A/n: Thank you for the reviews on the previous chapter, very much appreciate everyone's feedback (especially on the OC's role hehe).

People on tumblr may have already seen it, but we're having a little TyHil challenge, which begins in November but you can chose to start it whenever it's convenient for you. If you need more details, just drop me a message.

Since it's Halloween, Part 3 of Ghost AU is here! It's twice as long compared to my usual chapters, and I'm sorry if there's just a lot to read here, there's so many points to cover when it comes to this story, I wonder when I'll finish it lol. But with this chapter we take a definite turn towards a clear ending so I'm a little happy (and also sad) about that.

A little timeline to clarify things:

Part 1 – Hiromi's first year of high school, October.

Part 2 – Last semester of first year, February-March.

Part 3 – Hiromi's second year of high school, July-August.

Tale 27

- x -

Hiromi rested her palms over her knees in a feeble attempt to keep herself from shaking her legs restlessly, since the situation she was currently in desperately called for it. Seated next to her, Mrs. Tachibana shot a warning look at her, which from experience Hiromi knew was an order for her to behave herself, before the two of them faced forward again with passive expressions, ready to hear what her teacher had to say.

It had been quite a shock to Hiromi when just a few months into her second year of high school, her homeroom teacher, Hiwatari sensei, had rung up her home and requested to see her mother in school for a discussion about her recent behaviour.

Hiwatari sensei was the most distanced teacher at their school and he rarely took interest in the students outside of class. When it came classes, however, his lessons were always so detailed and well planned out, it was one of the reasons why she enjoyed his classes so much and his non-interfering attitude easily made him her favourite teacher at school. There was also the matter of Hiromi being a star student, not just in his class but in every single one, always responding with correct answers and acing her tests, she was never late to school and never took leaves, so naturally, it was difficult for her to grasp just why her teacher would want to speak with her parents.

Obviously her mother had not reacted well to the phone call, and they had been fighting all week until the day of the meeting. Mrs. Tachibana was always under the impression that Hiromi was somehow causing trouble at school, by either getting into fights with her fellow students or arguing with her teachers, mirroring the behaviour she would show at home which were all very ridiculous accusations for Hiromi to withstand. She was half hoping that this meeting would centre around what a good student she was, putting her mother's warped notions about her school life to rest, but Hiwatari sensei was known for always having a blank, indecipherable expression on his face which made it difficult for her to predict just what was in store for her today.

"Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule, Tachibana san," Her teacher finally spoke up, his deep voice garnering the attention of both mother and daughter at once.

"Not at all. Happy to be of help in any way." Her mother smiled curtly back at him.

Hiromi just nodded after her, hands curling around the hem of her skirt in anticipation of what would be said about her next.

"Still, it gives me no pleasure in disrupting your day like this. And Hiromi's too, given her exceptional record."

She pursed her lips in an attempt to keep a wide grin from spreading across her face, now that her mother had heard praise for her directly from a teacher, she would definitely start to see Hiromi in a new light at home, but that tiny ray of hope was doused as quickly as it had appeared.

"Which is what makes this matter even more serious." Hiwatari sensei fixed his unreadable gaze on Hiromi, and she found it very hard to not fidget under the intensity of it.

"Oh, lord." Mrs. Tachibana murmured under her breath, possibly already preparing herself for the worst outcome, like Hiromi's expulsion.

"It has been brought to my attention, by her other classmates and-" Hiwatari sensei paused, and his dark eyes dropped down for a minute as attempted to find the right word before he looked up again and resumed the deadpan expression from earlier, "her friends, that she disappears from the school premises for long periods of time without a sign."

Hiromi sunk a bit lower in her seat as her mother passed her a pointed, questioning look.

Although, what she really wanted to do was stand up and laugh, because everyone in this room had to know that she didn't have any friends at school, right? Sure, her teacher didn't take an active interest in their classroom dynamics, but he had to know that Hiromi was very much excluded from all the groups, who even went out of their way to remind her of that at every chance available. In fact, being told that her classmates had shown concern for her well-being came as a much bigger shock to her than a teacher calling home to discuss her behaviour.

How could these girls even raise an issue with her not being around enough when they had gladly abandoned her in the supposedly haunted building a year ago? The thought almost made her blood boil, they had spent every day of a full school year ignoring her existence, but now that she had gotten over it and started to do the same, suddenly they were tattling to teachers about her missing in action.

The only person in school who had any right to question her whereabouts, was Takao, because when he asked her where she had been or why she was late to their meeting spot, at least his genuine concern towards her would overflow in the tone of his voice.

Well, technically, he wasn't a person.

But he was still the only one allowed to worry on her behalf on the school grounds.

She had to admit to herself, however, that as of late she had been very lax with how much time she spent holed up in the Old Building with Takao, and occasionally Mizuhara. Even though it had been a year since her and Takao's deal, they were still far from figuring out a sure-shot way of sending Takao to the other side, and he had not bothered to reveal even one helpful clue about her school's past.

So what was it that guided them towards each other day after day?

Just the simple fact that they enjoyed each other's company too much now to even care about not keeping their promises.

And for Hiromi what mattered the most was that Takao was surprisingly a good listener.

She managed to open up to him about every single inconvenience she had ever faced in life, something that she even found difficult to do with her father, who Hiromi had considered her closest friend before meeting Takao. She assured herself that it was easier to speak to him because he was not tied to anything in her world, he had no motive of reporting back what she was telling him to her mother or raise concern over her weird way of thinking to anyone, he just listened. Sometimes he would agree with her and tell her something similar that had happened to him when he was alive, or sometimes he would argue with her and tell her up front that she was being stupid, while other times he would just doze off while she was still talking.

Somehow, that seemed to be enough for her, just someone being next to her while she talked and unburdened her mind from holding the millions thoughts she had.

Every other day, Mizuhara would also drop by and the three of them would play Trump or Charades, Hiromi had even attempted to introduce Uno to the two spirits but they had still not managed to grasp the rules. On pleasant sunny days, they would go up to the roof of the Old Building and Hiromi would read out a novel for the two of them, Takao preferred fantasy and action while Mizuhara leaned more towards romance, so they usually flipped a coin to decide who got to pick the novel for the day. And on rainy days, they would hole up together in the Music Room and Mizuhara would use all his powers in an attempt to play the piano for them, somedays he would switch it up with a cello, even if the tune wasn't exactly easy on their ears. She also used Takao and Mizuhara as her scapegoats for all her experimental cooking during class, the two weren't fond of it but with their weightless bodies, it wasn't easy for them to avoid the food when she shoved it into their mouths.

And these moments would make Hiromi wonder, had she grown up following and blending in the crowd, this might be what her real school life may have looked like.

But since she hadn't, she didn't feel like giving up the strange version of a good, fun atmosphere she had created for herself at school.

And she would definitely not forgive for those girls for going behind her back to speak with Hiwatari sensei, which led to the adults being involved and put her peaceful yet detached reality in danger.

She was lucky, however, since her teacher had framed his statement very vaguely and her mother was not the type to let these things slip by.

"And? Is this affecting her performance as a student?" Mrs. Tachibana's voice was demanding and stern, something that Hiromi was used to handling but others found difficult to counter, and it filled her with confidence.

"Well, uh-" Mr Hiwatari stuttered under her mother's inquisitive stare in a way she had never seen him do before. He looked at the open notepad in front of him, probably skimming through the complaints he might have written down from when her classmates came to him to tattle on her. "To be honest, it has not affected her scores at all. However, she has been neglecting her class duties as of lately. There have been many incidents when she has shown up late and not finished her tasks before the class began or when she left too early, without finishing her work or even informing her fellow duty partner that she was leaving."

"As you are aware, Sensei, the university entrance exams are just around the corner so she has to attend cram school for early preparation too. There are mock tests and whatnot that require mandatory attendance, so that may sometimes interfere with her presence in the school."

Hiromi pursed her lips tightly to keep herself from beaming up at her mother, she had always known that she got her stubbornness to be right about everything from her mother, but it was still fun to see it in action when it was not directed at her.

"Of course, but as per the school rules, the work here needs to be prioritized. Let us hear from Hiromi too, in her own words, about what she has to say for herself." Hiwatari sensei seemed taken aback by her mother's bluntness and attempted to buy himself some time to come up with a more logical and hard to counter response by shifting the spotlight towards Hiromi.

Both adults in the room fixed their eyes on her.

When her teacher had brought up her absence from school Hiromi had been at a loss over how she would explain herself, but now her mother had thrown her the perfect bone. All she needed to do to get off the hook was play the overworked and distressed student, and Hiwatari sensei would advise her mother to reduce some of the burden on her shoulders, or her mother would be too embarrassed by her weepy behaviour and shut down the meeting quickly by promising that the cram school would not get in the way from now on. She formed a few pointers in her mind and opened her mouth to start the charade but was immediately frozen as her eyes drifted towards the window behind her teacher's desk, where at this exact moment Takao had chosen to appear, floating casually with the usual mischievous grin on his face.

Hiromi closed her mouth, swallowed a gulp and tried to collect her thoughts again while trying her best to avoid looking at Takao.

She realised now that telling him the reason why she would not be able to meet him today had been a big mistake because of course he would do anything to embarrass her in situations like these. Although Takao had pretty much ceased pulling little pranks on her classmates or making strange things happen around her to get people to look at her weird ever since she had begun spending more time in his bathroom than she did in the real world outside of it, there were still moments, like today, when he would choose to make her life hell for his own entertainment.

Hiromi was already being scrutinized by both her mother and her teacher, so she didn't need Takao's extra antics on her mind. Taking a deep breath she faced straight ahead, locking eyes with Hiwatari sensei which ensured that her line of sight won't dither towards the scene beyond the window, she pursed her lips and then began to speak confidently.

"There have been just so many tests at the cram school lately," Hiromi said, letting her voice quiver just the right amount so her audience could understand how distressing it was just to talk about this issue, "they divide it in two sessions, one in the morning and one in the evening. The teachers there encourage us to attend both."

Her teacher's deadpan gaze turned soft, almost sympathetic and Hiromi knew she had this in the bag as long as she didn't meet her mother's stern eye and continued playing the role of a stressed student who was drowning in unrealistic expectations.

What she should have done, was also taken into account whether she would manage to keep her concentration limited to the confines of the room and not get distracted by Takao attempting to break dance in mid air and failing miserably at it.

Her intuition had warned her last month, to not tell Takao about videos or how one could watch them online, but she had gone against it to show him funny cat videos not knowing that this is what it would lead to.

She could do this, she told herself, if she had been able to walk into a haunted building and befriend not one but two ghosts, she could get through this by keeping a straight face and keeping her eyes glued to the notebook open in front of Hiwatari sensei.

As long as she didn't look at the window, she was safe.

"I have been trying my best to make it on time for both-STOP!" Hiromi borderline shrieked mid sentence, scaring her mother who jumped in her seat, and her teacher who immediately leaned back, looking at her with a curious frown.

She balled her fists and tried her best to keep herself from getting up as she watched Takao slip halfway in through the window, his feet still dangling outside, and hover directly behind Hiwatari sensei as he made funny faces, a desperate attempt on his end to get her to pay attention to him. It worked too, not in the way Takao had probably hoped for, but she could tell he was gloating to himself as the pools in his eyes spun rapidly with excitement over watching her struggle to collect herself so she could explain the sudden shift in her behaviour to the adults in the room.

So he decided to go one step further, by fully entering the room and landing right behind Hiwatari sensei with much ease.

"Sorry uh-"

With both the adults in the room staring her down intently and Takao not letting up his antics it became difficult for Hiromi to come up with an excuse on the spot. She racked her brain again and again until she almost broke into a cold sweat, which only made her seem even more suspicious.

Oh if only Takao wasn't already dead, she would've strangled him with her bare hands for this.

He seemed to notice the change in her feelings from confusion and anxiety to aggression and wrath, and put a pause on making vulgar gestures with his hands above Hiwatari sensei's head. The only way she usually won arguments against Takao was through her words, he found it impossible to refute her logic, but that was something she couldn't rely on right now. All she could do was channel everything she was feeling right now into a raging instinct that Takao would be able to sense and hope that he would take the hint and back off.

It worked too when for a second she met his gaze and showed him just how far he had gone this time, Takao immediately took a step back as the spinning pools in his eyes slowed down. She could tell that he was debating whether he ought to pay heed to her mood or continue having fun and that moment of uncertainty was enough to give her the time to pull herself together.

"Sorry, there was uh-a bird outside, it would have crashed straight into your window." Hiromi attempted a sheepish smile as she faced her teacher. It was not a great lie, she knew that, but it should have sufficed, next to her she saw her mother put a hand on her chest and shake her head and that gave Hiromi confidence that Hiwatari sensei would buy her claim too, and then she could go on explaining her absence with a little bit of dramatic flair, forcing Takao to leave by not giving him even an ounce of her attention.

But her rational and straightforward teacher did not in fact buy her claim, instead, he swivelled his chair around to check if there was any substance behind Hiromi's statement, making her heart stop and Takao freeze in his tracks.

It should not have been possible for Hiwatari sensei to sense Takao, she knew that much to be true, and yet her teacher did not look beyond the window into the sky for a sign of any bird attempting to dive into closed windows, no he tilted his head up and looked at Takao.

Or rather the space behind his chair where Takao was standing, Hiromi tried to reason with herself, because there was no way that he could actually see Takao right?

Wasn't that privilege reserved just for her?

With her teacher's back to her, the only way Hiromi could tell what was happening right now was through Takao's face and she felt her stomach drop when she saw the pools in his eyes spinning haphazardly, a sign of panic that he rarely displayed. He stood completely still as he watched the teacher, either he was waiting for Hiwatari sensei to make the first move or he was afraid that any movement from his end would alert the man about his presence.

Hiromi felt every hair on her body stand up in anticipation of what was going to happen next.

She was the kind of person who always made sure to think of all the worst case scenarios in every situation, but with Takao she felt this surge of confidence and faith that made her believe that nothing could ever go wrong as long as he was with her. Which is why her mind had never entertained the possibility that there might be other people like her, who also had a stronger link to the other side of the world or that one of those people could be a teacher at this very school.

A tiny voice at the back of her mind tried to argue that there was no need for her to think this way since Hiwatari sensei definitely could not see Takao.

But the longer Takao stayed glued to the spot, absolutely still with only his spinning eyes indicating that he hadn't turned into a complete statue, the harder it became for Hiromi to keep her fear at bay.

Would Hiwatari sensei figure out just why she had been missing from class these days?

Would he tell her mother?

Would her mother even believe him if he did?

Would they work together to keep her from meeting Takao?

It was a daunting feeling, just sitting in the chair and watching Takao struggle with deciding what he should do. She did not enjoy this helplessness that came along with having to pretend that she couldn't see him, that she couldn't spring to her feet in that moment and save him from this predicament.

All she could do was worry.

Worry about how mundane her life would become if she could no longer visit the Old Building and spend time learning about the ghosts and spirits that roamed its empty hallways. Worry about what was going to happen to her and Takao and their friendship, which was the only thing that actually made it worth getting up for school every morning. Worry about what her mother would do if she knew the truth, whether she would even allow Hiromi to say a final goodbye to Takao before separating them forever.

She didn't know if it was because Takao could sense the panic that had overtaken her, but before her thoughts could spiral further, his eyes landed on her and the very next second he disappeared into thin air leaving behind a wisp of black smoke.

Hiromi let go of the breath she had been holding in and relaxed her shoulders in relief, even though she knew that the real battle would start when Hiwatari sensei turned around, she still felt grateful for the fact that Takao had been able to make a safe escape.

For now.

When her teacher finally swivelled his chair back into its original position, she had to keep herself from fidgeting nervously under his blank gaze, devoid of any hints indicating whether he had seen Takao or not. It was not an easy task, since her mother too was beginning to feel suspicious of this long drawn out silence and the fact that her mind wouldn't stop wondering about whether Takao was okay, she considered it a miracle that she was able to sit through the rest of the meeting without letting her head fall into her hands or crying out loud.

Hiwatari sensei took the conversation forward as if nothing had happened, which made her believe that maybe he had not seen Takao after all, but the few times that she braved a glance in his direction and their eyes met, it might have just been the sunlight playing tricks on her confused mind, but she was sure she saw his lips curl upwards into a knowing smile. What surprised her more was how he argued with her mother on her behalf, and half convinced her that with Hiromi's school record she didn't need cram school preparation to help her get into a good university as she could snag a scholarship on her merit and recommendations alone.

Her mother was never easily persuaded, however, so Hiwatari sensei ended the meeting by assuring her that he would be guiding Hiromi on various scholarship applications for all the top universities in the near future if her mother allowed her to take a break from the cram school until she learned to manage her time better. When they were leaving his office, it felt like he wanted to say something more to her, but then he just shook his head and offered to see her mother out of the school, leaving Hiromi standing outside of her class feeling confused, agitated and relieved all at the same time.

At first, she lifted her hand to slide open the door, so she could join her friends and classmates who, out of their so called concern for her well-being, had made her sit through this ordeal with her mother and Hiwatari sensei, but she stopped and let her hand slide back down to her side when the shrill laughter and loud voices of the girls sitting inside reached her ears. She couldn't understand why they had a problem with her when she was around and participating in class activities with all her heart and even when she wasn't around and keeping her distance from all of them as they had wanted?

There was nothing she could do to make herself feel like she belonged in this classroom, but there was somewhere she could go to make herself feel like she belonged in this school, so that's what Hiromi did, hoping that her teacher would not be disappointed that she had disappeared right after a meeting to discuss this behaviour, and let her have a second chance at his benefit of doubt when she'd explain her absence to him tomorrow morning.

"He saw you!"

She barged into the third floor toilet of the Old Building, shouting at the top of her lungs without a care about who, or rather, what it might end up disturbing. Takao looked like he had been waiting for her to appear, greeting her with his arms folded across his chest firmly and a dubious look on his face that said 'I didn't do anything wrong'. The sunlight was pouring in through the small window and the red and blue flowers growing all around the toilet were basking under its natural shine. Hiromi would've preferred to enjoy this rare scenic moment by sitting down for a long talk, but her frustration over Takao's actions from earlier overtook any other emotion.

"He did not, it's up to me to decide who can see me and who can't." He responded, sticking up his nose arrogantly.

"Takao, it was so obvious," Hiromi stated through gritted teeth, marching right up to where he was standing near the sinks, not leaving much space between the two of them, "He looked directly into your eyes, didn't he?"

"I told you, he did not see me," Takao said, looking away immediately as he leaned his head back, his hands were holding onto the sink against which she had cornered him and his confidence in himself could be seen wavering for every minute Hiromi spent peering at him, "The only person I keep my presence visible to is you. It's like a default mode for me now, I never turn it off."

She felt a blush creep up her cheeks and was slightly annoyed with herself, even if Takao was not good at picking up social clues and the dim lighting in the toilet always seemed to work in her favour, Hiromi knew that sooner or later she had to stop herself from being affected by these statements which he always threw around in a matter of fact manner. It never meant anything more than what the words implied, but a tiny part of her still felt elated every time Takao made it seem like her existence in his world was like no other.

"How long has he been teaching here?"

Seeing that Hiromi was distracted, Takao took the chance to disappear from in front of her and reappear behind her, closer to the doors of the toilet stalls, posing the question casually as if Hiromi had not been seething at him till now.

"Why are you changing the subject?" She asked, irritated by how she'd let him slip from under her grasp and now with the distance between them, it won't be that easy for her to intimidate him.

"I have a feeling…I might've seen him around before…" Takao replied whimsically, the pools in his eyes spinning clockwise very lazily, indicating that he was trying to stay aloof and distracted, "A few years back, or was it months? Sorry I don't do well with human time."

"Unbelievable. How could you even-"

"Sometimes I would venture out to the main school building after sunset to look for snacks." Takao talked over her loudly as he began to pace around the toilet slowly, pretending to be lost in the story he was telling and not paying attention to her, "I think he works late nights so we might have run into each other here and there. He never said anything or reacted in any way so I just assumed he couldn't see me."

"Still, how could you even think of taking such a big risk today?" Seizing an opening when Takao paused, Hiromi spoke fast, taking two steps in his direction with her fists balled tightly at her sides, completely ignoring his story about his supposed encounters with Hiwatari sensei in the past, which obviously hurt his feelings.

"Risk?" Takao scoffed, his eyes spinning at a normal speed again, he was finally ready to drop the pretence and face her fair and square, "Okay, so he saw me, big deal? I'm already dead, Hiromi," he said, as he halted his pacing and glared back at her. His tone was bitter and filled with contempt that she could only hope was not meant for her, "What more can he do?"

She was stunned by the sudden change in his behaviour, surely she hadn't taken the argument too far to be on the receiving end of this hostility that he was now emanating towards her? What he had done today, putting her at risk like that in front of her mother and her teacher, was wrong and could not be swept under the rug with just his casual remarks about who could see him and who couldn't. While it was not easy to argue against his all encompassing statement about being dead, which was pitiful and put her in a more forgiving mood than usual, Hiromi somehow managed to remind herself of the panic that had taken over her in Hiwatari sensei's office just an hour ago.

"And what about me?" She challenged him loudly, her voice echoing around the toilet sharply as the unstitched half of Takao's jaw dropped open in disbelief over her still continuing the argument despite the sympathy inducing trick he had tried to pull. Hiromi decided to mirror the same bitterness he had directed at her as she added scathingly, "Or do you truly only think of yourself?"

"I don't-" He looked as surprised as she had a minute ago, but she didn't give him a chance to justify himself.

"And of course, it's convenient for you that Hiwatari sensei just chose to ignore this whole matter completely, but do you know how scared I was?" Hiromi raised her voice, allowing all the fear and anxiety she had felt in her teacher's office to take root in her words as she took a few more steps forwards in Takao's direction.

This time he didn't move back or attempt to evade her, he just let his eyes fall towards the ground. Hiromi bit her lip as she came to a stop just inches away from him, realising that she shouldn't have asked that question, since the only reason Takao had chosen to disappear from the office was because he could sense her fear. But it was too late to take back any words, it was as if her mouth just did not want to stop moving and everything that she hadn't been able to scream out at her mother or her teacher or her classmates, came hurtling out at Takao who, despite his faults, didn't deserve any of it.

"I told you today was important because my mother was coming here. But you just took it as a joke and didn't respect my wishes at all! Do you know what could have happened if Sensei told my mother the truth? She would have me exorcized, or worse lock me up in my room and never let me out-"

"Hah, wouldn't that be perfect," Takao said suddenly, looking up to meet her eyes and making a chill run down her body as he did so, "not having to listen to your nagging every single day."

Even though Hiromi felt as if her whole body had frozen, she willed herself to take a step back, because, for the first time since she had met Takao, the pools in his eyes had stopped spinning.

The stillness in his eyes cast a dark shadow on his entire face even with the bright yellow sunlight pouring in, finally making him look like a ghost in her eyes.

"You didn't mean that," Hiromi whispered, more to herself than to Takao. She repeated those words in her head, again and again, making herself believe that this was just another one of his cruel jokes, that any minute now he would laugh at her and his eyes would spin with excitement again and things would be normal between them.

There was no way, that the only one Hiromi had trusted enough to call a friend could say something like this to her and mean it.

Because if he did...

"Did you mean what you just said?" She repeated her words, this time in the form of a question, and braved looking at Takao's face for any clues or answers.

But all she was met with was a still face, devoid of any movement or expression like his pale white skin was a canvas on which his crooked face had been painted haphazardly and the artist had changed their mind midway, deciding not to give him pupils that would describe to the viewer what Takao was feeling.

Even as Hiromi felt a cold breeze pass her by, even when the sunlight turned orange from yellow, she stood rooted to her spot, waiting for Takao to answer her but he refused to do anything until finally, without a word he disappeared into thin air, leaving her stranded in the toilet with darkness slowly settling in and around the Old Building. She didn't know if it was her imagination, or the lack of light and the tears crowding her eyes, but she watched as the darkness swirled around her feet on the floor, and then crept up onto her shoe gradually making it's way up across her feet, her calf, her thighs…and then she was running, running out of the toilet and down the old, creaky stairs, running out of the building and out of the school, just running and running until her mind was completely blank and her feet hit the edge of her bed, and she collapsed on top of it with eyes tightly shut as tears streamed uncontrollably down her face.

Her mother refused to budge next morning, despite of how sick Hiromi actually looked, she just wouldn't allow her daughter to take a leave from school. She said it was impossible for Hiromi to do that a day after she had met with her teacher to discuss her continued absences from school activities. So even with her head feeling heavy, and her heart unwilling, Hiromi went to school that morning, pretending that everything was fine and she hadn't gotten her heart broken by a ghost just the day before.

She met with Hiwatari sensei first, explaining why she had disappeared after the meeting and not returned for the final class of the day. It was easy to channel the tears, and claim that she had been overwhelmed because it wasn't too far from the truth, and without her mother around or a complaint to address, her teacher was quick to accept her apology and send her back to class without punishment or warning.

The rest of the day, and for the rest of the week, Hiromi kept a simple routine.

She came to school early and studied in the library until classes began, when lunch started, she would stay seated at her desk, separated from the rest of the class and eat in total silence as she read a book or stared blankly ahead. When school ended, she would go back home and shut herself in her room, studying until it was time to enter the bath, eat dinner and then sleep. She knew she could keep this up, summer vacation was just around the corner and she would use that time to befriend some people outside of school, real people.

That way, when school started again, she wouldn't need to fight the urge to rush back into the Old Building, the urge to see…

On the last day of school, when Hiromi was making her exit from the front gate, she felt a pair of eyes watching her from somewhere afar, so she turned and surveyed the school buildings. Her eyes landed on someone standing on top of the huge clock that was affixed at the centre of the main building, she raised a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the sunlight to get a better look.

It was Mizuhara, much to her disappointment.

Hiromi was unsure whether she should react in any way, but when he noticed that she was aware of his presence, the ghost raised his hand in a half-hearted wave before he disappeared out of her sight, not giving her the time to return the gesture.

Had Takao asked their friend to do that, to make himself disappear from Hiromi's sight just like he had?

She wondered if that was the last of it.

The last of her being able to see ghosts and other creatures from the world beyond.

Hiromi had meant to start her summer vacation with a clear mind but she barely got any sleep that night, tossing and turning in her bed in an attempt to understand what Mizuhara's appearance had meant and why Takao couldn't just come up to her and tell her directly that he didn't want anything to do with her anymore.

Which is why, when her father announced the dates of his annual trip to his hometown for Obon the next morning, Hiromi told him that she would accompany him this year. After a few minutes of her parents looking shocked over her announcement, her father leapt up in joy and hugged her. His daughter had never expressed an interest in his family or his hometown so he could barely contain his joy as he called his office and asked for a leave extension, deciding to plan a whole trip for himself and Hiromi, which would include all the popular sights of Iwate prefecture and not just his hometown. She had only been looking for a small escape from her surroundings, but she gladly accepted the extended itinerary as it would keep her away from home and in turn away from thoughts about Takao.

His father's hometown was, as she had expected, filled with old people who were happy to see anyone below 40. During the two days that the father-daughter duo spent there, Hiromi was the centre of attention and people constantly called out to them on the street or invited them for a free meal into their establishment, all the while praising her father for raising such a competent young girl. Occasionally Hiromi felt like interjecting the elders, telling them that she wasn't as perfect as they thought, that the 82 year old grandma running the sweets shop down the street probably had more friends than her, but she held her tongue and smiled through it all, telling herself that once in a while it wasn't bad to let herself feel appreciated, even by old strangers.

After his hometown, her father took them to Hiraizumi, making her regret the fact that she hadn't paid attention to their itinerary when he had first shared it with her. Hiraizumi was a city popular for its shrines and connections to religious schools of thought, specifically those sects that had devised a notion of a pure afterlife. Naturally, the minute Hiromi stepped foot into the city, and saw the travel brochures promoting all the shrines, her mind wandered towards thoughts of Takao and the deal they had made with each other. No matter how hard she tried to fight it, everywhere she went there was a reminder staring her in the face in the form of a pamphlet or a fridge magnet.

It became worse when her father couldn't avoid an urgent work call, leaving her with some pocket money and the freedom to go do whatever she wanted to for the next few hours. How was her father supposed to know, that with the word afterlife being pushed in her face from every angle, there wasn't much else Hiromi could do except go look into what the big deal was about.

So one by one, she visited the most famous shrines around the city and was even surprised to find that some of the places were marked as world heritage sites, which then explained the tourist crowds because surely these many people wouldn't travel to this small corner of Japan to discover the truth behind the afterlife.

While she was alone with her thoughts, Hiromi decided that if she found any concrete information, she would try to pass it on to Takao to the best of her capabilities. Even if he refused to see her, she would go to the third floor toilet and just talk out loud, or try and catch hold of Mizuhara and beg him to convey her message or resort to writing a letter and pasting it across his favourite bathroom stall's door, in short, she would do anything and everything to make sure that Takao knew that despite everything, she still valued their promise enough to put it above all else.

What Hiromi discovered at first, was that the shrines were more inclined to cater to tourists and visitors, than people who wanted to explore the philosophical notions shared by the sects that built those shrines. She found it difficult to get her hands on any material that wasn't a pamphlet about the latest event or exhibition, or a map that marked down the most ideal route for tourists to take while passing through certain gardens. When she had just about given up on finding anything out, she noticed a museum marked on the map that she had mindlessly picked up when she entered the shrine she was currently in. She followed the route to reach the location, and while the word museum was an overstatement for the small shrine hall that had been converted into an archive, Hiromi was delighted to find actual booklets that talked about the sect's history and practices, rather than when the shrine was built and how many traditional Japanese gardens were on its premises.

She picked up a few of the booklets that seemed relevant to her and sat down cross-legged on a tatami mat nearby to go through them one by one. She was so engrossed in her reading that she lost all sense of time and didn't even notice that someone was standing over her, until they knelt down and tapped her shoulder, making her jump up in surprise.

"Excuse me, Miss, but the Museum will be closing soon."

"Oh shit."

Hiromi looked at her wristwatch and noticed that it was almost time for her to meet her father at the train station, and then it dawned on her.

She had just cursed on holy grounds, as if her life couldn't get any worse.

A light chuckle made her focus her attention back to her surroundings, and she saw that the person who had approached her was still kneeling in front of her with a gentle smile on his face.

His appearance made him seem like a foreigner, he was sporting some kind of Chinese-style jacket and pants with a high circular collar. He wore his dark hair in a braid which stopped just a few inches below his waist and his eyes were golden, glinting with a cat like mischief as he offered a hand to help her up. Hiromi hesitated but then remembering how late she was, she decided she could use all the help and allowed the stranger to help her get back on her feet and collect the booklets lying around her. He even went as far as returning the books to their rightful shelves, which made Hiromi wonder if he worked here.

"I assume you have someplace to be."

The stranger called out to Hiromi just as she was retrieving her shoes near the entrance, and at his voice she paused, turning to look at him as he made his way towards her.

"Yes." She nodded, still a bit wary of his presence, she did not reveal any other details.

"I could show you a shortcut, help you reach the central area of the city in no time."

She darted her eyes around the small hall and noticed there were not too many people around. If this man was not as kind as he looked, and just a plain old serial killer then there would not be many witnesses who would corroborate that Hiromi had left with him, and not by herself. He must have sensed her distrust towards his suggestion because he laughed loudly when she didn't answer him and extended a hand towards her.

"My name is Rei Kon, I've been conducting research here for a year now. I stay in the central area so I often take the short route, that cuts through the garden, back home."

Now that she had a little more information about him, Hiromi felt like she could carry out a normal conversation with him, the fact that he was a research student here felt slightly comforting since it could mean that he was intelligent and possibly believed in the non-violent practices taught by the shrine. But still, Hiromi wasn't sure if she should trust him enough to allow him to lead her through a possibly secluded area.

"I'm Hiromi," she said, holding off on her last name for safety purposes, "Thank you for the offer, but I'd-"

"You'll reach the station in less than 15 minutes." He grinned before she even attempted to excuse herself from the situation.

She looked at her watch again and was tempted, she didn't want her father to worry about her and there was not enough time left. With a sigh she decided, she would take the risk, the worst thing that could happen was that this man would kill her, which would turn her into a spirit and she could exact revenge on Takao for the way he had treated her, so overall it was a win-win scenario.

"I'll take you up on that offer then." She smiled back, and then followed him out into the gardens.

Dusk had already fallen, but the shrine premises were well-lit, even the garden they were cutting through had fairly bright lighting which relieved Hiromi. They walked in silence for a few minutes, until they reached a thicket.

"Once we go through here, we will reach the exit near the West Gate where the bus stand is." Rei explained as he pushed a few branches, that were hanging low, aside and walked straight through the thicket, with Hiromi doubtfully following behind.

"If you don't mind me asking, Hiromi san," Rei spoke up from ahead of her, and she was a little touched to hear him use honorifics with her even though he was clearly older than her.

"Go ahead." She replied, talking would keep her distracted from all the paranoid thoughts that entered her mind the deeper they went into the woods.

"I don't often see children your age particularly interested in this school of thought, is there something that caught your eye?"

"I just enjoy reading a lot." Hiromi gave a straight answer because she was not confident in her lying skills when she was already trying to keep her mind free from anxiety.

"I see. The topic you were reading about, it's one of my core research fields." Rei told her, although she couldn't see it, she could tell that his face held that gentle smile from earlier.

"You are researching the afterlife?" Hiromi couldn't help but pose the question, curious to know if this strange man could possibly hold a hint that might help Takao.

"Something along those lines, to put it simply." Rei turned to pass her a grin, "If you have any questions, I could help you out."

Hiromi stopped in her tracks.

She could not afford to miss a golden chance like this.

If Rei really was who he claimed to be, then he must have studied the concept of the afterlife rigorously, and from books that a town's local library would never keep. She could ask him about not just one way to pass on to the other side, but multiple beliefs and if Takao tried all of them, one of them would have to hit the jackpot right? But the problem was how exactly should she frame her questions, without giving too much away about her involvement with ghosts and the world beyond.

"Hiromi san?" Rei had stopped too and peered at her from a distance, probably trying to figure out if she was okay without alarming her.

"Actually, there are a few things I would like to know-"

Before she could finish her sentence Hiromi felt as if two airy hands had rested on her shoulders from behind her, she wanted to turn around and kick the culprit in the face but she heard a whisper in her ear next that froze her.

"Fancy seeing you here, Hiromi chan."

Instinctively she first wanted to let out a scream, but her rational side made her hand fly to her mouth and stifle any sound that might come out. Then, Hiromi's eyes fell on Rei and she was taken aback by how unfazed he looked by her behaviour, instead, he seemed to be staring at the reason she had wanted to let out a scream.

She could recognise that voice anywhere.

Mizuhara.

"Knock it off, Max." Rei's stern voice cut through the crisp air and immediately Mizuhara lifted his hands from her shoulders, when she turned around to look at him, the ghost had already disappeared and reappeared next to Rei.

Hiromi faced forward again, still in shock over the appearance of Mizuhara and the fact that this strange man that she had met today happened to be on a first-name basis with the ghost whose presence did actually scare her. She lifted her hand from her mouth and pointed a shaky finger at the two of them, "Y-you can...see th-them too?"

"That should be my line," Rei said, eyebrows raised in curiosity at her.

"Hiromi chan, I was getting so bored at school so I thought I'd come and play with my other friend here, and what a coincidence! You're here too!" Mizuhara winked at her, as he floated slightly above ground in an attempt to possibly seem taller than Rei, who again surprised Hiromi by grabbing onto Mizuhara's wrist and pulling him down with much ease so the ghost's feet were touching the ground.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand."

Hiromi's mind was muddled with confusing thoughts, but the confirmation that she wasn't the only one who called a spirit from beyond her friend was so heavily comforting, that all she wanted to do was find out how these two had met and what had led them to become friends. She watched Rei and Mizuhara exchange a look among themselves before the latter shrugged and gestured for the former to speak.

"It might be too much to take in right now," Rei said calmly, "but the gist of it is that Max and I have known each other for a very long time."

Hiromi could only nod at the statement. She wanted to know exactly how long they had known each other since Rei looked like he was in his mid-twenties and not a year older, but she didn't want to come off as too prying, especially not in front of Mizuhara who she had gotten to know well over the past few months but was still afraid of.

"Could it be, that the reason you are interested in the afterlife is because of…?" Rei trailed off, eyeing Mizuhara and then Hiromi with a questioning look on his face, but she quickly shook her head to deny the implications.

"Hiromi chan and I have another-" Mizuhara paused his explanation and sent his trademark sinister smirk in her direction, "acquaintance." He was taunting her with the word that Takao had used to describe their relationship all those months ago. This is why she could never bring herself to trust this blue-eyed demon, her own little nickname for him, because he would always throw a punch at you when you were least expecting it.

"Another spirit at that school you like to haunt?" Rei asked, turning his attention to Mizuhara.

"Yes. I am helping him pass on to the other side." Hiromi answered before the mischievous ghost could come up with more taunts or jabs meant to irritate her.

"That is quite an interesting statement, but I believe you have someone waiting for you?"

Rei pointed towards her watch and Hiromi cursed internally, her father! There was barely any time left until the two were supposed to catch up with each other but she had so many questions for the odd duo standing in front of her. It was almost as if Rei had read her mind because he let out a loud laugh at the distressed expression on her face and then shook his head.

"Let's try this. I will try to answer your questions as quickly as possible, and then Max will teleport you to where you're supposed to be. How does that sound Hiromi san?"

It sounded perfect, though the only snag was whether the blue-eyed demon would actually take her to the right spot and not leave her stranded much farther from where she was supposed to be, despite of that fear Hiromi found herself nodding along to the suggestion.

"Okay, shoot."

"What keeps a spirit from moving onto the afterlife?"

She had thought about this question many times, in fact, this was at the top of her list of questions to ask a priest. After her research with Takao had pretty much hit a dead end, Hiromi had done some thinking on her own and had reached a conclusion that before she could figure out how Takao could get to the afterlife, she needed to understand why he couldn't do it in the first place.

"That is a great question, right from the start." Rei seemed impressed with her question too and he took a few minutes to collect his thoughts, in which Mizuhara eyed her slyly as if he was bored and wanted to make mischief, making Hiromi instantly be on guard.

"There is no straight answer to that question, Hiromi san. There are a multitude of reasons behind why a soul remains tied to the world of living even after their body has decayed," Rei said, and Hiromi felt devastated that she didn't have a pen and notebook where she could write down everything that he was going to share with her today, "But two of the most common reasons are, either the spirit has some unfinished business or a regret that they are holding onto, or they have attached themselves to a living being which keeps them tied to this side. Now, which one would you say applies to your acquaintance the most?"

Hiromi had no answer for him because she knew absolutely nothing about Takao's life.

They shared their common experiences sometimes, but he never took names or gave out any specific information, just told her that whatever was happening to her had happened to him when he was alive too. She didn't even know how he had died, so there was no way for her to deduce if he had regretted something in his last moment. When she had met him for the first time, she had heard him murmur that the red and blue flowers growing in the toilet were his last wish, could that be related to his unfinished business or regret in some way? And the only living person he knew was Hiromi, and they were not attached to each other in any sense, hell they weren't even acquaintances anymore if she was being honest with herself.

"I'd pick the first choice." She replied confidently, but then Mizuhara snickered loudly at her.

"Are you sure about that, Hiromi chan?" He asked her in a creepy sing-song voice that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Do not trouble her, Max." Rei rolled his eyes at the ghost and faced Hiromi again, "You need to talk to your acquaintance and try and find out the truth behind his death, in most of these cases the soul has some connection or strong emotion tied to the events that led to their demise because of which they find it impossible to move on to the other side. Maybe they wanted to tell something important to someone, or see someone's face or hear their voice one last time, things like that."

"What happens after I find that out, what should we do then?"

"You need to help them finish that task, and once it's completed they would move on naturally without any trouble."

"And just in case," Hiromi said, gritting her teeth because Mizuhara had very playfully sowed the seed of doubt in her mind with his taunting behaviour, "if it were the second thing holding him back, the one where the spirit is attached to a living being, how do we solve that problem?"

Rei's golden eyes softened as he smiled at her, he crossed his arms against his chest and took a deep breath before replying, "In that case, Hiromi san, the spirit would need to cut all ties with that person, once they do that they will be free from our world."

"What does cutting ties mean?"

When she asked this, Rei turned to look at Mizuhara and yet again the two exchanged a long, knowing look, the meaning behind which was still a mystery to Hiromi.

"The meaning is quite obvious, Hiromi san. Your acquaintance would need to cut all contact with the person they are attached to, the person they are tied to. He would need to erase all the memories that person has of him, he would need to make it so that the person cannot remember him anymore."

She could hear Rei talking after that, and she did remember Mizuhara floating towards her and touching her arm, but after that, all she remembered was that she was at the train station and her father was running towards her, apologising for being late.

The rest of the trip was a blur to Hiromi, it felt like she had exited her body and was just watching another Hiromi take touristy photos with her dad, gush over the food they were eating, shop for souvenirs for non-existent friends, all the while there was only one thought revolving in her mind again and again.

He would need to make it so that the person cannot remember him anymore.

How could this one statement affect her so much? What did she think was going to happen when Takao passed on? Had she truly been stupid enough to believe that they would manage to stay in touch even after he left? Had her budding friendship with him made her blind to the reality of the promise she boasted about?

He would need to erase all the memories that person has of him.

Even if deep down she had known that she might need to bid Takao a permanent goodbye, she hadn't expected that he would take with himself the memories the two of them shared. As her trip went on, and Hiromi slowly started to come back to her senses, she realised that she should have asked Rei about what would happen to her memories if Takao passed on after finishing the task he needed to, would the tie between them still be cut? Would she still lose her memories of him?

By the time her trip came to an unexciting end, Hiromi had almost convinced herself that there was no way she was the person Takao was attached to, at least not after what had happened between them a few weeks ago, so even if they followed Rei's advice and he really did cross over to the other side, she would still be able to keep him safe in her memories. And that's why she decided, the first thing she would do after reaching home was head to school and find Takao, and come clean about what she had learned from Rei.

Little did she know, that she wouldn't need to go all the way to school to see him, because when she opened the door to her room, he was right there.

Standing in the centre of her room, with the lights turned off only his own whitely glow illuminating his face.

"Listen, Hiromi, I know this is sudden but I couldn't wait. I didn't know where you had gone-" The minute he saw her, he started to speak after taking a hesitant step towards her.

Hearing his voice revived something in Hiromi and she no longer felt like a spectator in her own life.

She entered her room quickly, clicking the door shut behind her to keep any interruptions at bay and leaned her back against it for support. While she did want to step forward and greet Takao, the fact that he was here, he was speaking to her, and those eyes of his were spinning like they always did, filled her with such a deep sense of relief that she felt her knees buckle under the weight of the emotion. Standing straight on her two feet and staring at Takao was all she could manage in the moment.

The spirit would need to cut all ties with that person.

"And I had to apologise, you know? What I said that day, the way I behaved afterwards, I'm very sorry for all of that." The sincerity overflowing from his voice matched the calmness with which the pools in his eyes spun, telling her that he was speaking from the heart and meant every word.

He would need to make it so that the person cannot remember him anymore.

"I was very confused because I think-, no I know that your teacher saw me," he said with a defeated shake of his head, "I was mad at myself for losing control over my powers and then you made it seem like I didn't care about you, which I do. I care about you." He ran a bandaged hand through his hair, a nervous tick, as he stared at her anxiously wondering if he had said too much.

Cut all ties…

"I'm sorry, Hiromi. I really am."

Erase all the memories…

"Can we be friends again, please? I missed you, I missed you so much."

Cannot remember him anymore...

"Please, say something."

But what could she say?

Hiromi was sorry too, for always being so quick to assume the worst with him, she was sorry for being stubborn and not taking the first step towards reconciliation, she was sorry for even thinking about replacing him with real friends just after one fight, but she couldn't find the right words to express any of that. All she could think about was Rei's words, they were spinning in her head like the pools in his eyes, issuing a warning to her, heeding her from doing what she really wanted to do.

If these were some of the last moments, last memories she might share with him, then did she really want to do nothing and just stare at him?

If Takao could build up the courage to take the first step and apologise, to bare his heart to her, then couldn't Hiromi, just for now, push Rei's voice out of her mind and do what she should have done when she first entered her room and saw Takao waiting for her?

After all, it was not important for her to use the right words, rather all she had to do was show Takao how much she had missed him too.

So with determination flowing through her veins, Hiromi walked forward confidently, and flung her arms around Takao's neck, allowing her body to immerse into his freezing and weightless embrace.

Even if until that moment Hiromi was not the person Takao had attached himself to, by taking him into her arms she became his anchor, weighing him down into the world of living for days to come.

- x -

A/n: Did Kai really see Takao or is he just spaced out as hell? I'll leave that up to you to decide xD

There is a lot to talk about when it comes to Rei and Max in this setting, but I couldn't put all of that here because this is about Takao and Hiromi, I'll make a post on tumblr about it soon.

And ps, I'm writing a historical murder mystery for Digimon where Takao and Hiromi are appear as a married couple, so if you want to try reading that you can check out the second half of Chapter 4 of the fic 'Lilacs Blooming in the Snow.'

Updates on this will be hold while I work on TyHil month, next update will be some time in December. Watch out for the new TyHil fic that will be up in the first week of November!

Thank you for reading, as always.