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An pushes the doors of WEEKEND GARAGE, Akito, Toya, and Kohane following behind her.
“Okay, here we go! Vivid Street as it really is !”
She walks over to some of the tables, and points at Tatsuya, Kisara, and Akemi.
“We told you this before, but EVER are all Centaurs!”
“Whoa, whoa!” Tatsuya says. “What’s going on?”
“Long story short, Toya’s a vampire, Kohane’s a werewolf, and Akito’s human but Toya feeds off him so he knows.”
“What?!” Akemi says.
“I didn’t know you guys were centaurs either.” Kohane replies.
Kotaro walks in, and An motions to him.
“This guy’s a human, but Kotaro’s little brother is a warlock.”
Kotaro looks… confused.
“I’m not a human.”
“What?”
“I’m not a human. I died a few months ago.”
“What?!”
“Wait, when?” Toya asks, and he shrugs.
“Uh, a little while before Tono showed up. No one found my body for two weeks until Kazuya went looking for me and found the grand piano that crushed me.”
“…No one even noticed the grand piano?” An says, and Kotaro sighs.
“They thought it was an art piece.”
“…Okay. Uh, wow. I didn’t… I’m sorry?”
“It’s fine. Anyway, he summoned me back and now I’m here.”
An and Kotaro fall silent, both trying to figure out what to say.
Luckily for both of them, the awkward silence is ended by Arata walking in and An can start explaining again.
“And here’s this guy! Also human, but his partner’s a faerie and so he can see everything on the street!”
“The fuck do you mean Souma’s a faerie?” Arata says.
“Well, he’s always seen the street? And the purple sparks?” An says, and Arata sighs.
“An-chan, before we became partners he thought that you splashing him with water was a water gun. He noticed all these weird things but never brought them up because he was shy. I’m the faerie in our relationship.”
An blinks.
“No. No, I don’t believe you. You’re lying to me. There’s no way that Souma’s human and you’re not.”
Arata rolls his eyes before flipping his hair out of his face, and bright purple sparks follow the motion.
“That look human to you?”
“ You’re the faerie?!”
“Last time I checked. Have you all really been going around here for years thinking that Souma was a faerie and I was human?”
“Wait, but I’ve never seen you fly.” An’s dad chimes in, and Arata immediately starts levitating, crossing his legs in the air.
“It’s just easier to walk when you have a human partner.”
“Wait, so do you have wings?” Kohane asks, and Arata shakes his head.
“Wrong type. I’m a Leanan Sidhe.”
“Leanan Sidhe? I thought they all lived in Ireland and Scotland.” Toya says.
“I thought they were all female.” Kohane adds.
“Yeah, it’s rare.” Arata says, falling back into a chair and keeping his legs crossed on the table. “Mom told me the last one was in the 1600s or something.”
“My parents met him.” Toya adds, and An is suddenly struck by the realization that Toya’s parents are definitely not in their 50s.
“Wait, don’t Leanan Sidhe feed off creative energy? Have you been killing people on Vivid Street?!” Kohane gasps, and Arata rolls his eyes even harder.
“I’m vegetarian.”
“What?”
“I just go to concerts and breathe in the air there. Works just as well as killing people. My mom quit killing before I was born and raised me like that, it’s all I’ve ever done. …Though, if I could find a couple of guys, I’d love to kill ‘em.”
“Wait, what? What exactly does a Leanan Sidhe do?” An says, and Arata groans.
“Every fucking time… we’re basically like muses. We offer creatives contracts, brilliant inspiration in exchange for their life force. It’s just that simple. If you’ve heard of a brilliant artist dying young, it’s probably the work of a Leanan Sidhe. Immortality in exchange for your life.”
But then Arata lets out a deep sigh.
“…I sometimes wonder if my powers were the reason Souma had his accident.”
Toya’s eyes sharpen.
“Did you make a contract with him?”
Arata’s eyes widen.
“No, god no, what do you take me for? I love him. I’d never. I— It’ll be easier just to show you. You know that hook that Souma has?”
“The metal one with the strange energy?” Toya replies, and Arata pulls something out of thin air.
“Just like this one. They’re a pair. Every Leanan Sidhe has two. It’s not very well-known, but if you have one of these, it’s like a wellspring of inspiration without the contract. It’s not as intense, though. I gave the other one to Souma. And now, no matter how far apart we are, all he has to do is run his thumb over it and I’ll come running. Or, well, teleporting.”
“Wow. I… don’t know how to process this.” An says. “What the fuck?”
“I seriously can’t believe that you thought I was a human all this time. Did the sparkles not tip you off?”
“I thought they were coming from Souma! We all did! They were always surrounding him!”
Arata flicks his fingers and showers An in purple sparks.
“I’m gay, An. Of course I’d make him look sparkly.”
“I can’t believe you made this mistake twice.” Akito says, and An glares at him.
“Oh, fuc—”
Suddenly, the door to WEEKEND GARAGE opens and it’s someone that An doesn’t recognize. Everyone immediately falls silent.
“Hey. I needed somewhere to get away from the rain. Could I get a cup of coffee?” He asks, and An immediately switches into customer service mode.
“Sure, of course!” She starts, before lowering her voice so that only the people around her can hear. “Remember, it’s important to not let things slip. It’s not just your ass if you do, it’s the entire stre—”
Before she can finish, Arata fires an energy beam at the guy.
“Idiot! What was that for?!” An yells, but then she realizes Arata’s outright shaking with rage.
“You’re dead. You’re supposed to be fucking dead.” He literally growls , and the guy takes a step back.
“You… you’re that kid!”
“And you’re a ghost. Of course.”
The guy looks insanely pissed, but not as pissed as Arata.
“You sent your psycho mom after me! What the fuck was that about?!”
“You hit my partner with a fucking car, asshole!”
Toya’s eyes widen and his fangs appear over his lips.
“This is…?” He starts, and Arata nods back at him.
And Toya literally tackles the ghost, but he gets shot back by a wave of psychic energy.
“Toya!” Akito yells, running over to him, as Mita counters the wave of psychic energy with a second one.
Kisara bolts over to the door, while Akemi kicks with her hind legs and hits him in the head.
Then everyone backs off, and Arata stalks over to him.
“You have no idea how pissed I was when I learned that Mom killed you. I wanted to do it myself. But looks like I’ll have that chance right now. I’ll be the one to send you back to hell where you belong.”
He manifests the hook again, and suddenly the ghost is draped in purple magic.
“You never really fulfilled your end of the bargain, if you think about it. It was your life in exchange for inspiration. But here you are, getting your life and the inspiration you wanted.”
“I’m already dead!” The guy tries, and Arata clicks his tongue.
“Yeah, you’re already dead. But you still have a life. You have a family, people who love you. That's life. How dare you just stand there, walking around like nothing happened when my partner is in the hospital because of you? And now you try to cheat the system? Well, luckily for me, there’s stipulations for this exact scenario. When you go home, your life will be over. ”
“What?”
“All your friends and family will no longer be able to see you. You’ll slowly but surely fade away, until there’s nothing more tying you to this mortal plane and you’ll pass on to nothing waiting for you on the other side. That’s the price you’ll pay.”
The purple glow fades away, and the ghost laughs.
“You’re as crazy as your mom. Go to hell yourself.”
He walks out of the café, and Arata has this… absolutely manic smirk.
“Oh, I can’t wait for him to find out that everything I just said was true.”
“I feel like we’re missing some context.” An says, and Toya shrugs.
“I don’t think so? It seems like Yoka-san killed him because he’s the one who hit Souma-san with a car and he was summoned back as a ghost and now Tono-san’s using magic contract law to curse him for eternity.”
“That explains literally nothing.”
“It explains everything, An-chan.” Arata says, walking over to the door. “I’m gonna go stalk him, I’ll be back later.”
He leaves, and An sighs.
“What the fuck is this day? Everyone good?”
“U-uwah!” Kohane exclaims. “That was s-so scary…”
“Eh, half the fights on Vivid Street are weird magic beef anyway.” Akito says, helping Toya to his feet.
“Wh-what about the other half?”
“Weird music beef.” Toya groans, being settled into a chair by Akito.