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“Hey, have you heard? In the abandoned music room on the third floor of the old building, there’s an unused closet. If you knock three times, you can summon the spirit of King. King will grant any wish, but for a price…”
A price. A price. The warning at the end of the school mystery Ako told Rokka circled around her mind.
Her closed fist hovered over the door of the closet in the abandoned music room. What would be the price of her wish?
Rokka squared her shoulders and gathered her courage. Whatever the price was, her wish would be worth it.
She knocked three times.
“King?” She called out. “King? Are you there?”
The latch of an old window broke open, letting in a chilling late winter wind. Rokka shrieked, and dropped to the ground, covering her eyes. After a moment, the air calmed. Rokka peeked through her fingers, and saw that the room had not changed.
No wind, no ghost.
Relieved laughter bubbled up in her throat. As she rose from the ground, Rokka decided to tell Ako off tomorrow for spreading scary stories. But then, a cold arm snaked around Rokka’s shoulders.
“You summoned me?”
Rokka’s heart was beating out of her chest as her mind frantically supplied explanations. It’s just someone playing a trick on me. It’s just an upperclassman being a jerk. She whipped her head around, ready to scold whatever cruel person decided to play this trick on her.
Rokka's words died in her throat. Instead of a human, behind her was someone in the old uniform, slightly translucent and floating off of the ground, with will-o-wisps floating around her. It was exactly as the rumors described. Except, instead of a handsome boy, Rokka had been caught by a handsome girl.
King brought her face closer to Rokka’s, causing the nervous girl to shriek and break free of the ghost’s grasp. Unfortunately, all of her fear had turned her legs into jelly, and she slipped, passing out when her head hit the hard floor.
♡♡♡♡♡
Rokka nearly passed out again when she woke to King’s face dangling over her.
“Are you alright?” King asked once Rokka stopped shrieking.
Now that her heart was a little calmer, King did not seem threatening at all, and Rokka nodded. In actuality, there was a sharp pain in the back of her head, but she was already being too bothersome.
Bothering someone hadn’t been her intention. Honestly, Rokka hadn't expected this to work. It was a final desperate move, so desperate that she hadn’t even told Ako, her expert in all things occult and supernatural, that she was going to attempt to summon a ghost.
King didn’t seem to share any of Rokka’s awkwardness, and she jumped right into conversation. “Who are you? Are you here for that wish?”
The tips of Rokka’s ears turned red. As the color spread to the rest of her face, she blurted out, “I’m Asahi Rokka, Year 1 Class A, and I want Toyama Kasumi to date me!”
♡♡♡♡♡
“That’s her,” Rokka whispered to King as they peaked over the windowsill into the courtyard. She let out a dreamy sigh. “Isn’t she amazing?”
Toyama Kasumi; leader, singer, rhythm guitarist, and songwriter for Poppin’Party; doubled over with laughter, with her lunch forgotten on the picnic blanket. Rokka wished she knew what made her eyes sparkle so much. She wished she could make Kasumi laugh like that too. Unfortunately…
“I can’t even talk to her.”
“Have you tried?”
“Of course I have! But…” Rokka leaned her forehead against the wall and her suppressed frustration bursted out of her as a groan.
Rokka had tried so many times. In the halls, at Poppin’Party’s concerts, the few times she went to the Toyama home to study with Asuka. Everytime, she became too nervous to do anything but stammer, and by now, she had given up hope.
King looked pensive for a few seconds, her gaze stretching beyond the horizon. Then, her face lit up again, and she squished Rokka’s face in between her palms.
"I’ve got it.” She removed one of her hands from Rokka’s face. With a flick of her wrist, a book materialized in the air.
Assuming that this was a magical item, Rokka gasped with delight when King handed it to her. However, on closer inspection, she was severely disappointed. The cover had the old and worn out appearance of a magical artifact, but its contents and title were completely mundane.
Methods of Love: Hundred Strategies read the cover.
King looked proud of herself, so Rokka felt a bit bad when she spoke up. “I think this is just a normal book.”
“No, it’s a foolproof guide to make someone fall for you,” King said without the confident smile slipping from her face.
Was this really a wish granting ghost, one of the seven most powerful spirits in Circle Girls’ Academy? Rokka's eyes darted from the book to King, waiting for the ghost to laugh and say she was just joking, but that moment never came.
King took the book from her and flipped through the pages. “Let's start with this one. Method 1…”
♡♡♡♡♡
Method 1: Compliment them!
Rokka and King peaked around a corner in the hall. Their sights were set on the center of a gaggle of girls obstructing the path— Kasumi, surrounded by a dozen fans and admirers.
Rokka took a deep breath and puffed out her chest with bravado. In no time at all, she was in the eye of the storm, face to face with Kasumi.
“Um,” Rokka blinked. What? What were the words she practiced with King? “I… uh, you…”
“Is everything okay, Asahi?” Kasumi asked sweetly.
“You guys are blocking the hall,” Rokka blurted out. Then, she ran away, with her face burning and heart racing.
Behind her, King facepalmed.
Result? Failure.
Method 25: Make them lunch!
Rokka hid behind some bushes, and crouched underneath a window that looked into Kasumi’s classroom. As no one could see her, King peered into the classroom, and dutifully reported to Rokka everything she saw.
“Toyama is here!”
Rokka quickly covered her mouth with her hands to suppress her gasp. Her heartbeat began to pick up as she listened intently to King’s words.
“She noticed the lunch box we left on her desk. She’s asking her blonde friend something, and her friend is shaking her head. They’ve opened the box, but… I don’t think her friend likes it very much. But Toyama is taking a bite!”
Rokka couldn’t stay quiet any longer. “Does she like it?”
“She… uh…” King quickly joined Rokka in crouching behind the bushes, as if she was afraid of being spotted as well. “Maybe I should’ve checked that lunch box first.”
Result? Failure.
Method 90: Ask their friend to put in a good word for you!
“Hey, aren’t you friends with Toyama’s—”
“No!” The birds that were resting outside of the music room fled to the skies, startled by Rokka’s loud objection. “Asuka cannot know about this!”
King sighed and opened the book again. “Method 95…”
Result? FAILURE.
♡♡♡♡♡
“This is impossible…” Rokka fell to her knees as King floated around her with concern. “King… can’t you just—“
“No! I believe in you Rokka. Here, look at this.” King zipped over behind her summoner, and threw her arms over her shoulders so she could hold the book in front of the both of them. “This is a great one. Method 96: Impress them with your special skills.”
Special skills? Special skills. Special skills?!
Rokka muttered to herself as she paced the music room, ready to pull her hair out. Meanwhile, King floated behind her while doing flips in the air.
“Do you have any hobbies?” King asked.
Rokka buried her head in her hands. She was a boring honor student who did nothing but study and go out with her friends.
“I used to play guitar in middle school,” she recalled. But not any longer. She wished she was more like Kasumi, who would never let anything distract her from her passion. Instead, Rokka was just another schoolgirl, wasting away her youth on solving problem sets and chasing perfect scores.
Rokka’s gloom didn’t infect King’s chipper attitude. “That’s great! Do you still have your guitar?”
Rokka shook her head. Her old guitar, bought with her own money, was in a forgotten corner of her parent’s home in the countryside, far from the prestigious school in Tokyo that Rokka studied for nearly a year to get into. Thinking about how carelessly she threw aside her passions, not knowing how difficult it was to restart as the distance between you and free childhood days grew, made Rokka’s eyes sting.
King’s eyes darkened. “That’s trouble. You said Popipa has another guitarist, right? Would she let us borrow a guitar?”
“What’s the point? It’s not like I can still play.”
Rokka used to be so good. The hours she now spent on schoolwork she used to spend going over the same passages with obsessive fervor, until her fingers couldn’t move anymore, and she went to sleep that night with exhausted satisfaction. Did the muscle memory she embedded into her fingers remain after all of these years? Or were all of those nights wasted?
King’s expression further darkened as she moved herself closer into Rokka’s space. Rokka took a nervous step back, King moved even closer. Back, closer, back, closer. Until Rokka’s back hit the window.
King’s forehead nearly pressed against Rokka’s own. In the midst of fear, Rokka once again noticed how handsome the ghost was. She looked like she belonged in a fairytale instead of a ghost story.
“You gotta try.”
Rokka gave an unsure nod.
♡♡♡♡♡
Approaching Hanazono Tae was easier than approaching Kasumi, but still a challenge. The first hurdle was catching the upperclassman while she was alone since she always seemed to have at least one other member of Popipa by her side.
Rokka had to lean on her most reliable (and only) external source for solutions— Asuka and Ako.
“Hanazono-senpai?” Asuka leaned back in her chair as her friends continued to eat their lunch around her desk. “My sister told me that the only time she’s not hanging out with Popipa is when she’s with Wakana-san.”
Rokka sighed. It seemed she had no other choice but to talk to Tae when she was with Student Council Vice-President Wakana Rei; the guitarist’s next door neighbor, childhood best friend, and not-so-secret admirer (not-so-secret to everyone except Tae).
Ako slammed her hands against the desk, earning a distressed “eep!” from Rokka as she broke out of her thoughts to stop their lunches from falling off the table. “Do you guys want to hear another rumor? It’s the School Mystery No. 1– the Three Clock Keepers. Gather round my apprentices in the dark arts of… uh…”
“I wanna hear the story!”
Every head in the classroom turned to their corner as Rokka’s chair loudly crashed onto the floor.
“Rokka, are you okay?” three people exclaimed around the standing girl.
Three?
Rokka whipped her head around to see the culprit behind her sudden fright. King’s eyebrows were furrowed with concern, as if she hadn’t caused Rokka’s heart to drop.
“Um, yeah I’m fine. Just… need to go to the bathroom.” With that excuse, Rokka scurried away with King following right behind.
Instead of going all the way to the girls’ bathroom, they stopped in an empty corner of the hall. Still, Rokka kept her voice low, knowing how insane she would appear to people unaware of King’s presence.
“What were you doing in my class?!”
“Sorry for scaring you. It’s just, uh…” King scratched the back of her head as her eyes wandered up. “It just gets a bit lonely in the music room. Only you ever come up there.”
“Aren’t there other supernaturals?” There had to be at least 6 others, if the title of “The Seven Mysteries of Circle Girls' Academy” existed.
“I don’t really know any other supernaturals. Well, sometimes I see these cute pink ones, but they always run away before I can pick one up.” Frowning, King looked down at her empty hands.
They’re probably scared of you , Rokka thought as she imagined King running (floating?) through the halls, chasing small and fluffy pink creatures.
However, even if King was a little intimidating, underneath her dark stare was a nice ghost who deserved some company.
“But it’s okay!” King’s sharp smile returned. “I’m sure I’ll bump into a different supernatural soon. Maybe it’ll be another School Mystery, like the Clock Keepers. Let’s just focus on you first. So, when are you going to speak with Hanazono-san?”
Rokka's shoulders fell as she resigned to her only option.
After school that day, Rokka walked the opposite way from Asahi Bathhouse so she could catch Tae and Rei as they went home. It was rather awkward to interrupt what appeared to be another love confession from Rei, but Rokka absolved her guilt by reasoning that this was probably going to be another failed confession. Rokka, however, was on the path to a successful declaration of love.
Tae readily agreed to loan Rokka a spare guitar, and the next day, she was already hard at work practicing in the abandoned music room.
♡♡♡♡♡
“Why do you want to date Toyama?” King one day asked out of the blue while Rokka was practicing.
Rokka’s figures paused. Why?
“Cause she’s cool and pretty.”
Rokka stared at the lead sheet in front of her, filled with the words she wanted to say to Kasumi. Her lyrics were sloppy and the melody was uninspired. She was having so much trouble just remembering the words, how would she remember the chords at the same time when she went to confess? Rokka remembered seeing Kasumi on stage, star guitar in hand, singing words that struck Rokka’s heart.
“I wish I could be more like her,” Rokka mused.
♡♡♡♡♡
It’s time.
Rokka made a short song that encapsulated her feelings for Kasumi. She practiced and practiced for weeks until her fingers were sore. She slipped a note into Kasumi’s locker, asking to meet with her in the courtyard right before sunset.
King’s cold hand slipped into Rokka’s and gave it a squeeze.
“You’ve got this,” she assured softly, even though no one except Rokka would’ve heard her even if she screamed at the top of her lungs.
King was by her side again, crouching with her behind a tree, where they could see Kasumi waiting for the letter’s anonymous author. Where she was waiting for Rokka .
Not that she knew that Rokka was the one who wrote her the note.
Rokka grabbed a fistfull of her shirt, right over her racing heart. She held on tighter as the shaking in her arms only worsened. How was she supposed to sing when her throat felt so dry?
“Are you ready?”
She was blowing her chances.
“Rokka?”
No, she never had a chance.
♡♡♡♡♡
As the street lights flickered on, one by one, Rokka had the thought that she should probably start heading home. She lifted her head from where they had been buried in her arms for who knows how long.
“You’re still here?”
King tilted her head. “Of course. You’re still here.”
“But she’s not.”
King looked away, and Rokka wished for a strong wind to scatter the million pieces of her heart into the sky. That wind never came. Rokka had a still beating heart under the neck of her guitar, and a ghost who could grant any wish sitting beside her.
“What’s the price?”
No answer. As if Rokka had said nothing at all, King kept her attention on a flickering street light. Being ignored further pushed up the frustrated anger lodged in Rokka’s throat. The urge to cry made her nauseous, but she shaked it off.
She just wanted to be cool for once. She wanted to be like Kasumi and go after the impossible, yet she wasn’t any closer to her goal than when she first summoned King.
“I can’t grant wishes.”
King’s words rang through the air, and at first, it just made Rokka angrier.
King will grant any wish, but for a price. Those were the words of the tale. Those were the words that King was .
Yet, when Rokka finally opened her mouth to scream and curse and let out years of disappointments, she saw the tears in the corner of King’s eyes, and the anger melted away.
The night was quiet for a while, with only Rokka’s soft breaths. She watched moths circle around and around a streetlamp, mistaking the artificial light for the moon. If only they knew it was a lie.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
King stayed silent for a moment. “I wanted to spend more time with you. And, I do want to make your wish come true. It’s just… I’m not as powerful as all of the stories make me out to be.”
Rokka gripped the neck of her guitar, the guitar King encouraged her to pick up again after so many years. It wasn’t her fault that Rokka chickened out at the last second.
“You did make my wish come true.” King looked confused at Rokka’s words, but Rokka’s heart understood them perfectly well. She didn’t know if Kasumi would show up a second time, but she needed to try, for King and for herself.
♡♡♡♡♡
Kasumi said no. She rejected Rokka very nicely, praising her performance and handing the younger girl a handkerchief when tears began to form in the corners of her eyes.
“I hope you’ll find someone worthy of your song soon.”
Yet, when she waved hello to Rokka the next day, things felt clearer, somehow. Rokka was sure she’d be dying of humiliation for the rest of the year after a rejection, but although she did feel some embarrassment and disappointment, she also felt proud.
The next day, Rokka visited the abandoned music room again. It was empty when she walked in, but just a second later, a handsome ghost popped into existence.
“You came back?”
“Well, my wish hasn’t exactly been granted yet, has it?” Rokka teased.
King considered Rokka’s words for a few moments before nodding. Her two hakujoudai also bobbed up and down in agreement. “I guess so. Should we consult the book again? How are your baking skills?”
Rokka laughed. “Terrible. But I actually want to make a new wish.”
“Even though I can’t actually grant wishes?”
Just a few weeks ago, Rokka would've found King's expression frightening. Eyebrows furrowed and mouth twisted into a menacing scowl, the ghost looked ready to pounce. However, Rokka now knew a bit of the wish that laid in King's heart. A wish that didn't belong to a terrifying ghost, but instead a kind girl.
“My wish is for us to make new friends together.”
♡♡♡♡♡
“Hey, Ako, could you tell me another supernatural rumor?” Rokka asked not too many days after her failed confession. She and her two friends were the only ones in the classroom, performing their cleaning duties for the day.
“You really want to hear one!” Ako exclaimed with stars in her eyes.
“You really want to hear one?” Asuka questioned at the same time.
Rokka nodded. Ako’s story about King ended up being true, so maybe they could help her find supernatural friends for King.
Ako dropped the chalkboard eraser on the chalkboard ledge, producing a cloud of chalk dust, before posing with one hand by her eye and mustering a devious smile.
“Gather my children of the dark, and listen to the tale of the Mokke, the devious thieves of Circle Girls’ High…”
Rokka listened with rapt attention, determined to relay Ako’s exact words to King. Hiding in the hall, pressed against the wall by the classroom’s door, an arrogant pink haired middle schooler listened closely to the tale as well.