Chapter 9:
High School Raindrops
Several days pass in the academy, and Hao Hao is happier than ever. The halls are always dark and empty. She loves the haunting glow of the blue lights. She loves the old wooden interior that screams old horror movie vibes, and she often finds herself wandering around in soul sight just to take in the sights. Color had been coloring the school’s walls with rainbows. Mae’s spirits decorated the furniture in bows and lace, and Kirai’s spirit (Named Kurai) played music everywhere. Almost like a theme park. Hao Hao felt enchanted walking around this place.
She came into class in a great mood. She sat down, Kirai on her right, Alice on her left, Emily in front of her, and all their spirits of course. She was surrounded by friends that accepted her.
While Daichi was plotting their math lesson, there was a knock on the door. Jim said, “Can I steal the room for a minute?”
“This better be important.” Daichi said as he sat down.
“Yes, it is.” He said as he walked in, and behind him came another student. Short brown hair and yellow eyes. Jim introduced him, “Everyone, this is Taeyang. He’ll be joining your class. Give a warm welcome.”
Jim applauded. A few of the other girls joined in, Hao Hao included, to make it less awkward. Taeyang came forward and faced them. He smiled and said, “I’m Taeyang. It’s very nice to meet all of you.”
And already, the girls were swooning over him. Hao Hao could hear the whispers from her left side. Alice, Sumi, and Cleo were whispering. She envied Kirai with his rain noise distraction; he didn’t even notice what had happened.
“Earth to Kirai.” Jim said.
He looked up, took off his headphones, and faced Jim with annoyance. “What?”
“New student.”
“Right, fine. Nice to meet you, or whatever.”
Taeyang happily took the only empty seat. Right in front of Kirai, who sighed. Jim said, “Alright, I’ll let you guys get back to it.”
He left, and Daichi stood, but he didn’t make it to the front of the room before Sumi passed him. The other girls giggled quietly as she came up to Taeyang and asked him, “Hi there. I’m Sumi. I was just wondering if you’d possibly want to join the gardening club.”
Daichi said, “Now is not the time for this. He just got here. Let him get settled at least.”
“It’s not a problem. Really.” Taeyang said. Turning to Sumi, he answered, “I’d love to.”
And she looked so happy. Everyone did, actually, except Kirai who put back on his headphones. Sumi tried to give him a small rundown against Daichi’s complaints until she eventually settled for just giving him a note. He thanked her, and the classroom was (half-way) quiet again as she returned to her seat and Daichi spoke.
Hao Hao blinked into the soul realm and was surprised to find that not a single spirit was there. Not even her own.
She looked around. Kirai listening to rain, Alice still whispering to Sumi and the others, and even Emily looking distracted with the lesson as well as the new student beside her, Hao Hao decided it was safe to speak. She whispered, “Shui?”
“I’m behind you.” Shui said.
Hao Hao took a quick glance behind herself, to which she saw all the other spirits hugging the wall. She wanted to ask what was wrong, but felt she wouldn’t be able to without Daichi or someone else noticing. She turned away from them.
“Look at his spirit.” Shui said.
She did, but she didn’t see much. A white fuzzball with a tail just like the rest of them. She asked, “What about it?”
“He doesn’t have a face.”
As Hao Hao walked down the halls in soul sight, it was nothing but dark. The spirits that had been filling it with color painfully absent. How strange. Were people sad right now? She walked outside to the garden and found most of the girls fawning around Taeyang. Everyone looked very happy.
“You said you moved here? Where are you from?” Alice asked.
“Across the sea.”
Just like Hao Hao, but you could tell based on their names that they were from different parts of the continent. His name sounded like it came from the North. Or… the Southern part of the North, perhaps.
Hao Hao joined the back with Kirai. It was mostly them doing the gardening anyway. He sighed.
“What is it?” Hao Hao asked.
“It’s just, ugh…” He said as he looked over at the crowd, barely able to even voice whatever criticism he held. He finally asked, “It’s not always going to be like this now, is it?”
“I… I imagine it’s just because he’s new.”
“Hopefully.”
Her and Kirai worked, but the lack of spirits in soul sight still disturbed her. She stood up. “I’ll be right back.” She said, though only Kirai seemed to hear.
Once within the trees away from the crowd, she called, “Shui? Shui?”
“Yes?” It came up from below the ground. Right through the grass. Floating at eye level.
“Is everyone hiding below the ground?”
“Yes.” It answered simply.
“Are they scared? But why? Everyone seems to like Taeyang.”
“They do, but we’re worried. What if he means something nefarious? A spirit with no face… it’s even more concerning than Mae’s split one, or Kirai burying his away.”
Did it now? Hao Hao looked back to the crowd in the garden and failed to see him being any harm to anyone, but she resigned herself to the fact that this problem may very well need to be addressed. She didn’t like to find the spirits cowering all the time. It was up to her to fix it.
Later in the evening, the gardening club finally dispersed. Hao Hao trailed behind Taeyang. She had tried to speak to his spirit first, but it was completely silent. Unable to speak.
“Oh, um…” Her whispers were not quite loud enough. With a deep breath, she shouted, “Hello there!”
Taeyang turned around. He smiled, “Hello there.”
“I, um, I was hoping to talk to you.”
“Okay! Is it okay if we walk to the dining hall while we talk? I’m hungry after today.”
“Of course.”
And so, they started walking. He went slower so that she could keep up with him, which she appreciated. She asked him, “So, how was your first day here?”
“It was great! So many friendly faces.” He said, and then he looked at her with a thoughtful expression. He asked, “What’s your name again? Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I’m not sure we had proper introductions.” She could feel her voice trailing into a whisper, but she forced it up. She said, “My name is Hao Hao.”
“Hao Hao. Nice to meet you.”
So far, Taeyang seemed nothing but nice, kind, and courteous. She couldn’t pinpoint any reason for the spirits to be scared, nor anything that would make his spirit faceless. Something she couldn’t see, she understood vaguely, but he… he seemed so open. Certainly not shy like her. If anyone was hiding anything, you’d think it’d be her. Or maybe even Kirai, but Taeyang? He was nothing but sunlight.
Hao Hao resolved herself to try a little bit harder. The spirits hadn’t failed her yet, so she couldn’t fail them either.
She asked him, “You said you moved here, before?”
“Yep.” And he pointed towards the West, “I’m from across the sea.”
“I… I’m from across the sea too.”
“Really? That’s fun.”
She nodded. Digging a little deeper, she said, “Sometimes I miss it, but I’ve actually been having a lot of fun here. Do you miss your home?”
For just a moment, he blinked, almost confused. He laughed awkwardly and said, “I mean, everyone misses their home a little bit.”
“Well, um… if you ever wanted someone to talk to, I’m here. I know it can be hard to travel to a new place. Especially in the middle of the year.”
“Aw! That is so sweet Hao Hao. Thank you.”
As they walked, a spirit appeared. Eye level in front of Taeyang. To her surprise, he froze. He asked her, “Do… Do you see that?”
“Oh, um… yes?” People other than her couldn’t usually see them. Then again, they also didn’t usually appear so blatantly while she was talking to someone. Perhaps this spirit wanted to be known.
“Is it a puppet?” He asked, throwing a hand above it, but finding no string. His smile disappeared, and he turned around and froze again. Hao Hao turned and saw all the other spirits at the end of the room. Staring.
“What is this? A prank?” Taeyang asked.
“Oh, no. It’s just, um….” She wasn’t sure how to explain it. How was it explained to her? Shui had told her they were spirits. She said to Taeyang, “They’re like angels. Usually I’m the only one that can see them.”
He stared at them. Hao Hao had to admit, they were a bit scarier when they were frowning and staring right at you. Shui came to her side. It said, “Taeyang can see them because of you.”
“It talks!” Taeyang said.
“He can see you, because of me?” Hao Hao repeated.
“Yes. That and the fact that we want to be seen,” Shui said and nodded. It came to Taeyang, “Sorry to startle you. We’re just worried, is all.”
He was still startled from the surprise of it. He coughed and said, “It’s okay. Worried about what, though?”
“Well…”
“They’re a little scared of you.” Hao Hao said.
“But… why?”
She pointed to the spirit behind them. Taeyang looked as she explained, “Your spirit doesn’t have a face. The others are worried that, um, you might be hiding something.”
Taeyang frowned, “Is… is that why you came to talk to me?”
“Well…” He turned away from her. She said, “Wait, please. I don’t think you’re doing anything wrong. I wanted to help the spirits, but I also wanted to help you if I could.”
He tried to walk away. Hao Hao would have let him go; she didn’t want to make him uncomfortable, but his own spirit stood in his own way. When Taeyang tried to side-step it, it got in his way again. This was a losing battle.
“I’m sorry. I don’t have any control over them.” Hao Hao said.
“No, it’s okay anyway. If even my spirit is on your side…” He scratched his hair and turned back towards her. He said, “I am worried about something. I… don’t really want to be specific if that’s okay, but I’d like to stop worrying the spirits.”
Hao Hao nodded. “Only if you’re comfortable talking about it, and I won’t tell anyone either.”
“Thank you.” And his smile returned, just to let her know he was comfortable. A little bit at least. He explained, “So, basically, I’ve been struggling with something personal. It’s hard to talk about with people because I’m worried they won’t accept me. Do you get what I mean?”
Hao Hao thought of all the events she’s had to attend -weddings, birthdays, and such- where she was not given any options; her parents told her she had to wear a dress. She said, “I do.”
“I just… I don’t like to offload onto people. There’s enough negativity in the world.”
Hao Hao could appreciate that, as someone who has faced a lot of negativity in her life.
“I want to be the sort of person you can rely on to have a smile if you’re having a bad day. Is that a bad thing?”
“Well…” She didn’t necessarily want to play therapist with him. They were friends first, in her eyes. At least she hoped they were still friends after this.
Shui gently said, “It can be bad if you’re pushing down how you really feel. Are you sad or angry about anything?”
He looked over at his spirit. Faceless, nondescript. He said, “I don’t know. I guess it’s been a long time since I even thought about it.”
Shui nodded. He went over the others, and they spoke, and then they came over. Color went first, “You’re a nice boy Taeyang. I’m sorry for doubting you.”
“Oh, no. Really. It’s okay.”
“We hurt your feelings.” Sumi’s spirit said.
Taeyang tried to hum it away, but he looked towards his own spirit again. The hint of a face was appearing on its fuzzy cloth appearance; seams shaped in a frown. He turned away and rubbed his eyes.
He said to Hao Hao, “You probably think that it’s weird. That I’m crying.”
“It’s not weird.” She said.
“It’s not?”
She shook her head. Shui said, “It’s perfectly normal. Everyone does it. Even the ones that say they don’t.”
And with that, he cried a little bit more. Hao Hao put a hand on his shoulder for comfort. Within a few minutes he had the tears wiped away and gone. His face a little red from it. He looked sad, of course, but his spirit had a full face now.
“I think… maybe I did need that.” He said, “Thank you.”
“Ah, yeah. Anytime.” She said nervously. She wasn’t used to being in the position to comfort another, but she wanted to get better at it.
Taeyang and her started off again. He asked her, “Is the point that you talk to ghosts a secret?”
“Ah… well? I guess I haven’t told any of them. No.”
“Then, I won’t say anything either. Secret buddies.” He said with a smile.
“You’re feeling better?”
“A bit.” He said, and she felt like he was being entirely honest with her. “I’ll keep working on it.”
Eventually they parted ways in the hallway. Hao Hao blinked into soul sight and saw all the spirits back to their usual selves. Taeyang’s among them now. Talking happily with the others, bobbing around the room like a bouncing balloon. With another problem solved, and the halls lit up with the spirits’ happiness, Hao Hao was at peace.
Beyond the school walls, the shika listen carefully. The scent of souls is like the dewdrops on the grass after it rains. They can’t quite find the source, but they know Jim is hiding something.
Light emanates from their antlers. With it the mirage of a woman appears against the air. Another section of the border of Shigo. A small island surrounded by water with a woman sitting atop a rock, enjoying tea. She wore a hood that covered her face, just like Jim, but the hand that was exposed showed frail-looking skin. Even so it would be unwise to assume this woman was weak. The shika knew that well.
“Have you found anything yet?”
“Not yet.” Their voices are deep like the mountain. They all speak at once, in sync, as if controlled by a single entity.
“Keep looking.”
The scene of the forest and the shika disappears from Shinigami’s view. There is empty air in her space. Just as she liked it; no one to distract her. However, when her gaze travels towards the East, she can see activity. Clouds surround and create a thick mist. She wonders what her son has done to make it so hectic.
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