The Mermaids lake

Ch.10

Lately, Yashiro couldn't see Hanako the same after the 4 pm library. After she learned some things about him, she hasn't been able to look him in the eyes since. Whenever the two were in the same room, she was aloof and didn't really react to Hanako's teasing. Which Hanako made very clear, that he greatly disliked.

"So How Do I Fix This?!" Kou begged Atsuko for answers.

"W-why are you asking me?" Atsuko asked with a confused look.

"I-I don't know! Yashiro is a girl, you're a girl. So I thought You might know what is wrong," Kou said bashfully.

"Girl problems are Unique to each girl if you want to know what's wrong. You need to ask Yashiro, but knowing her, she might not want to entirely divulge her woes. So you mint need to coax it out of her," Atsuko suggested.

"Right!" Kou said excitedly and was about to run off, when. "Yeah, how do I do that?"

Atsuko sighed as she pulled herself up and sat down on the edge of her pond. " Well, you said you want to help her and Hanako fix... whatever they need to fix. So why not try to make donuts with Yashiro to coax out her problems, and just try to be a good listener and help her," Atsuko said with a tired expression.

"Right, Donuts! Got It!" Kou said as he quickly dashed off.

Atsuko sighed and shook her head with a chuckle. She slowly sank back into her pond and pulled up her all-seeing pearl. Nothing of importance really captured her attention, except for the cute mini-date between Mr. Tsuchigomori and the Piano ghost.

As Atsuko spied on the two, she suddenly felt an awful presence. looking up from the pearl, she noticed the sky above the school roof. Yet just as quickly as the energy came, it then suddenly vanished.

This energy felt strange, so after checking Yashiro, Hanako, and Kou were safe she quickly retreated to her pond. Yet, as Atsuko floated in her domain in a meditative state, she suddenly felt someone enter the boundary.

Before she even opened her eyes, a pair of arms wrapped around her shoulder. A face buried itself into her neck, seeking comfort. She already knew who it was, Amane. He was distraught and frightened.

Atsuko swiftly and gently hugged Hanako back as the two slowly sank to the bottom. "What the matter Amane?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to make sure you were still here," Amane mumbled.

"That's not it, or not all of it," Atsuko said as her ghostly fish began to school around them.

"I just... I just want to need to make sure you're still here, Y/n," He said. 

Y/n's eyes widened slightly, surprised that Amane was addressing her by her real name. Yet also, coming to a theory of who Amane encountered.