HOCUS POCUS | H. SHINSO

I」WHISKEY AND WINGS

❝i don't want to stay at mommy's.
there's always scary people around her❞
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"What do you mean she doesn't want to stay with me this weekend?!" Koroko yelled through the phone, immediately earning glares from the other customers in the store, "She's my kid too, ya know!"

"Koroko, calm down," Her ex-boyfriend, Hayate, soothed through the phone, pissing her off even more because who the hell tells a woman to 'calm down', "That's what Koemi told me."

"No! She's gonna come over and spend time with her mom!" Koroko used the same tone, making one of the young employees come up to ask her to quiet down. She waved the employee off, continuing her loud phone call because her daughter was more important than being respectful.

"She said she's scared of your apartment," Hayate whispered over the line, so their daughter wouldn't overhear, "And to be honest, I kinda am too and I can't even see anything. Not to mention that she's-" Hayate's voice fell notch lower so she really wouldn't overheat and get scared, "She's at the age you were at when you started seeing things. I don't want her to be scared and you shouldn't either."

"Because God forbid she end up anything like me, right?" Koroko's voice cut through the line making Hayate heave a deep sigh. She could almost see him scratching his cheek through the phone.

"You take things too much to heart," He accused, even though it was factual, "I know you don't want her to be scared either so until she's old enough to understand, this is better. But right now, your apartment is riddled with spirits- and don't lie to me, I can feel them from the ground floor- and that damn cat that always stares at nothing."

"She's not staring at nothing-"

"Yeah, she's staring at spirits. Exactly. That doesn't make it any less creepy," Hayate interrupted, sighing again, "Anyways, I gotta go. Dinner's gonna burn."

Koroko frowned, clenching her phone even harder, "Fine. Kiss Koemi goodnight for me later on."

"Of course," Hayate smiled through the phone, Koroko could feel it, "Bye Koroko."

"Bye Hayate," Koroko hung up the phone and pocketed it, finally catching the glares from everyone in the grocery store, "Fucking dick."

She really shouldn't have been so upset towards him. Hayate was a good man and a great father, he just got wrapped up with the wrong girl.

Koroko frowned, turning her head and continuing to push the cart until it ran into a man much taller than her that was facing her throughout the entire duration of the call. Koroko flinched when her cart hit him, quickly apologizing. The young man rose his hand, shaking his head.

"It's fine," Koroko couldn't help but feel calmed by the evenness of his voice, "But I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"What?" Koroko's apologetic eyes hardened to glare within seconds, sizing up the purple-haired kid who hardly looked twenty, "I'm not leaving, I still have to get green onions."

"You have to leave, you're causing a disruption," The young man shoved his hands into his pockets, staring her down with his bored lilac eyes. Koroko could tell that he wasn't messing around with her developed police officer senses, so she took a different route.

"Okay, let me check out and I'll be out of your hair," She started pushing her cart to the front but it was abruptly halted by the man again.

"No, the manager wants you to leave," It was amazing how patient he was in this situation like he knew he was going to win either way.