Chapter Text
“‘Sup guys. It’s Sweet’nSour back for another episode of the Pinch of Salt ( Abbreviated to P.O.S ) series. I’ve heard the grand majority of ya loud in clear in the comments from last weeks video- You all wanna review on some old internet urban legends with some quality opinions ‘o mine on the side.”
With a thump that jostels the recording, a camcorder is set down on the top of the toilet, screen pointed at skeptical looking pinkette. She reaches over, leaning on the sink countertop as she rolls her eyes dramatically.
“I mean- I’m plenty qualified. I’ve been ‘round since the early days of this kinda crap, I’ve been on forums that were breeding grounds for these kinda things, ya know? When I was in my edgy teen years, I wrote off-beat Parfait Girl’s horror stories to stand out, thinkin’ I was hot stuff. ‘N that’s just why I know for a fact that it’s. All. Malarky.”
With the mental note to add in an irritating buzzing sound later on during post production, the pinkette gives a thumbs down to the camcorder as she blows a raspberry.
“Like- c’mon, not to be mean or anythin’- but anyone who fell for the ‘send this email to 15 people or a dead kid will show up in your house and suck out your soul’ nonsense are the same kinda suckers who fall for nigerian prince scams. It’s so obviously fake- and not even in a fun way! Buttt…for whatever reason, you guys want my thoughts on a few of ‘em, so I’ll try and keep an open mind ‘n judge ‘em for just what they are- tall tale stories that are supposed to be interestin’. So! Let’s stop screwin’ around and get into the good and bad- ter of it!”
Suppressing the urge to smile at what she perceived to be a quality pun, the pinkette was quick to move back towards the camcorder and shift it around until it fully faced the bathroom mirror, resting her hand onto a bathroom caddy.
“So- first one, right off the bad, is honestly kinda lame. It’s one y’all have probably heard like- a thousand times before. Draw a little symbol, say the name of an ‘oh so horrible’ ghost, and boom! Summon up a spirit. It’s completely unoriginal, if ya ask me, the only thing it’s got goin’ for it are the arts’ and crafts of it.”
The pinkette proceeded to pull out a bright pink mirror pen from the caddy, waving it around as it glimmered with glitter that most definitely wasn’t supposed to be getting onto mirrors. Turning from the camcorder, she began to draw on the mirror.
“So- whatcha gotta do, ‘cording to the site, is draw up a little broken heart on the bathroom mirror with a knife stabbed up on the top of it- doesn’t specify a color or anythin’ like that- and after you’ve gone and drawn the symbol you’re supposed to say the name of the spirit 3 times in a row, uninterrupted, while near the mirror.”
Turning back towards the camcorder, the pinkett huffed as she leaned against the countertop.
“Honestly, I thought the whole thing was at least a little interestin’ till I got around to readin’ the name of the spirit. It’s name, I shit you not- is-”
With a pause, the pinkette blinks, cursing under her breath as she shakes her head.
“Fuck- can’t curse on camera! God- the algorithm is so annoyin’ !”
With a sigh, a breath, and the mental reminder to edit that out later- the pinkette started again.
“Honestly, I thought it was kinda cool until I read the name of the ghost. It’s name- kid you not, is Yuri. Like- the manga genre. That’s the name of the super scary monster that’s gonna come gobble up my soul if I speak its name into the mirror real fast! Like- either the person that put together the hoax was an idiot, or they were naive, but either way it totally kills any seriousness this whole thing has. Like- just, imagine seriously settin’ all this up, sittin’ alone in your bathroom ‘n goin-”
Turning to the mirror, the pinkette threw her hands in the air, waving them around as she spoke in a mocking tone.
“Lesbian, Lesbian, Lesbian! Oh no! Now the Lesbian monster’s gonna come and get me! I’m doomed!”
Turning back towards her camcorder, the pinkette scoffed, rolling her eyes.
“It’s like- literally the opposite of scary, ya just can’t take it seriously how it is, even if you’re willin’ to look past the edgy ‘stabbed in the heart’ drawin’, the name of the monster just kinda taints the spook factor of it.”
Crossing her arms, the pinkette looked right back at the camera with an annoyed pout.
“So…for a verdict. Is the Yuri, Yuri, Yuri hoax sweet or sour? For this one, I’m gonna have to go with sour overall- with extra salt on the side for the whole out of place name for the-”
The pinkette stopped short with a yelp as the room shook, the lights beginning to flicker as she nearly lost her balance.
“What- w-what’s- is this an earthquake?! I- fuck! I’ve never been in an earthquake! What- what were you supposed to do in those?! Uhm…uhmmm…gah! C’mon Natsuki use your head!”
With a hurried glance around the room, without thinking, Natsuki jumped into her bathtub, pulled the curtain across, curled up and started mentally filing through a list of god’s she could pray too that the ceiling would not cave in onto her head and-
…and…
“...it…it stopped? That fast? I…are earthquakes…normally that fast? I always thought they were kinda…god- fuck, that was scary…I…okay- this- I’ll cut the recordin’ call up Sayori, make sure she’s good ‘n take the rest of the night off…”
With a weary chuckle, Natsuki peeled open the tub’s curtain as she began sitting up, glancing out into her bathroom.
“ ‘M sure the viewers’ll understand if I skip a day ‘cuz of na- AHHHHT THE FU- OW!”
Slipping back into the tub as she cursed under her breath, Natsuki focused back onto the mirror of her bathroom as she stilled in the tub- instinctively curling up as her eyes widened at the sight.
A ghostly looking girl had emerged from the depths of her mirror and was floating right above the sink in a white gown- her long strands of darkly purple hair flowing about, unperturbed by gravity as they lashed around the open air. Her dark, pupiless eyes bore down onto Natsuki, judgingly.
“M̶̮̅ö̵̡́r̸̝̋t̵͔̕a̵̟̅l̷͇̆”
Natsuki sat, frozen in fear as she took an unsteady breath, opening her mouth for a moment before shutting it tightly- unsure what to say. The girl affront her simply scoffed.
“H̷o̷w̸ ̸t̷y̴p̸i̸c̸a̷l̴ ̵o̵f̷ ̴m̵o̴r̴t̴a̸l̷'̵s̵.̷.̵.̷s̷u̶m̶m̸o̴n̶i̷n̸g̴ ̶m̶e̶ ̵a̵n̶d̵ ̵t̵h̶e̶n̸ ̸d̴r̷e̸a̶d̵i̸n̵g̴ ̷t̸h̶e̴ ̶o̴c̷c̶u̵r̵r̴e̸n̸c̶e̷,̸ ̷a̵s̸ ̸i̸f̸ ̶s̸o̶m̶e̶t̴h̸i̷n̷g̶ ̸s̷u̴r̷p̶r̴i̶s̶i̴n̶g̷ ̵h̵a̸p̸p̷e̴n̶e̶d̶.̸ ̸T̴r̶u̸l̶y̶,̶ ̴a̸ ̵w̷a̶s̴t̷e̶ ̵o̸f̵ ̷e̷v̷e̴r̷y̷o̷n̷e̵'̵s̸ ̷t̵i̵m̵e̵.̴..”
“...Y-yuri?”
“B̵u̴t̵ ̷w̷h̶o̷ ̷e̷l̶s̵e̷ ̵w̵o̷u̵l̸d̶ ̸y̶o̸u̴ ̷h̶a̵v̸e̶ ̴e̷x̵p̷e̴c̶t̴e̴d̵?̵ ̷H̴m̷m̷?̵” With a hum, the spirit inched closer, shaking her head. “T̷o̵ ̷t̸h̷i̴n̵k̷ ̶y̵o̴u̶ ̸b̸o̸t̶h̵e̵r̸e̵d̶ ̸m̶e̵ ̵o̵n̷l̴y̴ ̷t̶o̴ ̶a̴s̴k̸ ̴s̶u̴c̸h̷ ̷a̷s̶i̸n̷i̶n̶e̸ ̵q̴u̶e̸s̶t̴i̶o̵n̴s̵.̷.̵.̵ ̴”
Feeling her voice lodge in her throat, Natsuki instinctively attempted to crawl back- only to find the tub easily confined her in place between the wall behind her and the eldritch horror floating affront her.
“I…w-wait! I- I didn’t- uh- I-I thought the whole- summoning thing was- a-a hoax, ‘n all! I didn’t think it- i-it would- uhm-”
“T̷o̴ ̵g̴a̶i̴n̴ ̷a̸t̴ ̴t̶h̸e̵ ̵e̵x̶p̶e̷n̸s̶e̸ ̷o̶f̶ ̴o̵t̶h̷e̸r̶'̷s̸ ̴s̸e̵e̸m̶ ̸t̸o̸ ̷s̵o̴ ̸o̵f̴t̷e̸n̷ ̶b̸e̶ ̸y̷o̷u̷r̷ ̵m̶o̸s̶t̷ ̷r̶e̵l̵i̸e̶d̵ ̶u̶p̵o̸n̶ ̸w̷o̴r̴k̸ ̷e̵t̵h̷i̵c̵.̶ ̵I̶t̶'̴s̵ ̶p̶a̵t̷h̵e̵t̷i̶c̴.̷” Yuri sniffed, distastefully. “Y̷o̵u̷ ̶h̸u̴m̷a̶n̷s̵ ̶n̸e̴v̶e̶r̵ ̴d̸o̷ ̵c̵h̸a̸n̴g̵e̵,̴ ̷a̸l̷w̷a̴y̴s̵ ̸s̴o̸ ̵s̴e̵l̸f̸i̸s̶h̷ ̶a̸n̷d̴ ̴m̷a̸n̵i̶p̸u̵l̵a̸t̷i̶v̵e̸.̶.̷.̸y̴o̸u̶ ̴n̷e̴v̶e̵r̴ ̷l̵e̶a̸r̵n̴.̸”
Inching forward further, Yuri ducked her head as her upper torso curled in- arms hugging her sides for a moment- before abruptly she arched back- the dress she wore tore at the seams by her bust, revealing the abyss of her chest cavity- cracked open and writhing with tendrils that slashed and groped about, tips coated in a stained red.
“ P̶͍͐E̶̙͑R̴͚͘H̷̟͘Ā̷̪P̶̬̎S̶̤͒ ̶̹͘Į̴̚'̸͇L̶̻̋L̷̢͌ ̷̙̒G̶̭̓Ĩ̶̱V̴̻̂E̶̬͑ ̸̦̌Y̶̪̔O̵̝̾U̸̝̽ ̵̻̐T̴͈̉H̸͖͑Ē̵̬ ̶́͜R̶͙̎Ḙ̴̊S̵̠͠T̷͔̊ ̸̗̅O̸̻̓F̶̤̉ ̴̲E̶͍̋Ṫ̴̖Ḛ̷͒R̵͕̆N̴͉͒I̸̛͓T̴͖̓Ỳ̸͕ ̴̤̚T̵̫̈Ȍ̶̥ ̷̢P̵̫̿Ò̸͉Ň̵̢D̷̥̔E̸̤̓R̶̭̉ ̷̹̓T̴͜H̵̺͗A̴͓̚T̶̙ ̸̼F̷̢͒Ă̵͖C̸̻̄T̶̞̉.̶͎”
With a scream, Natsuki began to frantically shift about the tub- feeling for any conceivable way out of the situation- but of course, said way out didn’t exist. It was a tub, there were no alternative exits other than the one blocked by the encroaching eldritch horror closing in.
“N-no no no! Don’t I- I didn’t mean to do anythin’ wrong! I’m sorry! I-I-”
With no response from the entity approaching, Natsuki was only left with one choice- if she summoned whatever the hell was in front of her, couldn’t she somehow un summon it? She had to be able to!
“L-leave! B-begone- s-spirit?! I- banish..t-the?! I- f-fuck! Fuck fuck fuck! Uhm- uh- Yuri Yuri Yuri!”
Closing her eyes with a cry as the tendrils spouted from Yuri’s open chest closed in, Natsuki would mentally stop being picky and pray to each and every god she could think of off the top of her head to stop her from being a demoness’ bedtime snack.
And, to her surprise, it seemed to work.
The thrashing subsided, sending the room into silence as Natsuki slowly peered open her eyes, breathing heavily- frantically, as she looked around the dark, barren bathroom.
“...I…that…w-was that…real? It…it felt so… fuck …”
Concluding she must’ve hit her head during the earthquake, Natsuki began to shakily rise once again from the tub- only to once again yelp in surprise and fall back in upon seeing the same demonic girl make her way out the mirror- a particularly unamused scowl on her face.
“"̴T̶h̴a̵t̷.̶ ̵W̸a̶s̶ ̵v̵e̵r̸y̸.̵ ̵R̶u̸d̸e̸.̶”
With little more explanation, and with far less grace than before’s slow, methodical approach. Yuri lunged from the bathroom mirror back at Natsuki as she let out a shriek and-
“YURI YURI YURI!”
Before her very eye’s- she watched as Yuri poofed out of existence, startling Natsuki as she started with wide eyes at the space the ghost had just taken up moments prior.
In the short seconds that followed, for the third time, Yuri emerged from Natsuki’s bathroom mirror with a growl.
“ S̶t̵o̸p̸ ̷d̷o̷i̷n̶g̴ ̴t̷h̵a̸t̵ ̷y̵o̴u̶ ̴o̵b̷n̸o̷x̵i̵o̴u̶s̷ ̴l̸i̵t̴t̵l̷e̷-̶”
“Yuri Yuri Yuri!”
Again- before she could even leave the mirror, Yuri was gone.
And then back again.
“ D̸i̵d̴ ̵y̸o̴u̷ ̶n̴o̶t̸ ̷h̴e̵a̶r̶ ̵m̵e̸?̷!̴ ̷I̸-̸”
“Yuri Yuri Yuri!”
And again.
“ W̶i̵l̶l̴ ̸y̴o̶u̸ ̸n̵o̸t̵ ̷C̸E̵A̸S̶E̶?̶!̴ ̸Y̸o̵u̵ ̵o̴n̷l̷y̶ ̷m̸a̴k̷e̸ ̵t̴h̴i̸s̵-̴”
“Yuri Yuri Yuri!”
And again.
“S̶t̶o̵p̵!̸ ̵T̸h̵i̶s̵-̶”
“ Yuri Yuri Yuri!”
And again.
And again.
And again.
And…
“ Why must you draw this out so frivolously? Do you have no respect for other peoples time?”
“B-bite…” Natsuki paused, voice shaking as she yawned- though, she refused to break eye contact with the ghoul sitting atop her sink countertop, shooting her a nasty, tired glare. “-bite me…”
“ That is what I’ve been attempting to do, but you prevent me each time!”
Yuri had long since lost her luster as a horrific entity beyond beneath- apparently, after several hours of attempted devourorings- even supernatural entities grew tired. Her chest had closed up, forming into a long, black scar running down from her chest to her lower abdomen, her hair no longer flowed around sporadically without gravity and instead hung lazily on her shoulders and down her back- and her eyes were no longer a hollowed, solid black, instead resembling a much more natural white color with glowing purple iris’. Even her voice had lost its booming, otherworldly luster.
It would appear Yuri was no longer interested in the semantics of the scare, instead simply seeming exhausted and agitated- much like Natsuki, though- the fear of the situation partially outweighed the agitation.
“B-because you keep try’na- fuckin’- murder me! Why would I just let you do that?!”
“ You’d be accepting responsibility for calling m-”
“Accepting responsibility my ass! I don’t wanna die jus’ ‘cuz I- YURI YURI YURI!”
“I…quite despise you.”
Settling out of the mirror once more, Yuri slumped off the edge of the sink, legs dangling down towards the floor as her head drooped- eyes glaring out through strands of messy hair as Natsuki shifted uncomfortably in the tub, coughing a little. Her throat was getting kind of sore from all the chanting, but she figured her everything would be a little sore if she stopped chanting whenever Yuri lunged at her.
“W-what did I even do to make you want to kill me?! I-I said I was sorry for summonin’ ya! So w-why can’t you just…f-fuck off! Or somethin’?!”
“Because you summoned me. I did not bring myself here- nor would I even have the ability to on my own.” Yuri narrowed her eyes, focusing on Natsuki. “ You stripped me of what I was doing for nothing other than selfish desires- knowing it would bring me here. I am simply providing you with exactly what was promised and is deserved through my calling.”
“I…d-didn’t think it was a real summoning- thing! I..I thought it was a hoax! I wasn’t actually tryna disturb you, or anythin’!”
“Which simply goes to prove how self centered and undeserving you mortals are.” Yuri sniffed.
“I…l-look I’m- sorry, okay? But I mean I…I don’t wanna fuckin’ die jus’ ‘cuz I thought some crappy post online was a buncha baloney! Can’t you just- l-leave me alone if I bothered ya so much, o-or somethin’?”
“ ...you want me to simply ‘leave you alone’?” Yuri drawled exasperatedly.
“Y-yeah! What’s so wrong about that! You get to go back to your own business-” That hopefully didn’t involve murdering anyone. “-a-and I don’t gotta keep ya here any longer or die! What’s so bad about that?”
With a curt laugh, Yuri shook her head.
“Of course- what could be bad about letting a mortal become aware of my existence and go off to tell the tale…apart from, perhaps, everything? ”
“...I…I-I’ll promise not to tell anyone?” Natsuki provided meekly, offering an awkward, fake smile as Yuri narrowed her eyes.
“ As if your mortal promises mean anything- you all don’t mean your words in the best of times, much less so when you’ve got your back to the wall…”
“ I-I mean it! I really do! I won’t tell a single soul! I’ll- you can even get rid of any evidence, so- even if I did, which I wouldn’t, everyone would just think I’m some kinda whack job and they’d lock me up in a white padded room or somethin’ like that! Crazy people go off spouting about supernatural stuff all the time and get brushed off- even if I told, I’d be no different from ‘em!”
The room fell silent, as for once- Yuri didn’t have a scathing rebuttal ready to go on the tip of her tongue. Instead- she seemed to actually mull it over- and if Natsuki had to guess why, it probably had something to do with the increasingly tired and worn out tone she’d been taking on. It was clear that the neither of them had planned for their evening to go how it did, and wanted the night to be over.
“ ...And just what evidence would I need to dispose of?”
“N-not much- jus’, like, m-my camcorder! It’s- uh, on the toilet. I don’t have any camera’s, or neighbors, o-or anythin’ like that- so that’s the only proof. You can, like…g-go ‘n delete anythin’ it captured, ‘n there’ll be no possible way for me to prove I ever even saw ya in the first place!”
With a thoughtful look, Yuri glanced between Natsuki and the camcorder resting on the toilet- and for once, instead of approaching Natsuki from the sink, she took a right and approached the toilet as Natsuki suppressed the urge to chant Yuri’s name the moment she moved.
“ ...is this contraption the one you’re referring to?” Yuri picked up her camcorder as Natsuki nodded feverishly.
“Y-yeah! That’s the one! You jus’ gotta pick the most recent video, ‘n the l-little button on the top there can select it so-”
With a crunching sound, Yuri easily crushed the camera in her claw-like grip without breaking as much as a sweat as Natsuki cursed under her breath, the beginning of a complaint of the camera’s cost threatening to slip out- though she caught herself as Yuri shot her an odd look. She figured the complaint might just get her murdered no matter what...
Yuri glanced between the shattered camera lining the floor, then back at Natsuki, then back at the mirror before she let out a low breath, approaching the mirror and glancing back at Natsuki with a deadly serious gaze.
“You are to never mention what you’ve seen here tonight or ever refer to me again- ever, should I do you this gratitude and leave you be. Is that clear? ”
“Y-yeah! Clear! Crystal clear! C-clear as can be! 100%! Lips are zipped!”
Natsuki nodded feverishly, smiling ear to ear wearily as Yuri simply raised an eyebrow- staring at her oddly for a moment before shaking her head.
Without another word, Yuri returned toward the mirror as she spread out her arms- eyes returning to their pitch black state as her entire body began to emanate a faintly glow- within seconds, it became blinding, and in just a few seconds more, a shockwave echoed through the bathroom as the mirror shattered, causing Natsuki to yelp as she fell flat in the tube.
Slowly but surely, she sat back up and peered out and around the bathroom, eyes glancing around for any trace of the demoness she’d been trapped with for the past several hours.
Nothing remained to tell the tale- other than the misplaced and thrown about bottles by her sink, the broken mirror, and the remains of her camcorder beside the toilet.
Blinking owlishly, Natsuki sat for a good long while- exhaustion and shock setting in as she slumped down in the bathtub she’d been confined to for what had felt like an eternity.
Before she knew it, Natsuki had pulled out her phone and dialed in a number.
“ ...Nat…Natsuki? Is…what’re you calling me at 1 AM for?”
“ ...h-hey…Sayori…I…uhm…” Natsuki paused, coming to a slight loss for what to say before she let out a wavering breath. “...was wonderin’ how you were doin’?...”
“ ...at 1 AM? ”
“...yeah…”
“ ...well, I’m pretty good! I finished recording this new dating game a fan sent me in a few hours ago, so…that was fine! Otherwise it’s…been kind of a boring day- or, uh, night I guess…or I guess it’s a new day already?”
“... yeah…”
“ ...are you okay Natsuki? You…sound…not good.”
“...just…uhm…feelin’ kinda…sick.” Natsuki paused, coughing a little. “Sore throat, I…I think.”
At this point- that wasn’t far off from the truth, with how much she’d yelled Yuri's name repeatedly.
“ Oh! That’s awful! Do you want me to come over? I like…totally can, if you need me to!”
“ N-no! No- no, that’s…uhm…”
“...I-I was kinda wondering if- uh, I could…come to your place? And…not…be at mine…” Natsuki paused, swallowing a lump in her throat as she glanced around at her messy and destroyed bathroom. “Just…don’t feel like bein’ alone all…sick…”
“ Well…yeah! Sure! I can always make room for you if you ever want to come over! How long do you wanna come over for?”
“...until I’m feelin’ better?...if that’s alright?”
“ ‘Course it’s alright! I’ll get the guest room set up for you! Do you want me to come and get you tonight, or something? I totally can!”
“...n-no, no that’s- tomorrow is…uhm…fine, I- uh, need a minute to get my shit together anyways…”
“ Hmmm…alright, well- just call me whenever you want to come over tomorrow, okay?”
“Or…uh, today, technically!”
“...Right, gotcha. Will do.”
“Make sure you go to bed right away, you need to rest so you’ll feel better!”
“Will do…”
“Alright! Good! I’ll see you tomorrow then Nat! Sleep well, and I hope you’re feeling better!”
“ ...thanks Sayo.”
“ Night!”
“G’night…”
With a small beep, Natsuki hung up, staring blankly at her phone as she blinked- her eyelids feeling heavy as she laid there in the tub, staring blankly at her phone.
“...I almost fuckin’ devoured by…some kinda ghost chick. I…almost died tonight…”
With a pause thereafter, the room fell into a brief silence, only interrupted by Natsuki’s weak laughter.
Within another few seconds after that, Natsuki’s eyes rolled back into her head as she slumped back into the tub.
Within seconds she was fast asleep, snoring.