Quite Far Gone
"I don't see anything spirit-like around here, Rukudou-kun" Sakura said after they had spent twenty minutes searching the general area.
The redhead shushed her and continued to scan the horizon diligently.
Sakura huffed a little in response, crossing her arms as she looked around unenthusiastically. "Some date this is turning out to be" she mumbled quietly.
Apparently she hadn't said it all that quietly, though, because Rinne quickly turned to face her. "Mamiya Sakura, please be patient. Might I remind you that accompanying me here was entirely your idea?"
The girl gave an apologetic sigh in knowing that he was right. "I'm sorry...I guess I'm just a little cold from being outside for so long" she put on a smile. "Let's keep looking! I'm sure we'll find it soon if we…" she trailed off, cocking her head to the side as her date pulled off his haori. "We…aren't going to look anymore?"
Tucking the fancy material under his arm, Rinne wordlessly started to unzip his sweater. He wouldn't…would he?
Sakura's suspicions were confirmed when he shrugged off the sweater and held it in her direction, staring nonchalantly at the ground all the while. Her cheeks warmed, a feeling of gratitude overcoming her. He was giving it to her to wear! Rukudou-kun was really a nice guy underneath all that evasiveness and disinterest.
"Th-thank you…!" she managed, reaching slowly for the article of clothing.
"Just don't damage it" he sighed as the sweater was ripped from his fingers. A slight shriek followed the action, making Rinne spin on heel to see what the out-of-place noise was for.
It happened so fast it was almost impossible to see with the human eye. For just one second the red haired boy saw Sakura being pulled downwards by a pair of much too clingy hands. When he blinked she was gone, sweater and all.
"M-Mamiya Sakura!" he exclaimed in panic, lunging at the earth to follow her.
His face hit the dirt and he recoiled, confused. Spitting out the soil in his mouth, Rinne pushed against the ground heavily, trying to slip through as he normally could. A couple of minutes of struggling passed by and then the boy almost did a face-palm, realizing that he had yet to put the yomi no haori back on. Embarrassed, he glanced around to find the area free of observers. The redhead got to his feet, picking up his haori where it had been dropped and brushing it off before putting it on once more.
Taking in a breath of air to calm himself, the sort-of shinigami then proceeded to sink through the earth, eyes closed as his body passing through the solid ground. Soon enough he had slipped into open air again, and the boy opened his eyes just as his feet touched pavement.
"Of course" he said observantly, staring down the long, damp tunnel in front of him. "The sewer system…" the hands that had dragged Sakura to this place flashed through his mind, looking less human as he repeated the scene of her disappearing more than once. "That was no doubt the ghost said to be located in this area. I hadn't thought of looking underground. But…to drag a human down here, it must already be very corrupt" he glanced around. "This might be bad..."
"Hey now, I don't think it's very good of you to do this!" Sakura scolded the ghost that was pulling her down the tunnel at a break-neck speed. She swallowed the foul tasting air, trying hard to speak again. "You'll be punished!"
"What, are you going to beat me up?" the ghost jived, a grin on their misshapen face. "I don't think so!"
Sakura squirmed. It was true- she couldn't to anything to this spirit. Normally she could break through them with a bit of effort, but for some reason this ghost was almost like a solid being. None of them had been able to drag her through the ground, or anything else like that. There was something peculiar about this one.
He looks strange, too, the girl thought in worry. He's all out of shape… it's like…looking at a wonky mirror. Has he become an evil spirit? Ah, that's not good. It'll cost Rukudou-kun more money this way-
Sakura's train of thought switched rails. That's right! Rukudou-kun should be chasing after us, right? The girl relaxed. He'll come and save me! Or at least get rid of the ghost.
"Guess I'll help him out!" she said before taking a deep breath, almost chocking on the stagnant air. "Rukudou-kun! Rukudou-kuuun! RUKUdmmph!" she glared at the ghastly hand now covering her mouth.
"Shut up, will ya?! Noisy girl" the spirit grumbled.
Sakura closed her hazel eyes in defeat. The ghost's hand remained clamped over her jaw as the air rushed passed her, the gurgling of sewer water dim in her ears. Something slipped from her arm, making the girl snap her eyes open. In a blur she saw her purse tumble to the gritty pavement below. She frowned behind the fingers covering her mouth, lamenting the loss of such an important item. At least it hadn't fallen into the water. Hopefully Rukudou-kun would catch up to them quickly so she would have time to search for it.
She wasn't sure how much time had passed after that, but suddenly the ghost came to a stop. Sakura glanced around warily, unsure of where they were or what this marauding spirit was going to do with her. All around them were many bars of metal, twisted together like some sort of cage. She felt the ghost's grip begin to loosen, and before she knew it Sakura was flat on her back and the ghost had drifted to the other side of the bars that surrounded her.
"I bet your curious about why you're here, right?" the spirit said to her with a warped smile. "I'm dead now, so I can pass through these bars easily. But you… you're alive. Solid. You only got this far because of me. I bet you can't get out on your own" he chuckled when Sakura's eyes widened, knowing the girl was starting to understand the situation. "You'll be my pet from now on. The first didn't survive long …you'll be smarter than her, okay?"
The first? Sakura's mind echoed uneasily as she moved to get up. Her hand brushed against a hard, dusty object. She looked to see what it what it was, she froze.
A skull.
Now that she looked around, the girl saw all sorts of bones scattered around. Human ones. Slowly turning her hazel eyes on her captor, Sakura put on a glare. "You…h-how many people have you caught like this before?!"
"Just the one. And now you"
"I'll get out, you know!" she told him defiantly. "I have someone coming to save me! A-and he'll make sure you never do this again!"
The ghost gave another short laugh. "The first girl said something like that too, but she was wrong" he drifted closer to the bars, and Sakura thought his distorted expression looked like something of a sneer. "You're wrong too"
And with that her captor faded away completely, passing through the rounded wall behind him noiselessly. Sakura stared at the empty space in front of her for a moment, her face pale.
Rukudou-kun would come and help. She knew he would, if only for the fact that it was his job. Despite this, Sakura could not shake off the uneasiness that surrounded her much like the scattered bones. She squeezed her hands tight, feeling a soft material between her fingers.
"Eh?" the girl looked down, noting the off-white sweater in her arms. "Ah, Rukudou-kun's sweater!" she turned it around in her hands a little, looking for damages. "Looks like it made it through the trip okay, at least…"
After a minute of simply grasping the article of clothing in her fingers, Sakura slid her arms into the sleeves and fitted the sweater over her shoulders, doing up the zipper. Tucking her knees up to her chest, the girl hugged her bare legs and rested her head. The warmth of the boy's clothing let her relax, color returning to her cheeks as she awaited Rinne's arrival.
"At lease I'm going the right way" Rinne noted as he picked a familiar purse up off the unclean pavement.
Mamiya Sakura… did she drop it on purpose? He wondered, holding onto it as he continued to rush along. He could sense it- the darkened aura of a corrupted spirit.
Rinne had to stop himself immediately to keep from plowing into the sought-after apparition, which appeared suddenly through one of the walls. The diseased man raised a wonky eyebrow at the boy's unexpected appearance, as though he had merely been passing through and spotted something unusual.
"Now this is strange!" the ghost said with interest. "No one's ever come down here before! Are you the one the girl was talking about?"
Rinne narrowed his eyes. "…You mean the girl you dragged down here just now?"
"That's right! 'Someone's coming to save me!' she said. So, is that you?"
"I supposed I must be" the boy replied, watching his target cautiously.
"By the way, how can you see me? That girl, too. Are you a ghost as well?"
"No…I'm a human of sorts. You could also call me a shinigami. As for that girl…" Rinne looked to the side. "Well, that's none of your business. Now I have some questions. How are you- a being with no solid form- able to take hold of a living human and pull them through the earth as though they were dead themselves?"
"Hmm? You're curious?" the spirit scratched at his warped chin. "Alright, I'll tell you! You see, I had a poor dating record when I was alive. Girls broke up with me all the time. A pretty sad life! And then I died. It didn't take me long to notice, because I could pass through things like they were nothing- even other people. This was ironically not much different from when I was alive, though! Girls just passing by, me not being able to stop them…I wanted to hold them close and make sure they'd never leave me…!"
"…And your strong desire to grasp the living made you corrupt and fueled your strength, giving you the power to do just that" the redhead concluded soundly. "I see…it seems you're quite far gone. Getting you to pass on will be very costly"
"Is that so? Well, you don't have to do anything, shinigami-san! Just leave me be…" the spirit smiled a concave smile. "I'll take good care of that girl, you know, I swear- like she was my very own puppy"
Gritting his teeth, Rinne withdrew a bill from inside Sakura's purse and held the rectangular piece paper between his index and middle finger menacingly.
The soft crushing noise of shoes on dirt caught Sakura's attention immediately and the girl lifted her head up. She saw red hair and a white haori with fancy patterns on it, as well as a black shirt and faded pants. A smile bloomed on her face and she bounded to her feet, running up to the mangled bars to greet the sort-of shinigami on the other side.
"Rukudou-kun!" she laughed. "I'm so happy!"
"I'm afraid…you will not be for much longer, Mamiya Sakura" the boy told her gravely.
Sakura's smile faded. "Why? You didn't manage to guide the spirit into the afterlife?"
"No…I did do that"
Puzzlement crossed her features. "Then what's the matter?"
"You see, I…!" he clenched his fist, looking as if he was in pain. "I…borrowed a thousand yen bill from your purse! I'm sorry for using it without permission, but the situation was dire. I swear I will pay you back!"
Sakura laughed awkwardly as he forced out the words. "No, no…that's fine. I don't mind at all"
"Really?" he relaxed slightly. "Are you sure? It's quite a large sum"
"Um…consider it payment for saving me?"
Rinne appeared to think about this for a moment before nodding in agreement. "Alright. That seems fair"
Actually, if I was paying you I'd give you a lot more! Sakura pointed out in her head, before taking a small step back from inside the cage. "How do I get out?" she wondered aloud, looking at the bent pieces of metal.
"The same way you got in, I'm sure" Rinne answered, stepping through the bars effortlessly. For seeing ghosts as long as she had, watching someone she knew was alive do such a thing was almost strange to her. "I'll just-"
The boy's sentence was cut short by a loud crunching noise. He looked down at the fragile bone that had crumbled beneath his foot and took a step back. His eyes trailed along the ground, noticing the bones strewn across it for the first time.
"This is what's left of a girl he had captured before me" Sakura told the redhead slowly. "Although I'm not sure how long she's been…like this"
A solemn expression formed on Rinne's face. "That ghost who held her here will be judged during the reincarnation process. He will most likely live his new life as something lesser to repent for his sins"
Sakura crouched down beside the skull near her, reaching towards it. Her fingertips brushed against the pale surface of what was once a girl's head as if to comfort the departed spirit. "There was no one… to come and save her" she breathed, her eyes becoming moist. "It's kind of sad"
"She must have been very desperate to leave this place. It's likely the girl passed on the moment her soul left its body, so you needn't worry. She'll live a happy live when she is reborn"
The schoolgirl sniffed at Rinne's words as she stood up. "Yeah" she sighed, blinking back her tears.
The redhead stared off at nothing for a moment, before raising her purse to eye level and swinging it in a pendulum-like fashion. "Be cheerful, Mamiya Sakura. I believe I agreed to accompany you on a date"
"Ah?" Sakura rubbed at her hazel eyes, a bit of a smile forming on her face. "That's right…!" she took her purse back from him, slipping it onto her shoulder. "Let's go, then"
Nodding, Rinne took a hold of one of her hands and gave a little push of his legs. Sakura closed her eyes as they passed through the tunnel walls. Soon her hand was released and she reopened them, knowing they were back above ground. The sky was dark now, stars glowing faintly in the sky as the moonlight streamed through the clouds.
"Its past seven-thirty now…" the girl announce after giving her wristwatch a glance. "What should we do?"
The red haired boy merely shrugged.
I guess Rukudou-kun wouldn't have much of an idea, right? Sakura thought mentally, picking through their options. It's too late for strolling now… the early show at the movies has probably started already…
Her eyes drifted to her date, who was now looking at the ground with a tired expression on his face. Their 'adventure' must have taken a lot of energy out of him. Sakura smiled when his eyes shifted towards her curiously.
"It's a bit late," the hazel eyed girl offered, "but how about we get something to eat?"
Chapter two! Tada! It's a fair bit longer than the first chapter, but that was just the introduction. I also wanted to get the whole ghost-hunt done in one go, since I'm just splitting the chapters up into sections of events. Chapter one, asking out. Chapter two, ghost-hunt. Chapter three, dinner. And so on.
It wouldn't be Kyoukai no Rinne without a ghost showing up, but I had to do the whole thing in a very assumption-based manner because there's a lot of things about ghosts and corruption and getting spirits to pass on that hasn't been explained yet. Totally winged it, basically. We can all use our imaginations to think of how Rinne convinced that corrupt spirit to pass on, but we know it took him about an hour.
I'm surprised I got reviews! There weren't any fanfictions for this manga, and it's only just getting started so I assumed people wouldn't be interested in reading about it much, but it seems liked so I'm happy.
Nothing else to say except I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and feel free to review!