Summary:"Across the border between this life and the next, we have now been linked."
Even when the roles are reversed, Amane and Nene prove that they were destined for each other.
He walks down the old hallway with uneasy steps, treading as though the decaying wooden floor would give out on him at any moment.
Hey have you heard? This school has seven wonders.
A mouse scampers across floor, shattering the uneasy tension with a squeak, and he almost turns around to go home. Almost. His destination was in sight now, there was nothing to lose.
The most famous story is the seventh of the wonders: Hanako-san of the bathroom.
He eyes the room before him with apprehension, a tight grip on the edge of the doorway. His heart beats wildly against his ribcage, telling him he can still turn around.
In the third stall of the girls' bathroom, on the third floor of the old building lives Hanako-san. She will grant a wish to anyone who summons her, but in exchange she takes something precious from them.
He proceeds anyway.
To call her, knock three times. And then…
"Hanako-san, Hanako-san, are you there?"
He gazes at the third stall praying and hoping that something happens, but at the same time he doesn't expect- doesn't want- anything to happen. Nonetheless he waits, not daring to even breathe as the sun starts to set, giving the bathroom a warm glow.
For a moment nothing happens and a conflicting wave of relief and disappointment hits. He shuts his eyes as the drumming in his ears finally starts to settle, a part of him laughs as he wonders why he thought anything would happen.
~I'm here~
Time stood still as the sound of a door creaking echoes. His amber eyes snap open and he discovers the bathroom stall had opened on its own.
A hand lands on his shoulder.
"I'm over here."
Amane is vaguely aware of a scream that erupts from his throat as his mind goes blank in panic. His body moves on its own, swinging violently around with an arm outstretched to hit whatever was behind him.
His arm fazes through a transparent face and instead swings into the second bathroom stall door with a resounding bang. For a second his surroundings are forgotten as he howls in pain, cradling the hand to his chest.
"Hey are you okay? That looked painful." A soft, melodious voice rings in Amane's ears. He can feel a presence slide closer to him, a pair of hands hover almost hesitantly in the corner of his eyes.
"W-wha?!" His heart leaps to his throat as he scrambles backwards, almost tripping over his feet in the process. A high-pitched giggle resounds throughout the room, giving Amane the courage to take a peek at what has been spooking him.
It was a young girl with bright, warm ruby eyes and cream hair that was tipped in green. She looked to be a year or two younger than him with… pretty fat ankles. But that's not what caught Amane's attention the most.
Her body was transparent, she wore the old middle school uniform and two ghostly orbs hovered idly around her.
"Y-you're a…"
"I'm an apparition." She smiles sweetly, floating to take a seat at the bathroom's windowsill. The light from the sun hugs her frame, at the back of Amane's mind he finds himself thinking it gives her an angelic appearance. "The seventh of the seven wonders, Hanako-san of the bathroom." She flashes him a peace sign. "It's nice to meet you."
Amane thought back to all the rumours he heard about Hanako-san of the toilet, no matter how he looked at the girl in front of him she didn't match the appearance at all.
"But where's your bob hair-cut? O-or your red skirt?"
"Oh those aren't cute at all~" She giggles, waving her hand as though to physically dismiss his questions. "I think I look pretty cute like this, don't you think?" She runs her fingers through one of her pigtails and flicks it in the air.
Amane was stunned into silence, he didn't know what to think about a ghost asking him if she was cute. Was she cute? He didn't care, there were so many questions running through his mind. He didn't even register the girl mentioning how he could call her 'Hanako-chan' if he wanted to.
"Are the rumours even true? You don't look or act like how I thought you would."
"Of course they're true." Amane involuntary flinches when the two orbs suddenly circle around Hanako's form and land in her open palms. "I might not match the rumour 100 percent, but I do grant wishes for whoever summons me and take one thing as payment." She tilts her head, her smile growing.
It all seemed to be too good to be true for Amane, a part of him thought he was being pranked. His amber orbs unconsciously start searching for any hidden cameras in the bathroom, he wouldn't put it past his brother to set this all up as an elaborate joke. He eyes her ankles in suspicion, perhaps they weren't actually large but instead stored some kind of recording device?
"You're not just some perverted daikon, are you?" The smile on Hanako's face immediately becomes strained at his words. If Amane didn't know any better, he would have said she almost looked hurt.
"This daikon is leaving." She snaps as she floats towards the third bathroom stall. A sense of panic overrides Amane's previous suspicion as he pleads for her to wait.
Instinctively he reaches out for her, to stop her from leaving him so soon, only to find his fingers slip right through her translucent form. In an instant any doubt Amane had before was long gone, he could chalk up his initial contact with her as him imagining things, but not this. Not even Tsukasa was capable of faking this.
"I-I take it back! Hanako-san is a cute daikon!" He calls out desperately, remembering how she had asked him if he thought she was cute.
Hanako's body comes to a standstill as it hovers just above the toilet. Amane couldn't see her expression but her shoulders had noticeably relaxed, he hoped he had said the right thing.
"You know what, you're not even my type but I'll take it." He blinks and Hanako is suddenly in front of him again, smiling happily as though nothing happened. She was now holding a notepad and a pen, giving him an expectant look. "What's your name and wish?"
Amane was surprised at how quickly her mood changed. He'd heard girls could be unpredictable, but he wasn't expecting them to be able to do a complete 180 in a matter of seconds. It was a little unsettling.
He rubs the back of his neck, uncomfortable with the attention. "My name is Yugi Amane, I'm a first year in the high school division. My wish…" His voice dies off as he hesitates. Hanako looks up from her notebook, she gestures for him to continue.
"You wish…?" Amane tries to speak but every syllable dies at his throat before he can utter a sound. He feels himself working up a sweat as he flusters, trying to find the words he wants to say. His face slowly heats up from the embarrassment of looking like an incompetent fool to someone he just met- even if that person was a ghost.
He's suddenly unsure about if he actually wants his wish to be granted. The urge to just run away becomes almost overwhelming for him.
However Hanako seems to misinterpret his reaction for something else.
"Are you in love?!" She squeals, floating right into his face. Amane leans back, only for Hanako to close the space without missing a beat. The way her eyes sparkled made his heart flutter.
He goes to correct the ghost only to find she's already rummaging through her skirt pockets. One by one she pulls out a variety of manga books out of her pocket and creates a tower-like pile on the floor.
Amane is certain this defies all laws of physics as he watches the tower grow in height.
"I have been waiting for this moment!" She tells him excitedly. "You know I have been here for decades and I have never answered a wish about love. All I get are boring wishes like 'I want to do well in my exams' or 'I wish to know my future.' You know, nothing juicy."
"Those actually sound reasonable though…" Hanako ignores him, or rather doesn't hear him, and starts flicking through one of the many manga she has brought out.
"Now tell me, who's the lucky lady?" She shoves an open manga to his face. He's greeted to the image of a sweet looking girl in a generic sailor school uniform. "Is it a pretty girl who you see passing in the hallway? A childhood friend perhaps?" Amane furrows his eyebrows.
"No-" The manga is tossed to the side as Hanako picks up a different looking manga. Flicking through the pages at almost god-like speed, she quickly finds a page and again shows Amane the contents. This time there was a girl with long twin tailed hair, standing with her hands on her hips and a scowl on her face.
"Perhaps you're into the tsundere type? The mean girl who's actually got a really soft spot for you." He barely had time to process her words before she decided he had answered too slowly. Again she tosses the manga in favour of another one. Amane was starting to get annoyed at this point, he couldn't even get a word in.
The next image to greet his face was a- erm- busty female character in a suggestive pose.
"You boys are into these sorts of girls, right? Big chests and all that." Hanako's tone feigns indifference, but there was a hint of distaste laced into her words.
As much as Amane wanted to refute the claim, too much of his brain was focused on the image in front of him. He doesn't want to call himself a pervert, but he reasons that if you shove anything like this into a teenage boy's face they are going to stare.
The manga suddenly slams closed, snapping him out his trace. His eyes meet Hanako's unimpressed gaze.
"Will you focus? Your love life is on the line." Amane frowns.
"You're the one that's shoving all these different images of girls into my face." He tells her in an exasperated tone. Hanako blinks, confusion was written all over her face.
Amane sighs, relieved she's stopped talking so he can finally clear up the misunderstanding.
"I'm not interested in-" The ghost snaps her fingers as if to say 'ah ha.' A large smile stretches across her face. He had a sinking feeling he wasn't going to like the next thing that comes out of her mouth.
"Oh I see!" She exclaims. She cups her own cheeks and sighs dreamily. "You're in love with a boy-"
"Absolutely not." His firm tone slices through whatever scenario Hanako had started imagining in her head.
She pouts. "There's nothing wrong with that you know~"
"Answer is still no." Hanako throws her arms in the air, as though she couldn't believe Amane had the audacity to not fit into her fantasies.
He feels his irritation growing.
"Well who are you in love with then?"
Amane has the intention to tell her that he was, in fact, not in love with anybody. Love was not on his radar at all, he had too many other things to think about and frankly he didn't care all that much. Even if he did care, he didn't have any potential love interests anyway.
However all that is thrown out of the window after one look into the hopeful gleam in Hanako's ruby eyes. He suddenly feels his irritation melt away into guilt, he knows logically he shouldn't feel that way but… She really wanted to grant this wish, didn't she?
His body droops in defeat as he tells her the first name that pops into his head.
"Nanamine Sakura."
"What a beautiful name~" Hanako claps her hands together and leans her cheek against them. "Do you have a picture?"
He does actually. On his phone there is a photo of her and Tsukasa that he kept after they spammed his phone with selfies. Well Tsukasa spammed him with selfies, he imagines Sakura got swept along by his brother's whims. He kept this specific one simply because Tsukasa's smile was clear to the camera. His arm was thrown around Sakura's shoulders and you could see a small smile grace her usually stoic expression.
"Aw you two look cute together!" Hanako coos as she looks at the photo from over his shoulder. He doesn't bother to tell her that it was his twin brother in the photo and not him.
She plants her feet to the ground, Amane can't help but note that she's a little bit shorter than him, and clears her throat.
"Okay I shall grant your wish for you~"
Amane tilts his head in curiosity, "how do you grant wishes, Hanako-san? Do you have special items you're going to use?" An image of Hanako sitting on the toilet, with a crystal ball in her lap, suddenly manifests in his mind. He hopes it's something simple like that, rather than a full-blown ritual that requires a blood sacrifice.
Actually now that he thinks about it, shouldn't he have asked what her method of granting wishes was before getting this far?
"You're already looking at them Yugi-kun." Hanako gestures to the manga on the floor before him with a bright smile.
Amane looks at her expectantly, waiting for her to burst into laughter and tell him she's joking. There's no way that an apparition of any kind would use such… normal methods. If he wanted normal, he wouldn't have gone through all this trouble to summon her in the first place.
His skepticism must have been evident on his face, for Hanako looks at him with a knowing glint in her eyes.
"If I were to use my power to grant your wish, there would be a price Yugi-kun." One of her ghostly orbs swirls to the ground and picks up a manga book. "Trust me when I say that this is the best method okay?" She smiles sweetly at him as the orb drops the manga into his hands.
"I see..."
Well this was probably fine right? It's not like he's actually out for love, this was more for her sake than his.
"And anyway-" She picks up another manga and starts flicking through the pages- "I really want to see a romance blossom up close! There's only so much I can get from manga."
Despite having no interest in looking through the manga he had been handed, Amane finds himself skimming the pages. If for nothing else then to distract him from Hanako, the way she passionately spoke about romance was a kind of cute. It made him want to tease her, but he feared it would make her try to leave again.
"I've got it!" Hanako declares loudly as she forcefully shuts the manga she had been reading. She widens her stance and dramatically points to Amane, her eyes were filled with determination.
"Yugi-kun do you know how to make bentos?"
Operation: Boxed Lunch
"Are you sure about this Hanako-san?"
Amane eyed the bento he left on Sakura's desk uncertainly, every instinct in his body screams at him to just take it back and run before she sees it. He's only ever made bentos for himself and Tsukasa, making one for a girl was way different. Hanako had also insisted he make the food look like little characters as well, which he didn't understand because it's just food right?
"Of course! The best way to a girl's heart is through her stomach after all~"
"Isn't that for guys though?" He hisses. His confidence level plummets even further when Hanako visibly freezes on the spot. Her head stiffly turns towards him as she flashes him a nervous smile.
However something quickly catches her attention and her ruby eyes dart back to the bento.
"Oh here she comes Yugi-kun!"
Amane sinks further behind the corner he and Hanako were hiding behind (although he internally questions why she was also hiding when no one could see her). He manages to spot Sakura through her classroom's open door from his hiding place. She pauses as she reaches her desk, clearly puzzled about the wrapped bento just sitting idly there.
"She's seen it Yugi-kun, she's seen it!" She moves eagerly to tap his shoulder, only she seemed to have forgotten she can't touch him. He tried to ignore the cold chills he kept receiving every time her hand went through him.
He watched like a hawk as Sakura slowly opened up the bento, terrified for her reaction. What if she didn't like it? Would she know it was him who sent her the bento? What if he accidentally put poison in the food and killed her?!
Okay that last part was a bit of an exaggeration, but Amane's mind was going a mile a minute with nerves.
"She's looking at it Yugi-kun!"
"Hanako-san I don't need commentary." She doesn't listen, instead she floats higher up so she was almost directly above him. As though to stop herself from floating further away, she places her hands as close as she can on his shoulders without passing through.
"Ooh I think she might like it~"
Amane wouldn't know, Sakura's expression is unwavering as she gazes into his bento. She may as well have been looking at a bird in the sky rather than a gift left at her desk, not even the mystery of who sent her the bento seemed to phase her. He briefly wonders what could possibly be going through her head in that moment.
As though to answer Amane's question, Sakura packs up the bento and starts carrying it away. When a student asks where she was going, she simply replied,
"I think Tsukasa-kun forgot his bento on my desk."
A wave of relief washes over Amane as he drops to his knees, he was secretly glad that she neither accepted nor refused his bento. He didn't want to hear his effort wasn't appreciated, but at the same time he doesn't want anything to come from this incident.
Hanako mistakes his relief for sorrow and is quick to comfort him as best as a ghost can. She floats down so that she faces him upside down, a reassuring smile on her face.
"Hey it's okay, there's still plenty of other ideas we can try~"
Operation: Boxed Lunch
Failed
Operation: Love Poem
"Why a poem though?"
"Poem's are so romantic Yugi-kun! The way they show your emotions is simply beautiful, I'm sure your love will shine with this!"
Amane highly doubted that for a variety of reasons, the main being he doesn't even love Sakura. He wants to protest, but Hanako seemed so invested in this that he couldn't help but want to at least try.
The end result was… interesting…
Roses are red,
Violets are blue,
A flower is pretty,
And so are you.
Amane smiles nervously as Hanako stares at him with an unimpressed expression. He suddenly finds the bathroom stalls to be very interesting to look at.
"I don't think poems are for you Yugi-kun."
He couldn't agree more.
Operation: Love Poem
Rejected
Operation: Damsel in Distress
When Hanako tells him to meet her in the school auditorium after school, Amane doesn't know what to think. He can't imagine how the auditorium would help Sakura fall in love with him unless-
Unless Hanako expects him to put on a play for Sakura?!
Amane can't act to save his life, he always forgets his lines and gets so nervous on stage that he feels like throwing up. He really doesn't fancy embarrassing himself, whether Sakura was watching him or not.
So with a heavy heart (not), he opts out of showing up to the auditorium. Instead he heads home straight away, hoping that Hanako doesn't find him on his way out the school.
That evening as Amane was gazing at the night sky from his bedroom window, he found that his daydreams of going to the moon would occasionally flash to dreams of spending time with Hanako. They were there so quickly that if Amane blinked they were gone, and the moon would be back on his mind.
He didn't think much of it though. Although the void in his chest always felt a little less empty after he thought about her.
When Amane visits Hanako's bathroom the next day he expects her to be mad at him, to lecture him even. What he doesn't expect is for her to be all over his personal space, eagerly telling him how 'cool' he was.
"Oh Yugi-kun if my heart was still beating it would have swooned~" Amane could practically see the love hearts floating above her head as she gushes with her hands clutched to her chest.
He honestly has no idea what she was talking about.
"I mean I didn't even have to tell you to do anything! As soon as the fire alarm went off you practically teared down the door to rescue her. I'm so proud of you~"
Immediately he figures out what had happened. In what universe was Amane Yugi strong enough to tear down a door? None is the answer. But do you know who was? Tsukasa.
His brother did come home later than usual last night, he was probably with the broadcasting club. So if Sakura were meeting someone in the auditorium then Tsukasa probably would have joined in, if for no other reason than to snoop. Hanako has most likely mistaken whatever Tsukasa did to be him instead.
He doesn't say anything though, his amber eyes are glued to Hanako's lovestruck expression. He supposes that whatever the circumstance, it all somehow worked out in his favour. A warm feeling spreads across his chest and he finds he just couldn't help himself.
"Eh~ Hanako-san are daikons meant to be as red as you are?" He slaps his hands over his mouth, the words had spilled from him before he could stop himself. She was just asking to be teased with her adorable expression!
Hanako doesn't miss a beat as she snaps her head to him, causing one of her pig tails to swish in the air and faze through his head.
"I'm not a daikon! I'll have you know that I was a very popular girl back when I was alive."
"Oh so daikon legs were desirable back in the old days?"
Amane doesn't know what's come over him, he fully expects Hanako to leave him after that comment. But… she doesn't. She whined and complained at him, even tried to (terribly) dish back some of her own teasing, but she doesn't leave him.
His heart feels a little lighter as they playfully bicker back and forth until the evening announcement.
Operation: Damsel in Distress
Success?
Amane sighs as he stares out to the bright sky, a cool breeze gently blows against his face. He doesn't know why his feet have taken him to the school's rooftop at lunchtime, but he finds the spot to be peaceful. He's supposed to be heading to Hanako's bathroom to discuss their next plan of action, but today he's been feeling down.
Absently he checks his phone to see if there were any messages left for him, but he sees that, just like the last 2 times he's checked, there's nothing. Not even Tsukasa has checked in on him, has he even noticed that he's not been around lately?
The empty feeling he hasn't felt in days suddenly rears its head, painfully latching on to him like a leech. He curls in on himself, hugging his knees tightly to his chest.
He thinks about the moon, shining down beautifully from above in its full glory. Amane would do anything to travel up there, to explore the great unknown of space and to learn all there is to know.
He wants to go far away-
He jolts as his vision is suddenly partially blocked by a pair of transparent hands.
"Found you Yugi-kun~" His heart does somersaults as he looks up to find Hanako's smiling face looking back down at him.
"Hanako-san…"
"What are you doing out here?" She asks him as she takes a seat next to him. "I've been looking all over for you, you know~" He wants to be sincere with her, but his mouth has other plans.
"Hanako-san I didn't realise you were so eager to see me~" A hint of pink settled on her cheeks as she started flustering on the spot.
"Please a-as if!"
"Hmm~" He leans closer with a half-lidded expression, a playful smirk forms on his lips. He relishes in her slight bashfulness, just a few days ago he wouldn't have imagined that Hanako could make such a face.
It was cute.
Hanako sucks in a deep breath and lightly slaps her own cheeks to help compose herself. She looks to him in concern.
"Yugi-kun talk to me."
The playfulness Amane had been feeling vanishes in an instant, leaving his other emotions to become more vulnerable. He looks towards the sky again as he leans backwards, using his arms as support.
"Have you ever wanted to go to the moon Hanako-san?" She blinks at his question.
"Not really."
"Did you know the moon is 380,000 kilometres away from the earth?"
"I didn't."
"I want to become an astronaut some day and go there. Not just the moon, I want to see what the whole universe has to offer. There's so much we haven't seen yet and there's so much we don't understand.
Did you know that in total there are 176 confirmed moons that orbit the planets in our solar system? And despite there being so many, Mercury and Venus are the only planets that don't have any. Isn't that fascinating?" He doesn't wait for Hanako to respond, he continues his tangent of sprouting facts about space.
…
"And did you know that if you went to the moon right now, the footprints from Neil Armstrong would still be there? It's because the moon doesn't have an atmosphere, so there's no wind or water to erode or wash away the marks."
Amane stops to catch his breath, he didn't realise just how much he had been talking. He turns to Hanako, fully expecting her to have sneaked off while he wasn't paying attention, only to find she was still there. Her large ruby eyes were fully on him, a genuine smile was on her face.
He feels his cheeks heat up as he looks away, suddenly feeling embarrassed for getting so carried away.
"W-what?"
"I think it's nice that you're so passionate about something." She giggles.
"You're not… bored?"
"Why would I be?"
After that Amane finds he can't stop talking the rest of the time they are together. The large smile on his face never wavers as he eagerly tells Hanako more facts he knows about space, with her even interjecting with her own questions at times.
It felt good to have someone listen to him.
Operation: bouquet
"Isn't it considered stealing to pick the flowers from the gardening club?"
"It'll be fine~" Hanako waves away his worries. "Just remember that every flower has a meaning, so be careful on what you pick out."
Amane looked at the list in his hands in distaste, he really doesn't care about the 'flower language' Hanako just taught him. According to her though, it's very important to get the language right when picking out a bouquet for a girl. Do girls really require such level of detail?
"Now off you go! I'm cheering for you Yugi-kun." She waves to him happily as he walks out of the bathroom.
Amane stares at the flowers before him in the gardening club, he knows logically they are all different but to him they were all just flowers with different colours. He sees some roses in the flower bed and makes a conscious decision to avoid them, even he knows red roses mean love.
A shadow suddenly looms over him.
"What are you doing?" He swiftly turns around to the voice and finds a girl looking back at him with curious golden eyes. She was… gorgeous- to put it simply.
"I-I uh… I'm just looking. Sorry I'll be going now!" He fleetly tries to escape, no longer caring about gathering the flowers like Hanako wanted him to. He keeps his eyes down as he moves past the girl.
"You're so lonely."
Amane's eyes widens as he freezes on the spot. He snaps his gaze to the girl, she had a sympathetic expression on her face.
"Huh?"
"I can feel your wish crying out desperately from here, you don't have any friends do you?" He felt a sharp pain in his chest, he didn't want to hear it.
He wants to walk away, but his feet feel heavy as a powerful urge to submit overwhelms him. The air becomes suffocating and he finds it harder to breathe. He's vaguely aware of a pair of arms wrapping loosely around his neck, a warmth presses against his back.
Lips brush against the shell of his ear, whispering, "people see the meek older brother, the nice twin. Everyone pays attention to your brother, but to them you are a boy who is only half a of a whole. Nobody sees Amane Yugi."
It's not true, it's not true, it's not true.
"I think it's nice that you're so passionate about something."
"H-Hanako-san is different." It was difficult to talk, he felt like there was no air in his lungs no matter how much he breathed in.
The grip around him tightens.
"The school wonder doesn't care about you Amane. You're just another customer to her." No he didn't want to believe that. All of Hanako's different expressions and the time they've spent together flash through his mind, he finds the strength to pull away from the embrace.
"Hanako-san is my friend." He tells the girl in a firm voice, a determined gaze is set on his face.
She stares at him blankly before erupting into laughter.
"You're the type to learn the hard way it seems." She wipes a tear from her eye. "That's fine too I guess." The girl's soft look all at once shifts into a piercing gaze. Amane takes a step back, he wants to go back to Hanako.
But he couldn't look away from her eyes.
"Pick your flowers then and give them to that girl."
His vision goes hazy as black dots take over his sight, slowly spreading out until he fully blacks out. The last thing Amane remembers was a voice telling him,
"I'll be here waiting for you."
Operation: Bouquets
Unknown
Operation: Confession
"No way Hanako-san, I-I can't confess!" Amane shakes his head adamantly, holding his arms up in an 'x' shape. The girl pouts and floats closer so that her nose was inches from his, making him blush at the proximity.
"But you two seemed so friendly when you gave her those flowers, all you need to do is confess and I'm sure she'll accept."
Honestly Amane isn't sure what had happened, one minute he had been in the gardening club looking at the flowers and then the next he's staring at Sakura in the eye with flowers in his hands. In that moment, he'd never been more thankful in his life to be an identical twin as he passed himself off to be Tsukasa.
But now Hanako has deemed it time to confess because Sakura had accepted the flowers. It was all becoming a bit too real, he'd only ever gone along with this because she'd looked so happy to be granting a love wish.
"Have some confidence in yourself Yugi-kun~"
"I'm not ready yet!"
"Look I'll guide you through exactly what you should do, just go up to her, place her foot in a glass slipper and marry-"
"Isn't that Cinderella?" Amane deadpans.
"Okay then how about waking her up from a curse with a kiss-"
"That's Sleeping Beauty." She scoffs, finally drifting away from Amane's face so she hovered idly mid-air.
"Fine. Ask her to throw down her long golden hair-"
"Hanako-san that's Rapunzel and her hair is green- it's not even shoulder length." Hanako groans as she throws her head back. He sighs, "do you pay attention to anything that's not romance?"
She twirls in the air so she's facing him again, laying on her front while resting her chin against her interlocked fingers.
"Of course I do! For example I notice that you have brown hair~"
"…My hair is black." Hanako blinks and invades his personal space again, inspecting his hair as best as a ghost can. Amane feels the hair on his skin stand up at the cold chill he gets every time she touches him.
"No way I thought it was brown all this time!"
"The school wonder doesn't care about you."
"Anyway let's not change the subject-" She turns away from him, gazing out of the window- "we need to find the perfect confession for you, and we'll both be on our way~"
"You're just another customer to her."
"I don't want to confess Hanako-san, I don't even like her in that way!"
There was a noticeable change in the atmosphere as Hanako slowly twisted towards him, firmly planting her feet on the ground. An unreadable expression was on her face, making him feel unsettled.
"But that's what you wished for Yugi-kun."
Amane thought back to when he first met her at the start of the week, how she just assumed that his wish was to do with love. And then she selfishly started making him work towards a wish he never wanted.
Granted he never got round to correcting her and telling her he wasn't in love, but then how come that girl from before knew more about him and his wish than Hanako? Even after they've spent several days and hours together… She didn't even know the colour of his hair!
The more he thinks about it, the more hurt he becomes.
"It's what you wished for Hanako-san! You projected your own wish for romance onto me and took advantage of the fact I wouldn't say anything to defend myself. I never wanted any of this! I-I-"
I just wanted a friend.
"I'm leaving!"
He doesn't wait for a response, he flees the scene as fast as his legs would take him. He doesn't want to deal with any of this anymore. Hanako doesn't see him the same way he sees her.
Amane doesn't see Hanako's blank expression shift into something more somber.
Operation: Confession
Disaster
Amane finds himself in the gardening club again, in the exact same spot he had been talking to the girl from before. His breathing is heavy as he tries to block out his thoughts. He collapses to his knees, not caring about how the grass would dirty his uniform.
Hanako doesn't care, Hanako doesn't care, Hanako doesn't care
A glint in the corner of his eye catches Amane's attention, there was a silver pendant on the ground with a beautiful ruby as the centre piece. He found he couldn't take his eyes off it, it was like the jewellery was calling out to his very soul.
Take me
Almost as if though he were in a trance, he moves and picks up the pendant. He feels an urge as he holds the jewellery in his hands. He wants to do something but doesn't know what. What is he meant to do?
Kiss me
His lips peck the ruby, and everything goes dark.
Why? Why was this happening to him?
He thought that the short amount of time he and Hanako spent together was fun. She seemed to enjoy being in his company without ever knowing he had a twin brother.
He loves Tsukasa dearly, but he doesn't want to live in his shadow anymore. People noticed Tsukasa's eccentric nature and his temper, they didn't notice Amane's playfulness and his kindness. As kids no one wanted to play with Amane, because they would have to play with Tsukasa too.
He wanted to wish Tsukasa wasn't his brother, that they were just strangers. He wanted to believe it would solve all his problems.
Deep down he knows it wouldn't have.
Amane acts like the victim, but he never tried to approach other people. As kids he had Tsukasa and Tsukasa had him, that was the mentality they had. Things only changed when Tsukasa joined the broadcasting club and made friendships outside of him.
Overnight he was suddenly he was left all alone and didn't know how to make friends. People were scared to talk to him because he was Tsukasa's brother and he was scared to make the first move.
He selfishly blamed his brother for his own doing and resorted to trying to erase their brotherhood through Hanako. He dreams of going to the moon, not for his love of astronomy, but so he can run away from his problems.
Whatever happens to him, it serves him right.
He's distantly aware of a familiar voice calling out to him.
"I found you~"
He tries to focus, to open his eyes, but everything felt so heavy.
"It's a good job I got to you when I did, you were almost a goner."
Slowly he manages to force his eyes open, and he's met with the familiar hazy image of one of the classroom's ceiling at the school. Just to his side a pair of ruby orbs look straight back at him. Relief courses through his body, if he weren't so tired, he would have smiled.
"How are you feeling? Tired I bet." She gives him a knowing smile. Amane tries to speak, but all his energy was being used to just keep his eyes open. He just wants to fall back into slumber.
Hanako snaps her finger twice to his face, regaining his focus.
"Don't fall asleep just yet, you need to stay awake for this next bit~"
Amane purposely blinks, hoping to convey that he was listening. She seemed to have understood.
"Yugi-kun listen to me, your soul has been bound to a fox spirit. They are mischievous spirits who can only bring misfortune to others, in particular they like to suck out the life force of gullible people like you." She pauses for a moment.
"When you kissed that jewel, you basically consented to tying your souls together. It's kind of like marriage."
"M-marriage?!"
"Yeah it's romantic isn't it?" She sighs dreamily, cupping own cheek with her hand. "Well it would be romantic, if she wasn't only doing it so she could slowly drain your life force over the next several years."
Amane was having a hard time processing everything, his mind was spinning. He's just woken up and now he's being told he consented to marriage with a girl he met once.
He wasn't aware he was in a Disney film.
"I took you away before she could get to you, and your energy will return so you won't die okay?" Keeping her eyes on him, she moves from kneeling at his side so that she was now floating above him. "Though I'm curious, even if your wish wasn't love why would you get involved with the supernatural Yugi-kun?"
Amane found his energy levels were restoring, albeit in a gradual state. He sucked in a deep breath and manages to sum up his troubles to her,
"Because I was lonely. I was so jealous of my twin brother for being able to make friends, that I resorted to this sort of thing. But I realise now I just wanted to have a friend… I wanted to be your friend Hanako-san." As soon as he confessed, Amane found that he felt much lighter than before. Like he's finally managed to drop all the emotional deadweight he had been carrying for all this time.
Hanako doesn't say anything to his confession, but her expression softens in understanding.
The peaceful silence between them is short lived when the ground starts trembling beneath him, causing the desk and chairs to almost violently shake alongside. The air around him becomes cold as the classroom's lighting becomes darker.
"Well what do we have here?"
Amane's adrenaline kicks in as he finds the strength to sit up, looking around fearfully. He notices Hanako is looking towards the centre of the classroom, her expression betrayed no emotions.
A large blue flame suddenly bursts from the ground, engulfing many of the desks that were in its way.
"Wh-What?"
"Humans truly are pitiable creatures."
Hanako silently moves to stand on the ground, placing a protective arm in front of him.
"But don't fear little one, I will make sure to take care of you like a good wife."
The blue flame suddenly explodes into a rain of fire, making Amane cover his face with his arms to protect himself. But he never felt any pain or even warmth from the fire, only a burst of wind from the explosion.
"There you are fox." Hanako's cold tone sends a shiver up his spine. A high-pitched giggle echoes throughout the room. Amane finds the courage to drop his arms enough to take a peek at what was going on.
A large yellow fox with 3 tails was now in the centre of the classroom. A trail of blue fire swirls around it, keeping it in the air so it wasn't touching the burnt ground underneath.
"Eh a-a giant fox?!" His voice cracks.
"This is the fox spirit. She's here to take you away as her new husband." Hanako explains casually, as though she were talking about the weather. Amane doesn't know if it was an attempt to keep him calm, but if it was it was definitely not working.
She shifts her foot ever so slightly, widening her protective stance in front of him.
"But that's a problem for me." She continues. "Could you please come back another time~?" The fox bares its teeth, showing off its sharp canines, and swings it's tails towards her.
"You're in my way girl!" It snarls as the tails make contact with Hanako, sending her flying into an assortment of desks to the side.
"Hanako-san!" Amane forgets his surrounds as he scrambles to his feet, trying to get to Hanako to check on her. He doesn't get very far before a wall of blue flames block his path to her.
"How pathetic~" The fox mocks. "As you can see by my gorgeous tails, my life spans over 300 years." The 3 large tails swished proudly behind the beast. "A mere school wonder could never hope to best me."
Amane tries to see if there was a way around the blue flames that prevented him from getting to Hanako. The fire seemed to have a mind of it's own though, it would follow him no matter where he walked, making sure to block the way to Hanako.
He felt himself becoming more desperate. Ghost or not, she was still a girl and he felt an urge to protect her.
The wall of flames suddenly moves so they start swirling around Amane, he yelps as he feels his body being lifted into the air and dragged over to the fox. Instinctively he starts frantically kicking his legs and flapping his arms, but it didn't make a difference.
"Now come with me darling~" The fox purred.
Realising that he wasn't going to be able to get out of the fox's grasp, Amane stops struggling. Hanako couldn't help him, she was a small girl and even the fox spirit said she had no chance. Besides this was all his own fault, he brought it upon himself.
He squeezes his eyes shut and accepts his fate.
"Please hold on a second."
Both Amane and the fox turn to see Hanako now stood up, her hands hung loosely at her sides. She looks directly at the fox with large eyes.
The fox grunts as if to demand what she wanted.
"I haven't had a chance to grant that boy's wish for summoning me." She explains with a light and sugary tone, a smile on her lips. "Let me finish my work and then he's all yours, is that okay?"
The beast wasn't having any of it.
"Silence! You have no right to interfere, don't presume you have command over me!" The fox growls, snapping its large jaws at her.
The air around Hanako shifts menacingly as her smile drops from her face, a shadow falls over her eyes. Her stance morphs into something more confident and poised.
Amane couldn't help but shrink back in fear. In the blink of an eye she became almost an entirely different person.
"I didn't presume, I asked." She responds nonchalantly.
Her hand ominously reaches for under her shirt.
"But now..." She pulls a small blade from her abdomen, swinging it to point it directly to the fox.
"I have no choice but to use force."
The shadows from Hanako's eyes lift, revealing the cold and threatening glare in her normally sweet ruby eyes.
A straggled squeak emits from Amane's throat. In that moment he was terrified, not for himself, but for the fox spirit. Though the beast didn't seem to share his fear, the fire keeping Amane trapped moves so he was out of the way.
Swiftly the fox bares its teeth and pounces.
"How dare you!"
Hanako hastily ducks at the last minute, causing the fox to fly over her head. With a calculated gaze, she swings her garden spade at the beast, slicing open it's stomach. Blood doesn't splatter like Amane expects, instead a black fog emits from the open wound.
"How can an apparition only a few decades old be so…?" The blue flames from around the room swirl back to the beast, creating a ball of fire around it. "Curse you school wonder!" Were the fox's last words before it disappeared in a flash of light.
As soon as the fox disappears alongside with its fire, gravity decides to reintroduce itself to Amane as he plummets towards the wooden floor. He groans painfully as he faceplants the floor.
A familiar giggle enters his ears like a melody. He looks up to see Hanako floating over him, her hands hesitantly flap around him as though she wants to help him, but she knows she can't.
He was relieved to see her usual bubbly attitude was back.
"Are you okay Yugi-kun? You're not hurt, are you?" Amane sits up with little effort. He was sure he would have some bruises later, but he could live with that. His body was trembling though, as the adrenaline that had been coursing through his body slowly evaporates.
He tries to ease the tension he was feeling by teasing her.
"I think I need you to kiss my boo-boo Hanako-san~" He snickers. Hanako glares at him and puffs out her cheeks, clearly displeased at his attitude.
"This isn't funny you know! I managed to send her packing for now, but she's going to be back for you." She sighs. "Afterall you are her husband still, that hasn't changed." A wave of anxiety washes over Amane, he had forgotten about that little detail.
"Wh-what should I do Hanako-san?! I don't want to be taken away…" He blinks rapidly to fight back the tears that wanted to fall down his face. He refuses to cry in front of a girl.
Hanako's gaze suddenly becomes dark and intense. He flinches back as she leans down to his face. Instinctively he lifts a defensive arm, although he knows if she wanted to hurt him then he couldn't stop her.
"Crying isn't going to save you now. This is what happens when you're involved with apparitions, why do you think I never used my power to help you before now? I was being kind." Her presence was intimidating him, but her words stung. He felt a pool of anger bubble in his chest.
"I never asked for any of this though- you didn't listen to me when we first met. And with the fox… I can't remember fully but I'm sure she did something to me."
For a moment Hanako doesn't say anything, she just stares at him with soulless eyes. Amane doesn't back down though and refuses to break eye contact.
He's done being pushed around by her for today.
After a moment her expression softens, breaking the tension between them. She squats down to be eye level with him and leans her sealed cheek against her palm.
"I figured as much. Foxes are tricky and you're easily manipulated Yugi-kun~" She smiles fondly at him, causing his heart to skip a beat.
He wonders how someone could go from being terrifying to adorable in a matter of seconds.
"You know I still haven't granted you a wish. If you like I could severe your tie to the fox, but there will be a price~"
Amane blinks.
"Wait I can change my wish?!"
"I'm not a genie Yugi-kun." She laughs. "As long as the wish hasn't been granted, you can change it as many times as you like." Amane almost wishes he knew that earlier, but then he wouldn't have gotten to spend the time he did with the ghost in front of him.
Despite everything, he is glad he could have spent time with her. Even if she doesn't see him that way, he considered her his friend.
"So?" Hanako tilts her head. "Do you want to cut ties with her?" His first instinct is to say yes, but he forces himself to hesitate.
"What would the price be?"
"Who knows?" She shrugs, a knowing glint shines in her eyes. "But I'll let you lead the bare minimum of a normal human life, does that sound fair?" Amane eagerly nods. The deal sounded ominous, but honestly anything was better than marrying a fox just to be a lifeforce bank.
"Please cut my ties Hanako-san!"
"In that case…" Still squatting beside him, Hanako reaches into her skirt pocket and pulls out a piece of red string. She tightly ties one end on her pinkie and holds out the other end to him.
"Tie this around your left pinkie." Amane looks at the red string questionably, but he takes it and does as she asks. She warns him it needs to be as tight as possible.
When he was done Hanako held out her pinkie finger to him, giving him an expectant look. He looks at his own pinkie, then back at her, before he slowly lifts his pinkie to meet hers.
The last thing Amane expected to happen, was for him to actually make contact with Hanako's pinkie as the two meet. Yet that is exactly what happens as their smallest fingers curl around each other.
"Across the border between this life and the next, we have now been linked. Your previous ties to the fox have been cut." He feels a brief stinging sensation come from his finger before it quickly disappears along with the red string, leaving just their pinkies behind.
Amane stares in awe at their linked fingers, he's not imagining this is he? He tightens his grip slightly as if to prove they were really touching, his finger does not faze through hers. Hanako places her free hand over their linked pinkies and floats closer to him.
"In exchange…" His heart was beating wildly against his ribcage. Her proximity made him more nervous than usual, especially now that he knows she won't go through him. His mind starts racing at the possibilities on what would next come out of her mouth.
When her nose is inches from his she says,
"…I will take your labour!"
"Huh?" Amane blinked. Hanako lets go of him and floats to her feet, offering her hand to him. He accepts absentmindedly, not taking note of how easily she manages to pull him up.
"I was thinking recently that I wanted a human assistant. So I'm glad this all worked out- wait why do you look so disappointed?"
"I thought the price was going to be something more dirty." He admits shamelessly.
Without warning Hanako suddenly headbutts him and he's sent stumbling back. "You- you can touch me…"
"Well of course, didn't you hear me earlier? We're linked now Yugi-kun. I tied the red string of fate to us, so our souls will always have a connection until the end of time. It was the only bond I knew to be strong enough to override the one with the fox." She sighs dreamily. "It's kinda romantic, even if you're not my type~"
Amane ignores Hanako's unintentional jab at him, he was focused on the fact that they would be linked until 'the end of time.' He feels the heat rising in his cheeks, it sounds like they just became soul mates.
"And anyway you should be grateful! I granted you two wishes."
"Two? Hanako-san I think you forgot how to count~" She rolls her eyes at him.
Smiling brightly, she reaches over to hold his hands, interlocking their fingers together.
"You said you wanted a friend, right? I'm pretty sure I can call myself your friend now that our fates are tied together, don't you think?"
For that moment nothing else existed in Amane's world, apart from him and Hanako, as two emotions completely overwhelmed him.
One was the happiness of finally gaining his first friend after enduring months of agonising loneliness. He finally felt like someone had seen him for who he was and had accepted him. Hanako saw him as Amane Yugi, not the twin brother of Tsukasa.
The second emotion he felt was something he couldn't identify until a couple months had went by. But he eventually discovers that the emotion he felt in this moment was love.
This was the moment Amane Yugi fell in love with an unearthly apparition in a classroom, lit by the red rays of twilight.
Author's notes: hi I'm sorry this is taking so long to update, my life has gotten pretty hectic ^^; I'm not sure if I ever said this, but all these one-shots are merely just being transferred from AO3 to here! So if you want to read the rest, just head on over to AO3 :D
I do plan to make a full transfer eventually, but who knows how long it will take me ^^; Sorry in advance!
Link here: /works/23273113/chapters/71811417