Bring him back

chapter 17

They ended up staying there until the sun was about to go down, and unlike Yuuichi, Aki was completely fine with letting Tenma go, probably because she's already massively relieved now that she has had the chance to apologize to the once earthling.

They all went on the same paths while going back home and Shindou and Kirino couldn't help but admire the ghost boy's current look. Sure, he still has a few dark marks but he also looked incredibly stunning, specifically because of his semi-transparent body's ability to reflect the crimson orange sky - almost as if he's a mirror -, which in turns, it left the two seniors mesmerized.

After a couple more minutes, they arrived in front of Hikaru's house, meaning that they now had to part their ways, so after they said their goodbyes to eachother, the seniors walked back together, with a slight of glare against eachother, which doesn't go unnoticed by the first years

'Huh?' Tenma was confused to the core, he didn't know if his eyes were playing tricks on him or what just happened, either way, he didn't believe that the two bestfriends would glare at eachother like that

'Oh boy...' However, unlike the ghost boy, Hikaru wasn't confused at all. After all the love events he has seen that have been directing right towards Tenma, this has pretty much become a common sight for him 'Add that to the list. Kirino-senpai and Shindou-senpai, new possibilities for Tenma's future boyfriend.'

~'0'~

Once Tenma and Hikaru have gotten inside the house, the purple headed forward went upstairs to change into comfier clothes while the ghost boy remained downstairs, trying to sort his thoughts out

'Aki-nee really wants me to come back, but... Should I...?' Tenma's mind and heart were very conflicted. He feels selfish to want to stay the way he is right now forever, but at the same time, he's scared to come back. However, instead of focusing on his thoughts about his feelings, he focuses more on the feelings themselves, in particular, his guilt and pain 'Is it worth it...?'

He has already thought about this back at the mannor, but even so, he didn't settle down on a firm conclusion. And right now, he's feeling both guilt and pain majorly, and moreover, he's trying to compare in which state his feelings are the most painful, his human form or his ghost form

'As human, I've suffered physical and mental pain, and now as a ghost, the pain is hurting my heart... What do I do...?'

He feels like his entire brain is melting and burning at the same time, almost as if smoke is going to rise out of his head, and he really did hope that would be the case, because then he might be able to get some relief from his brain's workout, but sadly, that wasn't the case.

After a while, Hikaru came down and sat beside Tenma, he turned on the TV and after a while of struggling to find a show to keep him entertained, he brought up a question that he's been debating whether to even think about in the first place

"Nee, Tenma..."

"Yes?"

"Will-you come back...?" Hikaru's voice was lightly shaking at the pronunciation of each of those words, but either way, he managed to squeeze them out eventually.

Tenma was conflicted. When Hikaru came down after he changed his clothes, he decided to just leave the matter aside temporarily, but now that the other has boldly brought up the said topic, there's no good way out of it.

But, instead of trying to wiggle or talk his way out of it like he would've done in the past, he whispered a word, loud enough for Hikaru to hear

"Maybe..."

The forward's eyes immediately sparkled up right as he heard that and Tenma couldn't help but be amused at the sight of it

'Relatable...' The forward's current glimmer reminded the ghost boy of his once mortal self and without him even knowing, his ghost lips had curled up into a soft smile.

~'0'~

The next day, both the first year forward and the ghost boy were woken up by the sound of the alarm clock, and they certainly knew what this meant, one word, school - a.k.a hell -.

The ghost boy went downstairs while Hikaru was preparing himself to go out, and while the forward was in his room getting dressed and ready, the ghost boy was floating downstairs, all over the place.

For whatever reason, Tenma felt his heart light as a feather and his mind way more relaxed than it had ever been, and as he was floating left and right, he noticed something that he isn't sure when it even happened

'My scars!' The black scars that once crawled all over his skin are now gone, nowhere to be seen, not even a shadow or trace of them were left 'Did anyone else notice this?'

The ghost boy began asking himself if anyone had noticed this, apart from Yuuichi, who mentioned his scars when they were already incredibly light in colouration.

A little bit later, the forward came down, all dressed and ready

"Hi, Tenma." Chirped the first year to the ghost boy

"H-hi." Greeted the ghost boy back and after that, the forward sat down and began to eat his already made breakfast by his mom while the ghost boy was left staring at him incredulously

'Welp, one thing's for sure, he did not notice the change at all.'

~'0'~

Alright, short chapter again, but, I'm preserving the next part for the next chapter.

I'm not gonna give out any spoilers, but I am gonna say one thing, some of you have probably been anticipating for what happens in the next chapter.

I'm not saying all of you, but I do think that some of you - or most of you - have been waiting for this particular event to happen.