Bring him back

chapter 16

Sorry for the delay everyone, it's just that now that school has started, it's hard to juggle between studies and two different stories on wattpad, so...

Bear with me guys, updates are probably gonna be infrequent and it may take up to some weeks, because unlike probably most of you, I have to go to literal school, so basically no more online school, so...

Yeah, that's a bummer, but no more talking, you guys are here for the story, enjoy!

~'0'~

Ohh, I'm sorry for blaming you.

For everything I just couldn't do.

And I've hurt myself, ohh.

If had just one more day.

I would tell you how much that I've missed you since you've been away.

Ooh, it's dangerous~

It's so out of line

To try and turn back time~

Aki slowly looked up to the 'illusionary' Tenma and she saw him frowning while singing the one song that real Tenma has ever sung in front of her

'Wha-?' At the sight of it, Aki began questioning if this was really an illusion. She has seen the brunet singing to her as an illusion multiple times before, but everytime he sang to her, even when she was down and scared of him, he always wore his signature wide smile on his face, so now, his current frown is throwing her off majorly

"Tenma...?"

The said ghost boy was still frowning but now he was also smiling sadly at the woman, an expression she has never seen when it comes to her illusions.

Aki began feeling tears streaming down her cheeks as she leaned ahead to cup the ghost boy's right cheek with her hand, and right as she touched it, she felt a rush of warmth and welcoming through her veins, all the way to her heart

'It feels... Real...'

Without a second thought, she lunged at the ghost boy, sobbing on his shoulder with her tears falling right through it. Tenma hugged her back with sorrow and bitterness lingering inside him

"I'm sorry... I'm- sorry..." Her apologies were broken due to her sobbings which in turns, it broke Tenma's ghost heart even more so than before

"Shhhhh, it's ok... I don't blame you anymore..."

And it is true, currently he doesn't blame her one bit, instead, he blames himself for causing the woman's tears. At first he didn't give that much importance wether anyone would cry from his death, but now, he feels terribly guilty

'Was it a good idea? Is it worth the pain and guilt?'

The ghost boy began questioning about his decision, though he still isn't fully converted to regret it entirely.

The others that were waiting as patiently as possible outside were getting quite frazzled, from the incredulous screeches of the woman to her loud and heart wrenching sobbings, it's hard to keep a composed manner after hearing all of those sounds coming from one person.

At one point, they even had the urge to barge in and see for themselves just what in the world is going inside that mannor, but then, after reconsidering the added pressure they could possibly bring to her, they decided to stay outside and wait for Tenma to come out, though it was easier said than done.

After some time, they saw the ghost boy floating through the door, they ran up to him and Shindou goes ahead and asks the question that's been lingering inside their minds for what seemed like an eternity

"HOW'S AKI-SAN!?"

Tenma isn't shocked nor taken back by the sudden question, he already predicted that they would hear all the loud noises coming from Aki, so he isn't surprised that they're pretty much worried to death

"She's fine now." Answered the ghost boy with a faint smile. A huge wave of relief crashed over the three mortals and they couldn't be happier after hearing those words

"By the way Tenma, what exactly happened in there?" Asked the live first year of the group

"Umm, you don't want to know." Tenma didn't feel all that comfortable at the thought of telling them about Aki's meltdown right when she saw him, and the fact that he had to calm her down by singing just seemed a little too surreal, so he decided to simply not tell them. As for Hikaru himself, he decided to leave it as it is, since he didn't want to force anything bad out of the ghost boy's mouth, especially at a crucial time like this.

Not even a minute later, the front door slowly opened, revealing a very pale and tired looking Aki

"Hi, minna-san..."

It wasn't all that comfortable for Aki to greet anyone, she barely even had any strength to stand on her two legs, so she was violently shaking like a leaf in a storm, but in the end, they all went inside and sat down on the couch.

~'0'~

Once inside and once the ice had broken, Aki began asking questions about ghost Tenma and obviously, they told her every single little detail, from the aliens arrival to where they are now

"Tenma, please come back..." Begged the woman "I know I can't change the past, but please Tenma, life has been miserable ever since you left..." And with that being said, tears began streaming down her eyes once again.

Tenma began feeling even guiltier than before, but he still isn't completely concealed from the scars of the past. As much as he wants to forgive and forget, there's just this voice in the back of his mind that's constantly saying

"Never forgive, never forget, never forgive, never forget..."

Again and again and again, almost as if it's playing on repeat, and due to this mysterious voice, he can't forget nor forgive entirely

'Why me...'

He has done a lot of decisions before, from accepting his place as his ex-captain's substitute to being the actual captain of the team, tough choices are no stranger to him after all the trials he has faced, but a choice that's basically between life or death is something new to him, a new kind of choice that he doesn't like one bit, in fact, he hates it to the bone.