"rika-chan, this might hurt okay?" yashiro said as hanako held rika's close to him. "its okay. i've got her." he said. "hana... do you think you could put me to sleep?" rika asked.
hanako hesitated. "a...are you sure rika?" he asked, his amber eyes showing worry. "it'll be fine! like getting wisdom teeth pulled out!" rika said with a smile.
riku frowned lightly as he held one of rika's hands. they were currently in the innermost part of riku's boundary, preparing to take the seal off of rika as she is riku's yorishiro.
"what if you disappear?" the boy hallway ghost asked. "don't think like that. look, you're holding my hand right? just don't let go. i'll stay with you. i promise." rika said with a smile.
the girl hallway ghost glanced at hanako. "hana." she said softly, making hanako flinch. he gripped rika's other hand and gently pressed two fingers to rika's forehead, making her fall asleep.
yashiro glanced at the two ghost boys with a knowing look. kou was put an arm around riku's shoulder to comfort him. yashiro had taken the seal off of rika's cheek and riku's boundary broke.
white light filled yashiro's vision as she prepared to see riku's precious memory of his twin sister.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
a boy excitedly ran up to his sister, holding music sheets in his hands. "ran-nee! ran-nee! i found something we can play together!" he said, jumping up and down in front of his sister.
"what did you find ren?" ran asked, holding out her hands for the music sheets. "hare tajitsu ni... hmm... let's try it!" the older twin says, and ren beams as he goes to get his violin.
ran goes into the main room where a piano is and sits down, patiently waiting for her younger-by-five-minutes brother. the twin boy smiled and held up his violin while ran lifted the piano cover off the keys.
ran placed the music sheets on the stand that the piano had and told ren to stand behind her so he would be able to read the notes at the same time to play their duet.
"you start first, little brother." ran said with a soft smile. "i'm only younger than you by five minutes." ren said with a playful pout as he brought his violin and bow up.
(you can play the song n vibe here if you'd like)
there were a few mistakes here and there, but the twins had managed to play the full song. they would mess up and laugh with each other as they pointed out their mistakes.
ren smiled and hugged his twin sister. "you know ran-nee," he started, catching ran's attention. "i love you so much." he finished with a big grin. this caused ran to crack her own grin.
"i love you too, little brother." ran said gently pinching her twin brother's right cheek. "we should learn how to play this properly so we can show mom and dad." the girl suggested.
"oh! you're right! maybe they might praise us!" ren said, his yellow-orange eyes shining brightly. "mom might make taiyaki if we play the song perfectly~" at the mention of taiyaki, ren became determined.
"i'm gonna practice every single day!" he said, holding up his violin and bow. "then i'll ask if she can make takoyaki too! your favorite!" ran's matching yellow-orange eyes widened.
she smiled softly and turned to the piano. "then i guess i'll have to practice every day too." she said, her smile suddenly becoming a wide grin.
"ran-nee... i'll love you forever."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
yashiro woke up in kou's arms. they were still in riku's boundary, although it was outside the innermost part of it. "kou-kun! how's rika-chan?!" yashiro asked the blonde boy.
"she's still sleeping. hanako and riku are waiting for her to wake up." he said, motioning over to the two ghost boys holding rika's slightly transparent but sleeping figure.
kou helped yashiro up and they neared the three ghosts. "is rika-chan still asleep?" yashiro asked, making hanako and riku look up at her. "yeah. but since you're awake, she could be waking up soon." hanako said.
he and riku clutched rika's hands. "ran-nee... please wake up..." riku muttered. "nono-chan.. wake up~" hanako whispered into rika's ear. at that, the ghost girl slowly woke up.
her yellow-orange eye opened, sleep still laced in them. "oh.. yashiro.. you're okay." rika said and yawned, bringing a hand up to cover her mouth. "that's good." she said with a sleepy smile.
"mmm hana.. i'm tired." rika said, her head lulling into hanako's shoulder. her hand tiredly gripped riku's. "i told you i'd stay with you." rika said and riku smiled softly. "of course you did." he said.
riku helped his twin sister onto hanako's back. "i'll take rika-kun to her boundary and watch over her." the toilet ghost said and bid the three a goodbye before floating away.
"i didn't know it was possible to make someone a yorishiro!" kou said, his blue eyes wide with curiosity. riku smiled softly. "well it was a long process but rika-nee agreed to it." he said.
yashiro suddenly engulfed the boy hallway in a hug. "wah!" he said surprised but hugged the daikon girl back. "you must really love rika-chan." she said into the ghost's chest.
riku chuckled. "of course i do! she's been my best friend since we were born and we'd always have each other's backs." he said. "no matter what happens, we're always at beck and call."
"i don't think i'd survive a day without her, haha!" riku said with a laugh. kou gave a lopsided smile. "that's the same with my brother too." he said and riku patted yashiro and kou's heads.
"alright, you two better head home! i'm sure the 5:30 announcement will go off soon." riku said and gently pushed the two students so they could get home safely.
riku went into rika's boundary where he found hanako and rika both asleep. "jeez you two." riku muttered. he paused for a second before laying down next to rika.
"good night ran-nee." he said softly, drifting off tiredly, not noticing the smile rika had on her face.
