Before the Seven Mysteries (Amane x Reader) {Abandoned}

∙Fifteen∙

    "So, you need any help fine-tuning this world you have here?" Akari finally asked, sitting up straight once more. The girl shook her head, and Akari saw (Y/N)'s orb pass by her ear, warbling something to her that Akari couldn't understand.

    "I know what I want my world to be, so I don't need any help imagining it. I don't want this 'council' of mine to stay only a dream, so instead I need your help making it a reality." She stood and turned to her ghostly companion. She bowed respectfully with her hakujoudai floating obediently at her shoulder. "I reject this dream, this work of fiction, and I ask you to join me, Akari Kagashi. Help me keep the school and the people within it safe. Help me gather together the supernaturals I need to make this a reality. Help me reach my goal. Please, help me do good in this world, even in death."

    Akari was taken aback by her behavior, and was embarrassed at the respect she was receiving. She had heard the rumors of the ghost's mischievous habits, but this seemed so out of character from what she knew and what she had seen in the first few moments of their meeting. The happy demeanor and confidence were gone. The decision was entirely hers. Girl like her, actin' like this, all formal-like? This has gotta be rare, she thought. Suddenly she pictured the girl in an old, flowery kimono as a finishing touch and laughed uproariously. She stood up too, putting her hand on the girl's free shoulder.

    "Drop all that formal stuff, Hanako. There ain't no need for that. A 'please' would've done ya just fine." (Y/N) stood up again with a radiant smile on her face, and the hakujoudai flew around in the excitement. Akari chuckled at it.

    "Now wait just a second, before you two get too excited, I got one more thing I wanna hear." The celebrating spirit stopped and cocked her head at the Myth. 

    "Sure, just tell me what it is."

    "You said that one boy was your assistant. There's a few things I wanna know right from the horse's mouth, so to speak. Would ya mind if I had a chat with him?" (Y/N) chuckled and gestured off to the side, where her other hakujoudai had appeared surrounding a white mist.

    "Well I thought you'd never ask." She turned to address the mist. "Amane! Akari here wants to talk to you before she decides about joining us, you up for it?" The boy, with fresh bandages, walked out of the fog towards them. He was wearing a grin as well.

    "Of course!" He walked up to Akari to introduce himself. "My name is Amane Yugi, a third year in the middle school division."

    "Akari Kagashi. You can just call me Akari though." She looked over to (Y/N). "I'm gonna give us a little privacy, I hope you don't mind." Before there was any response, she pulled what looked like a handful of embers and ashes from the pocket on her apron and threw it over (Y/N). The entrapped spirit watched the embers web around like a frame, and the ash solidified until the girl was surrounded in a rather sizeable and well-lit soundproof box. She felt the walls, admiring how quickly they'd been created, before sitting back in the provided chair with a shrug. Might as well keep myself busy.

    Meanwhile on the outside, Amane was pressed against the box and panicking, trying to find a way in.

    "Hana-chan! Can you hear me? I'll find a way to get you out of there!"

    Akari was amused. "Kid, that box is soundproof, didn't ya see how thick it was?" She used the same technique to create a couple of chairs for them to sit and talk. "C'mon now, she'll be plenty entertained. She could even get out if she wanted, but clearly she's givin' me the benefit of the doubt; you ought to as well. You're the one I wanted to talk to anyways." She plopped back into the chair. Amane followed her lead and sat in the chair, but with caution.

    "So, how much of her whole speech did ya hear? I'll bet she was using that little ghost orb buddy to let you in on what was happening." The boy gritted his teeth, realizing how observant this spirit was.

    "I only got to see after you guys left the garden. Hana-chan was just sitting down when I finally got to see."

    Akari leaned forward with interest. "You got to see?" She used the distraction to mask her thoughts.

    So she didn't let him learn about her.

    The boy hummed his agreement. "Her hakujoudai can make screens or boards kinda, and they show what she wants them to show."

    "That's incredible. And the orbs are the hakujoudai?" Amane nodded. Akari shook her head. "That aside, I want you to know I'm pretty much already sold on her idea, to make a council and be on it, but I wanna see if she's legit. So to do that, I wanted to hear from you. You're the most unbiased one I got to go from. First thing's first, where'd you get the injuries from?"

    "It's like that's all anyone ever wants to know about me!" The boy was irked by the question, and he did little to hide it. Akari was surprised by the outburst, but let him continue. "They're not from her, if that's what you're asking. She actually fixes the knots all the time because she says Tsu-sensei doesn't tie them right. That way they don't come off so easily."

    "If they're not from her, who are they from?"

    "I'm just clumsy. I'm constantly tripping over everything at home, and I break my falls with my arms, just like anyone else would." He wouldn't meet her gaze, so the girl dropped it. She knew better than to push people.

    "So why'd you bond with her? You could've gone through middle and high school without being stuck to her, but now you're her assistant until you leave. Doesn't that suck?"

    "Well, she granted my wish, and this was my payment, so I kinda had to do it, but. . ." he had a light blush on his cheeks, which Akari found adorable, "She said it wouldn't have worked if I didn't want to, so I guess some part of me wanted to stay with her. She has so much passion, it made me want to help people too. I can't just stand by and do nothing when I could help, right? Besides, she looked really—" he cut himself off, quickly bringing his knees up to his face of molten rock, and hiding away. Akari did her best to stifle her laugh, managing to get it down to a cough.

    "Ahem, well that aside, has she ever seemed dangerous or like she wanted to hurt someone?" A few seconds later, the boy peeked his head back up, resting his chin on his knees with lidded eyes and an uncertain frown.

    "Once, but the one she wanted to hurt came after us first. She was Tiara Minamoto-senpai, but Hana-chan has started calling her Minamoto-scum. When they fought, Hana-chan took her off guard and would've choked her to death, but I stopped her. It seemed like there was some history between the Minamotos and her: nothing good. I got Hana-chan to try to reason with Minamoto-senpai, but," he paused, the memories of the other week weighing on his conscience. "Hana-chan was almost exorcised because of it. I almost had to watch her get sent to the far shore, but she lied to Minamoto-senpai, telling her that our bond connects our lives. So if one dies, we both die.

    "I believe her though, that it was all just a bluff so we both don't have to worry about her, but I can tell she doesn't think she can protect me, so it's like she's rushing to get this council done. She's been planning on making it for a while, and she told me about her plan to get you with us and showed me her notebook. There were so many pages of scribbles where she kept thinking things over and over." He met Akari's soft, ashen gaze, still hugging his legs to his chest.

    "She wants nothing but the best for the school and the people here. Please trust us, ok?"

A/N
I was too tired to proofread last night as soon as this was done, but I did it today and hopefully it's ok. As always, I enjoy your guys' feedback, so feel free to tell me what you think or to criticize/point out mistakes or make suggestions (because everyone can benefit in their craft with a little bit of criticism).

Also......... 2,054 reads?! Not to mention hitting 110 votes! That's absolutely ridiculous and astounding to me, and I'm so flattered that you all like my writing and my ideas so far. I hope I can keep impressing you all and be able to keep writing to your expectations. Thank you all!

I'll see you guys soon!