Work Text:
What does it matter how my heart breaks?
I should be happy with someone new
But my heart aches for you
The looming shadow of the dismantled mansion does little to deter Langa. Ever since his first expedition into the creepy innards of an abandoned building, he’s no longer afraid of what lies inside. Plus, he has Miya and Shadow! Shadow’s real name was Hiromi Higa, but he preferred Shadow, for whatever reason. Something about it fitting their work more “properly”, or whatever.
Opening the trunk of Shadow’s sedan, Miya helps Langa in pulling out all of their equipment. Shadow checks his phone, grunting.
“Twenty minutes till sun down.” He informs Langa and Miya.
“Okay,” Langa hums, grabbing his camera. “Miya, you said we should set up in the kitchen, right?”
“Yeah,” Miya responds, grabbing his own camera. “According to the schematics on the town’s website, it seems pretty big. Plus, it's by the back patio in case we need to leave quickly.”
“Because of ghosts?” Shadow asks, his voice raising slightly, full of worry.
“No,” Langa corrects, “because of cops. Can’t be seen trespassing.”
“...Oh. Right.”
“Aw, don’t say that!” Miya whines, carrying their stuff to the mansion’s front porch. “You never know if we'll have to leave because of ghosts.”
Looking right at Shadow, he grins. “Right, Shadow?”
“Shut up kid!”
As Miya laughs while Shadow complains, Langa kicks the front door open. Walking into the foyer, he looks up at the high vaulted ceiling, and spots the archaic chandelier adorned with cobwebs.
“Woah,” Miya breathes, walking in behind Langa. “Look at this place!”
“Woah…” Shadow agrees.
In front of them, a grand double staircase takes up half of the foyer, which splits off in three directions on the first level. Off towards the right, an office with two locked, boarded up french doors. On the left, a giant dining room, and behind the staircase, it opens up into a great room.
“You can enter the kitchen from the dining room or the great room.” Miya informs them.
“What about upstairs?” Shadow asks.
Miya smirks, giving Shadow a side eyed glance.
“They say that’s where the ghost is.”
“Stop!” Shadow squeals, jumping in place.
Miya cackles, but Langa charges forward, finding one of the entrances to the kitchen behind the dining room, which is in fact also connected to the great room.
“I wonder why the office is boarded up…” Langa muses aloud.
“Dunno,” Miya answers, throwing his stuff onto the kitchen island. “But who knows, maybe we can try and bust in later.”
In the kitchen, the trio gets to work setting all of their equipment up. By the time the sun has just disappeared below the horizon, they’re all done.
“Good to go!” Miya chirps, dusting his hands off.
“Oh yeah!” Shadow whoops. “Let’s go find ourselves a ghost!”
Langa takes a seat on a dusty bar stool, and starts his favorite device, which reads for sounds such as voices in the air on specific frequencies. Tinkering with it, he finally sets it to the right frequency he wants.
Miya opts for his thermal sensors, while Shadow starts a couple of their cameras and pulls out his ouija board.
Placing the board on the table, Miya rolls his eyes at Shadow.
“Y’know that stupid thing isn’t gonna work, bro.”
“It will.” Shadow pouts, crossing his bulky tattooed arms.
Langa tunes them out, and listens carefully to his scanner using headphones. But all he gets is dead silence.
Sighing, he waits a couple of minutes, but still gets nothing in return. He goes to turn it off, but-
“...P̸̤͝…P̶r̴e̸t̴…P̸r̸e̵t̴t̴y̷…”
Jaw going slack, he looks up to see Miya and Shadow staring at him, their eyes bulging out of their skulls. They all heard the demented, frail… voice, that just played on Langa’s device.
“Langa…” Miya breathes, his green cat-like eyes wide with excitement.
Gulping, Shadow’s breath stutters, before-
“G-G-GHOST!!!”
Standing up and screaming, Shadow makes a beeline for the exit, but runs straight into the wall. He hits it so hard that a painting on the wall falls over and crumples over on itself from all the decay it’s suffered.
“Shadow, relax!” Miya hisses. “Don’t scare the ghost away! Plus, I’m getting some very faint readings from…”
Looking up at the banister of the back end of the staircase, three eyes make contact with a fourth.
“...T-There.” Miya whispers, before he looks at Langa and starts screaming.
“LANGA! GHOST!”
Reflexively, Shadow has his cameras trained on the ghost. And the ghost, who looks like a boy around Langa’s age, has his eyes on Langa himself.
“H-Hello?” Langa says, standing up and walking forward to the entryway between the kitchen and great room.
“ Langa !” Both Shadow and Miya hiss.
Suddenly, all three of them gasp as the ghost floats up, his light purple glow illuminating the space around him. Hovering in the great room, he slowly floats down, and makes his way over to Langa.
Stopping in front of him, Langa takes a close look at the ghost.
He’s a boy with wild red hair and a bandana with some cartoon figure on it. He wears baggy pants with a chain, and a hoodie on top. He looks like he came right out of the 1990s.
“Uh…” Langa intelligently says. “Hey…?”
“Wait,” the ghost gasps. “C-Can you hear me?”
“Yes!” Langa says excitedly.
Looking at each other, Miya and Shadow exchanged awed expressions.
“Uh, Langa,” Shadow calls. “Are you… talking to it?”
“It’s a him . And yeah,” Langa replies, looking at his friends. “Can’t you hear him?”
“We can,” Miya says, “but he just… sounds like gibberish.”
“Excuse me,” the ghost says. His hand comes forward, and he tries to tap Langa on the shoulder, but his hand goes right through Langa.
Langa shivers at the cold touch. Oddly enough, it’s not uncomfortable.
“S-Sorry!” The ghost squeaks, his face somehow flushing. “I wanted to ask what your friends were saying. I can’t understand them.”
“Wait, you can’t understand them?”
“Nope.” The ghost replies. “Can they understand me?”
“No,” Langa sighs.
“Woah, sick!” Miya exclaims. “Langa, you’re like a ghost whisperer medium person!”
“Uh huh.” Langa deadpans. “Sure.”
Turning back to the ghost, Langa gives him a once over.
“What’s your name?”
“...Reki.” The ghost says. “You?”
“I’m Langa.” Langa says, his hand resting on his chest. “Behind me are my friends. Miya is the little one-”
“Hey!”
“-And Shadow is the old guy.”
“I’m twenty freakin’ eight!”
Reki giggles at Langa’s introductions, and Langa has never thought a ghost could be so… cute.
Cocking his head to the side, Langa asks, “So, Reki. What is this place? Do you know?”
Suddenly, Reki’s amber eyes go dark, and he looks away.
“It’s the home,” he begins, “of the bastard who killed me.”
Langa winces, not really knowing what to say.
“...I’m sorry. D-Do you… so you knew who it was?”
“Yes.” Reki sighs. “It’s okay, you can ask how. I’ve had time to… understand, what I’m feeling.”
Langa gulps. “So… how?”
“I was skating down main street in the center of town, and as I crossed the street on the walkway, with the right of way, some jackass in his sports car came flying out of nowhere through town and hit me.”
Langa feels his blood run cold. He himself skates, and the thought of that happening to him…
“I died pretty much instantly.” Reki says quietly, looking at the ground. “I… didn’t even get to say goodbye. Not to mom, dad, Koyomi, Nanaka or Chihiro. None of them.”
Sensing the horrible mood change, Langa reaches out to comfort Reki. Not caring if he couldn’t touch him, Langa still wanted to hug him. Closing his eyes, Langa reaches out.
Embracing the ghost, Langa pauses when he feels something solid. Opening his eyes, he and Reki stare in shock as they feel each other.
“...How?” Reki gapes. “You can touch me, but I can’t touch you…?”
“Okay,” Miya says. “This is officially the weirdest shit ever .”
“Agreed.” Shadow says.
Reki giggles, and Langa quickly realizes he loves the sound. Poking Reki’s cheek, he wants to prod a little further.
“Reki… You said you know who your killer is, right?”
Reki’s smile falls, but he nods. “Kinda. I know his face, but not his name.”
“Hmm…” Langa thinks aloud, before something clicks. Turning to Shadow, he points at him. “Shadow - do you think you can bust down the doors to the office?”
Shadow startles, before he grins, pointing a thumb at his chest.
“Such a foolish question, Langa. Of course I can!”
Getting to his feet, he procures an ax from his toolbox and leads the way to the office. Passing by Reki, he gives the ghost a nod, though his eyes are filled with fear. The rest of them follow Shadow, though Miya frowns.
“Shadow, where the fuck did you get an ax from exactly?!”
“Home depot.” He grunts, as he swings the ax and begins to chop away at the rotten french doors.
Reki floats behind Langa, and Langa entwines his hand with Reki’s. Reki looks at Langa, to be met with a gentle, comforting smile. Reki feels himself smiling back, for the first time in what feels like multiple lifetimes.
Soon enough, Shadow is in the office, his hands proudly on his hips.
“There!”
“Good work,” Langa says, entering as well with Miya and Reki. “Alright, let’s split up and look through the drawers. We need to find out who owned this residence.”
“Ok,” Miya responds, “but why?”
“Because,” Langa says, “we’re going to find the name of the asshole who killed Reki.”
“That his name?” Miya questions. “Reki?”
“Oh, right.” Langa says, his face heating up. “Yeah. It’s Reki.”
“Hmph, he looks like your type.” Shadow says, as he and Miya break out into cackles.
Langa feels his face flush hotter, as Reki cocks his head at him.
“What are they saying, Langa?”
“ Nothing !” Langa groans. “They’re just being idiots.”
“Wow,” Shadow laughs. “Already guarding your new boyfriend from the rest of us, huh?”
Langa opens his mouth to respond, but Miya pulls a folder out from a cracked open safe, tossing it to Langa.
“Look through there.”
Langa obliges, and flips through the dusty folder. As he does so, Reki looks as well, his hand on Langa’s shoulder.
“There!” He snaps, his anger boiling to the surface. “ That’s him.”
A stern looking man, tall with dark blue, almost black hair seems to stare at their souls in the picture. There’s also a copy of his driver’s license, the name reading-
“ Aiichiro Shindo ,” Reki growls, after finally putting a name to his killer. “That’s him.”
“How does he know?” Miya asks.
Langa looks at Reki, gently breaching the subject.
“You had gotten a good look at him, right?”
“Yeah,” Reki confirms. “Time had seemed to slow down, and the last thing I remember seeing was his ugly face through the windshield as I felt all my ribs turn to jell-o.”
Langa winces, but feels his own rage boiling to the surface. How could someone do that to Reki, let alone anyone?!
“He was here when I reawoke as a ghost, though he moved out after a year.” Reki explains. “Guess he got tired of me messing with him.”
“Could he see you?” Langa asks.
“Honestly, I dunno.” Reki admits. “I just hope he gets what he deserves.”
Miya hums, before walking over and showing the two boys his phone screen. Reading it, Langa frowns, before sighing.
Aiichiro Shindo, 1957-2019. Aiichiro Shindo was a successful Japanese Businessman, who…
Langa stops there, not caring about the guy’s wealth, his affair, or his son. He was already dead. No point in going after him.
Reki looks down, before shrugging. “Well, I guess that solves that. Wait- it’s 2019?!”
“2023, actually.” Mika says, to which Langa tells Reki.
“WHAT?!” Reki yells. “I’ve been dead for twenty five years?!”
Langa winces, patting Reki on the shoulder. “I guess so? So, you died in 1998?”
“That would add up to my math,” Reki sighs. “So, I’d be forty two or fourty three if I was still alive, huh?”
“You were only eighteen when you died?” Langa asks, his blood going cold. In the back, both Shadow and Miya wince.
“...Yeah.” Reki says sadly. “How old are you , anyways?”
“I’m twenty,” Langa tells Reki.
Reki laughs nervously, scratching the back of his neck. “So, I guess I’d be too old for you, huh?”
Langa’s mind goes blank, before Reki’s words sink in.
“W-What?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
Reki laughs, trying to hug Langa. Langa accommodates him, and gently hugs Reki, though he pouts.
“There, there,” Reki says, patting Langa’s head. “We can find a way, right?”
“Of course.” Langa says proudly, before he tries something.
Something, that to his horror and amazement, does actually work.
He feels a numb sensation across his lips as he presses them to Reki’s. Reki’s amber eyes go wide, before he laughs into it and kisses back.
“...Langa is officially the weirdest person ever.” Miya says flatly, not sure what to think.
“That’s why he’s our leader,” Shadow explains. “Of course he’d be the first person to figure out how to date a freaking ghost.”
For the umpteenth time, Langa tunes his friends out, and looks into Reki’s eyes. Though he was dead, Reki’s eyes were filled with so much love and life.
Langa honestly didn’t know how this would all work out, but he was sure about one thing - love will find a way, just like his mom told him when he was young.
And love did, in fact, find a way.