Ghosts Aren't Real

Kinshiro still wasn't entirely used to having Yumoto around, but he had grown to enjoy the few times they were together. And, while Yumoto's way of thought was still a puzzle to him, he felt like he was slowly starting to understand him just a little better.

And he would guess Yumoto did quite like being around him. There were days where he would need to stay at school for a little longer after classes because of his Student Council work. And every single one of those times, without fail, Yumoto would show up and keep him company, often even bringing snacks to share with him. He would pull up a chair and sit in front of Kinshiro's desk. He had grown to appreciate Yumoto for that, and it was a pretty effective way of making those extra work days feel less stressful, even in the times where he didn't stick around for too long.

But on that day, Yumoto seemed a little weird. Or rather he was just acting different. He seemed very nervous and deep in thought about something. And Kinshiro had never seen him that way before.

"Did something happen?" He asked.

"Oh, nothing much. It's just…" Yumoto looked around, as if checking if there was someone else in the room, then leaned closer to Kinshiro and started whispering. "We were talking about some rumors in the club today. Did you know there's apparently a ghost around the school?"

Kinshiro was silent for a moment. Out of all the things he had guessed could have been  bothering Yumoto, this was definitely not one of them. "A… Ghost?"

"Yeah! Apparently, if you stay in school for too long after class, it's gonna start pulling pranks on you! You should avoid staying at school for extra work."

“Of course you’d believe that…” Kinshiro sighed. He knew Yumoto was kinda gullible, but didn't think he would be that gullible. "Ghosts aren't real."

Yumoto raised an eyebrow. "They aren't?"

"No. There's no scientific proof of ghosts being real. And even if they were, I think I'd be able to handle one whose only threat is some childish prank."

"Can you really be sure they aren't, though? I think there's plenty of stuff science can't explain."

"Like what?"

"Hm… Our powers, for example. Wombat said it's technology from his planet, but I don't really get it. It feels much more like magic to me."

"Well… I'll have to ask Wombat about it if we ever see him again. I'm sure they must have much more advanced knowledge than we do."

Yumoto sat up straight again, then started looking at his Loveracelet. "If we can still transform, do you think our powers would be effective against a ghost?"

"They could be. But I don't want to even think about how it could damage the school." Kinshiro rubbed his forehead. Yumoto wasn't exactly the most careful person in the world, so he could imagine what would happen if he decided to just shoot some beam at something he thought was a ghost.

He sighed, putting the papers away. He wasn't completely done yet, but he could still get to school earlier the next day. "If you're so worried about this, we can just go home and you'll see there's nothing to worry about."

"Don't you still have work to do, though?"

"I'll handle it tomorrow."

Yumoto shrugged, then smiled. "We should get going then, we'll catch a ghost!"

"That's not-" Kinshiro started, but then sighed. Just showing him that there was no ghost would be much more productive than trying to tell him that. "Forget it. Let's just go."

The moment they stepped out of the Student Council Office, Yumoto was immediately glued to Kinshiro's side by holding onto his arm, keeping his Loveracelet close to his face and constantly looking in all directions. He started relaxing a little as they moved along, but still had his guard up enough that he would notice very small sounds and be suspicious of all of them.

"You don't have to be that scared." Kinshiro said.

"But you're relaxing too much! If the ghost shows up, I've gotta be ready to protect you!"

Kinshiro didn't really know how to reply to that. He chuckled, not being able to help the small smile that formed on his face. "Thank you, Yumoto."

Yumoto nodded at him with a smile before going straight back to his "guarding". He kept at it until they actually stepped out of the school. That was when he finally relaxed completely, letting go of Kinshiro's arm.

"See? No ghosts." Kinshiro said.

"Hm… I guess you could be right…" Yumoto just stared at the school for a moment before turning to him and smiling. "But that doesn't mean there can't be another ghost eventually! You should still be careful! It's not everyday that you'll have me around!"

Kinshiro sighed again. Maybe there really was no use trying to reason with him. "Let's just go home already. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Fine. Seeya!" Yumoto waved at him with a smile as he rushed ahead.

Kinshiro waved and smiled back. Even if it had gotten a little in the way of his work, he would still say it had been fun. Having Yumoto around could bring pretty unexpected results.

However, he still would need to have a serious talk with Atsushi and maybe En for just letting Yumoto believe such a thing. They of all people should know how careless he was, after all. But that was something he would have to do later, preferably once he actually managed to finish his work.