Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

"This empty subway station… it would probably be an ideal place to cook up something in secret if they weren’t so noisy about it." Chris said, carefully inspecting every element of it. "Hey, I’ll check the far right, you check the far left?"

Riley stared at Chris, holding back a deadpan; What makes you the one to say that?

"Fine." The words exited their mouth rather than the sour thoughts churning in his mind. Riley turned away from their colleague, walking down the left path while looking for anything that was left behind.

Chris smiled smugly with a tilt of his head, almost sighing before he went to check on his side.

Nothing, nothing…

Wow. They must have cleaned up their tracks here.

Riley held onto the straps of their backpack — a weary yellow one, in Chris’s words — as they frowned. She was hoping to be able to bring back something.

They were snapped out of their thoughts when a boy — no older than 15 — peeped his head out from a corner shyly. "U, um. Excuse me… do you work here?"

”Hello…" Riley tensely responded before shaking his head, "No, sorry."

"That’s okay… what’re you doing here? It’s really quiet." Eugene shifted from one foot to another, adjusting his glasses.

"We were looking for something we may have dropped around here, no luck though." Chris shook his head, his expression no longer smug and now simply neutral as he approached Riley once again, whispering in their ear. "Didn’t find anything, we should head out and report back to —"

Yet before either could move, something stepped out from the station attendant’s office, and the lights flickered.

Riley looked up in confusion, turning to Chris who had a fearful look on his face — which was unusual — and then to Eugene, who was looking in the same direction with an equally, if not more, freaked out look.

"R, Riley?" Chris asked in a shaky whisper, "Do you see that…?"

"See what?" She frowned in confusion before turning their head to meet something… unhuman.

Riley’s eyes widened, hands moving to grab ahold of Chris and Eugene’s wrists in case they needed to run.

Suddenly, the… thing lunged at them.

”Run!” Chris exclaimed, bolting for the stairs while Riley followed next to him, bringing along Eugene while all three were pushed by adrenaline to keep bolting for it.

"Is it still behind us?!" Riley asked, sweat drops beginning to run down their forehead and face.

Chris shook his head, "I don’t wanna look, we’re almost at the exit!"

Eugene, on the other hand, snuck a look over his shoulder and immediately began speeding up, "AHHHHH! IT’S FOLLOWING US!"

"Push open that door!" Riley shouted a little more loudly than she intended, reaching for the barred door with the others when a shock ran through their body.

She heard a quiet groan — it was hard to distinguish whose it was — and promptly felt gravity pull hard before suddenly letting go of the gate.

"Ouch…" Eugene mumbled, pushing himself back up to his feet, "W… What was that just now? Why am I…"

"Ohh…" one of the adults who had been with him groaned, pulling himself up.

"A-Ah! You’re…" Eugene trailed off; this was odd to see — the two adults were now solely made of white and respectively; purple and yellow.

They looked down at themself — they were also…

"What…is that?" Riley spoke up, his eyes looking over at their bodies passed out inside the shutter.

"… No way. No no no no…" Chris shook his head, slightly freaked out, "We can *not* be —"

"Is it… beating?"

"Huh?!" Eugene flinched, looking around violently before his eyes fell on a trio of… something. Even worse and more deformed than what was chasing them earlier.

"What the?! What are you guys?!" Chris demanded, his voice turning more panicked.

"What’s that smell?"

"Are your hearts beating?"

"Those are not… human." Riley stated, biting her lip.

"No kidding!" Chris frowned.

"Yes, I can hear them…"

"I WILL PUT THEM IN MY MOUTH SO NO ONE CAN SMELL THEM AND CHEW AND CHEW."

"What the…s, stay back!" Chris growled, sounding unsure of his words.

"What’s going on?!" Eugene stepped away from the creatures.

"THE HEARTS THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMP THUMPING I AM SO JEALOUS!"

"Back away!" Riley threatened, not having an actual plan as they also stepped back while the monsters came forth, "We will not let you do whatever this is so easily!"

“SMELLS SO DELICIOUS AND FRESH I WANT THEM."

"THUMP THUMP THUMP I TOO WANT THEM."

Chris now held onto Riley fearfully, the three seemingly backed into a corner, "G, GO AWAY MAN!"

"Tsk. It took a while to find you all because you kept moving around. If you continue to panic like this, you will seriously die.”

"W…Who?” Eugene stammered, looking up at the man who appeared before them.

"Get down.” Boss ordered, "Do not look up, or your heads will surely get chopped."

"O, Okay…” Chris breathed, attempting to stabilize himself.

Before they knew it, the creatures terrorizing them had been torn to bits by the man who came to them.

"It will not kill them or anything, but it will give us some time. Get up, all of you."

"Wow…" Chris mumbled with wide eyes.

"A…Are we okay?" Riley asked, looking at everyone.

"So long as another ghost is protecting your bodies…essentially."

"Ghost?" Chris repeated in disbelief.

"Come along, I will take you three to your bodies. You may see for yourselves, then."

"Um…okay…" Eugene slowly followed after the shady man, the other two joining shortly after.

"Hey, you’re all okay?" Another ghost smirked at them, tilting her head ever so slightly to the left. "I thought we’d have to collect their shattered pieces. Good to know we don’t have to though!"

"Tsk. It was close." Boss simply replied. "I won’t be needing to take care of those that are alive…"

He turned to the trio, who stared at him with matching confused looks. "Forget all this nonsense, we shall return to the office.”

"Alright, let’s go~!" River grinned and got up.

Boss then turned to the three humans, "You all will be coming with us."

"Wait, what?!" Riley questioned.

"U…us?" Eugene blinked.

"Your bodies are inside."

River piped up, "It’s okay, we’re ghosts from the Underworld Office; we don’t hurt people… usually."

"Such a thing exists?" Riley asked.

"Usually. So that means you could…" Chris trailed off, a bit agitated.

"C…Couldn’t we just have our bodies back…here?" Eugene stuttered.

"No, we cannot do that." Boss shook his head.

"Why?" Chris frowned.

"Such a hassle… if you all do not want to trust us, then you are free to live like this forever."

"Take us with you, Boss!" River cut in, "Sorry for scaring you guys by the way, usually people faint as soon as they see my face!"

"T…that was you…?" Eugene asked with wide eyes — almost as large as his glasses.

"Yep! Usually the office attendants would find you fainted and send you back home, but we didn’t expect you guys to run all the way to the border between the mortal realm and the underworld…"

"…" "…" "…"

"Haha, I said I’m sorry! Look, there are nicer ghosts inside, maybe you kiddos could escape by playing nice." River chuckled, "Who knows? Maybe they’ll stop us from harming you if we were to decide to do so."

"Y..You’re going to hurt us?" Eugene flinched.

"It’s obviously a joke… d, don’t kid like that!" Riley complained.

"Tsk. We should go on our way." Boss stated disapprovingly.

"Okay, okay. Let’s go for REAL now!" River nodded, rushing to the attendant’s office — or what should be the attendant’s office.

It’s more…colorless.

“Hi! Hello! Hi!"

These ghosts though…

"What is it? What is a toddler like you doing here?"

Are more colorful? And aren’t as scary as the ones earlier…

"H…hello." Eugene offered them a small wave.

Chris tilted his head, having long noticed Eugene’s stutter in between talking. He looked away and said nothing about it, instead also greeting Joan and Hayden likewise did Riley with a small smile and a wave.

"Sit anywhere you’d like.” Boss offered.

"We haven’t set up the chairs yet, but ghosts don’t really care about comfort, y’know? We’re pretty much only pretending to sit!" River added.

Boss sighed, "River, do you not feel like leaving yet?"

"Nope."

"Tsk. You are aggravating." Boss shook his head, "Anyway, what are your names?"

"I’m Riley." Riley replied with a serious expression.

"I’m Chris." The other adult nonchalantly replied.

"Um…my name…it’s Eugene…" Eugene internally cringe at himself.

I want to stop stuttering.

"Nice to meet you, Riley; Chris; Eugene! Welcome to the Underworld Office, we help with ghost problems!" River grinned.

"River, shut your mouth…” Boss gripped his fan tighter.

"That unfriendly ghost? You can call him Boss. I’m River, that granny over there is Joan, and the baby is Hayden."

Hayden perked up brightly, "Yup, I’m Hayden! And you are Riley, Chris, and Eugene, right?"

Hayden began to smile widely, "Yay! Hayden has new friends!"

Chris’s eyes widened a bit, "Friends?"

"Y… You want to be friends with me?" Eugene asked.

"Yep, friends!" Hayden nodded.

"Not friends yet, Hayden." Joan cautiously replied. "It will take some time to become true friends. Go roll in the mud together, see everyone’s good and bad sides,  and some day, you all will be friends before you realize. Isn’t that right?"

Joan looked towards the three humans, Chris being the first to open his mouth.

"Okay boome —"

"Yes, of course!" Riley interrupted, looking at Eugene.

"I…I think so too." They nodded.

"Old words are wise words." Joan said with a hint of approval.

"Ugh, but that’s so hard…" Hayden huffed, "But we can be friends later?"

"That’s right… but you can’t be friends with anyone. A bad friend is worse than no friend; like how our Boss here acts like he’s normal when he’s not." River stated much to Boss’s disapproval, "Right?"

"Well, he saved us…" Riley started.

River sighed, "That may be the case, but Riley —"

"I will sew your mouth shut, River." Boss warned firmly.

"Wha? Isn’t that a bit extreme?" Chris’s eyes widened.

"Boss, you’re gonna really talk like that in front of our guests?" River hummed, "They’ve been at the entrance to the next world, you know."

"N...next world? I don’t want to die…" Eugene tensed up.

"River, you moron, you scared the kid more." River hmph’d at Boss’s scolding statement, "If you three were to go to the next world due to being dead, your souls would be more shadowy. The outside is not the next world. It is…much harder to get to."

"We’re at the border, you see. Between the two worlds." River explained, "All souls prepare to move on here."

"I don’t wanna —"

"Let her finish her words." Boss bluntly replied.

" — So if you let go of your regrets and redeem your wrongdoings, your soul will go all bright — no shadows — and will disappear onto the next part."

"We dunno for sure, but it’s probably Hell or Heaven." Hayden added.

Would it not be Heaven after all that then..?

"If not, souls live here forever." Joan nodded.

"Hayden doesn’t have many wrongdoings, so Hayden will be able to go soon!"

"Kids these days, always talking about misdeeds and wrongdoings… back in my day…"

I wonder what they had went through before getting here…

"It is not something we should talk about here." Joan advised.

"Thus, if any of you would like to leave, you need to repay for your misdeeds or debts."

"How would we do that?" Riley asked the major question as Chris nodded.

"It’s karma; you get helped, you help back. You do something bad; you get punished or pay it back. Personally, I love paying back the harms!" River laughed.

"You are usually doing harm." Boss flatly responded.

River waved him off, "He’s just talking trash, don’t mind him."

She sighed, "I wish misdeeds could avoid stacking up if I were to be more discreet, but it always seems to find a way."

"But…why are you…telling us this?" Eugene asked.

River grinned, "You’re fast!"

"So, you three have some debt to repay to me for saving you." Boss finished.

"W…What?" Eugene blinked.

"Those monsters back there…" Chris recalled.

"Yeah. Boss cut them apart and saved us." Riley nodded, "But how do we repay that debt?"

"It’d be much harder if you guys were dead, but since that isn’t the case…"

Boss sighed, "I do not wish to be associated with the living, but, since they are in debt to me, it must be paid back. You three must work at the Underworld Office to pay back your debt."

"Oh."

"Yay!"

"We’re not gonna get paid for doing that, I’m guessing?" Chris asked with a neutral face.

"Paying back a debt already works as payment to avoid making things harder for you." Boss responded.

"Okay, stop — Boss, are you serious?" River huffed.

"Work…what kind of work?" Eugene looked at him.

"You seem motivated." Hayden smiled.

"I too have misdeeds to pay back, and I do so by fending off monsters similar to the ones you were attacked by. However, these monsters have now begun to hide in dreams, and I’d need a few more hands in catching them.” Boss elaborated. "Help me out three times — for each monster — and the debt is repaid."

"I’m in, I’m in! I’m totally in! Hayden has new friends now!" Hayden cheered.

"Hmph. Back in my day, we had to repay debts with our lives…And kids these days pay their lives for their debts. A world we live in…"

"That’s…not very different if I get that right." Riley paused.

"Well, what shall we call you three then?" River pondered, "Interns?"

"Words these days are not quite as catchy." Boss stated, "We shall call them our juniors."

"Well, I’ll call them our newbies!!" River grinned.

Boss ignored her response, turning to the humans, "Do any of our juniors have questions?"

"Not for now…” Eugene shifted in his seat after a second of silence.

"You will question a lot of things as you all work." Boss warned before snapping his fingers.

Then, everything went dark.

The three woke up with a jolt in the attendant’s office, Chris pulling himself off of Riley’s shoulder as Eugene adjusted his glasses and looked around.

"Where did they go..?" Eugene mumbled.

"We’re back, so…" Riley trailed off in thought.

"That couldn’t have just been a dream, right?" Chris nervously looked at them.

"…oh, right. I forgot to tell you all."

"AH!"

"There’s a sign when you all go down the platform. You should call the number written on it so the station attendants can come pick you guys up. See you in your dreams tomorrow!" River crackled before disappearing once again.

”…”

”…”

”…”

The trio wore the same look of shock as they stared at where River had been talking to them.

I don’t know what’s going on…

But…

I think we just got ourselves into an irreversible experience/trouble!

Chapter Text

Squeaky Squeak Squeak!

Riley quietly groaned, their eyes open and staring at the ceiling with a head full of thought.

It was only the morning, but she couldn’t help but think ahead to that night — mostly out of wonder of what could happen.

Would they lose sleep? Riley figured not physically, but mentally could be a whole other thing.

Blink-!

"Maintainers’ system in operation." Riley turned his head to look at the message being displayed.

"Verifying voice pattern. Say anything to continue."

Riley cleared their throat, "Agent -code- B-12, online."

"Agent B-12 voice pattern verified. You are now logged into the Maintainers’ system."

Oh, it displays the recent news and messages now too.. Riley thought to herself. I guess I’ll check them out later, though.

"Can’t believe I have to get to work so soon already, give me a break, screw you…" They deadpanned.

"Bzzzt! Maintainers’ Point deducted by one. Maintainers’ Rule No.1 —"

"Every word said defines your end…" Riley sighed in exasperation.

"Good to hear you do remember, Agent B-12." Chief, Ash Gray, suddenly spoke up through the earpiece. "Are you ready to get to work?"

"Yep, anything you say, Chief." Riley answered.

"Your voice frequency shows that you are indeed awake. Good." Chief remarked, seeming satisfied before continuing, "SMAKS are still around and about, so we can not have any slacking off. Head to your designated area, Agent B-12. Agent C-12 is waiting for you there."

Before Riley could respond, Chief cut the connection.

She’s the most emotionless person I’ve ever met… it’s almost impressive.

Riley moved out of their room, mind fuzzy as they adjusted their backpack’s straps while they headed towards their area, Standoff Street.

There’s no cases here though… at least, nothing our squad Hero, Flare, can’t handle in minutes.

Speaking of Flare, Chris was probably the hugest fan of him Riley knew. Said man was already at Standoff Street, a distracted look on his face as he leaned against a wall and held a half-eaten, excessively burnt kebab in one hand.

"… Hey." Riley called out, making Chris’s head snap up with a blink of his eyes.

"Oh. Hey, Riley." He uneasily replied.

Riley continued walking towards their colleague until they were only a few inches away from each other.

I can’t believe he’s younger but this much taller. Riley absentmindedly thought to himself as he held his tongue, unsure of how to say her thoughts until starting off with an intelligent-sounding "So the Underworld Office…"

" — I’m a bit nervous, Riley." Chris quickly admitted, his hands dropping to his sides, "If we mess up in our dreams tonight, with whatever we’re supposed to do, will they kill us, somehow?"

"Don’t worry, because… worrying doesn’t solve or help anything." Riley slowly announced.

"…"

Did I… say the wrong thing?

After a pause, Chris sighed, his tone more guarded, "Better than consolation we don’t know is true. In any case, let’s check around the area, see if the SMAKS left any traces of activity… maybe even find suspicious people."

Chilly… Riley nodded in agreement, making her way around where she usually looked in Standoff Street; not that they expected to find anything.

Chris took a bite of his kebab — it had gone cold for a while, but he didn’t really care — and walked off to his own corner of investigation. To speak the truth, the SMAKS were only a fourth of his main worries.

It’s still weird… Riley shifted their feet; they, Chris, and the ghosts were waiting for Eugene to head to sleep, but that seemed to be an issue for the kid.

"I need to hurry up and sleep but I can’t…" Eugene uttered, his eyebrows creased in slight frustration as he stared at the wall. "This is a problem…"

River then moved — no one could react in time as she whacked the kid over the back of his head, effectively knocking him out.

Next to Riley, they could see Chris’s bewildered expression.

Good thing we went along with this… I hope we don’t mess up.

"Wake up, Newbie!" River shouted, ignoring Boss’s mildly displeased reaction.

"H..Huh?!" Eugene’s spirit shot up from the bed, eyes wide and frantically looking around.

"Ahaha, look how adorable they are when they wake up!" River laughed.

"Aren’t all of our Newbies adorable?" Hayden giggled, swinging his feet.

"Yeah, I’m naturally cute at least." Chris wore a small smirk on his face, looking at Eugene questioningly.

"Eugene… are you okay?" Riley asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Y… yes! I’m okay!" Eugene nodded, still not used to being surrounded by so much company. "Um… what happened anyway?"

"What do you mean? We waited until you fell asleep naturally." River blankly asserted.

Hayden looked at her and commented, "What are you saying? Hayden saw everything! River smacked Eugene in the head and made them leave their bo— "

"Ahahaha, shush, Hayden." River chuckled awkwardly, "Details, details, what matters is that our third Newbie’s here now!"

"Get out, River. You are distracting us all from the purpose." Boss ordered with a hint of irritation, running a chill down the humans’ spines. "I’ve told you all that we will be changing teams today."

"Alright, fineee." River crossed her arms, "Good luck with those three, Hayden! I’ll go with Joan now. Have fun~!"

With that, everyone watched as River jumped out the window of Eugene’s room and disappeared to somewhere else.

"What? But River was always Hayden’s partner…does that mean Hayden will be going with the Newbies?" Hayden asked to no one in particular.

"Yes, you all will be a group for today." Boss affirmed.

Hayden’s eyes widened as he protested, "What? But they don’t know anything!"

"…" Riley opened her mouth, but failed to find the words to protest against Hayden. They really didn’t know what they were doing.

"W…Well, he’s not wrong, but…"

"Oh c’mon! It can’t be THAT hard for us to learn." Chris tilted his head with, as Riley called it, ‘the look’. "Teach us, Hayden? Pretty please~?"

"But that’s so much work, especially for three people!" Hayden pouted. "Too lazy!"

Boss sighed, "Try to make a use of our Juniors. If all fails, we will eat them alive."

"…" "…" "…"

All three were stunned by the last declaration.

"P…Pardon?" Riley shuddered.

"E…Eat us?!" Eugene’s body trembled.

"Boss, you eat humans?!?!" Hayden gasped, placing a hand over his mouth.

"…I am joking." Boss emphasized, "Can’t make a joke like that nowadays…I will head out now, good luck."

Just like that, Boss faded away.

"Hey!! That’s just messed up to say, dude!" Chris fumed.

"He actually left?" Hayden mused, "He’s probably just saying that and protecting your bodies while hiding, though… but whatever! Today we are going to play!"

"P…play?" Eugene echoed uncertainly.

"What about our debts? We need to pay ‘em off…" Riley frowned.

"Yeah, so we’re slacking off?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"We ghosts do routine checks at dangerous places or a shaman if there is one occurring! If it’s day, we still try to find something to do, but Hayden doesn’t go out during the day because it’s tiring." He explained.

"Huh? Tiring?" Riley questioned.

"… it’s different from when I was mortal, but it’s hard to explain so Hayden won’t! Anyway, we don’t have any work to do, so we play!”

"W..We need to repay our debts though…" Eugene mumbled. "If we have no work, then how…?"

"I don’t know!" Hayden huffed.

"But Haydennnn?" Chris pleaded, "You know much more about this than we do! As our…uh, Senior, shouldn’t you teach us about it?"

He glanced at Riley, who then piped up, "Y,Yes! Senior Hayden, you should teach us your ways!"

"Hayden is a Senior and knows more than you three?" Hayden looked at them curiously, "If you put it like that, okay! Hayden will help you!"

"J…Just like that?" Eugene’s surprised voice spoke up. "Then, um…thanks."

"Do Riley, Chris, or Eugene have any friends that are bothered by ghosts?" Hayden asked, which was met by silence. "Possessions? Hospitals do nothing?"

"…No?"

"Not really." Chris shrugged.

"I don’t think so." Riley laughed awkwardly. "Unless horrendous cooking can be by a ghost’s influence, but I have my doubts…"

"N,No…I don’t have any friends to begin with…I don’t even talk —" Eugene suddenly perked up, "A,Actually… I know someone from my class…"

"Eugene goes to school?" Hayden looked at them, "Then why don’t you have friends? Isn’t there someone who slings their arm over you and you have a rival who’s super mean but popular and your crush is super smart but your rival plans something and it backfires so you and your crush get together and everyone sings—"

"Are we talking High School Musical?" Chris raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that, for sure." Riley stared.

Eugene looked at Hayden for a long time, "You…don’t actually know anything about school, do you?"

"No…?" Hayden blinked in confusion, "What is school like, then?"

"It’s not as exciting…" Eugene softly exhaled.

"In actuality, we hardly have time for all those flashy parties and get-togethers — we’re constantly just trying to get by, study, receive good grades, and go home to do our homework and relax." Chris nodded.

"Whaaaat?" Hayden gasped, "Then all the good things about school were a lie! There’s only bad!"

"Not really “bad”, but… disappointing, I guess." Riley shook their head.

"It’s like my hospital. Hayden got excited for nothing." Hayden huffed in disappointment.

Uhhhhh…?

"Hmph, whatever. So about that person Eugene mentioned, how do you know he has problems if you do not talk?"

"I can listen, right?" Eugene shifted his stance, "So he sits next to me, and he’s been getting this repetitive dream of his deceased cat…usually he’s cheerful, but ever since, he’s been tired."

Riley nodded along, I get what that feels like…

He bit his lip — now wasn’t the time for remembering.

"His cat?" Hayden echoed curiously, "Hayden wants more details!"

"He…he doesn’t see anything, but he hears something… scratching at a door. He’s been g,getting that dream for days." Eugene informed. “It’s been happening since his cat, Kitty, died…"

Hayden nodded, a thoughtful look on his face before he eagerly announced, "So it’s a cat ghost? Hayden is usually on the cat’s side, but okay! Let’s go!"

"Huh? But we…don’t know where he lives…" Eugene paused.

"Seriously?" Chris frowned.

"S,Sorry…" Eugene shrunk away.

"Take it easy on him, like he said, he doesn’t talk to his classmates." Riley lightly scolded.

"Okay, okay, don’t get on my case for it… I’m sorry too." Chris bit his lip.

"It’s okay if Eugene doesn’t know, because the cats will know!" Hayden proclaimed.

"The…cats?" Eugene looked at him oddly.

"No more chitchats! Take each other’s hands!" Hayden then took ahold of Eugene’s hand, who held onto Riley’s that then held onto Chris’s.

"Wha? We’re floating!" Riley shouted, moving their head down to stare as everyone began to levitate.

"This is… pretty cool!" Chris grinned.

Eugene nodded in agreement, keeping in mind that they weren’t in mortal forms at the moment, so they couldn’t exactly die like this.

"Hehe, our Newbies will learn how to do this too, after a while!" Hayden giggled, "Okay, Ghost Train, let’s go!"

While Eugene kept his eyes straight ahead, Riley couldn’t help but look down to see the view of the city. 

It looks really impressive from up here…

"Me, meow? Meeeeow." Hayden communicated to the alley cat.

The turquoise shell cat sniffed, licking its paw before it replied, "Grrr. Meeeow."

"Grg." Hayden nodded in understanding much to the three juniors’ confusion.

The cat then suddenly got up and left the alleyway — it seemed that the conversation was finished.

"Were you talking to it?" Riley asked incredulously.

"Cats see ghosts! Of course Hayden can talk to them!" Hayden adjusted the hat on his head proudly. "Anyways, Hayden found out the house Eugene was talking about, let’s go!"

"R,Really? Well, okay!" Eugene nodded as they began to float once again and flew to the window of Luke’s room.

"… is that a nightmare shaped as a cat?" Chris asked, staring at the cloud over Luke’s head.

"Looks like it…" Riley intensely stared at the cloud as well with intrigue.

"Ohhh, Eugene, Eugene! Is that him?" Hayden looked at the boy.

"Wow, you did find him…y,yes, that’s him." Eugene confirmed.

"He’s dreaming…" Hayden noted, "That’s a dream the cat ghost must’ve made! It’s dark because he can’t see anything, like Eugene described!"

"But…w,what do we do now?"

"We go into the dream!" Hayden declared.

"Ghosts can do that?" Chris snapped his gaze over to Hayden.

Hayden didn’t answer, entering Luke’s room before jumping into the dream the way he’s done this plenty of times before, offering out his hand, "Come on! Hold Hayden’s hand like two times before!"

Eugene hesitated, Riley stepping in and taking Hayden’s hand before taking ahold of Eugene’s, Chris joining the chain afterwards.

"Hayden will pull you in, but you guys might get a little dizzy!" Hayden warned.

"W,What if we throw up?" Eugene doubted.

"Dummy, how can a ghost throw up?" Hayden playfully assured before pulling them into the dream.

"… I can’t see anything…it’s scary…" Eugene quavered, tightening their hold on — assumably — Riley’s hand.

"We’re all here, right?" Riley inquired.

"Yeah, but like Eugene said, I can’t see anything or anyone." Chris’s voice replied nearby.

"That’s because the sleeping person thinks he can’t see anything." Hayden explained.

It’s making me nervous from not being able to see anything…

As everyone fell quiet, a new sound began to fade into their hearing range.

A teenager’s distressed sobbing — it wasn’t something commonly heard everyday, but oddly, it was easily distinguishable.

"D,Do you guys hear that?" Eugene quietly gasped.

"Mhm…" Riley fell quiet once more, trying to figure out where it was coming from.

"We should follow it, it’s probably who Eugene was talking about!" Hayden concluded.

"But…what if something happens?" Chris hesitated.

"Are you scared?"

"N,No way! It’s just hard to see and I prefer to be cautious."

"You all are probably feeling the dreamer’s fear. If it makes you all feel any better, Hayden will go with you."

"O,Okay, thank you…" Eugene sighed a breath of relief.

They moved towards the cries, and more could be made out.

"Kitty, I’m sorry…" the voice’s tone broke, "I’m really sorry…"

"A,Are you okay, Luke?" Eugene was startled by his own voice, but it was too late to take it back. "I,It’s Eugene…"

"Eugene! Why did you tell him that? He’ll ask questions that are hard to avoid!" Hayden huffed.

"Oh…" Eugene quieted down in realization.

Before anyone could say anymore, soft scratching noises at a wooden surface interrupted them.

Luke’s breath caught in his throat, "I’m sorry, Kitty, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…"

"P,Please, forgive me…"

It was foreign to Eugene for a guy like Luke to cry so intensely, but experiencing the dream himself made it easier to understand.

"Did…Did you do something wrong?" Eugene contemplated.

"Was this his fault? Than Hayden would have never came!" Hayden frowned — not that it was visible in the dark.

"Hayden! What are you saying about a distressed kid?" Riley scolded.

"He should’ve done more to raise it better if he were to keep the cat in his house." Hayden protested, "Riley doesn’t think animals hold grudges too because they can’t talk?"

"I —"

Hayden scoffed in response, "Hayden doesn’t know about Boss or Joan, but Hayden doesn’t help with things like that. He should just keep having nightmares!"

"But we don’t know what’s going on for sure…" Eugene defended; for some reason, he felt that Luke wasn’t a bad person. Maybe it was how much hurt there was in his voice, but there was something that rubbed him wrong when trying to accuse Luke of being cruel to his cat.

"It’s all my fault, I deserve to get nightmares…" Luke spoke up, his voice trembling. “I,I’m a bad owner…"

"What did you do?" Hayden questioned.

"I,I didn’t take care of Kitty well enough…" Luke tensed, "I didn’t even know he was sick!"

An almost inaudible "mrow…" came from behind the door.

"And that damned vet said that it was too late when I arrived! So we had to…had to…"

"…Kitty d,died when I came home to get something!"

But it doesn’t seem like he’s at fault… Sometimes, this happens under our radar, no matter what we do.

"Kitty is…probably blaming me for leaving him…"

Luke is being too harsh on himself. He didn’t cause Kitty’s death. Not intentionally.

Riley looked towards where the scratching was.

I don’t know why, but I have a feeling that…Kitty isn’t mad at him at all.

"Getting nightmares like these… it’s because I didn’t treat him right —"

"Get over yourself!" Hayden suddenly shouted.

"W,What?" Luke sniffed.

"Is this why Eugene and Luke sit next to each other? Because you both are dummies?"

"W,We’re not dummies!" Eugene argued.

"Okay, listen, dummies, this is a dream made by Luke’s cat."

"K…Kitty?" Luke asked.

"Yes, Kitty. As cats can get around easily in the dark, Kitty didn’t think it needed to be bright. If Kitty knew more about humans, it would be more bright, so I think Kitty was a baby?"

"N,Not even…10 months old, actually…"

Oh…Hayden’s pretty smart…

"Okay, I know then! Luke, close your eyes and imagine a light switch somewhere. We will look for it together!"

"Yeah, just don’t place it on the ceiling." Chris joked.

"…If this is a lie, I won’t let this slide." Luke warned. "So, a light switch?"

"Wow, Luke is better at this than Eugene!" Hayden teased.

"H,Hey! I’m not dumb…" Eugene retorted.

"Haha…" Luke quietly chuckled, closing his eyes. "Hey…Eugene. If you were able to talk this whole time, why are you always silent at school?"

"Um…"

"Everyone!" Hayden interrupted, "Feel for a light switch on the walls!"

"O,Okay!"

No one had any idea which wall they were checking, occasionally bumping into something — or someone — every now and then, and after a few minutes they still struggled.

"This sucks…" Riley deadpanned.

"Ack! Riley, you’re gonna make me lose balance!"

"Geez, sorry Chris…"

"…Hey, Eugene?" Luke called out, "I don’t know if this is a dream or not, but… thanks."

"…I didn’t talk at school, because…I was just s,scared." Eugene slowly responded.

"Scared?"

"I,I’m not saying you’re scary, but…if I kept quiet, I figured I wouldn’t say or do anything dumb…"

"So…you always stayed alone because you were afraid of making mistakes that seemed stupid? Isn’t that too much?"

"Y,Yeah…you’re right, but this was a good time to step in, I think. I’m able to help you out…"

"…You’re a weirdo, you know that?" Luke’s voice seemed to have a small smile to it.

With a little more struggling, the lights finally turned on.

"H,Huh? I got it…" Eugene blinked as the lights turned on.

Chris looked around, nodding at the sports equipment that decorated the interior. "Pretty cool room you got here, dude."

"It was just my room all along…" Luke realized, "It was just so dark, I didn’t realize it…"

"It’s very sporty." Riley hummed, "Your room probably is like this too, isn’t it, Chris?"

"Yeah…that, and posters of Flare!" Chris smirked.

"Y,You guys are looking too closely…" Luke awkwardly stated.

"Wow, you have so many cat toys!" Hayden marvelled.

"S,Stop —"

Scratch, scratch

Luke gasped, turning towards the door.

Scratch, scratch

"Mrow…"

"Kitty?" Luke breathlessly called. "Should I open it?"

"It’s your room, your cat." Chris shrugged, "I think you should go for it."

"I should, but…"

"Does Luke really think Kitty hates him?" Hayden asked.

"I can’t tell for sure…" Luke looked at the floor. "I can’t be sure Kitty doesn’t, either."

"If Kitty is actually a monster with grudges, something horrible might happen to Luke."

"What??" Eugene gasped.

"Like, the monster could consume Luke, or take his memories…"

"S,Seriously?" Chris’s eyes were wide in disbelief.

"If that’s the case, it would be safer for us to cleanse the dream and let Kitty rest in peace that way.”

"Then, we should —"

"But what if Kitty isn’t a monster, and wants to visit Luke?" Riley piped up.

"If we were to cleanse the dream while Kitty isn’t a monster, Kitty may never meet Luke again."

"W,What do I do…?" Luke shuddered, "I want to see Kitty again, but…"

What should you do? Riley pondered.

If a loved one were to visit me one last time, what should I do…?

"I think…you should open the door." Eugene told him.

"I think so too. Even if it’s dangerous, there’s a chance that all Kitty wants is for you to see him again." Riley agreed.

"…I want to see him again." Luke declared, "Even if he hated me and won’t listen, I want to see him again and apologize. Because that’s… how friends are."

Hayden nodded, watching as Luke approached the door…and opened it.

"…Meow?" Kitty’s small figure stepped out, sitting down and looking up at Luke.

"Kit..ty."

"Meow." ("Luke.")

"Kitty!!"

"Meeeeeow!" ("Lukeeee!")

"I’m sorry, Kitty, I’m so sorry…" Luke burst into tears again. "I’m so sorry for leaving you in pain…"

"Meow! Meeeow! Meeeeow!" ("No! No feel bad! Painless!")

"I know, I know. I know you blame me. I’m so sorry…"

"Maaaarrrrrraaaao!" ("Kitty doesn’t blame Luke! Kitty loves Luke!")

It feels like Luke is mistaken…

"Mew! Meeow! Meeerrrrr!" ("Stop blaming! That is not what I mean!")

Hayden sighed disapprovingly, "Luke doesn’t know Luke’s own cat’s emotions?"

"Huh…?" Luke blinked in confusion.

"I guess not. Here, you can borrow this." Hayden placed his hat on Kitty’s head, "This hat lets cat talk human and human talk cat!"

"T,That’s so cool!" Eugene gasped.

"Okay, everyone, shh, SHH!" Hayden hushed.

Eugene zipped his mouth as the others watched.

“Baby.”

"Kitty…"

"Baby, treats?"

"Huh?"

"Do you want treats? My baby want treats?"

"Did you miss your brother, baby?"

"It’s…what I’ve said. Kitty, you remembered?"

Kitty is using Luke’s words to talk.

"Since cats don’t know how to speak human, Kitty is borrowing Luke’s words to communicate!" Hayden beamed.

"Kitty knew what Luke meant even though he didn’t fully understand…" Eugene mumbled in wonder.

"Kitty…" Luke quietly looked at his cat.

"Luke loves Kitty the most in the world."

"K…" Luke’s voice cracked, "Kitty…"

"Baby, I’m sorry. I love you, you know that, right? Our Kitty is the prettiest cat in the world!"

"O,Okay, I got it…I got it…"

"Oh baby, you feel bad for scratching me? It’s okay, it’s okay, Luke isn’t hurt, see?"

"R,Really? It didn’t hurt? You got a lot of shots, it didn’t hurt?"

"Luke loves you. I’m happy as long as long as you’re with me."

"T,Then why did you leave so soon? You left me all alone, Kitty…"

"Luke is sorry for being busy. I’m so sorry, Kitty."

"I’ll be back soon, baby! Watch the house for me!"

"I got you snacks, too!"

"When are you coming back..? I miss you so much, Kitty."

"Luke will be back before you know it, Kitty! Don’t cry too much, okay? Go watch the birds out the window, play with the toys, have fun, okay?"

"O…Okay." Luke sniffed and wiped his eyes, "I’ll wait… I’ll stay well and wait for you."

"Good Kitty. Good baby. I love you, I really really love you. I’ll be back soon!"

"I…I love you too, baby. Goodbye, Kitty…"

With that, the dream began to fade as everything turned brighter til snowy white.

Once their vision returned, the four were in Luke’s actual room, the dream much more brighter the way Kitty was, hat and all.

“K…Kitty was worried about Luke." Eugene softly said.

"Luke couldn’t open the door because he was sorry and he was scared to be blamed." Hayden asserted, "It’s good Eugene’s friend isn’t a bad person though! Hayden would’ve left otherwise even if Boss scolded Hayden."

"Y…Yeah, Luke’s a good person in actuality." Eugene nodded.

"Won’t he raise questions, though?" Chris raised an eyebrow. "He saw us and all…"

"Mortals usually forget since it’s a dream to them." Hayden waved it off, "Anyhow, our newbies did great today!"

"Yeah? I don’t know about that, but thanks…" Riley offered a smile.

"It’s not easy to encourage someone who blames themselves." Hayden advised, "Only others like them understand."

"Ah…" Eugene trailed off.

"Eugene found somebody that needed help, you all tried to help, and actually helped. It’s a good lot of work, actually!" Hayden explained.

If Hayden puts it like that, it does feel like I’ve done a part too…

"So…I was useful?" Eugene asked.

"Yep!" Hayden cheered, "But now, Hayden wants to bring you all somewhere!

"Huh?" Chris tilted his head. "Well, okay."

With that, they followed Hayden to a flower shop, where a buff-yet-kind looking man stood holding a flower basket.

"Oh, Hayden? You’re going to work?" Sean smiled.

"Hayden’s going back after finishing work!" Hayden corrected, "Hayden taught our three newbies today and completed the job!"

"I see, you’re always doing great." Sean looked at them, "Hello! My name is Sean."

"I’m Chris."

"My name’s Riley."

"A,And I’m Eugene."

Sean nodded, "It’s great to meet you! I’m collecting kindness through passing out flowers."

He turned to Hayden, "Hayden, would you like another flower?"

"Hayden’s okay! Maybe you could give some to our newbies? Is there anything that helps mortals?"

"Mortals?" Sean’s eyebrows raised, "Eugene, Chris, and Riley are all mortals? What happened? Did any of you overwork yourselves?!"

"No…Boss made them help out to repay their debts."

"Exploiting mortals… sounds like Boss…" Sean sighed.

"Ahaha…" Eugene laughed nervously.

"I know Boss is a good person, I’m just scared of him." Sean added.

"So that’s why you always hide when I’m nearby."

"AH!"

Boss appeared out of seemingly thin air, almost amused.

Almost.

"What are you scared of?" He looked at the group.

It feels cold  whenever I’m near him…

"Oh! It’s Boss!" Hayden gasped.

"Sean."

"Y,Yes Sir..??" Sean looked at him.

"You have enough memories left about flowers, correct? It would earn a great amount of blessing to make a flower that protects one’s spiritless body."

A thoughtful expression appeared on Sean face, "Protect a spiritless body…that would be hard to make…"

"Is it too difficult?" Boss coldly inquired.

"N,No! I’ll make it!" Sean yelped, taking 3 flowers out of his basket before getting to work, the flowers soon standing straighter and sparkling.

Either from exhaustion or relief, Sean sighed, "Phew…"

Wow…

"Okay…you guys, take one each." Sean held them out for the three to take. "They’re guardian flowers; put them into your mouth when about to sleep and they’ll protect your body once leaving it."

"Thank you." Riley nodded and took one as Chris and Eugene also gave their thanks.

Such a delicate flower can protect our mortal bodies? That’s amazing. Could I ever reach high potential?

…I’m thinking crazy now. This is a flower.

"Hayden, go get your hat back. I will bring our juniors back." Boss ordered.

"Hehe, okay!" Hayden smiled. "Bye Eugene! Bye Riley! Bye Chris! I’ll see you tomorrow!"

"See ya tomorrow!" Chris nodded and waved for the three of them.

Boss sighed once he had dropped all three off at their respective homes.

He had told them all the same thing; "You were quite useful today."

However, them being useful wasn’t exactly the issue. Chris, Riley, and Eugene could be useful all they wanted, but without the confidence or willpower to truly believe in their own self…

Boss hoped they’d be a little more sure by the end.