The Whispers Of The Spirit

1

"Is that it!?" Peach asked, tears streaming down her cheeks. Renelle looked at her best friend with wide eyes, seeing her crying over the anime they just watched.

"It's Naruto, and she just watched all the episodes in a week."

"Yeah? Why are you crying!?" Ren asked, looking at her best friend.

"How can you not? How many times did you watch this?" Peach asked, her voice pitched high as she sobbed.

"Probably 4 times now. Yeah, I did have teary eyes at the ending, but hey! Hey!" Renelle tried to continue, but her friend sobbed loudly.

"I felt so bad for them! That blood-sucking leech! Seriously!? He looked like a freaking aloe vera! And I love Aloe Vera, but he looks like an experimented one!" Peach said angrily, referring to the main villain of the show, Black Zetsu.

Renelle just nodded. "I think he most likely looks like the flytrap one."

"Hey! Wait... yeah, you're right! Poor Naruto, Poor Kakashi, Poor Jiraiya, Poor Me! Why did I get attached to animated people!? This is your fault!" Peach yelled at her best friend.

"Okay! Okay, calm down. Welcome to the anime world, but seriously, I understand you, yeah, it's pretty depressing. Yeah," Renelle said, trying to cheer up her friend but mostly convincing herself that it's fine.

Ren stared at her best friend, then she began to sob too.

Chaotic, overdramatic cry.

"I felt so bad for Itachi! He deserves the world!" Renelle said, crying.

Renelle took a deep breath, recognizing that Peach was going through a tough time after the loss of their pet, turning to anime as a coping mechanism. Renelle, being an avid anime fan herself, understood this well, while Peach tended to explore various genres in search of solace.

"Okay! I'm gonna order some takeout, do you want to come?" Peach asked. Renelle smiled and nodded, their close friendship evident as they navigated university life together while living in the same apartment.

"I'm just gonna grab my coat," Renelle said, heading towards her room, while Peach grabbed her keys.

"I'll meet you outside!" Peach called out as she made her way towards the door. However, her exclamation of "HOLY MOTHER OF COW!" startled Renelle, who rushed over to see what had happened.

Renelle arrived to find Peach standing in front of the door, facing a peculiar-looking man who appeared bleached from head to toe.

"I'm sorry, you scared the shit out of me! Is it a costume party? Oh, I didn't know there was going to be one in the neighborhood. Where is it?" Peach asked the man, attempting to recover from the initial shock.

Ren furrowed her brow, finding the man's appearance both strange and oddly natural. It was unconventional, yet he seemed to effortlessly pull it off.

"I think you've got the wrong house—wait! Shit! Sorry for cursing, but are you Hagoromo Otsutsuki from Naruto, the Sage of the Six Paths? Look, Peach! Nice costume!" Ren exclaimed happily as she recognized the man.

The man tilted his head and stared at them, then glanced at his hand as if holding something. Two glowing orbs appeared, which he raised to look through.

"It seems I'm in the right house," he said, smiling at them.

"What?" Ren asked, but before she could get an answer, the man stamped his cane on the floor, creating a thudding sound that enveloped the room in darkness.

Ren hastily grabbed her friend, pulling her close.

"What on earth!?" Peach exclaimed, looking around, clearly frightened.