Another Ghost (Hanako x Gender Neutral Reader TBHK fic)

Eclipse Soul

~Your POV~

Deeper into the fall, I awoke one morning to the orange world that nature held for me. The soft sun giving no heat, only a light filtering through the windowpanes and into the dusty bathroom that never seemed to be fully cleaned, despite Yashiro's attempts. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes and again stared out the window as the sun flared in my wake.

A draft blew through the room, most likely a more frigid one, but a ghost can't feel much of anything. Hanako appeared behind me, wrapping his arms around me. 

"Good morning, my love," He said.

"Good morning, Hanako." I let go of tension I didn't realize I was holding, relaxing into his embrace. "The world is beautiful today, isn't it?" I gestured out the window.

"Mhm, very orange. Seems fitting for today, I suppose." 

"What do you mean?" I looked at him, his eyes focused on the sky, and the golden sun.

"Today is going to be very special. There's going to be a solar eclipse this afternoon, and a lunar one tonight," He explained.

"Really? That's interesting, I can't wait to see it." I turn to face the sky again, and suddenly the sun seemed even more majestic to me. As if the moon and the sun were in a romantic dance, even though they could never touch. A forbidden romance, maybe, like Romeo and Juliet. I was glad that Hanako and I weren't that way. We could touch, we could dance, and we could love however we want to, and no one can stop us.

I sighed deeply, smiling to myself.

(Can you tell I was listening to a poetry reading while I was writing this? lol)

~Later that day, still your POV~

Sooner than I had expected, the moon was climbing the horizon, slowly making her way in front of the sun, covering his majesty. Hanako and I were sitting on the courtyard lawn, watching their stunning dance across the sky. 

We intertwined our fingers, palms touching the grass, not saying a word. Just staring. Staring as the moon became nothing more than a silhouette, and the sun's corona became like a crown, shining and flaring brightly.

Or maybe they seemed like a dimly lit circus, with a great ring of fire in the center of it all. I wasn't sure. There were certainly beautiful themes within the imagery, and I realized why people of ancient civilizations saw this as an omen, and I wished more heavily than ever that I was a poet, that I could write out those themes and imagery in comprehensible words.

But I wasn't a poet, and I couldn't write it out nearly as well as maybe Shakespeare or Poe could've. So instead I sat and watched as the sun returned to the sky, brightening the fiery orange and red leaves and the world was normal again.  

I was stunned by the beauty of it all, even though it had lasted all of ten minutes. I sat in a thoughtful silence before Hanako turned to look at me.

"So, what did you think?" He smiled.

"That was... beautiful. I don't think I've ever seen anything like it." 

(So I wrote this chapter just bc I was thinking of the time a few years ago -i was in 4th grade i think??- when I actually got to see a total solar eclipse and in my brain there was so many ideas and themes I knew I had to write it but I didn't know how. I think I've finally found the words to describe it, so I hope you enjoyed my impromptu poetry about the sun and the moon.)