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It was just supposed to be dinner . Not whatever the hell this was. Haruka was at the alley at the back of Fujita Ramen, chills running up his spine. It was dark, but he was certainly not alone. Shadows danced along the walls of the alley and—
"Stop hiding from me, you slimy ghost! I just wanna get this over with so I can eat my ramen mountain!"
...This weird guy hasn't let go of him for the last half hour, like he was some sort of koala and Haruka was a tree branch.
Haruka began to feel the beginnings of a headache. He thought back to what was barely thirty minutes ago. How did he get into this bullshit?
Mr. Fujita's place had become one of Haruka’s favorite places for dinner since he transferred to Furin. It was very local, not seeing a lot of tourists. Despite that, Mr. Fujita and his wife still saw a lot of business as it was known by locals as a spot for good and hearty food. It was also rather hidden, hiding him away from prying and curious eyes. He found it to be very comforting, filling, and warm on chilly nights. Not to mention that the Fujita family always gave him extra toppings because he saved their grandson from a fight one time.
He was only supposed to get dinner and head back to his place. But fate had other plans for him tonight, unfortunately.
The Fujitas were particularly crowded with orders earlier, apologizing to Haruka with a plate of gyoza—not that he minded the delay. The businesses in town were beginning to pick up once Endo had decided he wasn't interested in playing with Furin anymore. Of course, they had promos here and there, with Mr. Fujita having a ramen mountain promo. Locals and tourists had lined up in front of the ramen shop for some good ol' ramen made with love and joy. Haruka was also one of them, knowing how good their ramen was. He felt a little prickle of emotion in his chest as he realized that this is what his actions lead to. He couldn't pinpoint what the specific emotion was, but he was sure he'd feel it more as long as he stayed in Makochi.
As he thoughtfully chewed on his last piece of gyoza, looking around the lively restaurant, the door of the shop opened loudly. Haruka nearly lost his grip on the chopsticks as a yell rang out through the restaurant. The other patrons seemed confused too. "Hey, is this Fujita Ramen?!"
Mr. Fujita looked up from where he was assembling a bowl, eyebrows lifted in surprise Haruka quickly regained his grip on the chopsticks, shooting a dirty look at the direction of the door. A teen in casual clothes strode up to the counter with full confidence in his steps, coming from the edge of Haruka’s vision. He stood beside the irate Haruka, hands on his hips. He had messy black hair and red eyes, and he didn't look familiar to Haruka at all. The ramen shop owner smiled politely.
"Yes, this is Fujita Ramen. Is there something we can do for you, young man?"
The teen gave old Fujita a grin. It was wild, but it certainly fits what Haruka knew of him in the short time he has seen him. Cocky, confident, and probably oblivious. "You called for the Phantom Busters?"
The man's eyes lit up. "Oh, I did! But I recall my grandson saying there were more of you..."
"Haha, funny story actually." A sheepish smile appeared on the other teen's face, breaking his cocky facade. "Me and my club traveled all the way here, buuuuut... I kinda got excited and got off at a different stop as soon as I heard we were in the prefecture already. And my phone’s kinda dead so I just wandered around ‘till I got here.”
Old Fujita let out a chuckle as he finished assembling a regular bowl for a regular patron. He slid the bowl over to the patron before he turned to the teen. He rubbed his hands on a dish towel. “Honestly, I thought you lot were going to be the honor student type kids, but you’re much closer to the type of kids from Furin!”
“Furin?”
Haruka found the handwritten menu on the wall very interesting now, pretending not to listen to the conversation beside him. Nope, nada, zilch. He was not going to get involved in whatever this was. (Un)fortunately for him, Old Fujita was quite fond of the Furin kids, especially Haruka, who was a regular at the ramen shop and was eternally grateful for helping his grandkid. The old man gestured to him with a fond smile.
“Sakura, here, is from Furin! They’re some of the most fearsome delinquents in this prefecture, but they’re really the defenders of the town! Everyone here loves the kiddos from Furin!”
Immediately, New Guy turned to Haruka, eyes almost sparkling. Haruka didn’t turn, keeping his mouth in a scowl. When was Akira gonna finish up the noodles in the back?! Could he be any slower? “Really?! That’s so fuckin’ cool! That’s….”
For the first time since New Guy arrived, he fell silent. Haruka could feel the pin prickly feeling of someone staring at him. He had been getting less of that since he transferred to Furin, but it was still unpleasant. He finally turned to New Guy, admittedly bristling from tension and old habits.
New Guy was staring at Haruka in wonder, red eyes sparkling like rubies as he stared at him. For the first time in forever, he didn’t feel the scathing trait of stares directed at him from New Guy. No, he wasn’t exactly judging the other teen, it was more of fascination than anything. It’s more akin to childlike wonder.
Haruka bristled, turning away. “Stop starin’. It’s creeping me out.”
“Haha! You got some real pretty hair and eyes, dontcha?” New Guy smiled cheerfully. His smile didn't seem to be teasing, making Haruka’s ears turn red. The back of his neck also felt a tad bit warmer, and it’s definitely not from sitting at the counter. It was much colder before this asshole barged into the restaurant. “You and Zaki would definitely get along well! He has these really pretty eyes that let him see ghosts. He got his hair dyed white too, and it fits him. Yours is unusual but—”
The other teen didn’t seem perturbed by Haruka's quick and angry response. The bi-colored teen turned away, a scowl on his face and a red tint on his cheeks and ears. “Shut up and leave me alone!”
“Don’t worry, he’s just like that at first. He’ll warm up to you,” Old Fujita laughed, shaking his head. He briefly paused, eyes flitting towards New Guy. “Ah, right, what should I call you, young man?”
New Guy grinned. “I’m Shishikuno Mogari, one-fourth of the Phantom Busters!”
“Pleasure to meet you, young Shishikuno.” The old man smiled. “I can’t really leave my station, so I’ll have my grandson lead you to the back. I’ll be making our ramen mountain for you when you get back, along with your payment.”
“Hey, gramps…” Shishikuno started, his earlier mirth gone. An inquisitive look appeared on his face instead. “It’s at the back, ain’t it? Wouldn’t it be easier to ignore it?”
Old Fujita sighed, a sad smile appearing on his face. “I can’t. Akira, my grandson, carries all our ingredients inside and he handles all the physical work in the restaurant. I’m not quite sure what happened, but he’s refused to go to the back for a month now. He says he sees scary things in there, but none of the other Furin kids do. I’m worried for his health, so I want to make sure it’s safe for him.”
Shishikuno nods sagely. “So, you want me to figure out if something or someone’s haunting the place?”
“Yes, I’m not sure what the problem is, but I’m worried for my grandson. Even if there’s no ghosts there, I’m sure you kids will find some way to solve the problem.”
Despite himself, Haruka admitted that he knew what Akira was talking about. It’s more instinctive than rational, but he couldn’t possibly mistake it for something else. That feeling’s barely there, but he felt it at the back of the ramen shop more strongly than at the front. It’s a foreboding aura, as if the predator is just waiting for that moment to snatch up its unsuspecting prey. Not to mention that Akira, who usually went home after school to help his grandparents run the restaurant, would insist on joining Haruka and the others for their patrols lately. It seemed like he was avoiding going home, for some reason, until his dinner shift started. Old Fujita seemed confused as well, as well as Auntie Momo. The old woman wondered if it was the generation gap and seemed quite gloomy from her grandson’s sudden distance.
“Gramps, I dunno if you’ve noticed this, but… there really is something there.” Haruka said, recalling the few times he’s had to haul in ingredients for Old Fujita. He couldn’t describe that feeling well, but the thing that Akira sees was definitely there . “There’s nothing there, but I get what Akira is talking about.”
Both Old Fujita and Shishikuno turned to him in surprise. Unexpectedly, Shishikuno grasped Haruka’s left hand, drawing attention back to him once again. The blush that had risen up the bi-colored teen’s face returned with a stronger intensity, spreading to his fingertips this time. Shishikuno stared at him with admiration instead of childlike wonder, a grin brightening up his face with several hundred watts. “You can see ghosts?! I thought I was dead meat without Koreshiki, Zaki, and Tamon around!”
“W-What’re you on about?!” Haruka sniped back, eyes flitting to his hand that was being held by the other boy. Another wave of embarrassment rose up in him. Why was this guy being so touchy-feely with someone he just met?! “A-And let go of me!”
“No way, dude!” Shishikuno answered, shaking his hand up and down like a child. “You’re my ticket to exorcising this spirit and getting that ramen mountain! Lead the way, Sakura!”
Haruka turned to Old Fujita with a scowl, but alas, the old man merely smiled at him. He’s completely unaffected by the scowl, instead, winking at the teen. “The ramen mountain’s going to be on the house for you, Sakura, if you help Shishikuno.”
Between Shishikuno’s puppy-like demeanor, Old Fujita’s promise of good food, and his own grumbling stomach, it was only a matter of time before Haruka acquiesced. He could hear the mini-Suo in his head cooing about how easy it was to get their beloved grade captain to do most things with a promise of tasty food. Damn it. He was only doing this because of Old Fujita, nothing more, nothing less!
Haruka ripped his hand away from Shishikuno’s grasp as he stood up from his counter seat. He walked over to a curtained door and turned to the black-haired teen, scowling. Shishikuno was already on his tail like an excitable puppy. “The back’s over here.”
Before Haruka opened the door to the alley behind the restaurant, his hand was once again taken by Shishikuno. He bristled, turning to the other teen with a glower. He ripped his hand from his grasp again. He was lucky that the lightbulb above the door was burnt out, preventing his red face from being illuminated. “Stop holdin’ my hand! I-It’s embarrassing!”
Shishikuno tilted his head, before a look of recognition appeared in his eyes. “Oh yeah! I guess I forgot to explain!”
He smiled at Haruka sheepishly. “You see, I’m occasionally an exorcist, but I can’t actually see or hear ghosts. Now, my friends can see and hear the ghosts, so I need to hold them to borrow their spiritual power! That way, I can also see and hear the ghosts too. Then, I can exorcise the ghosts by eating them. It’s a weird set-up, but it works!”
“...Uh-huh.” Haruka stared at him, dumbfounded. None of the words that Shishikuno spoke made sense. An exorcist that can’t see ghosts? An exorcist that ate ghosts? He wasn’t sure if he was just hungry or if it was Shishikuno who was starving. Probably both. He was really looking forward to the ramen mountain now. “That doesn’t answer anything.”
“You can feel the ghosts, right?”
Haruka thought of it for a bit. He wasn’t sure what Shishikuno meant. He couldn’t see or hear them like his friends did, apparently. But he could feel strong presences in abandoned places or when he was alone sometimes. Whether it was a remnant of years of hypervigilance from being stalked home by bullies and other delinquents or his own wariness of the world in general, he had a heightened sense and instinct when someone—and something , now, apparently—was near. It wasn’t something he noticed before, if he was honest. But it was always there, even in his earliest memories.
“I don’t get it,” Haruka settled. Frankly, he didn’t think of it as something special. It was so usual and mundane to him that it didn’t stand out at all. Yeah, it’s probably just his heightened senses. “I don’t have any of that spiritual power you’re saying.”
Shishikuno just laughed, grabbing Haruka’s hand once more. The teen’s face exploded into red again. “Don’t worry about it! Just hold onto me and I’ll eat up those ghosts in no time!”
Before Haruka could let out a protest, the black-haired teen had already opened the door to the alley and dragged him out. The cold summer wind blew into them, covering them in a comfortable chill. It was nice, compared to the hot temperature from the steam of the broth and noodles and the rather small seating area at the front of the restaurant. They stand in the alley for a few seconds. There were no lights here, with Akira being too scared to change out the burnt out bulbs.
Immediately, Haruka feels that foreboding presence once again. Like a predator watching their prey. It was a bit unnerving, if he was honest. Akira wasn’t wrong. Something was definitely here, and Haruka trusted his guts in situations like this more than anything else.
But he was focused more on the feeling of Shishikuno’s hand wrapped around his wrist, if anything. He still wasn’t used to touches that didn’t involve bruising hits or violent force, even with the presence of his friends, seniors at Furin, and everyone else in town. It was still foreign to him. Everyone at Furin had a sort of roughness to their actions and gestures, and Haruka admitted that he still had trouble being gentle with certain things. Yet, the grip around his wrist was rough, but it was not the roughness of someone who got into fights regularly.
Rather, it was the roughness of someone who protects.
The grip on Haruka’s wrist is not to keep him in place, but to ensure that Shishikuno could turn him away from any harm that may come his way. It was forceful, but not in a way to compel him. Shishikuno was using force to protect him. He seemed to have experience of dealing with these spectres, and so, he knew to keep his ghost-seeing buddies close, yet unharmed. Even if he had to be a little rough with them, it was fine as long as he could keep them away from harm that comes with exorcising evil spirits. He seemed to be used to fighting with someone clinging to h—
Haruka sharply turned to the left, throwing a strong hook with his free hand. Surprisingly, his fist met something solid, yet cold. Shishikuno turned to him in surprise, mouth open to ask something. Yet, no words came out of his mouth as he merely stared at something Haruka couldn’t see. There was a slight bit of fear in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared as his red eyes turned razor sharp.
Haruka yelped when Shishikuno pulled him behind himself, placing Haruka's hand on his shoulder instead. Shishikuno let out a laugh that seemed to bounce along the alley walls. “Don’t let go of me, Sakura! I’m gonna gobble this asshole up!”
Haruka turned around, not willing to deal with whatever the hell this was. He felt his words leave his throat as the door of the ramen restaurant is nowhere to be found, even when he’s sure that they just came out of it a minute ago. Fuck. He was really in it now, wasn’t he?
His instincts told him to run, and just run . This was way beyond what he could confidently handle. Human threats? No problem. He could beat them up and they’d crawl away pathetically. Supernatural threats? Hell no. You couldn’t simply punch ghosts and demons into oblivion. Not to mention that they dealt more sinister punishment than humans, if legends were to be believed.
So much for just having a ramen mountain for dinner.
It’s been a few minutes since Haruka and Shishikuno began “fighting” the ghost. Haruka couldn’t see what the other boy saw, but nonetheless, he felt spooked by the sinister presence. It seemed to intensify the moment he punched the entity. Shishikuno jumped at random spots in the alley, dragging a reluctant Haruka around. If he wasn’t already athletic and agile enough, he would be twisting his feet, trying to catch up with the other boy. The black-haired boy seemed delusional as he fought and chased air, but Haruka’s heightened senses told him that something was there.
“Fighting” was honestly just a poor choice in words. Haruka couldn’t even see the enemy, while Shishikuno kept jumping around the alley like a cat with a laser pointer. Eventually, Haruka began noticing a pattern with the way Shishikuno moved. The thing was leading him around so he’d get tired, using the single pair of eyes to its advantage.
Although they were down to one pair of eyes, Haruka’s experience and instincts more than made up for it. They weren’t out of options yet. He could accurately pinpoint a punch headed for him, and some of his enemies did say that it was like he had eyes at the back of his head. Given enough time, he could also analyze his opponent’s moves. And well, Shishikuno running around had given him enough time to analyze the thing’s moves. Wasn’t there a saying that tuning out one sense would make the others stronger?
Spiritual power or not, Haruka was going to end this “fight” and get his ramen mountain soon.
Once Shishikuno began heading for the other end of the short alley, Haruka turned around and kicked at the air, hand still on the other boy’s shoulder. He met the same solid object as before. Without giving his opponent a chance to run, he followed it up with a punch. Even without seeing anything, Sakura dropped his elbow and his body mass on the unseen entity, expecting to meet solid ground. But he doesn’t. He hovered above the pavement awkwardly, as if something’s supposed to be behind him. It’s colder than expected.
“Do your stuff now!” Haruka yelled.
Immediately, Shishikuno crouched down. There’s a manic look on his face as he grabbed the air underneath Haruka with a terrifying grin. He licked his lips, a borderline sadistic look on his face. Haruka squinted when he saw a tattoo on the black-haired boy’s tongue. Huh, it was a rather weird place for a tattoo to be. Even Endo didn’t have a tattoo on his tongue.
“You’ve been a bad, bad spirit, aintcha? Think you can run just ‘cuz I don’t have my buddies around?” Shishikuno laughed maniacally. There’s a certain glint in his eyes that unsettled Haruka.
“You’re wrong, buster! It’s not a great idea to mess around with the living. Get ready to be eaten!”
…What followed has to be one of the most disgusting things Sakura has seen. Who knew that someone’s tongue could stretch out that much? He wasn’t even terrified at the sight of Shishikuno eating the air. Despite Shishikuno’s idiotic facade, he did have a terrifying face when he did his… exorcisms, he guessed. Haruka could easily imagine Nirei getting spooked at the view. It wasn’t the prettiest.
But regardless, the dreadful atmosphere began to fade away as Shishikuno chewed at… something. Haruka was not going to ask what the hell that was. What was important was that the door to the ramen shop was back .
Haruka exhaled, letting his shoulders slack. He’s been in a lot of fights before, but they were nothing like the earlier fight. People wouldn’t try to punch at something they could only feel. He didn’t even expect to hit anything. But with some miracle—or perhaps some spiritual power—he was able to drop an elbow on a ghost. He looked down on his palm, closing and opening it a few times. He didn’t think that his heightened sense of perception was anything special.
But maybe this time, it had helped out in something other than fighting.
Haruka was nearly tackled to the ground by an overly happy hug from Shishikuno. He nuzzled up to the slightly smaller boy, seemingly vibrating. The bi-colored teen felt his entire body get hotter as he was pressed up against the black-haired boy way too closely for his liking. “Sakura! You totally saved my ass there! That was my first time exorcising a ghost without Zaki and Tamon, but that was sooo awesome! I didn’t know abilities like yours existed too! And the way you beat the shit out of that ghost was totally awesome! You were like wham and bam ! Dropping an elbow on a ghost is so cool!”
Haruka managed to wrestle himself out of the other boy’s—surprisingly strong grip— face entirely flushed. All this praise and touching from Shishikuno was going to be the death of him. He was like Nirei when they first met, just a lot more excitable and with seemingly no sense of shame. He was going to burst from pure embarrassment if he didn’t stop. “S-Shut up, I didn’t do anything. I wasn’t the one that ate— exorcised the ghost.”
Shishikuno released him from his grip, but his hands stayed on Haruka’s shoulders. He grinned as he squeezed Haruka’s shoulders. “Don’t say that! I couldn’t even catch the spirit at first! There’s no way I would’ve done it without you!”
“...Tch, whatever,” Haruka scoffed, ignoring the heat on his cheeks. He turned away from the other boy with a huff. He walked up to the back door of the ramen shop, turning slightly when he didn't feel the other boy’s presence behind him. “What? Are you just gonna stand there?”
Shishikuno stared at him for a bit. Haruka raised an eyebrow, opening his mouth to ask what he was still standing around for, before the black-haired boy grinned and caught up with Haruka. He patted his shoulder goodnaturedly, a bit forceful from how happy he was that the exorcism was done. Not that Haruka minded.
“Ramen mountain, here we come!”
Haruka huffed, but didn’t protest as the taller boy led him by the shoulder to the front of the store. He was starving after the entire alley fiasco, after all. Good ramen would be a nice reward.
(Koreshiki, Zaki, and Tamon certainly seemed surprised to find Shishikuno slurping down the ramen mountain after a job well done. Didn’t he usually need their help for even seeing and hearing ghosts? Shishikuno excitedly introduced them to Haruka, only lamenting that the other boy was from another school. Had they been in the same school, he would have no doubt recruited him into Phantom Busters.
Haruka tried to act that he wasn’t affected by the praise, but with Shishikuno’s friends, it was a feeble attempt. He could only blame it on the heat of the various broths and the noodles that Old Fujita and Akira were cooking up. Shishikuno really had no sense of shame, did he? Thankfully, Eugene—if he remembered his name right—could see that Haruka was going to burst into flames with one more praise. At least, his friends could keep him on the line.
Haruka would’ve probably resorted to a punch or two to get Shishikuno to stop yammering about how cool Haruka was in the fight.)
"Anything interesting happen over the weekend for you, Sakura?" Nirei asked, a smile on his face. Nirei and Suo walked beside Sakura as they headed to school for the morning. It’s been a particularly slow weekend for all of them, even with the patrols. Nirei guessed that Sakura’s answer would be the same as always, but it couldn’t hurt to ask, right?
"Nothin' really. Just ate at Pothos and had some ramen at Fujita's... Huh."
Sakura paused in his steps. His friends also stopped, staring at their grade captain curiously. Now, they were really interested . Sakura’s worldview was very interesting, and both of them could listen to him for hours—if only he’d speak about himself more. For him to talk about other things than fighting was always a good sign, and they were always willing to listen to him, no matter how mundane or exciting they were.
“...I guess there was something weird when I ate ramen. Some weird guy dragged me to exorcise some ghosts behind the shop. It was weird."
"E-Exorcise?!" Nirei stammered, eyes wide. "What?!"
Suo tilted his head, composed as always. “I didn’t know that the back of Mr. Fujita’s store was haunted. A monk needed your help with performing an exorcism?”
“Nah. He’s just like us. He’s from Kamakura.” Sakura shrugged. “He’s an idiot, but does his job well.”
Nirei already had his notebook out. He tapped at the pages, humming. “Oh, I think I saw a video like that recently. Kiryu sent it to me. I forgot their name, but their club apparently exorcises ghosts for real!”
“I think that guy gave me a business card…” Sakura muttered, digging through his pockets. A few seconds later, he brought out two business cards. He raised an eyebrow. “He gave me two.”
Nirei took one of the cards. He read out the card, “Who you gonna call… Phantom Busters? Got a ghostly problem you can’t solve? We exorcise spirits for 500 yen. Call us now at…”
“That first line sounds plagiarized,” Suo chuckled.
Sakura raised an eyebrow when he noticed something on top of the second business card. Nirei uncovered a particularly pretty cherry blossom petal squished underneath the first card. Maybe Shishikuno accidentally gave him another card when the squished petal stuck the two cards together.
Though he wasn’t one for pretty things, he did have to admit that the cherry blossom petal was preserved quite well despite being squished. In a way, it reminded him of how Shishikuno was able to revert back to his idiotic self after performing an exorcism.