New chapter time! After like 10 years. Not like anyone's reading this, lol. I just kinda wanted to update anyway. So yeah.
Just plugging in sif talk like I always do, but it's Nico who's gonna get Zurui yo Magnetic today for her event! Like three events from now! MARK MY WORDS.
Inb4 it's not her (definitely not Maki at this point because they just announced her Score Match event) but another raibu but still using their song. I would be a sad firetruck.
Anyway, erm, enjoy to anyone who's reading.
The Science of Spectral Magnetism
Chapter Five
I usually never use my car, but I made sure to stock up on things I would enjoy when I do. That included listening to classical music while I drove. It was a good way to relax yourself from the stress of the road.
Not that that was the case at the moment; traffic was fast because of the late hour, there were nearly no cars except for a few including mine that easily weaved through the freeway.
With only the sound of the engine and Bach's piece intermingling within the confines of the vehicle, oddly enough, thoughts of Nico occupied my mind.
"I'm dead. It won't matter. Especially if no one could see me, I wouldn't bother anyone! I mean, of course it sucks to be holed up in one place forever, but again, I'm dead. I don't have control over my life anymore."
I huffed in vexation at the memory. I didn't understand why that upset me more than it should—after all, she did have a point. But a part of me felt bad that she had to resign to that kind of conclusion about herself. The thought of being stuck and helpless after death bothered me. It wasn't fair.
Ghosts, poltergeists and monsters had always been a commercialized form of fear to me, so much that it entertains more than it actually scares. It creates a false fantasy in one's head about the afterlife and its many unscientific imageries for people to gobble up. The reason why horror movies and quack doctors exist.
Science never went deeper into the spiritual part of death, I never would have thought there was more to just having your brain cells die and your heart stop beating—at least not until I saw Nico. She single handedly disproved me of everything I thought I knew were facts.
Up until now, it's still a bit unbelievable how I could see a spirit and learn about how they were when they were alive. She would have been all alone this entire time if I didn't see her. Which was something I've never really considered before.
I appreciate my time in solitude, but I could never imagine myself in that kind of isolation—dead, vulnerable and unnoticed. It seemed horrible, scary and terribly lonely. She may be annoying, but I'm glad I can at least help her from ever feeling that.
It got me back to contemplating what will happen after I tell her about her past and bring her to her family. Will she not be stuck in my apartment anymore? Will she all of a sudden disappear because she'd be passing on? Will peace really return to me after everything?
My mind drew a blank, answered only by a higher movement from the orchestra piece from the stereo.
Did I really want her gone that badly?
Before my brain formulated answers, the airport was already in sight and I arrived five minutes earlier than expected. Maneuvering my car to park near the area where arrivals come out, I turned the engine down to a stop. I looked at the large building in apprehension, feeling like I shouldn't be here at all.
Just then, my phone suddenly began ringing loudly. I immediately grabbed it to see what was happening only to see an incoming call from Nozomi. Was she getting impatient? I know I gave her a time frame and I haven't gone past it. I gave the receiver a minute long stare before I decided to answer the call.
"Hello?"
"You've arrived. Thanks again Maki-chan." I heard her say.
"I'm parked outside, near the arrivals area. I'm about to head out, where should we meet?" I informed her, not even the least bit surprised that she knew I was here.
"You don't need to. Look behind you."
Using my rear mirror, I saw her figure walking towards me, waving.
"What the hell, you sure know how to creep me out." I blurted out to cover the goosebumps I felt upon seeing her.
"Spiritual, ain't it?" She voiced through the speaker as she walked closer.
I unlocked the the trunk and went out of the car, intending to help her with her luggage, but as I got near her, Nozomi just stared at me for one whole minute before saying:"You've grown, Maki-chan."
I rolled my eyes. "And you haven't changed at all."
"You think so? I changed plenty~." She quipped, puffing up her chest in pride.
"What's with that? I don't get you as usual." I picked up her rather heavy luggage and placed it inside the trunk on my own as she watched. Incredulously, I slammed the trunk door shut.
"Thanks Maki-chan, you're so strong." She chided.
"Gee, you're so helpful." I deadpanned.
"You looked like you could handle it by yourself though."
"Whatever, let's get in the car." I gestured her to get into the passenger's seat as I stomped my way back to the driver's. Nozomi was just as playful as I remembered. And I'm still kind of a sore loser about being played into her games.
"Hm, I know you've grown, but something else feels different about you." She began saying as she buckled up, scrutinizing eyes on me.
I sighed and started up the engine, feeling a little bit tired to humor her. "Where do you want to be dropped? Are you still living in your old place here?"
"I entrusted Elicchi the keys to my apartment, yes. But as I've told you, she won't pick up."
I immediately grabbed my phone to dial Eli's number. Nozomi was right that she couldn't be reached. I tried calling her again but only reached a busy line. How can she still be using a phone this late anyway?
"See? I've been trying since I arrived, but she's still apparently using her phone." My eyes were on the road, but I could tell from her tone that she was pouting.
"What do you want to do? Should we go see her? She's still obviously awake anyway." I suggested as I exited out of the gate of the airport.
"We can do that, but I was thinking more of going there tomorrow and possibly crashing at your place for the night? I'm quite bushed."
Normally I wouldn't mind, Nozomi was a good friend after all, and we wouldn't be able to accomplish anything if both of us felt tired anyway. I was about to say yes until I remembered one big problem about letting her stay in my apartment right now.
Nico.
In the years that I've known Nozomi, the most memorable part of her is her affinity to the occult. And Nico was a ghost haunting my apartment. What would happen if they met?
"...Maki-chan? Is that a no?" Her dejected voice snapped me out of my thoughts.
Guilty, I ended up agreeing to let her stay the night.
"Thank you Maki-chan~ I owe you one." Her happy voice made me smile, but I was still worried. Am I digging myself a deeper, more troublesome hole by doing this? What would Nico think?
But come to think of it, since Nozomi is good at dealing with supernatural stuff, she should—in theory—be more of help towards Nico than I'll ever be, right?
Why haven't I thought of this sooner?
"Hm? You look happier than usual all of a sudden Maki-chan."
Thrown off by her observation, I stuttered in reply. "Y-you think so?"
"Yup, sure do. It's like you've hit the jackpot." She said while humming along with the 4th movement of BWV 140 Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme that played in my speakers.
For a good while, that was the only thing that filled my ears until I spoke up again, we were almost back at the apartment so I might as well tell her.
"Nozomi, listen..."
...
She couldn't tell how much time had passed since then, nor could she remember. All she knew was that she's stuck, helpless and—well, dead. Awareness of time had been lost on her since, the concept of her living life was a complete mystery to her. Past her name and a bunch of recipes, there was nothing else she could remember about herself. It almost felt like there wasn't anything to recall. Not being able to remember anything about yourself was its own kind of monster, but remembering everything about the world, but not having the ability to do anything about it was a bigger villain than she had originally imagined. If it weren't for Maki, she could have been left to ponder about her forgotten life for god knows how long.
Thanks to this however, accepting death was easier than she anticipated. For all she knew, she just could have been stuck in a dream, or had amnesia. But she could pass through walls, was perpetually floating, and had no feet. Some kind of electromagnetic interaction came into play whenever she was close to something. She couldn't even leave the goddamn apartment as if a barrier was preventing her from doing so. A normal, living human wouldn't have these attributes or problems. At least not in what she remembers.
Maki had perfectly summed up what became of her—not that it was difficult at this point—a ghost.
That's what confused Nico the most though.
She didn't remember being very knowledgeable about the occult or the supernatural, but she was sure that ghosts only existed because of either denial, regret or willingness to be confined in the realm of the living. If she was to be absolutely honest, it was laughable and nonsensical to think about—and now she's paying the price for ridiculing it.
With this in mind, there was only one reason she could allude to for still lingering about. She was sure she has accepted death, so she couldn't possibly be in denial. There was just no way she was willing to be trapped in a place with an irritable tomato head either. It came down to one thing; regrets. But that was the main problem, she didn't remember anything about her life, and she wasn't just gonna remember by sitting idly.
Eventually, she had the crimson haired girl to agree on helping her, to save them both the insanity of being stuck with each other for a long amount of time. After all, she couldn't do anything on her own, and Maki would love to have her out of her life enough to be motivated on getting this over with. It was a beneficial compromise between the two of them.
Unfortunately, it hasn't been going anywhere as of late. The only thing Nico has discovered so far was how Maki wasn't so bad as she initially seemed.
Despite her appearances, she was a very silly and naive girl, obviously pampered so much that she couldn't cook on her own, and has a very wasteful and lazy side to her. Of course, this doesn't overshadow her good points, which Nico had to begrudgingly admit was more than her bad. She was intelligent and determined, she gets things done with an above average result and is very quick to learn new things. Rich and sassy, but still adorably shy and innocent. It was very easy to tease and make fun of her, and her reactions were nothing short of satisfying. She was cute and insanely pretty at the same time.
But other than that, she was still in the dark about herself. Was she some kind of cook? Did she have a lover, a family—children? How old was she, what regrets were strong enough to keep her from passing on? With so many unanswered questions, Nico predicted restlessness and uncertainty to plague her, but she didn't feel that bothered about it. Spending time with Maki had its own charm, she liked it. She'll never tell her that though.
Before she could puzzle over more about it, she heard the door clicking open.
"Maki!"
Nico made her way near the door, ready to welcome her back, trying not to seem so happy doing so.
When the door swung open however, she saw another person other than Maki. She squinted her eyes slightly at the new entity as she watched them enter the apartment.
"Nico…?" Maki called out, wheeling in a luggage into the living room.
Nico wasn't sure if she should respond or stay put, the other person with Maki has come into her view, a slightly shorter girl with violet hair tied into two low pigtails. She had a very enviable body, she noted. Especially the chest area. Was she the person Maki was talking to from earlier?
"I won't bite." The stranger said, startling the already wary Nico. It didn't seem like she could see her, but her confident and almost knowing voice instilled an inexplicable fear in her. This boob lady didn't feel like good news.
"H-hey, Maki..." She tried discreetly.
"There you are," Maki said, a look of relief on her features. She then looked at the only other person in the room. "...can you see her, Nozomi?"
"W-wait! Hey! What's going on?!"
Nozomi walked closer and gave Nico an excited look. "Hello, I'm Toujou Nozomi, a friend of Maki-chan's. You must be Nico-san! Didn't think you'd be this adorable!"
A bit dumbfounded by the unexpected comment, Nico could only stare at the woman with a slack jaw. Maki, who was less surprised about her reaction just sighed heavily.
"You don't agree?" She asked.
"I definitely don't." Maki immediately answered, crossing her arms and looking away at the bewildered ghost.
"Aw Maki-chan, you're not being honest~."
The redhead's face burned in embarrassment at the accusation. "Wh-what exactly should I be honest about?!"
Nico watched the exchange with a mixture of amusement and confusion. From what she can tell so far though, boobs-san knew of her existence. Either told by Maki, or she was some kind of occult specialist. Maybe both. There was something really mysterious about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on, but looking at her properly now, she didn't seem as threatening.
"Nico-san," Nozomi called out to her. Eyes eager and curious.
Having zoned out most of their squabble, Nico was slow to answer. Her train of thoughts having trouble stopping. "Y-yes?" She said nervously, realizing it was just the two of them now.
"I'll be staying for the night, I hope you don't mind." Nozomi explained, slightly bowing at her.
"E-eh? Why would I mind? I don't even own this place. If Maki brought you here, that means she was fine with it, right?" Nico said, absently scratching her cheek with an index finger. "Besides, I'm a ghost, if anything I should worry about bothering you."
"Seeing you with my own eyes took away the tiredness I felt from the trip, I don't think it's a bother at all!" Nozomi said, smiling gently at the raven haired ghost.
Hearing that made Nico really happy and she didn't know why. There was something very satisfying about making someone feel better by your mere presence. She found herself easily warming up to her.
"You're a good person! Maki is NEVER this nice, you know?"
"I heard that." Maki interjected, her voice displeased. She held a tray with tea and senbei, most likely for Nozomi and herself.
"Eep!" Nico floated as fast as she could behind Nozomi in reaction.
"You sure get along well, how very spiritual." Nozomi said, giggling to herself.
"How is this 'getting along well'? She just implied I was a horrible person." Maki placed the tray on the table near the couches and gestured Nozomi to come sit.
"I just said you're not as nice! You're so sensitive." Nico said, sticking tongue out at her.
"And you're annoying." Maki glared back.
"Now now, you two, relax and have a cup of tea." Nozomi said, already sipping from her own cup.
Maki watched her from the corner of her eye before looking at Nico. "Actually Nico, other than her staying the night, I told her about you and what you can and can't do. I think she might be able to help us in getting your memories back and more."
Nico perked up hearing this.
"Maki-chan told me that you couldn't leave this place?" Nozomi asked, putting her cup down the table.
"Yeah, whenever I attempt to get out, I end up back in Maki's room before I can even say 'wow'." Nico clarified.
"Is it always Maki-chan's room? Not the living room, the bathroom or the kitchen? Just that one place?" Nozomi continued questioning.
"Always. I've seen it myself." Maki supplied, leaning back on the couch.
"Hmm..." Nozomi hummed, taking out a deck of cards from her pocket. "That explains the faint spiritual residue I sense other than Nicocchi here."
"Nicocchi?" Both Nico and Maki chorused.
"Ah, I'm sorry, do you mind if I call you that? You can call me Nozomi too." Nozomi explained, giving Nico a small grin.
"Um, sure No...zomi," Nico tried to say but stuttered.
"What do you mean by faint spiritual residue?" Maki asked, trying to get to the point. She didn't understand why she felt on edge about how Nozomi easily got Nico to call her by name. She was using that affectionate suffix -cchi too which was, up to this day, was only reserved for Eli.
For a while Nozomi didn't say anything, she placed the cards on the table and lined them up in a pattern, reshuffled and did the same thing all over. Maki and Nico patiently waited for her to say something—anything. Their desire to know building up. Finally, after lining up the cards in a cross-like pattern, she looked up. "There's an object in Maki-chan's room that is binding Nicocchi to this place."
Maki's eyes widened in surprise. "What?!"
"And you know what it is?" Nico said, her voice trembled in excitement.
"I don't, but I will be able to point it out. Before that though," She picked up a card from the patterned deck on the table. "I need to check something."
"Is it gonna take long?" Maki said, unable to mask her impatience.
Nozomi only chuckled. "You shouldn't rush a lady, Maki-chan. But to answer your question, it won't take a minute." She flipped the card she took and stared at it for a few seconds, it showed an upright form of the The Tower. "I see."
"What? What? What do you see?" Nico said, curiosity completely coated in her tone.
"Right, shall we check your room, Maki-chan?" Nozomi said standing up from her position. She placed the card to the right side of the cross pattern with its position flipped downwards facing the table, with just the back of the card visible.
"Heyyy, don't ignore me Nozomi!" Nico whined floating her way in front of her.
"Sorry Nicocchi, but don't worry about it. I was just closing the deck." She assured.
"Let's get going you guys." Maki interrupted, already headed to her room, leading the way.
Nico and Nozomi followed silently on this little trip with an odd sense of elation. They watched Maki open the door to her room and turn on the lights. The room was pretty messy with clothes scattered everywhere, the blanket comforter on the bed was left unfolded, and there were still large unopened boxes on the corner. The glow in the dark stickers on her ceiling gave the room an attitude though, undoubtedly fitting of Maki.
"This is like a boy's room." Nozomi commented. Nico just nodded in agreement, even though she didn't really notice that until today.
"I-I just don't have time to clean up okay? I have more important things to do." Maki said, her face slightly pink. She put a hand on her hips and changed the topic. "So where is it?"
"Right..." Nozomi closed her eyes for minute or two while Nico and Maki silently stared in anticipation. After a while, her arm lifted and pointed at the direction of Maki's nightstand. "...there."
Maki got to work immediately and went over to it. "Where in here? Do I have to put out everything?"
"Yes, I'm not sure what it is either, so I need to see each item."
Maki sighed, feeling more tired as the second passed. Her digital clock flashed 3:25 AM, making her realize that she badly needed sleep at this point, but the need to unravel this mystery kept her going. It was a good thing she didn't have much on it; a lamp, a digital clock, stick-its and a pen on its surface.
"Is it any of these?"
Nozomi shook her head a no.
Maki didn't think she had anything in it other than that, but she opened the drawers anyway, hoping to find something. The first drawer had tangled wires from earphones to phone chargers. She put them out for Nozomi to see, not bothering to try and untangle them. Nozomi shook her head again. Nico just floated around her looking anxious as well. The second drawer was empty, so she moved to the last bottom drawer, which had a small box with stickers on it.
"It's in there," Nozomi confirmed. "I sense its aura the strongest in that box."
Maki gulped. She didn't remember this box until today, so she was also enlivened by what awaited her inside. She got right to work and opened it, what she saw was an old red amulet and folded papers. The amulet indicated the word kanai-anzen, which was something that carries the wishes for the safety and well-being of the family. A nagging feeling about it unnerved her, but she didn't remember keeping it or where she had gotten it, but she showed them to Nozomi and Nico nonetheless, hoping to find answers.
"That's it, the amulet." Nozomi confirmed. "Is this familiar to both of you?"
Truthfully, Maki didn't want to answer. Up until today, she truly believed that Nico showing up in her life was just an arbitrary coincidence she had to deal and get over with. But it turns out they were more connected than she initially concluded. This feeling of epiphany resonated more as she stared at the amulet. She might not remember everything, but it was easy to deduce that it was something she received from Nico's family back in the summer of her second year of high school. It had to be. She was absolutely sure she's never met Nico so there was no way she could have received this directly from her. Besides, it was a protection charm, the only person who could possibly fit the description would be—
"It's mine..." Nico whispered, recognition evident on her face. "I gave it to my brother in the summer of my third year in high school."
"You remember now, Nicocchi?" Nozomi asked.
"Not everything...a lot of things are still very hazy to me, but I'm sure about this one. I could tell the very moment I saw it," Nico said. "But why is it with you, Maki?"
An unwieldy silence overcame the room, as all eyes were directed at Maki, urging her to speak up. It was a very good question, she noted. It was also the perfect setup for her to naturally talk about Nico's past. She mentally patted herself for the timely discovery; otherwise she wouldn't have been able to answer without seeming like a thief or worse.
"This is gonna be pretty lengthy, so I'm asking you to let me say everything I need to first before you react. Are we clear?"
Nico nodded determinedly. "Yes."
Nozomi, feeling satisfied with the outcome, silently went for the door and out of the room. The two were so focused on each other now to notice and it worked to her advantage. She didn't want to intrude on someone else's past just like that, even if she thought it was super interesting. Only time will tell if she would have the opportunity to be part of their world, but for now, she needed rest. She walked back towards the table where her cards were and picked up the the card that was at the center of the cross-like pattern. Flipping it, she was shown an interesting premonition, an upright form of The Lovers.
