"He is a danger supernatural. I'm going to exorcise him, right here and now." Teru said, his sword drawn and pointed at the three. Kou and (Y/n) had position themselves in front of the unconcious Hanako. He then smiled at Kou, eyes closed as he addressed his little brother sweetly. "So if you would get out of the way..."

He then turned to (Y/n), his glare back at full force. "Since you obviously tried to stop him, I'll let you live (L/n)...for now. Out of my way."

"N-no!"

"No way in hell Teru."

The two refused, (Y/n) glaring back while Kou looked at him in desperation.

"Oh, honestly..." Teru sighed, reaching towards his beaded bracelet. As he took it off, the beads suddenly grew in length. It moved on it's own by the exorcist's will, wrapping around the two. "I'm sorry to hear that."

The two fell, both immobilized by different ends of the beads. The two each struggled against the restraints, but neither could escape.

"Damnit, damnit, damnit." (Y/n) muttered, continuously struggling. "Teru you stupid-"

"Teru-nii!" Kou yelled, trying to stop his brother from hurting the now conscious spirit.

"You just aren't mature enough yet, Kou." Teru said, smiling at his younger brother. "No need to bother yourself with such unnecessary thoughts."

Kou stayed silent, watching as Teru closed the distance between himself and the spirit. He could see in the corner of his eyes that (Y/n) had started to struggle harder when the sword was point at her friend.

"I suggest not fighting that, (L/n). It'll only get tighter." Teru said, already knowing how the female was gonna react. He then looked at Hanako.

"Haven't seen since yesterday, school mystery. Glad to see your doing well." He said, mocking the boy.

Hanako narrowed his eyes, opening his mouth to summon help. "Haku-jou-"

Suddenly a cage of black lightning surrounded the two, preventing the wisp from flaying to its master.

"I won't let you summon your Tsueshiro." Teru explained. "I wouldn't want to make this fight any more difficult."

Kou stared at the made cage in confusion, the spirit blade was an ancient artifact of the Minamotos. But while it may have great physical strength, its magical capabilities were zero to none. It shouldn't be able to wield lightning, yet there stood the cage.

Hanako scowled, grabbing his knife tightly. (Y/n) continued struggling, desperate to help her friend. She didn't notice how she had scrapped her limbs nor how white her knuckles were from tightening into fists. Her body shook as hee anxiety rose, close to panicking at how close the blade was to the boy spirit.

"What a scary face." Teru said, scowling back to the what believed to be a pitiful spirit. "No matter how you try to cover it up. In the end, you can never hide what you truly are..."

"A troublesome ghost that goes unstable at the drop of a hat, and harms the living at the slightest provocation..." Hanako stared at the exorcist, not able to form the words of a response. "Self serving and violent..."

"You took life from another...and yet you cling stubbornly to the near shore and refuse to accept your death." Teru raised his sword, preparing to strike. "To be perfectly honest...It's painful to look at."

(Y/n) almost screamed as she saw the taller male kick the other to the ground. Her body shook violently as the sword was stabbed through Hanako's hand. She wanted to close her eyes when she saw the blood, she wanted to cover her ears when she heard his screams.

"Just stop fighting it. You've been in the near shore for how many years now?" Teru asked, watching spirit struggle with all his might. "It's about time you accepted your punishment."

Hanako chuckled. "Punishment?"

"Huh?"

"You living people are all the same. You all think dying...disappearing...is the best way to atone." He said, gasping for breath. "As if a murderer can atone for what's he done..."

"Destroying me would only be a release! I...I still have things I need to do! I still have to apologize and tell her! I can still atone for her!" He exclaimed, tears running down his cheeks.

Kou looked at the scene with widened eyes. He thought of what Hanako has done, wondering if it was all for the sake of atoning what he's done. He also wondered what he meant by 'tell her' and 'atone for her'. He glanced at (Y/n), surprised to see her barely breathing and unconscious on the ground. He had a feeling she was the 'her' Hanako mentioned. But he didn't know if the boy spirit was just acting. Even then, Kou knew in his heart that he couldn't just sit by.

"I see...you have your own issues you're working through." Teru said, closing his eyes in understanding. "But..."

Then, he stabbed his sword into the boy's chest. "It doesn't matter, none of it."

"You're a dangerous supernatural, so I'll exorcise you." He explained. "That's all there is to it."

"It's over."

A shockwave was released, but it never reached the spirit. Instead, a hand reached for the blade, pushing it out of Hanako's chest. The two stared in shock as Kou kneeled, his hand bleeding from gripping onto the blade.

"Kou how-when did you break free?" Teru asked in shock, his eyes trained on the blood dripping down.

The younger Minamoto screamed in rage, grabbing the elder's collar as he pushed him to the ground.

"Kou! Stop this!"

He gritted his teeth. "Stop treating me like an idiot!"

"I know I'm weak, and a lot stupider than you! But it's not true that don't have to think about anything! I can figure that out!" He screamed, letting his frustration out. Teru only stared at him in shocked silence. "You're right, I know next to nothing about him. And I think it was totally wrong of me to decide whether he was good or bad before I knew more..."

"But exorcising all the supernaturals just because 'supernaturals are dangerous'...I just think there's something wrong with that..."

The boy wiper his eyes with his arm, not wanting to show tears. "It's gonna take time...and I'm gonna get as you, Teru-nii! Then I'll decide what to do! To see if I do need to exorcise him or not! (Y/n)-senpai too!"

"So keep you're hands off of them!"

"...he may try to attack a student tomorrow." Teru stated, looking at the younger with an expression none could decipher.

"I-I'll keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't! I'll take responsibility!" Kou stuttered, flailing his arms.

"..." Teru stayed silent, fixing his tie and neating up his shirt. He thought over what Kou proposed, seeing that it wouldn't hurt to keep an eye on the situation and let Hanako go free. He then smiled, feeling satisfaction that Kou stood up for himself, even if it was him.

"Teru-nii?"

"Honestly...I believe we should just exorcise him right now." Teru said, sheathing his blade. "But I don't want you to hate me."

"So all right, don't forget what you said." He took a few paces, standing over the unconcious girl. He reached his hand and retracted the spiritual beads, releasing the girl. He looked at her still frightened expression in guilt, he never wanted to cause such a reaction. He shook his head, remembering she was a supernatural. "But I'm only doing this once, Kou. So you'll take responsibility for him, not her."

"But-" Before Kou could respond, Teru walked away.

"...you heard him." Kou picked up the fallen hat, placing it back on the boy spirit's head. "As of today, I'll keep an eye on you."

Hanako looked at him, silent.

"We should probably check on (Y/n)-senpai, I think she passed out." Hanako eyes widened, remembering she was near. He stood up quickly, rushing over to kneel by her side.

"The panic and stress must've been too much to handle." He reached into his pockets, pulling out random items to look for what he needed. He finally found it, a small packet of smelling salts. He snapped the small stick and placed it under her nose. Instantly she sat up, her expression still in fear.

"Amane!" She exclaimed, looking around to finally see her friend. She latched onto him, holding him tightly and shoving her face into his chest. She shook, tears leaking down her face again. "You...you..."

"It's okay, I'm okay." Hanako replied, whispering as he ran his hand through her locks. "Kou saved me, I'm still here."

"Teru...he almost...you almost..."

"I know, I know. You're panicking, you need to calm down so we can tell you what happened." He said, his other arm wrapping around her waist. He pulled her even closer to him, practically crushing her.

"How can I calm down when I almost saw you die again?! I made a promise to never let someone hurt you like he did again!" She screamed, crying harder as the memories of their deaths rushed back to her.

"Hey, hey. Look at me." He moved his hands to cup her cheeks, placing his forehead onto hers. "I'm fine, see? I'm not gonna leave you, like I'd ever let you go."

"Pr-promise?" She sniffled, placing her hands over his. "I don't want to lose you again."

"Promise."

"Good." She said softly, closing her eyes again. Letting the feeling of losing consciousness consume her.

"She passed out again..." Kou said, looking down at the two. He frowned at how close the two were, feeling his heart ache in a way that he wasn't used to.

"She does that when everything gets too much." Hanako explained, lifting up the girl in his arms as he stood up.

"Aren't you gonna wake her up again?" Kou asked.

"I only do that if she passed out from a panic attack. It messes up with her psyche and leaves her in a worse state then now." He explained. "But now that she's calm down, for the most part, it's fine for her to sleep."

"Ah."

"I'll be taking her to the infirmary, so she can sleep on a bed." Hanako said, turning away to leave.

"Hey wait!" Kou grabbed his shoulder, causing something to fall from the spirit's pockets. He reached down to see what the small bottle was.

"Fake tears?! Hanako you-" He looked up to see the boy already running away with the girl in his arms.

"You've got a long way to go before you exorcise me! Especially if a little trick like that works on you!"

"You-!!"

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"I'm not talking to him." She said. It has been two weeks since the event. And throughout last week at every chance she had, she would glare at the school prince with all her might. He never reciprocated nor responded to her glares though.

"(Y/n) please? I don't want to swim in the tension between you too like last week." Akane sighed, piching the bride of his nose in frustration. "Look, I don't know what's going on but it needs to stop."

"Hmph, not happening."

"What the hell did he even do that's so unforgivable?"

"..." (Y/n) looked out the window, arms crossed in anger as she heard the red head sigh once again. "I can't say, but it's something I will never forgive."

"Damnit (Y/-" Suddenly the door opened to reveal the subject of their discussion. Teru stared at the two, raising a brow as the female groaned.

"Am I interrupt-"

"No, in fact I was leaving."

"(Y/n)!-" The female hopped off the desk, having previously sitting on it before rushing past the male. She glared at him as she did so, sending as much hate as she could within her stare. When she finally was out of sight Teru walked into the room.

"What the hell did you do to make her so pissed off?" Akane asked.

"Hmm?"

"She's never been this angry, it's been two weeks man." He said, putting his head in his hands. "The last time she was ever close to this was when Yashiro was rejected by some dude. She was a nightmare..."

"Oh. That's what made her mad that time?"

"Yeah..." Akane shivered, remembering the strength he had to summon to hold back the small female. "She may be small but she has a lot of energy stored in there."

"I see..."

"Why don't you apologize? I can't stand the tension, you can cut it with your sword!"

"..." Teru looked at the other male with a straight face. "No."

"Eh?"

"No, I won't apologize." He stated firmly.

"Geez dude, then prepare for her hating you forever."

"She can't hate me forever."

"You'd be surprised, (Y/n) may act like she's forgetful. But she doesn't ever forget."

"..."

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"What the fuck are you doing here?"

"My, that's some language."

"Shut the fuck up and go the fuck away." She growled, scowling at the taller male. "Can't you see you're not welcomed? Leave."

"I came to talk." She laughed.

"You? Apologize? Ha! That's funny." Her smile dropped instantly. "You're the last person to apologize for what you did."

"You're right, I'm not here to apologize for...that."

"Then why-"

"I came to apologize for giving you that panic attack."

"..."

"You didn't deserve to experience that. And for that I apologize." He explained. "But I will never apologize for trying to do my duty."

She stated at him, eyes widening in shock. She couldn't believe what she just heard.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" She growled. "Are you seriously fucking with me?!"

"I became like that because you tried to exorcise my best friend! You hurt him! You wanted to destroy him! And for what? Because of you're own ideology?! Because you believe every spirit deserves to be destroyed? That's bullshit!"

He was silent, staring at her calmly as she screamed.

"What about those who just want to be guardians of their loved one?! What about those who are only here because they have harmless unfinished business?! What about those who were murdered in cold blood?! You saying they deserve to be exorcise because they couldn't stop their own murders?!"

"You don't know what he went through! You don't know the pain and torture he had to go through! Did he kill someone? Yes! But he had a reason!"

"And what reason would justify murder?" Teru asked, raising a brow while his eyes were narrowed.

"Oh I don't know! Maybe seeing someone slowly dying while their blood pools around them and their killer! He saw me get murdered by his-"

She hiccuped, tears falling down her cheeks in big streams. "He-he had to see me die...he was forced to watch the life leave my eyes. How would you react to something like that? To seeing someone who put you through so much, kill the one person who was there for you?"

"And how do you know he felt that? How you do know he actually cares about you?" He asked. She looked at him with a blank expression.

"I heard almost every word. The desperation he had, begging to keep my eyes open..." She sniffled, rubbing her eyes. "I saw everything too...him snapping, more blood shedding...everything that happened that day."

"So don't go assuming he's an evil spirit. If he was truly an evil murderer, he wouldn't have done what he did after killing him..."

After getting her bearings, she walked past the male. "I know you won't stop, but just know...I won't make it easy for you."

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"It's hopeless." Nene whined, closing yet another book. "I thought I might be able to find something out about Hanako-kun and (Y/n)-chan..."

"But everything about him is the same as the stuff I read from grade school. And I can't see anything about (Y/n)-chan, only other rooftop rumors..." She mumbled, grabbing another book about spirits. "I guess it's not gonna be easy..."

'There aren't any stories about boy Hanakos...why is he the only one? And why aren't there other stories like (Y/n)-chan's?' The young girl thought, not realizing her hastily stack of books tipping over the table. She finally realized when she heard them hit the floor. "Aah!"

She rushed to grab the books. She then realized another helped her, handing her one of the fallen books.

"Oh thank you..." She looked up, mesmerized by the emerald green eyes looking at her.  "...very much."

"So you're...interested in the eight mysteries?"