Ame no Yūrei

by ari_zonia

Summary:

Yu Narukami is just an average high school student, living out the next year with his uncle in the town of Inaba. Life so far had been routine and, frankly, quite boring. At least, until he decided to start investigating a rumor he had been told. Apparently, the practice field was haunted, but that was silly. Ghosts weren't real.

Right?

Chapter 1

Yu didn’t believe in ghosts. He was wary of things out to get him at night, but that was from living in the big city. Not a natural fear of the supernatural. That was why, on the nights he’d sneak out of Dojima’s house for a late night soda, he’d steer far away from Tatsuhime Shrine. He could feel someone watching him from inside the fence on some nights.

Yet, it didn’t really surprise him that he had heard multiple warnings at Yasogami to never go to the practice field alone, especially when it rained. Teachers and classmates alike tried to make sure he listened, because he was the only new face in the second year. He had a feeling all the first years were warned too, but being a transfer meant he had even less context to why. Inaba was a small, somewhat “traditionally-minded” town, so a higher than usual belief in ghosts sorta made sense.

Yu was pretty sure it was just a dumb rumor that got out of hand, though.

But, curiosity was known to kill, so he decided to check it out for himself at least once. Satonaka and Nagase had been the most vocal about him not going, for some reason, but Yu wasn’t exactly the type to listen to petty warnings.

Not that his uncle needed to know that.

So, there he was, waiting in the library for what little was left of the student body to start filtering out, just so he didn’t have as much of a chance of being caught and getting drug away from solving this mystery.

Would have it been easier to inquire about the nature of the warning? Yes.

Was Yu much of a talker? No.

After half an hour of ignoring his probably-to-remain unstarted math homework, he pulled himself from his chair. There was probably still a very, very small chance of someone watching him, but he didn’t care. Investigating a dumb rumor was the most interesting thing to happen all month. Umbrella in hand, Yu trekked towards the practice field. Due to the weather, basically none of the clubs had even met up, so he was confident he wouldn’t run into Nagase at all.

To his dismay, it didn’t look like he’d see the supposed “ghost”. He hiked halfway across the track, before seeing someone leaned up against the back gate. A usually unutilized area, tucked far away from the school. That would explain why he didn’t see any strange figures haunting the field, if someone was already relaxing back here. At least, if the ghost really did prey on people being alone.

Weird that he didn’t have an umbrella though. He was soaked to the bone. Instead, he was leaning up against the fence, eyes staring out at the clouds from just under one of the few trees. It didn’t look like he was doing much either, the headphones he had were around his neck, rather than over his ears.

Now that Yu stopped to look at him, he noticed something. He was a first year. Maybe he had also been told about the rumor and wanted to check it out.

Spoiled his fun, he supposed. Whoops.

At that moment, the other boy finally noticed him. It didn’t look like he slept well, his eyes tired and all the light from them nonexistent.

He laughed a little, seeing Yu stand there, “Are you trying to get haunted, dude?” His voice was light, airy even.

Yu looked at the ground, digging his heel into the dirt, “I was just… curious about the rumor. What about you?”

The boy shrugged, “Got nowhere to go.” He looked back up at the sky, “Aren’t you scared?”

“Don’t see why I would be,” he tilted his head, “I don’t believe in ghosts.”

Another laugh from the boy, “Yet you’re checking out the most haunted part of Yasogami? What is wrong with you?”

This was the most in-depth conversation Yu had had since he arrived in Inaba. Sure, Satonaka was nice but she mostly talked at him, since he wasn’t into movies, and Amagi was just as quietly polite so they both just stared at her. Then, outside of soccer practice and the occasional lunch, he had no reason to hang out with Ichijo and Nagase. Overall, it took him a second to even come up with a formal response to the question.

“I’m bored. If ghosts are real, then it’d be interesting to find out, or I guess get cursed for real. But, you’re here, so I guess I won’t see it.” He paused for a moment, “Um… I’m Narukami Yu,” he shifted his umbrella to offer a handshake, “I just moved here before school started.”

The boy looked around the ground for a moment, before finally taking his hand, “You’re weird. I’m Hanamura, but you can just call me Yosuke, dude. Explains why I don’t remember you, I had transferred here last October.”

Yu hummed softly in response, noting how cold Yosuke’s hand was. He must have been out in the rain for a while. Yet something about that seemed wrong. Well, a lot of things about Yosuke seemed wrong, but he didn’t have the mind to care. Noting that there was no chance of finding the supposed ghost at this point, Yu figured he’d start making his way home, maybe get some groceries for dinner.

“I guess I’ll see you around?”

“Uh…” Yosuke seemed confused, like he was cobbling together a reasonable excuse, “Are you… dude…” he waved a hand for a second, “If you can sneak over here again without anyone noticing, I’ll be here.”

A soft nod was the only response Yu gave before he started making his way back.

Once at home, and cleaning the remnants of dinner, Dojima finally walked through the door. Another fairly slow day for him, allowing him to get off relatively early. Or at least early for him. He sat himself at the low table, quietly thanking Yu as he put down his leftover portion of dinner.

“So, did you have a good day at school?” he asked, watching Yu slowly pull out his homework from his bag on the breakfast table.

A soft nod, before he made a face at the papers, “I… made a friend? He’s a first year.”

“Really now?” Dojima asked, taking a bite of rice, “That’s good. You should do that more.” There was a brief pause before he spoke again, “It’s not Tatsumi is it? That kid is trouble.”

Yu shook his head, “No, it’s…” he paused, trying to remember the name, “Hara… Hama… Hanamura. Yosuke? I think.”

The chopsticks in Dojima’s hand found themselves clattering to the floor, his face pale.

“Is… something wrong?”

Dojima moved to pick up his utensils, “N-nothing, Yu. Don’t mind me,” he suddenly stood up, “I just remembered I left something in the car.”

Yu blinked a couple times, watching his uncle nearly barrel out the door. After a second of silence, he shrugged his shoulders and made his way upstairs to hopefully convince himself to do his homework.

Chapter 2

Much like the day before, it was a rainy day, though a slight bit heavier. Nothing terrible, but it would give Yu another opportunity to meet with Yosuke, he figured.

He spent most of his morning classes halfway to nodding off, and mulling over how odd his uncle acted when he mentioned his friend. While he hadn’t thought much about it at the time, the longer he thought back the weirder it got. It was only after he mentioned his friend’s name did Dojima react. That, and when he started going upstairs, he thought he heard him on the phone.

Maybe Yu should have just asked about the rumor, instead of wandering off on his own.

Regardless, right around lunch, he decided to go downstairs to see if Yosuke would meet up with him. Sure, they had agreed to meet in the field, but he could at least check which class he was in first. There was no sign of him, and with that bright orange hair he’d be hard to miss. He considered asking a couple of the underclassmen, but his own quiet nature and their boggle-eyed stares made him back down. Perhaps he had already gone out for lunch, or had his own little hiding spot.

So, he returned to his own classroom, bento in hand and pondered how he could miss someone like him so easily.

Oh well, he’d catch him after school at least.

With the rain only barely letting up into a drizzle, most students ended up going straight home after the last bell, rather than going to any clubs. Yu briefly exchanged a sentence or two with Satonaka, declining an offer for dinner with her and Amagi, before making his way back towards the practice field.

Much like before, Yosuke was leaning against the fence, staring up at the clouds. It was like he hadn’t moved at all. The same part of the fence, the same pose, and the same melancholic look on his face. Still drenched with rain.

Only when Yu came close did he redirect his gaze back down to the ground.

“You really did come back just to see me,” he said, almost surprised.

Yu nodded, “I went looking for you at lunch, but I don’t know which class you’re in.”

“Yeah, because I’m-.” Yosuke paused, nervously asking his next question, “You… you didn’t ask anybody about me, right?”

He shook his head.

“Okay… good.” there was a brief look on his face, gone before Yu could comment, “So… what brought you to Inaba, anyway?”

“My parents moved for work, so I’m living with my uncle.”

“Yeah, I was like that too. Dad…” he paused, “Nevermind. Has this place bored you to tears yet?”

Yu noticed the hesitation, but didn’t think it was right to mention, “Meeting you has been the highlight of the month.”

“I’ve seen you’re part of the soccer team, Nagase treating you alright?”

A noncommittal shrug, “It’s something to do. We don’t talk much…” he thought about the question for a moment, “How do you know him?”

Yosuke looked at him in confusion, “I told you, I transferred here last October. What’re you missing here?”

“You’re a first year.”

A hand quickly flew to his collar, thumbing the pin stuck through it. Yu was about to question if he got held back, but his phone went off.

It was Dojima.

“Hello?” Politely taking a bow to excuse himself, Yu stepped away from Yosuke.

The tone of voice that erupted from the other side made his heart skip a beat, “Where are you?”

“At school, I’m with Hanamura.”

Slowly, the air felt like it was starting to get staticy, the wind speed slowly picking up.

“Yu, listen to me,” a buzzing was starting to come from his phone the longer he stayed on the line, “I don’t care who you think you’re talking to, get away from him .”

Briefly, he looked behind him, noticing that the air was feeling very cold all of sudden. Even above him, the rain looked like it was picking up again, the heavy drops pounding against his umbrella. Yosuke was no longer looking like his usual self. Any good will he held towards Yu seemed to have vanished, his face contorted in an angry scowl. Red splotches were appearing around his neck, or maybe… they had always been there.

His uncle was still yelling at him through the phone, but he could no longer make out what he was saying. Instead, he started running, kicking up mud behind him. Fear stung through his heart, more than he had ever anticipated feeling in his life. Almost as if the world around him was slowing down, his footsteps felt heavy.

And in a flash…

Yosuke was in front of him, eyes ablaze in furious light. Hand outstretched, colliding with Yu right in the stomach, sending him flying into the ground. The pain was immeasurable, but he wasn’t bleeding. He scrambled back onto his feet, realizing he had been hit towards the gate. It was his best chance to get away from him, if he could just barely get over it. Whoever, whatever, Yosuke turned out to be was quite dangerous, and he had to get away.

Leaving his phone and umbrella behind, Yu managed to barely get to the gate and started vaulting himself over it when he felt a tug at his leg. Yosuke had grabbed ahold of his ankle, pulling him back with both hands.

“Oh no you don’t!” he screamed, clawing his nails into Yu’s pants.

Yu was at a loss, despite most of his body being over the gate, somehow Yosuke had more than enough strength to keep him anchored on the other side. He could feel himself being pulled back into the practice field. Heart in his throat, he desperately wanted to scream, but who would even hear him? Everyone had to have gone home by now, leaving him with just himself and… whatever Yosuke actually was.

Thankfully for him, the grip on his leg suddenly released, and there was a distant voice shouting at him. He fell over the gate, hissing as his back met the ground.

“Hey, are you alright?”

He recognized that voice.

Yu stood up, gazing bewildered at who saved him.

Satonaka.

Notes:

A decent chunk of this is pre-written, and I might update until I run out, but after that the dailies will dry-up.

Chapter 3

So that was how Yu found himself wrapped in a blanket, disheveled, and frankly a little rattled, on Dojima’s couch. He had no idea how to describe what had happened when he was first found, but it only got stranger when Satonaka offered to walk him home. She hadn’t spoken much, but she had muttered something about suspecting something was up.

Dojima was sitting at the dining chair, having ushered Nanako to her room, with an almost haunted look on his face, “And you’re certain it was this kid.”

The tone of his voice was accusatory, but more rightly, concerned.

Yu stared down at a mostly redacted file in his hand, but the photograph was undeniably the same, “Yeah.”

Scratching at his chin, Dojima looked to be at a loss for words, “But that doesn’t make any sense. He’s been dead for months.”

“Are you sure, uncle?”

“Yu, I’m the one that investigated the crime scene, I saw the body.” he sighed, “Just promise me you’re not going to try and meet up with whoever you saw again, okay? You gave me a scare when you stopped responding.”

There was a voice in the back of his head scoffing at the idea, “I promise.” He looked back down at the picture, “What happened to him?”

“Nothing you need to know,” Dojima countered, standing up and snatching the document, “I’ll go draw the bath for you.”

The rest of the day into the night passed uneventfully, Yu remaining home while his uncle was aware of his movements. Part of him wanted to go back and check the practice field again, curious to inquire about Yosuke’s sudden aggression. Or at least maybe go to the shrine and make sure he wasn’t cursed. But alas, neither one was an option. Perhaps tomorrow, since it was Saturday. Though, the rain was expected to let up and Yu had a sneaking suspicion that Yosuke didn’t show up when it wasn’t raining. Nor did he think Satonaka was going to let him “walk home” by himself for a while.

Part of his suspicions were confirmed the next morning when she caught up with him on their walk to the front gate.

“You doing alright, Narukami-kun?” She asked, genuinely worried.

He nodded, attempting to avoid the conversation.

She sighed, “That’s good. Here, I got you something.” A small charm was pulled from her jacket pocket, before handing it off to Yu, “I… would appreciate it if you wore it.”

He inspected the charm carefully. It didn’t seem like it was from the shrine. Though, after yesterday he was starting to wonder if he needed to pick up one from there too. If only to ease Satonaka’s worries, he clipped it onto his key ring in front of her and slipped it into his pocket.

She looked at him as they arrived at school, “Meet me and Yukiko on the roof after school.”

Feeling like he had no room to refuse, Yu simply nodded.

After class he found himself on the roof, a warm bowl of soba being thrust into his hands. Satonaka was oddly firm, commanding him to sit down. Amagi looked to be in her usual neutral spirit, waiting for her own udon to steam.

Satonaka was nervously pacing the roof, clearly too anxious to eat. Eventually she stopped, looking right at Yu, “I… I don’t want to sound mean or anything but…” she took a breath, “Why the hell were you in the field by yourself!? Everyone’s told you not to do that!”

“Curiosity.”

“Narukami-kun we’re talking about a haunting! A real, god-forsaken yokai! ” She stomped her foot as she spoke, “Did no one tell you what’s up?!”

Yu shook his head, digging into his lunch, “Uncle said Yosuke’s dead, but that’s all I’ve been told.”

“Yeah he… wait, how do you know his name?”

“He told me on Thursday.”

Satonaka and Amagi shared a brief look at each other before looking back at Yu.

“And he… didn’t attack you?” Amagi asked, “You actually had a conversation with Hanamura-kun?”

A brief nod, “He was really nice until my uncle called me yesterday. That was when he suddenly got aggressive and I don’t know why,” there was a brief pause as he took another bite, “Though, he didn’t ever answer any of my questions. Like how he knows Nagase.”

Closing her arms around her chest, Satonaka took a breath, “How much did he tell you?”

Yu thought over the question for a moment, before answering. It wasn’t much, but all Yosuke had told him is that he had transferred to Yasogami last October, and had mentioned something about his dad being the reason he was in Inaba. Honestly, their interactions had been so brief, and basically nothing of importance was ever imparted.

Yu stuffed another bite of soba into his mouth before speaking, “What happened to him?” He dared ask once more.

Satonaka closed in on herself even more, attempting her best turtle impression with her jacket.

It was Amagi who picked up the slack, “Hanamura-kun was… he was murdered.”

Perhaps Yu’s reaction was a tad on the unresponsive side, but at least the quizzical hum he let out served enough as one. Certainly that explained why Dojima didn’t want to answer any questions himself, if he had to dredge up the murder of a student. One right around his own nephew’s age, no less. He noticed that Satonaka was staring pointedly in the direction of the practice field, sadness filling her eyes.

“Yukiko and I weren’t really friends with him…,” she started, “like, don’t get me wrong Yosuke-kun was… nice. I didn’t go out of my way to hang out with him, but if he asked we would let him join us. Same with Kou and Daisuke. It was only after… his body was found… did I realize that we were the only people that had been nice back to him. There were so many people that just didn’t care he had died… Some were even… almost happy about it.”

A soft tilt of Yu’s head was the only reaction he could muster, hoping it would prompt some sort of continuation. Satonaka shuddered a sob, doing her best to hold back tears while she kept talking. She explained that most everyone in town didn’t like the Hanamuras, especially anyone who owned a store in the shopping district. They constantly talked smack about the family, and how the local department store had been hurting businesses that had otherwise run just fine for generations. Of course, she and Amagi had their own reasons to not care about such petty trifles, but neither had realized how much that had trickled down into how other students treated Yosuke. They had been blind to his mistreatment, never realizing he clung to them because they were the only people to treat him with even the baseline amount of respect.

“I guess I’d also be an angry ghost if that happened to me,” Yu mumbled with a nonchalant shrug.

Satonaka glared at him through teary eyes, “One of our classmates got killed and that’s all you have to say?!”

“Can’t think of much else. Saying sorry felt like it would be weird.”

“He’s kind of right, Chie,” Amagi added, “It’s in the past and we can’t bring him back…”

“Yeah I know…” she sniffled, “But… I’m mad he won’t even show up for me! I’ve been trying for months to talk to him, apologize for not being a better friend, or something! And he never once showed up, but he shows up for him! And then the idiot attacks the new guy!”

“Is that why you gave me the charm?” Yu asked, dragging out his keys, “So he wouldn’t show back up for me?”

She scuffed her shoe against the roof, “No… I got it because it’s supposed to protect you from curses. I figured… if you could talk to him again… you would pass on the message that I’m sorry?”

“And here I thought you would try and stop me from seeing him again.”

“I mean, if I catch wind that he attacked you again, I will go out of my way to walk you home every rainy day until graduation just to make sure you don’t have a death wish. But… part of me wonders if he refuses to pass on because he thinks no one cared about him…”

There was some soundness to her argument. Yu didn’t understand the workings of yokai too well, but he knew some stuck around because of living regrets or something like that. He would probably have to do some research before it rained again, just to make sure.

It was going to be weird looking up information about ghosts when he still wasn’t wholly convinced Yosuke was dead. But, who was he to argue with his detective uncle and Yosuke’s “former” classmates. It wasn’t like he’d seen anything besides one police document he couldn’t even read.

He huffed as he put down his soba bowl, “I’ll see what I can do, but… I think I need to know more about what happened to him. At least, so I don’t get him angry again.”

The girls stared at each other for a moment, before Satonaka spoke up, “Unfortunately… nothing was ever made public about the case. Just… that he was found in the practice field after he had gone missing over the weekend and died of hypothermia. Apparently his dad asked to keep the details of his murder a secret.”

Yu grumbled, “Then I’ll ask my uncle again. He told me he investigated the murder.”

The only response he got was a quiet “Oh”.

Notes:

The plot thickens (but is there a Teddie to thicken too?)

Chapter 4

The thump of Dojima’s fist on the table made it quite clear he was upset.

“I told you this is none of your business,” he chastised, “You don’t even know the kid.”

He hummed under his breath, arms at his sides, “But my friends do.”

Dojima’s hand scrubbed against his temples with clear agitation. He sighed after a moment of silence, “Yu, please, let it go. Hanamura’s murder is a cold case, and it’s not the only one I’ve had to wrestle with in the last year.”

Yu chewed at his lip, attempting to think of a way to pivot the conversation. Sure, he had zero investment in the boy besides apparently talking with his ghost, but he didn’t just want to “let it go”. Not when a seemingly harmless kid his age was killed in cold blood and his murderer was probably still walking around town.

“What if… they come after me?” He asked, meek in his conviction.

Dojima looked at him, eyes narrowed, “If I can tell you anything about what happened, it was that Hanamura was specifically targeted. Now, drop it. ”

A sigh of defeat left Yu, turning to head to his room. His uncle was proving to be incredibly stubborn, to which he now understood who’s side of the family he got it from, and it was useless to continue pressuring him. He flopped face first onto his couch, limbs awkwardly falling everywhere. Thoughts bustling about how he could even possibly get more information on the murder. Enough to distract him from homework, and, yeah sure, he could help Satonaka get some closure, he supposed.

He’ll deal with that tomorrow, he figured.

Well, it would have to wait probably longer than “tomorrow” as he found himself standing in the grocery department of Junes the next morning with Nanako. Apparently, he had fallen asleep on his couch and rolled off in the middle of the night, hitting his head right against the low table next to him. So now, he was nursing a headache while escorting his cousin to the pickled radishes. How did he get roped into this, again?

Right, Sunday was grocery day, and his uncle got called into the station early that morning. And, being the “too polite to say no” type, Yu was volunteered to go with Nanako to Junes. She didn’t get to go there often, but Golden Week was coming up and they needed picnic supplies anyway. It wasn’t like spending time with his cousin was a burden, it was more that she was still shy around him, despite his half-assed attempts at connecting.

They had just rounded the corner to the produce section when Nanako made a soft noise. Checking to see if she was alright, she whispered her need to go to the bathroom. Yu merely hummed, asking if she knew where to go, trusting she was old enough to go off on her own and come right back. He nudged her off, promising to stay right there so she could find him. At least he could work on picking up the–

“Well, I didn’t know Ryotaro had a son.”

Radishes.

Yu turned to see who had addressed him, feeling his stomach and jaw drop when he was met with a familiar-looking face.

If he honestly didn’t know better, he would have thought he was looking at Yosuke, but a little older. Ok, quite a bit older. His hair was a darker chestnut, rather than that burnt orange, and cut a bit shorter, if only to appear “professional”, but that was undoubtedly someone that looked like him. Yu could only assume it was his father, if the resemblance was anything to go by.

“Um…” he recollected himself, “He doesn’t. He’s my uncle. I’m just visiting for the year.”

An awkward laugh, “Ah, that explains it,” he put a hand to his neck, lightly shrinking on himself, “My mistake. Welcome to Inaba then.”

The man extended his hand, that Yu awkwardly took in return.

“Hanamura Yoichi,” he introduced, a certain sadness overshadowing his otherwise warm smile, “I’m the manager here, and your uncle is usually here on Sundays with Nanako-chan.”

Unsure of what all to say, Yu kept himself brief with simply his name. Nanako herself was still gone, so he figured he had a moment to ask what was on his mind.

“Pardon my rudeness but…” he hesitated, knowing full well this could bite him back, “Did you… have a son?”

The smile faltered slightly, in favor of accentuating the sadness, “Yes, I did. He was about your age, actually. How did you know?”

“I happened to see… his case file at home,” he lied.

Hanamura-san sighed, lightly rubbing his eyes under his glasses, seemingly fighting back tears, “Ol’ Ryotaro is still investigating that? That’s… kind of him, but he doesn’t need to.”

More questions floated through Yu’s mind, but all of them caught in his throat. Unfortunately for him, Nanako came walking back up, greeting Hanamura-san softly. She seemed just as shy around him as she was Yu, so it came as no surprise the conversation ended up dropping right there. Of course, Yu wanted to add more, but figured it wasn’t worth it with Nanako around.

“Well, I should get back to my job. This place is going to be really busy for Golden Week,” Hanamura-san said, looking to turn, “Ah, if you have any spare time, Narukami-kun, there’s always an opening here for part-timers,” a brief pause as the smile faltered again, “It would… really help.”

“I’ll consider it.” It wasn’t like Yu was a particularly busy individual, so he didn’t see a reason to outright refuse.

He watched Hanamura-san disappear behind the shelves, before turning back to gather the groceries he had come here for.

Nanako and him fell back into their uncomfortable silence. Though he could tell she wanted to say something, he wasn’t sure how to breach the subject. Time and the aisles passed slowly, both of them working their way up to the registers so they could go home.

While their shopping had only taken up most of the morning, Yu decided he wasn’t going to spend much time at home. Though it did pain him slightly to leave Nanako completely alone with just the tv on. There were other matters he wished to attend to.

Namely, seeing if there were any books he could find on yokai. Or urban legends. Whatever really struck out to possibly help deal with the ghost situation.

Notes:

Here's a fun fact: Despite us never once meeting the guy, Yosuke's dad is *canonically* named Yoichi.

Chapter 5

Sunday ended up being a complete bust. As did the next few days until Children’s Day.

He had fallen behind on homework. Bad. Midterms were coming up. Just as bad. The weather was completely clear so he couldn’t find Yosuke. Really bad. And Dojima failed to get any time off for the holidays. Absolute travesty .

So, there Yu sat, at a Junes food court table, with Nanako, Satonaka, and Amagi, annoyed at an already overdue geography essay. His parents were going to kill him, if Yosuke and his uncle didn’t accomplish that first by the end of the year.

Amagi had been the first to break the tension, trying to delicately dance around the subject, “So, why did we come to Junes?”

“There’s nowhere else to hang out,” Satonaka admitted, lounging back with a soda.

Yu grumbled as he gave up writing to instead draw on a napkin, “Nanako and I were going to have a picnic with my uncle at the Samegawa, but he got called in to work.”

“So, I invited them here, at least get them out of the house.”

“I see,” Amagi nodded, “Do you cook, Narukami-kun?”

“Kind of,” he answered.

Satonaka snickered, “Seems like the kind of thing you’d do as the big bro. Say, did you get a chance to look into that…” she paused, seeing Nanako’s wide-eyed stare, “Stuff I asked you about?”

Yu could only shake his head. Between trying to catch up on homework, helping with chores, and nearly getting chased half-way across town by some angry biker gang kid, the last few days ended up being a total wash. It didn’t exactly help that the weather had been particularly nice the last few days, and that school was still closed.

He put his head in his hands, and after a moment of thought, “I did run into Hanamura-san on Sunday.”

A strange stare was shared between the girls, before Satonaka spoke again, “You didn’t mention… you-know-what to him… did you?”

“Only vaguely,” Yu answered, “It’s more that I brought up my uncle still having the case file. He… seemed very sad about it, for lack of better terms.”

Satonaka rested her elbows on the table, “I could only imagine.”

“Are you talking about Yosuke-san going to heaven?” Nanako asked, suddenly.

Everyone’s eyes fell right on her. For several reasons. Mostly due to the shock of Nanako being even slightly aware of Yosuke’s death.

Yu was the first to break the silence, “Yes, we are. How do you know about that, Nanako?”

She slowly sipped on her drink, as though she was discussing the weather, “Mommy died in an accident in November. Daddy and Hanamura-san talked to each other about it over dinner sometimes.”

Yu knew vaguely of his aunt’s death, mostly due to overhearing his mother express the faintest of condolences when she received the news around six months ago. He never bothered to attend the funeral, finals had been coming up, and he didn’t even remember his Aunt Chisato, let alone his Uncle Ryotaro. So, when he came to Inaba, his aunt’s absence wasn’t particularly felt in the home either. To him, she simply never was.

But to hear Nanako, at only six, talk so casually about her mother’s death slightly perturbed him. Nevermind that she knew that an unrelated high school aged boy was also dead.

Of course, she didn’t know his ghost hadn’t passed so peacefully to join her mother. Though, knowing what he knows, Yu didn’t think he wanted to dare look for his aunt. The last thing he needed was a second angry spirit haunting him. It was better to hope she did pass on, or at least was watching over her family benevolently.

But, Hanamura-san apparently spent quite a lot of his time with Dojima if they talked over dinner. Then again, now that Yu thought about it, he was fairly casual when he was talking about his uncle. Never once did he drop an honorific in regards to him. He did for Nanako, but that seemed like it was more out of endearment. Were he and his uncle really that close? That might give him more of an edge in getting information.

He was definitely no longer paying attention to anything at hand.

Thankfully, Amagi and Satonaka ignored his stupor, and instead started talking to Nanako to detract from the subject. She was coming out of that shell of hers, which he would definitely appreciate in the future.

Chapter 6

Eventually, Yu found himself back at school, the weather a bit milder now that summer was starting to roll in, but that never stopped the overcast skies. He silently hoped it would start raining, even just a little, as to discourage too many of his schoolmates from remaining after the final bell. It had been quite a bit of time since the last good rain that lasted into the afternoon.

He so desperately needed to see if he could speak with Yosuke again.

Though, he was definitely taking precautions this time.

Perhaps it was fate smiling upon him, or just pure happenstance, but the rain did begin to fall around halfway through physical education. While Kondo-sensei was downtrodden over everyone needing to head back in, lest they get covered in mud and soaked to the bone, Yu was grateful for the opportunity.

It was a little bit of a chore avoiding Satonaka and Amagi, but after ducking into the boy’s locker room to “make sure his tracksuit got washed”, Yu found himself blissfully alone.

Umbrella in hand, Yu left the gates of Yasogami, following its perimeter wall with a gentle hand grazing its coarse brickwork until it gave way to wire fencing. A smaller retaining wall remained near the height of his knees, but it didn’t hinder his vision. His footsteps echoed with every step, water splashing up and around to the tops of his shoes, his heart freezing with fear and excitement. The rain had lightened some, but it should still be just enough.

For better or for worse, Yosuke was there. Same as he always seemed to be. Starting sadly at the cloudy sky.

He swallowed, a nervous lump filling most of his throat, “Um… hello.”

Yosuke’s head whipped to look at him so fast, Yu would have worried he’d hurt himself, if he were still alive. Briefly, the wind picked up into a hearty gust.

The tone of his voice and the look on his face both signaled immediate displeasure, “Well. Look who it is. How many more people have you run your mouth to?”

“I…” Yu paused, trying to think of what would be safe to say.

A soft rattle of the fence knocked him from his thoughts, “Don’t even try it, Narukami,” a light hazy smoke started to rise from the tips of Yosuke’s fingers through the holes, “I already know Chie-san is the reason I didn’t strangle your sorry ass last time. Another ten seconds and you’d be on this side.”

“Please, just let me explain…” There was no bite in Yu’s voice, every alarm bell in his mind blaring to just run, forget all of this, “I want to help you.”

“Help?” Yosuke stared at him for a moment, before reeling back with a sick laugh, the fence rattling further before he pressed his face as close as he could manage, “What the hell do you think you can do for me?”

He shrunk back slightly. Yosuke must have thought he was joking, “Well. You’re… you’re a yūrei, or at least some sort of… rain yokai? Just… Don’t you… want to pass on?”

Realizing Yu was actually quite serious, the field fell silent, save for the rainfall. Yosuke’s fingers slowly receded from the fence, wincing as he blew away the smoke. His quiet stare mimicked his father’s so closely, his anger simmering down to a general state of upset.

“What do you even know about me?” He eventually asked.

Yu swallowed, “You… were sorta friends with Satonaka, Ichijo, and Nagase. Because of your dad’s work, you transferred here to Yasogami in October, and… someone killed you,” he paused briefly, seeing him nod along in agreement, “And whatever they did to you… was really bad. I don’t know the specifics, but… I can make some assumptions.”

“‘Killed’ makes it sound like I died quickly. No. It was slow, agonizing torture.” Yosuke briefly thumbed at his throat, huffing out a noise, “Why do you even care? You know me less than half of my classmates did, and they didn’t give a shit at all.”

“Because Satonaka cared.”

“Don’t feed me lies.”

“I’m not lying. She wanted me to tell you she’s sorry. It doesn’t help since it’s too late, but she… she started crying when she told me everything.”

Yosuke’s hands clenched at his sides, staring at the ground, “Chie-san wouldn’t cry over me.”

The wind briefly picked up, but didn’t last more than a second before everything became still.

“But she did. She’s been coming down here for months to try and talk to you. Never once has she seen you.” Yu laced his fingers through the fence gate, “Why do you only show up for me? What makes me special?”

“Someone else asked me that, but then she…” he faltered, heaving out a sigh, “I don’t know why only some people can see me.”

“You don’t know?”

A half-hearted shrug was the only response. As it was, Yosuke’s form was starting to fade slightly. It appeared the rain was slowing to a stop. Whatever little time remained, Yu had to make good use of it.

He decided to reiterate his request, “Will you let me help you?”

Yosuke was already almost gone by the time the last words slipped out. His response fell with the last drops, just before he vanished.

“You’ll get hurt if you try.”

Yu’s hand fell to his side, looking up to see the parted clouds above him. There was no point in sticking around any further, it was all but certain Yosuke couldn’t hear him. Or, at least, it wouldn’t be worth talking to him if he couldn’t hear his response. Slowly and sadly he closed his umbrella, seeing little reason to leave it open.

Perhaps he’d have a chance to visit again once night fell. He knew the next rain was supposed to last until the morning. How he was going to fill his time until then, he wasn’t sure, especially since he wasn’t sure if his uncle was going to be home early or not.

For once, he was hoping he wouldn’t be. It would make life easier if he was able to sneak out for the evening, even if just for an hour or two.

Chapter 7

It was almost as if bad luck had started following Yu all of a sudden.

Dojima was home for dinner.

Even worse, he brought Hanamura-san over.

Barely had he crossed into the threshold of the kitchen, announcing himself for Nanako when he noticed the extra face at the low table.

Caught like a deer in headlights, he froze stone stiff. Body and mind yelling at him to turn around, maybe just head upstairs, anything to avoid talking about what his day has consisted of. Honestly, what his last week and a half has been like.

Yet, Nanako’s beckoning eyes, and a table full of food, supermarket or not, was the nail in the coffin to his plans.

Once he was begrudgingly seated at the table, Dojima spoke, “Sorry to bring a guest unannounced, Yu. This is Hanamura Yoichi, a friend of mine. He’s the manager at Junes here in town.”

“We’ve met…” Yu choked out.

“You have?”

“It was back on the first,” Hanamura-san added, “I ran into him and Nanako-chan doing their Golden Week shopping.”

“Is that so?”

The conversation thankfully turned casual, directing itself away from Yu, and rather to general business. Stuff that was easy for him to tune out, even if Nanako was trying her best to absorb every large word she heard. He felt sick to his stomach, but wasn’t sure why. Perhaps it was that he was trapped by societal expectations. It’d be rude for him to get up with his plate half-finished when he wasn’t actually ill. Nanako would be upset too, it’s the first time they’ve all had dinner together since he first arrived. She really opened up after Golden Week, and Yu wasn’t going to squander that.

Eventually, Hanamura-san directed his attention towards him, “Have you considered my offer at all, Narukami-kun?”

“Oh, um…” honestly, he hadn’t even barely thought about picking up work after their discussion, “I might look into it…”

Dojima looked over at Hanamura-san, “You offered him a job?”

“A part-time one of course, he’s still just a student,” he sighed, “Business is usually manageable but finding someone as efficient as…” he trailed off, opting to absently rub at his bare ring finger, soon putting on a forced smile again, “Actually, Ryotaro, why are you still looking into that?”

Everything in Yu’s body froze, his breath hitching seeing Dojima narrow his eyes.

“Looking into what?”

Hanamura-san faltered, but continued, “Well, your nephew mentioned you still have Yosuke’s case file here at home.” He seemed to miss the pointed daggers directed at Yu as he ducked his head, “I know you take your job seriously, but… I think it’s best we just let him rest, don’t you?”

“I agree,” Dojima’s tone was cold, “Someone just happened to ask about it. You know how gossipy teenagers are.”

Dinner had suddenly become much more awkward, only spared by Dojima’s phone going off. He pardoned himself from the table, but not before ordering Yu not to go anywhere. Hanamura-san seemed to take it as a hint he should depart, apologizing quietly for the state he’s leaving the table in. Nanako didn’t seem overly concerned, just confused, offering to walk him to the door. That sick feeling continued brewing in Yu’s stomach, followed by a cold chill running down his spine. He could only stare down at the plate in front of him, scrubbing his hands under his bangs.

The feeling had only minorly dissipated when Dojima returned, grabbing his jacket from the chair it was laid upon, “I’m leaving, something came up at the office.”

Yu barely managed to turn to look at him, “Um… good night then.”

“Right, before I leave though,” his tone cold and sharp again, “Don’t make me say it again . Let. It. Go. I’m trying to let you be independent, like my sister asked, but if I hear another word about Hanamura’s death I’ll have men all around town monitoring you. Understand?”

“Yes uncle…”

He ducked his head, remaining perfectly still until the front door opened and shut behind him. Everything was suddenly becoming a bit much for him to handle.

What exactly had he gotten himself into? Investing himself in the murder of a boy he’d never met, dredging up the sorrow and grief of his father, and nevermind how he’s acting so suspicious to his own uncle. And for what? His own twisted curiosity?

He should just drop it.

He’s going to just forget about Yosuke. It would be better for everyone.

Chapter 8

Forgetting about it seemed to be fairly easy. The weather was still warm and sunny, especially as the month passed into June. The lack of recent rain was a lack of incentive to go out to the field. He even took the charm Satonaka gave him off his keys. Nagase kept him fairly busy with practice most of the week, while Yu started working at Junes the rest of the time. He was nothing more than a stocker, but he could live with that. Less talking to people. He’s had a couple bad spills already, but he chalked it up to not paying attention. First time was not seeing a wet floor sign, the other was accidentally bumping into a coworker.

It didn’t help that he still felt more clumsy than he initially anticipated.

Eventually, it was almost time for Yasogami’s annual camping trip. So, he had even more distractions on the horizon. He, Satonaka, and Amagi were all in a group together, and working out what they were going to make for lunch. They didn’t have a fourth due to some unexpected absences, but it wasn’t like Yu was going to complain. He basically didn’t know anyone else anyway.

He was mulling over the shopping list while Satonaka and Amagi were off gathering the vegetables, when he heard his name get called. Clear, yet almost distantly? Turning his head, he found no one around besides the girls. Their attention was still squarely on the parsnips. A cold chill ran right down his spine, and there was that sinking feeling in his stomach again. Something was off, but he couldn’t place what. Pins and needles were stabbing at his wrists, like they had gone numb. Instinctively he rubbed at one of his arms, attempting to ease the feeling away.

Amagi walked up to him, arms full of curiosities. Part of him worried how much of that she was going to put in the curry. She briefly tilted her head at him, asking if he felt alright. The only answer he could muster is that he thought he heard something, but passed it off as his mind playing tricks. It seemed the other sensations were fading, and it was about time they went to check out anyway.

Suffice to say, the camping trip was not going particularly well. Yu hadn’t really been informed what the trip consisted of, so he wasn’t exactly thrilled when he learned he was going to be spending the entire day picking up trash. Beyond that, Mooroka was being his usual overbearing self, so he wasn’t given too many chances to sit and rest. Even worse, was that he was on the receiving end of just how decidedly terrible Yukiko and Chie were as cooks. Sure, he had a pretty rock solid constitution, but even his stomach couldn’t, well, stomach whatever vile concoction they had created.

It was bad enough for him to pad over to the first aid tent, looking for anything to keep himself from keeling over.

His voice was a little hoarse, having been attempting to keep his lunch down, “You… have anything for nausea?”

The kid at the table eyed him almost suspiciously before ducking underneath and procuring a couple items, “Here. Take it with water, and maybe lie down.”

Yu nodded, sliding the tablet packet towards himself, eyeing a small card under it, “What’s…?”

“Listen man, if you’re nauseous now, you’re going to be hungry by dinner. Aiya’s delivers out here. You’ll thank me later,” he got up and walked into the tent, “Kanji, can you help carry this guy back to his tent? He’s about to fall over.”

A disinterested ‘Yeah, yeah’ was the only response before both of them returned. Yu felt even more sick recognizing the other boy immediately as the kid who chased him half-way across Inaba. He didn’t look too thrilled to see him either. A gruff sigh left him before heaving Yu’s arm over his shoulder.

“Where’re ya headin’?” He asked, mildly agitated.

Yu swallowed, trying to hide his fear, “Second year’s tents…”

For a moment he heard a brief noise, before they started moving. Even if barely, he appreciated the help. His body certainly felt like cement, so he wasn’t sure how much further he could have walked unassisted. It was awkward to be slung over someone he was slightly afraid of, but he was just going to take it.

They eventually reached where Yu needed to be, and he was let go to try and lie down. The other boy folded his arms while Yu crouched down to enter his tent.

Before he did though, he turned slightly, “Um… Kanji-kun… right?”

“Yeah. Tatsumi Kanji.”

“Thank you.”

He looked slightly taken aback for a moment, before turning his head away, “Yeah… sure. ‘S no problem.” His hands were swiftly shoved into his pockets as he turned to leave, “Yer my senpai so… respect ‘n’ all that.”

“I still appreciate it. Have a good night.”

No response besides a wave was given. Suddenly a lot more exhausted, Yu crawled into the tent. After reaching for his water bottle, he downed the tablets and collapsed onto his sleeping bag. He was probably going to be alone until morning, if he was being honest with himself. The girls were sleeping in a different tent, and he was left as the odd one out on the boy’s side. Sure, solitude usually didn’t bother him, but… something didn’t feel right.

Everything in his body felt… wrong .

Simultaneously he was too hot, but too cold. Shivers rattled throughout his body. Clearly, that terrible excuse for curry had done a number on him. Perhaps whatever he ate was beyond just wretched in taste, they might have actually poisoned him. The medicine was definitely going to take a moment to kick in, but that was only going to help calm his stomach. Everything else? He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but he was just going to try and sleep it off. Call him lazy, but that was the only thing he could think to do.

Except his nap was anything but pleasant. Visions and sensations plagued him. His arms felt like they were bound, and he could hardly breathe. Everything was cold, freezing even, like he had been dunked in a cold bath and left outside. Part of him wanted to scream, but between the pressure against his throat and his own lethargy, it only felt like admitting defeat. To what? He didn’t know.

Who knows how much time passed before Yu woke with a start. Drenched in sweat and panting, he could tell it had started to get dark outside, based on the change in lighting. Most of the nausea had passed, and it seemed whatever demon Yukiko fed him had been exorcized while he slept. Though, he still didn’t exactly feel better. He was still burning up, despite how much he was shivering. Throwing off his drenched track jacket, he decided he needed some air. Maybe that would help cool him down a little as well.

Outside, it looked like sunset was about over, based on what little light there was left, not helped by the sudden overcast sky above. He could certainly tell rain was coming. Everything was eerily quiet, and the winds had basically stopped. It was noticeably cooler as well. Not chilly, it was the middle of June, but compared to the furnace Yu had turned into, it was… welcomed. If the trip wasn’t over tomorrow, and if it wasn’t so late, it probably would have gotten canceled due to this weather.

Wasn’t it supposed to be perfectly clear tonight though?

Yu wasn’t sure, but he certainly flinched slightly when something hit the top of his head. Looking up, another hit. It was definitely raining.

Rationally, a part of him was saying he should head back into his tent.

But the other kept him firmly locked in place, staring up at the clouds, even as the rain began to pick up.

He closed his eyes, savoring the feeling of the cold rain coming down.

Notes:

You can never win with Mystery Food X

Chapter 9

The next time Yu opened his eyes, he was in his tent, with a very concerned Tatsumi-kun hovering over him. He shuddered, putting a hand to his head, slowly lifting himself from the sleeping bag.

“Take it easy, senpai,” Tatsumi-kun said, surprisingly gentle.

Yu looked around in a bit of a daze, before noticing there was a tear in his track pants, “When did I…?”

“Naoki asked me to check on ya before we all went to bed, and I found ya passed out in front of your tent. You were completely drenched, man.”

He had passed out? It sounded right, given the mud stains on his clothes, but that led to more questions. Yu hardly recalled anything after taking the nausea medicine. He remembered he laid down for a nap, and briefly woke up some time later. Tatsumi-kun attempted to provide more insight, but it was little more than him dragging him back into the tent and doing his best to keep him warm since he was soaked from the rain. Apparently the girls also stayed with him the rest of the night for undisclosed reasons, but left just before sunrise.

Overall, it was the worst camping trip he had ever been on.

He returned to Inaba, but his condition didn’t seem to improve. Constantly, he felt like he was freezing, despite the warm weather. Even wearing a jacket or a long shirt did little to ease the discomfort. It wasn’t like he was sick, he felt pretty fine besides the sudden chills. The best he could do was chalk it up to whatever was put into the curry doing a severe number on his nervous system. Somehow.

Either way, it was Sunday and he decided he’d go get his gym clothes patched up before school started up again. While he had no idea how to sew himself, Tatsumi-kun had at least offered when they were still on the mountain. Turned out his mother owned the textile shop next to the shrine.

It was easy enough to find, he’d been to the shopping district plenty of times by this point. Though, he wasn’t expecting the warm greeting of Tatsumi-san when he entered the shop. Or her concern about him wearing a heavy coat in this weather. Try as he might to shrug it off, she only became more concerned, only relenting when he mentioned he was there to get something repaired. She nodded, getting up to move to the back, calling for her son.

Tatsumi-kun came down, greeting Yu casually, taking the bundle with his torn pants in it. After depositing it supposedly in his room, he came back right as Yu was going to leave, asking if he’d be willing to hang out.

Yu saw no reason to refuse.

Once outside, the two started talking briefly. Mostly a gentle exchange of pleasantries, and apologies for the rough first impressions they gave each other. They were standing in front of the shrine, simply talking when Yu realized his coat was starting to feel a little too warm. It was odd, he had been freezing all morning, but he did suppose he was standing in the sun. Maybe his body just took longer to warm up or something. It would be better if he took the coat off.

Tatsumi-kun stared down the road a little, folding his arms, “Hey, senpai. ‘Ave you been paying attention to the new girl that just transferred to Yasogami?”

“Kujikawa?” He shook his head, “Nanako was excited she was in town, but I have no idea who she is. I think I ran into her during my last shift, but that was it. Barely recognized her from the tv.”

“Huh. So you ain’t interested in her?”

“She’s pretty, but that’s about it,” he leaned back against the fence next to the torii, mentally noting how warm it was, “I’m sure she’d rather be left alone, too. Why?”

“No reason, just wonderin’. E’eryone else in my class has been goin’ wild over her ‘n’ I just don’t get it.”

Yu shrugged. Sure, he liked girls, but he never found himself having the emotional investment for a relationship. It wasn’t ever like he stayed in one place long enough to form a meaningful bond anyway. Even now, he was keeping his distance since he knew he’d be leaving at the end of the school year, and was likely never to see anyone from Inaba again.

Tatsumi-kun shrugged, offering to pay for some skewers from Souzai Daigaku since it was right across the street. Yu pushed his hand down on the fence to get up, when his shoe suddenly slipped, kicking him backwards. An involuntary yelp left when he felt himself falling.

But that soon became the least of his concerns. Heat overtook him, and he felt like he was thrown straight into a fire. He couldn’t help but scream, the pain immeasurable and indescribable. Getting his limbs under him to get up was near impossible. Everything hurt, and he was certain this was the end. Tatsumi-kun was definitely calling his name, but what good was that going to do?

Eventually, the pain seemed to subside, and Yu was able to open his eyes again. Tatsumi-kun looked like he had just seen a ghost, and he was leaned up against the wall of the textile shop.

“What… happened?” he muttered, achy everywhere, but also noticeably soaked to the bone.

“I dunno, dude. You fell backwards into the shrine and literally caught on fire.”

“Explains the burning sensation…” Examining his hand and arm, he wasn’t burnt, but something still felt off. “How’d you put me out?”

Tatsumi-kun hummed for a bit, almost like he was avoiding the answer. Though, he eventually sighed, “I carried you out, and then… a fox ran up with a bucket full of water. I just threw it on you. Like, don’t worry man, the fire didn’t hurt me, but…”

“A fox? Like, a wild animal?”

“Yeah. An actual fox.”

That was strange, even for Yu. Slowly, he stood up, his legs shaky from all the pain he just went through. It took a bit, needing to brace himself against the wall, but he was up. Tatsumi relaxed a little, seeing that he was able to stand on his own, even if he did ask if he was alright.

Now that he was upright again, Yu could clearly see a fox staring him down just outside the torii. It yipped, before scampering off. He moved to follow it, before stopping just before he crossed the threshold to the shrine. That warm feeling he had been experiencing was still there, and it felt like the shrine itself was emitting it. Cautiously, he stuck his hand out, despite Tatsumi-kun’s warning that this was probably a bad idea. Even now, as his fingers hovered just outside the gate, they felt like he was putting his hand on a hot stove, light wisps of smoke rising from his fingertips.

Barely, his hand passed under the torii, and into the grounds of the shrine, and it immediately caught aflame. A dark, scorched red and black fire rose, causing Yu to scream and retract his arm. He quickly patted it out, before staring at his hand, noting that numb feeling was back again, and he could see a red mark wrapping around the outside of his wrist. He looked over at Tatsumi-kun, who seemed just as shocked.

“Senpai… I think you’re cursed.”

Chapter 10

Cursed. What a stupid concept. Yu still had his doubts about the whole “ghost” thing, but there was no denying that he literally caught on fire when he so much as brushed “sacred ground”. There had to be a logical explanation to it. Yet, he was too scared to see what would happen if he removed the omamori hanging around his neck.

He couldn’t deny it certainly solved his sudden body temperature issue, or that the marks on his wrists completely vanished. How a wild fox had access to one of those, and the fact it seemed to work was beyond him.

Did Yosuke really curse him? He supposed he would have to find out next time it rained.

Despite what he wanted, it turned out he was going to see Yosuke a lot sooner than he anticipated, and in quite the unexpected way.

It was Wednesday, and Yu was passing through the school gate. He and Nagase had just finished cleaning up after practice, leaving the school fairly barren. The weather was fair, so he didn’t even have a shot at seeing Yosuke and wrote it off. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of someone ducking onto the side path that led to the back gate.

Was someone waiting for him to leave? Strange.

Curiosity overtook Yu, and he decided to follow behind whoever it was.

Suffice to say, he was a little surprised to see Hanamura-san knelt in front of the fence. It was the same spot Yosuke usually appeared at, too. Faintly, he could smell the faintest hint of smoke, and saw some assorted objects resting on the ground.

Hanamura-san pressed his hands together, and barely, Yu could hear him speaking, “I apologize that this is a bit half-assed, Yosuke, but it’s all I can manage.” Deeply, he took a breath, seemingly holding back tears, “It’s not much, but I brought your favorite snack. I’m doing well, even if I miss you every day. Work has been… going alright, despite it all. As for your mother… she… she stayed in Tokyo after the funeral. I don’t exactly blame her, but I’m more or less stuck here. We… ended up getting divorced in January. And I know your body is in Tokyo but… something tells me your spirit is here… The house is so empty now, with only myself as company. I suppose… you wouldn’t be surprised to hear I barely spend my time there.” 

Another pause, as he wiped a hand under his glasses, shuddering a sob, “I’m so sorry this happened to you, Yosuke. You didn’t deserve any of this. You deserved better , you should still be here, and I’m so so sorry that we didn’t find you sooner.”

Yu felt like he should leave. It was rude to overhear such a private moment, but he couldn’t help but stay. Just as he started to convince his legs to move, he noticed something.

Despite the weather being nothing but nice, Yosuke was perfectly visible. Even if he still looked like he got caught in the rain. There was also a notable sadness in his eyes. His fingers laced through the holes of the fence, smoke slowly swirling up from the tips. Even then, Yosuke moved towards the gate, slipping his arm between the bars, looking to accept whatever offering had been given to him. Only to yelp and recoil, panicking as he patted out a fire on his arm.

The sudden noise caught Hanamura-san’s attention, causing him to spring to his feet, “Yosuke?”

The desperation in his voice was palpable, his hands flying to reach through the gate. Yet, in the same instant, Yosuke stared back with wide-eyes, like he had been caught misbehaving. With a wide sweep of his hand, the wind kicked up, suddenly blowing out the incense. Hanamura-san stepped back, shielding himself from the unexpected rush of dirt blowing towards him. Yu watched as Yosuke not only faded away, but also turned tail and ran.

Certainly, that was the moment he definitely should have left. Pretend that he wasn’t there to watch whatever heartbreak was transpiring as Hanamura-san desperately called out to his lost son. But he didn’t leave, instead, he slowly walked over to where he was, swallowing his own fear and disgrace, knowing he had heard too much from the very beginning.

Hanamura-san sighed, leaning down to pick up everything he brought, only flinching a little when he saw Yu standing in front of him.

His single question was straight to the point, “How much did you hear?”

“... All of it,” Yu bowed deeply, “Please, forgive me.”

A soft sigh was the only response, before he was asked to accompany Hanamura-san.

They found themselves under the pavilion at the Samegawa, Hanamura-san urging Yu to take a seat. He chose to sit across from him, resting one arm on the table so he could shield the lower half of his face with his hand.

Yu ducked his head, hesitant to ask the question in his mind, dreading the answer he suspected was coming, “Any… particular reason you visited…” Yosuke’s name remained unsaid, though the intent was clear.

“It’s his birthday…” The answer was soft, while more tears started to well up in Hanamura-san’s eyes, “He would have been seventeen, so you probably could have been classmates together,” A sad laugh was the next thing he heard, “I could only imagine his reaction to Kujikawa coming to town, I bet he wouldn’t have shut up about her for a week. He loved Risette.”

Based on the headphones, yeah, Yu figured he liked music. He tilted his head up a little, seeing Hanamura-san’s other hand pushing around something in a wrapper. Candy of some sort.

“Was that your offering?”

He clutched it in his hand, almost instinctively, “I brought him some cough drops. For some reason he went through bags of the stuff like candy, no matter how much his mother and I tried to get him to stop. I figured… I should at least indulge him, since there’s not much else I can give him anymore,” Another soft sob wrenched out of his throat, “Even if it was just for a moment, I was so happy to see him again. But why… Why did he run away? Is he… mad at me? I did everything I could, but yet it felt like he hates me… all because of my mistakes…”

Yu threw up his hands, suddenly finding his voice, “No, that’s not it.”

The look he received caused his breath to hitch for a moment, but he continued regardless.

“Yos-... your son doesn’t hate you. He… I saw him reach for the offering, and he had been listening the whole time. I don’t think he would have stood there if he hated you. He just…” Yu was attempting to hide how much he actually knew, “I think he just doesn’t like being seen by anyone.”

Hanamura-san merely sighed once more, but almost out of relief. Clearly, he was still shaken by his chance encounter, but it looked as though had gotten a lot off his chest. Thankfully for Yu, he seemed to ignore what he knew of the situation, rather taking a moment to thank him for attempting to rationalize everything. Yu could only lightly nod his head, silently acknowledging that his aunt’s death happening so soon after Yosuke’s was probably what prompted the odd friendship Hanamura-san had with his uncle. It had been just barely half a year, but it was clear the pain was still immense for him. So he could only imagine what Dojima felt. Especially since both cases had gone cold.

After a few moments of silence, Hanamura-san stood, looking to pocket the cough drop, before shaking his head and handing it off to Yu.

“I know it was for Yosuke,” he said with that same sad smile, “But… I’m sure he would have shared.”

Yu wasn’t sure what to say besides 'thank you'.

Just as he turned to leave, Hanamura-san spared him one last glance, “I think you and Yosuke would have been good friends.”

Notes:

As someone who's never mourned for a lost relative uhhh..............

Hope this works? (Honestly, a lot of Yu's reaction to everything is somewhat based off myself and how I don't(?) deal with grief. Yes, even the part about Chisato back in chapter 5.)

Chapter 11

A few days passed, and the weather turned stormy once more. Yu still had reservations about speaking with Yosuke again, but he needed answers. The fence was definitely some sort of barrier for him, so there was at least some way to ‘safely’ speak with him.

Once everyone else had left, Yu walked around to the back gate of the practice field, unsurprised to see Yosuke in his same usual spot. In that same usual pose.

Curiosity got the better of him, “Why do you stand like that?”

“Why do you keep coming back?” Yosuke didn’t bother to look at him.

“If I answer you, will you give me answers back?”

A low growl of annoyance was his only reply. Yosuke turned around to glare at Yu, pouting like a little kid.

“What do you want to know?”

Yu stepped closer, angling his umbrella back so it didn’t get caught in the fence, “Did you curse me?”

Yosuke opened his mouth to answer, before suddenly stopping. He looked at the ground, rubbing at the back of his head. All things considered, he looked confused.

Did he even know he could do that?

“Why are you asking?”

Dragging out the omamori from his collar, Yu spoke, “During the camping trip, I started feeling really strange, and last Sunday I learned I can’t cross into holy ground without this around my neck. I literally catch on fire if I try. In fact, it seems to suppress whatever is wrong with me,” he paused to look at him square in the eye, “You’re the only yokai I know.”

There was a certain look on Yosuke’s face as they stared at each other. It was like he was thinking about something quite intently.

“If I did, it wasn’t intentional,” he eventually said, before heaving a sigh and leaning his shoulder against the fence, “I don’t even know what a curse from me would do .”

“I see…”

Yu figured that somewhat made sense. Yosuke had only been dead for, what, eight months? Not just that, but given his general nature, it didn’t seem like he’d have much opportunity to lay curses on people.

“I answered why I’m here, so can you answer my question now?”

“That’s not how it works. You asked a question and I gave an answer,” he spat back.

He could only make a face back, “Ok, then ask me a question.”

“I did. I asked why you keep bothering me.”

“And I told you last time, I wanted to help. But after I saw how upset I made your father a few weeks ago, I stopped coming.”

He watched Yosuke tense up, the winds and rain picking up around them. Suddenly, Yu had to jump back. Yosuke had slammed himself into the fence, fingers clawing through holes, threatening to tear Yu apart if he was on the other side.

“You told my dad about me?!”

“I-I didn’t!” Yu panicked, “I swear! He just… I just…” he took a moment to breathe, “My uncle’s the detective that… investigated your murder. He’s friends with your father and… your case file came up at dinner.”

For a moment, the weather calmed, Yosuke’s rage simmering down once more. He stepped back, cautious, but willing to listen.

“Explain everything to me. Truthfully.”

As much as it pained him to divulge, he took a second to gather his thoughts. Starting with how his uncle and Hanamura-san were friends out of mutual grief. That Dojima kept Yosuke’s file close to hand in case the trail got hot again. It was all happenstance, but that was why Yu was even halfway aware that Yosuke’s death wasn’t exactly pretty. He went over how he had promised Satonaka he would help get her some closure, and that he was researching yokai and what he could do to help. How that led him to lying about what he knew to whom, but that backfired when Dojima chastised him further for looking into Yosuke’s death. Briefly, he lamented that he promised himself he’d forget about all this, only to come crawling back when he found out he was plagued with a curse. And that he accidentally overheard Hanamura-san’s grave visit back on his birthday. Even then, he hadn’t told him Yosuke would appear, and had been just as surprised. He even mentioned he helped reassure that he doesn’t hate his dad, despite his initial assumption.

Yosuke sighed, folding his arms and sliding down against the fence until he was curled up on the ground in a little ball, the rain falling heavier around them, “Alright… I believe you.”

Yu sat down beside him, the fence the only thing separating them, “You don’t seem happy about that.”

“Dude, I died scared and alone ,” he looked at him from the corner of his eye, “Just try to imagine what that feels like. Then think about how nobody seems to care that you died. It’s just… upsetting that you care more than anyone who knew me when I was still alive. Sure, dad obviously misses me but… you never met me.”

He took a moment to metaphorically breathe, “You’re not the first person I’ve talked to since I died but you’re the only one that’s kept coming back. The last person was one of my senpai but… I heard she ran away from home after she saw me.”

Yu tilted his head, “You keep up with school rumors?”

“Listen man, I choose to hang out over here. I can wander the school all I want, I just don’t want people to freak out. I worry if I get the wrong person’s attention they’ll try and get rid of me permanently. But sometimes I poke around and see what’s up.”

“And you heard your senpai ran away from home?”

“She probably said she saw me, which kick started the rumor you heard but…” he curled back on himself again, “I think her classmates were giving her grief because she was the last person to see me alive.”

“Do you…” he swallowed, hesitating to even ask the questions, “Do you even know who did this? What… what did they even do to you?”

The shake of his head was damning. Even Yosuke didn’t know his own murderer. He couldn’t even narrow down the possibilities. He had been aware how much Inaba hated him and his family. A certain melancholy was in his voice as he recalled what had happened. It seemed fairly routine from what Yu was hearing. Yosuke had gotten a random letter in his locker asking to meet up in the gym. It had been typed out, so there was no indication who sent it. While a little strange, Yosuke was eager to take up the invitation, since no one ever went out of their way to ask him to hang out. He was always the one initiating, even though that should have been the first alarm bell that something was wrong.

But what did Yosuke know, he was desperate for attention.

After he got to the gym, the next thing he knew was that there was a splitting pain in the back of his head, and he went unconscious. Anything after that was only things he could feel, since he had been blindfolded. Yu watched him tense up, taking the time to remember what all happened to him, at least from what he could describe. Each additional detail further unnerving and disturbing Yu all the while. It was callous, cruel, and overall undeserved from what he understood. The fact that it was the weather that ultimately killed him was the most depressing of all.

All together, Yu understood why Hanamura-san didn’t want people to know exactly what had happened. It was bad enough for it to be published that Yosuke died because he was exposed to the elements for almost three days in a rainy October. But combined with the state he was found in…

Yu was sick to his stomach again.

“Now you see why your uncle probably didn’t want to tell you?”

His slightly disturbed hum answered that question, “But, I still have to do something to help you.”

“Even after all this, you’re still on that? Dude, I attacked you. I accidentally cursed you.”

“Well, I can’t think of any other way to break the curse. And… I made a promise to Satonaka,” Yu rubbed the back of his neck, “Listen, if you can figure out how to remove my curse, I’ll see what I can do about solving your murder. Or… at least figure out something where you can just exist peacefully, alright?”

Yosuke stared at him for a moment, and he swore he saw the light briefly flickering back into his eyes, “As long as you don’t try to bring me back to life. I… don’t know if that’s even possible, but I think dad’ll take it better if he thinks I moved on.”

He nodded, but one last question still hung in his throat. It might be a bit much but, what did Yu have to lose at this point, “Do you mind… if I ask Satonaka or others for help?”

A moment of silence, before a sigh, “I can’t stop you, dude. But, if Chie-san or anyone else wants to help, let them.”

Notes:

Happy birthday Yosuke

Chapter 12

Turned out, even asking for help was not making the situation easier. Not just because Yu now had a circle of three other people that each had to keep quiet about investigating the cold case of a classmate’s murder, but also because… What exactly was his plan ?

Chie-san and Yukiko-san had volunteered to talk with classmates about what happened back in October. As the only other students that knew Yosuke and the situation, they’d more likely get people to talk compared to quiet Yu and freshman Tatsumi-kun. While speaking of Tatsumi-kun, he suggested talking to the shrine fox. It clearly was more than a simple wild animal. Perhaps it could give some insight to what they could do for Yosuke.

Though, that still worried Yu, given his only other experience with it was him catching on fire and needing it to save him. It was a bit embarrassing, all things considered, but that was the least of his concerns. This was a fox, so Yu doubted he could communicate with it in any meaningful way.

Yet, there he stood, nervous beyond all belief outside Tatsuhime shrine. Even after he was given the omamori, he hadn’t been back since. Sure, he had stuck his arm under the torii and he hadn’t caught ablaze, but he was still scared in case the magic somehow already faded. Unlikely, omamori lasted for about a year, but that was in the case of warding. He was straight up fighting a curse under that thing.

Regardless, Yu decided to make use of his Sunday to drop by the shopping district. It was certain he’d need some sort of offering for the fox, because he wasn’t about to put himself in mortal danger to get its attention again. He had no idea what to offer, however, he rarely prayed to the kami, at least outside festivals. But, that was when he was expected to. Yu didn’t consider himself all that spiritual, and his parents barely celebrate any holidays.

So, there he was, finishing a soda while texting Tatsumi-kun on what he should even do.

Me:
What kind of offering do foxes like? Never had to do this.

Tatsumi-kun:
Seriously, senpai? Any food would probably do, but inarizushi is named after these things y’know.

Alright, Yu did feel a little stupid about that.

Well, Marukyu was right there, they’d probably have some if he had to guess.

Steeling himself for the embarrassment of walking into a new store for the first time with only the slightest hint of what he wanted, he ducked under the curtain. He looked around, trying to find the owner before accidentally running into someone.

Staggering back, Yu uttered a brief apology, seeing who he even ran into. A man in a suit, though a little disheveled looking. He received a short but sharp glare, before his eyes widened.

“You’re… Dojima’s kid, aren’t you?” His voice was raspy, and something about him disturbed Yu, but not in the same way Yosuke did.

He nodded, “Do I… know you?”

“Nope.” There was a brief flash of his badge and a smile before he started to make his leave, “Detective Adachi, your uncle’s said to keep an eye on you.” Briefly he laughed, “Make sure you don’t get into any… funny business.”

Yu made a mental note to himself to avoid Adachi-san as much as humanly possible. Swallowing his fear he cleared his throat and announced his presence. From the back, he watched a pair of pigtails come into view.

And unlike Adachi-san, he recognized this girl.

“Is that cop gone?” She asked, sounding a bit nervous.

Yu checked behind him, seeing no one in front of the store, before nodding, “Um, you’re…” Man, he sucked at names, “Kujikawa?”

For a moment, she looked annoyed, “I’m not giving you my autograph.”

If Yu was being honest, he forgot she was an idol, “I don’t want one. I just…” he checked his messages again, “Do you have inarizushi?”

Kujikawa eyed him suspiciously for a moment, but still seemed to relax a little. “Not right now, but grandma can make some for you. It’ll be about ten minutes though.”

All he could do was nod nervously. It wasn’t like he had anything else to do today. There was the bookstore down the road if he needed to pass some time at least.

Once the tofu was ready for him, Yu thanked Kujikawa and made his way up to Tatsuhime shrine. It was thankfully empty, and he didn’t fry himself entering the grounds. He walked down the path, and under the other torii to the smaller yoshiro. Gently, the box of inarizushi was placed and he took a moment to pray. Silence, save for the gentle breeze followed. Seconds turned into minutes, and there was no sign of the elusive critter.

Yu huffed, “Right. It’s just a fox. Why am I even trying? I’m just going actually insane.”

The whole curse thing had to be a fluke, the fox was simply a wild animal, and he looked stupid. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Yu turned to leave.

Only to see the fox staring him down on the other side of the gate.

“You requested my presence?”

Chapter 13

Okay. Alright. Yu officially had to be going crazy.

The fox spoke.

To him directly.

It… she… The fox padded past him, standing hing legged to grab the offering. With a delicate movement of the head, Yu was silently instructed to follow behind until they reached the back of the main building. There, no one could see them, not even the Tatsumis, should they be looking for any reason.

With a meal secured, the fox laid down and nearly inhaled one of the bundles, “Is your charm not working as expected, child?”

“Uh… no, no, it’s working… I think. I didn’t burn up on my way here,” Yu had no idea what he was going to ask anymore. This became way too strange so quickly, “You… um… are you Inari?”

With a firm shake of the head, the two conversed. Yu took the time to explain his promise to Yosuke and Chie-san, and how that led him here. They exchanged quandaries and answers to who the fox was, and what exactly separated yokai from kami. Yu was still confused, all things considered, but it was insight that he sorely needed. Perhaps, if being a yokai alone wasn’t what stopped one from passing barriers, then something else was keeping Yosuke confined to Yasogami’s grounds. He decided he needed to ask why the shrine welcomed the fox, despite its origins, while a full blooded human like himself was nearly scorched alive for the crime of falling over himself.

“Am I really cursed?”

The fox grinned in a strange way, “Yes, but that affliction is no more than a minor inconvenience.”

Whatever that meant, he wasn’t sure, and there was no further elaboration. Try as he might to get more understanding of what was so wrong with him that anything less than a protection charm allowed him to pass the torii, the fox simply refused. It was like the answer itself was meaningless. Not just that, but he watched the fox trot off with the remains of the inarizushi towards an alcove under the main building he could never hope to squeeze into.

It seemed that he wasn’t going to get many more answers, so Yu decided to leave. Except, as he was about to step back into the light, the fox reemerged with a strange look.

“Were answers all you sought? If questions were all you had, your offering was much too generous. See it not as a complaint, but I am quite puzzled with your intentions.”

“I don’t know what else you could do for me.”

“Tell me then, what exactly are you attempting to do for your wayward yokai friend?”

Yu wasn’t exactly sure himself. He still hadn’t quite settled out why Yosuke would get mad when others were made aware of his existence. There had been mention that he was scared of someone trying to get rid of him, but was that all there was to his attitude? That, and were they really friends? Sure, he was probably the one person he talked to the most at school, and he did enjoy the company but… it wasn’t an apt descriptor if he had thought about it.

“Like I said, I promised him I’d find a way for him to exist peacefully. I don’t know how we’re going to accomplish that, but… that’s my goal.”

“I see.” The fox nodded, “And do you believe your affliction will be solved once his mitama is pacified?”

“I can only hope so.”

A brief silence, “Very well. Before you leave then, child, help yourself to a fortune, seek some insight into your future. You have provided enough offering for one, and in return, I will see what I can do to assist you.”

Yu hesitantly accepted the advice. Once in the daylight again, he approached the yoshiro and drew himself a fortune. By some matter of luck, good or bad, two came out together. One stuck to the other. Or rather, he opened his fortune to a small blessing, and found another fortune falling onto his shoe. It was strange, and possibly improper, but Yu picked it up and opened it out of curiosity alone.

Despite not being particularly spiritual, his blood ran cold seeing ‘future misfortune’ written at the top. That was never a particularly good sign. So, doing the only acceptable thing he could, he folded the fortune and tied it with the rest of them.

Backing away slowly from his promised misfortune, Yu thought it would be best if he started making his way home.

Chapter 14

The next few days were quiet, so to speak. Nothing ill befell him, but if he understood his fortune correctly, he was to expect something good first before it all came crashing down.

It rained off and on, but Yu decided to be sparing with his visits to Yosuke. His uncle was already suspicious enough if he had another officer monitoring him from time to time. Spending too much time after school alone would start ringing alarm bells. That, and he really needed to study, with finals coming up and all. Not that he had gotten any more on top of his schoolwork compared to midterms.

Regardless, the month turned once more and Yu found himself sitting on the roof with his new bizarre circle of friends. Nothing that out of the ordinary at a glance. Just a bunch of classmates having lunch together.

No one would have suspected they were talking about a murder case.

Though Chie-san and Yukiko-san hadn’t come up with anything particularly new, they did confirm that one of their seniors did mysteriously stop coming to school back in December. Apparently she was the daughter of the liquor store owner in the shopping district. No one had heard from her since aside from her younger brother, which Tatsumi-kun supplied. He even explained that he was the kid at the first aid tent back on the camping trip. No one knew where she went, but it was true that she had been subject to a lot of questioning and something rattled her.

And apparently her brother’s attitude was only towards Yu, since the last transfer student ended up dying and causing more grief for his family.

So, overall, nothing helpful, but just more sad.

Eventually, Chie-san rested her head on one of her knees, looking at Yu with quiet interest.

The only response he gave was a tilt of the head.

She shook her head, “Nothing, just… Looking at the omamori.”

Right, he stopped trying to hide that thing after his last talk with Yosuke. It was more trouble than it was worth to keep it under his collar.

“Why do you have it?”

Tatsumi-kun piped up before Yu could answer, or deflect, “Dude’s got a nasty curse. Found out when we were hangin’ out.”

“Is that true, Yu-kun?” Yukiko-san asked, leaning in to inspect it closer.

All he could do was nod. He still wasn’t sure exactly what the curse was, but he was told it was just a ‘minor issue’. It wasn’t like he wanted to explain for a third time how he caught on fire at the shrine. Every time he mentioned it, his skin crawled. Beyond that, he didn’t have much to share about Yosuke, or what they could do for him. Chie-san did ask what happened to the charm she gave him, but for the life of Yu, he couldn’t remember where he had put it. It was somewhere in his room, but he was so disorganized it just disappeared.

While the conversation slowly shifted away from Yu and his current problems, the door to the roof slowly creaked open. Cautiously, Kujikawa poked her head out and stepped into the light. She was holding what could be assumed to be her lunch in one hand, her other close to her chest in worry. Slowly, and carefully, she rounded the corner before coming to a sudden stop.

Like a deer in headlights, she stared at everyone else who was there before her.

She tensed, “I’ll… I’m just going to…”

“It’s okay,” Yu said, suddenly, “We won’t tell anyone you were up here.”

Chie-san and the others looked at Yu before nodding in agreement. In fact, Yukiko-san even moved her own finished bowl of udon so Kujikawa could sit down.

She still looked unsure, but softened as she approached. Sitting down at the open space, she looked at Yu specifically, “You’re the guy from the other day.”

All he could do was nod.

“Did you…,” she hesitated, opening her bento, “Was the tofu good?”

Gently, he put his hand to his neck, “I… didn’t buy it for myself. Sorry.”

“Right…” nervousness crept up in her voice, “You went to the shrine, didn’t you?”

There was a hint of accusation to her voice, but Yu merely nodded once more. There was no point in hiding it, he supposed. After all, he did ask for something fairly specific, and Kujikawa’s grandmother probably knew what it was for immediately.

“Have you been told about the rumors, Rise-chan?” Chie-san asked.

“About the ghost?” She gave a sad nod, “Yeah, I was warned when I put in for my transfer papers. I tested it out last week, too. He seems nice, just lonely.”

There was a palpable silence, everyone staring aghast at Kujikawa.

“What?”

Chapter 15

The next day, since it happened to be raining again, Yu decided to get some answers.

Yosuke folded his arms, leaning his shoulder against the fence, “Yeah, I saw Risette. If I wasn’t already a ghost, I think I would have died of excitement.”

While it was nice to see Yosuke in a genuinely good mood, Yu was still somewhat cross, “And you have no idea why?”

He turned his head to look at him, “Nothing concrete, no. But, I have a feeling there’s something you two have in common, and that’s the reason why.”

Yu put a hand to his face in thought. What the hell would he have in common with someone like Kujikawa-chan? It wasn’t that they were both from the city, her family was based out of Inaba. That, and as far as Yu knew, his uncle had never seen Yosuke’s ghost. So it wasn’t a genetic thing. She was also beyond popular, which Yu would never hope to compete with. He was nobody. Hell, he barely even could call himself a friend to anyone in Inaba.

Not to mention he kept his own family at arm’s length.

Still, if she could see Yosuke, perhaps she’d be an extra asset to their investigation. Would that be one more person that had to keep secrets? Yeah, but at this point Yu was lacking the ability to care. The sooner they helped Yosuke, the sooner he could stop wearing the omamori.

Though, he did briefly wonder if Yosuke could even remove the curse he laid on him.

He decided to ignore that point. There was nothing to it, and he’d probably find an answer eventually. Instead, he decided to focus on a different question that’s been on his mind.

“So, you can’t actually leave the school grounds, right?”

Yosuke shook his head, “You probably saw that little incident with dad when I went for the offering. Anything this side of the fence is fair game, but there’s a barrier I can’t cross.”

“That likely means there’s an ofuda somewhere.”

A noncommittal shrug was the only answer he received. Two talked for a little while longer, mostly Yu learning more about Yosuke before the whole incident happened. It wasn’t that his life was all that exciting, but getting to know him felt better than only bothering him for the sake of dealing with his yokai behavior. For the most part, Yosuke was just another normal student who just happened to transfer halfway through the year. Of course, that wasn’t to say he wasn’t aware of how people were treating him, even Chie-san had hinted at that, but it was depressing to hear it from Yosuke’s mouth.

There was Yu’s self-imposed isolation, and then there was Yosuke being outright ignored.

Even if it was only less than a month before he died.

To which, Yu lamented on what Hanamura-san had said. It did really feel like him and Yosuke would have been very close if he was still alive. There was even that faint pull at his heart when he remembered that, even if he did help Yosuke escape the confines of Yasogami, he’d probably never see him again after next April.

Why that thought hurt, he didn’t know. It didn’t bother him to leave acquaintances behind before.

And that only further begged the question.

“What are you going to do after I help you?”

Yosuke shrugged again, gazing down at a puddle near his feet, “I really don’t know. Probably just hang out and watch people. Honestly, I might be able to leave Inaba and travel around, so I might do that.”

Well, Yu supposed that made sense. Yosuke didn’t like showing up for people that knew him, since it just made them more upset. From what Yu’s learned, nothing would really stop him either, so long as there weren’t any barriers in the way. That, and he figured he’d also want to leave the place if everyone hated his guts for no reason.

Slowly, their conversation dwindled, with Yu getting caught up in his own thoughts again. Realizing the time, he figured he needed to make his way back home. At least the walk back gave him time to think of a reasonable excuse to where he was after school, if Dojima was home early again.

He really did need a hobby.

Yosuke gave him a nice wave off, returning to his usual position of just staring at the sky.

At least he was in a better mood than usual. Would that be considered progress? Maybe. Something to report to the fox, Yu figured.

Notes:

What do YOU think the condition to see Yosuke is?

Chapter 16

It was a few days later. Or rather, Yu’s birthday. For lack of better terms, Yu hated it. It wasn’t like his parents were usually around to celebrate with him. Even now, he had elected to not mention it to his uncle or Nanako, and it definitely never came up at school either.

To Yu, it was just another Sunday.

He was sitting at the pavilion up on a hill overlooking Inaba. Slowly, he was sipping on a soda had gotten, since he wasn’t getting anything else for his birthday. Phone in hand, he scrolled through the messages he had been sending to the group the last few days.

No additional updates from Chie-san or Yukiko-san. Their usual rumor mills were running dry, and there was no way Yu was talking to Ebihara. Tatsumi-kun hadn’t produced anything of note regarding the curse, and Kujikawa-chan…

Well, Yu didn’t want to bother her.

It was only two days ago that Yu checked in with the fox, and there wasn’t any progress there. Sure, he had no idea what the plan was on that front either, but no news was not necessarily bad news. His curse was still in check, and he was told so long as he wore the omamori at least most of the day he wouldn’t suffer any ill effects.

He sighed, mindlessly flicking the soda tab, if only to feel something.

Without his uncle’s help, he was making absolutely no headway in what happened to Yosuke. Add on that he was still behind on schoolwork with finals coming up, and he was usually swamped at work or at soccer practice, he felt like there was no time for himself.

A rustle of the bushes knocked Yu from his thoughts, thinking it odd that anyone else was up here. This was a fairly secluded part of Inaba, or at least very quiet and out of the way.

Slowly, someone emerged from the foliage, eyes wide with curiosity behind a festival mask. It looked to be a boy, maybe just a little bit younger than Yu himself, but he wasn’t completely sure. Though, he was dressed quite strangely. From head to toe he was in traditional clothing, all of it red and white, but on top of that was a blue jacket with fluffy fur on the edges and collar, which was way too warm for early July. He was even wearing a scarf.

Yu stared at him, wondering who in their right mind would wander the mountainside dressed like that.

He swallowed, an uneasy feeling crawling up his throat, “Hello?”

“Hel…lo?” The boy echoed back, slowly approaching.

“Can I… help you?”

There was a bit of silence as the boy tiptoed closer, “Help? I… can help.”

It didn’t seem like he had a good grasp of language. Yu stood from the bench, ready to hightail it at any second. It wasn’t that the boy seemed dangerous, but after getting accidentally cursed by Yosuke, he really didn’t like taking his chances.

The boy’s hands were close to his chest, carefully inching ever closer, like some sort of frightened animal. Only now did Yu see they were covered by fuzzy mittens.

Except… those weren’t mittens.

When the boy was within arm’s length, he reached out towards Yu’s omamori, and that’s when he noticed the claws. His hands were actually paws, and he was curiously turning the charm in his grip.

Cautiously, Yu tried to pry the paws away, “Please don’t touch that. It’s mine.”

The boy stared back at him.

“It’s mine!” He then said with a firm tug.

Yu gasped, feeling the cord pull against his neck. Both he and the boy pulled against each other, his omamori caught in the middle. Try as he might to pull his paws away, he simply was much stronger. With one last mighty yank, the cord snapped, and Yu found himself falling onto his back. Before he could scramble back to his feet, the boy stuffed the charm into his collar and bounded for the bushes.

He called out after him, hurriedly regaining his footing, only to find himself shouting to the wind. The boy was gone.

Alright, mentally tallying what just happened, Yu was positive about a few things. First, he needed a new charm, sooner rather than later. Second, he knew that it would take a while for any of the side effects to start cropping up so he wasn’t about to go crazy. Third, and this was less a certainty and more posturing, that was probably another yokai of some sort.

Why was he a magnet for these things? And… how wasn’t he hurt by the omamori? Was he not a yokai in that case?

Seeing there was no point in pursuing the strange boy, Yu decided it was best he got off the hilltop. Maybe text Tatsumi-kun or Kujikawa-chan about getting in touch with the fox, since he knew there was no way he was getting into Tatsuhime Shrine now.

How he was going to explain to them he lost his only protection charm to some random kid on the mountain, hell if he knew. Chie-san was probably going to personally kick his ass about it.

Maybe he should find that charm she had given him…

Yeah, that was going to be his plan of action. Everything would be fine.

Chapter 17

Everything was not fine, and his birthday had officially gone from loathed to cursed.

Whatever Yosuke had done to him had apparently continued festering, even with the charm. All the omamori did was keep its effects at bay. Within two hours, the chills had returned, and Yu’s wrists were marred with angry black and purple splotches. The small mirror he used to adjust his hair reflected back a more tired and haggard face than he ever thought humanly possible. Not to mention the apparent bruising on his neck.

He looked like a wreck.

Pacing the length of his room, Yu debated calling Kujikawa-chan or Tatsumi-kun to speak with the fox immediately. Sure, he had texted Tatsumi-kun already to let him know of the situation, and he promised to meet up with him after school tomorrow.

But… what if the curse made him dangerous? He could just hole up in his room until the morning. Nanako would get a little worried, but he could at least say he was studying… Maybe if he found Chie-san’s charm some of the effects would get stifled. Except, he had already rooted through his entire desk, wardrobe, and drawers and never found it.

Damn thing was probably downstairs. Which was definitely out of the picture.

He’d just have to live with it for the evening.

Counter-intuitively, Yu slammed open his bedroom window, hoping the residual summer heat would do something to his frozen body. It wasn’t much help, clouds had started rolling in, letting the air cool off a little. He had already changed into his pajamas, knowing he wasn’t going anywhere for the rest of the day.

Well, at least until the rain set in, he could actually study.

Yu scrubbed at his face in irritation. He needed to figure out how to stop this stupid curse, not worry about his unfinished math homework. What the hell could he do though? He looked like he had been in a car accident or something, so that would obviously turn some heads if he rushed to Tatsuhime. Nevermind that if he bundled up again, he would get just as many questions.

At least he could wear his gym clothes tomorrow and no one would care. He wasn’t Nagase, but it was less strange.

He stepped back, and took a moment to breathe. He had a lot of patience. It would be easy to wait this out. Even if that dumb bear-child made life a little annoying.

Except, he couldn’t get anything done.

The day faded into the evening, and no matter what Yu tried to distract himself with, he couldn’t get it to stick. His mind and body alike grew restless, urging him to drop what he was doing and move around. Sure, he had moments like these in the past, but he didn’t think he was this bad. No, something was gnawing at him internally, and he kept finding himself staring out at the cloudy sky.

It was supposed to rain soon.

That would make him feel better.

But… how?

Yu didn’t know, but there was a feeling deep within him, telling him the rain would make everything better.

He sank down to his knees, staring out his window. Slowly, the sky darkened overhead. Downstairs, he could hear the sound of Dojima’s car, and eventually the door. Muffled voices echoed up the stairwell, clearly in greeting. Nanako and Dojima, of course, but there was also another faint voice. No telling who it was, but it was probably Hanamura-san. Yet, Yu didn’t move, eyes fixated on the sky, watching the clouds grow darker.

More time passed, and the rain began to fall, slowly but steadily. All but hypnotized, Yu watched in silent amazement. He reached his hand out, savoring the gentle pattering of water against his skin. Whispers in his mind urged him to go out into the rain.

Only, for a knock on his door to shatter his mind back to reality.

“Yu?” his uncle asked, “Nanako said you haven’t had dinner yet. You want to come down?”

It felt like a spell had been broken, Yu getting back to his feet in sudden shock, “Oh… I…” Words failed him, there was no way he could go downstairs looking the way he did, despite the promise of quality time with family, “No… I really need to study. Thank you.”

There was an odd silence, followed by “If you say so. I’ll make sure there’s leftovers.”

Footsteps padded back down the hall, leaving Yu completely alone once again. Would it be easier to just face his uncle, curse and all? Perhaps, but he was scared of his reaction. The bruises on him weren’t exactly subtle, and Dojima was as much a skeptic as he had been. No doubt he’d assume Yu was trying to kill himself, which was far from the truth. Nevermind Nanako, she’d be petrified.

No… He needed to be alone for the evening. Same as he always was.

The rain was coming down heavier, and he realized his window was still open.

Yeah, he should close that.

He turned back, watching the raindrops fall from the heavens, splattering against the roof tiles just outside his window.

A stray thought fluttered through his mind, his hand reaching out to feel the water against his palm.

Did Yosuke use to like the rain?

He only had to ask…

Chapter 18

Yu didn’t exactly take himself as someone who woke up slowly. But, this time he felt particularly groggy. Everything was just a little bit muted, and his eyes refused to work. He was still cold, so no impactful change there.

Where the hell was he?

Voices. There were a lot of voices somewhere nearby. Slowly, but surely his vision cleared, and he could start making out some of the words.

One of the voices was definitely his uncle.

He was in a lot of trouble.

Sitting up, his entire body ached, but he was more concerned that the futon he was laying on wasn’t his . Well, it wasn’t even a futon to begin with. The room wasn’t familiar at all either, and… now that he was conscious he noticed his clothes were definitely dry as a bone, rather than the lightly damp his hair was. That, and way too big.

The door to the room creaked open, and he heard the lightest gasp. Lifting his head, he saw Tatsumi-kun holding a fresh stack of laundry in his arms. It looked like his pajamas…

“Uh… hey, senpai.”

Yu grumbled an incoherent noise, scrubbing his face with his hands, noticing the bruising was no longer there. Putting his hands down, he saw an omamori hanging from his neck. Well, that may be at least one problem solved.

He looked up at Tatsumi-kun, watching him close the door, his voice quiet, “What happened?”

“I was hopin’ you’d tell me that, dude,” he sat down on the floor near the edge of the bed he was on, so they could keep their voices down, “Chie-senpai apparently found ya walkin’ past the Samegawa.”

That made some sense, he supposed. If he wasn’t at Dojima’s anymore, he had to have walked, and considering the change of clothes, he definitely didn’t have an umbrella. Mentally walking back to the last thing he recalled, he was asked about dinner… And then went to close his window. After that, totally blank.

He shook his head, having nothing to add.

“Are we… at Chie-san’s?”

Tatsumi-kun nodded, “Yeah. Her parents are totally freaked out, man. Seeing ya covered in bruises and out cold in pourin’ ass rain. Nevermind your uncle.”

“Then… why are you here?”

“I happen to live the closest to the river, ‘side from Rise. It was a good five minute bike ride, but when I got the texts I couldn’t just ignore it.”

Yu’s blood froze, “Texts?”

Putting down the clothes, Tatsumi-kun pulled out his phone, showing the frantic messages he had received.

Chie-senpai:

Found Yu-kun by the Samegawa.

Totally drenched, no shoes.

He looks bad, guys.

Mom and dad are coming with the car.

Need help getting him to the road.

Can’t do it alone with the dog.

Tatsumi-kun looked at him, “Ya sure you don’t remember anything, senpai?”

He could only shake his head. Everything was completely blank in his mind. He remembered there was that odd feeling he had that compelled him into the rain, but there wasn’t much beyond that he could garner. Nothing concretely, anyway.

Not that he was given any further chance to explain himself. The door opened once more, with a worried and, probably, angry Dojima in the threshold, Chie-san and her parents right behind him. Tatsumi-kun slowly backed away, giving the space so Dojima could close in. In fact, he left the room.

Yu expected to be yelled at, bracing himself for whatever would come.

Instead, Dojima wrapped his arms around him tightly. Confused, Yu took a moment before reciprocating the hug.

Dojima pulled back, clearly stressed to hell and back, “Yu… did I do something wrong?”

Taken aback, Yu tried to figure out what his uncle was talking about, “No…? You didn’t do anything. Why are you…?”

“I asked if you wanted dinner, and you decided you’d rather stay locked up in your room. Then half an hour later I’m getting a call from your phone with a scared Satonaka babbling about how she found you alone in the rain. What else am I supposed to think other than you tried to run away?” He sighed, carding a hand through his hair, “Please, talk to me. What would compel you to go out into the rain like that? I know I’m just your uncle, but I need you to trust me.”

That was his chance to lay everything out. Just, get all of the ghost nonsense off his chest. His hands curled into the sheets, debating with himself what to even start with.

In the end, he decided to not say anything.

He was too scared to.

He could see the disappointment in Dojima’s eyes, and that was what hurt the most. Standing from the floor, Yu was ordered to grab his clothes so they could stop bothering the Satonakas. With nothing to do but follow his instructions, he stood up and grabbed the clothes Tatsumi-kun brought back.

Seeing how scared Chie-san still looked as he passed, Yu could only barely mutter out an apology.

They’re probably going to have a long talk at school.

Notes:

"Narukami, learn to talk to people" challenge: Failed

Chapter 19

Suffice to say, Yu wasn’t exactly excited to have an escort to Yasogami’s gates come the next morning.

Even worse, it was Adachi-san.

They didn’t speak much, but knowing that Yu had squandered any hope he was not a danger to himself still hurt. And yet, even worse still, he had to go over exactly what his plan was for after school.

At least saying he was going to spend some time talking with Chie-san and Kanji-kun was enough to get Adachi-san off his back. Apparently Dojima’s order was that Yu wasn’t to be alone for extended periods of time. So, as long as someone was with him, he’d be left to his own devices. He was expected to be monitored at work or soccer practice, but there was apparently concern for his off days. It wasn’t like Yu was going to suddenly start skipping classes. His grades were terrible enough as they were. Plus, he already knew he was going to have to take remedials over his summer break. But still, even Nanako wasn’t this monitored.

Class drug on, same as it ever did. Eventually, school ended, and Yu found himself with most of his new ragtag group around his desk.

Chie-san was the first to speak, nervously fiddling with her jacket, “So… are you sure you’re alright, Yu-kun?”

“Never better.”

“Then… what exactly happened last night?”

He shrugged, “You tell me. I don’t remember anything.”

She looked up at Kanji-kun, like she was asking if he was serious. In the end, she sighed when he also gave a shrug.

“I mean… I was out walking Muku… that’s my dog, and we happened to be caught in the rain on the way home. We usually go past the Samegawa since there’s this pond he likes to play at and… I saw you.” She stopped, hugging herself a little, “You were already on the ground, and there was a lady hovering over you with a broken umbrella. So… I rushed over to you while texting everyone else… The lady was trying to keep you dry while I called my dad but… by the time Kanji-kun showed up, she was gone.”

“She didn’t just walk away?” Yu asked.

“No… she didn’t… It was like she was there just long enough to make sure you were safe and then she just… disappeared.”

Alright, that’s probably a fourth yokai, and Yu was officially tired of being a weird spiritual magnet. At least that one seemed nice. Well, he could say the same of Yosuke most days but that didn’t mean much given his attitude flipped like a switch. But, who the hell was she in that case? He wasn’t going to investigate that one, but the question still lingered.

Kanji-kun was the next to speak, “I happened to have already picked up that new charm for ya, and stuffed it in my pocket before I took off. ‘Course ma pitched a fit, but when I said you were in trouble, she backed off.”

“Obviously, I couldn’t help,” Yukiko-san added, “But Chie was keeping me and Rise-chan updated on you.”

Speaking of Kujikawa-chan, Yu briefly wondered where she was. She was still a little mousey, but she at least seemed the kind to barge in and make sure Yu was alright.

Chie humming a little to herself brought him back to reality, “So… that’s your curse, right? The…” she looked around before lightly grabbing her neck.

“As far as I can tell, yeah. But…” Something about that didn’t make sense, “The fox said my curse should just be an inconvenience. But what it does to me in reality is…”

“Life threatening…”

Yu looked up at Kanji-kun, “Did the fox talk to you at all?”

“It… talks?”

Usually not one to visibly show defeat, Yu could only groan as he faceplanted upon his desk. Never mind that line of questioning. Except for the mysterious lady, why was he the only one dealing with the supernatural stuff? Were the gods mocking him for his skepticism? Seemed like the kind of thing they’d do. Or was something just after his soul? He didn’t know, but he didn’t like it.

Chie-san at least took a moment to nudge his arm to get his attention, stopping his mental spiral.

“I… have to ask… what happened to your other charm? You had it on Saturday.”

“Oh right,” Yukiko-san added, “This one is different!”

Yu grumbled as he lightly tugged at the omamori, “I lost it. Or… well, it got stolen.”

Everyone looked at him skeptically.

“I was up on the hillside for… reasons… and then some kid came out of the bushes. I don’t know if he really knows how to talk, since I think he was just mimicking me but… he saw my omamori and then grabbed it.” He paused to sigh, “Before I knew it, he broke the cord and ran off back into the forest.”

He obviously omitted the fact a couple weeks ago he got a bad fortune from Tatsuhime Shrine. All of this was bad enough without admitting he should have seen it coming. What his “blessing” ended up being was a bit of a mystery, but he was taking it as Yosuke being in that good mood at this point. Regardless, everyone looked at him with a mixture of pity and confusion. Looks he very much did not appreciate.

Perhaps at the behest of his friends, and probably Adachi-san, Yu figured he needed some alone time.

At least it was raining again today, so no one was probably at the gym.

Chapter 20

Turned out the occult club was monopolizing the gym for some reason. There weren’t any other good hiding places, since most other clubs still hung out on rainy days, so Yu ended up sneaking out by himself. He hadn’t run into Adachi-san, but he preferred it as such.

Dealing with anyone was beyond his capabilities at the moment.

Instead, he was at the pavilion at the Samegawa, watching the rain come down around him.

His life had absolutely taken a turn for the worst, coming to Inaba. Every day felt like it was spiraling further and further from his control. From interactions with friends and family, to not being able to maintain himself as a person.

He wanted to be left alone.

He needed to be alone.

Every single interaction strayed him further from people.

Chie-san and the others only maintained their “friendship” with him out of obligation. Trying not to make the same mistakes that got Yosuke killed.

Without this stupid curse, he’d just have ghosted through this year. Mysteriously appear and disappear without so much as a passing glance. Maintained that distance and wall he put up because of the impermanence. It’d have been better that way, he knows it. That spark of attention he got as the flashy new transfer student faded so quickly. It was like he didn’t even exist afterwards.

He rested his head in his arms, trying to figure out how the hell he was going to patch everything up. Clearly his uncle distrusted him, his classmates probably thought he had lost all sense of self-preservation, and Yosuke himself…

Well that was how he found himself in this situation to start with.

“Why are you sulking so much?”

Yu grumbled, hearing the question, not wanting to deal with more people.

“I just want my life back in order,” he admitted.

“Well, pouting about it isn’t going to help.”

Yu’s face lifted from where it was, ready to make an argument at whoever was bugging him, only to stop.

Yosuke was sitting right in front of him.

He had to be going crazy, right?

There was a soft smile on Yosuke’s face, “What’s with that look?”

“Aren’t you… how’re you…?”

It looked as though his smile only grew wider, “Rise-chan found the ofuda. She went to tell you the news, but apparently you’re pretty slippery for such a big guy.”

Yu looked around, making sure no one else was nearby. Last thing they needed was someone seeing Yosuke, given the whole “should be dead” thing. Or worse, thinking Yu was talking to himself.

He’d rather die than deal with that.

But, the coast was clear, save for a single tabby curled under the edge of the awning.

Looking down at his lap, Yu fished for some words for a moment, “So… you’re free now?”

“Seems like it. Don’t know where I’ll go yet, but it’s nice to see something different after so many months.”

A soft hum. Well, there went Yu’s bargaining chip for getting the curse off, he figured. Wouldn’t that just be his luck? His inaction leading to another helping the guy he had promised to set free, and then get left behind because of it. Yeah, that sounded like what would happen. Or at least what Yu would think would be reasonable, given he rarely went out of his way to help people.

“Aren’t you happy we can meet somewhere besides school?” Despite it all, Yosuke’s question sounded quite genuine.

He huffed, “Well… I was… kind of waiting for you to remove my curse first… before I let you go.”

Honestly, Yu expected Yosuke to be mad. He knew he’d be if he was in that position, he figured. Except, Yosuke just let out a light laugh.

“That’s fair, man. But don’t worry, I’m workin’ on that. Can’t leave ya hangin’.” he stopped to think, “Actually, would you mind if I haunted your place? It’d make it easier to work.”

“Yes. I would mind,” he heaved a sigh, resting his chin in his palm, “Uncle suspects me enough without talking to myself, and he has a six year old daughter too. Your dad also visits for dinner about once a week.”

“You can pretend you’re on the phone.” Yosuke crossed his arms, “Listen dude, I’ll probably work while you’re asleep, and if you’re not home I’ll just… venture off somewhere else.”

There wasn’t much reason to deny him the request, all things considered. Yu thought about how much easier things would get should he allow Yosuke to crash with him. That, and now that Yosuke wasn’t bound, he might be able to find other yokai.

Though, that did beg a question, “Aren’t you only corporeal during the rain?”

Yosuke laughed again, “That’s what I thought too, it seems my powers are just stronger with the rain, and I can sorta manipulate it and the wind. Rise-chan helped figure out that as long as I’m with someone that meets whatever arbitrary condition I have, I can show up if I feel like it. Apparently I just got used to hiding after scaring my senpai. I’m usually alone on rainy days so I saw no point in hiding, I guess, which is probably how that got added to the rumors.”

“And still no idea what makes me and Kujikawa-chan special?”

“Nope,” it didn’t seem like Yosuke was that concerned about it either.

Yu eventually nodded his head, “As long as you don’t drag water into the house. We’ll… work something out, I guess.”

Flashing a thumbs up, Yosuke smiled brightly at the new plan. To be fair it wasn’t so much a plan as much as it was a choice that would surely have consequences if Yu wasn’t careful.

“Actually…” he started, earning a curious head tilt, “I have one other thing I’d like to ask you to help with. If… if it’s not too much.”

“Uhh… sure. If I can.”

Yu started rubbing the back of his wrist in thought, “Can you… try and find the yokai that took my other omamori? I don’t want it back… I just want to know why it took it.”

All Yosuke did was nod.

Notes:

This chapter was originally going to be very Rise centric. But that version was getting too depressing.

Also, I'm super out of backlog for this, so updates might be slow while I write more.

Chapter 21

Notes:

So, I use a different program to write these chapters, and for some reason pasting this one kept adding a "Suspicious content" thingy at the very beginning. I have NO idea what that is, and it only seems to be this chapter in particular? Can someone explain or something? I think my docs are haunted

A couple weeks passed, and it turned out Yosuke really had no competency with his own powers. That wasn’t to say he immediately blew his cover, but…

It was a learning process for both him and Yu.

Whatever he had done to Yu was very deeply entangled with his soul, and he had no idea how to start prying the problem apart. He made some mention that curses should be more superficial than that, but Yu couldn’t make any sense of it at the time. Also, it turned out he had a natural aura that messed with electronics. Especially when he was irritated. It didn’t mean much when Yu was studying, since the ever dreadful finals just passed him by, but it was very annoying when he was trying to talk with the rest of the group and his messages didn’t always send.

Though, the part that disturbed Yu the most, was how their proximity felt. Yosuke was almost always around, at least when Yu was alone in his room, and it truly felt like there was someone there with him. Well, technically there was, but Yosuke’s ability to simply disappear at the drop of a hat still reminded them that he wasn’t really supposed to be around. It was… nice, to say the least. Yu still wasn’t particularly close with Nanako, and in general it was better for him to socialize with people his own age. Perhaps he’d be more well adjusted if he talked with people that were alive but, Yosuke was still a person.

Hell, Yosuke was the one that kept nudging him to leave the house, spend time with the rest of the group, and just in general… live a little bit.

Strange to say that a ghost was livelier than his mortal companion.

Yosuke had also figured out some minor shapeshifting, apparently. It wasn’t much, he still looked like himself, but he stopped looking so pathetically drenched. The bruises and old uniform remained, but if no one was paying attention, he wouldn’t look at all out of place. Well, alright, him being stuck wearing the winter gakuran stuck out, but it could be worse. While it was somewhat common for yokai to shapeshift, it was still unexpected when Yu came home to see Yosuke sprawled out on his couch, his hair fluffed up into soft spikes, rather than being stuck perpetually like he just got out of the shower. Really, the only way he could describe his hair was “feathery”.

And… he really wanted to touch it.

He never did, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt him, since he still had a protection charm on. Specifically to protect Yu from Yosuke, no less. They found out the hard way that even accidentally brushing past each other caused a sharp spark of energy from both of them.

But that really was starting to become a problem, it seemed.

Between his curse being deeply ingrained, and Yosuke’s unfamiliarity with his own abilities, the protection charm was simply the icing on the cake.

Yosuke sighed, stretching out against Yu’s low table, “I honestly don’t get it. What the hell did I do to you?”

Yu simply shook his head, unsure himself.

“And you’re sure the fox said it should be a minor thing?” He waited for the nod that followed, “Weird… Maybe I should ask about it. The fox should be a kitsune, if it talked. Kitsune are like… smart.”

“But if I can’t enter Tatsuhime without the charm, you probably can’t enter, period. I don’t want you to accidentally exorcise yourself.”

“Maybe we can draw it out then? You gave it an offering and it showed. Try doing that and I’ll wait by one of the fences.”

Would that be a good idea? If Yosuke got a head start, he’d fade from view at least. No one would know Yu was with him. But, if he was remembering right, Dojima and Hanamura-san were probably going to have dinner that night, and Yu really needed to study for his summer classes. So, they would probably have to make the trip a quick visit. Despite everything, Yosuke still had to obey physics, so if someone else was home, he’d have nowhere to hide, and Yu wasn’t about to leave his window open in this weather.

So, begrudged as he was, it would be nice to get this resolved before the start of the second semester.

Unfortunately, their plan was probably flawed from the get-go.

For a Thursday afternoon, the shopping district was oddly bustling. Of course, Yosuke had taken off on his own as soon as they left the house, just so he’d be harder to spot, but Yu wasn’t even sure the shrine was empty. Unfortunately, there was only one way to find out.

Much to Yu’s dismay, it seemed as though there wasn’t anyone around, until he spotted a young lady in a pure white kimono. She was strangely hiding behind one of the shisa statues, but merely regarded him with a calm smile.

“May I help you?” Her voice was soft, but something about her seemed off.

He awkwardly stared at her, absently tugging at his omamori, “Well I… I was just going to get a fortune. I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here.”

“Worry not, child,” she beckoned him closer, “You may speak freely. I know of your plight.”

“Pardon me?”

Albeit slightly, her smile only grew, “You do not recognize me. Understandable, I don’t believe I’ve seen you yet like this,” she gently moved her hair back, “Please, child, inform me of your true reasons for being here.”

The scar crossing over her eye answered everything Yu needed to know, “So you’re…” letting the question answer itself with her coy smile, he made double sure no one else was nearby, “I… Yosuke wants to talk with you about my curse. He should be waiting by the fence.”

She listened intently to their plan, their struggles, and Yosuke’s intent. That coy smile never once receded from her face, all the while. It was as though she understood something Yu himself did not.

Perhaps, she did.

She bowed to Yu, once he finished, “Please, carry on to your home, child. I will have a discussion with your wayward friend.”

“You… don’t need me?”

“Our discussion will last for quite a long time, I fear. Do not stress yourself further, I know a human such as yourself will have places to be. Your kin will worry.”

There wasn’t any arguing with that. Yu still decided to take a moment to find Yosuke and let him know the plan first. That way, he could figure out what he wanted to do overnight, should things last so long.

What Yu was going to do for the rest of the evening was still uncertain, however.

Notes:

Not me actually extracting the Golden models to confirm whether other not Woman in White has fucking scars

(She does)

Chapter 22

It turned out that the fox was not exaggerating. Several days passed, and not once did Yosuke return to the Dojima house.

A part of Yu was worried what was going on with him, but there wasn’t any real feasible way to check. Even on a normal day he had no idea where the fox hid, so where she would go to have a talk with a fellow yokai was beyond him.

Regardless, his summer drug on, with no real further incidents. At least, until the entire group decided they wanted to have a picnic at the Samegawa. Yu, of course, volunteered to make the food. He didn’t want a repeat of the camping incident. The food wasn’t going to be anything too special, mostly just sandwiches, but the others would certainly appreciate the gesture. That, and he had enough from his paychecks to splurge on fresh summer fruit.

It was strange, hanging out with everyone, and not discussing Yosuke’s situation. To be fair, there wasn’t much to add besides him chatting with the fox about the curse. It was more…

Yu didn’t have anything to talk about.

Chie-san was going on and on about the new movie she wanted to see, but couldn’t afford going to Okina, Yukiko-san was talking business with Rise-chan, and Kanji-kun was busying himself with knitting, listening intently to Chie-san.

That distinct lonely feeling was creeping up through Yu again. Even when around others, part of him felt so isolated. His fingers gently tugged and played with the cord to the omamori, pondering to himself what exactly it was doing. That burning feeling of being alone never receded, even now. Perhaps it was just due to how long he spent not socializing. There had been no point when he frequently moved, and even these relationships felt token and fleeting.

He’d be gone by this time next year. Moved to parts unknown, probably.

All those thoughts were broken up when he heard Rise-chan make a noise.

Everyone looked to see where her eyes had landed. Kanji-kun and Chie-san even rising to their feet protectively.

It was the bear-child again. Eyes still wide and full of curiosity, at least from behind the mask. Why had he wandered so far down? He had to have been looking for Yu.

He even had the omamori clutched in his paws.

Yu stood up, gently putting a hand to Chie-san’s arm, “Calm down. I… I don’t think he’s vicious.”

“But…” she didn’t look convinced, “He’s the one that took your other charm.”

With a firm shake of his head, Yu pushed past her and Kanji-kun. The bear child shrunk back a little, before holding out the charm like a peace offering.

“You… don’t need it?”

He shook his head, “For you. I… not help.”

Gingerly, Yu’s fingers brushed over the omamori, before taking it back slowly. There was no change he could feel to himself, but it was still so strange to see a yokai hold it without issue.

Slowly, the others started gathering around the boy. He tapped his claws tenderly together, watching carefully.

Yukiko-san was the first to address him, “Do you… have a name?”

“...Teddie,” he whispered, “Old name. From before.”

“From before?” Yu asked.

Teddie didn’t seem to know how to answer the question, simply shaking his head, “Want to… be friends. Asked to… help, find ‘silver child’. Messed up…”

Curious glances were shared, before Rise-chan approached him. Quietly, she began asking more questions, and gathering more information. He did not have much to share, his speech was still heavily stilted, but he at least was able to convey he really meant it when he said he wanted to be friends. They were all quite skeptical of him, but there was still a distinct air of compassion to him. It wasn’t at all like the aura Yu had gotten accustomed to with Yosuke.

Even then, he had been feeling that one shift.

Yu swallowed, finally gathering himself enough to speak, “Do you… Have you seen another yokai with orange hair, Teddie?”

Quietly, he nodded his head. There wasn’t much he could share, but apparently Yosuke and the fox have been having some long talks with each other. He didn’t know what they were talking about, but it seemed important in some aspects. It was something Yu would have to keep in mind next time he saw Yosuke.

Seeing that Teddie wasn’t exactly any sort of real threat, despite his strangeness, the group decided they’d entertain him for the time being. It wasn’t like they had anything else to do, and he wasn’t looking to leave.

Notes:

I really should draw some of the yokai from this story. Or at least Teddie.

Chapter 23

Another week passed, and Yosuke was still gone. Yu was slightly concerned, but he had to trust the fox, for what it was worth. She didn’t seem hostile, but he was vaguely aware that kitsune were wily and known for their trickery. That meant she could have lured Yosuke away to turn him truly malevolent, or just banish him to… wherever, and there was nothing Yu could do about it. Especially not now, weeks later.

Oh well.

Yu found himself sitting alone in the living room, watching the rain fall outside, the tv droning on with some sort of foreign drama. Nanako was at a friend’s house, gone for the next couple days, and, of course, Dojima was at work. Nothing surprising, and yet nothing new for him. At least his remedial classes were behind him, and he wasn’t being threatened with getting held back. His parents definitely would kill him if that were the case.

But, all the same, it left Yu with very little to occupy his time. He couldn’t afford another lazy day, he had already spent half the week sleeping away the hours before gracing the dinner table with his groggy presence. That definitely screwed up his sleep schedule, too.

Yu sighed, and made his way upstairs. Maybe he could finish some of those books he bought and barely started.

Right when he passed through the door and turned to close it, he nearly jumped out of his skin. Yosuke was sitting on his windowsill, rain just barely passing between the gap between the frame and his shoulder. Only a light mist was hitting the floor, but he’d still have to dry the spot later. That same gentle smile he was used to was back, and he was soaked to the core again. Probably actually from the rain this time, rather than his spiritual appearance.

He composed himself, only barely managing a glare, “Couldn’t you have knocked?”

“What, and risk your cousin being home?”

“I meant on the window.”

A half-hearted shrug, “I’m basically your roommate, dude. Didn’t see the point. ‘Sides, I got a good laugh seeing your reaction. You, like, never emote, dude.” He slipped from his perch, closing the window to prevent an even bigger mess, “Miss me?”

He did, a little, but still said, “No.”

Yosuke laughed, bumping his knuckles into his shoulder, before yelping as both of them recoiled back.

“Right… you’re still wearing that thing,” he whined, gripping his hand, barely peeking his eye open to see the omamori.

Yu rubbed his shoulder, checking under his collar to make sure he wasn’t burned. That did at least spur a question. Seeing that Yosuke was back for the time being, he should find out what he had been up to for the last two weeks.

And it turned out, it was a lot.

According to Yosuke, the fox was teaching him how to properly utilize his powers. A more general grasp of his nature as some sort of rain spirit. Apparently yokai like him were quite invaluable to kitsune. So, by training him, not only was she helping balance his mitama, she was also providing him with some sort of purpose, preventing him from becoming truly dangerous. He wasn’t going to become a kami, but he’d at least be venerated. Or something to that extent. In exchange, he was mentoring Teddie, primarily in human interaction and speech. It wasn’t often two young yokai would interact, and the fox was trying her best to mediate them both.

Though, that meant little in regards to whatever affliction he had given Yu. The good news was, Yosuke finally learned what the hell it was, but the bad news was…

His curse was basically possession. An insatiable drive that pulled his victim into the elements. To what end? Well, he still didn’t know that, unfortunately. In fact, the omamori Yu was wearing specifically was made to hinder mind-altering effects. It couldn’t cleanse the curse, but merely suppressed it. Yu likened it to some sort of chronic illness he was merely patching the side effects of, rather than treating its source.

Yu crossed his arms, “Ok. And you still can’t undo the curse?”

“We don’t know the trigger for it, apparently, number one,” he countered, “The fox doesn’t know everything, and I have no clue how it got laid. Second, you’re wearing an omamori, I’ve been trying to use what little… magic I have, but it’s like untangling Christmas lights. Besides, I don’t think I’ve ever been around you when it’s been active, so I can’t really pinpoint how it works.”

“No…” he mused, “No, you haven’t. Actually… I don’t think anyone’s been around to see what it actually is.”

Yosuke tilted his head.

“I mean… both times the curse seemed to have manifested, it subsided when someone found me passed out.” Slowly, Yu started to pace his room, “The first time… was the camping trip. I fell ill, and the next thing I knew, it’s morning, and Kanji-kun had found me outside in the rain the night before.”

“Alright.”

“Then the second was… almost a month ago, now. I had lost the other omamori, and when it started raining, I apparently snuck out of the house. No one knew where I was until Chie-san found me passed out near the Samegawa.”

Both pondered the information for a while, before Yosuke scratched his head, “So… the trigger is just the rain? But then… Why do you keep passing out? Something’s making it… I guess deactivate?” He looked at Yu, “Is there anything else you think is important?”

All he could do was shake his head, “I don’t remember what happens during those moments, and since no one’s ever seen me possessed…”

“Damn it. I guess it’s a start though, knowing the rain might have an influence,” Yosuke turned to look at the window, “Maybe we should test it out? You’re home alone, so no one should freak out.”

“I… maybe?”

The faint ringing of the landline interrupted their thoughts. Yu apologized and asked Yosuke to wait up there so the call didn’t get messed up. With a firm agreement, he scurried downstairs, answering just before the fourth ring.

“Hello, this is the Dojima residence.”

There was a brief air of silence before, “Yu-kun?”

Yu stared at the phone, “Um… yes. Can I help you, Hanamura-san?”

Notes:

I'm preemptively bumping up the age rating of this story for future-proofing. Nothing major is going to be happening, but I know the direction this story is going and need the precaution :p

Chapter 24

Same as usual, Hanamura-san looked friendly, but melancholy. He had asked Yu if he was able to stop by his house, already strange, since he had something quite important to discuss with him. It apparently wasn’t something he could just explain over the phone. Yosuke had tagged along, if only out of curiosity, but promised he wasn’t going to pay any undue visits. The last thing they really needed was his father getting hopeful.

When Yu had finished toeing off his shoes, the last thing he expected was to see someone else sitting patiently at the dining table. Not a relative of Yosuke’s, if he were to assume correctly. No, the firm but polite posture, and the sharp glare indicated this was some third party. Sure, he had noted the extra pair of shoes at the door, but didn’t think much about them.

Gentle as ever, Hanamura-san invited Yu to sit down, “I really must apologize again for contacting you out of nowhere. I hope the rain wasn’t too terrible.”

“It’s alright,” Yu responded, it wasn’t fully the truth, but not really a lie either.

“Of course…” he gently rubbed his face under his glasses. A light clearing of his throat segued the conversation, gesturing to the other individual, “This is Shirogane Naoto.”

The two of them locked eyes, both exchanging polite nods of the head.

“I’m a private detective,” Shirogane-san began, “Often, I work directly with the police, but I’ve been told this is a special case.”

Yu nodded, following along. He had heard of the Shirogane name in passing, but never gave them much thought. There had been little reason when he wasn’t into keeping up with the news, or celebrities. As it was, he knew detective work wasn’t exactly as the media made it out to be. If his uncle’s hectic schedule was anything to go off of.

Regardless, Shirogane-san continued, “I was called in from Tokyo, and Hanamura-san has informed me you may have certain information regarding his son’s murder.”

Yu froze, his fists clenching tightly in his lap. How much has been discussed regarding Yosuke’s yokai nature? Not just that, but if Hanamura-san was looking to get the case reopened, why not talk with Chie-san? She definitely knew more than he did, at least about what happened in October. Anything less than relaying what Yosuke himself said would be nothing but hearsay from Yu. Surely a detective wouldn’t find value in that. That, and Shirogane-san definitely had to have been told he was a transfer student.

Hanamura-san wouldn’t call in a private detective as a joke, either.

Could Shirogane-san sense Yu’s nervousness? That unwavering stare was not unlike Dojima’s. This was serious, but Yu was unsure of his place. He hated being interrogated.

He took a breath, “I… might have been investigating it myself. Though, I don’t think I know anything my uncle wouldn’t have already found.”

It wasn’t really a lie. Yosuke knew basically nothing about his own murder.

“I see. That’s not surprising, this is a case ten months cold, and this town is quite small, but tell me,” the glare became sharper, “You have no personal involvement in this case, correct?”

“That’s right…”

“Then explain to me your interest.”

A lump formed in Yu’s throat. Hectic thoughts began swirling in his mind, attempting to come up with a plausible excuse. It was originally curiosity, but now… Now his interest in Yosuke was far beyond simple curiosity. Curse notwithstanding, he had a promise to keep, to him and Chie-san both. This was the most exciting thing to ever happen to him, and part of him savored the intrigue.

Yu could feel his shoulders shaking, mind buzzing with half-formed excuses before Hanamura-san placed his arm between the two of them, cutting off the conversation.

“Naoto-kun, please,” he said, quietly, “You’re acting like Dojima-san, and that scares him.”

“Ah. Apologies, then.” Shirogane-san’s tone swiftly shifted, almost seeming bashful. “Would you like to share the nature of your involvement?”

“I…” Yu swallowed, finally composing himself, “I made a promise to one of… Hanamura-kun’s old classmates. I had figured uncle would have shared more than he did…”

“I see. I’ve spoken with Detective Dojima briefly regarding the case, but he was reticent in regards to sharing information over the phone,” there was a brief pause, “I’ve also been told that much of his spare time is spent investigating a separate cold case that happened around the same time. Details regarding that are not of my concern, currently.”

Hanamura-san turned to look at Yu, “I requested a private investigator because I know you’re doing what you can. I understand what you know is very… unusual, Yu-kun, but I’d like you to help as much as you can.”

“He is correct. I will be staying in town for the foreseeable future while I look over the case, and I may end up attending classes as well,” there was some light shuffling under the table before a simple card was presented, “My private contact number. Do not hesitate to call me if there’s anything important regarding this case.”

“Right…” Yu sighed, sliding the card towards himself, “Do you… know what happened?”

“I’ve been informed of the broad strokes of the case. Anything deeper is either what paperwork I’m allowed to peruse when I visit the station, or at the discretion of yourself, Hanamura-san, or any other involved parties willing to share.”

A quiet nod, “And… have you worked with murder before?”

There was a slight twitch of Shirogane-san’s eye, “No. This is my first homicide, but I assure you, I’m no stranger to complicated cases. Though… I am remiss to admit this is also the first time I’ve been informed there may be… something supernatural afoot.”

That answered his next question. It was definitely obvious there was some skepticism in that statement, but Dojima would have dismissed the notion outright. No, Shirogane-san was cautious, but seemingly not opposed to hearing out the possibility of yokai. It was more than Yu had honestly expected. Maybe this was something he’d have to discuss with Yosuke himself.

Speaking of him though, Yu figured he had stalled long enough, and they should really figure out what was up with his curse.

“Is there… anything else you needed me for, Hanamura-san?”

A soft shake of the head, “No, you’re free to leave, Yu-kun. I’ll see you in a couple days. Again, sorry for dragging you out into the rain.”

Yu nodded, politely excusing himself, and returning to the front door. He could only hope and assume that Yosuke was waiting outside for him.

There was no immediate sign of him, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. It was best for him to make his way on home, hoping silently Yosuke was following him. Or at least would catch up in due time.

Chapter 25

The rain had started to pick up even harder by the time Yu was most of his way back. Safely at home, and removing his shoes, Yu called out to make sure he was truly alone. It seemed as though—

“Boo.”

—Yosuke was with him.

He stumbled backwards, losing his footing and colliding head-first with the wall behind him, having been thoroughly spooked by such a simple phrase. Slowly, he slid down to the floor gently rubbing at the back of his head.

“Was that necessary?”

“No, but it was funny.”

“Would you have done that if you were alive?”

A soft hum, “Probably not to you, no. Chie-san maybe,” he casually strode into the living room, “What’d dad want, anyway?”

Yu sighed, getting up to follow Yosuke. It didn’t take long to explain his meeting with Detective Shirogane, and his plans to bring it up with his friends. Yosuke listened intently, nodding along every little bit.

“So dad is really serious about solving this now… huh…” It was the first time in a while Yosuke had looked somewhat depressed, “Wasn’t he the one that…?”

“Yeah,” Yu confirmed, “He had asked to just let you rest a couple months ago. But… I guess seeing you sparked something in him.”

“I guess… maybe to get some closure, like Chie-san? Even if you do find my killer I doubt he’d tell mom anything besides ‘guess what, we found out who killed Yosuke!’. Like it’d do anything,” He paused to sigh, “She… really must have taken it hard if my parents got a damn divorce… Maybe she was afraid they’d come after her… or dad.”

Outside, Yu briefly caught the wind picking up, rain pattering harder against the patio door.

“Hey,” he started, trying to distract him, “Why don’t we… test out the curse?”

He caught everything calming down for a moment, Yosuke’s gaze meeting his, “Huh? Oh yeah. Right.”

Of course, Yu wasn’t about to just throw the omamori off. Instead, knowing the distinct possibility of Dojima finding him passed out outside was incredibly high, he opted to make a note first. Something simple, explaining with some urgency the omamori was to be replaced immediately if Dojima found it. Besides that, there wasn’t much other preparation he could feasibly manage. Letting the group know was out of the picture, given the circumstances.

With a tepid breath, Yu reached for the clasp securing the omamori in place. Gently, the cord slipped from his neck, and he rested it next to his note. Immediately, once he moved his hand from the table, he could feel the curse setting in. Or, so he thought.

He could feel that light drop in his body temperature, and the bruises immediately blossomed against his wrists. Yet, his mind was perfectly clear. No stray thoughts pulling him into the rain, and there was no haze either.

Yosuke’s hand gently brushed his shoulder, testing if they could make contact, before leaning in, “How do you feel?”

“I feel… fine?” Yu replied, staring at his hands, “It does take a bit for the charm’s protection to fade.”

“Right. It’s a waiting game then…” he rubbed at the back of his head, “You think if I sit on the couch the tv will work?”

The only answer Yu could confidently give was a shrug.

Thankfully for them, even if Yosuke sat at the seat at the low table closest to the tv, his aura hardly interfered with the signal. It wasn’t so much that he was incompatible with electronics, but more television and cell signals. How that worked, neither of them knew, but at least they didn’t have to sit in silence. An hour passed, and Yu hardly felt any noticeable effects beyond the light chill. They passed the time watching tv, and Yu had prepared some lunch for both of them in the meanwhile. Yosuke didn’t need to eat, but he apparently still enjoyed indulging in the motions.

A few moments later Yu had gotten up to grab a soda, and saw what the scene looked like from afar.

Even he had to admit this was the most normal day he’s had in some time. Ignoring the circumstances that led to today, anyway. He was going to savor the moment, before something inevitably happened. To anyone none the wiser, they just looked like two friends hanging out. There was no sign something was wrong with either of them. Yosuke was reclined back, leaning his back and arms casually against the table, probably the same way he used to when he was at home. His eyes moved slightly as he read the subtitles, subtle, just noticable. The profile of his face was sharp, Yu analyzing the contours of his jawline, admiring the small movements he made, as if he was truly alive.

He was… pretty. Handsome, dare Yu admit.

Part of him hoped Yosuke would never leave his side. Even after his curse was lifted.

As it was, he knew he’d miss moments like these when he left Inaba next April. Though deep down he  sometimes doubted the genuineness of his friendship with the others, part of him still believed he would have befriended them all regardless. He wanted to believe he wasn’t destined to be alone forever, cold and forgotten as yet another face in the crowd. A name that went hazy after several months of going unused in the recesses of one’s memory.

Was that also Yosuke’s fear, deep down when he died?

That everyone had forgotten about him?

That the regret tethering him to the mortal plane was simply… loneliness? Not rage, or resignation, just… the belief no one cared?

If that were the case, then why hadn’t he moved on? Hadn’t Chie-san and his own father proven enough that someone cared about him? There had to be more to what kept him anchored to this world. Or perhaps, he simply chose to not move on. He himself had said the fox was giving him a purpose on Earth.

Yosuke looked up at Yu, catching him staring, “You good, dude?”

He paused, staring down at the floor, “Yeah. I… don’t think this is working though.”

“I don’t think so either,” he slowly got up, “I have an idea though.”

Suffice to say, Yu wasn’t expecting to find himself standing in the rain again. He and Yosuke had moved to the back patio, seeing if they could get anything to trigger. Overall, there was no difference compared to when they were inside. It was a full on downpour outside, but Yu felt no urge to stand in it more than he had to.

“Dude, what the hell?” Yosuke asked, scratching at his head, “Still nothing?”

Yu shook his head, “Let’s… try again another time. I’d rather not get sick.”

“Oh. Right. Yeah, go put the charm back on too. Don’t want your uncle seeing the bruises.”

Chapter 26

Unfortunately, the remainder of Yu’s summer was fairly nondescript, and quite dry. He met up quite a few times with Detective Shirogane, detailing and discussing what little he knew of Yosuke’s case. A little new headway was made, but a week or so would only uncover so much. There wasn’t a lot Yu could share, and Yosuke himself still hadn’t ever met Shirogane-san, but that was because he spent most of his time with the fox. Trying out more methods to undo Yu’s curse, and hone his rainy powers.

Occasionally he would accompany Yu to hang with the others, even if he kept himself out of the way or invisible, unless they made the long trip to Okina where no one knew him. The company seemed to do him well, as Yu and Rise-chan’s mere appearance kept him anchored enough for Chie-san and the others to converse with him. It was the principle that mattered. Other times he sent Teddie in his stead, letting the odd bear yokai get more human influence under his belt.

With summer coming to a close, and school threatening to start up again, Yu was grateful he was able to spend time at the festival at Tatsuhime with everyone else. The girls had all dressed up in nice yukata, even helping Nanako get into hers, while he and Kanji hung back in their summer casuals. Teddie was also out and about, blending in much better amidst the festive crowd. Even if briefly, Yu had also caught a glimpse of Shirogane-san, though from quite far away.

Inaba’s end of summer festival was much more quaint than any others Yu had attended, but the warmth of being with friends was new. He watched the girls tote Nanako around to the various stalls, while he busied himself getting shaved ice from old lady Shiroku. Briefly, he laughed, hearing them converse with Teddie, his speech still slightly awkward, but noticeably more confident. He was like a little kid, even if he was probably over a hundred years old.

Though, the good time was cut slightly short when Yu felt a light jolt down his arm. Almost dropping his shaved ice, he turned to stare at the culprit. Another festival goer, he thought at first. Wearing a bright yellow and orange yukata, with a red panda mask covering the face. Only then did Yu see the familiar spikes of Yosuke’s hair. Apparently he could change out of his old uniform. He was quickly, but quietly, buying his own treat before motioning Yu to follow him. They ducked into a darker area of the shrine, under some trees before either exchanged a single word.

Yu watched Yosuke turn the mask that had been covering his face so he could eat before speaking, “I thought you couldn’t enter the shrine?”

“Apparently,” he took a bite of shaved ice, “whatever barrier is around the shrine here is only for ‘evil’ spirits, and I don’t seem to count as one anymore.”

“So… I can get in without the omamori now?”

Another bite, “Eh, probably, but you should still wear that thing until I fix the curse.”

Great. “Still no updates on that?”

A gentle shake of the head, “I let the fox know about what we tried, and she seemed just as confused. She said I shouldn’t count in regards to deactivation since it’s my curse, but I dunno,” he scratched his head, “Though, she did also tell me I should be able to basically, like, activate it myself. I mean, I promise I’m not going to! I like having you as a friend.”

“You… actually consider me a friend?”

“Dude, even if I was alive you’d be my best friend. Why are you so surprised by this?”

To be perfectly honest, Yu wasn’t sure, “I’m… not used to having friends.”

Yosuke blinked at him, “ You aren’t used to having friends? Mr. Popular? You’re friends with Rise Kujikawa .”

“Because of the curse…” he shrunk in on himself a little, “ You’re friends with me because of the curse. I…”

“You’ve… never really had friends before, have you,” Yosuke moved to rest a hand against him, before remembering he couldn’t, “Dude… Yu… I’m sorry, man.”

Yu waved him off. He was used to the feeling, unfortunately. It wasn’t anything new to be alone. It was the sudden realization he had a lot of company that threw him off. Instead of spending days upon days alone, only going to school and coming home, he had a lot more social activities, and even a job. People went out of their way to spend time with him, genuinely appreciating his company, even if the circumstance of their friendship was anything but normal.

Yosuke’s face fell, watching Yu slowly snack on his own shaved ice.

“I… also appreciate your company, you know.”

A small smile returned to Yosuke.

“Well, good. ‘Cause you’re stuck with me for now.”

The two continued to converse, their conversation moving away from curses and magic, instead leading into how life in general. Casual talk one would reasonably expect from a pair of friends enjoying the last days of summer. Eventually, Yu did need to leave their secluded spot, so as to not worry Nanako. Yosuke understood, but said he’d hang back, since even with the mask he didn’t want to chance his father seeing him. It was doubtful he’d take time off to visit the festival, but the risk wasn’t worth taking.

But, before he left, Yosuke waved for his attention, a somewhat sly look crossing his face.

“Next time you’re home alone, I have another idea I want to try for the curse, alright?”

Yu nodded, before making his way out from under the trees.

Teddie had apparently eaten himself sick, and fully emptied Shiroku of ice blocks while he was gone. It was a bizarre sight, but one that made Yu laugh regardless. Probably for the first time in ages.

Maybe he could get used to having friends.

Chapter 27

The second semester had officially started, and Yu was slightly surprised to learn that Shirogane-san was a whole year younger than he was. It wasn’t like he had put much thought into how old the detective was, but he had at least assumed they were both second years. Instead, it turned out Shirogane-san would be sharing homework with Rise-chan and Kanji-kun.

Inaba’s weather remained quite dry, and Dojima was home more often than expected, leaving Yu very little time to collaborate with Yosuke on his great new idea. Nevermind that within the next week he was going to be going on a trip out of town. Someplace called ‘Iwatodai’ for a cultural exchange with one of the high schools there. The details escaped him, mostly, but that was because it meant more of his time was being eaten up by activities not in his control.

As it was, he was eating a quick dinner with his family, mentally calculating everything he would need to take on the trip. That, and whether or not he had to worry about Yosuke tagging along.

Once Nanako had gone to prepare for bed, Dojima put down his chopsticks, the sound interrupting Yu’s train of thought.

“Do you know Detective Shirogane?”

He debated playing dumb, “I know Shirogane-san just started classes at Yasogami.”

“That’s not what I asked,” he narrowed his eyes at Yu, “Let me rephrase. Have you been investigating Hanamura’s case again?”

Yu’s breath hitched, a flinch he was certain Dojima caught, and he couldn’t explain away easily.

“Yu, please talk to me. What is your obsession with him? You never met the kid, and ever since May you’ve been acting strange.” His tone wasn’t accusatory, or like he was even trying to interrogate him. This was genuine concern, “Even Adachi said you were getting very defensive whenever he had to walk you to school back in July.”

Deflect, deflect, deflect.

“I don’t know.”

Damn his brain.

Dojima sighed, lightly scrubbing at his face, “I’m asking because this kid’s been digging into everything about the case. We had to search for three hours to find the autopsy report. Three hours I could have spent looking into something of substance ,” there was a brief look on his face when he caught Yu trying to look over his shoulder, “I asked Yoichi about the new pint-sized detective, and he told me he wanted the case reopened. Last I knew, he wanted to forget about the whole thing, and it was because of you .”

Yu shrunk in on himself a little bit, grabbing onto his omamori out of habit, “I don’t know, uncle. Why do you keep investigating Aunt Chisato’s death?”

His fist slamming into the table briefly scared him, “Don’t bring her into this! That’s different!”

“Is it though, uncle?” He didn’t know where the sudden bite was coming from, but his mouth was working faster than his brain, “She died only three weeks after Yosuke, and her case fell cold too! He was murdered , but that doesn’t matter to you because you didn’t know him!”

“Like you know him any better!”

“Because I do! ” Yu screamed.

It felt like the whole world stopped, Yu slapping his hands over his mouth in delayed realization. Before Dojima could even cobble his own thoughts back into order, Yu stood up. Slowly, carefully backing away, his eyes wide and barely welling with tears.

Then, he broke out running, turning tail and rushing for the front door. He didn’t even bother with his shoes, panic overtaking his instincts. Faintly, he could hear his name being called. That didn’t matter at all to him, he just needed to be somewhere else, far, far away from his uncle.

Yu didn’t know how long he had been running for before finding himself coming to a stop. He barely even knew where he was. Softly, he wiped the tears from his eyes before taking stock of where he ended up. It looked like the base of the hill overlooking Inaba. What compelled him all the way here, he didn’t know, and didn’t have the lung capacity to care.

Once he caught his breath, he slowly walked up the hill, continuing to scrub his face of the excess tears. He crested the top, ignoring the scratch of the rocks under his feet. The last time he was up here was at the festival, watching the fireworks with his friends and family.

Those memories couldn’t help him now.

Why did he say those things? That was his aunt he was talking about. Of course Dojima was going to have more incentive to solve her case. That was his wife, Nanako’s mother, someone near and dear to him.

Yosuke was just some kid.

Some kid he probably didn’t like either. Not with the Hanamura’s reputation.

Yu heaved a sob, hunching himself over the fence. When was the last time he cried? He didn’t even remember, not when he learned to hide his pain ages ago. When he would come home to an empty house, it didn’t matter what scrapes or bruises he had. No one would hear him anyway, so he stopped seeing the point in letting his emotions run. It was a shame he had to learn all that when he was Nanako’s age.

The late summer air was still a little warm, so at least Yu didn’t need to be concerned about the cold. At least the view was nice, even if he couldn’t really appreciate it.

He vaguely remembered that Yosuke once told him he liked to hide up here to get away from his responsibilities. At least during those few weeks he existed in Inaba before he died.

Yu had to wonder if that’s why he found himself here.

He had no idea how long he was at the hill before Dojima finally found him. Long before he even heard the sound of his name being called he had curled up on the ground. Not necessarily because he was trying to hide, but it was the only thing he could think to do.

It was only when he heard distinct relief in Dojima’s voice that he dared look up.

A strong embrace encircled Yu’s shoulders, wrenching him from his own depressive stupor.

“Thank god…” he heard Dojima sigh, “You didn’t have your phone and I was starting to think you threw yourself into the river. Please Yu, stop scaring me like this.”

Yu’s own voice was weak, slowly returning the hug, “I’m sorry…”

The two sat in silence for a moment, before Dojima finally pulled back. He once again asked what had gotten into Yu, only for him to fail to have an appropriate response. At this point, he didn’t think his story was believable. So many months had gone by, and every additional piece to the puzzle would have sounded more and more ridiculous. It wasn’t even about trust anymore, Yu just knew nothing he could say would make sense. From Yosuke, to the curse, to the fox and Teddie, if he hadn’t been the one experiencing it all, he would have thought he had gone insane.

Eventually, Dojima just dropped the subject, instead helping Yu to his feet with a sigh.

“Will you at least come home with me?” It wasn’t even a demand, just a request.

Yu could only bring himself to nod, “I’m sorry… for talking about Aunt Chisato like that…”

Dojima put a hand to his chin, breaking eye contact, “It’s… I forgive you. But please don’t talk to me like that ever again.”

Another somber nod.

The two started walking down the hill, and the rest of the evening was spent in silence.

Notes:

Dojima's trying. Yu meanwhile...............................

Chapter 28

Suffice to say, Yu did not come away from his argument without repercussions. Dojima took away his phone, and he was expected to either be at school, or at home until the school trip. No work, no soccer practice, no errands in Nanako’s stead. If he behaved himself, Dojima would lighten his restrictions. It was clear he didn’t want to punish Yu, he was almost out of high school, but he needed to assert some authority.

It was a miserable existence, but one Yu managed to survive. Yosuke was still around, but they had to communicate solely through writing. Unfortunately, that had also put a damper on any plans to work on the curse. Even Yosuke admitted whatever he was planning to do would probably hurt, even if it was only a little bit. Strange to say Yu would leave Inaba with a stack of letters from a ghost, but that was just his life now.

Thankfully, he seemed to act within Dojima’s standards well enough that even before the week was up he got his phone back. Unsurprisingly, after the first day he didn’t have it there were about eighty backlogged messages asking where he was and if he was okay. He didn’t need to answer them, at least, since he explained what happened at school. Most of them were from Rise-chan, but even Hanamura-san and Shirogane-san dropped in a couple messages to check on his health.

He hadn’t expected that, honestly.

Life had settled back down by the time the school trip finally arrived. Yu and the others hadn’t been sure of what to expect. They had been given a basic itinerary by Mooroka, even the first years, but their chaperone was Kashiwagi instead. Apparently Mooroka had fallen ill over the tail end of the summer break, and wasn’t expected back for another few weeks. She was an improvement in some facets, but worse in significant, and slightly offputting, others.

Most notably, after touring Gekkoukan High School, it turned out Kashiwagi had been the one to book the hotel everyone was supposed to stay in for the next couple nights. She was positively glowing when she mentioned how inexpensive it was, for something newly renovated, but most everyone was visibly tense as they walked down the darklit road.

Rise-chan was the most visibly uncomfortable, keeping herself quiet and close to Kanji-kun, like he was some sort of deterrent.

Once the rest of their classmates begrudgingly shuffled along into the main lobby to receive their room keys, Chie finally decided to break the silence.

“So… what’s so wrong with this place?”

Rise-chan sighed, “This is the old red light district…” she started fiddling with her earrings, “Obviously I’ve never been to this hotel, but I know of the area.”

“Great. A freakin’ love hotel,” Kanji-kun added with a sigh of his own.

“I guess someone had to say it out loud…” Yosuke complained, revealing himself from behind Kanji-kun.

Chie was the first to smack him, alongside Rise-chan for scaring them. Yukiko merely lamented the number of people going to her family’s inn and their ‘disappointment’ it was just an inn. Meanwhile, Yu wasn’t too particularly bothered over the situation, they were on a school trip, so most of the old ‘ammenities’ probably got removed, and to him, a bed was a bed.

Though, having to bunk with Kanji-kun and two yokai was not exactly part of his initial plan.

Kanji-kun alone, with only one water bed? Awkward, sure, but they’d live. Teddie was a whole other story. He had snuck his way onto the same trains as the Yasogami students after learning about the school trip from Yosuke, who stole the itinerary from Yu. Apparently in an effort to ‘let him learn of the human world’ the shrine fox procured him some money to use while in Iwatodai. While apparently he did have a human-like face under his bear mask, and could get rid of the paws, the way he dressed was still decidedly outlandish. Nevermind that, currently, he was getting into everything with pure curiosity. Every cabinet and drawer was rifled through, and he ended up pressing every single button to the bed.

Yosuke, on the other hand, was spending his entire time watching from afar. Off in a corner, arms folded, and strangely keeping to himself. While it seemed that Kanji-kun hadn’t noticed, mostly because he was floundering about how to share the bed with both his senpai and Teddie, Yu definitely had. Similar to Kanji-kun, it looked like he had temporarily discarded his gakuran, revealing the plain t-shirt he was wearing underneath it. His aura was still off, but to a none-the-wiser onlooker, he looked like a fellow student, especially compared to Teddie.

Yu gulped lightly, mustering a bit of courage, “Kanji-kun, can I have a minute to talk with Yosuke?”

“Huh? Oh… sure, senpai,” he nudged Teddie by the shoulder, distracting him from the buttons, “You wanna come find some snacks, Ted?”

His eyes sparkled with delight, “Yes, yes! Snacks!”

Patiently, Yu waited for the door to close before looking back at Yosuke, “Why did you come along?”

Yosuke shrugged, “Testing some theories. See if I was bound to Inaba, spend time with you and the others. As long as the rest of your class isn’t around, I don’t have to hide here.”

“And… how has your experiment been going?”

“Eh…” he pulled up his arm, noting the bruise on his wrist. While fainter than before, it was still there, “I’ve been getting better with the shapeshifting, but I guess some things just can’t be hidden away. That, and I feel… weak. Tired, almost.”

“I see…”

Yosuke pushed from the wall, “Maybe not tonight, but… maybe we should try and take advantage of my exhaustion.”

“What do you mean?”

Gently, he reached out, almost brushing his omamori, before remembering that would be a bad idea, “If I feel like this, then maybe whatever stupid magic is keeping your soul bound to the curse is… I don’t know, loosening up? I might be able to get the curse undone. Then we could maybe actually start having fun together.”

If Yu deluded himself, he almost would have assumed Yosuke was propositioning him.

He swallowed, burying that thought into the back of his mind, “Right. I guess Kanji-kun would be too tired to leave us alone for too long tonight. Nevermind Teddie.”

For a moment, there was a weird look on Yosuke’s face, before he hid it with a laugh, “Yeah, and if it works, that’s one less thing to lie to your uncle about…”

“Yeah…”

Notes:

I had to straight up debate with myself whether Persona 3 still happened in this AU because of this chapter and the next

Chapter 29

Notes:

This is the chapter that caused the rating to go up. Nothing happens or anything, but it can be certainly read in a certain way. I considered how else I could write it, but decided to just lean into it.

Day two of the Iwatodai trip was a light whirlwind of emotions and events. Chie nearly got in a fight with some punks, Teddie ended up on some sort of shopping spree-slash-date with the girls, and Yu… basically was taking his time enjoying being in the city again. While he had gotten used to Inaba’s tranquility, he did still at least slightly miss the more readily available amenities of a densely packed urban sprawl.

It was when day had faded into evening that everything came to a head.

Despite her wallflower personality, Rise-chan was quite excited to take everyone to a club she had almost performed in a couple years prior. Apparently there had been some bad electrical issues and a total blackout forced the show to be cancelled. She wasn’t going to go up on their stage or anything, but they still owed her.

Notably, the string of events that happened after Rise-chan booked the private room could only be described as ‘shenanigans’.

First of all, simply due to the odd prestige of being a detective despite only being a first year, Rise-chan invited Shirogane-san to join them. Originally hesitant to the offer, Shirogane-san relented when Yu vaguely pointed out that Yosuke was with him. Would a party of rowdy high schoolers in a private nightclub room be the best place to conduct an interview about a murder? Probably not. Yet, it was enough incentive to have their little group reach a staggering size of eight.

After everyone was upstairs did everything truly fall apart.

There had to have been something in the drinks. No matter how much Shirogane-san and Rise-chan tried to affirm there was no alcohol. Teddie was all over Kanji-kun, Yukiko devolved into a giggling shell of her former self, Rise-chan was divulging all sorts of nasty secrets from being an idol, and Yu… well he definitely stopped paying attention at some point in the chaos. He couldn’t tell if he just had a headache, or it was overstimulation from the lights and thumping bass downstairs. Shirogane-san could barely get a word in amongst the girls’ antics, and Yu was vaguely aware of Kanji-kun trying to keep Teddie’s paws off him when the chopsticks were brought out for ‘The King’s Game’.

That was a total disaster in of itself.

Yu could hardly recall everything that happened at the club as he stumbled back into his hotel room with the other boys. Yosuke, of course, was still sober, but Kanji-kun insisted on seeing if he could bunk with Shirogane-san so Teddie wouldn’t make Yu’s headache worse, and there was no way he was leaving him alone with a stranger. Thankfully, Yosuke was more than willing to further insist on the two leaving. There was business to attend to, after all.

After any unwanted distractions were decidedly far away, Yu sat down on the bed, being unkindly reminded it was going to constantly jiggle under his weight. The garish red of the room doing no favors to his fried senses. A soft groan left him as he scrubbed his face, trying to rearrange his brain into working order. He needed to focus, even if only for a little bit.

Yosuke looked at him, calm, yet almost concerned, “Are you sure you’re alright, dude? We can put off doing this some more. You’ve… been out of it.”

“I’m fine,” he insisted, already tugging at the cord of his omamori. Beside the pounding headache, he felt no different than usual, “We also leave tomorrow, we won’t get another chance.”

He barely caught the unimpressed look on Yosuke’s face when he tossed the charm past his head. Arms still folded, and his eyes scanning over Yu very carefully. What he was looking for, he didn’t know, nor really had the mental faculties to care.

There was a brief sigh, before Yosuke approached him, “If you’re certain. You’re going to have to bear with me, because this might be a little… uncomfortable.”

Watching carefully, Yu noticed he was taking a moment to take a deep breath. Like he was psyching himself up for something. He wasn’t sure for what reason, until Yosuke got even closer to him. A firm hand was placed against his leg, causing him to jump slightly at the sudden contact. Yosuke was leaning over him now, pressing his weight into the hand on his leg to steady himself, the other hovering awkwardly between them.

Yu made a face, “And what exactly is your plan?”

“I… I’m going to try and just pull the curse out,” Yosuke turned his face for a moment, only looking at him out of the corner of his eye, “I’m a ghost, so I’m still kind of… y’know, incorporeal. And the curse is attached to your soul so I should be able to just grab it, but… it’s sorta…”

For a moment, he wondered why that would make him suddenly so bashful. It took a second to knock his brain back into working order, but once he noticed Yosuke’s hand was barely not touching his lower belly, it clicked. A hot blush immediately rushed to his face, the situation finally dawning on him.

“I…” Yu’s mouth had gone completely dry, “You know what… we don’t have to, Yosuke.”

A slight huff, “Dude, it’s not your fault that’s where your soul is. I’m also running out of ideas to help you. And, you’re right this is our best chance. Just…” he took another breath, pressing his hand right against Yu’s belt, “I’m going to try and be slow and gentle, but please tell me if it hurts. I’ll stop as soon as you say anything.”

Yu closed his eyes with a nod, bracing himself for what may come. He couldn’t help but want to squirm when he felt the movement inside him. Not that it was uncomfortable, or even painful, just strange. Yosuke was laser focused on his task, and Yu felt it best if he tried to distract himself.

He turned his head, so he wasn’t watching so intently, and tried to think about something else. Or at least steer his mind away from the feelings he was experiencing. A little difficult when there was someone all up in his personal space, but he was trying .

Think about something, anything else, he commanded to himself. If this worked, what would happen?

He could stop wearing the omamori, for one. That would let him just exist again, especially in the rain. So, Dojima would probably stop being so concerned about that.

A sudden feeling of soft pressure deep in his gut caused a soft noise to slip.

“Sorry,” Yosuke said, “I think I found it.”

Yu nodded, biting the back of his hand to stifle himself. He couldn’t describe the feeling, but what was once simply odd was starting to morph into something else. Not that he had yet determined if it was good or bad.

He started to wonder what Yosuke would do once the curse was released, just to distract himself further.

Probably leave, his brain answered. Which probably would cause the rest of the group to drift too.

The pressure suddenly became painful, feeling the frays of something deep within himself. Pain elicited panic. Whatever noise came out of him probably sounded pathetic, but that was beyond the point. He flailed, shoving his hands against Yosuke with a fervor he didn’t expect to have.

Yosuke was soon on the floor, wisps of… something, swirling between his fingers, “Dude, are you alright?”

He could only stare back, dazed like a deer in headlights. Something was wrong, but he didn’t know what. His eyes drifted to where Yosuke’s hand was, before slowly coming to his feet.

“I… I’m getting a shower.”

Notes:

Chapter updates are going to slow for a bit again, we're kind of getting near what should be the climax of the story and that requires some actual planning, and I'd rather get most of that to paper before posting continuously. That, and I've overworked my writing hand between this and several art projects, and I have some important work that needs to get done XD

Chapter 30

Once Yu’s not-hangover passed and he was safely at home the next day, he was finally able to take proper stock of what the hell happened in that hotel room.

First and foremost, it felt like there was a new essence to him. He wasn’t sure what it was, but something almost felt foreign in his own body. Strange and powerful, even. Anything beyond that was only vague visions and emotions about how close he and Yosuke had been last night. Decidedly very close. A sort of intimacy that Yu didn’t want to put a word to, but ‘friendly’ was definitely the weakest term for it.

For better or worse, he decided it would be best if he consulted an expert on whatever had proceeded the previous night. It was still quite blurry in his recollection, but he knew enough to convey the basics. Once they all had arrived home, Yu figured he would sleep well, and then head off to the shrine first thing the next morning.

What he wasn’t expecting was the fox to be waiting for him under the eave of the main building, her tail flicking in some vague emotion. It made sense she was in the open, he supposed, the rain drove away all but the most determined of visitors. Teddie was nowhere to be seen, he was probably still spending time with Kanji-kun, if Yu had to guess, and Yosuke said he was going to check to see if he could commune with Naoto-kun without him. Leaving just him and the kitsune alone.

“Something troubling you, child?”

She hadn’t moved, and barely even looked at him, but she seemed to know enough.

He swallowed, thumbing at his omamori once more, “Um… I guess so.” Briefly he glanced around, before joining her under the dry shelter of the roof, “Did Yosuke… did you know he left Inaba?”

“I was aware of his plans, he was the one who told our bear friend of your trip, and I procured them their tickets. Spirits are allowed to wander, you know.” She flashed that mysterious grin of hers.

“Right… so…” nervously wringing out his wrist, he took a moment to breathe, “Is it… uh… How do I put this? I think Yosuke finally pulled the curse out. He… reached into my soul, I guess? Do I… still need this?”

Her eyes narrowed for a moment, staring at the omamori, before she leaned in for a quick sniff.

“Continue wearing it. Your problems are not yet resolved, nor does young Hanamura have the capability of providing a solution so handily. I will have a new one made for you tomorrow.”

Yu stared at her, somewhat dumbfounded. Yosuke had literally grabbed his soul and somehow he was still cursed? He stood up, grabbing at his head in frustration, ignoring the rain as he stepped down off the steps.

“Then what the hell is wrong with me!?” He yelled, “I literally watched him pull something out of me!”

“Calm yourself,” the fox tutted, “That boy does not have the skills to cleanse your soul of its primary affliction, and I’m afraid he might have done something that cannot be undone in return.”

His hands slowly dropped, turning to look back at the fox. She merely huffed at him, “What do you mean?”

A soft flick of her ear was the only response she gave for a moment, before sighing, standing up with a stretch, “Keeping the physical and spiritual worlds separate is part of my job, and here I am…” she nudged him back under the roof with her head, “Listen closely, I will not repeat myself.”

Yu nodded, watching intently as the fox trotted back to her spot and laid down with a yawn. She explained that, while uncommon, many yokai could both cast curses and possess people. Possession could take many forms, and a curse in of itself could be an act of possession. Oftentimes, it was by force, and the yokai who placed the curse must hold incredible power, but even a weaker spirit could take control if they found a willing host. Yosuke’s curse was likely a form of minor possession, compelling his victim towards his location, with no regard to how the victim got from A to B. What would he do with the victim once they reached him? Well, only Yosuke could answer that.

Yu asked if his blackouts and the curse deactivating around other people were related to all of this, since he would always be out for what seemed like hours. He expected even a vague explanation, but she merely shook her head. To her, there was no correlation between that and the curse, but that only left more questions. She even mentioned Yosuke’s trigger and abilities would be related to the rain. Anything beyond that, she didn’t quite know.

The fox huffed again, stating it was likely the curse had evolved because of their little… moment. Due to him literally touching Yu’s soul, it was probable that he created an involuntary link of their auras. How exactly, it wasn’t like the fox would know, but she likened it to some sort of physical pact between them. The bindings of their agreement being Yu’s willingness to let a spirit interact with his soul. Foolish as that may have been.

The kitsune could only shake her head at Yosuke attempting something so reckless when he still had so little knowledge and control of his own abilities. Then again, it was not like there was a rulebook on how to be a yokai. He had suddenly found himself one, and that required him to learn on his own what that meant. The spirit world was just as mysterious as the living one, and he had to learn and grow, just like when he was alive. That also meant learning how to coexist with the living, just as they were expected to coexist and respect him.

Yu sat quietly, the information slowly processing in his head. Did Yosuke really do something like that? Wouldn’t be impossible, he figured. Not when he had already accidentally set a curse on him.

He looked back at the fox, “So… what happens when Yosuke fully possesses me?”

“ If he took control, he could spread his curse onto others, or simply turn you into his little puppet. It’s all relative, and up to him. He probably doesn’t even know he can do that.”

A soft swallow, trying to hide his nervousness, “Could he force me… to…” the actual thought on his mind was not one he wished to vocalize, “Do things I wouldn’t normally do?”

She looked at him, eyes narrowing, “ I could force you to do things you wouldn’t typically do, child. Do you truly think so lowly of young Hanamura?”

Every hamster in Yu’s brain suddenly flew off their wheel at the question. He didn’t think he thought of Yosuke like some monster. It was more a general worry, after being found passed out twice due to his influence. As far as he knew, Yosuke was a gentle soul, literally, disregarding the killer right hook he had that got them into this mess to begin with. But, that was because he had been easily angered due to the belief that telling the wrong person of his existence could get him exorcised. That, and due to the nature of his death, his ara mitama had been all out of line.

No, Yu thought highly of Yosuke. From what he had heard from when he was alive, Yosuke was nothing but amicable and polite. It was everyone else that had decided to treat him like Inaba’s greatest evil. He was nothing but a kind boy wrenched from the world all too soon, and for what reason? Nobody knew, except his killer. Even the fragment of his family that remained didn’t know.

Yu clenched his hands against his legs, almost shaking from dread. The rain around them started pouring harder, the air growing cooler rapidly. He was still a person, in some form, and Yu was doing his best to give him the respect he rightly deserved. Even the rest of his little friend group was trying their best to make him feel… at least included.

But something was starting to pick up in the back of his mind.

He didn’t want to lose Yosuke.

The winds started picking up, and the rain was coming down harder. What would he do if someone tried to hurt him? What if they threatened Yu because of his association with him?

“Don’t worry yourself so much,” the fox cooed, “If he were truly malicious, I believe he would have likely taken over your body the first second he could have. He values your friendship quite a bit, so you should value his.”

For a moment, the rain briefly let up.

Notes:

*doing the little Don't Starve dance*

Chapter 31

Flopping unceremoniously onto his couch, Yu grabbed one of the nearby pillows, smothering it into his face to muffle his screams.

He didn’t know what to feel anymore. On the one hand, he and Yosuke apparently now had some sort of special bond. With that, it seemed he gained some semblance of the weather manipulation Yosuke had. Which was somewhat interesting, if not something he’d have to practice far from home. Yet, on the other hand, he more or less had created a permanent bond with a yokai. Anything less than Yosuke’s eradication, or his own death, was going to get him off, now. So, now he had to worry almost double about the curse activating without his omamori until he learned how to coexist with those new powers. Honestly, Yu was going to have to talk to Yosuke about all this when he finally got home.

Which, that in of itself, took another few hours to happen. It was past dinnertime before Yu heard a knock upon his window. Yosuke slipped in, kicking his shoes into some forgotten corner of the room, before flopping on the couch.

“Dude, you have no idea how many questions Naoto-kun asked me,” he complained into the cushion.

“I can only imagine.”

Yu sat at his desk, leaning his weight on his arm while he listened to what Yosuke had to deal with. Most of their interaction was going over the case, primarily Yosuke confirming or denying certain rumors that had been going on at the time, and explaining certain wounds on him; apparently he had a lot . The rest was more or less a questionnaire to determine some of the arbitrary conditions he was following as a yokai.

He stretched out onto his back, head tipped over the armrest to look at Yu, “Naoto-kun might also have finally figured out why you and Rise-chan can see me normally, but Chie still struggles when she’s alone.”

“And what is that?” The question had been pressing on their minds for months now. It would be good to finally have an answer.

“Social isolation.”

Yu blinked. “What?”

“I’m serious, man,” Yosuke said, sitting up, “Think about it. I was basically ostracized, so I show up for weird loners. You’re quiet as a mouse and out of the way, Rise-chan’s famous but that doesn’t win her friends, and even Naoto-kun keeps everyone at arm’s length.”

“If that’s the case, then why do you stay visible around Chie and the others when we're around?”

“Weird transitive effect of being near people that can? Listen, Naoto-kun’s a detective, not a medium. We’re lucky we figured out this much.”

“I guess so. But… what about your dad?”

His face fell, “Oh… right… I think he still fits, though. He really only seems to be close with your uncle and Nanako-chan. Everyone in town probably still hates him, and… those that don’t just pity him as a guy that outlived his only son,” Yosuke was silent for a moment before shaking his head, “Anyway… uh… did the kitsune say anything about what I did?”

Yu nodded, but was hesitant to explain at first. Last thing he really wanted to do was explain how he probably ended up making things worse than they already were. As upset as he had been earlier, he really couldn’t bring himself to be mad at him. He was trying his best.

“I think… you accidentally gave me some of your powers,” he finally said. It seemed the safest thing to mention.

Yosuke sprung up from the couch, almost like an excited puppy, “Whoa, seriously, dude? That…” his energy slowly simmered away, “Probably means I screwed up, huh?”

“It’s fine, I promise,” he clarified, “I mean… apparently your aura is bound to my soul now?” Panic started to well up in him seeing Yosuke shrink in on himself, “No really, it’s fine. Think about it, if someone wants to exorcise you, they have to get through me now, and I made a promise I wouldn’t let that happen.”

“Yeah but… you didn’t want this . You just wanted to help me, and maybe we’d get to hang out or… something,” he continued to hug his arms close to himself, the temperature of the room dropping rapidly, “Even in death, I’m just a screw-up. I have to keep forcing people to even pay attention to me!”

“Yosuke…”

Yu’s hand reached out for a moment, before both of them retreated back. Yosuke out of reluctance, and Yu due to remembering the omamori. They stared at each other, the winds outside kicking up, and a soft patter of rain was hitting the roof above them. Yosuke never looked so frightened before. Tears were even prickling up at the edges of his eyes. It was a tough situation they were in, and neither exactly wanted things to go the way they had.

Especially now that Yu gets to see just how scared Yosuke probably was when he died.

He suddenly yanked off the omamori, throwing it to the floor. Curse be damned, he needed to learn to step up and assert himself. Tenderly, his arms wrapped around Yosuke’s shoulders, pulling him in for a tight hug.

“Yu… what the hell?” There was no bite to Yosuke’s voice, even as he started to sob into his shoulder.

He took a moment to gather his thoughts, “Yosuke… you’re probably my best friend, and I’d still help you even if you didn’t curse me. I made a promise to you, Chie, and even your dad that I’d figure out what happened to you. I don’t want you to think I’m being forced to hang out with you,” he sighed, holding back tears himself, “Even if you weren’t dead, you and I would have been friends. I’ve heard so much about how friendly, and nice, and outgoing you were. And… you’re still like that, even now. You just want to have friends, and you have me and the others. We’re in this together , and I’m going to make sure our bond keeps you safe. I don’t care that you’re a yokai, I…” he couldn’t bring himself to say the words truly in his heart, “I’m not going anywhere, okay?”

Silence fell over them again, but they could hear the weather clearing up outside. Slowly, but surely, Yosuke returned the embrace, hesitant but not retreating.

Eventually, he stepped back, brushing his fingers through his hair to try and right himself, “Thanks, Yu.” He laughed a little, “I think that’s the most I’ve ever heard you say at once.”

A faint flush crossed his cheeks, causing Yu to shrink on himself.

“What’s with that look, man? Just saying you should talk more.”

“Uh… right…” he swallowed, looking at the floor for an excuse, “Since the charm is off… The fox said I should learn how to coexist with your powers so… maybe now is a good time to practice?”

Yosuke smiled, wiping away the last remnants of his tears, “Sure, grab a coat, I’ll meet you at the river.”

Chapter 32

Between classes, soccer, his part time job, and now his practice lessons, Yu was ending up pretty busy. Every day he had somewhere to scurry off to at some point in the day as September rolled on by unceremoniously into October. Nothing was all that amiss regarding Yosuke’s case either. Naoto-kun was determined, but still coming up empty handed.

So, there he was, sitting on the stairs of Marukyu tofu, sharing a soda with Yosuke and Rise, chatting about nothing in particular. Mostly it was Rise lamenting that her younger rival was going to be performing at Junes later in the month. It was late enough at night that no one would notice Yosuke as they walked by, and even if they did, the low light would make it hard to recognize him.

With a light sip of her drink, Rise looked at Yosuke, “So… your family moved out here around this time last year, right?”

Her voice was meek, like she didn’t want to breach the subject, but it seemed like it weighed heavy in her mind. Yosuke merely shrugged.

“Yeah. Moved in on the second, and I started at Yasogami on the third. Made a total ass of myself in front of my whole class.”

“How so?”

He blew a raspberry, “Listed off my birthday, sign, and height without even thinking about it. Well, I was thinking, but mostly about how cute all the girls were. Besides the Junes thing, that’s probably why everyone avoided me.”

Yu shrugged, “Not any worse than my first impression. I almost got in a fight with my homeroom teacher.”

“No way, you ?” Rise beamed, “Oh, I always knew you were secretly a badass, senpai!”

Another shrug. He hadn’t thought much about it at the time, but it seemed almost out of character for him. It was like a sudden aggression had taken over him. While it did pass as soon as the words left his mouth, he never really considered why he immediately mouthed off to Mooroka-san. Especially considering he went back to his usual quiet self right afterwards.

They soon returned to idle chatter, before Rise suddenly fell quiet, her gaze entranced down the sidewalk. Yu and Yosuke’s gaze followed suit, landing on what appeared to be Adachi-san. It didn’t look like he had seen them yet from his place at the gas station, but he was slowly approaching, his phone pressed to his face.

“Yosuke… you should hide,” Yu said, slowly inching closer to Rise.

By the time Adachi-san reached them, he was hanging up his phone, and looked straight at Yu and Rise.

“Oh hey,” he said, with a grin, “Are you kids supposed to be out this late? Dojima was just complaining to me that you should be getting home, Yu-kun.”

Yu lowered his gaze, “Is that so? I told him I was meeting with someone.”

Same as ever, there was something he didn’t quite like about Adachi-san, and Rise cowering into his arm wasn’t exactly helping.

He leaned back, waving them off, “Well, I’m not your keeper, but you know how your uncle is sometimes. Maybe shouldn’t keep him waiting?”

Standing up with Rise, he turned to her, and with his most casual tone said, “I should get going, see you tomorrow?”

She nodded wordlessly, waving him off and ducking back into the store. He bowed to Adachi-san, hurriedly excusing himself. It looked like he wanted to say something to him, but decided against it as he walked towards Shiroku’s instead. Once out of earshot and eyesight, Yosuke slowly came back into view, huddling up against Yu’s shoulder.

“You know that guy?” he asked in a low whisper.

Yu nodded, “He works with my uncle. Recognize him?”

“Can’t say for sure. Didn’t have much reason to interact with the police, y’know? He might have been at Junes once or twice?” Yosuke quickly looked behind them to make sure they weren’t being followed, “So, we’re just heading home?”

They didn’t have much choice, given Yu did say he was going to, and he wanted to confirm something with Dojima if he did ask him to come back. The two of them split off at the front door, Yosuke going to wait by the window, while Yu crossed through the entryway.

Dojima himself was reading the paper at the table, only looking up when Yu approached, “I see Adachi found you.”

“I was with Rise,” he answered, truthfully. Sadly that confirmed Adachi-san had been telling the truth.

“I’ll confirm that with him later,” he noticed the flinch, “Don’t think I haven’t gotten word from some of the rookies of you hanging out by the river by yourself at this time of night. Just making sure you’re not getting into trouble. Your school’s still having the culture festival at the end of the month?”

“As far as I’m aware.”

A soft sigh, “Expect a few officers to be on campus then, given the incident last year.”

“Even you?”

“I’ll be around, but I’m planning on taking Nanako, rather than patrolling.”

She’d enjoy that, Yu thought to himself. He didn’t like the idea of there being a lot of security at the culture festival, but he understood the reasoning. If someone could pull off a murder during a time like that, then there was always that fear it could happen again. At least he could maybe give the others a heads up about it. He didn’t think they’d catch their culprit, but the extra vigilance would be helpful.

Yu lightly swallowed, trying not to stall, “Anything else you needed, uncle?”

“No, have a good night, Yu.”

“Right…” he turned towards the stairs, “Night, uncle.”

Notes:

After tomorrow, it'll be a bit before I update again. We're closing in on what I want to be the ending of the story, or at least the climatic peak of it, and want to make sure it gets posted all together like the early parts had.

Chapter 33

Notes:

Apologies for this chapter being quite a bit shorter, but I wanted to keep it solely focused on what's about to happen, and Yoichi.

Of all things Yu expected to get roped into during his year in Inaba, helping host a concert at a department store was not one of them.

That had been a couple weeks ago, and people were still raving about it. It didn’t mean anything to Yu, really. Other than hearing the name from Rise that one time, he had no idea who Kanamin was. The show was fine, he could admit that much at least, but he had been more concerned about other matters at the time. Important matters, like managing his curse, Yosuke’s case, and midterms.

Ever since October rolled around Hanamura-san had been… scarce. Not to say he wasn’t doing his job, but he had more or less stopped popping by the Dojima’s since the start of the month. Nevermind that he seemed to just disappear for hours at a time, even at Junes, and with the culture festival at the end of the week, it seemed like finding him was going to only get harder and harder.

Despite being probably the most reliable part-timer in the entire store, Yu thought it’d be best if he tried to find Hanamura-san, leaving his coworkers to fend for themselves. He had his suspicions of why he was laying low, but he’d rather confirm it personally. Perhaps even impart what he knew, though it was certain Naoto-kun had already gone over any recent findings with him.

Almost uncharacteristically, he was standing in the electronics section. Or, what remained of it. Sales had been pitiful in the area, and his higher-ups apparently ordered for a downsize. Forlornly he stared at his reflection in one of the few larger screens that still remained.

Yu almost decided to turn around, that similar feeling of when he had found Hanamura-san during his chance meeting with Yosuke creeping back up. Instead, he stepped closer.

“Um… Hanamura-san?” He asked, barely raising his voice enough to be heard.

Shocked, he turned around, but not like he was about to scold him, “Ah… Yu-kun… is everything alright?”

“I’m here to ask you that, actually.”

“Oh. I see. That… Just,” a heavy sigh, “I’m sure you know it’s not, Yu-kun. It’s been over a year since we… I moved here and… almost a year since…,” He couldn’t even bring himself to vocalize Yosuke’s death, “You wouldn’t understand, really. I know you lost your aunt, but… this is so much different than that.”

It wasn’t in him to empathize anyway, not when he barely knew Aunt Chisato to start with.

Slowly taking off his glasses, an unsteady hand scrubbed against his face. He sighed, world weary and tired, looking back at the television he had been staring at. His voice was soft, lamenting how much Yosuke probably missed due to his death, especially seeing how Yu had gotten along with Chie and Yukiko. The friends he would have made, the adventures he would have had, his voice cracking at the plans he had for after graduation. All of that, taken away from him.

Yu looked down at the floor, having heard some of these details from Yosuke himself. But, it didn’t hurt any less. Not when he personally spent the last several months entertaining his ghost. Yet, it still didn’t seem as though he had gotten any closer to finding any answers.

Hanamura-san turned, looking straight at him, heavy tears rolling down his cheeks, and without his glasses altering part of his face, Yu could really see the resemblance he and Yosuke shared. He could tell Yosuke had probably only gotten his eye color and nose shape from his mother, while everything else leaned so heavily on his father’s side. He didn’t like assuming, but that strong resemblance was probably another factor towards the divorce.

“Has… Naoto-kun discussed anything of note with you?” he opted to ask, feeling it would slightly alter the subject.

“Ah…” he slowly slid his glasses back into their proper place, “We’re going to meet up tomorrow after school’s out for the day. Somehow there’s something Naoto-kun has found and would like to discuss with me privately before bringing it up to Ryotaro. Important evidence that might have gotten overlooked or something?”

Whatever it was, was news to Yu. It was probably something Yosuke mentioned during the one-on-one he had a couple weeks ago, and it took until now for Naoto-kun to make heads or tails of the information.

A sinking feeling started creeping up in his gut. He could feel like something was about to go terribly wrong.

Notes:

Honestly, Yoichi's dialogue went through a LOT of revision because I wasn't sure exactly how I wanted to tackle it. For all the silly shenanigans that keep cropping up, Mr. Hanamura always brings things back down.

Also, this entire chapter is just a giant reference to Several Things that would only happen if the Inaba murders didn't occur. Kanami's concert was cancelled because of Naoto's disappearance, and one of the drama CDs is about how the electronic section outright does poorly and it's ONLY because of Yosuke, Teddie, and a little Chie, that it didn't get downsized.

To be fair, a LOT of this story is just "wait, Yosuke was responsible for this, how would it happen now?"

Chapter 34

Yu made sure he got up for school bright and early. It was imperative to him that he spoke with the rest of his friends about the possibility of someone getting attacked at the culture festival again. He wasn’t sure who would be on the docket, but having several eyes and ears around the school wouldn’t exactly hurt. Sure, Dojima had told him there would be officers on duty as a precaution, but something was nagging him that they wouldn’t be any help at all.

Thankfully, his class was going to be fairly easy to slip out of. Majority vote put down for a movie theater, so it was going to be pretty dark and quiet. Yosuke had teased Yu earlier in the week to put down a group date café as a joke option, but he chickened out at the last second when writing his suggestion. He had remembered his night in Iwatodai and how fun that was, thinking they could all play the King’s Game again, but something told him that Yosuke’s suggestion would come back to bite him.

Well, that feeling was mostly because Yosuke “anonymously” signed up the girls for the beauty pageant for a laugh. Chie had been undoubtedly pissed about it, but he was spared from her wrath solely through the benefit of his ability to become incorporeal. So, Yu had decided it was better to maybe not indulge Yosuke’s ideas too much.

Regardless, it was the first day of the festival, and everyone was gathered outside class 2-2, awaiting Yu’s plans for the day.

Yukiko was the first to lean in close, keeping her hands near her face to stay quiet, “You’re not wearing your omamori, Yu-kun?”

He shook his head, “It might be risky, but I might need Yosuke to take over at some point, but he can also sorta… communicate through me, since that’s what his curse can do. Only Rise-chan or Naoto-kun will be able to hear him, but he’s going to stay by the shoe lockers and look for suspicious people.”

Rise stomped her foot, “Senpai that’s super dangerous! I know Yosuke is nice, but it’s a curse ! What if he… can’t let you go? We might lose both of you.”

“I know.” He bit back a nervous swallow, “But, if we can stop anyone else from dying, we have to take that risk. That, and because it’s not raining, he’s not as powerful as he could be. I should be okay.”

Kanji brushed off the worries, “And what about Teddie? I saw him pokin’ around too.”

A simple explanation: Teddie was just there for the festival, escorting the fox’s children while she kept an eye out for any strange individuals as well, since she was also at the festival, representing Tatsuhime Shrine. With the police, their little ragtag team, and three yokai, it would be difficult for anyone to pull anything. Yu himself was still apprehensive, but that was just a deep feeling in his gut for now. The only advice he could give, as apparent leader, was for everyone to keep their eyes peeled, and try not to rouse suspicion out of Dojima, Adachi-san, or Hanamura-san if they came across them. Of course, Hanamura-san probably wasn’t going to be at Yasogami, but they had to account for the possibility.

The day itself passed fairly quietly, events wise. It seemed the only ones that were on edge at all were Yu and his friends. No one could even think to use the gym as a cover, since class 2-1 was hosting a play in the morning, and some inane cross-dressing competition was going to be hosted that afternoon. Nevermind that the beauty pageant was going to be hosted there tomorrow. The main building was also pretty packed with people. Easy to lose someone in a crowd, but also enough people as witnesses in case of situations.

It was past noon, just after 2-1’s play, but with some time before the pageant. Yu shuffled down the stairs to check on Yosuke. He was sitting under the bulletin board, a sky blue hoodie pulled up around his head to hide his hair and face from those that walked by. With what little grace he could muster, Yu sat down on the floor with him, and tried to look as natural as he could. In a quiet whisper he asked if there had been anyone that looked off. A moment of silence passed before he could faintly hear Yosuke’s response.

Nothing, as of yet. Though, it wasn’t all smooth sailing since a few concerned housewives had questioned Yosuke’s health since he was just sitting around. To be fair, Yu could see why anyone would be concerned.

Slowly, carefully, he shuffled slightly closer, bravely adjusting himself so their shoulders would brush, and his hand barely ghosted past Yosuke’s. There was no immediate movement, his gaze still fixated ahead.

Yu swallowed, voice still whispered, “So… if… when we find your killer… what are you going to do?”

“You know,” he turned his head, pulling the hood slightly so Yu could see his smile, “I was going to ask you that, dude. You’ve lived most of this year for my sake, what comes after?”

“I…”

He faltered again, knowing deep down what he truly wanted to tell him. His heart pounded in his chest, a nervous hand flying to his neck to pull at where the omamori should have been. Sure, there was no telling what the response would be should he voice the truth but… he was certainly getting tired of secrets. After another moment of silence, he opened his mouth to speak.

“I want to spend my life with you.”

There was a sharp, but brief laugh.

“Dude, I basically own, like, ten percent of your soul. You’re stuck with me.”

“No, that’s not what I… I mean…” he inhaled, watching his face fall, “Yosuke, I–”

The sudden sharpness of his ringtone interrupted that thought where it stood. His phone flashed Dojima’s name at him, sadly signifying it as important. Putting his feelings on hold, Yu stood up, stepping away so the connection wouldn’t be dampened.

“Hello?”

Dojima’s voice sounded exhausted, “Yu, I know this is a bit sudden, but Nanako and I won’t be home over the weekend. I’m being called into the capital for something important, and I can’t leave Nanako alone that long. Yoichi’s willing to watch her, so don’t worry about that. He promised to take her to the festival tomorrow for me, but,” he sounded hesitant for a moment, “Can I trust you to stay safe?”

Unfortunately, he knew full well why he was being asked, “I’ll be fine, uncle.”

Silence followed, “I haven’t left yet so… if there’s anything you need to tell me…”

“… No… there isn’t. I’ll be safe.”

He waited for a retort that never came, instead getting a somewhat resigned “if you say so” before a curt goodbye. With a sigh of his own, he turned back to Yosuke.

“We can… continue this at home, alright?” He said, “We’ll have the place to ourselves all weekend.”

It was clear that Yosuke wanted to continue their discussion regardless, but remained quiet. Yu nodded, more to himself, before slipping back upstairs to do a sweep of the hall. Both to check on the others, but maybe find something Nanako would like as a gift.

His hand trailed up the wall of the stairwell, mindful of those pushing past him to go downstairs, eyes slightly glazed over, replaying that botched conversation in his head over and over again. He felt like a fool, overanalyzing the reaction he had been given.

Standing in front of a weird fortune telling booth, he pulled out his phone, sending a brief text to everyone. He let them know Yosuke hadn’t seen anyone of note, and he was going to wander the festival for a while. There was something still nagging at him that something was wrong, but he couldn’t place what.

He ended up ignoring that feeling further when Nagase approached him and said someone was looking for him, and wanted to meet in the practice building. When he asked who it was, all he got was a shrug and that it was “some guy with a tie”, which was less than useful.

Regardless, Yu thanked him and told him to give his greeting to Ichijo as well, before making his way towards the outdoor walkway.

Notes:

Ok, I somewhat lied. Y'all are getting this chapter independently of the next batch.