! He had always dreamed of being at school, of being in a class and sitting through a lesson! Tsukasa wanted that more then anything due to the sponge of knowledge he had. He wanted to learn everything! But of course! Of course his luck would ruin that for him!

‘I have such terrible luck…’ he frowned.

Just then heat suddenly puffed across his face. Tsukasa’s eyebrows knitted together, slowly peeking open awkwardly.

A face!

That boy again, he was standing on top of Tsukasa’s desk. His body was crouched over, legs on either side of Tsukasa’s shoulders with his body bent over, face practically leering into Tsukasa’s. The two whisks of green and red beginning to twirl around his desk.

“We need to talk.”

Tsukasa’s eyes widened so much that they hurt. He shoot back, his chair falling over and slamming into the ground loudly, sending vibrations throughout the classroom. Tsukasa stood up fully, his mouth opening and shut like a fish.

“Is something the matter Fajr-san?” his teacher asked, turning away from the blackboard with an eyebrow raised.

Blinking, Tsukasa awkwardly looked around the classroom, his eyes scanning across the many faces directed at him. Looking at him, and the strange boy standing on top of his desk. It took Tsukasa took a good few minutes to realize that everyone was staring at him and not the weirdo.

Could they not see him?!

“I…I…I NEED THE BATHROOM!” he shouted loudly.

The teacher blinked slowly, “Oh…um…okay. That’s fine. Just don’t, er, dillydally…”

Tsukasa nodded furiously, arms locked to his side. He edged away from his desk, “Thank you Sensei!”

He rushed out the classroom, his head beginning to ache from the way his heart was beating. Tsukasa had to stop for a few seconds, to calm him beating heart as his monitor beeped loudly. Inhaling sharply, Tsukasa grumbled, sulkily pushing the door open to the bathroom. His eyes scanned the wreck of the bathroom, before feeling a hand lightly touch his elbow. Immediately he spun around, and jammed a finger into the weirdo’s chest.

“What do you want now?!” he bellowed out, “I told you to leave me alone! I can’t deal with this! I just want to make it through Kamome Gakuen without any problems!”

The boy moved backward, his hands raising in surrender, “I know-I know. I just, um…”

“What?!” Tsukasa whined.

“I’m sorry,” the boy stated softly, lowering his shoulders with a small tilt of the head. He truly looked like a wounded puppy dog, “I’m sorry, for how I acted yesterday. It’s no excuse for what I did.”

Tsukasa paused in confusion. His lips twitched into a small ‘oh’ shape.

“I…I thought you were somebody else,” the boy added with a weak, petty shrug, “And I overreacted. I’m sorry about that.”

Raising an eyebrow, Tsukasa frowned, “You thought I was your…brother?” he wondered.

The boy made a painful expression. He turned his head to the side, pulling at the cap of his hat with a small nod, “Yes. I thought you were my brother. His name was Tsukasa Yugi…you look a lot like him.”

“Oh…” Tsukasa blinked sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck, “Well okay…I forgive you then! My Mama said I should always forgive people when they make a mistake! Even if it hurts yourself, you should always be the person to be hurt instead!”

The boy made a face, an expression that Tsukasa hadn’t seen before. It made his stomach tingle with uneasiness. His amber eyes glowed, looking rather glassy, with tears beginning to swell up.

Why? Did he say something? Did Tsukasa do something that made the boy cry?

He smiled so tenderly that it made Tsukasa flush. The boy whipped a tear from his face and then shook his head. Swiftly, his face morphed into something else. Something much more teasing, playful and joyful.

The boy leant forward, arms crossed behind his back, “You reallllllly don’t know who I am?”

Tsukasa blinked, “Nope!”

Tsukasa’s attention soon moved from the boy to an hovering orb of red. The orb floated above their head, little specks of light departing from the orb and vanishing into nothing. However, he shuddered and jerked upward when another orb danced to close to his face. The light of the orb almost burning his eyes. It had flares of green within the middle of orb, twirling around as if the green light was alive itself.

“They’re real?!” he gasped, when one came to close to his face, “I thought they were in my head!”

The boy in black and red let out another joyful laugh. His eyes crinkling at the edges, and the grin on his face pushed out the tiny dimples of his cheeks. He finally stood up, and stretched his arms above his head. The boy hummed in delight from his bones popping and snaping, the sounds made Tsukasa hum in curiosity. The boy then glided towards the toilet, plopping himself down on top of it and tugging on the flap of his hat.

"Seventh of the school's seven mysteries!" he cheerfully sang out, the two orbs trailing after him. The two orbs began slowly danced around his body.

"Hanako-san of the toilet! Pleased to meet you!"

Tsukasa eyed the boy in confusion, immediately connecting the dots in his head. Hanako? That was written on the door!

“Hanako-san?” he repeated, gasping widely as the clock rears turned in his head, “From the door? It’s written there! Knock three times and call for Hanako-san!”

Hanako grinned, “That’s right! Your so clever Tsukasa-kun!”

Tsukasa keened, enjoying being praised! His Mama was the only person who ever praised him for things like that! She was the one to play brain games with him while he was in the hospital! Sometimes his sisters played too, but not all that often due to their studies!

“Hanako-san!” he hummed with a laugh.

"That's right! You can call me Hanako-kun if you want!" Hanako chimed in amusement, his eyes sparkling as he stared at Tsukasa, "All the stories you heard of me are true!"

Immediately Tsukasa’s face twitched into confusion. What stories? He hadn’t heard any stories of a Hanako before? Only the ghost story of the hospital Hanako, but this guy was nothing like the nurse that was supposed to visit you when you are on your death bed!

Hanako’s face transformed into a surprised expression. He glided towards Tsukasa, looking like he wanted to touch the boy but had stopped himself in time.

"No way!" Hanako let out, "You've never heard of me before, have you!"

“Nope!” Tsukasa chimed, with a shrug. He shovelled away from Hanako, with a small grin, “Sorry!”

The look on Hanako’s face was something new, he rubbed his chin in thought, seeming to struggle to understand how Tsukasa didn’t know about him. His lips twists into a puppy like pout, if he had ears they probably would have been flattered against the sides of his head. In fact, Hanako looked a little peeved at that fact.

"How do you not know?! Everyone knows about me!" Hanako said loudly, "You do know about the seven mysterious, right? Please say you know about that, at least!"

Tsukasa innocently looked Hanako, “Mysterious?” he asked with a cute tilt of the head, “I know about the Whispers? Does that count?”

“Whispers?” Hanako asked.

“Ohhhhhhh!” Tsukasa giggled, tapping his chin in thought, “There are seven Whispers! It’s said they haunt Aichi Saiseikai Hospital! Each Whisper is supposed to represent the seven stages of grief!”

Hanako was silent for a good couple of seconds, he blinked slowly, face directed up to at the ceiling. He then stepped closer to Tsukasa, hand twitching out as if to grab onto Tsukasa’s hands, but once again, he stopped himself in time.

“Seven stages of grief?” he asked, “What’s the seventh stage?”

Tsukasa grinned, “Acceptance and hope!”

“Acceptance and hope….” Hanako mumbled softly, turning away with glassy eyes, “That makes sense…”

With a curious hum, Tsukasa clocked his body to the side. He stared at Hanako in wonder, but wasn’t sure what to say. Instead, he shook his head, “So?! What’s the seven mysterious of  Kamome Gakuen?”

Automatically Hanako brightened up all of a sudden, he spun around with a wide, Cheshire cat – like grin. He leant in close to Tsukasa with his eyes narrowing into a deep stare. The two orbs sizzled above the two boys, sending tiny glitters of light across the bathroom.

"You really don't know?" he chimed playfully, "How fascinating. I've never been summoned by somebody who doesn't have an idea on what they're doing!"

Tsukasa laughed, bouncing a little, “That means I am special, right!”

“…Yes, more then you know!” Hanako cheered in return, giving him a thumbs up, “Super special!”

Tsukasa fidgeted, a strange feeling overcoming him. He glanced down a little, before returning his large curious eyes to Hanako. As he turned around, he saw something he had not been expecting and poor Tsukasa seriously thought he was going crazy. Was losing his marbles, or going crazy.

Maybe all of this really was in his head? Maybe he really wasn’t well enough to be let out of Aichi Saiseikai Hospital…

"Y-You're flying?" he gapped.

Hanako blinked slowly, peering back at Tsukasa. He raised an eyebrow, "Oh right. You don't know anything about the mysterious."

"I am a Ghost!"

"A ghost…" Tsukasa repeated slowly, eyebrows pinching together in thought. He then let out a loud scream, throwing a finger up at the ghost boy, "You're a ghost!"

Hanako laughed loudly, his eyes sparkling with so much tenderness, "I just said that!"

"You're a ghost," Tsukasa repeated, "Ghost? Ghosts are real? No, no, I'm going crazy."

Tsukasa shook his head furiously, hands reaching up to touch his head. How could this be happening? If Ghosts and spirits are real, then he had thousands of questions he wanted to ask!

"I’m imagining this…but it was so realistic…" Tsukasa whined loudly.

Hanako slowly touched his hand, pulling it from Tsukasa’s hair, “I’m sorry. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean to overwhelm you.”

Tsukasa sniffled, he peered at the floating boy. Only now noticing he was really transparent, “I’m not crazy?” he asked quietly, brokenly.

Hanako smiled. He shook his head with a soft hum.

“You’re not crazy, Tsukasa-kun.”

Tsukasa slowly nodded, sniffling even more. He pulled himself away from the ghost, his eyes running up and down Hanako’s body. Hanako was a Ghost? Ghosts existed? So…even if he died, there was something after?

“Um, what do you want?” Tsukasa finally asked curiously, “All Ghosts have…what’s it called? Oh! Oh! Unfinished business?!”

Hanako smiled sweetly, “No. I don’t have unfinished business. It’s nothing like that. It’s a very long story.”

“A long story?” Tsukasa hummed, tilting his head, “What kind of story? Will you tell me it?”

The other boy blinked, a soft sigh escaping his lips gently, “Not now. Maybe someday I will, but not now. Instead, you summoned me, remember?”

Tsukasa stuck his nose up, “Not in purpose!”

"Hmm, true," Hanako shrugged, but moved closer to the shorter boy, "But I'm here! Therefore, I can grant any wish you want!"

Tsukasa stared, “A wish?”

“Yes,” Hanako said with an little eager nod of the head, “I can fulfil anything you want…with limits, of course.”

wish? Any wish? Anything anybody could possibly want? Tsukasa did not believe it. It was impossible. Even if Hanako was real, a supernatural being that could grant wishes, Tsukasa doubted his wishes could kiss the sky.

"I don't want anything," he finally said.

Hanako's face crumbled into a surprised expression. Tsukasa supposed it wasn't everyday somebody summons him and then turns him away. Still Hanako made a soft 'oh sound, and blinked blankly at the other male.

"Really?" Hanako questioned, clocking his head backward and putting a finger to chin, "Nothing at all? I can grant anything you could possibly want! Fame! Fortune! Even small things such having all your chores finished, or your homework for a whole year!"

Tsukasa smiled with a wistful sigh, “That sounds amazing! All my chores finished?! And my homework! Miya would never be on my back! And I bet Kana would be soooooo jealous!”

“R-Right,” Hanako said, “They, um, your…sisters? Would definitely be jealous…”

“They would be!” Tsukasa nodded, “But no. No thank you! I can’t make a wish, especially such a selfish wish!”

Hanako paused, eyes widened, “You…You don’t want to make a selfish wish?”

“Nope!” Tsukasa giggled, “Mama said you should always put others before yourself!”

The Ghost boy bites his bottom lip, “Your…Mama…huh?”

“That’s right! My Mama!” Tsukasa grinned.

Hanako shook his head furiously, “Um. Okay, how about…If that isn't to your fancy, I can even grant you friendship?" Hanako forced a meek smile across his face,

Tsukasa blinked, “Friendship?”

Friendship? He could wish for friendship? Of course. Tsukasa had always wanted friends. When he was forced to entered this school, he had a small goal of making a friend or two, but it was just not meant to be.

Could he wish for friendship?

“No,” he suddenly stated, “I can’t do that. I don’t want to force somebody to be my friend! I want people to like me for me!”

Hanako was quiet, gazing at him with a thoughtful smile.

Tsukasa’s desire for friendship was a real one, and strong one. But after how his classmates had treated him today...Tsukasa didn't want to become friends with anybody who would hurt him or anybody else like that!

There was Kane-san thought! Maybe he will approach Kane-san with the offer of friendship!

"I don't want to wish for anything," he chimed loudly, "I’m sorry, Hanako-kun! But, honestly, I think I would just like to be left alone. Ghost boy or not…"

Hanako jerked in surprise, something passed across his face. He quickly stepped up to Tsukasa, grabbing him by the shoulder and forcefully turning him. Hanako almost looked desperate?

“What-what about love?” he squealed out hopefully, “I can, um, grant you a wish to find that special somebody that makes your heart flutter?"

Hanako's face was so close to Tsukasa. Their noses were almost touching, and as Hanako spoke the word about Tsukasa’s heart, Hanako raised a hand and hovered his fingers directly over Tsukasa’s chest. Hanako gulped thickly, worriedly almost? And lightly pressed his hand against Tsukasa’s chest, feeling his heart beat with wide, glassy-eyes.

"Don't you want to experience the meaning of love? I can help you find your soulmate!"

Tsukasa stared, “Hanako-kun, you’re making me feel uncomfortable.”

“Uncomfortable?” Hanako repeated softly, before realizing what he said. He immediately dropped his hands, stepping away from Tsukasa with a sheepish smile, “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”

Tsukasa nodded once, “Why are you so desperate to grant me a wish? Is there a catch?”

“What? Of course not!” Hanako abruptly said afterward.

Tsukasa narrowed his eyes suspiciously, “I…don’t believe you…”

Hanako bristled, eyes widened so much. He quickly began to wave his arms around, “I’m serious! I’m not up to anything! I-I’m a mystery, this is what I do! I have to grant a wish for the person who summoned me, is all!”

The other boy stared up into Hanako face, Tsukasa frowned deeply to himself. His finger pressed harshly into his own chin, could he believe Hanako? Even if he apologized for what he did, Tsukasa still found him a little creepy…

“Hanako-kun…” he began, the spirit slowly leaning inward, “You’re a weirdo!”

Hanako’s large eyes blinked in shock. His jaw became slack, hanging widely, “I…excuse me?”

“You are such a weirdo!” Tsukasa repeated, jamming a finger into Hanako’s chest, “But that’s alright! Cause Kana said I’m a nerd!”

“Oh,” Hanako’s lips trembled, splitting into a wide smile. Laughter bubbled up his throat, “Thanks, I’m a weirdo, am I?”

Tsukasa grinned widely, nodding his head with glee. He giggled more, enjoying that he was able to make another person laugh, even if that person was a ghost!

Hanako laughed loudly, his head flung backward, "Man! It's been so long since a human made me laugh like this! It’s nice.”

“You don’t talk to many people?” Tsukasa asked curiously.

“Not many people are able to summon me,” Hanako answered softly, smiling gently at him, “The last time was years ago.”

Tsukasa made a soft sound from the back of his throat, “Ohhhh, why not?”

“It is just how it is,” the other says quietly, “Are you sure you don’t have a wish? It can be anything at all! Even the smallest of things~”

The shorter boy tilted his head in thought, a wish? Tsukasa had never thought he would be able to make a wish! And that somebody would even be able to grant it! Hanako of the toilet was offering that!

Tsukasa couldn’t help but wonder, if Hanako would be able to cure him? He sighed at that thought, but still smiled, what a selfish wish that would be. To live longer then what God had given him. He couldn’t do that, no-no, that was a big nope!

“Sorry~” he sang out.

Hanako sighed deeply, looking rather disappointed, “Well, maybe you’ll come up with something later? Tsukasa-kun, perhaps you just need time?”

Tsukasa simply smiled. He couldn’t wait to tell Kana about this!

Later that day, when he was leaving with Miya and Kana, Tsukasa would look back at Kamome Gakuen. He would see Hanako sitting at the very top of the bell tower, overlooking the courtyard with an expression void of emotion.

How very odd.

~#~#~#~#~#~

“You’re lying.”

“I’m not lying!” Tsukasa whined, grabbing onto his elder sister, “I’m not! You believe me, right Miya!”

Miya smiled sweetly, “Of course, Tsu. It sounds like such a lovely dream.”

“Dream?” Tsukasa gasped, his jaw slack widely, “It wasn’t a dream! It was real! I met him! Hanako-kun of the toilet! He is real!”

Kana sent him a dry look, “Hanako-kun? See, now I know it’s made up. Hanako is a girl. She haunts the bathroom in schools. She is always in red, and is never-ever a guy.”

Tsukasa whined deeply, flopping across the coach, “But Kana! He is real!”

Miya chuckled, “Tsu, the folktale of Hanako-san has been around for years. Hanako-san has always been a girl. Hanako-san is normally young female between the ages of 10-18 years old. She is always in a school and never a college,” she said gently, “The story changes on her death, sometimes she killed herself in the girl’s bathroom, other times she was murdered by a teacher, or accidently murdered by a bunch of bullies.”

Tsukasa prompted himself up onto his hands, “Murdered?” he repeated, his face scrunching up with a shudder, “What type of person would murder somebody?”

“The worst,” Kana shrugged, leaning back against the cushions, “Hanako-san is always in red too.”

Tsukasa gasped, “Hanako-kun was in red! So it must be true! He wore an redlined gakuran, with a matching cap!” he giggled, reaching to his messy dark hair, “What is Hanako-san always wearing?”

Kana tilted her head in thought, “Well, Hanako-san in the story is always wearing the school uniform. If she’s young, she is wearing the red suspender school dress with a frilly collar shirt, if she’s  older, she’s wearing an bolero uniform or even the normal sailor uniform. She’s always changing different uniforms to fit in with the origin of that particular story.” She explained, rubbing her chin while looking down at the game board on the table, “The Hanako-san story Kamome Gakuen has is the red suspender dress, but with a red sweater added. Not a guy, and definitely not a guy in a gakuran uniform.”

With a smirk, Kana reached forward to slam her hand onto the button. As she does so, she moved her small character piece across the board, “Ohhhh! I got a curse card!” she said, looking between the two, “I wonder who it will affect~”

Tsukasa twitched, he whined deeply, “Don’t Kana! I only have seven points left!”

“To bad!” Kana snickered.

The younger sibling groaned deeply. He reached to the ‘cursed stack’ and shyly took the top card. Wearily, he peered at it while chewing his bottom lip.

“Quick time action! You have ten seconds to decide!” he began, watching as Miya pressed the timer, “A girl has just been hit by a passing car! What do you do!”

Tsukasa’s eyes widened, “What?! What am I supposed to do? Miyaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”

“No!” Kana huffed, sticking a finger into his face, “No cheating! You have to pick your action yourself!”

Tsukasa pouted, “Fineeeeee!” he sighed deeply, looking down at the card. There was a small drawing of an upset girl in a pink dress on it, “Ummm…I…I, Oh!, I pray to God for help!”

The boy then reached towards the blue stack of cards, snatching the top card nervously. He slowly peeked through a single eye, looking at the card, immediately his face relaxed and the brightest grin ripped across his face. His eyes sparkled and shimmered with eagerness!

“Ha!” he cheered in victory, whipping the card around to show his sisters, “God hears my plea! And sends me an angel!”

“An Angel?!” Kana gapped, “Really Tsu-Tsu?”

Miya giggled, “That’s not all Kana. It says when God has heard the player’s plea, the curse is flipped and the highest amount of points is taken from the person who originally sent the curse…it seems you have lost 35 points, my dear.”

Kana pouted, “Ugh! Tsu-Tsu, your luck is never far!”

The boy shrugged innocently, “Yeah, but it goes round,” he hummed sweetly, “There is always bad luck following. No matter if the good luck was something tiny, the bad luck will always follow~”

“You don’t really believe that, do you?” Kana asked, raising an eyebrow, “It’s not real, you know that right?”

Tsukasa doesn’t answer, he just shrugged. He pulled at the thick, whale-printed blanket around himself, and played with his fluffy sea-patterned socks. An heavy sensation appearing in the pit of his stomach, that made him frown. Frown so deeply that his cheeks hurt.

~#~#~#~#~

Skipping along the pavement, careful not to step on a crack and break his Mama’s back, Tsukasa hummed a quiet melody to himself. Hanako had told him he had a week to decide…decide on a wish?

He doesn’t need a wish. His life was pretty complete as it was. What else could he ask for?

Tsukasa had a loving and caring family. His Mama was always there to help him, he had two older sisters, and even a kitty cat that was his best friend. Sure, he would have liked friends, and maybe a boyfriend someday! But he was happy with the little life he has been given! God had been kind to him!

Well, as kind as one could be! Tsukasa wasn’t sure why he was so sick, why it spread through his body attacked his lungs and brain so much! But despite all that, he was happy. Happy as somebody like himself could be!

The boy tilted his head back to watch the clouds, grinning as he noticed one looked almost like a cat! He giggled to himself, noticing it was shaped very close to Hookfang! He baby! The sound of scratching gained his attention quickly, and Tsukasa made a curious ‘oh’ upon seeing two squirrel racing up a tree – looking like one was chasing the other! Ah, what a lovely morning!

“You’re certainly in a good mood this morning,” Miya chimed, stepping up next to him and handing him his orange juice.

Tsukasa ‘ooo’ as he took the juice, happily shoving the straw in and beginning to drink it. He smiled up at her, grinning even wider then before, “Yup! I feel gre-at! Mama’s started me on a new medication, I think it’s working!”

“That’s good,” Miya chuckled, running her hand through his unkept hair, “You should take more care of your hair! It always looks like bed hair!”

Tsukasa laughed loudly, “Bed hair? It’s that bad, Miya!”

“Tsu, you’re starting to truly look like a grizzly bear!” Miya teased, playing with his hair and making Tsukasa keen. He leaned into her, allowing her to play with his hair more, he didn’t know why but he truly enjoyed it, “I think we should get it cut?”

“Grizzly bear~” he sang out, eyes twirling to look across the street. He smiled widely and waved wildly, “Kana!”

Kana stepped out of the store, she held a small white back in her hands. She could see the two across the street, and waved in return. She came stepped up to the road side, her head twirling side to side, checking to make sure the road was clear. Kana then pushed off the pavement, beginning to cross the street with an unimpressed expression that would soon morph into something very different.

The sound of wheels screeching. It snapped through the air like thunder, hitting every single ear in range. The metal beast jerked, swerving to the left as it vastly approached. Strong, and powerful vibrations burned across the ground, running up Tsukasa’s legs. The car was moving to quickly, like a bullet along the road.

Kana’s head turned slowly, her body becoming still in the middle of the road. The scream that tore through the air made Tsukasa dizzy. He would never forget it. Never forget…never…

One moment Kana was sitting with him, laughing and playing board games and the next? The next moment, his sister was strapped up to many machines in a bed of white.

Why? Why was this happening?

Why was God trying to take his sister?

Tsukasa sniffled, edging closer to her hospital bed. He slowly reached as trembling hand out, and wrapped it around her small hand.

“K-Kana?” he called, whimpering when he got no reply, “Kana, please wake up…please…”

“Why….?”

The continuous beeping of the machine made his eyes bleed.

~#~#~#~#~

Running through the corridors, Tsukasa panted so deeply his chest hurt. Yelping loudly, Tsukasa tumbled through the air, landing very painfully on his head with a loud sickening thud.

“Owie,” he hiccupped, sitting up straight. He rubbed the back of his neck.

He held his head between his knees, hissing deeply as he tried to rub the pain away. It was only when his arms began to prickle with even more pain, did Tsukasa uncoil himself. Immediately his arm flared with a sharp pain, coursing him to squeal loudly. He jerked backward, yanking his arms close to himself and accidently catching his knee with his chin. This only coursed his skin the flare up with even more pain. Inhaling sharply, Tsukasa crushed his teeth together, his eyes narrowing down at his feet.

“Pull-Pull it together Tsukasa,” he hissed to himself, “Y-You don’t have time for this!”

Tsukasa inhaled sharply, forcing himself back onto up onto his feet. His legs almost buckled underneath him, almost sending him crashing back to the ground, however he was able to catch himself with a careful hand. Tsukasa ran a hand across his face, pressing them sharply into his face until all he saw was the midnight sky. He sniffled, the beeping of his monitor filling his ears, but he didn’t care.

Once he stayed still for a few more seconds, Tsukasa ran onward. He forced himself to continue on, turning the corner and pushing the door open. His eyes zooning on the figure standing up against the window, seeming to be talking with pink sock-bunny-puppets? However, as Tsukasa burst into the bathroom, the boy twirled his head in surprise.

“Tsu-“

“Hanako-kun!” Tsukasa sobbed, glittering tears streaming down his face. He throw himself at the Ghost, arms stretched out and clenching onto the boy, “Hanako-kun!”

Hanako’s eyes widened, and he barely caught Tsukasa. He stumbled back, but thankfully the window sill was behind him, so he only really ended up sitting on the sill. He blinked down at the crying boy in his arms, his arms twitching with the urge to hold on and never let go.

“Um…what’s wrong?” he asked quietly, “Tsukasa-kun, why are you crying?”

Tsukasa huffed for breathe, struggling to breathe. He flung his head up to look at Hanako in the face, his face swollen pink from the tears, “You have to help! Hanako-kun! You have too! My sister! Kana! She-she, she was hit! Hit by a car, a hit and run – and-and-and-“ he struggled to speak.

“Calm down,” Hanako said softly, raising a hand to whipping the tears away with a gentle hand, “Breathe Tsukasa-kun, I can’t help unless you breathe.”

Tsukasa nodded, sniffling deeply, “Yes-yes! I…” he breathed in sharply, trying harshly to calm himself, “My sister, my sister, Kana, she was in an accident. She-she, she’s in intensive care! A-And she might not wake up!”

“I want to make a wish!”

Hanako’s eyes widened once again, looking like they would seriously fall out of his eye sockets, “You…You want to make a wish?...I…let me, um, Tsukasa-kun you want to make a wish for…her? Kana-san?” he asked awkwardly, slowly tilting his head in astonishment.

Like a kitten, Tsukasa jerked back and rubbed his face with both hands. He tried to stop the tears but only ended up crying harder.

“Yes!” he squawked, “I want my sister! I want Kana! I want to make a wish!”

Hanako flinched, he looked away briefly, “What type of wish? You-You gotta be more specific.”

“I want…” Tsukasa paused, inhaling sharply, “I wish that Kana had never been hit! Had never been the victim of-of the hit and run!”

The Ghost boy leant forward, taking Tsukasa’s face with both hands. He forced the shorter boy to look at him in the face, a serious expression appearing across his face, “Are you absolutely sure about this wish? You want to wish for Kana-san to be alright? To be unharmed, are you sure?”

“YES!” Tsukasa roared, “I want my sister to be safe!”

Something slithered across Hanako’s face, as soon as it appeared, it disappeared. He clicked his tongue and straightened himself, his eyes sparkled was a warm glow. The light of the setting sun behind him highlighted his face, bathing him warm gold and orange. Hanako bowed his head, a tender smile spreading across his lips.

“I understand,” he says gently, “It is done.”

Tsukasa blinked innocently with his swollen eyes, “I-I…what do you mean? It is done…?”

“I mean…it’s done, Tsukasa-kun,” Hanako hummed wistfully, sitting back onto the window sill, “Your…sister, Kana-san, she is safe and sound at…home. She’s probably just about to wake up from a horrible nightmare, now in fact.”

Tsukasa sniffed, whipping his face with his sleeves, “R-Really? Kana is…”

“Fine,” Hanako nodded, “Kana-san is completely fine now.”

The other boy stared blankly, bewildered. Tears continued to trail down his round cheeks, and a shaky breathe ran up his throat. He couldn’t believe it…just like that? Just like that, Hanako had fulfilled his wish?

Just like that Kana was safe again? She was no longer in that hospital bed, looking like a doll with all those wires hooked up to her. She looked scary like that. Tsukasa would never forget that. No matter how many times he closed his eyes, he would always see that.

“Tsukasa-kun, there is something else you need to know,” Hanako spoke suddenly, his voice dancing around Tsukasa and drawing him out of his thoughts. He smiled sweetly, way too sweet and kind compared to all the other smiles Tsukasa had witnessed from the boy.

Tsukasa swallowed thickly, he took a step back wearily, “What am I supposed to know?”

"I need a payment.”

The other boy was quiet, just staring back at Hanako, “You never mentioned a payment before.”

Hanako lowered his face, scratching at his cheek, “Honestly? I was worried it would scare you off…I don’t grant wishes for free. Everything requires a payment. Especially when it is a wish like the one you asked for…I wish I could have done it for free…”

“Come on, it can't be that much of a surprise?!" he chimed, leaping backward and sitting on the back of his toilet. He crossed his legs, and leant back, putting a finger to his cheek, “What’s with that face!”

Tsukasa made a face at him, finally drying his eyes. He snorted, “Of course.”

"Anytime you elicit services from a Ghost, such as me, you have to pay a price! Should you ever desire something beyond humanity, and soul, a larger fee is required,” Hanako explained helplessly, shrugging his arms out casually.

Tsukasa looked down thoughtfully, biting at his bottom lip, “What type of wish was mine? You saved my sister, Kane…I…I’m guessing that will be a big payment?” he flung his head up soon afterward, his eyes wide, “What is it  you want?!”

"Yup!" Hanako sang, winking teasingly, "You're wish was on an all new level!"

"What do you want then?" Tsukasa pouted, "Food? Money?"

He doesn't have anything really desirable. What could a spirit as powerful as Hanako want? Suddenly Tsukasa jerked upward in a bubbling fear. Could Hanako want his soul? Did the Ghost boy want to eat his soul!

Or was Tsukasa expected to give up his first born child? Like in the movies? Wait, what if he never have children?

"No, no," Hanako said, "Those things are all on a humanity level. Your wish was beyond that."

Colour draining from Tsukasa’s face, his hands slowly raised to cup his cheek. His legs finally slid out from underneath him, and he fell to his knees with his eyes becoming wide, and round with shock.

"Oh my gosh…you want my soul! Don't you! You want to eat my soul!" he gasped out.

Hanako hummed deeply. He approached Tsukasa, and crouched down directly in front of him. He propped his elbow up onto his knee, pressing his fist into his cheek, "Your soul? Ah, now you're thinking probably! Sure, but I'm not that evil! I'm nice enough to give you an opportunity to save your soul!"

"What do you mean…?" he meekly asked.

Hanako grinned widely, reaching out to pat Tsukasa on the cheek, "I'll have you pay me back with your body!"

"You're a second year as of now, so you have two more years to work off your debt!" Hanako purred out. His eyes glowing rather beautifully, and if Tsukasa wasn't so terrified by the spirits words, he probably would have become lost within them.

Tsukasa frowned deeply, “What if I don’t work of my dept? Will you kill Kana?”

“God no!” Hanako chimed, “I'll eat your soul!"

“Oh…” the other boy mumbled, rubbing his hands together in thought.

That was too bad. He would just have to work hard to work of his dept. Tsukasa honestly didn’t care what happened to him! As long as his precious family was safe!

Awkwardly, he raised a hand and pressed it to the side of his head. He could feel a migraine coming on. This was not what he thought his day would go when he woke up this morning.

“Fine!” Tsukasa snapped loudly, “Fine! You win! As long as Kana is safe, and alright! I will do what you want!”

Hanako was quiet, a strange glint glimmering through his large amber eyes. A kind, gentle smile appearing across his imp-face. He nodded once, with a pat to Tsukasa’s cheek.

“That-a-boy.”

‘Binding us together is the quickest and easiest way to keep an eye on you…’