Our last chapter!


There was utter silence in the wake of Yuki's words. Then, Miku spoke.

"Rin is right. I want to be famous, more than anything … But Kaito is more important."

Len sighed. "And … I guess it's not so bad to have you guys help." He gave a small, lopsided grin. "Besides, after this house … What's the worst the bullies can do to me?"

Rin smiled widely and wrapped an arm around Len's shoulder. Then she turned to Meiko, her smile fading. "… Meiko?"

Meiko looked around at the entire group, her fists clenched. By their faces, it was clear that they had already made up their minds.

"Please, Meiko," Gakupo said. "Kaito's death is on all of us."

Meiko grit her teeth and spun to face Yuki. Before anyone could speak, she answered the ghost's question. "We wish … for Kaito to be alive again," she said.

It was like the entire room breathed a sigh of relief. Yuki was still for a moment, but then slowly raised her hand and waved goodbye. Then the floor collapsed beneath her.

The floor fell apart in large chunks, leaving gaping holes with only blackness beneath. It buckled beneath the group and sent them tumbling into the dark …

And then, all at once it was bright. They landed, hard but unharmed, on the unkempt grass in front of the house.

Nine heads rose, one by one, blinking slowly.

"Um … What just happened?"

The rest of the group spun to confirm. Kaito was sitting in the grass with a very puzzled expression, rubbing his head. He seemed a bit paler than usual, but otherwise unharmed.

Rin's eyes filled with tears, and she pressed a hand to her mouth. Gakupo looked as though all of the air had been stolen from his lungs.

Then Meiko let out a choked sob and buried her face in his chest.

He put his arms around her, puzzled. "Oh. Hi. This is new."

"Don't get used to it," she mumbled, her voice muffled against his chest. A few sporadic laughs went through the group.

Luka patted Meiko's back comfortingly. "She's … had a rough day."

"We all have," Miku agreed, scrubbing at her face tiredly with her hands.

"How much do you remember?" Len asked Kaito.

Kaito frowned. "Well, we went into the house. Then this random chick came up, started shouting all this crazy stuff at me …"

"Her name was Mayu," Rin said softly.

Kaito shrugged. "She came at me … something happened, it was so quick … It seems like there was more, after that. But I can't remember. Really weird, just … It feels like I was … angry, and sad, and scared. But I didn't have time to be any of that, right?"

"You were gone for … a while," Gumi said in an attempt at tact.

"Where did I go?" he asked.

No one quite knew how to answer that. When Ia spoke, her voice was rather quiet. "… All the ghosts in that house … They seemed angry, sad, and scared, too. Maybe that's why you felt like that."

"But I'm not a …" Kaito trailed off. Meiko backed away from him and nodded. His face turned white. "Am I a ghost?"

"No!" Rin said hastily. "No, we … we brought you back. That was how we used the wish."

Kaito relaxed a bit. "Oh." He paused, then. "Oh. Wow. I'm … thanks, you guys."

Meiko nudged him in the arm, lightly. "Glad to have you back, idiot."

"I guess I'm glad to be back, although I can hardly remember being gone. Wow. This is … a lot to process."

Ia stood, brushing off her skirt. "I think we'll all feel better after a good night's sleep."

Gumi nodded, standing with her. "Yeah. And hey, Ia … Are you, um, busy tomorrow?"

"No, why?"

Gumi shifted her weight awkwardly. "I was wondering if you'd like to go … out to dinner."

Ia blinked. "Oh. You mean, like a –"

"Yeah, I mean, if you want –"

"I do, I do –"

"Good. Me too, I mean."

The two shared an awkward smile. Ia coughed. "Right, then. I'll … I'll see you guys around."

"Yeah, you will," Miku said, nodding. Ia smiled faintly and walked off. Gumi went off in the opposite direction.

"… Is there … Something going on with those two?" Kaito asked.

This time the group really did laugh. Even Meiko couldn't help it.

"You have a lot to catch up on, dude," Gakupo said. He stood, hesitated. Then he offered a hand to Kaito. "If you walk home with me … I'll get you all caught up. Tell you everything." He looked a bit sick at the idea, but he stayed resolute. "Everything."

Kaito grabbed his hand and pulled himself up. "Thanks, man," Kaito said. "I bet it's a shocker."

"Something like that. Let's go."

The two started for home. The five remaining watched them as they went.

"Do you really think Gakupo's going to tell him?" Miku asked.

"I do," Luka said. "And you know what? I think Kaito's going to be just fine with it. Who knows? It could be the start of something beautiful between them, like Gumi and Ia." She couldn't keep the wistfulness off her face.

Meiko squeezed her shoulder. "Hey. You're gorgeous, and an awesome person. Whoever your soulmate is, you'll find them."

Luka smiled. "I know."

Miku nodded. "Right. You just have to work at your wish … Like me. And you know what? We can start right now!"

Luka laughed. "What?"

"I'm serious! Let's go get you some new clothes that make you feel as confident as you deserve to be! And I'll find something that makes me feel like a star, and work to make it happen."

Luka shook her head, but grinned. "You know … I like that idea. Let's go." They walked off together, Miku chattering animatedly about what would look best on Luka.

Meiko stood silently. Slowly, she turned to face the house. None of the destruction she had seen was apparent from out here. She wondered if it had even really happened inside the house, at all.

Then there were hands in both of her own. Len stood to her left, and Rin to her right.

"Are you alright?" Rin asked softly, her voice full of pity and maybe just a bit of guilt.

Meiko nodded decisively. "… Yeah," she said. For a moment, it felt like there was a third hand, soft and comforting, on the small of her back. And for a moment, she really felt like she was telling the truth.

"Let's go home," Len said.

"Yeah," Meiko said again, a smile on her lips. "Yeah, let's."

They walked away. The windows of the house were empty and dark. The broken swing moved gently, even though there was little to no breeze.

The house didn't seem happy or sad to be left alone. It just seemed indifferent.

Or maybe it just knew that there would always be more. There would always be people who wanted to make their wishes come true.


So, we've reached the end of this little story! Thank you to everyone who played along. I had a really great time with this! It was definitely a challenge for me, because I wasn't able to write ahead and store up chapters for the weeks where I felt too tired/busy/whatever to write. It's not the way I usually do things! But having you guys so involved definitely made me feel more accountable.

I've got a couple of fics in the works! There's one I mentioned in a previous story, In Persona, that might see the light of day someday. I'm still trying to figure out the voice of it, to be quite honest with you! But I've also started work on another horror story, called Sad Fates. I hope to have that out to you as soon as possible! It's a prequel to a fic I wrote called Rotting Camellias, but you should be able to enjoy it whether you read it or not (but ... if you like my writing, I suggest you read it! I'm very proud of that one.)

Other than that, I'm happily working on personal projects, and who knows? Maybe one day you'll be seeing some original fiction from me on another platform :)

Thanks again for playing! I hope you all had as much fun as I did.

- Jillian Maria