Gothshipping (Bakura Ryo/Ghost Kotsuzaka)

. . .

"Were you thinking of buying one of those?"

The voice startled Kotsuzaka enough to drop the ouija board box. It landed with a thwump on the ground at his feet and he had to duck down hurriedly to pick it up. Once he had it in his hands again, he glanced up quickly to whoever had spoken to him.

A young man with long white hair in a ponytail over his shoulder looked at him, green eyes somehow piercing despite the calmness of the gaze. He had what appeared to be a small box of tarot cards in one hand, and some sort of poster or something rolled up under his other arm.

Damn, no one every talked to him when he visited this stupid occult shop—certainly not boys that looked like they belonged more at a prep school than in an occult store. Seriously, what kind of person wore beige, boarding-school type sweaters in public?

"What's it to you?" Kotsuzaka said with a scowl.

"Well, I just thought I'd ask," the boy said, glancing down at the box. "Have you used one before? They're a little more dangerous than you might think."

"I'm not an idiot," Kotsuzaka said, but at the back of his head, he wondered if the boy was serious. Kotsuzaka liked grabbing this kind of thing for aesthetic purposes; this kid didn't really think they actually worked, did he?

The young man angled himself so that he could push his bangs out of his face with the back of his hand holding the tarot cards.

"Even just having one in the house can attract spirits," he said, matter of factly. As though were explaining simple math, or something. "If you're interested in it, I really would recommend doing research first. There's a proper way to insulate your home from spirits."

His eyes wandered over to the shelves where Kotsuzaka had gotten the ouija board, and his eyes lit up. He shifted the poster underneath his other arm and slid a book from the shelf.

"This store always organizes things together so nicely," he said. "Here, this is a good one. It utilizes the principles of feng shui to keep clean energy in your house and deter the spirits you don't want around. I highly recommend it."

"O...kay?" Kotsuzaka said, taking the book without really wanting it. "You work here or something? Trying to get me to spend more money?"

The boy chuckled, and something about the sound seemed somehow...strained?

"No, I don't, I'm just a frequent visitor...one with quite a bit of experience with unhelpful spirits."

He actually winced, as though remembering something painful.

"Seriously, I recommend at least flipping through it before putting a ouija board in your house. Better safe than sorry—I've seen what can happen with those if you're not careful."

He gave Kotsuzaka one distant smile, and then turned around and wandered to the end of the aisle.

Kotsuzaka watched him go before letting his eyes fall to the book that was now stack on top of his ouija board.

After a few minutes, he put both of them back. Maybe it wasn't worth the trouble after all...

. . .

A/N: If I never have to write another fic about Kotsuzaka I'll be happy. Next is Goldshipping (Atem x Marik).