There were occasional perks to being dead. Shuichi didn't need to spend time unconscious, but he also didn't need to spend time awake. He could let an entire day pass without coming back to consciousness even once.

After the Halloween party, he took full advantage of that fact. He was dimly aware of Kaede moving throughout the apartment, but he really didn't feel like talking to her. He wasn't looking forward to dealing with it on his own. It didn't help that as soon as he thought about it, some traitorous part of his mind would remind him that this was all his fault, that he couldn't even enjoy a party without ruining everything.

He avoided it by sinking deeper into nothingness.

It wasn't until the apartment was still that he risked reappearing. The sun was bright, and Kaede's bags were gone, so she'd probably gone back to class. Given that the party had been on a Saturday, that meant Shuichi had been hiding from reality for 36 hours.

His first impulse was to vanish again. It wasn't like anything had changed, and the clamor in his mind was only growing louder the more awake he got.

But he was going to have to face the truth eventually. He was dead, had probably been murdered, and nothing he could do would change that. He might as well finish falling apart while Kaede wasn't around to worry about him.

He promptly did so. It was probably cathartic, but he was a little preoccupied by the way everything was closing in on him. Even his struggle for air only reminded him that he didn't need it, he was dead, he was never going to get to do the things he'd dreamed of and he couldn't even remember what they were. He was trapped in a single set of rooms because someone had apparently had enough of a problem with him to stab him to death. He didn't even know if he'd deserved it.

Shuichi didn't know how long it took to pull himself back together. He did know that, unless he found a way to occupy himself, he was definitely going to freak out again. He needed to distract himself for a little while.

He remembered that, during his baking escapade, he'd found cleaning supplies under the sink.

By the time Kaede got home, the apartment reeked of disinfectant, and Shuichi had scrubbed every flat surface he could reach. The sinks were spotless. Even the toilet shone as if it had never been used.

"I'm home," Kaede said. She sounded caught between worry and relief.

Shuichi floated back over to the entryway, a rag still in his hand. "Welcome back," he said. "How was your day?"

Kaede visibly considered how to respond. To Shuichi's eternal gratitude, she didn't try to bring up the events of the party again. All she said was, "Pretty normal." Then she bit her lip. "There was one thing, though. Apparently Ibuki mentioned you to one of her friends." She held up an envelope, looking apologetic. "Some guy approached me at lunch and said to give this to you."

A small part of Shuichi was pleased that someone cared enough about him to mention him to someone else. The rest of him was consumed by worry. What if someone decided he was dangerous and needed to be gotten rid of? It had apparently happened once already.

He tried not to let his worry show. "Do you know anything about him?"

"Not really, he just walked up to me and handed me this." Kaede shrugged. "I can tell you that he talks like a villain on a children's show about the importance of friendship, if that helps. And he really likes mac and cheese." Shuichi must have looked confused, because she explained, "He had an entire plate full of it. It was a little impressive."

Shuichi took the envelope. It was addressed to "The Spectral Denizen of the Hall of Song, Shuichi Saihara." He brought it closer to his face. It didn't make any more sense than it had before.

"Yeah, I know," Kaede said. "But I texted Ibuki, and she says he's cool, so I don't think it'll be too bad."

Shuichi considered this for a moment. Ibuki had seemed trustworthy enough, and she probably didn't hate him. He didn't think she'd vouch for someone who had it out for him.

And opening the envelope would give him an excuse to keep avoiding the subject of his death.

He opened it.

The letter itself was even more obtuse than its address had suggested. The author didn't seem to understand concepts like clarity or concision. Each sentence could have been written by a text predictor trained on bad fantasy manga.

Shuichi could only hope the author hadn't been this bad in person. Then again, anyone who would sign a letter as "The Supreme Overlord of Ice, the Seraphic Prince of Hell, Gundham Tanaka," probably didn't have a setting other than melodrama.

He shook himself out of his musings and fought through the text of the letter. The information was actually pretty interesting, once he got past its presentation. It was nice to finally have some answers.

When he finished, he looked up to see Kaede trying to act like she hadn't been watching him read. He smiled despite himself. "That was… interesting," he said.

"Oh?" Kaede's tone was too casual to be natural. "How so?"

"For one thing, he claims to be the child of an angel and a demon."

Kaede blinked. "Wait, so not only do those exist, they can have kids together?"

"I guess? I mean, the fact that I'm here suggests it's not totally impossible, but it's not like I know for sure." Shuichi swallowed. "If it's true, it would explain where he's getting his information. He says he knows some things about ghosts, too."

"Oh. That's good, I hope." Kaede clasped her hands together. "Anything relevant to your situation?"

"Well, he says that ghosts that are bound to one location generally come in two types." Shuichi fought to get the words out. Kaede deserved to hear about this, no matter how little he wanted to think about this sort of thing. It affected her almost as much as it did him. "Some of them are basically harmless. They really liked a place in life, and they wanted to stick around after they died. But they generally have all their memories, since that's what's tying them to a place, and I… don't.

"And then there are the not-so-harmless ones. They're basically the movie depictions of ghosts, vengeful spirits who try to drive people away out of anger over something that happened to them. They don't have a very strong sense of self, and most of them end up becoming mindless forces of destruction." Shuichi hugged his arms to his chest. "He says they generally have a goal in mind, something that they want to see done, and that's what keeps them here. But otherwise they sound a lot like me. And if there's a chance I could end up hurting you…"

"Don't be silly," Kaede said. "You've been here for months, and the worst you've done is accidentally break a lightbulb when I startled you. If you were going to get dangerous, it would have happened by now." She smiled. "But you won't. I know you, and I know you wouldn't hurt anyone. I mean, I've seen you apologize to a lamp for walking into it."

Shuichi's eyes darted over to the lamp in question. "I guess," he said. "I just hope that doesn't change."

"Anyway," Kaede said, clearly done with that line of conversation. "Neither of those really sound applicable here. I'm sorry that this wasn't more helpful."

"It's fine," Shuichi said. "It's better than what I had before, at least. And it's good to know that someone knows something about all this."

What he didn't mention was the other thing Gundham had told him. According to Gundham, there was a such thing as an afterlife, and if Shuichi ever got tired of being a ghost he would end up in it. Gundham had even offered to help him cross over. Apparently, the fact that nothing had showed up to drag him to hell meant there was a good chance Shuichi would end up someplace enjoyable.

It was a relief to know he wasn't facing an eternity of torture, at least. But if Shuichi brought it up, Kaede would probably push for him to go. Who wouldn't want paradise?

Shuichi, for one. He liked it where he was. The concept of paradise sounded kind of overwhelming. He'd just started to make friends here, too. He didn't want to lose Kaede now, or any of the others.

He realized he'd probably been quiet for too long. He rushed to fill the silence. "So, uh, anything else interesting happen today? How were your classes?"

Thankfully, Kaede didn't comment on the blatant change in subject. She just started talking about all the little things that had stood out over the course of the day. Listening was enough to calm Shuichi down, or at least throw a blanket over his anxiety. Everything was still kind of terrible, but it wasn't the end of the world. Things weren't as bad as they could have been. The current state of affairs could theoretically be considered fine by certain standards.

He'd keep leaching off Kaede's happiness until he could find some of his own.