Midnight Pictures

Another Way Out

The staff remained pressed against the boy's stomach while both of them fell silent, Mitsuba swore if he had a heart it would have been beating at a rapid pace though no sound came from his own body, all that could be heard was the soft sound of the wind blowing through the air and the electricity radiating from the golden staff, he didn't know what time it was but the sky was so beautiful in that point and time and he sort of wished that he had his camera to freeze the moment and keep it with him however he was afraid that this will be the last time he will ever see it. Sure he wanted to leave this place, being stuck without anyone to keep him company was just too much for him despite that being how his life was before though he didn't want to go out in a painful manor, no matter how many times it would be said it would never become less true, the thought alone brought those familiar tears to his soft pink eyes. The boy prepared himself for the worse as he slowly raised his gaze to look back at the young exorcist, he had completely given up and stopped fighting but he soon felt that the weapon begin to slightly shake against his stomach, of course the stinging sore spot was still there from earlier so this made him wince in pain yet still remain quiet.

Kou stood there for a few more minutes, keeping his gaze on the other although his grip on his weapon was getting more shaky, he was a soft kid at heart and he felt so bad for this guy, whether he was telling the truth about not doing anything to the towns people or not he was human just like him plus he seemed somewhat familiar to him. He tried to stand his ground for much longer until he saw the look in the spirits eyes, that's when he let out a somewhat loud sigh and allowed his Raiteijou to drop down by his side, now he was the one giving up. "I..." he started then stopped again, having to look away from the feminine boy so he could think clearly, starting to pace back and forth a bit, "fuck...you made this really difficult, you know that?" he shook his head. What the hell was he going to do now? he couldn't go through with his plan but he also couldn't just leave him to continue roaming around, now he had to think, his brother would have gotten rid of him by now yet it wasn't like he could go and get him, that would give him time to escape and that would get Kou in a lot of trouble. He stayed quiet as he paced before stopping in his tracks, that's when he turned to look back at the other male, speaking up in a much softer tone then before, "Hey uh...is there any other way I can..get rid of you?" he questioned, maybe he knew something that he didn't about helping ghost past on to the far shore without harming them, he could only hope and ask.

The young male was stunned after feeling him pull the staff away, watching his every move closely and even took a step back when he started to pace around, he almost couldn't believe it, did..did he really stop him from trying to get rid of him by hurting him? He just stared in disbelief for what seemed like a eternity until his mind was brought back to the current situation when the blonde boy started to speak, shaking his head to hide the shock in his expression. "O-obviously! who wouldn't try to make this hard for someone like you..?" he talked back once more despite having just been spared. Mitsuba's body was both tense and exhausted at the same time and as a way to make sure the other didn't try anything, he kept a good distance away from him like the last time, he couldn't trust him, not right now at least. He wiped the tears that were just about to fall as he listened to the other, he couldn't stand this guy already, it was like he was all over the place in his mind, "Why would you want to get rid of me anyway? I know you're part of some stupid clan but still.plus I don't need your help" his voice remained a bit shaky as he spoke out, he was in the process of calming himself down after another near death experience so of course he would still be shaken up. Mitsuba didn't give him a clear answer about what he asked, maybe if he discouraged him enough he would leave him be, that was his plan. "acting all tough and scary then suddenly drops everything...is your brain on fire or something?" he softly muttered.

The exorcist rolled his eyes to the others comment, it did make sense that a spirit would want to make things hard for someone trying to get rid of them, the same could be said about humans in general so again this was another dumb question on his half. He was confused when the boy continued to be a bit snarky towards him but the tone in his voice sounded tremulous and taut, like he was still frightened of him along with what he would do, it was something new since he never heard anyone speak to him in that sort of way and it made him feel even more guilty then he already was though he shouldn't be focusing on that right now, it already took up a few seconds of thinking when he shouldn't be getting distracted right now. "It's either that I kill you now or I help you a different way" he let out a frustrated sigh. "if I let you go then that makes you my responsibility, right?" he wasn't asking for an answer and started to speak again without waiting for a reply from him, "so if I do that and you end up harming someone or even more then one person then I'm the one who's to blame and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself!" he raised his voice then took a step towards the ghost, maybe this was a way to be more intimidating again since he did end up letting himself become soft, sure he was feeling guilty but he couldn't go easy on this guy seeing how he was already talking back, all of this guilt would go away after he gets rid of him he thought so there was no harm in it, right? "Also you should be thankful I'm sparing you right now! this doesn't just happen everyday" he huffed, Kou's determination to get him to listen was growing since he was sure he would be able to do so, despite how stubborn he appeared to be he was also the stubborn type.

Mitsuba couldn't help but flinch when the other made that sudden movement towards him then narrowed his eyes, what was his problem?! was he trying to scare him more? did he find this entertaining? He knew that he was bad but he didn't expect him to be this bad. After collecting his thoughts, he realized that he really didn't have any other choice but to let him help a different way so he was going to agree to it yet stayed silent. He didn't know where he got the idea that he had been harming people, sure a few ran away crying or screaming but he didn't even leave a scratch on them, as far as he knew anyway, "Listen blonde boy, stop implying that I would hurt people just because I'm a spirit! all I'd end up doing is scaring people since that's what happened the first time" he insisted as he crossed his arms. The pink haired male was beginning to slow down on the insults for now and be a bit more calmer to him, if he continued to be up right snarky then Kou might zap him again which he didn't want, he wanted to get on his good side so that he wouldn't even think of doing that, if it weren't for that staff he would be the one with the upper hand. "So let me get this straight...if you let me go then you'll stalk me to make sure I won't do anything terrible? I knew you were some sort of creep." of course an insult here and there wouldn't hurt, the other was the one that was purposely scaring him.

"Blonde boy?...hey! I have a name y'know! It's Kou Minamoto!" He declares with a irritated sigh. Yep..this guy really was annoying to deal with though he did notice how he was starting to slow down with the insults unlike earlier when he was just throwing them at him every few seconds and that was some more progress he was making with him. "Anyway. would you stop acting like I'm the weird one here? You're the one that keeps bringing up how I'm a pervert even though I haven't done anything a pervert would!" Kou was going to try to ignore the fact that he was called a pervert but the other boy had continued to bring it up so many times and it was just so annoying to listen too so of course he HAD to speak up about it, maybe it would stop...or make it worse. "That and the fact that you've been harassing the innocent people in this town!" he said before bringing his staff up and pointing it at him again.

The pink haired spirit turned his head away so that he didn't have to look at Kou, copying the irritated sigh that he did and narrowing his eyes, even he was starting to get annoyed with this guy, so much hero talk was coming from him that it made him almost look crazy, also having to listen to it over and over again, being told what he was doing was harassing people in all reality he was just trying to get someone to notice him and that person know him from when he was alive just so he could finally stop roaming this lonely surface. "you say that but you're the one that made a poor boy cry" he said in a muttered tone while slowing turning his gaze back on Minamoto. When seeing the staff pointed at him once more, he felt his soul drop in that moment and his eyes widened "F-fine! I'll do any perverted thing you want! just l-leave me alone after.." he whimpered as he lowered his eyes.

He was right, it did make it worse...raising his staff that is, now he was cooperating but not in the way he wanted him too, "I don't want to do anything gross or perverted, I'm not like that-" there was no point in trying to argue, he tried and lost the second he opened his mouth, so he was going to stop all together. "I've heard you can free a spirit from this world by helping it fulfil something it couldn't do..so do you have any wishes or dreams?" he said, changing the topic and lowering his staff, keeping a light grip on it as he kept it pointed at the ground. Coming to think of it..Kou never got the name of this kid, if he was going to help him out it would be pretty awkward if he didn't know, so he decided to ask him "Also..um, what should I call you? We are going to be with each other for quite awhile, depending on your wish or dream and it would be pretty weird If I didn't know" The blonde male had a innocent look on his face as he asked, like he was talking to a new kid at school and introducing himself, it wasn't an act either, he was genuinely being friendly towards him since there was no point in being mean the whole time, it was him that decided not to exorcize him after all.

Mitsuba didn't know how to respond, before this guy's intention was on trying to kill him, which he would have probably been successful with but now he was going to try and help him just like that? it was strange, regardless he dropped his guard ever so slightly when seeing him lower the staff again. He was a bit embarrassed by the fact he'd let the other do whatever just to not be hurt, a slight pink flushing in his cheeks while he listened to him speak, not protesting to the quick subject change. When he asked for his name the spirit was deciding on not giving it to him until he explained why he wanted to know, in that case he lowered his head with a sigh "You can call me Mitsuba..but I'm not telling you my full name okay? as for my wish or dream..."