After the ominous thing I had just witnessed, I returned to the room where Ophelia's party operated.
"You're late! Where were you? Suddenly running off like that, I almost sulked you know!" Ophelia dramatically said.
"Ophelia, do you believe in ghosts?" I asked.
"Ghosts? Of course not, they're not real." She replied, albeit confused at my out-of-the-box question.
"Right? There's no way they're real... Hahaha yeah... There's no way... I was just hallucinating hahaha..." I pinched my glabella.
"Are you okay Ayaka...?" She asked, weirded out at my strange utterings.
"Y-Yeah, I'm okay..."
Whatever. I'll just forget about it. I'm sure it was nothing, and it was all just a hallucination.
"Alright then if you're fine, can you go out and list down the prices for the stuff listed here? Thanks." She said while handing me a note.
"Let me see," I said as I skimmed through the note. She wanted me to list down the prices of multiple packs of candies and the materials for the sashes we're going to make.
"Aren't sashes a little bit too overkill? We're not even officially student council yet, just candidates." I commented.
"My dear Ayaka, it is not overkill. The sashes will show our dedication, our passion... And our fashion!" She declared proudly.
I face palmed, "And the other candidates agreed?"
"That's right!" She smiled.
"Ugh, stupid idiots..." I whispered to myself. "I'll go ahead and check things out then. If anything comes up just contact me."
"Mhm. Thanks!" She replied.
I left the room and then made my way to the store. While walking down the hall, a green glowing shadow figure with a kid form was visible from the corner of my eye.
I'm hallucinating... I'm hallucinating... Just a hallucination... As long as I ignore whatever it is, it'll disappear.
I tried my best to ignore it, but the palms of my hands wouldn't stop sweating, And the strands of hair on my body stood up with no stop like students getting punished by standing at the field, scorched by the hot, blazing sun.
From the entire walk to the store, the whole time I listed out the prices, and on the way back, that green glowing shadow figure kept on following me. At one point it was even directly on my face, as if it was testing me to see if I could see it.
"I'm back... Ophelia..." I said, finally returning with the list of prices.
"Good work...!" Ophelia's eyes widened, "Gosh, are you okay? You look so drained..."
"I'm fine..." I was not fine. "Here, the prices for the things you wanted." I hand her the note.
"Thank you." She takes the note, "But are you really okay? If you can't even run an errand will you be fine becoming the secretary?"
"Tch." It wasn't even the errand part that was hard, "Whatever. I'm not running an errand again, at least not today."
At least not until those damn creatures are gone.
"Hm. Okay then, you should go and create your speech; since you suck at public speaking, you'll probably need the most preparation time, hahaha." She said.
"Shut up. I know, okay?"
The day went by with me preparing my speech to try and distract myself from the things that I witnessed today.
The bell rang signalling at the end of school.
"Good work everyone! Let's continue this again tomorrow. Be sure to bring money for the contribution!" Ophelia announced to the members.
"See ya future prez!"
"Bye, guys!"
"I'mma dip!"
The others said their goodbyes before leaving while I remained seated at a table. I don't wanna go back yet, what if a dozen of them are waiting right outside...?
"You're not going yet?" Ophelia asked.
"Not yet..." I responded, "Hey... Ghosts are not real right?" I asked, my voice giving away my anxiousness.
"You asked me that strange question this afternoon, too. Did you see one or something?" She tilted her head.
I flinched at her question. She got it right on the mark.
"You did, huh..." Ophelia noticed my reaction.
"Yeah..." I confessed, "It was this afternoon at the rooftop, there were these... black things with the figure of a kid with a green glow around their bodies... It was chilling; there were dozens of them, and one of them kept following me around when I ran your stupid errand; I pretended not to be able to see it, but..."
I slumped on the table, my hands were trembling a little bit.
"I don't know what would happen if they find out I can see them." I continued. "And I don't want to find out."
"Pfft." Ophelia chuckled, "What are you a kid? There are no such things as ghosts! Hahaha!"
She laughed at me...
"Why did I even tell you?"
"Hahaha! This is hilarious! You're like a kid in elementary school telling others about how you witnessed a ghost! It's so silly; you're scared about what would happen if your hallucinations found out you could see them. Hilarious! Listen ghosts are stupid, silly, and they don't exist! They're fiction made to scare children to bed! Hahahaha!" She couldn't stop laughing.
That is until the door suddenly opened with a thud, and slammed against the wall with another thud.
"Oi... Get off me." I said to the girl who stopped laughing and was clinging to me. "What happened to 'Ghosts don't exist' huh?"
"I believe you! I believe you!" She screamed. I tried to peel away her arms "Ahh! Don't peel away my arms, please! I'm sorry! Don't leave me!" She pleaded as she clung to me tightly.
"It's hard to move, please Ophelia! I can't move when you're clinging so tightly to me!"
"I'm sorry Mister and Miss Ghosts! I believe now so please don't kill me!" She shouted towards the hall, her voice echoing loudly.
"It's fine now, geez; I don't see them anymore, so calm down and let me go!" I declared. It was true, they weren't anywhere near the room anymore. They probably heard Ophelia call them stupid and none existent so they decided to give her a little scare. Thank goodness that's all they decided to do though.
After Ophelia finally calmed down, we grabbed our things and went to the school gate, she didn't stop clinging to my arm until her butler arrived.
"I still can't get used to a limousine picking you up every day," I told her.
"Well, you should be used to it by now; it's been years since you saw this!" She said while getting in the shiny limousine.
"Damn, rich kid. Take care on your way home." I waved my hand goodbye.
"Bye!~" She waves goodbye back.
"Oh, and good luck going to the toilet at night."
"Screw you, Ayaka!" She closed the door. The window from the driver seat opened. "Are you sure you don't wanna hitch a ride, Miss Aikawa?" An old man, which is her butler with the name Wesley asked.
"Thank you for the offer, but I'll be fine; my house is nearby, and I have to pick up my little sister from school," I replied.
"Very well then. Take care." Then the window closed and the Limousine drove off.
Ophelia came from a rich family, so it was fairly normal for her to have someone to pick her up, in a limousine, no less. I recalled the time when I went to her mansion; I could never forget the dozens of maids and butlers they had and the beautiful, rich interior of the place. It felt like being a peasant visiting a noble's home.
I went to Mayuri's school to pick her up. But to my confusion, she wasn't anywhere near their school's gate. I promptly went to her classroom to check if she was there.
"Hello ma'am, is Mayuri not here?"
"Mayuri? No, she's not here didn't she go home?" Her teacher replied.
This is weird, something definitely happened. I promptly checked my phone, but there weren't any chats from Mayuri. Where the hell is she?
"I see... Thanks." I replied.
But just when I was about to leave--
"Wait!" Someone called out to me. "Are you Mayuri's older sister?"
I turned to the voice; it was from a male student seemingly the same age as Mayuri. Could he be a friend of Mayuri? It's strange, though; there was a hint of guilt in his eyes, and his tone of voice hinted at anxiousness, too... Why is that? Who is he?
"I am, do you know where she is?" It doesn't matter much who he is and what his relationship is with Mayuri right now. I need to find Mayuri as quickly as possible. I have a bad feeling about this.
"I..." The boy averted his gaze, "I saw her in the park..."
"I see, thank you."
"No... I'm sorry..." The boy seemed to have said something, but I didn't hear it as I hurriedly dashed out of the school.
It was worrying. Mayuri not waiting for me at the school gate and not chatting with me about her whereabouts, that same shy and meek girl being so bold now? It was strange. And it was enough to tell me that something happened.
I arrived at the nearby park; there sat Mayuri on a bench, sobbing, hugging her knees, and hiding her face. She was very disheveled, you would think she had gotten into a car crash or something of the sort.
"Hey..." I sat beside her, "What happened?"
"N-Nothing..." She said her voice muffled and hoarse, presumably from crying too much.
"Come on, we're family. You can share whatever pain you are feeling right now with me, at least." I said patting her back.
"Shut up, just go away... Leave me alone..." She said.
"You're so disheveled you're like an insane homeless woman wearing a uniform, you know that right?"
"Haha, and you're helping a lot... Thank you." She retorted sarcastically.
I chuckled, it should be pretty obvious why Mayuri is crying. Our conversation this morning and the boy's weird actions from earlier, everything connects.
"You got rejected by your crush, huh." I bluntly said.
Mayuri flinched then chuckled, "Haha... Is it that obvious that... even you could figure it out?"
"No. I would normally think you got bullied again, with your meekness and since you're such a pushover."
"Just... great, you really are cheering me up... a lot..." Mayuri said sarcastically, her voice still hoarse, and her sobs not stopping.
"Tell me, Mayuri. How did you fall for that guy?" I asked her.
Mayuri didn't respond right away but I waited. At this moment, she needed to let everything out; all those bottled-up feelings needed to finally be let go.
Still, love sure is tough, huh? I've never fallen in love before so it's not like I deeply understand Mayuri's situation. Maybe Ophelia would be better seated here to comfort Mayuri than me.
That's a coward's thought.
I'm her older sister; she wouldn't open up to anyone else at this particular moment; I'm sure all she needs is a shoulder to lean on and someone who would lend a genuine ear. I can do that, no problem. If it meant waiting here until midnight just so she could open up, I would do that just to help her.
It's been hard on Mayuri, too, huh?
I've coped well, but perhaps the same couldn't be said for Mayuri. Maybe she had developed some abandonment issues because of our parents. It's not like they abandoned us but, well. With them not having come home once in the past years...
When someone does not receive enough love from their parents, they tend to seek that love from someone else.
...
In a way perhaps I was partly at fault. Perhaps I did not love Mayuri enough, and that's why she sought that love from someone outside the family instead.
I don't know. I really don't know. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Well, either way, I need to become a better older sister for Mayuri.
"It was back then..." Mayuri, after a long while finally spoke up, voice still hoarse. The sun had already finished setting, but finally, she spoke up.
"The first day of class," She continued in her story, "I almost got bullied again, but it was because he stood up for me that nothing bad happened. He was just being kind; I knew that was all, but..."
"But?" I asked, Mayuri took a second as if recounting her memories before speaking again.
"The more I went to school, the more I thought about him, and the more my heart would beat fast at the very thought of him."
Mayuri stopped hiding her face; her eyes were swollen from all the crying, but there was a smile on her face.
It wasn't a happy smile, it was a sad smile.
"Ah, that felt good," Mayuri said. "Thank you for keeping me company." She smiled at me. A forced one to be exact.
"You don't have to thank me; we only have each other right now after all... I'd appreciate it if you could be more open with me, understand?" I cupped her face with my hands.
"I understand..." Mayuri said.
"Well, will you be fine now?" I let go of Mayuri "Can you move on?"
"Mhm, I'm fine now, I think I can move on." Mayuri smiled at me.
The eyes of a liar.
"Liar." I blurted out.
"I-I'll try my best to... move on..." Mayuri said, averting her gaze.
Well, if she's doing her best, then I suppose there could be nothing better than that. I just have to support her as her older sister so her broken heart can heal.
"Hey, sis..."
Mayuri called out, however, she was hiding her face again.
"Do you think if I... confessed again, and again... and again, do you think that one day he'll finally reciprocate my feelings?"
"..." I couldn't understand the thought behind the question. It was an ideal way of thinking, It was unrealistic, impractical, and a naive way of thinking.
"Of course not, huh? hahaha..." Mayuri laughed at herself, "That was a stupid thought sorry."
"No, it's fine. It can't be helped after all." I replied.
"Mhm." Mayuri just hummed as a reply.
I waited for Mayuri to recollect herself. She was spaced out and was still emotionally vulnerable.
"Ah..." Tears dripped down on Mayuri's cheeks again, "Haha... I said I'd move on, but here I am crying again... Hahaha..." She said while wiping her tears. "It just won't stop..."
I pulled her into a hug, "There there, it's okay... You can cry all you want. Just let it all out."
Mayuri cried into my chest, her tears damping my clothes
"It must've hurt a lot, and it must've been disappointing. It probably made you feel insecure, but Mayuri--" I said. "--Please take this experience with you to grow up and become stronger," I said, wiping her tears.
"Mhm, I will." Mayuri nodded. Then she buried her face on me again, more tears were coming out.
Mayuri finished crying after thirty minutes.
"We should go home, it's nearing eight soon," I said.
"Y-Yes, right... I'm sorry..." She replied
"Don't worry about it," I said. "What do you want for dinner?"
Mayuri seemed to think for a second, "Hmm... I think I want some Karaage."
"Alright then," I said standing up. "We have to go to the grocery store along the way home then."
. . .
That night, I cooked Karaage for dinner. Mayuri seemed to cheer up after eating good food, so I think she'll be fine. Now, I lay to rest on my bed.
"It was a long day..." I uttered.
First, Ophelia ran for president, then I ran for secretary, afterwards that annoying guy, along with those weird ghosts, and then Mayuri getting rejected. This was one heck of a day, all I want to do now is just close my eyes and let the darkness take me.
I relaxed my body and let myself drift away to sleep. I'm not sure what will happen tomorrow, but whatever the problem tomorrow is, will be up to tomorrow's me.