Clarification

After lunch we all agreed to reunite at the end of the school day and ask Nakamura Sensei about being our club advisor. The three of us bid Kusumoto-san goodbye as she headed back to her classroom, and us to ours. Classes progressed fairly smoothly, and eventually we made it through. She returned to meet us at our door as we finished putting back the end of day cleaning supplies.

“Hey, Hey! Yaya, E-chan, Ri-chan,” she performed a small bow with each name. “Let’s move!”

“Hello to you too, Aki-chan.”

“H-hi.”

“Hmm.” Evi paused. “Before we go…” she took a breath, “Aki, do you actually believe in the paranormal?”

A solemn look came over Kusumoto-san’s face.

“Evi-chan, belief is a hard thing to measure. Do I believe that ghosts and shinigami and devils and such are all real? No. Not with any certainty. Do I believe that these ideas have all had lasting impacts upon history and culture? Yes. Do I believe that we may thereby learn a great deal about various peoples and philosophies from those miscellaneous myths and legends? Also yes.

Dragon-like beings have been similarly described in different epics all across the world. Does that mean they’re real? No. But it does potentially tell us something about our human commonalities; patterns in our brains and behaviors. Exaggerated stories of giant squids likely contributed to the Kraken myth, and pygmy elephant skulls are theorized to possess similar connections to the Cyclops. Encounters with the inexplicable spurred our imaginations to fill in the gaps.

Life needed an explanation. Death needed an explanation. So did what comes after. So did seasons, and weather, and all sorts of other phenomena!

So in terms of belief, I would say that I believe it is a worthy field of study. And also that I believe spooky stuff is fun!”

The smile popped back onto her face.

“It isn’t always fun,” Evi responded quietly.

I decided not to pry. At least not right now.

“That was a pretty well thought out speech,” I observed.

“Don’t be too impressed Miyashita-san, that was mostly pre-written. She’s been working on her pitch to get our club application accepted. We do need some sort of justification beyond simply being fun.”

“Yaya-chan, couldn’t you have just let her be impressed?”

“I still think it’s impressive Kusumoto-san! A-and the fact that you’ve been working on this during your off time shows a lot of dedication. I can’t wait to hear the rest of it!”

“The rest of it?” her face dropped. “That’s basically the whole thing. Except for the part at the end where I say, ‘And that’s why you should approve our club!’”

“Oh.”

“Yeah,” Fujiwara-san gave a sympathetic smile.

“W-well, that’s probably enough, actually,” I retreated.

“Hey, wait, no! Come on. Give me more credit than that! This was only the end of the pre-written stuff. I can improvise the rest. Besides, with two new magical club members this whole thing is basically guaranteed anyways!”

“Magical?” I asked quizzically. I pointed a finger at myself, and then at Evi. Kusumoto-san nodded.

Evi groaned, “Why does everyone think I’m magic?”

I have to admit; I was also not particularly impressed by this revelation.

“I uh, I’m not. I’m not magic,” I stated plainly. “I have albinism.”

“I didn’t say magic. I said magical. Albinism has often been linked to rumors of mysticism or bad omens which has unfortunately sometimes resulted in um, persecution due to...” she lost confidence as the sentence went on.

I cut her off, “Yeah. Rumors, and urban legends, that are often hurtful and untrue. A-and in some cases dangerous due to perpetuating—” I thought back to the day before, “If you knew about this then why did you think it was fine to call me Ghost?”

“Reclamation? Taking the name back. And again, I think ghosts are cool,” she seemed to shrink as the words spilled out, “And there have also been positive associations in some societies. Plus! White hair is popular in a lot of anime and video games…”

“I don’t— I still don’t want that name, though? Like, I don’t really feel any level of affection for that nickname, honestly.”

“And that’s why I won’t use it anymore. Sorry.”

“Well, um, anyways. I just want to clear up, that, like, being albino does not make me more magic than other people. I lack melanin. I’m prone to sun damage and astigmatism. As well as photosensitivity and a couple of other things that I thankfully, don’t personally have to deal with. That’s all.”

“We ate outside two days in a row,” Evi remarked with a hint of concern.

“I sat in the shade and I use a lot of sunscreen,” tapping my backpack, I continued, “Also, while I didn’t bring it out during lunch, I do keep an umbrella in here for times when the sun is too intense.”

Fujiwara-san eyed my bag’s rabbit keychain, “I feel like I should have known some of this already, but, um… since I’ve never asked before… don’t albinos usually have red eyes?”

“That’s not really the case with albinism in humans. I mean, like, sometimes, under certain lighting conditions and because of a higher degree of translucency in the iris caused by lack of pigmentation… blood vessels are more visible, and that can make eyes appear more reddish, or like, violet. But typically most of us have blue eyes, or brown. Or, I think hazel?”

I looked to Evi, “A-although, I suppose I wouldn’t say that humans never have red eyes.”

She shrugged. “Yeah. My eyes are always red. All the time. Don’t know why, but that’s not the reason. Doctors have confirmed it and everything.”

“Hmm.”

“Yeah.”

Kusumoto-san twiddled her thumbs uneasily.

“So. Um. E-chan is close with Nakamura Sensei, right? That should still help us get approved without having to mention anything else.”

“Ah. Nepotism,” Fujiwara-san nodded knowingly.

Nervous, I checked in with Kusumoto-san. “Sorry, was that too much?”

“No, no. This was on me,” she said, “I was rude. You’re allowed to feel your feelings.”

“Hey, you’re… I mean, one of the first things I asked Evi was if she was magic. I don’t really have any room to judge.”

Evi spoke up, “It’s true. Once again, I am the only person here without fault.” Her wry tone made it clear that she was trying to lighten the mood. “So do Rin and I have to put our hair in pigtails like the two of you if we join? Or is that just a you thing?”

Fujiwara-san joined in, “That isn’t why we have these, but now that you mention it,” she touched a finger to her chin, “that could be fun.” She grinned.

“Aya. I have barely even begun to consider joining this club and you are already making me regret it.”

“Oh I don’t know Evi-san, I think you’d look really cute with pigtails!”

“Eh. I’d look a lot more like you.”

“What’s wrong with looking like me?” she whined. “Miyashita-san, Aki-chan, what do you think?”

“Oh yeah. They do look kind of similar don’t they Ri-chan? Their noses, their ties… The long faces?” She nudged my shoulder, “E-chan could pass for Yaya’s older sister! Don’t you agree?”

Fujiwara-san stomped her foot down, “That’s not what I was asking.” She batted her eyelashes. “Miyashita-san, I’m pretty aren’t I?”

I blushed, “Um, yeah. You’re pretty. But Evi has that whole aloof, mysterious vibe to her, y’know?”

“Oh is that what you’re into Ri-chan?” Kusumoto-san asked cheekily.

Oh dear lord what is happening?

Fujiwara-san laughed, and then latched onto Evi’s arm, “Evi-san, maybe I should call you onee-chan, from now on?”

“No.”

“Say, onee-chan, don’t these two also look kind of similar?”

“Please stop,” she said whilst freeing her arm. “But yeah, big eyes, short hair, round faces. I see it. Of course Rin is much cuter.”

“Of course,” Fujiwara-san echoed.

“Obviously,” Kusumoto-san agreed.

I broke into a giggle fit, “W-what are we doing?”

“Being dumb,” said Evi, stifling a laugh.

“You could call it that,” Fujiwara-san smiled.

“Yaya-chan is never dumb!” Kusumoto-san protested, “That’s my job!”

“You’re not dumb Kusumoto-san,” I snickered. “…Thanks for cheering me up, you guys. A-and for the record, I think you’re cute as well.”

“Thanks Ri-chan,” she winked, “I think it could be agreed that we are all cute! Just a big bunch of cute people. An absolutely adorable club! Investigating the paranormal in the sweetest way possible!”

“Humble too,” Evi replied flatly.

“Yep!”

“Maybe that should be the pitch?” I joked.

“Oooh, smart idea!”

“Are you surprised?”

She shrugged, “Nah. Life isn’t balanced for competitive play. Some people get all the good stuff, that’s how it goes.” She sighed a fake sigh.

Fujiwara-san brought us back to the task at hand, “All right, well we should probably get going then. Let’s meet up with Nakamura Sensei.”

She smirked.

“…Onee-chan.”

“Stop it.”