Chapter Text
He was in the middle of a dark forest.
Nirei blinked. Huh? That was weird- the last thing he remembered, he'd been in bed trying unsuccessfully to fall asleep. How had he gotten here?
Where even was here?
He swallowed, taking stock of his surroundings. It was definitely a forest, that much was certain- but there weren't any forests like this in Makochi. It was eerily silent- even the wind was still. The only noises he could hear was the sound of red maple leaves crunching underneath his feet as he walked along. The only light he could make out was the faint glow of moonlight that slipped in through the breaks in the tree canopy above.
He shivered a little, rubbing his arms. It was cold- far colder than the lingering trace of winter that still clung to the spring nights. He blew on his hands, his breath fogging around them like mist. He was only dressed in his pajamas, his feet bare against the cold ground. He had to find a way out of here soon, or-
Something drifted past his peripheral.
He turned, squinting against the darkness to try and make it out. It was a... cherry blossom petal? It danced in the air for a moment, before it slowly floated down towards the carpet of fallen leaves. Without thinking about it, he stooped down to pick it up, turning the delicate petal over in his fingers.
Huh? That was weird. There wasn't any wind, so why...?
A burst of cherry blossom petals blew past him.
Turning on his heel, Nirei stared in the direction they came from. For a moment he simply stood there, as if rooted to the spot. Something told him that he shouldn't go forward, and yet... at the same time, there was something drawing him in that direction. Swallowing, he took one hesitant step forward and then another- continuing until he came out into a small clearing, occupied only by a single cherry blossom tree in full bloom.
It was huge- its petals, though still pink, had a more reddish hue to them. They seemed to glow in the darkness, as if lit up by the moonlight. For a moment, the only thing he could think was...
"...pretty."
The word slipped out without thinking. As soon as it did, he slapped his hands over his mouth, a cold bead of sweat trickling down the back of his neck. A lone cherry blossom tree blooming while the maple trees were losing their leaves? That wasn't right. It tugged faintly at something in his memory, but he couldn't recall what it was. Something about...
...huh?
There was... a person in the tree?
Nirei squinted, unconsciously taking a step forward. All he could see was a foot dangling from behind a veil of flowers- one wearing an old fashioned straw sandal. Whoever it was didn't seem to notice him yet... and for whatever reason, that emboldened him to take a step closer. The curtain of flowers gave way just enough to reveal a tattered hakama of indeterminate color- maybe white, once upon a time. The person who wore it was slender and pale, but he couldn't quite make out their face. It was still hidden behind the veil of flowers.
They stirred- and abruptly Nirei could sense them looking his way. They opened their mouth to say something-
-but he didn't get a chance to hear it, jolting awake instead.
Huh? Had that... been a dream? Running a hand through his hair, he chuckled nervously. No, of course it had been- how else would he have ended up in a forest? With a sigh, he switched off his alarm and set his phone down on his bookshelf.
Guess he'd managed to fall asleep after all.
Still... what had that dream been? That tree... something about it still tugged at his memory now that he was awake, but unusually for him, he couldn't place it. Maybe it was something he'd seen in a movie once? That didn't sound quite right...
"Akihiko!" His mom called. "You're going to be late!"
Huh? Late? But his alarm had just...
With a sense of dread in the pit of his stomach, he snatched his phone off his bookshelf. Huh!? Wait a second! He'd slept through five alarms!? Forget waking up early, he actually was going to be late! Practically slamming his phone back down, he tripped over himself in an attempt to get ready quickly. He'd planned out a whole look for his first day, but it fell to the wayside in his rush to get his uniform on.
He couldn't be late! This was his first day at Furin!
(He'd even wanted to get up early to patrol!)
Barely remembering to grab his phone, he shoved it into his pocket and raced towards the front door. He paused only briefly in the kitchen to grab some toast and a banana, eating them quickly. Pulling on his shoes, he called out to his mom to tell her he was going and made a beeline towards Furin.
(So much for showing Kotoha his uniform!)
Thankfully, he made it with time to spare- if not breath. No longer in danger of being late, he stopped by the entrance to the school to catch his breath. It took... longer than he'd like to admit. Wiping sweat off his brow, he finally took his first good look at the school he'd been attending for the next three years.
Wow. The graffiti was even more impressive up close!
What a collection too! Furin had always been a hotbed for graffiti, but after Umemiya had united the school the amount had nearly doubled. Those who wanted to do it could tag anywhere they liked in the school, so long as it meant that they left the homes and shops of Makochi alone- unless they got permission, of course. He'd heard there were a few Furin students turning a pretty dime on doing street art murals these days...
(...when the local gangs didn't ruin them by tagging over them.)
His breath back and the spring restored to his step, Nirei made his way towards the front door. There was an old fashioned signboard posted outside with the class rosters for the incoming first years. He didn't have to spend too long looking for his name- he was in Class 1-1, apparently. The Tamon team!
He nodded to himself. He'd be under Hiragi then!
Also in his class was... oh! Kiryu Mitsuki? Tsugeura Taiga? The Hayato Suo? He was almost vibrating in excitement. Those were all names he knew! They were all super strong guys! And there was also...
...oh.
Sugishita Kyotaro. He swallowed a little at the name.
No, no. It would be fine, right? He just had to have confidence! Taking in a deep breath, he gave his cheeks a light smack as if to instill said confidence into himself.
Okay. He could do this!
He'd spent all of middle school being picked on and bullied, but he was determined to change. Attending Furin was just the first step. He'd put his weak past self behind him, and become the sort of person who could protect the weak- just like the Furin student who had saved him. Starting today, he'd be one of the heroes he admired so much!
What could possibly go wrong?
"Ah," the Hayato Suo said with a smile, "-your tags are still on."
Oh. Maybe it was possible to die of embarrassment.
He'd made it to lunch break.
With a long sigh, Nirei let the tension wash out of his shoulders. Guess he'd been way more nervous than he'd thought, under all that excitement. And to think he'd forgotten to take the tags off his uniform...
Ugh. He was embarrassed all over again just thinking about it.
(If he hadn't overslept, Kotoha might have pointed it out for him...)
Shaking his head, he tried to shake away his own negativity. Sure, that had been embarrassing, but it wasn't like things weren't going... sort of okay with his class! Even Sugishita, who he'd been the most nervous about had sort of just lumbered into the classroom and had immediately gone to sleep. Everyone seemed nice enough, really- Tsugeura had even cheerfully greeted him once he was done with his workout! He'd even gotten to hear his famous question!
(...was using the school windows to do pull ups really a good idea?)
And just like his intel said, the Cactus Bakery really did sell their bread here!
He'd been afraid that the school store would be a war zone- but the lady in charge kept a firm hand on things. She was a longtime veteran of Furin High, he'd heard- she'd been here since before it had become known as a delinquent school and hadn't even considered leaving even after it had. You had to be really tough to have worked at Furin during those times!
...tough, huh.
What about him? All of his classmates seemed strong, but he...
No, no! He couldn't think like that! He had to think more-!
"You think that's it?"
Nirei blinked, drawn in by the question. There were a pair of first year students looking out the window, pointing to something in the inner courtyard. With a frown, Nirei walked over to look out himself. There was a single cherry blossom tree there, in vivid bloom.
Wow. He'd never seen a cherry blossom with petals that shade of pink before. It was...
"-creepy, right? We'd better steer clear."
Nirei blinked. Huh? Creepy? He was going to say it was pretty.
Hm? But wait... hadn't he heard about something like this before? He frowned, his brow furrowing. He'd thought that about his dream this morning too, but what was it? Something about Furin High School's seven mysteries... ah!
The eternal cherry blossom tree!
...eh, wait? It was real?
He swallowed, staring at the tree with a newfound sense of dread. It looked perfectly ordinary, but...
"You think it's true? That there's corpses buried there?"
Yeah, yeah! That was the rumor he'd heard! He'd heard all sorts of stories about the eternal cherry blossom tree while he'd been gathering information about Furin. Some said it was cursed, or was haunted by an evil spirit- no one knew for sure. It was supposed to bloom year round, even in the dead of winter.
...kind of like the tree in his dream.
Nirei frowned, his brow furrowing. Huh? Come to think of it...
The branches of the tree rustled, even though there was no wind.
The pair of students who had been chatting flinched at the sight, hastily making excuses with the other to leave. Nirei watched them go with a slight frown on his face. In a way, there was something comforting to the idea that even delinquents might be afraid of ghosts, but... he turned back towards the tree, watching its petals dance in the air.
It really was pretty.
Biting his lip, he glanced towards the stairs. He knew he shouldn't, but...
...just like the one in his dream, there was something that drew him in.
He swallowed, hesitantly heading down the stairs. It wasn't hard to find the door to the inner courtyard, which was empty of anyone else. Maybe everyone else was doing the same thing as those two students and giving the tree a wide berth. Some part of him said that he should probably do the same...
But he didn't.
Pushing the door to the inner courtyard open, he quickly glanced around before stepping outside. The tree was just big as the one in his dream- at least two stories tall. Its trunk was massive, so it had probably been here a long time. According to the rumors, it had been here even before the school. The original plan had been to tear it down, but...
...well, that was where the rumors of it being cursed came from.
From here he could see the thick hemp rope twined around its trunk. It must have been old- it was starting to fray in places, while the shide that hung from it looked newer. Maybe the originals had been so damaged that they'd replaced them when they'd built the school. An attempt to appease the evil spirit that supposedly lived in the tree, maybe?
Huh? There was an altar?
Nirei crouched in front of it, staring at it curiously. It looked new- and handmade.
He frowned, his brow furrowing. Why would something like this be here? Had it been set up as a prank? Or was someone trying to appease the spirit?
In the first place, was there even a spirit?
Crossing his arms in thought, Nirei mulled it over. He wasn't the type to dismiss that sort of thing out of hand, but... if he had to pick, he'd rather there wasn't an evil spirit. He'd never exactly been the type to be good with horror movies and stuff.
But there was all the stuff about the accidents...
He reached into his pocket to pull out his notebook. Maybe he had something written down in it. It was mostly just filled with information about strong people- mostly from Bofurin, but he had notes about Shishitoren members and Roppo Ichiza too. But he'd written down some footnotes here and there...
"Nirei-kun?"
Nirei flinched, jolting to his feet.
Oh. It was just Suo.
...and he'd embarrassed himself in front of him- again. Yeah. He couldn't say his first day was going all that great, could he?
"Sorry," he said, "-I didn't mean to surprise you. I just thought I saw someone out here."
"N-no, you didn't-!" Nirei blurted out, "-no, I guess you sort of did, but... ah, but don't worry about it! I was just spacing out, that's all! It's not your fault!"
"Really?" Suo asked. "But what are you doing out here?"
"Ah, well..." Nirei trailed off.
It was a bit hard to say that he'd been a little drawn to the tree because he'd had a weird dream this morning. Awkwardly rubbing the back of his head, he chuckled.
"I just got curious, I guess," he said.
Suo hummed, his expression unreadable. "Still, you should be careful. There's all sorts of rumors about this tree, you know? A zombie might pop out!"
Hm?
"A... zombie?" Nirei asked.
"Yes," Suo nodded, "-you know, because there's supposed to be corpses buried there."
Eh? Was he being serious? Joking? He was pretty sure he'd never heard a single rumor like that before. He said it with such a straight face too...
"Y-yeah," Nirei stammered, "-I'll keep that in mind?"
"Good," Suo smiled, "-in that case, we should head back to the classroom. You wouldn't want to run out of time to eat your lunch, would you?"
Oh right! He'd almost completely forgotten about lunch!
Quickly saying thanks to Suo, he hurried back inside the building.
(He didn't look back to see the way Suo narrowed his eyes at the tree as soon as he was gone.)
He fell back on his bed with a long sigh.
Today had been... well, he guessed it hadn't been all bad in the end. He'd managed to talk with some of his classmates during lunch- Anzai and his friend group. After that he'd done his first patrol as part of Bofurin- he'd even had the chance to meet the Hiragi personally! He'd been a little worried since their patrol group had included Sugishita, but thankfully nothing much happened. They'd just cleaned up some graffiti and had been given taiyaki as a reward.
(Suo had given him his piece, for some reason?)
Sitting up, he took off his Furin jacket. Holding it up in front of him, he stared at it for a few moments. His first day hadn't exactly gone as planned, but it hadn't been the worst. He just needed to have more confidence!
"Akihiko! Dinner!"
"Coming!" Nirei called back.
He set his jacket down on his bed, heading into the living room to eat dinner. He took a bath afterwards, feeling more relaxed after soaking in the tub for a little bit. Yeah. He'd had some mishaps today, but it hadn't been all bad. He'd spoken to his classmates, and even if he'd embarrassed himself in front of Suo twice, he'd still talked to one of his idols.
He'd seemed... a little weird, he thought.
He thought he would have been more aloof? Mysterious? That was the kind of image he'd built up of him in his head... but maybe that was mostly because it was so hard to actually get information on him in the first place. With a frown, he reached into the pocket of his jacket to pull out his notebook-
...huh?
Picking up his jacket, he peered into the pocket. Nothing. That was odd- he was certain that's where he'd put his notebook. Had he dropped when he'd put it down? Getting down on his knees, he peered underneath his bed, but there was no sign of it. He didn't remember taking it out of his pocket when he'd come home...
Huh? Was it gone?
A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck. Okay. Calm down. Had he dropped it somewhere? He just had to think back... when was the last time he'd taken it out?
Ah. The tree.
Right! He'd been about to take it out to check something when Suo had called out to him, but what happened after that? Furrowing his brows, he tried to recall... he'd jolted upright so suddenly, but had he dropped it then?
No good. He didn't remember.
What did he do now? Wait until tomorrow to retrieve it? Maybe it would be fine? Hardly anyone came by that place, right? It wasn't like someone would pick it up, and even if they did they'd probably turn it into the lost and found, right? But what if it rained? Or a wild animal ran off with it or something? What if he'd actually dropped it somewhere else? What if a wild animal pooped on it? Or-!
You know what? He'd go get it now.
Grabbing a thin jacket against the chill of the April evening, he told his mom he was going out. The sun had already set, casting the familiar town in shadows. He couldn't help but glance nervously over his shoulder even though he knew the town was safer than it had been two years ago.
It was fine. He'd be fine.
Furin at night was... kind of spooky.
The school building loomed in a way that it hadn't that morning, casting long shadows over the front courtyard. Nirei swallowed, wondering if this was really such a good idea- maybe he should just wait until morning after all.
B-but he'd come this far already, right? He couldn't turn back now!
Using his phone for light, he carefully made his way around to the inner courtyard. It was eerily quiet compared to the day- he could hear his every footfall. There was no wind- and no lights, other than the light of his phone.
And yet, the cherry blossom tree seemed to glow under the moonlight.
Nirei froze at the sight of it, for a moment wondering if he weren't dreaming again. He almost considered turning back, but he shook the feeling off. He'd just quickly get his notebook and leave. It would be fine.
He'd be fine.
He drew in and let out a long breath, steeling himself. There was no swirl of dancing petals as he drew closer, like there had been in his dream- the tree was perfectly still. That didn't stop his heart from pounding as he drew closer to it.
Oh! His notebook!
Slumping his shoulders, he let out a sigh of relief. It looked like it had fallen right on top of the altar. He picked it up and dusted off the cover. It was hard to tell with just the light of his phone, but it didn't seem any worse for wear for having been left outside for several hours.
He made sure he tucked it away properly this time.
Rising to his feet, he froze in place.
...there was someone in the tree.
They were sitting amongst its branches like for all the world they belonged there. They were pale and slender, wearing clothing that looked as if it belonged to another time period. Straw sandals and a tattered hakama over a black kimono that looked equally as worn- but what caught his eyes the most was the white cloth that hung in front of their face. There was something written on it, but it was too dark to make out what.
A faint breeze rustled the cloth, revealing a golden eye underneath.
Huh? He'd seen this person before. It didn't even take him a moment to place where- his dream was too fresh in his mind, too vivid for him to forget.
A chill ran down his spine upon that realization.
Oh. This... wasn't good, was it? He swallowed, taking half a step back- even as he was unable to tear his gaze away from what had to be a spirit. A ghost? Was there a difference? He didn't know! This was so far outside his area of expertise!
The spirit hadn't seemed to notice him yet, but...
Oh. Crap.
Although their gaze was hidden underneath the cloth, he could still see the way their head turned towards his direction. Nirei stiffened- which... was probably his first mistake.
"Oi," the spirit said, "-can you see me?"
He should keep his mouth shut. Pretend he hadn't seen anything. But instead...
"No!"
The spirit tilted their head. "Hah?"
Nirei flinched at their voice. They sounded super annoyed.
"S-sorry!" Nirei stammered, holding out his notebook. "I didn't mean to intrude! I just came to pick up something I'd dropped!"
The spirit hummed, an oddly melodic sound. They rose in one fluid motion, almost seeming to float to the ground. Something rattled as they touched the ground- he wasn't sure how he hadn't noticed it before, but there was a rusted shackle around their right leg, attached to a half-transparent chain that seemed to be bound to the tree itself.
There was... some kind of metal stake in the base of the tree? Nirei squinted at it, baffled that he hadn't noticed it before. No, he was positive it hadn't been there before. It was covered in characters, but he found it impossible to actually focus on them as if they moved whenever he looked. The chain was shackled to one end of it.
...also were spirits supposed to have feet?
Wait! Focus, Akihiko! He had to get away from here!
"W-well," Nirei stammered, "-I'll be going now!"
He tried to make a hasty exit, but found his path blocked off. Eh? When had the spirit gotten in front of him? Nirei unconsciously took two steps back, the back of his foot bumping against the altar. The spirit took a step forward- or rather, they floated. They were close- way too close!
Oh, but his hair...
It was two colors, some dim part of his brain noted- black and white. The white seemed to shimmer in the moonlight, while the black melded into the darkness. It was almost pretty.
"You-," the spirit began.
"Yes?"
"...are you a foreigner?"
...eh?
For a long moment, Nirei just stared at the spirit. He couldn't see their eyes, but he could sense that they were watching him in a way that felt... expectant? Excited?
"N-no?" Nirei stammered. "I'm Japanese."
"Hah?" The spirit's tone was super irritated. "Do you think I'm stupid? You have blonde hair! You're from overseas, right? From that H-Holland place or whatever?"
Huh? Holland? Wasn't that in Europe? He was pretty sure it had another name now, but...
Wait. Not the point.
"M-my hair's dyed!" Nirei said. "It's normally brown!"
The spirit tilted their- his?- head. He could almost hear the furrow of their (his?) brow in his (they did sound like a he) voice. "Die... huh? Your hair's dead?"
"Not dead, dyed!" Nirei said. "I changed the color, that's all!"
"Changed the... huh? You can do that?" The spirit asked. "Like... m-magic or something?"
"It's not magic," Nirei said, "-it's like... paint?"
"Paint...," the spirit muttered, "-paint, huh? I didn't know you could use it like that..."
For a long moment, Nirei just stared at the spirit. Huh? What was even going on now? All that fear that had crept up his spine earlier was just... gone. Was this really an evil spirit? He didn't quite act like it, but... now that he got a closer look at the characters on the cloth, he was pretty certain it read seal.
That... couldn't be good, right?
"U-um," Nirei stammered, "-are you the spirit of this tree?"
"Ah?" The spirit tilted his head. "Yeah... I guess you could call me that. Wait, who are you anyways? No one ever comes by here at night."
"Me?" Nirei blinked. "I'm Nirei Akihiko."
Huh? Wait. Maybe he shouldn't have given the spirit his name.
"Y-your name," Nirei blurted out before he could stop himself, "-wha- what's yours?!"
The spirit just frowned. "Hah? I don't have one, obviously."
Nirei blinked. He didn't have one? That was almost a little sad.
"W-well-"
His phone buzzed loudly, startling him badly enough that he tossed it in the air. Nirei yelped, grabbing it before it could hit the ground. For his part, the spirit just watched him curiously as he checked to see who'd texted him.
Oh. Mom. She was probably getting worried.
"U-um, sorry," Nirei said, "-I have to get home."
Unsure of what else to do, he gave the spirit a hasty bow before he hurried back the way he came. Thankfully, he didn't stop him- and when he looked back over his shoulder, the spirit was gone. Nirei exhaled, placing a hand over his heart. He'd said that the feeling of fear had lifted earlier, but...
...yeah. His heart was still racing.
He made it back home without a problem and all but collapsed in his bed. For some reason, he suddenly felt exhausted... although maybe that shouldn't be surprising. He'd just met a spirit, hadn't he? A real bona fide spirit!
"...this is your home?"
Nirei shot upright in an instant, any exhaustion forgotten. There stood- well, floated- the spirit, acting as if for all the world he belonged in his bedroom. He was studying the place with marked interest, puzzling over the globe on his bookshelf.
He couldn't help himself. He screamed.
He heard his mom's footsteps racing down the hall before she slammed the door to his room open. "What's wrong!?"
"W-wha-what's wrong?" Nirei stammered. 'T-there's a-!"
"There's a what?" His mom asked.
...huh?
Wait. Could she maybe not see the spirit? He realized with a jolt that he'd floated closer to his mother, seeming to study her just as curiously as he'd been studying his furniture a second ago. For a brief moment, that cold spike of fear from earlier came back, his heart hammering in his chest.
"N-nothing!" Nirei stammered. "I was just half asleep!"
"...really?" His mother frowned. "Well, if you say so..."
That seemed to convince her. Nirei exhaled in relief as she left, and the spirit made no move to follow her. He swallowed, turning to face the spirit. In the bright light of his room, he realized he was partially transparent- he hadn't been able to tell in the dark.
And now he was alone. With the spirit.
Nirei swallowed, wondering if it was worth it to hurry into the kitchen to get some salt. The spirit slowly turned its veiled gaze towards him- and Nirei flinched. He couldn't help it.
"W-what," he stammered, "-what are you doing here?"
"Hah?" The spirit cocked its head. "I followed you."
Yeah! He kind of figured that part out!
"B-but why?" Nirei asked.
The spirit floated closer to him. Nirei tried not to flinch... and failed. He swore he could hear his heartbeat, pounding heavily in his ears.
"Don't know," the spirit said, "-but I could."
Nirei wanted to pull out his hair. What kind of answer was that? The spirit stared at him for a moment longer, before he turned his attention back towards the objects in his room. Nirei hesitated for the span of a second- before he hastily pulled out his phone and brought up Google. Would 'exorcism on a high school student's budget' get him any results?
...if he was looking for scams, maybe.
"What's that?"
Nirei flinched, flinging his phone in the air. The spirit caught it, staring at the screen with a furrowed brow. Sweat crept down the back of Nirei's neck. Crap. He-
"-the hell's this?"
"I-it's nothing!" Nirei stammered. "I was just-!"
But the spirit didn't get mad- it just tossed the phone back at him with a disinterested huff. Nirei scrambled to catch it, staring at the screen in confusion. Wait. Could he not...?
"U-um," Nirei said, "-can you maybe not read?"
"Hah!?" The spirit snapped. "So what if I can't!?"
"N-nothing!" Nirei held up his hands. "There's nothing wrong with that!"
Phew. He felt as if he'd dodged a bullet. He slumped back down on his bed, resigning himself to watching the spirit float around his room, poking and prodding his belongings. For all that he was partially transparent, he seemed to have no issue picking them up. He didn't seem to know what to make of more than half of the stuff. Combined with the way he was dressed...
No. Wait. Focus.
Nirei bit his lip, before squaring his shoulders. He couldn't just have a possible evil spirit lurking in his bedroom, for like... a whole host of reasons. He wasn't sure what he'd done to catch his attention, but he'd really rather him leave.
"U-um!"
The spirit turned back towards him, and Nirei let out a faint breath of relief. Not having anything to call him other than spirit was already proving inconvenient.
"C-can you... can you leave?" Nirei asked.
"Nah," the spirit replied, "-can't."
Nirei furrowed his brow, about to ask why when the spirit pointed down. He frowned, looking where he indicated. The shackle around his ankle? The chain attached to it was still more translucent than the rest of him, but instead of leading off back towards the tree, it was...
...huh?
It was leading towards him. A section of barely visible chain had looped itself around his ankle. When he lifted his foot, he swore he could faintly feel its weight. A chill ran down the length of his spine as the realization sank in. If the shackle had bound the spirit to the tree, then that meant...
Oh. Okay.
He was going to pass out now.