Chapter 13:

"Nice to meet you, Yakumo."

"W-w-what are you –"

Shiba resumed his loud barking that shook Yakumo with dread. Her hands started to tremble so she wrung them together to stop it.

"Oh, it seems you can't speak with him around." The young girl said, eyeing the agitated dog. She raised a hand up to eye level. "Then let's talk here." As soon as she spread her fingers, pitch-black darkness fanned out from behind her and grew in all directions.

Yakumo began to back away in an attempt to escape this dark grasp but then felt her legs bump into something and she fell backward. Her back hit something hard and before she could regain her composure, the darkness wrapped around her, and her vision went dark.

x-x-x

"Hey, dishwasher?"

Harima gave his cousin a contemptuous scowl, "What is it now, Itoko?"

"Is it okay to leave your assistant alone in her house?" The purple-haired teacher asked while she sat comfortably watching the TV.

"She can handle herself pretty well. I'm sure of that." Harima answered. He momentarily stopped washing the dishes and stared at the stacks upon stacks of unwashed dishes, batches of used mugs and plethora of forks and spoons. Itoko wasn't a basement dweller who had no regard for cleanliness, but by the looks of it, his stern cousin might have specifically prepared all of this for him to clean. She was living alone and to use all her available utensils would have taken weeks to accumulate. If he didn't know better, Itoko hadn't bothered washing the dishes after he left.

"You sure trust her a lot. I'm just concerned for my tea club member, that's all."

"She's more capable than she looks." Harima replied." She took care of... Tenma, after all."

Itoko swiped a strand of her hair out of her eyes. Looks like someone here hasn't fully recovered yet. "What about that Sawachika girl? How is your relationship with her?"

If Harima had been holding a knife or fork, he might have flung it in his cousin's direction. But knowing his cousin's reflexes, she probably would've dodged it easily and flung it back at him instead. "It's none of your business!" Harima retorted. "And why do you even have these many dishes?! You didn't have all of this when I was staying here!"

Itoko chuckled. "Don't change the subject, my dear cousin."

"As I said, it's not your business. Why are you even worried about me? You're the one who kicked me out for no good reason!"

"Let's just say..." Itoko softly said while twirling her hair. "I'm really curious to see how all of this will pan out."

"What?"

The doorbell suddenly rang, prompting Itoko to stand up. She went to the door as Harima grudgingly went back to his chore.

Itoko opened the door and was greeted by a woman. "Oh, Youko, nice timing." Itoko said to her guest.

The visitor had long light-brown hair and her straight bangs ended at the top of her eyes. There was a pink ribbon laced around the left side of her hair that framed her face. Her calm hazel eyes matched her hair, adding to her already beautiful features.

"Hello Itoko." Ms. Sasakura greeted with a warm smile and waved a hand. "Where should we go for my next painting?"

"Just a stroll in the mountainside. I don't really know what you will paint in the first place."

"Is Harima finished yet?"

What the hell are they talking about? Harima inwardly thought.

"Hey Kenji." The purple-haired teacher said. Harima turned around to face his two teachers. "After you are done washing, separate Youko's dishes from mine and then deliver them to her apartment. All of my utensils are plain while hers are artistic. You'll get the drift. Every dish you break or misplace, you'll pay ten times the price."

So, this is why there are so many! Did she carry all this here for me to clean!?

"We're just going for a ride, Kenji. You'd better be finished cleaning all this before I come back."

"Good luck, Harima! And thank you!"

The two left for their casual ride leaving a fuming Harima.

Damn! I thought I was off the hook with that witch! This is gonna take forever!

Sulking and accepting his fate, Harima returned to his chore. He looked to his side and remembered a familiar voice.

'There aren't many dishes to wash, Harima. If you don't mind, I'll wash them.'

Harima sighed. I hope Yakumo is okay.

x-x-x

"I thought you wanted to talk to me?" the ghost asked. "I'll entertain you since this is what you want."

The two were once again in the hellish dimension of scarlet and darkness. The ghost hovered in front of Yakumo who looked wary.

Mustering her courage, Yakumo balled her hands into fists and replied, "W-what did you mean when you said Harima is like me? What are you really planning?"

The young girl bowed, hiding her eyes. A smile slowly etched onto her lips, making her look menacing. Yakumo backed away, feeling like something dreadful was going to happen.

To her surprise, the young girl raised her head and laughed loudly, "Bahahahaha! What are you so scared and tense for?!" she asked in a childish tone. "It's not like I'm going to hurt you!"

"Eh? Whaa-"

The ghost shrugged, "I can't simply appear whenever you want. That's not how it works."

"B-but then what were you doing earlier?" Yakumo asked, confused.

"I was only trying what he can do. It seems I can't."

"You mean Harima? What -"

"After all this time, you still don't know?" the ghost asked rather sarcastically. "People who have gifts are somewhat sensitive to their own kind. May I ask: Did he figure out you can read minds?"

Yakumo was taken aback. She had never thought much about it when Harima correctly guessed she had psychic powers. It was more of a wild guess than any other. She hadn't been that surprised when he blurted it out since it was Harima and it was something only he could've thought of using the "clues" he had.

The ghost tilted her head. "Pity, but I'm not surprised. His ability is unique even among the gifted." She stopped hovering and stepped onto the metaphysical plane. "I've been in this world for so many years now and this is the first time I've seen this. It may be because he reads a different type of mind entirely."

"What do you mean?"

"People who have feelings for you have opened their hearts to you so you can read their minds. To counter it, simply not open their heart."

Yakumo somewhat knew that loophole existed. She was not able to read Hanai's mind for once during Mikoto's birthday party. Even though he had dedicated his horrible performance to Yakumo, his mind was unreadable and no intimidating aura radiated from him. She thought it might have been because someone was in his mind already and it prevented his thoughts from leaking out.

"But there are exceptions." The ghost continued. "That man is a strange case indeed. To tell you the truth, his ignorance mocks everything that I represent. I could not read or take hold of his inner turmoil even though I knew it was there. Something's blocking it..." She paused for a second and looked Yakumo straight in the eye, "and that something is what I want."

Yakumo's eyes widened. "You don't mean..."

"Rest assured; there are some conditions before I can perform it. At this stage, I think it would be quite impossible. I talked to him and all of it just flew over his head."

"What were you two talking about?"

"When I said that I'm a part of you I wasn't joking. Everyone has their own inner self to deal with, even him. You can call it the ego, conscience, or inner demons. I am a fraction of you but I am sentient, and I have my own will. I only talked about something you don't share with others. I guess he did the same too.

It's ironic. You two are opposites and yet quite the same. He can see me because you two share the same loneliness that created me. You two sing the same song that called me."

The ghost turned around and started to disappear, "It doesn't matter if I didn't get his gift." Before she completely vanished, she said in a low voice, "It also doesn't matter if I take yours."

Before those words sank into Yakumo's mind, her vision started to become fuzzy and she felt nauseous. She passed out and everything went dark.

x-x-x

Yakumo heard an insistent sniffing sound. There was something wet grazing her face and she opened her eyes. Her vision slowly cleared and to her shock, a big fanged creature was inches away from her face. She gave what might have been generously called a squeal of surprise and she quickly scooted back. Her heart continued to thump in her chest from this rude awakening.

"I-I'm fine, Shiba. T-thank you." Yakumo stuttered as her shaking hands were raised to her chest.

The big dog simply sat with a carefree expression so characteristic to his breed. With what passed as a contemptuous snort, he walked away to find a good napping place.

Yakumo slowed her breathing to control herself and found herself sitting on the veranda. So, she passed out when she tripped. Hopefully, she hadn't been out for long.

As soon as she touched her cheek, a horrible realization passed through her mind. She quickly ran towards the sink to wash off the icky saliva from her face. Some say a dog's mouth is cleaner than a human's mouth but she wouldn't take any chances. It was revolting no matter how she looked at it.

Yakumo sat on a chair as she calmed down, trying to make sense of what just happened earlier.

Neither Sarah nor Harima had returned home yet. She didn't know if the ghost purposely appeared only when there was no one around to disturb them. It would be very messy indeed if she suddenly appeared in their midst while they were having dinner. That was one consolation she had with this ghost. At least she was decent and considerate enough.

Is it time to do something about this? How many times have I asked this to myself?

The ghost's motives were quite dangerous if she really meant to extract their psychic abilities. How would she do it? Now that Yakumo thought about it, it would be quite beneficial to her. She may even be willing to give her powers to the ghost girl. She hadn't asked for them and it made things awkward with people around her. Her powers made her see people's thoughts and hidden intentions. Sometimes it warned her of genuinely dangerous people but she knew the large majority were innocent and harmless. It had its pros and cons; it was a curse and a gift at the same time, and it made the choice harder than it should be. She wondered what Harima could do with his power if he had managed to catch the interest of the little girl. His true ability might be something more extraordinary than it already is.

It might be about animals? Yakumo wondered.

The ghost had been intently looking at Shiba like Harima did when he lectured the dog. There would be a stare-down for a few seconds and then he would instruct him like a kid. It had happened before with Iori, though Harima had explained the cat was friendly to him because he had once saved Iori from drowning, which Yakumo had also thanked him for when she found out.

She could read people's minds but reading animal minds was something else entirely. Even if she could occasionally see the thoughts of some animals, she couldn't understand them because she didn't share their language. If there was something in particular stopping her from reading the minds of animals, then the language barrier would indeed be a problem. Animals can communicate, just not through the conventional spoken language humans have. Some animals like parrots can mimic simple phonetic words but it doesn't mean that's what they're actually saying. They were just imitations of sound and not actual communication.

Also, there's no common language among all animals. No person can learn "animal talk" that encompasses the whole animal kingdom. A lion can't communicate with a bear, and what would appear to be a smile on a dog to a human, can mean an entirely different thing to them. Even human languages have a plethora of jargon and expressions that it's impossible to perfectly translate one language to another.

To understand and communicate, there needs to be a connection outside language limitations and to find common ground: "Linking of minds" in other words. It should work on two parties and not for an individual only. Telepathy is a two-way street. She can read people's minds but no other people can read hers. But some animals, like giraffes or whales, can and will be docile or obedient to her, despite not understanding what they're trying to say to one another. Somehow, that connection satisfies them enough for them to lower their guard around her.

They have different minds entirely just as the ghost said. That difference possibly hindered her from understanding Iori's mind or any other animal's. She can't understand them because she doesn't have a mind that functions like them. It made it more unbelievable to know a person that could harbor such a unique mind.

Does Harima have an animal mind? Yakumo wondered.

It sounded preposterous and quite an insult to say about a person. But the more she thought about it, the more reasonable it appeared. It would explain why she couldn't read Harima's mind. If he had one, then her psyche and his couldn't sync with one another, creating a "mental dissonance". His power would be about linking an animal's mind to his own so he could communicate with them.

It actually made sense now. Maybe that white noise she saw in him during school hours was because of this. Had it been shielding his mind from her all this time? Did this mean that he possibly liked her after all?

Then what about that one time when she had read his mind? What was that all about? It was incomplete but it meant that he had indeed opened his heart at that moment, opening it slightly ajar only to quickly shut it close. It hadn't happened again since then, but at least she knew that she could read his mind, albeit partially.

All this thinking actually made Yakumo's head hurt. She was maybe looking into it too much. Her strange theory had credibility along with its holes but it was based on what she could gather at the moment. The only way to back up her theory was to test it.

The only thing she was worried about was Harima's reaction. It wasn't in her nature to test a person of all things just to prove her theory correct. And she couldn't just ask him directly if he had psychic powers. It was something quite noticeable in one's life to have but Harima seemed not to be bothered by it. He always kept his past a secret to anyone, even to her. All she knew was that Harima was quite a delinquent before he fell in love with her sister. She didn't want to ask him about his background since maybe he would rather forget those memories of his past self he had chosen to leave behind. He might have mistaken his powers as a normal occurrence and accepted it as it was.

Also, he might do something drastic and worsen the situation if he knew what was up. Can she outright say, 'Harima, there's some ghost who wants your power by the way.' She would have to trust the ghost's words that she can't influence him no matter what she did. Maybe it would turn out in the same way as it had with Tenma before. It wouldn't bother him if she didn't make too much fuss about it.

A week should be enough, Yakumo decided. If something weird happens during that time, then it's time to take action no matter how they'll react to it. Sarah, of course, should be notified too, but Yakumo hoped she wouldn't do something more drastic than Harima.

Finished with her analysis over such a complicated issue, Yakumo went back to her chore. She sighed.

I hope Harima is doing okay.

x-x-x

"Hey, Sarah. What's the status of those two at the moment?"

Sarah looked at Miki. She paused from eating her lunch and replied, "They seem to be doing fine."

"That's it? Doing fine?" Miki asked incredulously. "Yakumo hasn't joined us for lunch for two straight days now! There has to be some progress!"

"Yakumo will join us tomorrow," Sarah answered calmly. "I think they're just preparing for his manga."

Miki pouted. "I doubt that's the only reason."

"Why do you want to intrude this much, Miki?" Satsuki asked. "These things take time, you know."

"Oh you're one to talk," scoffed Miki. "Then what's it called when you abruptly confessed to Asou?"

"What?! How did you know that?!"

Miki snickered. "I have my own little secrets too, you know." She ignored the basketball ace pouting angrily and looked in Sarah's direction. "C'mon Sarah, you're their housemate. Spill it, pretty please?"

"I don't think they'll like it if I talk behind their back." Sarah defended.

Miki shrugged and said, "It's not gossiping at all if it's true." Haruna raised an eyebrow at how Miki's mind worked.

With a sigh, Sarah gave in and replied, "They don't talk that much at home to be honest. There will be some small talk here and there but nothing serious. I don't think they've done anything together other than working on his manga."

"So... nothing happened?" Miki asked, her head tilted to one side.

"Well, I think there's progress. You know, Harima actually based one of his characters on her."

"Whoa! You're kidding? That's freaking romantic!"

"Isn't Harima's manga a romantic comedy?" Haruna calmly chimed in amid Miki's outbursts.

"I'm still unsure what she is in the manga but I guess it's important if she's talking with him during lunch break. I don't really understand what they're talking about when it comes to his manga. Harima works on his manga most of the time at home when he's not with Eri."

"Oh, right." Miki quickly remarked. "We still have that "pretty girl" around."

"Please don't do something drastic and dumb, Miki." Satsuki pleaded.

"What? I haven't done anything yet! And what did you mean something 'dumb?" Miki harrumphed and continued, "At least I'm not like you who gives up Asou to Mikoto that easily. You sure put up a fight(!)" The basketball ace fumed and she would have strangled the girl if Haruna hadn't stopped her first.

"I think... it's just a matter of time." Sarah softly said as she watched the two of her friends fight over who had the better love life.

x-x-x

A week passed and to Yakumo's relief, nothing unusual happened. Time flew by quickly, it had now already been a month since Harima, and Sarah started living in Yakumo's house. There had been a few changes during that period, but nothing major. The only thing that was strange was none of them had spent time together out for recreation. Harima was usually gone somewhere, taken by Eri who would suddenly appear out of nowhere. Their activity took the whole day and when he was finally released, he would return home dead tired, taking most of the next day to rest.

It was Sunday noon. Yakumo was arranging her uniform for the next week and Sarah was away for her Sunday activities. Harima for once would be free that day. It was a rare moment – Eri had somehow taken pity on him and he was given a reprieve. Harima told his housemates at dinner the night before, saying he was so glad he would get to just lounge around the whole of Sunday. He actually slept the whole morning to make the most of it. There were still some chores to do, but it wouldn't take long to finish with the two of them.

As they were eating lunch, Harima looked to Yakumo and asked, "Uhh, Imouto-san?"

Yakumo paused mid-meal and replied, "Yes?"

"Do you have any plans this afternoon?"

Yakumo was quite surprised by his question. "No. Not really." I actually spend most of my time watching TV, she mentally added.

"You know, I haven't visited the zoo for a while now so maybe…" Harima paused. He leaned an elbow on the table while looking away from her and continued, "Maybe, if it's alright with you, you can come with me today."

Yakumo was momentarily thrown off guard as she stared at her food. Is he asking me out on a date? She quickly rid that thought and replied, "Of course. I would love to. I haven't gone to the zoo recently," or anywhere for that matter, "so it would be nice to go out today."

'Love to?' Where did that come from?

"You sure? Great!" Harima said exuberantly. "I bet Pyotr misses you. He sometimes escapes the zoo to visit you. I don't know how he does that but I'm sure he'll be happy when we visit him."

Yakumo nearly dropped her chopsticks along with her jaw. Is he inviting me for the giraffe's sake? Well, even so, it isn't all that bad to go out once in a while. "It's been a long time since I've seen him. That sounds like a great idea. Just... just give me some time to prepare."

"Of course, and I need to wash the dishes first too, you know." Harima said with a smile and laughed.

Yakumo smiled in return, and she carried that smile with her while she finished the rest of her lunch, and while she prepared her things too. Not only would she be with him, but she could also test her theory with first-hand experience. It was a zoo and he would undoubtedly communicate with the animals there.

Things are not getting worse but better, Yakumo thought as she perused for a comfortable set of clothes to wear.

I can't wait.

Author's Corner: Well, this story seems to have taken a turn. Call Sam and Dean Winchester!