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A silent breeze passes by, with the sound of the screeching chalk against the board; saving Kou's ears from ringing, the room too quiet from the usual sound of students chattering, of nii-chan and Tiara talking about something. His gaze flittered by the occupant next to him— too quiet, a pout adorning his lips. Formed into a childish pucker, honest eyes staring right through him and the blond winced.
"What a weirdo."
Ah, the usual insults. It's as if he was real— looking at him with his harpoon stare that just makes his breath hitch (how is his eyes so beautiful?).
"Honestly, you're a little unfair."
Kou mutters, out of words. Nothing in his storage of insults for him to use at the moment, deciding to just strip his gaze away from his acquaintance with furrowed brows. The detention room was silent— save for Mitsuba's constant foot tapping, and the screeching of chalk all while he draw on his little board. It wasn't as if it's all Kou's fault, no. Who wouldn't scream in the middle of the classroom, pointing at their supposed to be dead-and-ghost classmate? This is just unreasonable, why won't they believe him?
“How so? It was you who got us on this mess in the first place.”
There's a pause, and suddenly. He can feel Mitsuba's breathe against the skin of his cheeks— it was warm. Unlike from when he'd latch on him, hold so cold. It rattled the blond's mind— movemovemove— a refrain in his head. Head cocking to the side to peek at the pinkhaired lad from the corner of his eyes.
“W- why don't you move first? Don't you know about personal space?”
“Says the one who's near to stripping me off of my clothes earlier.”
Kou's face blooms into a pretty shade of red— a snicker reaching his ears while all he could do is groan. Mitsuba sure hits people with his words, right where it hurts. The blue eyed lad's pretty bitter about it, honestly. He throws insult at him whenever he gets the chance, but when it was the blond who insults the latter— it would always (usual happening, really) backfire and he'd be the one who'll be grumpy about it.
It was as if Mitsuba is still Mitsuba. Is it really because of his wish being granted, or something? Kou doesn't know, and it's confusing him up to the point where he just wants to go home and sulk on the corner of his and Teru-nii's room.
“Hey, quit it—” it was all but a light peck— the warmth of Mitsuba's lips seeping on his feverish skin. The blond careens out of his chair in frantic haste, a hand perching itself onto his cheeks as if it's been burnt. Is Mitsuba playing a prank on him, or something?
Knowing Mitsuba (the cocky little shit) he tends to do things that annoys Kou, and knowing he's usually up to something just to spite the blond haired lad— does he really love to aggravate him that even he does this? That's just really unfair. And it makes Kou's heart hurt, for some reason.
“W- huh? What?” perplexed noises left his lips— face turning even more red even as he will it to cool down— only finding it futile when Mitsuba stands up from his chair with that serious look on his face. “What? I didn't do anything,” he feigns, turning away and whistling a tune Kou familiarly knows as their school anthem.
“C'mon, detention hours are done. The others are probably waiting by the roof top. Don't wanna be late, right?”
Kou nods, a muttered yes while his mind ran a hundred miles per second— racking his brain and asking himself repeatedly; My chest hurts, it feels constricted, I can't breathe, I'm not in love.
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.
𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲
𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰
𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧,
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲. 𝐈𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧'𝐭
𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.
_ _ _
Kou should've known. That all of this is a fluke— recently finding out, made by mixed paint and brush strokes, coming into life and trapping him in it just to torment.
“Why don't we stay here?”
Mitsuba's voice rang; and Kou stared at him with eyes as wide as saucers— bruised lips trembling from in between his teeth. “This way, I'm human, and so are you.” The stude— no, rumoured wonder circles Kou, looking at him with those sorrowful orbs full of longing and Kou's heart, hurts.
“Let's pretend that I'm still the Mitsuba that you knew, the Mitsuba with memories, the Mitsuba who remembers,”
“The Mitsuba you remember.”
The jingle of his raiteijou reached his ears— body moving on impulse to attack; “I'll make you open your eyes, We're getting out of here!” A hit sending him skidding back and landing in a heap— coughing out blood that gathers on the back of his throat.
“Don't be ridiculous!” Kou crouches up, placing a trembling palm on the floor to push himself up further. Scrutinizing Mitsuba's shaking frame— backing away—;
“It doesn't matter if it's fake!”
“Either way, your wish and my wish both—
Can't come true!!”
𝐖𝐡𝐲? 𝐖𝐡𝐲? 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭
𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞!
𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐦𝐞.
𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐬;
𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬
𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞.
He knows, Kou knows— but still, but still—!
‘Find a chance,’ he shoom the dizziness as well as the thoughts out of his head. The grip on the ancient relic tightening, ricocheting himself briskly and rounding behind the apparition's back. “Got you!”
A hit— and then he found himself on the ground with mountains of debris surrounding his heaving form.
“Hey,” Mitsuba's voice rang on his ears— shaky and a little bit too high pitched “Should we stop now?”
“You're so weak. You're gonna get us out of here? Acting so high and mighty!”
𝐀𝐡, 𝐦𝐲 𝐟𝐚𝐬𝐭-𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭
𝐖𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞.
“Haven't you been listening?” he groaned, swiftly back up on his feet. A hand grabbing the latter's wrist, eyes boring into his. Ocean blue met roseate— clashing, and Kou can see how his gaze went from focused to unfocused, looking at everything but his own.
“Your wish won't be granted on a fake world. Because you don't want to become Mitsuba.”
“You wanted to become a human in the real world, didn't you?!”
𝐏𝐮𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨
𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠
𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝. 𝐈
𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐭.
𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨
𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝
𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭'𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐝?
“If that's what you really want, then I'll make it come true on the real world.”
“So... let's go back, Mitsuba!”
𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧
𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐲
𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬.
After the syllables left his lips, he was suddenly looking off to the side— cheeks stinging, the corner of his eyes watering from the pain. Slowly so, his gaze landed back into the shorter— with baited breath, looking at him with those astral eyes that flickers agonizingly— longing for something so unreal; like all of this. His warmth, his beating heart, the ragged breath that left him— it wasn't true. A fallacy made by nothing but a wonder's brush filled with feelings of want and resolute.
“You don't understand at all!”
A hit, and kou's chest stings along with the burn on his skin.
“You'll make my wish come true, with what power?!”
“Admit it's impossible, tell me my wish can't ever come true!”
“Tell me a ghost can never be human!”
“Because after all, there's nothing anyone can do.”
“Even if it's only in this world. Stay by my side,”
𝚂𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢, 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚢, 𝚛𝚞𝚗 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚢.
“Why am I the only one?” the hurt in his voice is palpable, almost as if Kou can almost taste it.
𝚈𝚘𝚞 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎 𝚖𝚎.
“I wish everyone was like me.” the hopelessness reigning his shaking tone, heartbreaking, resonating with that constricting feeling he's been feeling since the first time he met the lonely, scarf wearing apparition
𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝
𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗,
“How could someone like me, be understood by a human like you!!”
𝙸𝚝'𝚕𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚛
𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.
“in that case,” the blond's hand pulls over the coat that blanketed the other securely, yanking it over his head— trying his best to shield away the tears from his view. “What about I die too?”
“So we can stay together forever?”
𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐟
𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐞,
𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐭𝐨
𝐬𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭.
𝐈 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝
𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐛𝐥𝐞.
𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭,
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐈 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐭.
He pulls the other in for a hug— holding onto him so tight, bringing his lips up to his forehead (it was warm, and it was weird. Mitsuba's always cold, so this is new.) stepping back until his feet can secure itself to nothing— falling back with a rumble of laughter escaping his throat.
𝐀𝐡, 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬
𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭;
𝐈 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫.
“Let's go back to the real world, and make it a goal to be normal together. What'cha say, Mitsuba?!”
The blistering rhythm in his ears along with the wheezing of wind past his ears made it hard for him to hear his own voice, pulling Mitsuba closer to him who sputtered incoherent nonsense, peering up at him with wide, dilated orbs.
𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲, 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲.
𝐈'𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲
𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐲𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟.
𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞
𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧,
𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈... 𝐈...
“No—! I—!”
He can feel Mitsuba's redoubtable prowess cradle their falling form, pulling him closer and placing a lingering peck to his forehead— all while smiling all too widely, as if the thought of death isn't scaring him one bit.
“I love you!”
𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞, 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞,
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧.
𝐘𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩
𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬.
𝐌𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐦𝐲 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬
𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠.
「僕じゃなくちゃ」
"𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗴𝗼𝘁𝘁𝗮 𝗯𝗲 𝗺𝗲."
𝐀𝐡, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬
𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧.
“Stay with me, forever. By my side. I'll hold onto you, evermore.”
𝐀𝐡, 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞
𝐅𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭.
“I love you, I love you too.”
𝖨𝗇 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝗅 𝗐𝗈𝗋𝗅𝖽
𝗐𝖾'𝗅𝗅 𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗍𝖾𝗇𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝖻𝖾 𝗇𝗈𝗋𝗆𝖺𝗅
𝗟𝗲𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹