Hello my lovelies! Borrowed here - I usually don't post A/N's before in this chapter, but hey, there's a first time for everything! First, thank you for all the reviews, and I'm sorry it took me so long to write this! Second, this was supposed to be longer but I felt bad for the delay so I cut it off. Poor Ryuzaki's finally catching onto his feelings for Haga, haha. It's good to have this up, and I'll be quicker with my next chapter, promise! Have fun reading!

"Ryuzaki, I was not being a kiss-ass."

"You totally were!" Ryuzaki laughed; the two were currently down the street from Ryuzaki's home, school having ended not too long ago. "Thank you kindly– when was the last time you thanked me fer helpin' you out?"

"Espa was twenty times more helpful in a twenty minute time period than you've been the entire time I've spent with you." Haga hissed. "It's only fitting that I thank him."

"He's a know-it-all." Ryuzaki concluded.

"And you're a complainer." The semi-transparent sighed, rolling his eyes.

Ryuzaki stumbled down the driveway to his house at that point, opting to ignore his semi-transparent companion. "T-tch." He sighed, pulling out a key to unlock the door with. "Well, what did you think about what he said?"

Haga phased through the door, impatient with waiting for Ryuzaki. Ryuu finally got the door open, stepping inside to the smell of food cooking on a slow-roaster.

"I definitely think he knows what he's dealing with – to an extent." Haga bit his lip thoughtfully as he spoke. "He's definitely no fake psychic."

Ryuzaki walked over to the couch, dropping his backpack on the floor with a stretch of his back. "Go on…"

"I – t-tch, I dunno, why do you care?"

The brunette shrugged, jumping up onto the couch gracelessly. "Because. If he's gonna try an' help us out, I want him t'actually be able to help us, Haga. What you really want is to get to the afterlife – I don't want Espa's help if he's not gonna be able to get you there faster."

"My, my," the ghost remarked. "It almost sounds like you want me gone."

"I… that's not true." Ryuzaki shook his head thoughtfully. "I like havin' you around – you're the one that wants t'get the hell outta dodge."

"There's nothing for a ghost to do in a human's world." Haga sighed wistfully, closing his eyes and scratching at his temple. "I'm happy enough that I can actually manipulate inanimate objects… but even that has its limitations. And, no offense to you, but palling around while you go about your daily life isn't exactly something I can see myself doing for an extended period of time…"

"No, no, I get what you're saying." Ryuzaki mused. "It'd be selfish fer me t'want you to follow me forever. B'sides, I made you a promise, t'get you to the afterlife, and I intend to keep it."

"T-tch…" Haga flipped his head in the other direction, not meeting Ryuzaki's gaze. "D-dumbass."

The two passed a bit of time in companionable silence, Ryuzaki nearly nodding off. Haga came to join him, floating an inch above the couch, lazy gaze on his hands curled up in his lap.

"… Don't you have, like, homework to do or something?"

"Hmm?" Ryuzaki hummed, peering over to the semi-transparent sitting next to him. A small frown graced his lips. "Why do you care?"

"If you do, you should probably get working on it… before it gets late."

"I never bother with work."

"What?" Electric-blue eyes focused on Ryuzaki. Haga scowled in distaste. "You mean, you don't do homework?"

The brunette shook his head. "Never."

"That's ridiculous! D-don't you get any repercussions for that?!"

Square shoulders shrugged carelessly. "Sometimes. I think my teachers just stopped carin' by now. 'It's my life I'm throwin' away', or somethin' like that."

Haga hissed, eyes narrowing dangerously. "No, no way. I'm not allowing for that to happen! You're doing it."

"Tch. What could a ghost do t'make me?"

Haga ripped Ryuzaki's crimson cap off as a show of example, throwing it to a distant corner of the room. "Make your life a living hell and truly live up to the 'haunting' reputation that ghosts have."

"Heeeey, don't mess with my hat." Ryuu hissed short-temperedly, getting up to grab his hat. "You wouldn't dare, ghost."

"Really, Ryuzaki. You really believe I wouldn't?"

Ryuzaki turned his head to glare, caught at the sight of Haga sliding Ryuzaki's backpack across the floor. "… How can you even manipulate it…? You're a ghost…"

"Don't ask me, I didn't write the rulebook of ghosts. And don't change the subject. Homework is fun, from what I remember! Surely you're making it out to be a bigger issue than it truly is…"

"Then I seriously doubt we're on the same page." Ryuzaki clicked his tongue. "Homework's for losers. I'm going somewhere else."

"Don't you dare leave." The ghost hissed as Ryuzaki started to walk away. "Come sit down or I swear, tonight when you're sleeping I'll rip the covers straight off you."

Ryuzaki sighed. "Haga…"

"I stand by what I say." He retorted, giving a serious nod.

Growling in indignation, Ryuzaki made his way to the couch. "If this takes more than twenty minutes, covers or not I'm leavin'…"

"You're an idiot if you truly think it'll take less than twenty minutes. Like you have anything better to do – come, sit down."

"I swear, Haga, this better be worth it…"

After Ryuzaki had finally agreed to listen to Haga [under threats of water being poured over his head while he wasn't paying attention] and had actually started on his work, Haga had left for a short period of time, warning the boy to refrain from slacking off while he went to do whatever the hell ghosts did. It was boring and foreign, actually doing schoolwork, but Ryuzaki trudged on anyways, fearful of the ghost's threats and sure that he would carry them out if Ryuzaki failed to keep up his end of the bargain.

Haga returned with a bucket of water, [how he got the bucket or the water was beyond Ryuzaki, but it was very much real and quite frankly frightening] looking over Ryuzaki's work.

"… That's wrong."

"Shut up, Haga."

"… That one's wrong too."

"Shut up, Haga."

"… Do you have any idea what you're even doing? How did you even get that formula – did you pull it out of your ass?"

"Haga!" Ryuzaki snapped, teeth gritting at the ghost's less-than-amused glare down at the paper.

"I'm only saying… if you're going to do the work, the least you could do is do it right…"

Ryuzaki froze then, lips quirking into a small, calculating smile. "… Say, Haga, you're pretty smart huh?"

"What?" Haga paused, cut off-guard by Ryuzaki's question. His eyes narrowed suspiciously, eyebrow arched up cautiously. "Tch, of course I am. I remember enough about myself to know that."

Well, now's as good a time as any. "How about puttin' that intelligence t'use?"

"If you're suggesting I help you cheat on homework, you can forget it." The ghost hissed in a tone that dared Ryuzaki to keep talking. Keeping a watchful, stern eye on Ryuzaki, he crossed his arms as if to further his point. "That's wrong, and for a boy who can 'never be bothered to do it' they'd find you out instantly."

"No they wouldn't. C'mon, just this once?"

"I'd say that's morally wrong, but for a boy without morals I'm not in much of a position to talk… cheating's still wrong though, even by my standards."

"… One problem?" Ever the persistent one.

"Stop asking. Name one benefit of me helping you cheat."

"Umm… it spares me from having to do it?"

"Take another guess, bones-for-brains."

"If I didn't know better, I'd say you don't know how to do it."

This made Haga pause, taken aback. He gracelessly sputtered for a moment, trying to compose his words together. "… What kind of person do you think I am? That's basic algebra, of course I know how to do it."

Ryuzaki smirked, having finally found what made Haga tick - his pride over his intelligence. "Well if it's basic algebra, it shouldn't be a problem for a brain like yours', right?"

"It's not."

"If you can't prove it, I won't believe it. Then you're just as good as I am."

Haga's nose scrunched up, eyes narrowing dangerously. His natural competitive, superior attitude was screaming at him to prove Ryuzaki wrong, that he was better than Ryuzaki at at least something. Morally, he knew that cheating was wrong, but then again when was Haga the man of a thousand morals?

"Move over."

Ryuzaki mentally cheered, scooting over to allow Haga more room. Electric blue eyes scanned over Ryuzaki's work, trying to calculate just where he went wrong. "Scrap all the current work you've done; it'd be quicker for me to just redo the whole assignment altogether. This is the only time, mind you, don't ask again."

"Thank you, Haga."

Haga made surprisingly quirk work - forget that Ryuzaki had questioned his intelligence, this boy was amazing! Ryuzaki was thankful that he had manipulation over a pencil; his handwriting was much too neat to be coined off as Ryuzaki's, though; Ryuzaki noted to rewrite everything at a later hour, after they were done.

After a few moments of thick silence, Haga set the pencil down. "There. Now who's proven themselves?"

A large grin spread across Ryuzaki's lips. "Ghost-boy, I would hug you if I could. Hell yeah you've proven yourself."

"You owe me so bad." Haga warned. "Don't think I won't collect. All in due time."

"More like in record time; you work fast!"

Haga took Ryuzaki's praise with a grain of salt, much too prideful to humbly accept his compliment. "Of course I do; math is my specialty. Well, most fields of work are, now that I think about it..."

His gaze went to Ryuzaki, eyes widening from their narrowed state. He tilted his head as his eyes followed the boy. "Where are you off to?"

"Gettin' something to eat, I'm starving."

"Ahh, get me a plate!" Haga purred, following Ryuzaki into the kitchen. The brunette turned to watch him, an odd expression crossed over his features. "... What? It's the least I deserve, for cheating for you."

"I get the feelin' you're not used to the whole 'being dead' thing, Haga..." Ryuzaki gave a sad smile, trying to imagine the concept of not needing to eat nor being able to eat. "You're a ghost, remember?"

"I - ..." Haga paused, frowning dejectedly. His gaze fell on the floor. "Y-yeah, I remember."

Ryuzaki frowned then, unsure whether or not he should try to console Haga. "If we find a way to get you to eat, I'll definitely make ya somethin' good, 'kay...?"

Blue hues shifted their gaze from the floor to Ryuzaki, a sheepish, thankful smile lighting Haga's lips in a way that made Ryuzaki's heart flutter in satisfaction. "You're corny." Haga mused affectionately. "... Thanks, Ryuzaki."

"Anything for a friend."

Ryuzaki moved to the fridge, rummaging through for any leftover takoyaki. He let out a rough grunt in irritation when he was unable to find any; Okan must have eaten the rest last night, he thought to himself. Oh well, microwave burritos were the next best thing.

"Do you really consider me your friend?" Haga spoke up, obviously having thought over Ryuzaki's words.

"Hm?" Ryuzaki hummed, having forgotten that Haga had been there. He turned his gaze to catch an unreadable expression ghost over Haga's face; surprise? It was softer than that… "Yeah, I do, why? It's not every day I help a ghost out in try'na find their way to the afterlife... you're pretty cool."

Haga shrugged, unseen by Ryuzaki. He scoffed as Ryuzaki pulled out a burrito, the normality of the food already wearing off on him. "Are burritos the only component to your diet or something?"

"Funny." Ryuzaki chuckled, placing the frozen hunk of tortilla into the microwave. "Not usually, no - it's just easy."

"I don't like meat."

"I think you said that before." Ryuzaki nodded. "Are you remembering more, or what?"

"Not sure." The ghost shrugged again. "Just... plates of food, after school... but what, I can't name..."

"Hm. I wonder how that works... seein' food but not bein' able to name what it is..."

"It's just unclear." Haga sighed defensively. "My life, it comes around in small visions and whatnot - nights at a tournament; days in the forest..."

"You think you lived a busy life?"

"Aside from all of that, no, I don't. I mean, I'm sure that kept me occasionally busy... but the vacant months were probably lonely."

"Hmm." The brunette hummed, taking his food out of the microwave and biting into it. They paused their conversation to allow Ryuzaki time to eat.

"What's your favorite food, Ryuzaki?" Haga asked suddenly.

Ryuzaki swallowed the bite he had taken. "Takoyaki, I'd say… I like other stuff too, like yellow curry an' jus' meet in general…"

"Tch. Meat-eater."

"Not all of us can stand to eat nothin' but rabbit food."

"If you haven't noticed, I can't eat much of anything now in my current state."

Ryuzaki turned his gaze to Ryuzaki, surprised at the sight of Haga smirking back at him, before he burst into light-hearted laughter. "Don't look so down, 'Zaki!" He purred. "You look like someone shot the family pet."

"T-tch." In spite of himself, the brunette smiled. "Yeah, yeah, the only family pet here's Hiss an' no one'd dare shoot her. That's just a waste'a their time. And since when was my name 'Zaki?"

"Since now." Haga sputtered matter-of-factly.

"It's a dumb nickname."

"It's easier than your full name."

"If you getta call me 'Zaki, I'm callin' you Glasses."

"That's the dumbest nickname I've ever heard, you are not calling me that."

"Then Ryuzaki's fine for you t'say."

"... T-tch, you're such a baby... fine."

"You need to get to bed, Ryuzaki, you have school in the morning." Haga frowned, watching Ryuzaki sit at his computer desk with his arms crossed over his chest.

"Oh hush, keep outta my business." Ryuzaki hissed back, sliding his headphones further on his ears to deafen Haga out with death metal. "Twitch Plays Pokémon just caught Zapdos."

"That's the game in which 30,000 people are working the controls all at once?"

"It's 50,000 now."

"Tch, like that's going to accomplish anything in the future." The semi-transparent spat. "Get up now or I'll go short-circuit all the electricity in the house."

"Okan can't afford to call an electrician t'come an' fix that shit, don't you dare." The brunette snapped, turning to glare daggers at Haga, who sat regarding him with an eyebrow quirked in curiosity. Conceding defeat, Ryuzaki got up, stretching out his back as he yawned. "What time is it?"

"10:30."

"Tch, that's early…"

"Not by my standards it isn't; your mother went to bed about an hour ago."

"Okan always hits the sack early," Ryuzaki murmured, walking out of the living room to get to his own. "An' it's only Monday, too… this is gonna be a long week…"

"You'll be fine." Haga purred, phasing through Ryuzaki to get to his room. "You make school out to be a more tedious job than it truly is…"

"Speak for yourself, studious ol' bookworm…" Ryuzaki closed the door behind him as he entered, shifting out of his undershirt.

Haga averted his eyes as Ryuzaki shifted into his night-clothes, peering back over at the small shrine the brunette had dedicated to his Duel Monsters' merchandise and cards. "What's all in your deck?"

"The Red Eyes Black Dragon and a Serpent Night Dragon are my rarest cards…" Ryuzaki mused, flipping the light switch. His nose scrunched up; it had been such a long time since he had picked up his deck, he had forgotten its contents. "I… think I had a Megazowler… oh, and like, Sword Arm of Dragon."

"You honestly don't remember?"

"It's been awhile." The brunette shook his head, climbing into bed and wrapping his arms around his knees as he sat up. Haga went to join him, floating comfortably at the foot of his bed.

"Hmm. Ex-duelist…"

"I was a good one, at least, while I played. Got invited to tournaments and stuff."

"I remember going to a few myself… do you think we ever participated in the same tournament?"

"I don't remember ever seein' a mug like yours… it's hard t'say. You're pretty recognizable."

"Tch, I should hope you mean that in the nicest way possible." Haga spat, unable to stop the small smirk quirking upwards at the corners of his mouth.

"I do, I do."

"So, does my famous ex-duelist companion do anything else in his spare time? Or was that your only hobby?"

"Tch." A lighthearted smile found its way across Ryuzaki's lips. "No clubs at school or nothin', if that's what yer askin'."

"Do you make a habit of visiting forests, or did you happen to catch me on a… rough day?"

Despite himself, hearty laughter emitted from deep within Ryuzaki's throat, a much-needed sentiment for the both of them. "I just caught you on'a bad day. I never go out t'forests, an' after my last expedition I'm not too keen on goin' back."

"Tch, I could imagine a sight such as myself would ruin any potential for going back… honestly, though, was I that gruesome?"

The brunette shrugged. "I didn't wanna look at'cha for too long… y'know, dead body an' all – ain't exactly in my field'a things I find cool."

Haga grinned. "Mmn. I'm not cool enough for you? What a pity."

"I mean, now you're pretty cool…" Ryuzaki rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly towards his pale companion. "Which for me is sayin' somethin', seein' as how I don't hang out with many people. You're a real modern miracle."

Even in the dimness of the room, Ryuzaki could see Haga's cheeks light up, his eyes rolling thoughtfully in their sockets.

"… Do you see other ghosts? Ones I can't see?"

"… No, I haven't seen any other ghosts thus far… maybe I can't see them?"

"You'd think you'd be able to…"

"An intriguing theory… one I'll keep an eye out for, next time we're on the town."

The two peered at each other in the upcoming silence that consumed them both, Ryuzaki wondering what on earth had caused him to grow so close to another being and Haga thinking… well, whatever ghosts thought about; the boy was so cryptic it was hard to read into him at any given moment. But there was something about him Ryuzaki fancied; perhaps it was the lack of contact with other people, but he felt a soft spot steadily growing for this boy…

What would he do once Haga had gone? It wasn't something Ryuzaki had thought about; but now, thinking over it, he was overtaken by a sudden wave of sadness at the thought of losing probably the only friend he had ever made… regardless, Haga had to leave; he couldn't spend years as a ghost and quite frankly Ryuzaki didn't know how much longer he could keep the boy along with him – it was too hard to try and fit a ghost in a still-living's world.

But still… Ryuzaki would miss the boy, once he had gone…

"What are you thinking about, Ryuzaki?"

"Hm?" Ryuzaki's eyes glazed back into focus, peering at the puff of smoke sitting across the room from him. "Oh, nothin'… say, Haga… do you consider me your friend? I dunno if I've already asked you this, or…"

"I believe I asked you this earlier, and you said that you considered me a friend, yes."

"I know, I know - but I wanna hear what you think. I mean, you know I think you're my friend an' all, but... do you think I'm your friend? I dunno, I'm jus' curious."

"Your friend?" Haga frowned. "Our friendship would be built on a shaky foundation; a mutual want of getting me the heck out of this world… and I can't say I'm too keen on the idea of having friends, but… yes, I suppose, I would consider you my friend."

The brunette smiled, calmed by his words. "Cool."

"Why do you ask?"

"No reason, just wonderin'. I mean, we don't got forever before you gotta go."

"Putting it that way makes it sound like I'm on a business trip or something…"

"More pleasant than what it really means, right?"

"… That's rather deep. T-tch, why, I'm not growing on you am I? What, you're not actually going to be sad when I leave, are you?"

Ryuzaki shrugged, cheeks burning as he tried to play it off as nothing. "Eh, it'll be whatever. At least I'll have my room to myself again."

The ghost grinned casually. "Oh, yes, because that will be such a win for you. I can't imagine what a deal-breaker it is that now you have to share it."

"Oh, wouldn't you know it. Privacy, is like, my biggest thing." The lavender-fringed boy teased, chuckling along with his companion.

"Hmm…" A pleased grin remained plastered to Haga's mouth, tilting the corners of his lips up as he adopted closing his eyes. "You need to sleep. It's getting late."

"Tch, yes Okan." Ryuzaki's grin faltered. "You goin' t'school with me tomorrow?"

The ghost visibly paused before shaking his head. "No… no, I don't believe I am. I'm remembering enough about school to remember I didn't like it… not for academic reasons, but because kids were rather mean around me… I can busy myself cleaning up around here; we both know you need it, and your poor mother would probably benefit from the place being tidied…"

"A ghost maid? Sweet, you must be the first!"

"Oh please, I'm not demeaning myself to earn the title of your house-keeper. I just don't like living around such a cluttered home."

"It ain't cluttered, it's lived-in."

"Is there even a difference?"

"Just… just don't mess anything up too bad – be careful where you put stuff. Not too over-the-top; Okan knows I don't clean very well an' she'll wonder what brought about the cleanin' of the house."

"Just tell her you felt a need to, I don't know, repay her for all she's done to you or something!" Slender shoulders shrugged. "Do you really need a reason to clean?"

"If you're me you do."

"Well, I'm not. A-anyways, I stand by what I said earlier – you need your sleep. I think I'll go and wait on the roof… goodnight, Ryuzaki."

They exchanged goodnight pleasantries and Haga got up, floating up through the roof. Ryuzaki watched him go, frowning after the wisp of semi-transparent, before lying back hard against his pillow, emitting a tired sigh.

Haga…

The more time Ryuzaki spent around the little ghost, the more he found himself enjoying his presence… why? It baffled the brunette, how he smiled whenever Haga was around and found himself able to lighten up and have fun chattering with another being… even if this one was dead, it was still a big change from his normal mood; sullen and anti-social. Haga was the only one who had ever been able to make him feel comfortable or normal around someone else…

But why? What was so special about this boy? Aside from the obvious, that he was a ghost, there wasn't much to him besides his snarky attitude and his pleasant sarcasm, which Ryuzaki found humor in. From how Haga talked about himself, he didn't seem to be too fond of his attitude, commenting that he hadn't had many friends in his years alive… was Haga disliked? He showed disinterest in school because of people throwing comments at him, sure, but…

The concept of being Haga's only friend struck a little close to home to Ryuzaki; it wasn't often he felt sympathy for another.

"Tch, you're growin' soft…"

The brunette tossed over to his stomach, arms grasping around his pillow as he snuggled his cheek closer to the fabric.

What's so special 'bout Haga, anyways…?