Chapter Text
“Thank you! Come again!” The bookstore employee happily said as he watched the large monster truck leave the store with a new book he just bought. It was a strange book for someone so infamous for his cheating in races. He never even thought the blue truck would want to read. But here he was– saying farewell to the infamous Crusher after he bought this month’s best-seller: Raindrops Falling on Dandies.
Crusher carried the book out of the store and began making his way downtown, putting his brand-new earphones in. He absolutely loved them as a gift from Gabby two weeks ago and he barely goes anywhere without it. He turned on his music and a tune began to play.
It started soft as Crusher navigated his way through the edges of town.
“Met you at the cemetery
We caught frogs and moths and beetles”
As Crusher got closer to his destination, he turned his head to ensure no one was following him. He made a turn through the alleyway, disappearing from the main road completely.
“We discussed our deepest fears
Yours are ghosts and mine is people”
Finally, Crusher arrived at his destination– Center Rose Cemetery. It wasn’t a cemetery well taken care of, that’s for sure. Just from the crooked gates alone, it called for reformation from the orchids that bloomed and wilted amongst iron bars to the dark patches of grass randomly appearing in different directions. From the other side of the gate, one could see the tombstones lined against each other. Some were broken and crumbling and others were riddled with mud that even their names wouldn’t e easily deciphered. Why would the infamous cheater of Axle City arrive at such a rundown and creepy place like this?
“If I had a heart it'd beat right out my chest
Right now I think I
Have something to tell you
Just promise me one thing”
Despite the visage, the racer pushed the gates open, cringing at the way it creaked with its movement. He began walking down the old path into the cemetery, the book safely secured in his hands. He passed by many gravestones with forgotten names and memories and an old tree with barely any leaves left.
“I have something to tell you
Promise you won't scream”
He stopped in front of a gravestone with a name scratched and clawed by whoever wanted the person residing beneath gone. He sighed and put the book in front of the marked stone and then sat beside it, bringing out his phone to entertain himself with.
“But would you be my friend
If I told you that I died years ago?”
The book beside it slowly began to rise from the ground and then open in mid-air. It stopped at a certain height just above the grave and its pages began to slowly turn. It was at the speed of someone leisurely reading them.
Crusher glanced at the phenomenon but went back to his game quickly.
“Would you be my friend if I never told a lie?
Some things hard to hear though”
The song went on, and truly, I did not need to write the whole song.
“Would it be better if we didn't?
If you never knew the truth of my existence?
Would you ever be friends with a ghost?”
For Crusher, it was the music playing softly in his earphones that filled the dull silence in this grey place, but for the outside, it was nothing but the cold and dreary wind and the cawing of crows that filled the graveyard.
Crusher didn’t know how long it was. Maybe around 30 minutes? Approximately, 30 minutes later, the book closed with a soft slam and Crusher paused his game. He took off his earphones and then looked up at the gravestone where the book was floating.
In his vision, there stood a transparent human with a faint resemblance of color. Dark blue hair and clothes fit for someone in the business world but casual enough to be considered for regular walks around the park. The only thing vividly colorful about him were his eyes which held a dark shade of blue. He sat on top of the grave casually with his legs crossed and the books satisfyingly in his hands.
He smiled at the monster truck sitting beside the gravestone and said, “Thank you, Otouto.”