Epilogue pt 2.

*ring* *ring*

Mila rushed herself down the stairs. She ran towards the door. Before opening it, she brushed her hair out of her face with her hands.

“I told you not to ring, you woke up my dad!”

“Calm down princess... my bad”

Hajime grinned a little.

“Don’t worry about your hair, it looks pretty fly as always”

He could see me adjusting my hair through the window, a little embarrassing.

“Princess? you sound even more corny than usual”

“Booyah! Let’s bounce”

A pink vintage scooter was standing on the street curb.

“Alright, what do you think of my ride? Sick isn’t it?”

“Did your girlfriend lend that to you?”

“You… eh girlfriend..? I don’t have one.”

Hajmi stumbled over his words and then added.

“I borrowed it from someone”

“You better bring it back after you are done with it”

“Alright… alright miss Kinoshita, I didn’t know you’d care about stuff like that”

Hajime sat down on the saddle and turned down the engine.

“Let’s hop on”

X

“So Mila, where are we heading tonight? You didn’t tell me anything”

“A place you despise”

“Let me guess, my aunt’s Ryoko’s house? I surely despise her, that’s for sure”

“Wha..what?”

Mila giggled a little.

“You silly, I mean our school”

“Will we do some more ghosthunting?”

“Perhaps”

Hajmi accelerated the little scooter to its maximum speed.

“Hold on tight, we’ll be there in a whim”

X

It was alright at midnight once they arrived at the school. They jumped off the scooter and parked it next to the school’s fence.

“Can you catch my backpack?”

Mila threw her backpack over the fence and Hajime caught it. He had already climbed over it.

“What is in that ugly backpack anyway?”

Mila smiled.

“You’ll find out soon”

Using a credit card, Hajime was easily able to open the school’s side entrance. The two of them entered the derelict hallways together.

“So where is this scary ghost of yours at?”

Hajime said jokingly.

Mila looked at him with a serious face.

“I wouldn’t be so happy about this if I were you”

“Ah, so we're really going ghostbusting? Rad!”

“Please quiet down Hajime, this is serious!”

“Alright... alright miss, please show me the way”

Mila grabbed Hajime by the hand and dragged him along through the school's various hallways. As soon as they entered the cafeteria, Mila stood still. She scanned the big empty room with her eyes. But there was no one to be spotted. She put her hands around her mouth and yelled.

“Risako? Risako! Are you here?”

A long silence followed. Mila called again but to no avail.

Hajime sighed and sarcastically added.

“So where is that ghost you promised me?”

Mila had no idea why Risako wasn’t showing up. She started sweating a little. Hajime must think I’ve gone crazy. Maybe I am. What if it was all a dream?

She sat down on a bench, covering her face with her hands.

“Mila, what is going on?”

“Hajime, I had a crazy dream recently. Do you remember that day when you had to bring me to the school nurse?”

Hajime knotted.

“Promise you are not going to laugh at me, okay?”

Hajime sat down on the cafeteria bench next to her.

So she proceeded to tell Hajime the whole story, from the earthquake at school, her talking to the angel, getting the apple, entering the school, the ghost girl, and her placing the apple back in the locker.

After Mila was done telling, she sighed.

Hajime was sitting there in silence.

“Please leave your opinions to yourself, I don’t need your judgment”

“That was quite the dream you had there princess..”

“I usually forget all the details as soon as I wake up, or at least most of them”

He looked at Mila and smiled, he then gave her a hug.

“It’s alright Mila, it’s alright. If you say so then I believe you”.

Mila suspected he thought otherwise.

“It was pretty unlike you to be at school that early anyway”

Mila picked her bag up from the ground, grabbed an apple out of it, and held it up in front of her.

“This is one of those apples from that tree I told you about”

“I want you to have this one… since you are always there for me. Even when I am so stupid.”

She said as she put the apple into Hajime’s hands and then looked away.

“Mila please look me in the eyes”

They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like hours.

Mila then put her lips on Hajime’s and they made out for a short while before Mila pulled away. Her cheeks had turned all red. She grabbed her bag and started walking towards the door, avoiding eye contact with Hajime.

“Mila?”

But before Mila could reach the door, she suddenly stood completely still. The ghostly silhouette of Risako had appeared in the doorway. A voice suddenly echoed through the room.

“P..please don’t leave. Your kiss made Risako cry!”

Hajime’s mouth dropped open.

“You… were right.”

“Hello Risako, nice to see you again”

Mila said while looking at the ghost girl.

“Risako can see everyone, but everyone can’t see Risako”

Neither Mila nor Hajime knew how to respond to that. Mila grabbed her bag and held it in front of her.

“I have a present for you.”

She took out the last apple and slowly started walking towards the ghost.

Risako reached her hands in front of herself.

Inch by inch, Mila moved in closer, until she stood within arm's reach of the girl.

“Please accept my apology for not believing you the other night.”

Mila put the apple in Risako’s hand. To her surprise, the apple didn’t pass through. Risako’s appearance had suddenly changed. She could no longer see through her.

“Could I touch your hand Risako?”

Mila briefly held her cold hand, she could feel a faint heartbeat.

“Risako feels strange.”

Mila proceeded to touch her hand, but Risako backed off.

“Your hand is… so warm”

Risako responded.

She turned around and looked at herself through the mirroring doors of the cafeteria. Risako then started crying.

“W..why does my hair look so m...messy”

“R..risako can see R..risako now”

Hajime had also made his way toward the girl and whispered to Mila.

“It looks like she is no longer a ghost dude… that apple did something to her”

Mila didn’t know how to respond. She didn’t expect this to happen, but maybe she should have…

“Let’s try to get outside, okay Risako?”

“Outside.. outside???”

Risako crawled up into a little ball.

“You must be quite scared after being stuck here in the cafeteria for so many years”

The girl knotted.

“Risako likes the school a lot”

“You are a student here, so you can always come back right?”

“You have to.. legally speaking”

Hajime whispered.

“Ssst, Hajime”

“Let’s walk towards the door we came in first right?”

The three of them walked back on the same path Mila dragged Hajime in.

Having arrived at the door, Hajime opened it and walked outside. Mila grabbed Risako’s hand again and step by step, they made their way onto the schoolyard. Risako hugged Mila and started sobbing again.

“Thank you… thank you”

Risako forcefully shook Mila’s hand up and down. She then asked.

“But where do I go? My parents will be surprised… They will be scared! They must think I am dead!”

“Calm down. You can stay with me for a while, Risako. We will figure this out”

With her bag now completely empty, Mila felt like a literal weight had been lifted from her shoulders. With the wind in her back, she moved back home, towards a better future.