Touching Bond | Hanako-Kun

4

By the end of school, the bell rang, causing Emiko to awake from her slumber. She noticed that Nene didn't wake her, but neither did the teacher during the class.

'Why didn't they?'

Emiko shrugged it off and stood from her desk, still feeling somewhat fatigued. As she followed a few students to the exit of the room, she overheard their conversation.

"Have you heard of Yosai?" one girl asked the other.

"No, I haven't."

"Well, apparently it steals from people the minute they need the object that was stolen." The other girl gasped at the rumor. Emiko sighed, as she parted ways from the rest of the students.

"Emiko!" Nene's voice peered through the distant fading of other voices. Emiko spun her head around to see Nene running to her side. "Hey! I noticed you were asleep all class today." Emiko nodded.

"Don't worry. Tomorrow I'll be perfectly normal." Emiko added as they continued to the stairs. 

"That's usually how it works." Nene and Emiko both marched up the steps, approaching the door to the rooftop. "Is this where you sleep now?" Emiko nodded to her question.

"It's better than a janitor's closet." Nene giggled, making Emiko grin.

"Hey!" Both girls spun to the sound of a familiar high-pitched voice from a boy. "Yashiro! Emi!" Hanako drifted towards their position.

"Emi?" Nene asked, looking towards Emiko with wide and curious eyes. 

"That's the nickname I gave her!" Hanako chirped with a large grin. "Were you asleep all class?" Hanako questioned, clasping his hands behind his back. 

"Yea." Emiko sighed, walking to the same wall she slept by. 

"It looks like it. You have bags under your eyes." Hanako acknowledged as he followed Nene, who was standing in front of her best friend.

"Well, see you later, Emiko!" Nene grinned one last time, waving as she began to exit the scene. Emiko nodded, feeling a smile appear across her lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Hanako sat beside Emiko, watching the sun descend from the sky. 

"Nene's smile fits her so well." Hanako nodded to her words. 

"It does, but so does yours." Emiko opened her eyes widely, turning her look over to the boy who continued to look at the sky. "I'm not lying," he spoke once more. 

"Well, thanks." She began to blush at the compliment. 

'I've never been complimented by a boy before. That's probably because I scare them off by getting too close.'

Emiko sighed as her eyes closed, leaning her head back against the tan wall. All she felt was the light wind brush across her face, pushing a few strands of hair to drift in front of her closed eyes, but she didn't care. She was worn out, and tomorrow will be better. 

"Going to sleep?" Hanako whispered, Emiko feeling his cold breath against her ear. 

"Yea." She sighed as she positioned herself in a laying position across the cemented roof. "Goodnight." Emiko turned towards Hanako, keeping her eyes shut as she used her arm as a pillow.

"Goodnight, Emi," Hanako whispered. 

***

"Where the hell is my pen?" Emiko blurted as she continued to dig through her bag of stuff. 

"Can you calm down, please?" the teacher pleaded, but Emiko loved that pen. It was dear to her, from someone special. 

"No! Where the hell is it?!" Aoi gasped in front of Emiko, looking in her way. 

"Emiko, I think you were visited by Yosai." Nene and Emiko shared a puzzled look, Emiko having furious eyebrows. 

"What?" Nene questioned.

"The Yosai is rumored to be a creature that steals the very thing that you may need at that moment," Aoi spoke, raising her finger to her chin to think. "A lot of people have been missing their things."

"Where's my lunch?!" a boy blurted from the corner of the classroom.

"Yea, where is my textbook?" Nene searched under her desk and in her bag, but nothing was to be found. 

"Interesting." Emiko stood, shoving her chair back under the desk. Her hands are clasped together behind her back as she leisurely walks towards the classroom door.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Nene asked, quickly grabbing her lunch to trail behind Emiko. "Wait!" Nene finally caught up to her friend, seeing Emiko's hands still clasped together.

"I'm going to find that pen." Her face showed much determination as her grip on her hands tightened, making them somewhat whiten. 

"But I heard something else," Nene said worryingly. Emiko paused, looking into the pink eyes Nene held. "If you look at the Yosai directly in the eye, then it'll kill you." Nene looked straight at Emiko, seeing her shrug. 

"I'm getting it back." Emiko spun and continued walking down the hall.

"Is it worth your life?" Nene asked, looking straight down the hall. 

"Yes." This was the first time Nene heard her tone sound depressing. She's never heard her friend cry or sound sad, but this was the first time. 

Both girls somehow found themselves in the old school building, noticing the hall only being lit by the sun's rays. It was quiet and seemed to have an echo to every step they took across the floor. 

"My pen!" Emiko dashed forward and crouched beside her prized possession. "It's here!" she blurted, grinning at the sight of it. Emiko stuffed it into the pocket of her black shorts as Nene trotted towards her lunch box.

"My lunch box." Nene picked it up.

"There's a trail," Emiko spoke as she followed the traces. Each possession kids were complaining about was leading up to a room that presented no light through the crevice beneath the wooden door. 

"Wait, what if it's there?" Nene stood back with a shaking voice and hands. 

Emiko ignored her warning and turned the knob, feeling the cool touch spread throughout her palm. Emiko peeked into the almost pitch-black room, noticing some deformed figure. She continued to watch as it spun around, opening its eyes. Her turquoise eyes widened to the sight, suddenly being pushed back with some force. 

"Emiko!" Nene blurted as Emiko crawled back in slight fear. 

"Steal." the creature spoke on repeat, inching closer to Emiko. Nene spun her head to keep her eye contact away. Emiko crawled back more, almost meeting Nene who was pushed against the window. 

"Get away!" Emiko blurted as they proceeded to grab her foot. "Wait! Help!" Nene's attention peaked, her pushing herself forward to grab Emiko's arms. 

Sching

Emiko watched as a familiar boy appeared with two wispy creatures beside him. Hanako grinned as he held a knife behind his body, lifting his other hand. Emiko and Nene froze in place, right in front of the window. 

Hanako seemed to have cut the creature, but suddenly, he shouted, "Hakujoudai!" One of the white wisps then spun around his wrist, the area growing bright. 

Emiko and Nene spun their heads away from the blinding light as Nene dropped Emiko's hand. Hanako chuckled lightly as pink creatures surrounded the two girls. Emiko opened her eyes to witness how adorable they are. 

"They are so cute," Emiko said in awe, leaning forward on her knees to see a few of them up close.

"They really are!" Nene dropped to her knees, picking one up and snuggling it into her chest. She rubbed her head against its ears. 

"Who are they?" Emiko asked while raising her head to notice Hanako grinning. The knife disappeared from their view.