His legs were still shaking. The bite must have really messed him up. But he knew that he had to get his first aid kit. He took a deep breath and steeled himself before walking in, clearing his throat. "Sakura, dear. I know that you're having a mental breakdown," Ouch, that sounded harsh even to him. But what else could he say. It was the truth. And he really didn't have time to wait around for her to calm down. He couldn't risk an infection. Hesitating, he thought for a moment before continuing, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said it like that. But I do need the first aid kit, if you don't mind?" Sakura was clearly messed up from the situation, especially because she was babbling about being sorry over and over. And while that was fine, he didn't have the time. Sighing softly, he shifted and continued, "Listen, if you're really sorry, help me to treat this bite. Or bites, either way, it's really starting to hurt."
Sakura flinched, looking up at him. She knew he was being harsh for a reason but it still hurt. After a moment, she nodded, feeling horrible for what she did. It didn't take long for her to find the first aid kit. Grabbing it, she turned to him, blushing. "I'll help. I'm sorry, really, I am." When he motioned for her to stop, Sakura nodded, following him out to where Nene and Murasaki were. Luckily, they weren't yelling at her. But it was clear they were keeping an eye on her as they went into the guest bedroom.
A little bit later, they were in the guest bedroom. The room was simple, though it was a decent size. It had a comfortable looking bed and a bookshelf which was holding one of the deadlies in the item they're possessing. There was also a desk near the window and a nightstand next to the bed. The bed wasn't too big and it was a decent enough size. He was sitting in the desk chair as Murasaki was working on bandaging his arm.
Sakura had tried to help, but it caused her to start crying again. So Murasaki had her sit on the bed nearby as they worked on cleaning him up. It hurt but it was nothing more than some bite marks. It could have been way worse, like a whole chunk missing! Luckily, he would be fine. They wouldn't even leave any permanent scars! Well other than a scar to his pride for being eaten by a ghost girl.
After a bit, his arm was finally bandaged and the silence was awkward. Sakura was still sitting on the bed. She was hugging her knees, looking like she was seconds away from crying again. He understood why she was upset but he also didn't know what to say to help her feel better, let alone to all the other girls in the room. And even worse, how in the hell was he going to explain this to his mother? The thing was, he would probably have to be honest with her.
Especially now that he had bite marks, he wouldn't be able to explain the weird situations that had been doing on like he had been able to from the past week. Though, if he was being honest, he highly doubted she believed every single excuse he had been giving her. There was no way his mom believed the one about the cat having some gift at understanding him all of a sudden, for example.
He also was dreading even mentioning this to her at all. He wasn't even sure if his mom was going to believe him. He didn't really blame here. It would be hard to believe anyone who admitted that they got possessed by a cursed Blu-ray. Add that to the fact that for the next forty-nine days, she would be living with several ghosts as he slowly helped them do what they need to do before moving on to the afterlife? Yeah, this was going to be a difficult conversation to have. But it had to be done.
After a moment, he broke the silence, clearing his throat before saying, "Sakura, you need to know something. Well, actually all of you need to know this." When she looked up at him, he hesitated before continuing, "I'm going to tell my mom about what's going on. It's going to be harder to hide now that there's physical wounds. And with most of the girls possessing inanimate objects, it would be better if I told her which ones so she doesn't mess with them until the girls pass on. That is, if she believes me. That's the main thing I'm worried about. Well, that and I wanted to let you all know to hear what your thoughts are on the matter."
Other than Sakura, Nene, and Chiyako, there were four other girls. And each one possessed an item, well other than Sakura at the moment. A red wooden pig with somewhat fading paint was possessed by Tsukinoki Kotoha, a girl who passed away when she was nine. Murasaki's teddy bear, which was known as Big Daddy, was possessed by Tsukomo Shizuku, who was eight when she passed away. A vacuum cleaner was possessed by Doumeki Ichiru who passed when she was eight as well. And finally, a kokeshi doll, which was possessed by Takanashi Mari. A kokeshi doll was a simple wooden doll without arms or legs. They had a simple body and head, usually painted with thin lines to define any facial features. It was common for the body to have some kind of floral or ring designs to it, usually painted in red, black, or sometimes even green, purple, blue or yellow inks. Every doll was then covered in a layer of wax, well after the artist signed their name on the bottom or on the back. Though the idea of signing the dolls didn't start until the fifties. She had passed when she was eight as well, which Karaat had noticed was the common age for the girls when they passed. The youngest girl was seven when she passed and the eldest, which was Chiyako, was seventeen. Everyone else ranged from the ages of seven to ten.
It was kind of odd, standing in the guest room with all these girls and Sakura on the bed. Even more weird was the fact that his phone was being held by the ghost arm. The ghost arm was probably the strangest thing about what was going on in the room, though it really shouldn't be given all seven of the girls other than Murasaki, were considered dead. Chiyako was back in the phone, thankfully. He didn't know why, but it made him nervous when she had left the phone, even if it was for a moment.
It seemed like everyone was in agreement. Or at least until he noticed that Mari was clearly not alright with it. Shaking her head, she frowned as she said, "No, no, I can't agree to this! She doesn't need to know. This is crazy, absolutely crazy!"
"But she's bound to find out. It's not going to be easy to hide this wound, especially in the summer." Karaat argued, confused. "I can't just go around wearing long sleeves and it's not just at the top. It's all over the arm." He saw Sakura flinch and mutter an apology. He wasn't trying to remind her that she caused the bites, but this did need to be discussed. He didn't get what was Mari's issue! Everyone else seemed alright with it, all except for her.
"Karaat, Murasaki," Chiyako said quietly before Mari could argue again. "I think you should know something before passing judgement." Mari huffed, but let her continue.
"Unfortunately, Mari was abused by her mother when she was alive. It's possible that because of this, she's going to be a bit hesitant with your mother knowing and possibly getting involved. Please understand that she's not being difficult for no reason. This is hard for her. Your mother is not like hers, but that's still a mother."
"Oh," Karaat said, a bit surprised. Though he really shouldn't be, given what he had already heard about some of the girls' pasts. As if their deaths weren't bad enough, some of their lives had been equally as bad. To be honest, he couldn't really blame them for being spirits and trying to linger as much as possible, whether they chose to wander or not. He also couldn't blame them for now taking this opportunity once they realized that someone was able to pay attention to them, to find some kind of closure before passing on. If he was a ghost, he would hope that someone would give him the same courtesy.
He went to the bookshelf where the small doll that Mari had possessed was. He picked it up, patting the head of the wooden figure before saying, "Please give my mom a chance. While she didn't entirely know what she was agreeing to, she has let all of you stay in her house despite it suddenly being dropped on her. She is very nice, and I'm sure even if she doesn't fully understand, she'll do what she can so everyone is comfortable."
Mari was quiet for a moment before muttering, "I'll try. No promises, but, for everyone's sake, I will try." She didn't want to, but she also didn't have much of a choice. They needed a place to stay and after what happened tonight, it would be hard to hide their presence anymore.
Relieved, Karaat smiled and set the wooden doll down before sighing. The past hour had been insane, and if he was being absolute honest, he was not only sore but now exhausted. Just relieved it wasn't as bad as it could have been, he looked around the room before saying, "We should probably get some rest. Not only was this last hour crazy, but we've got a huge conversation coming up in the morning. And it's later than I thought it was." Luckily everyone seemed in agreement and they started to murmur goodnight as he went to escort Murasaki to the door.
"Good night," Sakura muttered, clearly still sad. She felt horrible for her actions and even though she apologized multiple times by now, it just didn't feel like it was enough for what had happened. She could never truly forgive herself, even though she knew she probably should. She looked up after a moment, tensing when she realized how close Karaat was. The room was quiet for a moment as they looked at each other.
Karaat didn't want her to be sad. He wasn't sure what he was doing but as he leaned in, he hesitated. He had to do something to cheer her up, it was only fair after a crazy last hour. He just couldn't leave her behind like this! So, he leaned in and kissed her on the cheek, smiling slightly. "There, a good night kiss. You look like you need one." He was trying his best to be smooth and cool but internally, he was freaking out about as much as the rest of the deadlies, also known as the girls were. Murasaki sounded annoyed and Sakura was even looking at him in shock. Clearing his throat, he was panicking as he said, "Woah, everyone calm down! Look, umm, fine, I'll kiss everyone by the end of the summer, okay? Uh... Good night." He had a feeling he was probably going to regret that promise but what else could someone say?
He had to get out of there as soon as possible! Not even looking at Murasaki, he rushed out of the guest room, cussing as he dropped his phone in the process. He could hear Chiyako's cry of shock as he rushed out. Damn it, he would have to leave it! This was so awkward and embarrassing!
Minutes later, he was out in the hall, mentally scolding himself for his idiocy. Frustrated, he head butted the wall once again. He was a damned idiot! Not only did he do an absolutely cringy thing in a weird attempt to comfort a girl, he now promised to do that with every girl that passed on! He was definitely not smooth enough to do that. He would be a mess. Hell, he was already a mess every day whenever he spent time with the girls! This was going to be a mess.
A little bit later, his head sore from headbutting the wall, he heard the door to the guest room open and close. He didn't even want to think of what was said in there, especially since it had been at least ten minutes, if not longer since he had rushed out of the room. He sighed softly and turned to see Murasaki was holding his phone, which he had dropped in the process of trying to escape the highly cringy and embarrassing moments. She only smirked slightly, saying, "I didn't know you were such a womanizer, Karaat. And here I would have thought you would be bad at that kind of thing."
Yeah, this night was getting worse. It was bad enough what happened, but now Murasaki was teasing him? Maybe he should be the one that's dead so he could hide in a wall or something and not come out until several centuries later. Though, he wasn't sure if that was even possible. And he didn't dare ask Murasaki now. He did not need her teasing him more. Taking the phone, he glanced at it for a moment, muttering, "I know, I know. I'm an idiot."
Chiyako, thankfully, wasn't saying anything. Karaat was pretty sure he wouldn't be able to handle hearing any comment from her. It was already bad enough his childhood friend was getting on his case for something he did that had been a spur of the moment decision. Shifting, he grumbled and led the way to the door so that she could head back home. After all, it was getting late and the last hour or so had been way too crazy. He knew he would probably lay in bed that night, not only thinking about what had happened with Sakura, but the way that he decided to kiss her cheek and now promised to kiss the other girls. He really was an idiot sometimes.
"You're not an idiot," Murasaki said. Smiling, she shrugged. "I thought it was pretty admirable. And it did cheer her up, even if it caused chaos among the girls, myself included." She smiled again, remembering the gasps and shouts of surprise, as well as the chaotic reactions once he left the room. It was clear the girls weren't expecting the kiss on the cheek, Sakura most of all. But now, a lot of them were eager for their goodbye kiss.
Murasaki had to admit she was slightly jealous. Sure, these were girls and she knew he was doing it to say goodbye or comfort them. But still, she had thought about him kissing her cheek and more for years! And yet, he hardly noticed. Okay, maybe he was an idiot in some aspects. But not for what he was scolding himself for.
As they got to the door, Murasaki turned to him and he noticed that she was blushing in the mirror that was near the main door. She hesitated for a moment before reaching up, putting her hands on his cheeks. Smiling, she glanced up at him before just going for it. She kissed him on the lips, quoting him from earlier as she said, "A good nights kiss. Because you look like you need it." Her blush only grew darker as she rushed out of the house, heading to her home. Okay, maybe she was the idiot!
Karaat and Chiyako, on the other hand were completely in shock! They stood in the doorway for a moment, both of them trying to process what had just happened. She had kissed him! Sairenji Murasaki had just kissed him! He wanted to think more about it, but he knew he shouldn't. He had a lot more he had to deal with right now. And he had to stay focused to make sure the plan, if it could even be considered a plan, would work.
Luckily, the talk went smoother than he expected. His mom was a little concerned given that he would be building a relationship with each girl before they left, but she gave him her blessing. And the girls would now be able to stay in the house without having to worry about being messed with, or at least the things they were possessing. It worked out for everyone. Murasaki was also relieved since this meant that his mother could keep an eye on him and let her know if he needed help. He didn't think he would, but it was still good to have backup.