Chapter Text
“Kasumi!… Wait!”
The redhead stopped and turned her head just in time to see her little sister doubled over, panting heavily. The only thing supporting her was her( ? ) hand resting on the dirty wall next to her.
“C-Could we go... slower?” Sumire asked quietly between pants, her voice barely above a whisper. “P-please?”
Kasumi sighed. She wasn’t sure that would be any better.
If it wasn’t for that wall…
She wasn’t even sure her sister would be able to stand up on her own... least of all running a marathon like she wanted.
She looked worse than expected.
Kasumi knew this was a bad idea. She had known. It was too soon.
“Sumi,” she said sternly. She was the big sister, she had to put a stop to this. “If you want to make it to the nationals you need to be in better shape-”
“ I know”
“-than that.” Kasumi continued ignoring her sister. “We have barely started the training and you are already exhausted... It would be better if we stop for now and rest-”
“No!” Sumire yelled, looking to the side, avoiding Kasumi’s gaze.
It wasn’t needed.
Even from this distance Kasumi could see the hollow dark ring of circles lining Sumire’s ( Hers? ) eyes, contrasting sharply with the pale skin underneath.
She should have stayed more time at the hospital. She had been discharged too soon.
Sighing the girl floated back-
Yes, floated. (Thinking too hard about that still gave Kasumi goosebumps) - to her sister’s side and looked down at her.
Kasumi’s ( Yes, hers ) eyes softened.
“Sumire…,” Kasumi started slowy while her sister closed her eyes and covered her( Sumire’s) ears, not wanting to hear more. “You don’t have to do this ”
But it was to no avail.
As soon as the words left her lips Sumire frantically shaked her head.
“No! I have to!” Sumire screamed, breaking Kasumi’s non-existent -not anymore- heart.
“ Why? ”
“You know why!” Sumire snapped back, quickly turning her head and glaring in Kasumi’s direction.
She knew. But she didn’t understand.
“And if you aren’t going to help me I’ll do it alone!” Sumire said at the same time she turned around and summoning energy out of nowhere broke into a sprint into the empty streets.
“Sumire!”
Kasumi swore under her breath and chased after her.
If there was one perk to being a ghost, Sumire thought, it had to be easily the ability to float.
It took mere seconds for Kasumi to catch up with her.
Noticing this she tried to quicken her pace but not only Kasumi had been right about her being exhausted, she was also able to effortlessly do the same.
So, knowing Kasumi still had some difficulty getting the hang of floating, Sumire abruptly made a dive for the alleyway opening on her left and just as she had planned Kasumi passed by the alley’s entrance, absolutely incapable of making the sharp turn.
Determined to lose her sister she took another turn and another and another and kept running as fast as she could, making her way into the network of alleyways she was lucky to find.
Soon enough Sumire was able to get rid of her overbearing sister and all she had to do now was to find a good spot to continue her training.
But she didn’t count on being stopped by crashing onto someone.
“My glasses!” someone yelled at the same time Sumire hit something with her hand sending it flying while trying to grab onto something.
The force of the impact made both Sumire and the stranger fall backwards but recovering quicker Sumire hurried to raise up and offer her hand to help the other person stand up only to find another girl, curled in a ball, shaking from head to toes.
Oh no.
“Are you-”
“GO AWAY,” the girl screamed clearly in panic, covering her head.
Worried that the girl had hurt her head during the fall Sumire, who thankfully knew some basic first aid, scrambled to help her but taking a good look at the girl was turning to be a really difficult task with the panicked girl fighting all of Sumire’s attempts to look at her face.
“If you could jus t….. let me take a look!” Sumire huffed, forcing the girl’s arms down and out of the way of her face.
“Futaba? Where are you?”
It was a male’s voice getting close but Sumire ignored it in favor of finally getting the chance to look over the other girl. Yet, the way the girl was looking back at her, with her eyes open as big as plates was making her uneasy.
She was kind of cute tho.
Until another fit of screams started.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” the not-so-panicked-anymore girl screeched, too busy staring at Sumire to keep fighting her. “WHAT ARE YOU?”
What?
“Excuse me?!” Sumire exclaimed, slightly offended. Still she was relieved to see the girl seemed alright.
“Futaba? Are you purposely hiding from me again-... oh ”
Sumire turned following the direction of the voice and saw a blue haired man looking with concern at the scene the two girls were making.
At first glance Sumire couldn’t shake the feeling there was something off about him and being unable to pinpoint exactly what it was was beginning to bother her. Until it dawned on her.
And now it was Sumire’s turn to scream.
The man was floating.
“Are you a ghost?!” Sumire shrieked.
A part of her felt like she was overreacting and that by now she should be accustomed to ghosts but then again another part of her reasoned, besides Kasumi she had never met another ghost in her life.
This was new.
And apparently it was the same for him if the surprised look he directed her way was anything to go by.
“Can you see me?!,” he asked furrowing his brow and gasping when Sumire nodded. “This is magnificent! Such an extraordinary event seldom happens. I must paint this!” the man declared passionately.
“INARI NOT NOW” the girl whose arms Sumire was still holding chided in before shaking her arms to draw back Sumire's attention “Hey! How do you even know he is a ghost? He may be pale and sickly and weird but-”
“Sickly?” The man gasped, offended. “Futaba! Could you please stop-”
The man suddenly stopped, his voice growing quieter while his gaze drifted somewhere behind Sumire. She wanted to turn to search for whatever had caused such a reaction in a ghost but the girl once again shaked her hands, this time freeing herself from Sumire’s hold and pointed an accusatory finger in Sumire’s direction right in front of her face.
“You better start answering our questions!” the girl, Futaba, demanded narrowing her eyes. “What are you and how did you know Inari was a ghost? HOW CAN YOU EVEN SEE HIM?” sha asked, making sure to scream her last question.
“I? What?” Sumire exclaimed, confused. The urge to squirm under the girl's powerful glare was hard to ignore. “He is floating!”
“So are you,” the man named Inari kindly pointed out.
“Yes,so am-WAIT WHAT?”
Oh no.
Sumire quickly looked down to confirm her fear.
Just as the man had said she was floating and now she also knew what had caught the man’s attention....
...what Sumire would find if she were to turn her head back...
She didn’t even know when it had happened.
Behind her, sprawled on the alley’s grounds, was her body. Motionless.
At some point during the fall she had abandoned her body.
“How in the fuck do you do that?!” Futaba asked, clearly following Sumire’s gaze. “Oh, shit, wait...DID YOU JUST DIE?!” The girl exclaimed, alarmed.
Completely ignoring the girl in favor of going to check her body, Sumire floated back and knelt besides her body.
“Shit Shit SHIT,” she cursed when she tried to grab one of the body’s arms only for her ghost hand to phase right through it.
She tried again and again, each time with a different part of her body but not matter how many times she tried the outcome was always the same.
She couldn’t return to her body.
“ Shit, ” Sumire cursed once again trying to bite down the tears that were threatening to come out.
She could only hope she was imagining the cold she felt each time she tried.
“Are you... okay?,” Futaba asked tentatively. At some point she had crawled next to Sumire and was looking at her with concern in her eyes.
Sumire shaked her head.
She wasn’t okay.
How much time has her body been like that?
How come she hadn’t noticed it?
How much time had she left?
If Kasumi were there... Why did she have to run away from her?
If she hadn't been so stubborn…
If she had listened to her sister…
If she hadn’t tried to-
At last the sob Sumire had tried so hard to contain escaped her lips and Sumire covered her mouth, her body shaking from the sobs she was trying to contain.
“ Shit ,” the girl next to her muttered panicked. “Hey! Don’t cry!” the girl tried to comfort her, getting closer and awkwardly patting the empty air besides Sumire’s shoulder. “I know dying isn’t poggers-”
“P-poggers?” Sumire asked in disbeling, confusedly staring at the girl. The nervous girl’s rambling effectively drawing Sumire’s attention from the mess she had at hands.
“I MEAN it sucks?! Shit, no...living is...uhh, Inari?” she hissed, throwing an urgin look in the man’s direction ”You are the expert here!” she hissed, throwing and urging in the man’s direction
“I believe it would be best if you calmed down first,” The man? ghost?, Inari , across from Sumire said gravely. “You probably aren’t aware but we, spirits, once we die cannot allow ourselves to lose sight of our-”
“ I’m not dead ,” Sumire blurted out covering her mouth to keep more sobs from escaping.
“WHAT? ”
“What?!”
Two sets of confused eyes turned to look at her, expecting some kind of explanation and Sumire felt like she owed them that at least but...she couldn’t. Right now she was supposed to find a solution to this mess before it was too late and she didn’t know what to do and all she wanted was for her sister to be there because unlike Sumire, Kasumi was brilliant and clever and always knew what to do
But now she was alone.
Realizing Sumire wasn’t going to elaborate the girl sighed.
“Look, I have no idea what’s going on and the face of a kicked puppy you just did tells me you don’t either,” she prattled on and somewhere between all her pressing thoughts Sumire was starting to realize Futaba wasn’t very good with social interactions. “But... if there's any way we can help you just tell us and we will!”
“I must agree with Futaba on this,” the blue haired man continued. “We have barely met, and are less than mere acquaintances but I can assure you can count with us for anything,” he declared without a hint of a doubt.
Despite the dire situation she was in, Sumire couldn’t help but give a small smile, or the best approximation of one she could muster at the moment considering the circumstances, at the easy way these strangers offered her their help.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath trying to calm down.
“T-thank you, guys. I-I really appreciate it…,” she quavered, tremors still rocking her body. “B-but the only one who can help me right now is my sister...”
“Where is she?” Futaba chimed it, quickly pulling out her cellphone. “If you give me her phone number I bet I can locate her in less than 5 seconds, tops 10”
“Uhh...actually.... She doesn't. Have any. She is... also a-”
As in cue, a familiar voice sounded.
“Sumire, please! Answer me!” Kasumi pleaded from somewhere nearby. “I'm sorry! It wasn’t my intention to upset you!”
The moment Sumire heard those words, she perked up and raised to her feet.
“Kasumi?”
Futaba yelped before raising her arms and covering her eyes. “Wait! I need-”
Sumire once again ignored her and gulping down any guilt she was feeling (it wasn’t time for any of that), she called for her sister again.
“Kasumi! I’m here! Come quick!” Sumire screamed desesperately. “ I need you! ”
In a matter of seconds Kasumi made her way towards Sumire practically engulfing her in a hug now that she could.
Sumire couldn’t help but sink into her sister’s embrace, finally letting the sobs come..
God, how much had she missed her sister’s hugs.
“Sumire? What happened?” Kasumi asked, loosening the embrace to glance at the body on the floor.
Sumire shaked her head .
“I don’t know! I was running when I crashed with this girl and,” Sumire half cried half explained at best as she could into her sister’s chest. “Kasumi! I didn’t even notice! I swear. I don't know how long it has been. I can’t return!”
“Shh, shh. Calm down.” Kasumi hushed into Sumire’s ear at the same time she ran her hand through Sumire’s hair, calming her like she always did. “It can’t be long. I’ve been searching for you for less than 10 minutes.”
“If you really want to know it’s only been 5 minutes since you crashed into me,” Futaba mumbled from the spot where she was curled into a ball. Again .
Kasumi who apparently hadn’t noticed they weren’t alone flinched, letting go of Sumire when someone else answered their conversation.
“Futaba, there’s no need for that. You can look,“ Inari called. “It’s just another ghost”
“Sumi...? Who are these people?” Kasumi asked, as surprised as Sumire was meeting another ghost.
Another ghost?
When Futaba looked up and opened her eyes she had to rub her eyes thinking she was seeing double.
“They are...friends? I guess? They helped me calm down when I realized…”
There, floating in front of her, besides Yusuke, were two identical ghosts. Red headed girls, both of them. Twins , her mind helpfully supplied
Or clone shadows, her mind also unhelpfully supplied
“We don’t have time for this,” one of the ghosts sighed. The tone of her voice slightly different to the one she had been hearing for the last couple of minutes. “We have to hurry.”
The other ghost (Sumire?) quickly nodded.
Futaba who had kept up with their conversation even with her eyes closed still didn’t understand what they were talking about.
“Hurry? For what?” she asked curious.
“If one of us doesn’t get inside the body soon, it will die.” The ghost, whose voice Futaba didn’t recognize answered.
“Kasumi-” The other ghost, this time sounding like the girl who Futaba had crashed into but more calmed, started warning but Futaba interrupted her.
“Are you perhaps...talking about possession?” Futaba asked, having a hard time processing this new info.
“I... think?” the second ghost, Sumire, said insecure.
“Oh, okay,” Futaba said as calmly as she could given the circumstances. It wasn’t calm enough. “Possess a body! Easy peasy!”
Futaba stared for a lack of better reaction.
Only really strong ghosts could possess bodies and Futaba wasn’t one to judge, especially going solely by appearances, but she highly doubted the girls were strong enough.
“And who’s going to possess it?” Yusuke suddenly asked intrigued and Futaba couldn’t help but gape at him.
“What do you mean ‘Who’s going to possess it’, Inari! Who else you think-”
“Kasumi will” Sumire simply said and now Futaba was gaping at her.
“Incredible!” was what Yusuke exclaimed and Futaba couldn’t understand how Yusuke didn’t feel even a little perturbed by that.
“It’s not as hard as it sounds!” Sumire said reassuringly and yet Futaba couldn’t help but notice a strange tint in her voice. “Well, at least not for Kasumi,” Sumire felt the need to amend.
The ghost named Kasumi frowned at that but didn’t say anything.
“She only has to...uhh, slide into it?” Sumire finished.
“What? WHAT?,” Futaba exclaimed, feeling like someone had to be the voice of reason here. She had had her fair share of strangeness in her admittedly short life but this was verging in new territory. “What do you mean-”
“Can the questions wait for later?” the other ghost, Kasumi, asked exasperated. “I’m thankful you helped my sister but time is of utmost importance and I need you to remain silent so I can concentrate”
Not waiting for any response the ghost started to close her eyes and kneel on the body, and when Futaba realized she was actually starting to fade into the body (HOLY SHIT) she stood up as quickly as she could and screamed breaking the girl’s concentration-
“NO! WAIT!”
“Futaba?” Sumire turned to look at her concerned at the same time her sister glared at her.
“I’m sorry but I really need you to-” Futaba started but Kasumi interrupted her.
“What’s your problem?!” Kasumi asked, angrily. “I already told you we don't have time for-”
“You should listen to her,” Yusuke interjected so severely it made both girls shut up and look at Futaba. “Futaba, please continue”
Futaba nodded in Yusuke’s direction and resumed her talk.
“Look! You need to reanimate the body and you are going to do it by possessing it? Got it. No objections there,” Futaba said, specifically addressing the angry sister before looking at the ground resisting the urge to squirm under the girl's wilting glare. She still wasn’t comfortable under other’s attention, much less under their disapproval. “BUT, I really really really need you to wait for me to find my glasses.”
Now it was Futaba who didn’t wait for the girl’s responses and scrambled to look around for her visor.
“Your...glasses?” Kasumi asked in disbelief but thankfully Sumire nodded following suit.
“How do they look?”, Sumire asked at the same time she started to search around the alleyway for them
“ Why?” Kasumi, still standing over the body, asked annoyed to her sister.
She looked like she was about to start the possession again but Yusuke stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder and pointing at the body on the floor with his other hand
“Because reanimating the body will be useless if it dies immediately when Futaba turns it into stone.”
“ What?”
“She is a gorgon,” Yusuke simply said and called back at Futaba ignoring Kasumi’s further questions “I think I saw your glasses next to the green trash can, Futaba”
“FOUND THEM!” Futaba called immediately, putting on her glasses and welcoming the red tint the lens gave to the world around her.
Thanks mom. She mentally added as she did every time she put them on before returning to the group.
Kasumi was staring at her as if it was the first time she was really looking at her and it would have made Futaba uncomfortable if it wasn’t for Sumire excitedly talking to her.
“Wow! They are huge!” she exclaimed before pausing “But they look nice!” she added.
“Thanks….you...uh...You can proceed now if you want,” Futaba awkwardly said, giving a thumbs up to the group.
“Allright…” Kasumi said, shaking her head before resuming the possession.
Both Futaba and Yusuke looked in fascination, unable to take their eyes away.
Slowly, taking deep breaths as Sumire had said Kasumi lowered into the body, sinking into it, sliding into it, until she finally disappeared and the body on the floor raised up, gasping for air.
“Kasumi? Is everything okay?” Sumire asked kneeling besides her body? sister?.
Ughhh this was going to be confusing.
The body/Kasumi nodded at the same time she started to slowly get up.
Admittedly she did look less pale than it did while on the floor but Futaba couldn’t help but notice the body/Kasumi was still too pale.
“Wow, shouldn’t she look… I don’t know, better?” Futaba asked worriedly. It wasn’t until the words were out that she reprimanded herself.
“This is how-” Kasumi started but Sumire interrupted her.
“She just needs time to recover!” Sumire cheerily said.
“Uhh are you su-”
Sumire didn’t give Futaba time to finish before she got right in front of her face.
“So...a gorgon?” she asked with a smile.
“Uuuuuuh…”
“And a ghost...” Kasumi added pointing at Yusuke’s form
“Not the strangest pair here,” Yusuke calmly pointed out.
“Yeah, He’s right!” Futaba yelled pointing an accusatory finger to the sisters. She wasn’t going to get sidetracked by a cute smile. “You have some explaining to do! I have never heard of ghosts sharing a body! What the eff?!”
The girls exchanged a look between the two of them clearly torn between talking or keeping to themselves.
Futaba sighed.
If only Akira were here….He knew how to talk to people…
Not her.
But she couldn’t ignore this.
She had to do something.
So Futaba took a deep breath and-
“Look, girls...uhh...I’m prolly being nosy and should mind my own business but, “ Futaba started after taking a deep breath “I know something is going on here,”
“Something it’s not quite right here…,“ she continued saying, turning to look directly at Sumire’s ghost form and Sumire once again could feel her powerful stare on her. She was a gorgon , she had to remind herself. “And clearly it is causing you a lot of troubles...if there’s someone who can help you with that it would be my friends and me.”
Sumire, who had turned away when Futaba looked at her, turned back when Kasumi tried to reach for her hand but couldn’t as it passed right throught Sumire’s ghost hand.
“Sumi...we can’t keep going like this,” Kasumi quietly whispered to her. “Not anymore”
Sumire gulped. She knew Kasumi was tired but this was the first time she had said it out loud.
“I…,” Sumire hesitated looking between Futaba, Inari and her sister.
“We have vast experience dealing with the unnatural and we won’t ever force you to do something you don’t want,” Inari added. “We only want to help you.”
“ Why? ” Sumire choked out feeling overwhelmed.
“Because it’s what we do,” Futaba said, shrugging. “We help whoever needs it because we’ve been there and we know what it’s like.”
And Sumire believed them. She knew she could trust them, she knew from the moment she had met them…. but she couldn’t.
No when there was so much she could lose and-
“ Please ,” her sister said and Kasumi never pleaded.
“Fine…,” Sumire accepted begrudgingly and she hated the hopeful look her sister threw her way.
“So… how can a gorgon and ghost help us?” she asked, turning to look at Futaba.
“Weeeell…” Futaba said stuffing her hands in her jacket’s pockets “I could probably do some research for starters but to be honest I don’t even know where to start? I have never seen or heard about something like this and I doubt Inari has.”
“Certainly I haven´t,” Inari confirmed.
“BUT,“ Futaba continued. “Our friend group is composed by vampires,” she started counting with her fingers, “An extremely op witch who could most probably help you, her demon girl-”
“A demon?” Both girls alarmingly exclaimed in unison.
“And a werewolf,” Inari felt the need to add.
“Yes, and a werewolf.” Futaba complied although she looked like she didn’t think a werewolf would be useful. “If Haru, the witch,” she clarified for the sisters “can’t help you then at least one of the others must have heard of something like whatever is happening to you both.”
“Maybe Akira has?” Inari wondered out loud.
“Or Queen?” Futaba replied. “Hell, even Grumpy-pants could have heard about something like this.”
“Grumpy pants?” Sumire asked, confused.
“Nevermind that!” Futaba said, shaking her hand and head before raising it looking determined. “The point is...If there’s someone who can help you it’s us and the only way we can do that is if you start explaining what happened”
Sumire glanced at Kasumi, who gaver and a encouraging nod, one last time before sighing.
“It all started last summer…” Sumire said. “...With an accident.”