gho(st)²ories (yan/obsessive chrollo x reader)

Act 5, Chapter 4

It was quiet for a while before you thought of another question.

You had to think of the mop that suddenly fell over in the basement, of the crowbar that you hadn't discovered on the workbench before until you needed it.

You had to think of the rubber band that you had repeatedly spun around the handle of the window which ripped into several pieces.

You had to think about the stairs that had rushed down on you, about all the things you dismissed as coincidences.

"The window in the bedroom...do you keep opening that all the time?" you asked, trying to take your question slowly and sound neutral and chopsing the most obvious one.

The fact that the window was always open, especially with the now falling temperatures, was really getting on your nerves.

A grin crept onto Chrollo's face and he nodded.

"That annoys you a lot, doesn't it?" he asked and you could feel your face getting hot.

How did he know? You've said it so carefully.

"I've always loved winter and the night and for a long time the window was the only thing I could touch. It was the only way I could make it clear that I was there, that I'm still in this house.  I'll try not to just open it in the future without  your agreement."

"Thanks...and by the way...did you put the crowbar on the workbench back then and knock the mob over?" you asked further, trying to get more into it.

Again he nodded.

You didn't even get to ask why befor he kept talking.

"I wanted you to find it.  I mean the board.  Not being invited into a house as a presence doesn't mean you don't exist for that time.  You are there, just not visible to anyone else.  It's torture, that's why I wanted you to set me free."

Confusion wrapped itself around your head, enveloping it and making you feel like you couldn't think any further unless this confusion was alleviated.

"Then why were you like that towards my great-aunt and her husband..." you were looking for the right word.

Unfair, nasty, unfriendly..?

"...Aggressive towards?" Chrollo finished his sentence.

His black eyes stared down at you, making you feel smaller than usual.

Like you had absolutely no power in this moment.

"I was confused." He said, turning his gaze away from you and you immediately felt like you could breathe properly again.

"I knew I was dead, but I still didn't quite understand it.  I didn't want to admit it and at the time I could barely remember the night of my death.  I had thought that those strangers who were suddenly in my house might have had something to do with it.  And even if it hadn't been like that, I still wouldn't have liked to have them live here.  At the time I firmly believed that it was still my house, even though many years had passed.  I overestimated myself, so I want it to be different between us.  I want us to get along well so you don't try to exorcize me again."

He had turned to you again, this time with his whole body, but his gaze was different.

You thought you saw remorse in his eyes for what had happened back then.

But there was something else in his eyes, something you couldn't read and didn't even know was there.

You couldn't answer, nod, or shake your head, so you just smiled for a moment to let him know you understood.

However, you haven't quite figured it out yet.

If he seemed interested in befriending you, why the drawing in the notebook?

Then why the touch that night that you felt on your bare skin?

Then why Abir telling you that she suspected Chrollo felt love for you?

Then why had he recently 'annoyed' you by hiding your things if he wanted to be friends with you?

That he wanted Abir gone sounded understandable, and that he was so expansive towards your great-aunt didn't seem illogical after what he had explained to you earlier.

You would have reacted the same way if you were in his situation.

You gathered all your courage.

"Then why the drawing in the book and the situation at night?" you asked, you spoke quickly and you almost overdid yourself in your words.

Chrollo seemed to need a moment to really understand what you had just rattled off at him.

"Sometimes the living and the dead spill over.  It's like a dream sometimes and it feels like I'm back in the past which is happening for the first time right now.  I thought you were someone else. Iheld you for a lost love.  I'm sorry."

Chrollo suddenly seemed sad when he told you about his former love and you could only mumble a low 'It's okay' not knowing what else to say.

You couldn't think of any more questions at the moment but even if you had some you wouldn't have had the time to ask them because Chrollo suddenly stood up.

"You should go to bed, it's your first day at work tomorrow, isn't it?" he said and you nodded.

Chrollo turned to go.

"Oh Chrollo.." he stopped but didn't turn to face you.

"Thanks." You said and Chrollo let out a questioning loud.

"For that you caught me in the basement when I almost fell down the stairs, I don't think I would have gotten away with it that easily if you hadn't caught me."

"I wouldn't have liked to see you die." He said, smiling at you one last time.

"The role of being a ghost is mine after all, you should live." With that he turned his head straight again and only in the blink of an eye he was gone.

You didn't stay long in the living room until you followed Chrollo's advice and went to sleep.