Chapter Text
Kronii walked down the sidewalk with her hands shoved into her pockets of her worn jacket.
She let out another involuntary shiver to herself.
The night was more than barely upon her, the sun had gone down several hours ago, and it showed with the biting cold.
A jacket that wasn't just a thin throwover would've helped but all she had was a shitty light hoodie that she'd had for a long time that she never wanted to get rid of because it was 'ol trusty as they call it.
Kronii had attended a party as a result of her friends attempting to nudge her a little in the direction of willing to actual go and socialize with others.
She didn't not want to talk with other people, but she was fine where she was at the moment. No more friends, nor acquaintances were needed in her life - she was busy as it was.
(No, she'd never admit to anyone that maybe she was a little bit lonely.)
She shivered when the cold, night breeze made the hairs rise on her nape.
It was bone-fucking cold outside at this time of night and here she was - making her way back all alone from a party because her only driver had gotten piss-drunk. She didn't particularly mind though, the cold biting wind made her head swim less and made her more aware of her surroundings. By now she was sure Calli was throwing up buckets by how hard she'd went and drunk.
It was a bad idea, but apparently talking to her ex was much more terrifying than a head-pounding headache when she finally returned to her senses.
God, she wished Kiara and Calli would just talk like adults and solve whatever rough rut they were going through instead of doing whatever it took to not see each other.
In Calli's case it was overworking the hell out of herself, and in Kiara's it was plain avoidance. (Those two were legitimately undressing each other with their eye’s every time they came into unwanted contact, and it was annoying as hell.) Hopefully they would finally fix whatever misunderstanding that caused the two of them to split up in the first place—because everyone was soon approaching their end of the rope with the both of them.
She was just as frustrated as everyone else that those two were dancing around each other - ignoring anything had ever even happened between the two of them.
Kronii was close to just locking them in a closet together, no matter what the others would say. If it worked with Gura and Ame, it could work with those two. Probably. Whatever romantic business they had going on wasn't her problem in the least, and it was going to stay that way.
Maybe then they'd actually stop dancing around each other.
Which is now what led her to being constantly conscious of a silent brown-haired college student following her step for step.
She wondered if she was going to be the victim of a mugging, but who would do that when so many cars were passing? Though, bystanders never truly did have a good track record of stepping in.
It would be a lie if she thought it wasn't weird as hell, but Kronii didn't dare utter a single word.
The student was tired, a bit buzzed, and colder than she had ever been before - and the girl borderline stalking her was making her mind spin in confusion and maybe a little bit of fear.
She just hoped the girl wasn't some sort of serial killer she'd never heard about, or her first kill--which was enough to make her feel jumpy and short-fused every time something in the distance made a normal noise that she thought sounded suspicious.
What weirded her out the most was the fact the girl stared down at her feet and walked behind her like the girl was unawares Kronii was even there as if stuck in a daze. Kronii bit her lip as she stopped her footing, standing completely still as the girl walked straight past her, almost despondent in a way.
"Hey," She spoke up, the girl stiffening and turning to look at her with a blank look. "Are you on your way back from the party?" Kronii threw an awkward hand behind her, and the girl dragged her gaze to stare past her with a distant stare.
"...yes, the party." That was the only thing she supplied, sounding faint and whispery as she turned away and began marching down the sidewalk again. "...the party."
It was like the girl had looked straight through her with confusion, and almost jumped when Kronii's gaze caught her own with a surprising intensity.
"Are you okay?" Kronii asked, catching up with a few quick jogging steps.
"Am I...?" The girl murmured softly to herself. "..."
She stared at Kronii for a while. (It almost made her feel like something like a lump was in her throat.)
"I think so, though...why are you talking to me?" No anger or fury sparked in her gaze but pure curiosity and confusion.
Kronii offhandedly wondered if she had fallen and hit herself on the head.
"Well, you don't seem like you're all that here," Kronii answered like it was obvious.
"Did you have one too many?"
The girl giggled and shook her head with a faint amusement glowing in her almost blank eyes. She still looked a bit puzzled as to why Kronii was even talking to her, an unsteady gaze that kept darting to and fro as if looking for someplace to make a run for it. It seemed a bit strange to her the way the young woman was acting.
"Of course not, just tired."
Kronii frowned as the woman laughed again - sounding tight and forced as she kept looking around.
"Would you grant me the permission to know your name?" She asked with an inquisitive stare.
Kronii snorted and nodded. "You don't have to get all fancy talk and all - but sure, name's Kronii." She couldn't help but notice the girl blink at her biting words, even if there was nothing truly abhorrent behind them. Tone it down a bit Kronii, not everyone's out to get you. 'Specially not a girl who can't even keep her eyes on mine for more than a few seconds.
"Kronii..." The girl nodded softly letting out a hum, which look in her eyes still frustratingly unreadable.
"That's a really fine name, I think."
Kronii laughed softly with a puzzled shaking of her head and put her hands on her hips with a question in her eyes. "Okay, well I told you my name, mind telling me yours?"
"It's Mumei. Nanashi Mumei is my name." Mumei spoke with a tremble to her voice, as if fighting back a rasp almost as she finally came to a stop and let Kronii study her.
It wasn't on purpose - and she definitely wasn't doing it to be creepy but she found herself swiping her gaze down to up to take in her attire. It wasn't weird when she thought about the way she was talking and the odd whisper in her voice (it sounded like she wasn't even real) when she talked, which was few. Her outfit was comprised of a plain white shirt that seemed to be scuffed with a huge, old brownish stain.
The stain was long faded, but the dirt marks and numerous small tears in her shirt made Kronii feel a bit off-put.
Her jeans were in an equally tattered state, more of those strange brown stains littering her pant legs like some sort of twisted treasure map.
Though, her face and whatever flesh peaked through the tears in her clothes were pale, and unmarred. It seemed a bit strange to her, but she could not bring herself to say a word no matter how odd it seemed to her.
A thousand questions flashed in her mind as she continued to study the suddenly strangely quiet girl (no alter motives, of course), but came to a stop when she noticed something quite wrong.
The girl looked like she'd just come from a crime scene or a car crash, or--something.
"You look like you just went to hell and back."
A snort and a giggle.
"Thank you, I think I'll take that as a compliment." Mumei looked at her through half-lidded eyes, amusement and fatigue shining in her gaze.
"It really wasn't meant to be one, but alright."
They stood in silence, before Mumei sighed soft and raspy. She looked a bit less jumpy now, but that distant look in eyes still stayed. It was like she had been in this same situation before, waiting for their interaction to be done before moving on. It wasn't that surprising to the taller college student staring down at her, and borderline checking out a girl who looked like she'd just gone through hell.
"I'd better be going then-" "Wait a second," Kronii interrupted her with a raised palm, and furrowed eyebrows.
"I meant what I said, about you looking like you went to hell and back." She gestured vaguely at the state of what Mumei looked like. "Are you actually alright? 'Cause you don't look like it, at all."
For a second, she swore a smirk grew on her face instead of a smile - but she was just seeing things.
"I'm fine, like you said earlier, I'm on my way back from the party too y'know," Mumei deflected easily with that same airy, and honestly pretty cute rasp to her voice that made her sound like she had just woken up a couple of minutes ago.
Kronii hums, low and unimpressed with the sass apparent in her tone.
"Why don't I walk you back then?" She asks instead of saying anything about the coy expression growing on the girl's face in front of her.
"That won't be necessary," Mumei assured her with that same almost predatory look in her eyes when she purposefully studied her with a cute tilt of her head. "I think I'm quite fine making my way back...by myself." She made no mention of where she was going exactly, her gaze becoming a bit foggy even with that look in her eyes.
"Well, suit yourself."
Kronii waved her off with a goodbye and quickly jogged down the sidewalk in an attempt to warm up her now suddenly shivering cold bones. How had Mumei made the air around her seem almost uncomfortable warm? She almost risked a look behind her to see if the girl was still behind her but kept going. The air was oddly, very oddly cold to her.
She finds herself looking over her shoulder anyways and catches that pretty brown gaze staring right back at her.
Had she been staring at her?
It made a weird, and disgustingly sweet feeling swarm like butterflies in her stomach--whipping her head around quickly to quell the fire started in her cheeks.
Her weakness was definitely not that stupidly pretty girl, who somehow looked really pretty even though she looked like she'd just crawled out of the dumpster. It just so happened the girl, in question, happened to be pretty. Yeah, that's all.
And yet she still found herself glancing over her shoulder and slowing her walk to wait for the girl to blink at her and join her slow pace. They met eyes, and Mumei smiled up at her without a word leaving her throat.
"I'm sorry, but-" A giggle interrupted her embarrassed mumbling, making her want to stare down at her shoes as Mumei simply gazed at her, staring, and staring like there was nothing more interesting than her herself.
"Okay, okay fine it if makes you feel better, I'll tag along with you. I don't think you seem very threatening anyways."
Kronii pointedly ignored the small jab at her -
and instead smiled, earnestly with a relieved sigh.
"Good, I didn't want to have the thought of something happening to you on my guilty conscience," She muttered bluntly, blurting out words without another thought because that's always how she rolled.
The thought of wondering if the already haggard girl had been murdered probably would've had her mind running like a hamster on a wheel for days or even weeks if she really felt guilty about not taking her in like a good person should.
Mumei smiled at her brutal honesty all the same, looking at her with a spark of piqued interest.
"I don't think you have to worry about that," She assured her. "Not at all."
And it showed in her eyes that she truly didn’t mind her honesty – even if it was worded so brunt and brutal. She looked like she knew of something more than she let on, but her mouth never moved an inch to open. There was always that blank yet knowing look in her eyes when they made eye contact.
What Kronii didn’t expect next was the girl to march along like she knew where she was going, not waiting for her to catch up – as if expecting her to run along and lead.
"Wait up a second, you don't even know where I live, dude." She sighed when Mumei kept on going, a destination already set in her head as Kronii finally took off ahead and began to lead her the way. "Okay, I get it, you're probably tired." It was murmured half to herself, but she herself was beginning to feel the effects of the little alcohol and the fatigue of being up so late set in.
Right now, Kronii wasn't even sure if she was just tripping balls and talking to herself; but none of that mattered. She needed to sleep, and she was going to get it.
Mumei began to follow her like before, like it was some sort of routine with that far look in her eyes once again. It was fine. As long as Mumei followed her like a good girl, she could get the sleep she so dearly craved. Eventually, they made it to Kronii's apartment after a bit of a walk - one that she hoped Mumei didn't mind as she unlocked her door and stepped into her smaller than average apartment with a mouth-gaping yawn.
"You can go ahead and take off your shoes and stuff, I'll go get you a blanket and some pillows to sleep with."
Mumei nodded mutely, looking around the small apartment with a curious gaze - one that finally showed more emotions than that blank stare she'd had the entire time Kronii looked at her and even made eye contact with her. She sat down on the couch, where she assumed she'd be sleeping with a polite crossing of her legs after unlacing her shoes and putting them neatly together at Kronii's welcome mat. It was a nice change from Bae just throwing her sneakers wherever she wanted, and even Sana constantly forgetting to even remove her own.
Kronii went into her bedroom to fetch a couple of items, a blanket, and a couple of pillows she wasn't going to need for the quiet girl sitting silently on the couch in her living room.
"Hey."
"Oh, thank you."
She grinned at the politeness in her tone.
"No need, just take it and get a good rest, okay?"
Mumei softly laughed and stared at her with that little head tilt that Kronii thought was a little endearing, and adorable. Even in her ragged clothes, the girl began to respectfully set her things down and lay down - before Kronii shook her head and put her hands on her hips.
"You're not planning on sleeping like that--are you?"
She smiled softly up at her. "It's not like I have a choice, I have no other clothes at the moment."
Hmm, that was true. And so Kronii ran back into her room to go find a shirt and a short to throw her way, hoping to at least an okay-ish host to this poor bedraggled stranger. She threw them on the couch arm, and Mumei looked up where she was staring with a start. Her eyes darted to the clothes, and another soft smile danced as her lips as well as color to her cheeks. Huh.
It made her own cheeks color a bit as she slunk back and told the girl where the bathroom was.
That was odd.
She held up a hand to her own face, unsure if it wasn't a fever suddenly thrumming through her and making her heart flutter - and making her want to grin like a complete idiot.
When the girl came back, she dipped her head in thanks. "Thank you, it's...really comfortable." Mumei smiled to herself and quickly fled to the covers under the blanket and on the couch, back faced away.
"No problem, sleep good."
Kronii watched her go, before returning to her own room to sleep.
That night, she felt as if something were watching her in her own dreams - unwilling to show its face to her.
Kronii sipped at a warm, cup of tea, given to her thankfully by Fauna.
Fauna always helped her out in the mornings when she had a bit of hangover, which wasn't common at all-but it had been inevitable from the amount of peer pressure in that party.
The woman was busy drinking her own and scrolling through her phone. Kronii herself was sitting there, stewing in her own thoughts. The girl from the night before had left without a word, neatly folding her blankets--putting her clothes folded neatly in the damn dirty clothes pile and had left a little thank you note with a paper from who knows where.
Thank you (:
That was it, all that it read.
It made feel a bit fuzzy inside, but the feeling died when thought about why the girl had made no attempt to leave a way to contact her.
She could only hope the girl made it to her home safely.
But she was faced with a different problem.
"So, you're telling me you let in a complete stranger into your apartment last night and she didn't take a thing?" Fauna asked with a scrutiny, regarding her like she was an absolute idiot for what she pulled.
Well, she wasn't wrong.
"You make it sound so much worse than it is," Kronii groaned into her cup.
"Is it so wrong to worry about a friend of mine?" Fauna countered smugly, sipping from her tea, loudly.
She stared at her cup with a frown. "I guess not."
The plant-lover eventually collected both of their cups and washed them out despite Kronii objecting she could do her own. "It's better just to get it done both at once, plus it is only two cups. Not a whole pile of them." Kronii acquiesced with a nod.
"Penny for your thoughts?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so, just a lot on my mind."
Fauna giggled and put the cups away in her cupboard, now clean. "I take it she was a pretty gal, then?"
"Sure, you can say that, but," Kronii sighed. "Does anyone here have the name Mumei?"
The plant-lover seemed to think about it as she wiped down her kitchen counters, but eventually shook her head with a shrug. "Nope, I've never heard of anyone here with that name, why?"
Kronii tapped on her table with a frown, digging into an indent.
"Well I only saw her because I was heading home from the party Bae took us to," Her finger stopped its musings. "And I asked her if she was heading home too."
"It was weird though, so maybe she was just trying to cover up something...I don't know."
Her brain hurt from trying too hard to think about it. At least she wasn't murdered in her sleep or something. "Oh--wait also I saw something a little concerning you might have more knowledge on, by the way." Fauna looked at her, urging her to speak on.
"So, I know you're all murder-detective or whatever, and you take those kinds of classes, but she--something wasn't right with her. Mumei had some stains on her clothes and stuff, and they were all ripped and torn up."
Fauna seemed to visibly perk up, and she leaned over her counter to catch her eyes. "Wait, what kind of stains?"
Kronii shrugged. "I dunno they were all like dark brown, like mud or something." She didn't notice her friend's eyes widening noticeable as she gaped.
"Whoever threw something on her probably got away with it..." Kronii let out a 'tsk' to herself when realizing how obedient the girl had been, putting up no argument when dragging her back to her place. "People are assholes these days, I guess."
Fauna closed her mouth like a fish, before shaking her head softly to herself. The green-haired college student seemed almost woozy for second when she realized what Kronii was totally unaware of.
"You know, blood stains brown when it dries." Was the only thing that left her mouth, sounding cryptic in a weird way as she walked past Kronii to put her tea away in her pantry area. She could feel those icy blue eyes burning into her back, left speechless by her suggestion. Fauna put her tea away in her specialized spot for it with a frown attempting to worm its way onto her face. "I'm not saying anything bad, but..."
Kronii put a hand to her forehead. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."
"...shit."
She leaned back in her chair with bite of her lip.
"Damnit, I don't even know where she is," Kronii bemoaned, letting out the nth sigh of her hour. "I hope she's not dead or something."
Fauna put a hand on her shoulder. "I'm probably just jumping to conclusions, but you might want to go clear your head."
She nodded in response and got up from her chair.
"Will do captain, thanks for the tea."
They exchanged looks, before Fauna smiled at her. "I don't think it's anything serious, but be careful, Kronii." She said it with a fond look full of caring for her friend, one that Kronii returned before leaving her apartment with a soft click of her door.
Kronii opened her door with a shake of her head, her head almost physically hurt from how hard she'd been thinking to herself.
She rose her gaze and was violently shaken into a stupor when two amber eyes met her own. Somehow, they weren't blank as before; and a light shone in them. But no, that wasn't what surprised her the most. What truly made her shocked into a statue was the girl was fucking floating. Her feet were clearly not touching the ground, and Mumei was obviously twisted in a way that made it impossible for it to be some sort of weird mind trick.
"Huh...?"
The girl turned, holding a cup in her hand; and it fell to ground, rolling to Kronii's feet.
"Oops," Mumei giggled embarrassed, as if she wasn't levitating and defying the laws of physics. "I didn't think you'd be home soon."
Kronii let out a strangled noise, bracing herself on her door as it clicked closed seemingly on its own. She could only stare in awe, before shaking her head. "Fucking Fauna and her tea..."
She sunk to the floor and thumped against her door.
Mumei looked down at her where she resided, floating mid-air with a smile. "Didn't mean to spook you, sorry Kronii." The girl stiffened and blinked up at her and buried her face into her knees.
"No worries." It was muffled, and confused, but Mumei was grateful she didn't pass out at least.
Kronii looked up at her again and wiped her eyes and kept blinking.
"No shit?" She checked her temperature with a palm to her forehead. "Are you messing with me?" She asked.
Mumei giggled again. "Uh oh, I broke you." But continued to shake her head anyway. "No, I'm not." The girl at least had the gall to look slightly guilty.
"What the-" Kronii was cut off as Mumei floated over and picked up the cup with a bit of strain. "How are you floating, like seriously?"
The auburn-haired girl smiled as she placed the cup on the counter with a sigh.
"Well, I think its obvious I'm a ghost, right?"
Kronii pinched herself. She winced in pain. "Oh my god..." She gaped.
Mumei held out a hand to her, and Kronii couldn't help but notice the paleness of her palm as she grasped it. Mumei let out a grunt as she helped Kronii up - letting out a relieved sigh when she finally got up to her feet. "How are you touching me, if you are a ghost?"
The girl rolled her eyes.
"We're not all like the ghosts you see in movies," She let out a breath, as if attempting to breath in air her lungs didn't need. "It just takes a bit of concentration, that's all."
"Okay, but tell me-"
"Why are you still in my apartment?"
Mumei shrugged as she floated over to her living room and plopped down on the couch. "I wasn't going to plan on staying; but this place is pretty cozy. Plus," She stared meaningfully at Kronii. "There's sites to see here too."
Oh, so now this ghost had flattery, huh? What a shame, Kronii shivered as warmth burst into her cheeks and knots jumbled in her stomach. It was working.
"Listen," She spoke up after a second. "I won't bother you, at all if you consider letting me stay."
Mumei tilted her head. "I'll be like your roommate, except not at all because I'm dead!" She said it with a cheerful smile, looking quite proud of herself.
Kronii sighed.
"I didn't really plan on bunking with someone else- specially not someone that's dead."
The ghost-girl floated there for a couple of minutes, completely silent despondent as she mulled it over. But a smile quickly grew on her face again. "I promise I won't do anything! Those poltergeists or whatnot aren't like that at all--" She let out a 'hmph'. "I would know, firsthand experience."
"...You promise?"
"Yep!"
Kronii lingered, quite taken aback by the not quite physical form of her floating companion, who simply looked at her with those warm yet curious amber eyes.
"I promise I'll leave you alone," She had breathed, in an airy voice Kronii had to strain to hear and pick up.
The ghostly girl had shaken her head when Kronii attempted to speak through her shock - holding up a cold (it sent goosebumps up her arms) finger to her lips with a mischievous smile. "I promise."
With that simple touch, Kronii had agreed surprisingly quickly, her voice stumbling over herself as if her brain were still catching up to her train of thought. Now how was she going to tell Fauna that the girl she thought was a murder victim was a ghost - and had made her new home Kronii's apartment? She simply picked herself up and stumbled down the hall, past Mumei's watchful gaze. "I'm going to take a nap."
A giggle echoed down the hall to her.
"Okay~!"
But before that...
"Can I ask you something, really quick?" Kronii asked, hand still poised to open her bedroom door.
"Sure, fire away," Mumei replied, watching Kronii's now lit TV screen.
"Why were you acting so weird last night?"
"Oh, that?" She giggled with an awkward shrug of her shoulders. "I just get like that sometimes, dunno why."
With that Kronii let out a hum and entered her homely adobe with a groan.
She really needed to stop drinking so much of Fauna's tea.