Against Time

The Summoning

There was a scream.

One that would raise all your hairs on end. One that was so shrill it could shatter windows. It was blood-curdling. It would involve more than ten giant exclamation marks. It will leave ears ringing.

In other words, it was certainly. Really. Very. Absolutely. Undeniably. Loud.

And incredibly high-pitched.

A very pitchy shriek at full volume within three seconds.

One could imagine what it was like to be near the source of it.

There were two bystanders who were in immediate range.

The boy laughed while clutching his stomach, "This one takes the prize!"

No, they weren't competing for the longest "Happy Birthday". It was just an ordinary day, with ordinary people who had ordinary lives. Keyword: had.

The girl was the closest person near the white-haired girl, the one who had screamed her lungs out. She was lucky to still have her ears in one piece but they were dying. She wasn't able to cover her ears in time. She could still hear the distant but somehow nearby ringing noises in her ears. The blue-nette had other things to do for the day and was clearly reluctant to have a change of plans. And she wasn't exactly happy about it.

One of her plans for today was to read in the library, on her secluded chair, in a quiet and peaceful corner away from the other students. She hated noise. The students were always mumbling, muttering, and murmuring about one thing or another. She couldn't have cared less about petty things like "trending outfits, hottest senior of the year" et cetera et cetera much less the latest juicy gossip.

This leads to another thing she hates: people. Don't get her wrong. Yukito didn't despise the entire human race. Nevertheless she didn't like people in general. With her quiet personality, and reading habits, she had a dislike for people- they were the main source of noise too.

Yukito grimaced, "Thank you for that wonderful performance."

"I-I-It's-" Her friend shakily pointed at the boy across the room, not noticing the agony she caused. She then wobbled and shivered as she took cover from behind the blue-nette. Even from behind she trembled and staggered and stuttered nonsense while gripping Yukito's shoulders. She was awfully terrified of the boy.

"Encore! Encore!" He was wearing a black school uniform with brass buttons, grey socks, and black shoes with a black hat that had a brass insignia just above the rim. Bright golden-brown amber eyes glinted from underneath his chopped-like black bangs as he grinned and taunted like a child. Nobody would think the boy was out of place unless they looked closer and paid attention to some minor details.

Like say, a white sticker on his left cheek that spelled out "seal" in black ink. Or the fact that he was floating a few inches off the tiled bathroom floor. Or maybe that he was a boy in a girls' bathroom. Take your pick.

"Wasn't there something you wanted to ask?" Yukito glanced back.

"But wait-wait-wait-wait-wait! This isn't right!" she took a brave step from behind Yukito, took her place beside her and pointed at th boy almost accusingly.

"Why aren't you a girl?!" she blurted out.

There was a long and thick silence. It was a blessed two to three minutes of peace.

"The will-o-wisps, the clear floating body... those came out fine..." she took a deep breath.

"BUT WHERE'S THE DRESS AND THE GIRLY HAIRSTYLE?! DID I DO THE SUMMONING RITUAL WRONG?! I-I admit I wasn't sure if I was supposed to knock two or three times in the last minute and was there supposed to be an interval between knocks? Was there? Nobody said there was but what if there was? I think I knocked too fast. Did I? Oh God, I made a huge mistake. I-I'M SORRY HANAKO-SAN! I THINK I MESSED UP YOUR GENDER!"

The mood shifted into an awkward setting. The only sounds that echoed in the girls' restroom was the soft ventilation from unseen grates and the distant chatter of students in the hallways.

The boy coughed, "...No need to be sorry. I'm really like this. A boy, I mean."

The white-haired girl slowly opened one eye. And then the other. And then she unclenched her fists. "R-really?" she stammered with the look of uncertainty and a pinch of guilt on her face.

I think it's time for me to be that one supportive friend, Yukito thought.

She patted her on the back.

Yukito wasn't really sure how to handle these kind of things. She did have only one friend afterall. Not much experience to lean on to there. She didn't have any siblings either. Fortunately, Yashiro appreciated the effort and shyly smiled.

The male ghost hovered closer, his shimmering luminous wisps following closely, "I guess you know who I am. I'm Hanako of the toilets. By successfully summoning me, I will be obliged to grant your wish for an equal price. The price depends if the said wish is easy or difficult to accomplish."

"The only thing misplaced in your rumors is my gender. But everything else is pretty accurate. So," he added, "I'm guessing you didn't come just to visit me."

By this time Yashiro had calmed down from her previous rant. She scratched her cheek with a finger and stepped closer to the ghost. Then she took a deep breath and gathered up all the courgae she could muster before she spoke.

"Hi there! My name is Nene Yashiro!" she held her hand high in the air, "This here is my friend Kono Yukito. And I want to make a wish."

"Hanako-san, I wish," Yashiro paused. "I wish, that my senpai would notice and love me back."

Yukito had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. Yashiro was a nice friend and all but she never understood what Yukito was trying to say. She was so...desparate for love. There are so many things going on with assignments, pop quizes, tests. And now people added dates and daily present giving for their senpais. It didn't seem rational to Yukito. School was honestly more than just a handful already.

They were both first-years and they had their differences. Yashiro was a huge die-hard fan for fairytale romances. She couldn't resist a handsome guy even for a milion cash money. Unlike her, bubbly, over-optimistic persona, Yukito was basically just a sarcastic bookie who simply didn't care about princes and lovey-dovey mushy stories. Really, she'd seen one too many pop idol posters in the school lockers- and they ask her why she keeps books (not the textbook kind) in hers!

And wow, was she surprised, when those annoying rumors were actually true! To think she only thought of them as an excuse for those big-mouthed fangirls to chatter like there was no tomorrow!

Yukito felt a slight nudge. Me and my thoughts again.

She continued, as if she hadn't been thinking to herself all this time, "Teru Minamoto is her senpai's name. Quite a person worth admiring, smart, kind, and fair in looks. Maybe you should show him his picture, Yashiro."

...

...

"Ah okie, so in other words, you want love," Hanako-san put a finger on his chin. He was probably thinking of some kind of spiritual solution.

A few days before, Yashiro opened up on her ideas of the charms Hanako-san would use. She had suggested a magical sphere that could put them under some sort of love spell. Maybe this, maybe that, I think it's this, I believe it's that; those ten minutes felt like two hours. Yukito, who wasn't a talkative person nor had the energy to continue listening to the conversation, put an end to Yashiro's non-stop babbles. She was just beginning to explain her "Flaming Arrows of True Love" and Yukito had enough.

As long as his charms won't put Yashiro or anyone else's life in danger nor will it rip the fabric of the universe or wreck nature, or something equally terrifiying and disturbing, Yukito didn't really care.

"Sooo, any magical handy-dandy charms you got there?" Yashiro asked curiously.

The ghost grinned, "I've got just the thing for you."