Sunset Ghost

A Strange Presence

サンセットゴースト
Sunset Ghost
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第9章
奇妙な存在
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"That'll be three-thousand yen." Kageyama held his hand out to receive the money that was placed in his palm before handing the customer—a glasses-wearing brunette that looked like she had the sanity of Jack Torrance—the occult book she'd purchased and waving her on her way, hoping she wasn't off to curse a playground full of children as he placed the money in the register.

The shop had been oddly busy all day, leaving Kageyama no time to study or do anything besides work duties. School had started up again too, so that left incomplete homework to do as well. He'd actually brought a textbook to study for his upcoming history exam, but so far, Kageyama had had no time to use it.

Overall, he was being worked to the bone.

Luckily, he had Hinata there with him as a sort of comic relief. His childish antics provided a constant source of amusement, as well as teasing him with whatever new nickname Kageyama could think of. So it wasn't so bad, really, though he would've enjoyed a day off once in a while. Madoka was such a slave-driver. Kageyama used to think that just volleyball practice was tough, but now he would give his left arm to go back to his old daily practices instead of having to run around fighting spirits and learning about a ton of different psychic terms.

So far, he'd made it through about a quarter of the books Yachi had given to him, although he'd spotted another stack waiting on the table of her apartment, so there was no hope of the memorization ending anytime soon, much to his horror. Kageyama supposed it wasn't all bad, though. He had learned a lot of interesting things: In fact, learning all these psychic terms was surprisingly almost as much fun as memorizing volleyball signals.

Actually, Kageyama had even discovered what type of ghost Hinata could be. He'd have to narrow the field down—a lot—and wait to learn more about both his past and spirit philosophy in general before actually being able to discern what type of spirit he was, but something was better than nothing.

Speaking of Hinata, the redhead was currently busy lounging on the ratty old couch in the backroom playing some sort of game with a ball of string, weaving it between his fingers and stretching it out to make shapes and patterns. Kageyama had a clear view of him from his spot at the front desk, but anyone else would've had to peer around a large stack of boxes to see him—if he wasn't a ghost, that is.

The shop had gotten a fresh shipment of occult books from someplace up in Tokyo, and the boxes had yet to be inventoried and put out for display. Yachi had said she'd take care of it the previous day, but the stack still remained untouched, creating a barrier between the back room and the front of the shop. Every time Kageyama needed something, he had to squeeze around them or vault over the top. He was (for once) jealous of Hinata's ability to phase through solid surfaces, as it would've been much easier than the daily feat of acrobatics he had to perform.

He'd have to remind Yachi to take care of it when she got back. She and her mother had gone out a few hours prior to take care of some 'family business,' leaving a wary Kageyama to guard the shop and watch after Hinata (though he really did that already anyway) until they got back. So far, the day had been relatively uneventful with few customers and a dull, boring atmosphere.

As another customer he'd just rung up exited the shop with a bag full of hex bags, Kageyama turned to Hinata and studied him for a moment before deciding to call out to him. "Oi, dumbass, what're you doing?" (Obviously, he knew already—he did have eyes after all—but Kageyama was dying of boredom, and if Hinata was the only source of entertainment, then so be it.)