Fun Fact: Serena never celebrated Halloween before. But she's eager to dress up and join in the festivities. She's going as a cat this year.
Description: Sawatari holds a seance at his house. Shallow attempts at tearjerking ensue.
It was five days before Halloween. For any kid, those days leading up to Halloween just feel so, so long. For the Lancers though, who rarely had time to enjoy the riches of their youth, it was an anxious wait for them.
Between fighting in a battle royale, dimension-hopping, going to jail, fighting in a tournament, liberating a city, liberating another city, getting kidnapped, dueling on the high seas, fighting in another battle royale, fighting a dragons and/or becoming a dragon, liberating a school from parasites and worrying about the threat of the Link Dimension, they were often on edge.
They wanted to enjoy Halloween, they really did. But you never know what dangers could be lurking ahead. And Halloween would be the perfect time for something to go wrong.
They needed a break from all the struggling. Which is why Sawatari invited all his friends over to his mansion for a little party. Something to help them unwind and get into the Halloween spirit.
Yuya, Yuzu, Gongenzaka, Mieru, Sora, Dennis, Shun, Reiji, Crow, Tanner, Frank, Amanda, Tsukikage and Hikage were now standing and waiting for Sawatari in his "clear room." A room that, according to Reiji, was always kept empty in case a rich person suddenly decided that they needed a new type of room. Like a storage room, except not like a storage room at all.
So far, they were all hanging out in various places in the room. Yuya, Yuzu, Gongenzaka and Sora hung out by the doors, with Sora sitting on the floor. Reiji, Dennis and Shun were discussing something in the middle of the room, with the ninjas staying close by. Mieru had sandwiched herself between the ninjas and started talking to them. Crow and his kids were looking out of a window, in awe of Sawatari's enormous back yard.
"A pool..." Crow muttered. "And is that a golf course?!"
"I wish Sawatari was my dad," Amanda said wistfully.
"After seeing this house, so do I."
Meanwhile, Sora rose up and pulled a bar of chocolate from his pocket. He pressed it against his nose and took a deep sniff.
"What are you doing?" Yuzu asked hi.
"Trying to ignore the scent coming from down the hall."
Sora sniffed the air. "So, is anyone else wondering about that smell?"
"No," Yuya responded.
"No," Yuzu responded.
"No," Gongenzaka responded.
"Nope," Dennis answered.
"Not at all," Shun replied.
"Not even a little bit," Crow confessed.
A "No" came from each one of Crow's kids.
"It doesn't matter to me," Reiji said simply. "I'm putting it aside for now."
"I already know," Mieru told him.
Hikage looked over to Mieru. "What is it?"
The doors immediately swung open, and Sawatari burst into the room. He had a proud egao on his face, while also holding a long, thin box under his right arm.
Sora was nearly his by the door. Luckily, he was able to dodge the door beforehand. He and the others decided to crowd around Sawatari and get down to business.
"That smell is coming from my skunk apes," Sawatari explained. "From my skunk ape room."
Actually, I think I want to go home, Serena said to Yuzu.
Yeah, I don't see this party going in a not-stupid direction, Ruri added.
"This is ridiculous. Skunk apes aren't real," Yuzu commented. Or rather, Rin commented; the girl's eyes shifted to orange, indicating that Rin was in control now.
"They are real," Yuto told her. "You're just being close-minded."
"And you're just being a gullible nerd, Yuto."
"A nerd that's right," Yuto countered. "Something I can't say about you."
"Keep an open mind, Rin," Yugo advised.
Amanda raised her hand. "May I see the skunk apes?"
"Go ahead!" Sawatari said happily. "Just don't let them out of their cages, and don't not look them directly in the eyes."
"Thanks!"
Amanda immediately ran passed Sawatari, her brothers in tow. Crow egao'd and gave Sawatari a nod before following his kids out of the room.
I wanted to see the skunk apes, too, Yuto admitted.
Maybe we'll be able to take a peek later, Yuya assured his brother.
With that out of the way, Sawatari said to his people, "I suppose you all want to know why I summoned you here!"
"You said you wanted to have a fun seance," Yuya responded.
"Yes, that's right!"
Sawatari started to sweat now. He kind of forgot he told them about his plans; he wanted to surprise them and earn their shock and awe.
Oh well.
"Reiji! Shun!" Sawatari said, totally not at all trying to change the subject. "I'm surprised you guys actually showed up!"
Reiji fixed his glasses. "I do owe my Lancers my presence from time to time. You deserve respect after your performance in the war."
"He wanted to hang out with Yuya," Shun said under his breath.
"Shun's here because it gave him a reason to stalk his sister."
Shun let out a little grunt of annoyance. He had no real counter to that, but Reiji wouldn't have said it.
"Well, I'm glad to have you here," Rin said to her brother.
"So am I," Sawatari added. "The more the merrier, so let's get to contacting the dead!"
Mieru made a very loud scoff. Everyone turned their attention away from Sawatari and looked to her.
"Do you know how to contact the dead?" she asked dismissively.
"Sure do!" Sawatari said proudly. "I've got a Oujia board right here!"
Sawatari pulled the box out from under his arm. He proudly walked over to Mieru and presented it to her. Notably, the picture on the box showed that the board was made out of glass, while the planchette was black and covered in gold, vine-like markings.
Mieru slapped his hands, causing the box to fall to the floor. The sound of glass breaking could be heard from the box. To which Sawatari responded by letting out a scream.
"I don't trust any of you with a Ouija board!" Mieru insisted.
"My board!" Sawatari cried.
"You'd all contact a demon or get possessed. And none of you are trained in the arts of mediumship like me."
"Why is this girl even here?" Shun groaned.
"She's my friend, too!" Sawatari told him. "At least, she was until she broke my board..."
"Mieru, that wasn't nice," Yuya said to his friend.
"Hey, I just saved you all from being possessed by Satan's minions!" Mieru barked back. "And you know, I'd never let anything happen to my darl...li..."
From the corner of her eyes, she could see Yuzu. She could see the angry expression, and the murderous rage in her eyes. And she could see the dark flames of fury and vengeance burning around her, threatening to consume and destroy everything in their path.
"... My darling friends!" Mieru said quickly. "Luckily, I'm not only a clairvoyant, but I'm also versed in the arts of mediumship."
What's a mediumship? Yugo asked.
It's when you eat a lot of fast food and get fat, Yuri lied.
Oh.
"Gather 'round, everyone!" Mieru instructed. "I'll act as the conduit, and we'll be able to contact the dead safely."
Mieru immediately dropped to the ground, kneeling and resting her butt on her feet. She pulled a blue crystal ball/apple from her dress pocket and placed it before her.
Everyone gathered around her to sit down. Gongenzaka sat to her right, between her and Yuya. Yuzu sat next to Yuya, Sora sat next to her, and Dennis sat next to him. Reiji sat directly across from Yuya, with Shun and Tsukikage on either side of him. The others filled out the rest of the space, forming a nice, wide circle.
"... I can't believe Rin doesn't believe in skunk apes," Yuto muttered.
"Maybe we can contact a dead one," Rin said sarcastically.
"Maybe you two can both stop talking," Yuzu grumbled. "You're interrupting the seance."
"Sorry..."
"Sorry..."
Mieru cleared her throat. "Hiiragi, that's actually a good idea. I could try and contact specific people."
"That'd be so cool, Mieru!" Yuya exclaimed.
"Do you have any requests?" Mieru asked, blushing.
I swear to God, Yuri. If you ask for Hitler or something, I will bring this body right back home.
I... Yuri thought-mumbled. I wasn't...
Good.
"I don't know any dead people," Sora said. "At least, not any that I didn't kill myself."
Sora took a bite from his now-unwrapped chocolate bar.
"... Unless toys have souls."
"Toys don't have souls," Shun said, rolling his eyes.
"Though they can become possessed by souls," Reiji added, without any doubt or inflection in his voice.
Shun looked to him in confusion. "... What?"
"Maybe we could talk to a ghost that can tell us about the underworld," Yuya wondered.
"It's nothing special," Reiji told him.
"It's true," Mieru agreed.
Shun looked at both of them in confusion. "... What?"
Yuzu raised her hand. "I... It would be really nice if I could talk to my grandfather."
"I'd like to talk to my family," Yuto said quietly.
"I'd especially like to talk to Akari," Ruri said.
"I was gonna suggest Satan," Yugo admitted. "But now Yuto's made me feel bad, so I want to go with his idea."
"What about you, Mieru?" Gongenzaka asked.
Mieru blinked. "Uh... Well, I do have someone I'd like to talk to, but I'd rather not talk to them now, haha!"
The laugh was pretty forced, yet Gongenzaka nodded solemnly to it. Though years later, he would admit to being very curious as to what she meant. But for now, he chose not to press on further and get involved in what seemed to be private matters.
"You all have good suggestions!" Mieru said quickly. "But since I liked Yuya's first idea the best, we can go with that."
"Nah, I'm fine with Yuto getting his family," Yuya said kindly.
"You're such a kind man, Yuya~" Mieru said, egao-ing.
"He certainly is~" Yuzu said with an egao.
But her ~ was more like a paper fan, aiming to strike Mieru at the back of her head and knock her skull into orbit.
The intense feeling wasn't just heard through her actions. One could feel a dark, looming aura above everyone's heads. Mieru's apple, seemingly sensing this great darkness, started to crack.
Mieru looked to her apple, and her eyes bulged out of her head. "... S-so l-l-l-let's get to it, then, shall me?"
"We shall," Sawatari agreed. "Commence, dark witch."
"I'm not a witch!" Mieru roared.
Sawatari yelped.
Mieru waved her hands over her crystal ball/apple. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, which also let out errant thoughts and distractions in her head.
Mieru mumbled under her breath, but didn't really speak any known words. She kept waving her hands. Her breathing became lighter and slower.
Yuzu folded her hands on her lap. Her thoughts were about meeting Yuto's family. As much as she wanted to hear from her grandfather, she wanted Yuto and Ruri to have the peace and closure she was never able to get.
Yuya had his eyes on Mieru, though he kept drifting over to Yuzu. (She was just too cute not to look at.) His thoughts were mostly about Yuto, too.
Finally, Mieru spoke. "Dennis..."
"Who? Me?" Dennis chuckled. "I'm not dead! Haha..."
"Bea," Mieru whispered. "Bea Macfield..."
"Sorry, but Nana Macfield isn't dead."
"She wants you to know... She loves you."
Dennis started to sweat. "But... But she's not-"
"She loves you," Mieru said again. "Delly."
"... I just need to go make a call real quick."
Dennis jumped up from his spot and made a beeline towards the door. He ran straight out of the room and slammed the doors back behind him.
In Yuya's head, he could hear Yuri chuckling. And in Yuzu's head, she could hear Serena chuckling.
Asshole, Yuya and Yuzu said to their counterparts.
"Well, that was exceedingly awkward," Sawatari said. "Let's keep going. See if we can make someone else run away crying."
"Yuto," Mieru said immediately.
Yuya's eyes shifted to gray, showing that Yuto was in control now. He placed his hands on the floor and leaned in closer to Mieru.
"Mom?" Yuto gasped. "Dad? Grandmother? Akari?"
"You... school..."
"Who are you?"
I'm pretty sure Mieru's just fishing and making this up, Rin said, in a tone that just made you feel like she was rolling her eyes while saying it.
As long as you don't butt in and ruin something happy for Yuto, Ruri responded.
... Sorry.
"School..." Mieru said again. "School... picture. School picture."
Yuto raised an eyebrow. "Akari liked photography. Is that you, Akari?"
"You... you picked your nose in a... a school picture. It was... They laughed at it."
Yuto frowned.
"That's Akari, alright," he said flatly. "But I guess that confirms you're being honest. No one but my family and Ruri know about that."
"And me," Shun added. "Ruri showed me."
"I still have the picture at home," Ruri said.
"Ruri!" Yuto cried indignantly.
"It's a cute picture!" Ruri protested.
"Yuto!" Mieru declared. "She's telling me... She's telling me to- to visit Akari's grave."
Yuto nodded. "Of course."
"Akari left something there for you."
"What did she leave?"
"That, I do not know. I'm sorry, I can't get a better feel of what she's saying."
"Can she tell you any more?" Yuto pleaded. "Please."
Mieru shook her head. "I can only make out a bit of what a spirit says. Most of their words are lost on me, I'm afraid."
Yuto sighed. He leaned back and straightened himself out.
"Thank you anyway, Mieru," he answered.
"I see another person..."
"What is it?" Reiji asked.
"Hocus pocus," Shun grunted. He crossed his arms. "I'm sure he must have talked to Ruri about the picture earlier. And-"
"A man..." Mieri said. "I can hear his voice, and see his hair. White hair."
"Grandpa?" Yuzu wondered.
"No. But he does know you."
Yuzu frowned. "Who is it?"
"I... I don't know his name," Mieru confessed. "But he's very happy to be dead."
"Why?" Yugo wondered. "Is death really liberating?"
"Not for him. In fact, he sees it as the opposite. But that's why he's so happy. He thinks his situation is beautiful."
Yuya and Yuzu looked to each other. They both said, in their most disgusted voices, "Sergey."
Yuya looked to Mieru. "Move on to someone else, maybe?"
Mieru nodded, then kept her eyes closed tight. She let out a heavy, deep sigh and started t mumble once more.
After a moment, she said, "Another old man with white hair."
Yuzu perked up.
"He has... pale skin, and dark glasses."
Yuzu gasped.
"Blue eyes..."
Yuzu sighed. Honestly, she felt a little relieved.
"No, pink," Mieru corrected herself. "Pink-violet."
Yuzu's body tensed up. She put her hands on her mouth to stifle another gasp. She could feel the eyes of everyone around her.
She felt Yuya put a hand on her shoulder. She looked over to see him staring at her with sympathetic eyes and a warm egao. "I'm here for you, Yuzu."
"Yuya, this sounds so..."
Tears welled up in her eyes. She really, really did want to know about her grandfather, honestly. But now that she actually could...
"Yuzu," Mieru said.
Yuzu nearly jumped from her seat. "Aaah! Mieru, what is it?"
"He just said your name."
The tears started to pour down her face. She rose up from her seat, letting Yuya's hand fall away from her.
"I... I..." she mumbled.
And then she left.
Yuzu closed the doors behind her. She didn't want the others to see her cry right now. She didn't want to ruin the fun for everyone.
But she couldn't help it. She could only sob into her heads and try to keep herself quiet enough for them not to hear her. But if he was being honest, it was hard. Hard to worry about them, while also thinking about what happened, and about her grandfather...
She could hear her sisters trying to talk to them. They were all there with her, truing o speak to her. They wanted to console and support her, but she couldn't. She couldn't talk to them right now.
She pressed her back against a wall, then let herself slide down into a sitting position. There, she gave herself time to catch her breath and clear her thoughts. Honestly, she was glad to have this moment of piece.
She looked to the door. Thankfully, it didn't open just yet. But she could hear Yuya tell the others to give her time, and he'll go check on her.
Now Yuzu could feel her sisters leave her. And now Yuzu was left to pick up the pieces she found herself in.
After a moment, the door slowly creaked open. Yuya crept out of the room and quickly shut the door behind him.
"That was... that was pretty intense," Yuya said to her.
"Yeah..."
Yuzu rose up to greet him, and the two joined in a long, tight hug. Yuzu rested her head on his shoulder, though she also stained it with her tears.
"I'm sorry, Yuya," Yuzu muttered.
"Don't be," he answered."
"Am I interrupting something?" Dennis asked.
Oh hey, Dennis was there. The two quickly broke off their hug and looked to their friend, who was cautiously approaching them from down the hall.
"Oh, Dennis," Yuya said.
"It's okay, Dennis," Yuzu said. She sniffled.
"Yuzu, may I ask what's wrong?" Dennis said.
Yuzu instinctively looked to Yuya. He put a hand on her shoulder and brought her close to his heart. He gave her an egao, and she returned it before looking back to Dennis.
"Honestly, I'm a little better now," she lied. "But... it's really scary. I didn't know what I was expecting."
"Yes, I was pretty scared, too," Dennis chuckled lowly.
"Oh!" Yuzu gasped. "I'm sorry. I can't imagine how you must feel now, with your grandmother."
Dennis's face became soft. He didn't egao, and the pain of the words still clearly stung him. But his face showed no ill will or bitterness towards Yuzu. "Nana was a nice very snarky, too. I'm going to miss that about her."
"We're here if you want to talk," Yuya said.
"Oh, yes," Yuzu agreed. "I know how it is to lose someone like that. I'm not the best person to talk to, but I... I want to listen and help, okay?"
Yuzu egao'd, though it was a far cry from a genuine, happy smirk. "You can always count on your friends, Dennis."
"Admittedly, having such good friends'll help me a lot," Dennis agreed. "But what about you, Yuzu?"
"Eh?"
"I saw you crying earlier. Would it be rude of me to ask about your grandfather?"
Yuzu shook her head. "It's not rude at all, Dennis. Don't worry."
Yuzu dug into her skirt's pocket, producing a pastel pink wallet. After unzipping it, she opened it up and started to search through one of the sections. After a moment, she produced a picture for Dennis: it was a white-haired, balding man with spiky hair on the sides of his head, much like Shuzo Hiiragi. He was sitting in a chair, with a young Yuzu on his lap.
Much of the picture was faded, likely damaged from light, and it was crinkled. The picture wasn't in tha great of condition. It seemed to be fairly old, too.
"This is my grandfather, Hideo. He was usually gruff, but he was always kind to me. And he always yelled at my dad whenever he didn't let me have my way."
"He told us that we could call him on the phone if Mr. Hiiragi wasn't being fair," Yuya explained. "But then Yuzu kind of... got mad at me for..."
"For prank calling him."
"Yeah. At four years old, I was a silly kid."
"He got plenty mad at Yuya!" Yuzu giggled. "He actually gave me a fan to smack him with, since he wanted me to make sure that he didn't keep making those calls."
"It was better than that baseball bat you wanted to use."
Yuzu laughed. "Ah! My gosh, he chased me around the house when I grabbed that bat. If he didn't catch me in time, Yuya would have been hurt."
"We were both silly four-year-olds."
"Yeah."
"What was that song he used to sing to you? The one about rowing?"
"Oh, yeah!" Yuzu exclaimed. "Row for Love, it was called."
Dennis egao'd. "It's really nice that you two have such good memories of him. But I can see why that must have made it hard to lose him."
"Honestly, it's not just losing him," Yuzu said softly. "It's also because I never got to say goodbye."
"Yuzu wasn't able to talk to Grandpa Hiiragi passed on," Yuya explained. "It was really sudden, so no one could tell Yuzu until..."
"So I really wanted to talk to him now, so I could finally thank him for everything. And to say goodbye."
Dennis nodded sympathetically. "Did you get to say goodbye?"
"No." Tears started to well up in her eyes now. "I thought I wanted to talk to him, but then I... I don't know. Got scared, I think. So I ran out and left him."
She sighed. "It's really stupid, I know. I got what I wanted, and then I got scared of it."
"I don't think that's stupid at all," Dennis told her. "To tell you the truth, I'm not too familiar with this ghost stuff. It scares me a little, too."
"That's not it. I mean, I don't think that's it."
"Oh?"
"Then what?" Yuya asked.
"I thought about thanking him. But when I heard he was hear, I thought that he might be mad. Because he wasted his time on someone who wasn't really his granddaughter."
"What do you mean?" Yuya questioned. "Of course your his granddaughter!"
"I'm Ray Akaba," Yuzu said meekly. "I don't think his biological granddaughter. I think he has the right to know, but... How can I tell him that the grandchild he raised wasn't even his?"
"Yuzu, don't talk like that!" Yuya pleaded. "You know that's not true."
"I'm sure he'd understand," Dennis argued. "Didn't your dad accept you? Isn't Shun your brother, too?"
"But they didn't give up their worlds for me!" Yuzu whimpered.
At once, memories of an unhappier time bubbled to the surface. A time when the family was short on money. A difficult time where the a man shows weren't making a lot of money. When his father sold his house to support the man and his girl. Because he wanted to make sure the girl had a stable future when times were difficult.
"My grandfather... He'd probably hate that he wasted his life for a lie."
Yuzu closed her eyes. The tears that didn't roll down her face were trapped in her eyelashes.
She wondered: would he have regretted it now? Losing his home for her? Moving in and being there with her for almost four years? Singing to her, playing with her, teaching her? All because he believed in this lie of a person.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't be talking about this," Yuzu sighed. "This is just too depressing for you guys. I know it sucks just to say it, but to hear my complaining-"
"Did your grandfather love you, Yuzu?" Dennis asked.
"Yes, of course," Yuzu responded immediately. "But what if that love was misplaced?"
"Did your grandfather take care of you, and help raise you?"
"... Yes."
"And was your grandfather quick to abandon you?"
"Of course not!" Yuzu snapped. "He was a caring man!"
Dennis winked. "Hmm... So this man loved you and cared for you. He helped make you the person you are today."
"Your grandfather loved you," Yuya interjected. "And I know you feel the same way, Yuzu."
Yuzu scratched the back of her neck. It was pretty embarrassing, showing them her feelings and insecurities. She felt guilty. Even worse, their kind efforts felt wasted on her, because she wasn't changing her mind so easily.
"I'm worried that he'll feel deceived. He thought he was raising his own flesh and blood, but..."
"You two knew I was sad," Dennis said to them. "You wanted to there for me."
"Yes," Yuya confirmed.
"But we're not family, are we?"
"No," Yuzu answered.
Dennis winked again, and egao'd. "You don't need to be related by blood to care and love someone."
"But my grandfather didn't know-"
"And you don't need to be blood to be family. All you need is love."
Yuzu egao'd. "That's super corny, honestly, Dennis."
"Call me Hallmark, because everything I saw is sweet!" Dennis laughed.
"And corny."
Dennis frowned. "I prefer sweet. But my point still stands: your grandfather loved you, and you're his family. Love like that doesn't go away just because the blood wasn't there. It's the love that makes you family."
"He might be mad."
"And if he does, he'll get over it!" Dennis said casually.
"Because he loves you," Yuya said.
Yuzu sniffled. "Of course. Of course... I sort of knew he'd always love me, but I was worried that... Like, I'm going into this conversation and saying hey, I'm not your biological granddaughter! How have you been?"
"Leaving the room and not talking to him might be more insulting than that," Dennis said to her.
Yuzu blushed. "O-oh. I guess I did do that."
"You better go talk to him, while you still can," Dennis said with an egao. "You got your second chance to make peace with him. You might as well enjoy it, right?"
Yuzu nodded vigorously. "You're... You're right, Dennis. I shouldn't be wasting any more time now."
She moved away from Yuya and wrapped her arms around Dennis. She gave him a big, tight squeeze and held on to him for a moment.
"Thanks," she said softly.
And then she broke the hug and gave him a small but genuine egao. Something that made Dennis want to egao, himself.
"Are you going to come in?" Yuzu asked him. "Maybe talk to your grandmother?"
"Nuh-uh," Dennis said, shaking his head. "I don't think I'm as... ready as you are for that. And besides, I don't really have anything to say to her."
"You don't want to say goodbye to her?" Yuya questioned.
"I like to think she knows how I feel about her."
"I understand," Yuzu said. "But remember, if you want to talk-"
"You and Yuya will be the first ones I come to," Dennis finished.
"We better be."
Sawatari let out a cackle. He pointed at Sora and let out a huge, bellowing laugh.
"Shut up! It's not funny!" Sora snapped.
Sawatari held his hand over his stomach. He was laughing so hard, tears were running down his face.
"It wasn't that funny, Sawatari," Gongenzaka grumbled.
"I can't believe you'd laugh at that..." Shun said, disgusted.
"That was a really embarrassing time for me!" Sora pleaded.
Sawatari had both of his hands over his stomach now. He leaned forward and kept cackling as loud as he could.
"It was a little funny, I admit," Hikage said. "But it is not so funny as to warrant such a response."
"If you don't stop, Sawatari," Sora insisted. "I'm going to circumcise you with the scissors I keep in my pocket."
Sora rose to his knees, then dug into his shorts pocket. He produced a pair of worn, rusty scissors and pointed them at Sawatari. Sawatari immediately piped up.
Sora egao'd deviously. That always worked. No one liked getting all their hair shaved off.
But everyone's attention turned to the doors as they creaked open. Yuya and Yuzu sheepishly slipped back into the room, then took their original seats amongst the group.
Yuzu sat on her legs, her hands on her lap. She let her hair fall over her face, hoping that no one would see her puffy eyes.
"Yuzu..." Mieru said quietly.
Though tears filled her eyes, Yuzu egao'd. "Don't worry, Mieru. Go ahead."
Mieru let out a relieved sigh. "That's good, because your grandfather really wants to keep talking."
Yuzu nodded.
Miery put her hands over her crystal apple ball. Her eyes rolled back, and she let out a soft, gentle hum.
Everyone sat in silence. They looked between Yuzu and Mieru, waiting or either of them to speak. They could all feel the tension in the air, and they were all hoping to see if Yuzu would be able t handle it.
Finally, Mieru spoke, "Yuzu."
"Grandfather?" Yuzu asked hesitantly.
"Yuzu... My granddaughter, Yuzu..."
Tears rolled down Yuzu's face. But she put on a brave egao for him.
"It's me, Grandpa," she said calmly. "I miss you so much. Dad still has your pictures up."
Mieru reached a hand out to Yuzu. Yuzu nudged herself closer and took the hand with both of hers.
"There's so much I want to say," she went on. "How much I want to thank you for everything you've done for me, and how much you mean to me..."
Mieru nodded. Her face remained unexpressive, which was a bit unsettling for Yuzu, who was pouring her heart out to this person.
"But... But there's something I need to tell you. About me."
"Yuzu..."
"I'm not your granddaughter. I mean, I am. But I'm not your flesh and blood granddaughter."
Mieru didn't respond.
"I'm actually... It's a long story, but I'm actually a reincarnation of a girl named Ray."
No response, again.
"And it's really weird to explain, but Ray split into four people. I was one of the four. And I'm not sure I'm related to you by blood, because-"
"Stop."
Yuzu covered her mouth. "Are you mad at me?"
Mieru then began to sing, "Rowing down on a deep blue sea~"
Yuzu perked up. "Can come along and set me free~?"
"I rowed down my boat... and found out where the fish roam~"
Yuzu looked around the circle, excitement on her face. Her eyes and egao were wide, and she was practically jumping out of her seat.
"I know that song!" Yuya exclaimed.
"That's the song he used to sing to me!" she said joyously.
Shun raised an eyebrow, while Sawatari and Sora leaned in closer.
Yuzu looked back to Mieru and sang, "And that's when I met the love of my life~"
And together, the girls sang in unison: "Now grab my hand~ Let's go and see.~ Maybe you can help me~"
"Row for love~" Yuzu sang.
But as Yuzu sang that last lyric, Mieru had one of her own. "Help me~"
Yuzu looked over to Mieru. "Oh?"
"Help me~" Mieru said again. "Help me."
"Mieru? Grandpa?"
"Help me. Help me. Help me. Help me."
Mieru kept repeating the same words over and over. Yuzu reached out a hand to touch her, but Mieru fell backward and landed on her back.
"Help me. Help me. Help me-"
Her limbs were thrashing about wildly. Her eyes rolled up through her head, so only the whites of her eyes could be seen. But her whites were becoming red as they started to become more and more bloodshot.
"Help me. Help me. Help me!"
Panic erupted in the room. Reiji and Shun ran over to Mieru and held her arms down, while the ninjas grabbed her feet. They tried to keep her restrained and unable to hurt herself, or anyone.
Yuzu fell into her hands and knees. She let out a sob, a choking gasp. She couldn't- she didn't know what to do. She was scared.
"Grand-grandpa!" she wheezed. "Yuya! Yuya, we need-"
Yuzu sat up and wiped away the tears on her face. She could barely see with the water in her eyes. She was coughing and choking on her tears.
Yuya immediately rose from his seat and went over to Yuzu. He put his arms around her and helped her to rise up to her feet.
"Grandpa, what- what can I do?"
"You! You can!" Mieru screeched.
"We'll do anything!" Yuya pleaded.
"You! Can!" Mieru screeched. "Get... me... a beautiful, sexy woman!"
The room went silent.
And then, Mieru started to cackle. "I pranked you good, Yuzu! Yer ol' Gramps still got it!"
Mieru stopped thrashing. The boys let her go, then took a step back. They remained quiet, unsure of how to respond to this.
Yuzu looked down at Mieru's body. Mieru was looking right back at her, egao-ing happily.
"That's what you kids get for pranking me!" she chuckled. "I got you guys good, didn't I?"
But Yuzu didn't look happy. The burning fire in her eyes made her grandfather stop laughing.
And then Yuzu took out her paper fan and smacked Mieru so hard across the face, the spirit of her grandfather was exorcised from her body.
"YOU STUPID ASSHOLE!" Yuzu roared. "TRY THAT AGAIN, HUH? JUST TRY IT!"
"What?" Mieru whimpered. "What's going o-"
Yuzu slapped Mieru's face with the paper fan, as hard as she could.
A/N: I wasn't too sure about this chapter. I needed to add the drama with Yuzu to give her whole story some weight. But at the same time, I prefer to draw from the well of pre-established issues and trauma. But I really wanted to make this chapter, and Halloween seemed like the perfect time to make it.
Next time: I don't know exactly, since it's time for my scheduled hiatus. I'll crap out bonus chapters in some order, and at various points in time.