Hanako went upstairs to the rooftop as [Name] trailed behind him, she was holding a bunch of mokkes in her arms. [Name] was tasked to change the rumors for the pink bunnies. "Um Hanako-san, is this what you're going to tell me about finishing earlier?" She asked once she realized that this might be the reason as to why Hanako is telling her to finish cleaning.

"I originally planned to wait a little longer." Hanako replied.

"Then why rush me to finish cleaning the bathroom?" [Name] raised an eyebrow at Hanako. He didn't answer her question so she just deadpanned at the apparition. "Does that mean I graduated from cleaning bathrooms?" [Name] hopefully asked him.

"Not a chance." Hanako smiled.

"Damn it."

Hanako glanced at her with a confused expression. "Do you hate it that much? What's wrong with cleaning bathrooms anyway?" He asked with a chuckle. [Name]'s mouth was hung open in disbelief, bet he was a bathroom cleaner before Hanako died and that's how became Hanako-san of the bathroom.

"I mean, I feel like a Cinderella." [Name] replied while sighing loudly.

"Well, if you're Cinderella, then I can be your Prince Charming~" Hanako winked at [Name], clearly hinting that he's flirting with her. [Name] blushed slightly at the remark but scoffed afterwards, crossing her arms and looking away from him.

"If you're claiming yourself to be one, why the hell are you making me clean bathrooms, huh?" [Name] retorted, pointing an accusing finger at the ghost boy as he opened the door to the rooftop. "You're more of a step-mother to me." She boredly said. [Name] tried to slide her hands down to her skirt to tuck them in her pockets—then she remembered that she didn't have pockets so she muttered a curse word.

"That's too bad." Hanako smiled softly at [Name], he walked towards the railings of the rooftop, folding his arms on top of the handrails while looking up to the blue sky as the white clouds slowly moving when each second had passed. The wind blew through Hanako, making his bangs sway to the side. "I look forward to it, doing something together after school, having long talks, kinda like having a friend."

"It's kinda nostalgic you know."

And [Name] realized how lonely he was for the past decades, wishing for a companion to fill in his loneliness. [Name] crossed her arms as she leaned against the pillar. "Say Hanako-kun, if you want to have long talks with someone or having a friend in particular—I'm here~" [Name] grasped the back of his clothes catching his attention. His eyes widened and looked at the girl behind him, smiling brightly.

"Honestly, a person who had been ghosted is friends with a ghost doesn't make any sense, and I realized that maybe that a ghost is much better. We may be different but I guess we have some similarities at some part." [Name] shrugged her shoulders while leaning against the railings. Their souls may be married to one another, but it's only in the supernatural part and it doesn't affect the physical world—basically the other term for that is soulmates.

Besides, some friends can act like a married couple—like a platonic marriage at some sort. [Name] grinned at Hanako. "I'll call you Hanako-kun from now on, that would make us more like friends right? Though it would feel weird because of the married souls thingy—"

Hanako's lips curled up into a smile. "Don't mind that, its just soulmates so you wouldn't feel creeped out, plus a soulmate can be your friend, your lover, a family member, a person whom you have a connection with, it's just our souls not at each other physically. But I do want to be friends with you, [Name]." He suddenly pulled her into a hug for a few seconds, then realizing that he may have escalated things quickly, so he moved away with a blush on his face. "Ah sorry—!" He apologized. "It's been a long while since I've hugged someone."

[Name] shivered at the sudden coldness that she felt recently when Hanako quickly hugs her out of nowhere. Though she doesn't mind, usually she would feel awkward when someone hugged her yet how come she's okay with Hanako hugging her. [Name] lacked physical affection for most of her life, her ex Souho never lasted when they held hands, which she doesn't mind.

Nothing went further than that. The reason why [Name] kept saying that she isn't used to be affectionate is that she rarely does. Must be nice to be held in someone's arms, being buried in each others arms or having long hugs. "What kind of hugs do you usually like?" [Name] questions.

"A long hug." Hanako spreads his arms, then he closed them when he suddenly felt shy for hugging [Name] since she didn't have the chance to hug back. "I mean, it's okay if you don't wanna—"

[Name] sneaked her arms around his torso, placing her chin on top of his shoulder as Hanako stood there in shock, he slowly locked his arms around her shoulders and carefully hugs her. Hanako buried his head on the crook of her neck to seek warmth from [Name], she felt like the morning sun during the spring. Not to mention, she's like that teddy bear that he used to hug on when he was a little kid.

"Am I squeezing too hard?" Hanako asked while trying to tighten the hug.

"Not at all." [Name] assured.

"Good..." Hanako lets out a satisfying sigh.

"Do you like being coddled...?"

Hanako harrumphed, his cheeks and ears turned red as he dug his face against the crook of her neck to hide his blushing face. "I'm not—" [Name] snickered with a smug on her face. It's understandable since it's been a while since Hanako had ever hugged anyone even after his death. "I...look just stay here..."

"I gotta create a new rumor—wait dude, you're hugging too tight!" [Name] felt like Hanako's arms are a corset that squeezed out her organs. She patted his back to loosen up because she feels like her life is being squeezed. Hanako smiled apologetically while rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"Well, I'm very strong." Hanako pursed his lips while lifting his arm as if he was flexing his muscles but [Name] couldn't see shit—maybe ghosts have strength to carry things? [Name] giggled at his optimism, it didn't take long till Hanako chuckled as well."Have you already thought about what you're going to say?"

"I exerted a hundred percent of my braincells for this so pretty much I know what I'm gonna do."

A newfound friendship between a ghost and the ghosted, it may sound weird at first, but the two of them will become the greatest pair ever.

➽───────────────❥

[Name] spotted two girls who were talking about their lost things. [Name] was never the type to socialize with people considering her friend group is limited in her class and the Astronomy Club—well, maybe Yokoo is considered as her friend due to their tutoring sessions after school. If it's for the mokkes then she would try at least.

"Hi..." [Name] held out a handful of candies to the two girls. 'This looks like a reverse trick or treat type of shit, not gonna lie.'

"Candy?" One of the girls questioned while eyeing the candy like npcs.

"They said you should carry them around when you're suffering from Yousei-san, if you do that you won't be killed, you'll stop losing things and even the things that you lost will be brought back to you." [Name] explained, the two girls looked at each other in astonishment, believing her easily which made her internally chuckle.

"Wow!" The girls say in awe.

'Are they that gullible—'

"That's all, spread the word to everyone and this is where I leave." [Name] raised her hands to turn around, bidding farewell to the girls since she needed to go to Yashiro to bring back her brooch. [Name] bumped into someone for not looking at her surroundings. "Oomf—"

"A-Ah! I'm sorry!"

[Name] bowed in apology, she regained her senses to see the person she bumped into ran away from her. He was holding an umbrella and seemed to be standing on top of the stairs. She shrugged and went to the gardens to see Yashiro. "Jeez, that guy should have been more careful, if it's the ghost, I'd probably pushed him off the stairs for reals."

"Babe!" [Name] called Yashiro who was digging some dirt using a shovel. "I found your brooch!"

Yashiro dropped her shovel and ran towards [Name] to get her brooch back. "Oh my gosh! [Name]-chan, you're so kind, I can't believe you found it." Yashiro repeatedly thanked [Name] with tears in her eyes, then putting the brooch on her uniform back once again. "Where did you find it?"

"I'll explain everything to you tomorrow, I have to go back home—I'm kind of tired of cleaning bathrooms." [Name] sighed, whispering the last part to herself. Hanako can be bossy sometimes and that's why sometimes she takes too long. 'I don't get paid enough for this.'

[Name] decided to go to the town to take a little stroll for herself, she went to a nearby vending machine to get a can of banana milk. She opened a can and quickly took a sip. [Name] suddenly stopped walking when she saw the park with the swings and so unwanted memories start to flow in.

"I'll make sure that we'll become official, and I do hope you don't mind waiting for me."

A half-assed promise.

"I don't mind waiting, don't worry."

And a hopeful response.

[Name] and Souho used to go by the swings after school back when they were still dating unofficially. They would talk about various stuffs on what comes to mind. Maybe they're better off as friends and that feelings ruined their friendship by Souho ghosting her afterwards. [Name] tossed the can to the nearby trash once it was empty.

"I promise."

A lie.

"Liar." [Name] muttered before continuing her way back to her house.

➽───────────────❥

anyways late trigger warning, this would include mentions of self harm, attempted suicide, just an advance warning-