[HIATUS] ♕ 𝒂 𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒍𝒊𝒆 ♕ -jibaku shonen hanako-kun

𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕡𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝟙

"Nene-chan!"

The said girl turned, alarmed. She had been sitting on her chair with her chin propped up on top of her table, daydreaming about her 'Prince Charming' until her best friend, Aoi Akane, tapped her shoulders hard.

"W-what is it, Aoi? You scared me!"

"Have you heard about School Mystery No. 8?" Aoi took a seat in front of Nene and turned the chair so that she is facing her best friend.

"No. 8...? I thought there were only 7 School Mysteries..."

"Exactly. There were only seven. But," she leaned her face towards Nene's, a habit of hers that indicates that she's about to tell a scary story, or the way she said it, a rumor.

"Recently, there is a rumor about the piano inside the abandoned music room on the 3rd floor of the west building playing by itself at noon..."

Nene felt chills creeping up her neck, but she frowned, trying to process all the information she heard from Aoi. All of the rumors that her best friend said turned out to be true, somehow, and if she wants to keep out from danger, she has to avoid going to the abandoned music room.

Or she could just tell Hanako about it and investigate the School Mystery together.

Seeing the eager look on Nene's face, Aoi continued. "Students who listen to the sound of piano playing are usually in awe at the beginning, but when it gets to the refrain of the song, most of them end up bewitched. They will start screaming in agony, while holding their ears as if something is ripping it, and..."

Nene gulped. "And...?"

"And the rest is unknown!" Her face then reverted back from the 'I want to tell you something scary' look to the 'angelic smile of the most popular girl in class 1A' look.

"Ehh? I thought you knew about it!" Nene whined to Aoi in disbelief. How is she supposed to explain to Hanako about this matter with just that little bit of information?

"Come on, Nene, if I knew everything, it wouldn't be called a School Mystery anymore!" Aoi giggled. "Let's go out to the cafeteria! I'm starving!"

+++

"It seems that the students have created a rumor about you, oh dear (y/n). What are you going to do? Are you going to wait for him to come and find you? Or are you going to flee?"

The (h/c) haired girl who is sitting on the piano bench remained emotionless, her fingers resting on top of the piano keys but not pressing a single note.

"You do realize that he will be afraid of you once he finds out what you have become, don't you? Are you still going to approach him with your current form? My, my, how persistent."

(y/n) turned to Natsuhiko Hyuuga with a scowl, unable to keep her temper any longer. She knew that this guy 'works' for Tsukasa, the supernatural being who saved her on the brink of her deathbed and the one who helps her to grant her greatest wish, but she couldn't bring herself to be friendly with this guy.

His face may look decent, but his personality is most certainly not.

"So how do you suggest I approach him?" (y/n) may not like him, but she still needs his help to figure out how to live as a supernatural, and how to play the role of 'School Mystery No. 8'.

"Hmm... maybe you could ask the other School Mysteries to help you? I'm a human, you know. I don't really know a lot about these kinds of things. But," Natsuhiko walked up to the entrance of the music room, (y/n)'s gaze following him with curiosity. "There is something about him that you have to be aware of."

"What is it?" She asked impatiently. If Natsuhiko is going to test her patience, he'd better have something valuable to tell her.

"Well... who knows?" And he left, just like that.

"Hey...!"

(y/n) turned back to the piano, sighing. She's very certain that the brown haired guy knows something about him一 the student council president of the school一 that she isn't aware of. She then started to reminisce about their past while her fingers danced on the piano keys.

Teru Minamoto. How long has it been since she last saw his smile? How long has that name been spoken out of her lips? How long has it been since she felt his hands in hers?

+++

"Hey, guys, look! It's that girl again! Don't you think her skin seems kind of weird? She looks like a ghost, white and thin!"

A little (y/n) was sitting on a park bench when several boys, about (y/n)'s age, approached her with suspicion on their faces, as if she's a being from another world. One of them, who seems like the oldest out of the group, reached out his hand to touch her face.

She cowered when the boy's palms made contact with her face, but did not dare to move away because of the trembling state she was currently in.

"Stop... someone help me..." The frightened girl began to whimper, hoping that somehow, someone could hear her and come to her aid.

"What are you doing, Kou?"

(y/n) looked up hesitantly when she felt the boy's palms move away from her face, only to see the rest of the group have disappeared and replaced with a boy who looks about 2 years older than her staring at her with a worried expression.

Her savior has an oddly similar face with the boy who just touched her, but strangely (y/n) didn't feel intimidated when he一 her savior一 approached her.

"My name is Teru Minamoto. I'm sorry if my little brother has frightened you, he does have a tendency to touch the things that piqued his interest without permission."

Her savior一 whom she just learnt that his name was Teru一 stretched out his hand towards her as a symbol of acquaintance, which she accepted shyly.

"M-my name is (y/n) (l/n)..."

+++

She ended her song with a graceful move across the piano keys, and stood up from the bench. Playing the song has become her daily routine since she became a School Mystery, and somehow also ended up being her powers because of the rumor. She was indeed aware of the terror she might cause to the students if they were to hear her playing the piano, but she didn't care.

Teru was the only reason she played.

Her music wouldn't bewitch him in the way that it bewitched the other students, because there is a part of the rumor that says: "There is one person throughout the entire school who will not be affected by her music". But this part of the rumor is made a secret, so only a few people are aware of it and those people who know don't want to get involved further into the matter.

Suddenly, (y/n) heard a knock on the door. Thinking that it was Natsuhiko trying to annoy her with some of his childish pranks, she proceeds to open the door. After all, no one besides the members of the school's broadcasting club knows about her existence.

I might as well pursue him about the secret that he told me earlier.

"What is it, Natsuhiko? I thought you don't want to tell me about一"

She froze mid-sentence.

The person standing in front of her wasn't any of the broadcasting club's members. It was a light cream haired girl with the School Mystery No.7一 Hanako一 standing (or rather, floating) right beside her.

Hanako beamed. "Nice to meet you, No. 8!"