Chapter II: Self-Deception
By Twisted Eternal Wolvetta
「遥はん寝ているのか。」
Was that a question or statement? Opening a single eye, Haruka stared disgruntled within the darkness of her room. Ever since that blasted ghost had made herself welcome, she had been harassing Haruka nonstop. Already an entire month had bypassed them, and frankly she was already sick of it. Like a good member of society, Haruka was attempting to get her beauty sleep ready for work. But oh no, Shizuru thought overwise.
「いけず！うちの話を聞いて下さい！」
"I'm awake now." Haruka grumbled into her pillow. Closing her eyes, her moment of respite was unfortunately shattered. Redness was now gorging her eyelids, causing her to angrily reopen them. Instantly Haruka regretted it. Now what? This ectoplasmic tea-chugger had switched on the lights?! "Switch them off!" Throwing her blanket off her body, she stumbled towards the pulley-switch in the far corner.
「ピンクの寝間着？可愛らしい。」
Huh? What's wrong with her nightie? Haruka peered down at her garish pink monstrosity. Ugh, it's nothing. Shizuru was just trying to wind her up as always. Pulling the switch, she blindly lumbered back to her futon and slithered back inside. The moment she closed her eyes, the light once again beared down on her. Blinking, she stared deadpanned at the far shoji wall.
Hours proceeded Haruka, dilating into anguish the more sleep-prone she became. Alas, for this obnoxious Meiji woman deprived her of slumberland.
A sigh tore from Haruka's throat later that day.
Work had been awful.
Stepping into the hallway, she kicked off her shoes and staggered towards the kitchen.
The house was quiet—but she knew this didn't mean much. The annoying ghost tended to be surprisingly silent during the late afternoons. Why was that? Not that Haruka was curious—no, totally not.
A sigh released from her.
She's kidding herself, isn't she?
"...Oi, ghost." Gaze sweeping the kitchen, a crippling muteness resounded. Only the hum of the fridge and dull external noises were heard. Is Shizuru ignoring her? Oh well, she supposed.
However, this continued for weeks.
At first Haruka was joyous. After all, her unwanted guest had finally gone away! But why did she miss her? That inexplicable loss grew larger and more intense gradually. Eventually it got to the point that Haruka was even faintly sad.
"You could at least tell me why you disappeared." She grumbled, sat upon the toilet.
Oh, she certainly knew how to be annoying! Glaring at the door in front of her, she growled under her breath. It makes no sense! Why did she miss her? The concept was nonsensical to her. Perhaps the ten-billionth sigh of that day escaped her lips right then.
Finishing her business soon after, she put down the lid and flushed the toilet. Staring at the cistern, she frowned, thinking of nothing in particular. But then, a voice so loud penetrated her ears. It caused a whole mess of feeling to spark inside of her all at once.
「あらあら、遥はんはうちいなくて寂しいですか？」
What in the world?! "What are you doing in here?!" A shocked curse flew from the blonde's mouth at that point, the door flying open.
Clearly, Haruka had been scammed.
「遥はん寝ているのか。」 = "Haruka (-han), are you sleeping?"
「いけず！うちの話を聞いて下さい！」 = "Mean! Listen to me!"
「ピンクの寝間着？可愛らしい。」 = "Pink nightclothes? How adorable."
「あら、遥はんはうちいなくて寂しいですか？」 = "Oh my, did Haruka (-han) miss me?"
Once again I have used the Kyoto dialect for Shizuru here. はん (-han) is used in place of the honorific "-san". いけず (ikezu) translates to "mean". Back in the day the fandom was obsessed with using this one. うち (uchi) is the Kyoto pronoun for "me" or "I". Finally, あら is the signature ara. Oh my, oh my.
Don't take my word for any of this though. After all, I'm just a white English person who's obsessed with details. My Japanese is probably incredibly broken.