When Insanity Comes Knocking On My Door
by: xabie and da*mouse
Chapter 2: Of Ghosts and (Wo)Men
He was aware that it was probably one of his most undignified moments of all nineteen years of his life, as he stared wide-eyed at the two ghosts with a tongue that absolutely refused to cooperate with him.
"What's the matter, dude? Cat got your tongue?" The man-ghost floated closer to him, and grinned, exposing perfect rows of transparent teeth. "Or haven't you seen a ghost before?" He cracked up on that one, laughing loudly at his own lame joke, while his companion merely frowned at him.
"Or maybe it's these slippers." The ghost wiggled his feet, clad in yellow ducky slippers. "You like them? I can get you a pair, but I don't whether are you able to wear them…you have to be dead, you know."
"Shut up, Shinrei." The woman shot him a disapproving look. She then fixed her eyes upon Mikagami, who was still staring at them.
He was wondering whether was this some kind of bad dream that he couldn't get out of, or that perhaps he was going mad.
Or maybe it was both cases.
"Rest assured that you're perfectly sane and perfectly awake." She said insouciantly, seeming to read his mind. She settled herself on a nearby chair, and folded her hands on her lap. The man chose to sprawl himself on the bed, Mikagami's bed.
Vaguely, Mikagami wondered how on earth they manage not to go right through the furniture. And then he wondered why was he thinking about something so…well…stupid.
"Please. Sit." The woman gestured to an armchair across from her.
He still stood, cocking his head to one side, scrutinizing the two ghosts. Frankly, he did not know how to react to them. It was, after all, the first time he had ever encountered anything like this.
,
"We won't bite if you won't." The man added, and then pretended to lick his chops. He flashed a wide grin, revealing all his teeth, at Mikagami.
The woman looked at him, rolled her eyes, and sighed, waving her hand as if dismissing him. "Ignore him, Mikagami-san." She fixed her gaze on the silver-haired young man, and nodded to the direction of the armchair again. "You could choose to stand, or to sit, as I talk."
Almost warily, Mikagami eased himself into the armchair, his blue eyes sharp and alert.
"That's better." Brushing back her brown hair, she continued. "Forgive us for intruding into your privacy through walls and beds, but that can't be helped. Truth be told, I couldn't really bring myself to care, either."
"Hello!" A protesting voice broke in. "Why should you apologise? It was him intruding upon us in general, not the other way round!"
"Shinrei, for the last time…" The woman drew her mouth into a tight line and glared at the man.
"Okay, okay. Can't a man talk?" He complained, but obligingly quieted down.
"My name is Shiina Saori, and that is my husband, Shiina Shinrei."
Shiina Saori and Shiina Shinrei? What a mouthful. Wait. Did he just comment on the names of two ghosts?
"Hey! What kind of name is Mikagami Tokiya? Are you some kind of water freezer, huh? Huh?" The man – Shinrei apparently – began laughing at Mikagami. He reflectively drew back; surprised that the ghost could actually read his mind.
"Yes, we can read minds. One of our many abilities as the undead, I supposed." Saori wore a slightly sardonic smile. "And Shinrei…if you continue to disturb me and Mikagami-san, I'll make sure you stay buried under my chair until this conversation is over."
"All right already, Riri-chan!" Shinrei held up his hands in a mock surrender gesture. At that, Saori threw a lethal glare towards the other ghost, which gradually turned into a wry smile. "You'll never get out of that habit."
"And you love me for it."
Mikagami only stared.
"Forgive us, Mikagami-san." Saori's tone was one of cool politeness. "Now where was I…ah. This is our house…was our house." Saori corrected herself.
"How long have you been here?" Mikagami asked slowly. He couldn't help noticing the fashion of their clothes, in a fairly recent style.
"Oh, not long. Say…eight years?"
"And you've…lived here? For eight years?"
Both of them nodded.
"I assure you, Mikagami-san, that we meant you no harm." Saori spoke unperturbedly.
"Yeah, we're great folks! And I'm really friendly, outgoing, cute…everything she's not." Shinrei added, his eyes twinkling. Saori just frowned at her husband, but even so, Mikagami could sense the lingering affection between the two ghosts.
Wait a minute. These were ghosts he was talking about! He was likening them to living, breathing, human beings. Not good. How long had it been since he had human contact again? Perhaps that was the reason for his… strange thoughts.
"It's just that if we're going to be living together, I thought we should get to know and understand each other. It would be pretty rude of you to stumble upon us without informing us, even if by accident." Saori said indifferently. "I do not fancy a loud scream or two right at my face."
Mikagami let out the breath he didn't realised that he had been holding. His sharp senses told him immediately that these two ghosts were harmless.
Not that he was an expert on ghosts or anything…well, he could just tell. That was all. Or maybe he was just going insane. Who knew?
The shock was wearing off, and he could feel the old him returning, replacing the once-shell shocked, confused, and rather stunned nineteen-year-old that he refused to admit as himself.
"First thing you should understand about me is, that I am a loner." He said coolly. "Thank you for introducing yourselves to me, that was most appreciated. What I would appreciate more, though, was that I should be left alone to my life, to do my work. As long as you can understand that, I'm sure we'll get along fine. The second thing is, I do not scream. Soft or loud otherwise."
He stood up, and bowed to Shinrei and Saori. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have some work to be seeing to in the studio. Good day, Shiina-san, Saori-san."
With that, he spun on his heel, and left the room. He reflected, how, earlier on, he was wishing for a little human company.
Well, he got the company he wanted. The only thing was, they were not human.
Meanwhile, Shinrei stared open-mouthed at the retreating back, while Saori sighed.
"He's a major pain in the neck." She muttered.
"What about that?! The little git! Why, I ought to give him a piece of my ghost mind!" Shinrei said irritably.
"He'll get used to us. He'll have to." she said dismissively.
Both ghosts then lapsed into a ghostly silence, pardon the pun. Then Shinrei spoke.
"You know, he reminded me a lot of you. The initial you, when we first met? Even the hair, except for the color. Eh, Riri-chan?" He grinned at his wife, and she rolled her eyes at the nickname she hated, but still, was stuck with. "Of course, the hair looked much better on you." He playfully tugged on a lock of his wife's lilac-colored tresses.
Saori smirked. "Naturally."
It was just as well that Mikagami had left the room. If he had heard the hair insult, he would not let it slide, ghosts or not.
-
Some distance away from the house where Mikagami was residing, a purple-haired girl disembarked from a bus, looking around her and wrinkling her nose in distaste. "Hey!" She turned back to the bus driver, who was ready to pull the lever to close the doors. "Is the right place?"
The bus driver shrugged. "This is the closest I can get you to where you're going. If you would just walk down this path, and turn right on the first fork path you come across, you'll find the old house, Mister."
A throbbing vein bulged at her forehead, and her eyes darkened considerably.
POW!
The bus driver laid bruised, arms and legs disarrayed, as Fuuko dusted her hands with satisfaction.
"It's MISS, for your information." She snarled, wishing she had never chose to wear that baggy T-shirt, which concealed the one glaring fact that she belonged to the female species.
The bus pulled away as soon as she alighted, taking off at top speed, tires screeching as it rounded a corner. Fuuko scoffed. "Wimp."
Looking at the unearthly atmosphere around here, a slight frown appeared on her face, as she took off down the worn path she was pointed to. She reached the turning soon enough, and took the road to her right.
In the distance, she could see the silhouette of an old house against the sky of the setting sun. That should be his house, all right.
Fuuko grinned. Wouldn't he be pleased to see her?
Are you kidding? Mikagami…pleased to see you? In what century? Her inner voice spoke up, chiding her.
For a moment, Fuuko's step faltered. True, he would not be extremely pleased to see her. But hey, who was he to turn her away especially since she came all the way? She bit her lip. After they had been through life and death through USB…surely she was, at least, a friend to the Hokage iceman?
Shrugging away her concerns, Fuuko bounded towards Mikagami's house.
She was never one to worry about problems before they arise. She'd just worry after they came.
-
Mikagami propped a clean canvas on the easel neatly, next to the window of a huge sunny room he discovered the other day, which made it perfect for him to go about in his work. Carefully securing his silver mane into a tight ponytail, he slipped on an artist's smock, and pick up a brush.
He had barely touched the canvas when a head poked itself through. Startled, he dropped his brush, and reflexively backed away, which resulted in him bumping into the container of water. And that conveniently spilt all over the poor man, wetting his pants.
Shinrei looked at the mess he had created. "Oops." He floated out of the canvas, and settled beside the wet and angry artist. "I'm so sorry, Mikagami-san. I didn't mean to…" Picking up a jar of paint, he attempted to hand it to Mikagami, but since the jar was wet, it slipped out of his ghost fingers, and the paint spattered against Mikagami's smock.
Grabbing a cloth, a huge scowl materialised on his face as he dabbed at the offending purple stain on his smock. Seeing that Shinrei was about to pick up another jar of paint, he immediately snapped. "Get away from my things!"
"Aww, I said I was sorry." Shinrei backed away, a hint of nervousness on his face at the ice-cold expression on the other's man face.
"Just stay out of my way, and I'll extend to you the same courtesy."
"Oi, Mi-chan!"
A new voice broke in. Both man and ghost swiveled towards the direction of the voice.
Shock registered on Mikagami's face. "Kirisawa?! Goddamnit, what are you doing here? And how the hell did you get in?"
The owner of the said voice gave a small, sheepish wave. "Ehhh…the door was not locked, so…"
"Oops again. Sorry, Mikagami-san, I forgot to lock the door." Shinrei's face was one of apology.
Stepping towards Fuuko, Mikagami tripped over one of the many jars of paint strewn on the floor, and nearly lost his balance. He would have fell flat on his face if not for years and years of training with the ensui, which bestowed him some grace.
Still, it was not one of his most distinguished moments and he knew it.
A giggle escaped from Fuuko, and he threw her his customary scowl. He pressed his fingers to his temples, feeling a massive headache coming on.
Shinrei floated next to him, eyeing Fuuko with an interested air. "Hey, who's the girl? Your girlfriend? She's cute."
Mikagami growled. Between the ghosts, and the sudden appearance of the she-monkey, he was about to go stark raving mad. "Shiina, can you PLEASE leave me alone?"
"Sheesh, a guy can't try to be friendly, could he?" Shinrei complained.
"Ehh…Mi-chan? Are you all right?" Fuuko walked into the room, wrinkling her nose a little. "Why are you talking to yourself?" An expression of worry appeared on her face. Oh no. He's gone insane. Too deprived of human company? Gah, I knew he shouldn't move in into this sorry excuse of a house in the first place. Maybe if I grab him now, I can drag him to a mental hospital? Hopefully it's not too late…
"Hey, that's my house you're talking about!" Shinrei exclaimed, immediately reading Fuuko's mind.
"Waaa?" Wait a minute. That was not Mikagami's voice.
She felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around. Shinrei gave her a huge ghost grin. "Hi!"
There was a few moments of thundering silence, before she registered the tiny, little insignificant fact that his head was see-through.
Then…
Fuuko's eyes widened, as huge as saucers and she reacted in the only way she knew how.
She opened her mouth and screamed.
"ARGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"
-
written by da*mouse
edited by xabie
15 January 2004
Reviews are most appreciated! ^_^