Coincidence / Accident

"My name is Kitahara Mizuki, a 16 years old highschool girl at Hokubu High. I lived an ordinary life at school, though a lonely one. I can't remember it well but I graduated middle school without any friends. For some reason people avoid me at school then, and it changed somehow before I realized it. So I've decided, I'll also graduate from my lonely school life in highschool. I say that but, even though I've been social with everyone around me, I still don't have the confidence to be close with anyone. As a result, I'm not part of any group of friends yet- No no! I choose to not be! Yes! that's it."

The day shines bright today just as any other day. The weather's not too cold despite Hokubu town being one of the northernmost among the other province.

"Mizu-chan! Did ya hear me?" the call snaps Mizuki out of her daydream, she turns to her friend who now looks slightly annoyed by her 'out of there' look "like I said, don't you find it annoying? If he actually cares about me that much should be obvious. Thats what couples do after all right?" Mizuki just smiles to the sassy girl's complaint of her busy love life.

"Saotome's not easy to impress huh? What's this, the 3rd guy already?" a long haired schoolgirl comments on the troubled girl's love problem. Mizuki just laughs gently, humouring the idle chattering without fully agreeing with her to avoid offending the girl in question.

It's at calm days like this that Mizuki reminisce her previous school life in middle school. "Huh? That's weird.." she thought, "what was my middle school like?" Her thoughts are slightly inconsistent, or rather she'd lost access to her childhood memory somehow. Her eyes darted to another lass having just arrived and already placed down her bag on the seat next to her. A faint melody fills the air. The girl speaks something in her direction but Mizuki can't really make out what the message are, sunken underneath the unexplainable tune. Suddenly the whole class turned silent except for that faint tune whispering in the wind. A familiar tune no louder than a sleeping person's hum. "This is my..." Mizuki woke up.

It was all a dream, defeated by the fatigue of afterschool chores, she'd fallen asleep in her class while the sun already shy away from the day. "I overslept after class! This is too reckless." she rushingly packs her things and makes her way through the hallway, heading home "hope they haven't locked the main door" She tried recalling the event on the day that'd drained her energy so, but nothing in particular comes to mind except for the ghostly rumor entailing the school's condition at night. It was the talks of her classmates and pretty much everyone at school, and it sticks out in her memory. A ghastly rumour that she'd rather not think about especially now of all times. Even having it just passed briefly in her memories is already making her see things in the corner of her eyes.

"No no, that's not gonna happen to me!" she desperately takes her mind off such thought.

As she reaches the main entrances, or in her case, the main exit to the building. She's hit with another dilemma "It's.. already locked..." she fell to her knees in a dramatic fashion. Tired from having ran all that meters for nothing. "But wait-" She got back on her feet "If I recall, there's another old door with a stairway out on the second floor" An alternative exit.

And a hand.

It touches her shoulder and spooked the living soul out of her, a masculine hand, yet gentle. But it caught her off guard as she did not thought there are still people in the building. Her reaction also in turn spooked the boy. One of her schoolmates apparently as he's wearing Hokubu High's uniform.

'never saw him before.. or maybe I did?' she thought as she jogs her memory. Seeing him already triggers a faint memory from today's event, at an intersection to school once just barely and at school behind her today almost every recollection of today's scene have him in it like a central figure of a drama.

"A girl like you shouldn't be here, not at this hour" He had a serious expression. Seems he mean it.

"Uhh.. I'm sorry, I kinda overslept.." that last part sinks under her breath because even she herself feel stupid saying it out loud.

"Huh? What kinda excuse is that? You have no idea how dangerous it can get at these hours, better make your way back home as soon as possible!" a bit stern, but more of a warning rather than a scold. The boy leaves in a different direction after saying what he has to say.

Mizuki continued to make her way to leave the school, a bit unsettled by the boy's words she hurried back. She felt a growing sense of dread, 'This has to be just my imagination' she attempted to shook off the growing anxiety inside her. But that in turn only feeds it more 'what's this feeling? It's like someone is watching me! and really closely!!' She started running fast, 'is it that guy from earlier?' occasionally she looked back to find nothing behind her and continued on her way and right before she reached the windowless stairs to exit the building, she felt a chilling breeze behind her, her earlier suspicions further ignites her disquietude, she quickly turned her head like she did a few times earlier but this time, in the corner of her eyes, something like a big lump of shadow is blocking her view, but upon longer observation, it turns out to be a ghastly figures towering over her almost like it's going to bust a hole through the ceiling, or rather it's head already is touching the ceiling, part of it phases through. That thing seemingly haven't any eyes, was what she thought until it approaches her and it's long straight hair sways side to side, little by little revealing its red eerie pair of scornful eyes, staring sharply into hers.

'What's that? What's these? What's going on?!' suddenly her body feels heavy, like she's wearing a plate of armor, she lost sense of her body and yet her legs are still capable of supporting her weight, though they're no longer listening to her will, but instead the ghost's 'Run! My body! QUICK!!! My legs aren't listening to me?!' Her blood streams ice cold inside her veins, even the thump from her own heartbeat registers in her sensory organ. She feels her body swaying as if she's falling but she's not. the signals from her brain are telling her to get away from there but somewhere down the road it got lost and never reached the rest of her body

'if I'd known things would come to this, in the first place, I wouldn't have..-' A familiar voice greets her, she gathered her remaining strength and turned for the voice that greets her, a figure of a young man is watching her from a few meters away, the boy from earlier, he approaches her and started talking, it seems like he's trying to help, but she can barely make out his word, as if she's underwater. But she couldn't care less, she needed all the help she can get so she reached out for him in a desperate attempt and flexed all her oral muscle to form any semblance of a speech "H-HEL-LP" Many thoughts run through her mind right now, the fact that she's caught in this mess, the fact that the ghost is not going after him, the fact that he seems so familiar all throughout today. But only one goal she has now, to escape this predicament.

"Yo, you look like you're struggling" He greets Mizuki "I can help you" an offer of help. "But ghosts can be really clingy, even if you're healed, you might lost some things importants to you. Some receives treatment for the rest of their life and still be haunted, it's a terrible scam I'm telling you" he continues explaining regardless of whether she coherently responded to him or not.

"Though it's not like I can selfless help you out of this too. You see, you have to help me help you" He motions his finger "so here's the deal, do you want to escape for now but live in fear for life? Or die an easy death?" he offered as if she had the luxury to choose.

'What.. is he saying? what is he after? I can't hear him at all?? I don't have time to think about it even if I do hear him!! What does he want?' As she clings desperately to what little control she has of her consciousness, she's judging his motives purely from his body language in all this 'What is he trying to tell me? 2 fingers? 2 solutions? 2 drawbacks? 2 options? I can't make out completely what he's saying but..' a resolve burns inside her at this moment. 'I'm tired of being scared! Running away! Being left out as a result, those days are better off gone! If I'm ever presented with another chance to choose my life, THEN SURELY...-!!'

"Moreover, even if one leaves your body, the effec-" her faint replies cut him off mid sentences "F-F-FI-GHT" he paused, focusing on her voice. The lights in her eyes right now is different from the desperate one she had earlier, almost, like it's a different person. "I.. F-FIGH-T!! FIGHT!! I-" having received the answer "So you went with the third option huh..?" He closed his eyes.

"I can... hear him.." finally his words registers in her ear "Understood, that seals the deal" He said as he casually continues to instruct her "now repeat after me". Suddenly his voice is as clear as ever, in fact, it's the only sound she can hear at this moment. Not even the murder of crows' cawing outside reached her auditory senses. Not even her own gasping breath. It was only him and her in that seemingly closed off space. She can't make out what he said but for some reason her body does, her tongue as if having a mind of it's own, uttered the mantra he taught her, she feels her oral muscles moving about but can't make out the words. Upon uttering the mantra, a flash of light blinded her eyes for a second, she caught a glimpse of the boy smiling gratefully and in relief as if he'd just been freed of a long cruel fate.

Before the boy's feet leaves the ground, he's floating, glowing, shining, blinding. Just like a school of fish attracted to a bread crumb thrown into the water, tens, no, hundreds of thousands of orbs of light of various sizes enshrouds him from all direction, flying at tremendous speed. She could see them out the windows, they were flying from the skies kilometres away, millions of glowing tadpoles. Around the globe, the mysterious balls of lights emerged from all sorts of material and surfaces. They appeared from all sorts of things and place, some even comes from people though not everyone can see them. Animals detected them, the tree's bark reacted to them some people detected and reacted in their own way. They all come from all sorts of place around the world, millions of them, each so bright they're visible from outer space and flew at blinding speed in a single drection, a single coordinated destination, all entering the boy before Mizuki.

'Just what is he? This feeling.. it's different from before. It's still cold but it's kind of.. gentle..' she suddenly forgots the predicament she's in, awed by the beauty of the phenomenon in front of her. She's losing a big deal of her energy to the ghost, she's on the verge of passing out, she saw the boy's face, it was a different person from before but what caught her eye more than the face swap 'is he.. crying..?'

The ghost reacted to the spectacle happening next to them. After the light show ended, the boy stood upright on his feet, almost touching the ground. The ghost that was attacking Mizuki reacted to the boy as if only finding out about him just now. It fled the scene. Confused and scared of the whole turn of events.

In a split second, before anyone could make a move, the blade in his hand turned almost transparent, it's properties changed right before he shove it inside a figure. It touched Mizuki's intestines. The guy stabs Mizuki with his blade before she could see him coming, but she's fine, suprisingly.

However, it does affect her, she feels pulled out from her own body despite not moving an inch from her initial spot, she felt distanced with her sense. That also scared the ghost away as it fled the scene. The gentle cold shifted to a more violent one, she felt exposed.

She looked to her hand and her nerves are glowing, her whole body feels light and she can see her nervous system flashing through her clothes He then touched the tip of her finger and a streams of light buried themselves along her arm, making their way up her brain. Mizuki feels her body getting stretched but not in a painful way, she felt herself expanding like a balloon as he slowly opened her belly she could feel chill running down her spine. Her veins are glowing as if responding to his touch. A strange sensation filled her thoughts and she passed out. 'Areh.. what in the world.. did he do to me..

She watches the boy observing her losing strength with a smile on his face did 'I.. make.. the wrong choice.. after all..' Mizuki blacked out. 'I have to get back home.. Mom and Dad will be worried.. I can't die.. without having made any friends..in highschool.. there is someone.. I have yet to meet..' she monologues as she passes out.

The boy who stabbed her just look down at her limp body, cold and blank stares as if he no longer has any use for her. What scheme could he have in hiding behind that expressionless face. The boy possessed Mizuki, having control of her body.

This body.. I guess I'll return her home for the day." he grins.

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