Archive of Our Own

Going ghost hunting on Christmas might not be the ideal plan for some people but for Yuuji it's pretty alright. He's never been a big Christmas guy, what can he say. He thinks it's a little too Western for him but all of his friends (the two he currently has, that is) say he's being too "woke" about it and to chill out. God forbid he's concerned about the westernisation of the east.

Either way, while Christmas music is spilling out of restaurants and shops, Yuuji isn't too bothered that he's on his way to the bus stop instead of chilling at home. His grandpa is in the hospital anyway, which means he hadn't bothered putting up the decorations this year. Yuuji would only be sitting on his own anyway and being with his friends seems moderately less sad.

"I can't believe this," Iguchi mumbles under his breath, rubbing his hands together and breathing on them to warm them up. Beside him, wrapped up in far too many layers for it to be comfortable, Sasaki huffs and rolls her eyes. She's got her hands stuffed into her pockets, face barely visible underneath her scarf and hat combo. Yuuji offers Iguchi his gloves silently. With a grateful look, he takes them. "Remind me why this couldn't wait until tomorrow? Or, I don't know, when it's not freezing cold?"

"Because!" Sasaki says and deems that the whole sentence with the way she harrumphs and turns away slightly, eyes closed. Iguchi stops her from slipping on ice by holding onto her arm but otherwise doesn't do much to help her walk through the street with her eyes closed.

"That's not an answer!"

"It is! Besides, the legend says it only comes out on Christmas Eve! It's not like we haven't celebrated with out families either, so be quiet and get on the bus!"

"It's not even here yet," Iguchi grumbles, unable to rebut that they could do this tomorrow. The legend is pretty clear that it only appears on Christmas Eve which… Yuuji is willing to accept, a little. He's not a sceptic, per se, but he's not quiet a believer either despite him being in the occult club.

Briefly ignoring his friends, Yuuji lets his gaze wander around the street. With the ice covering parts of the sidewalk, many people are grasping onto each other. Not all of them are wearing "festive" clothing, although there is a group of older boys wearing Christmas sweaters and stumbling through the streets. An old woman walking past them grimaces and steers clear of them, grumbling under her breathe. Christmas hasn't gotten so popular here that the shops have closed down, though in a larger city like Tokyo it might be so. Here in Sendai, things are pretty low-key. Yuuji thinks so at least.

"Oh," Yuuji says and points towards a stand by the bus stop, "it's shortcake." There's one thing he's always liked about Christmas time — the food. It's always so good and the memories of it are perfect. The first meal he remembers is a Christmas meal with his grandpa, sitting at the table and sharing some KFC. The chips have changed, and so has his order completely, but sometimes it's nice to reminisce on. He walks over without looking back to see if Iguchi and Sasaki are following him, letting their chatter fade into the background as more and more conversations flow through the air.

Yuuji asks for three. If the other two don't want them, then he can always wrap them up and save them for himself and his Grandpa tomorrow. The vendor is very kind and offers him a discount since he's a "young lad" out on Christmas and Yuuji, who manages to live off what his Grandpa has saved up and a small stipend from the Government, doesn't argue. He doesn't have a lot of money, not that he's complaining!

While walking back over to his friends, Yuuji thinks over this whole night. The flavour of strawberries bursts over his tongue as his thoughts trace back to the moment Sasaki slammed a book down on the table in the occult club, proclaiming she found the best gift for them in the world. A local legend, she explained, centred entirely around Christmas. Iguchi argues that one peaceful night would be gift enough but she's got her mind set on it.

Apparently, some fifty odd years ago, a young woman and her husband lived in a house in the woods. On Christmas Eve, they both disappeared, leaving their child inside. The child starved to death before anyone noticed and the smell of it's corpse attracted wolves and coyotes.

It was the howling that alerted the villagers nearby. He's not too sure why this has got such a strong link to Christmas beyond when the couple disappeared but Sasaki thinks it's got a link to the perpetrator of their sudden disappearance, a creature that walks free during the coldest night of the year. There wasn't much written about it but it spread through word of mouth like a wildfire every time the holiday came up. It apparently feasted on their skin, attracting the other by wearing it briefly. It reminds Yuuji a little of a skin-walker which, admittedly, is a terrifying concept.

( Although in a different variation that Yuuji heard when he asked around the hospital about it, some people think it attracted hem into the woods and took them there. A few people disagreed on what the creature actually was. The version of it that reminded Yuuji of an anime character, something that could sprout wood and killed them by creating a spruce tree in their lungs, was somehow the nicest version he's heard. He definitely prefers it over a literal, freaking skin-walker. )

Everything there has been frozen in time, constantly cold and dewy no matter what time of year it is, and the only thing that grows and flourishes is the pine tree in the centre of a clearing not too far from the house. It's supposed to be where the creature lives during the year, Sasaki said when Iguchi pulled a face, a gleeful smile across her face. Yuuji wonders if maybe the soil just isn't too great cause it's been neglected for a very long time but holds his tongue for once. If it'll keep Sasaki happy, and means he doesn't need to buy his senpai a gift, then Yuuji will gladly freeze his toes off for one night.

While waiting for the bus, which is already ten minutes late, Yuuji offers his friends the other two shortcakes. Sasaki declines and mumbles about her mother while Iguchi takes his. Yuuji tucks the remaining one into his pocket, making a mental note to put it into Sasaki's bag later. It would have been nice to have it but she clearly wants it. For the record, Yuuji greatly dislikes her mother. Across the street, a car pulls up and a young boy steps out of it. He's got spiky black hair and his face is tucked into the collar of his uniform. Yuuji briefly wonders what type of school would command their students to wear the uniform all the time but doesn't have much time to mull it over since the bus arrives, screeching down the street.

On the bus ride over, Iguchi's teeth chatter and Sasaki shakes. The bus's heating is broken. Yuuji, who runs cold all the time, stretches out his fingers every few minutes as to not lose the feeling in them. Slowly, a small noise catches his attention, a constant whine in his left ear. Just what he needs, he thinks, and makes a mental note to get some ear medication in case he's getting an ear infection. The cold has settled into his bones by the time they get off, standing under one dim street lamp as the bus drives away. It's dark, has been for some time, and a thought suddenly occurs to him.

"How are we getting home? That was the last bus."

Silence.

When he turns, Sasaki is staring straight ahead like if she doesn't look at him, then she didn't hear him. Iguchi has his hands clasped in prayer when Yuuji turns to him, eyes turned heavenward and a slight tremor going through him that might not be the cold. Yuuji nods once, confidently. Okay.

"Okay. Let's deal with that later."

"Alright," both Iguchi and Sasaki say in unison, shoulders dropping in relief. Mentally, Yuuji checks if the amount of money he's got on him would be enough for a taxi and scolds himself for getting those shortcakes. Maybe Iguchi would have some? He's got a pretty big bag with him. Maybe Sasaki can get her aunt to come pick them up?

"This way," Sasaki mumbles as she pulls out a map, going down the road the same way the bus went. We could have stayed on for a bit longer, Yuuji sullenly thinks to himself, except here we're warming up by walking. Iguchi has a cellphone and he could, theoretically, use it as a map except he never charges it. It's the most annoying thing ever. Sasaki, who also has a phone, won't use it for anything other than texting her parents for fear of the government watching her. Yuuji truly does have the worst friends ever. Right as they reach the end of the light given off by the lamp, Sasaki turns left. There is no left turn here.

"There is no left turn here," Yuuji says and points towards where the road is heading which is, rather pointedly, towards the right. She's walking in snow and grass. Sasaki whips around and stares at him over the edge of the map, her eyes hidden from view by the glare of her glasses. Yuuji blinks. He turns left as well, heading into the grass with her. Himself and Iguchi share a look of pure confusion, although both of them are content to go where she leads.

The thing is about Iguchi and Sasaki is that they're both cowards. Yuuji doesn't mind it — in fact, he almost thinks it's endearing. So, maybe cowards isn't the right word for what they are but he doesn't think without him to lead the way, they'd be able to do any of the scary stuff Sasaki loves. As they venture further into the grass, and away from the dim light of the streetlamp, Sasaki starts to lag. So does Iguchi. They've all got flashlights with them, and without much preamble, Yuuji pulls his out. The other two fall in beside him, slightly behind and gripping the sleeves of his jacket.

Slowly, the house comes into view. Yuuji feels a small thrill run down his spine at the sight of it, shrouded in the trees. He doesn't see the clearing anywhere with the supposed nest in it, but the sight of the house has the two behind him clutching a little harder. Briefly, he aims the flashlight towards the ground to make sure he's not going to trip or anything and only has enough time to flash the house again before Iguchi is pulling his arm down. The light spills across the dirt.

"What is that!" He exclaims, pointing to an area on the ground. Yuuji squints. All he sees is dirt.

"What?!" Sasaki squeaks, unsettled already.

"There are footprints." For such a big guy, he can really shrink into himself, Yuuji thinks wryly, watching his shoulders curl and his face drop. He can almost hear the thudding of his heart, Iguchi's chest nearly level to his head.

"I don't see them," Yuuji mumbles and then shrugs, continuing forward. Iguchi mumbles that he needs glasses but lets it go, taking out his own flashlight to keep pointed at the ground in case he sees more. Yuuji focuses again on their goal. They avoid that specific spot of grass though.

These guys must have had a lot of money. Sendai went through a brief economical crisis at the time and poverty is still clear in some places, even now. There are, what his Grandpa calls, "Nice Parts" and "Bad Parts" of town. This family would have lived in the Nice Parts. A more traditional house lies in front of them, tall and long. It's leaning a touch towards the left. The roof has collapsed in some places, leaving dark spots on the otherwise black wood, and the slant to it allows for much more visibility than he'd thought. The front door has a long plank across it but the claw marks underneath it and the gaping hole behind don't do much to deter people from going in.

"Should we… go inside now? Or go find the tree first?" Sasaki asks, voice tight.

"Let's go in," Yuuji says and reassures them both with a smile. If they don't go in now, then he doubts they ever will. With a small groan slipping free from his pale lips, Iguchi takes the first step forward. The wood creaks under their combined weight as they climb onto the shabby porch, a rough sound that echoes throughout the space. The wooden plank across the door comes off with a small pull and Yuuji sets it down to the side, careful to avoid the rusty nails. Inside, dust swirls. Yuuji squints.

"Hand me back the light," he murmurs and Sasaki complies, reaching into her bag for her own. The map gets folded up and pushed back in as well, a notebook and a few pens being taken out instead. Yuuji shines the light in on the ground in front of them. "Okay, I see those ones," Yuuji admits as everyone stares at the tracks in the room. The dust has been unsettled in certain places — the mantelpiece, the table, the small bookshelf in the corner. There's a thin box in the centre of the table, left open and gaping. There's no dust on it.

"This doesn't mean a supernatural creature was here," he says, more to himself than anyone else since Sasaki is already bounding across the room to collect "samples". Iguchi moves with her, sliding the cover of the box closed and picking it up to inspect the carvings on it. "There's trash in the corner, it could be a homeless person coming through." Although, they are far from the city. It's more likely to be a camper taking shelter from the cold weather.

Sasaki, with barely concealed excitement in her voice, goes over the plan one more time. Yuuji listens intently this time, aware that since her fright has worn off a touch, she'll be much more strict about gathering data for their report. Iguchi is to collect anything he thinks might be off or related to the victims, whether it be clothing or a hairbrush. This is for the supposed seance later in the night. He did not know they were doing that and prays to every god possible it doesn't scare Sasaki and Iguchi too much. Sasaki herself is going to map out the downstairs rooms, taking her notebook and her pens in hand. She'll be helping Iguchi while he's downstairs. Yuuji will be doing the same thing but for the upper levels, however many there are. There's only supposed to be one more level to the house but the plans are old and she couldn't get the physical copy, only the poorly copied version online.

"Here," Iguchi says and hands over his phone, "just in case. Sasaki has her phone on her and if you need her, her number is on speed dial 4." Yuuji hesitates to take it, given that they seem much more afraid than he does, but it makes sense that if they were splitting up, they should have a way to reach each other.

Yuuji would feel a little mad that he's got to go upstairs on his own but frankly, Iguchi and Sasaki will help keep each other calm. He takes a few pages off her as well as a pen, giving her a thumbs up to let her know he's good. Yuuji winces as the ringing in his ear gets a bit sharper, but he chalks it up to the quietness of the countryside drawing it out more. There doesn't seem to be any more, uh, signs of something in the house when he climbs the stairs, besides how they creak and groan underneath him.

Sasaki calls up that he can't die otherwise they won't have anyone to bully and that a younger boy dying with them is bad for her rep. Yuuji doesn't bother with an answer, though he does smile a little to himself. Using the torch to see the way in front of him, Yuuji reaches the top of the stairs and looks around. A long hallway greats him, stretching both from the left and the right. At the end of the right side, he can see slivers of light and assumes that there's a window that's been boarded up. Down the left, there's nothing.

The right it is.

Inside the first room, there's not much. It appears to be an old office, a desk and broken chair to one side with a dusty bookshelf to the other. There wasn't much to be found about the family because all Sasaki could find was that they were married and had a child, named Yamato. The family name was Nakamura. On the desk there's a frame and Yuuji wipes off the thick layer of grime to be met with a photo of the family, a young woman sitting in a chair with a baby in her hands and a young…ish man standing behind her with a hand on her shoulder. Shrugging to himself, Yuuji pops open the frame and takes the photo. Sasaki said to grab anything that might be important, and this could be right?

He doesn't recognise any of the books. They're all old and some of them are even in English. He spots a few Chinese ones, and can barely make it past the first word. He isn't doing very well in his language class. They have a few strange symbols on them and Yuuji takes the time to sketch a few out, though they don't mean much to him. Using the desk, he draws a map of the stairs and the hallway, and labels the first room off to the right "office".

The next few rooms don't reveal much either. The second one is something of a prayer room, pictures of deities lining the walls and a strangely shaped statue in the centre. Yuuji raises an eyebrow at the four arms. He doesn't recall there being many deities with only four arms. Only one mat on the ground as well. Maybe the wife was too busy with the child? The third room is a bedroom, obviously designed for a kid. A few toys have broken down over the years but a small stuffed bee has held up. Yuuji chuckles to himself and puts it back onto the cot. Actually, obvious charm aside that the room has, it's a little sad it was never put to use.

The fourth room, and final one on this side of the hallway, has a connecting door to the kids room. Yuuji assumes it the parents room. Inside, there's a bit of a clutter — like someone left in rush.

"What the hell?" Yuuji mumbles to himself, holding the flashlight in his mouth and takes Iguchi's phone out. He snaps a couple pictures of the mess; the tangled sheets, the overturned crib with the suspicious brown stains on it, the claw marks on the walls. Yuuji thinks those must have been from the wolves and the stain on the crib takes a grimmer meaning. There's a suitcase, mostly empty, collecting dirt and dust in it. Yuuji puts down the phone to draw the final room on this side of the house.

"Master Bedroom" is written on the map then and, in smaller lettering, he scribbles down "murder scene?". Whatever Sasaki says, wolves don't pack bags, not for both a man and a woman. Standing up and rubbing the back of his neck, Yuuji shivers a bit. The room got colder while he was walking around or maybe from standing still he's finally noticed the cold. He can see his breath and there's a fog building on the windows. Wincing, Yuuji rubs his ear. God, he must be getting a bad infection for it to hurt this much.

Exiting the master bedroom makes him feel better. Being in the same room that a child supposedly died in was making him uncomfortable. As he approaches the stairway, he can hear a bit of a commotion downstairs. Sasaki shrieks and there's a sound like Iguchi has knocked something over, and Yuuji doesn't hesitate to race down the stairs with his torch pointing towards where all the sound is from. As soon as his feet his the ground floor, something scuttles between them and he hops around a little bit. Yuuji slips on a piece of paper that Sasaki must have dropped and his ass hits the ground faster than his head.

"Ew! Ew ew ew! Yuuji!" Sasaki shrieks again and points at him. Yuuji whips around to see something furry race up the stairs. He lets out a sigh. Standing up, he turns around to point accusationally at the two clutching each other in what appears to be a kitchen off to the side.

"I thought you were dying!" He practically roars, wiping off some dirt from his pants. In the pale light of the torches, Sasaki actually seems a little faint. Iguchi is a bit green as well. "NEVER scream like that again when we're in a literal haunted house!"

"It touched my leg!" Iguchi argues back, pointing towards where there's a little scratch mark on his pants.

"I though a monster had taken you guys to the depths of hell!" Yuuji exclaims, wiping the cold sweat that broke across his forehead away. Underneath all his layers, he's pretty sure a fine layer of sweat built up, well, everywhere. His hearts racing and the aftermath of adrenaline coursing through him has his hands shaking a bit. "You could have been—"

A crash sounds upstairs. Yuuji stops midway through his rant, still pointing at Iguchi angrily, and his eyes widen. Sasaki gasps and sways, and Yuuji catches her in instinct. In their silence, Yuuji can barely make out the sounds of paw prints upstairs. His heart stutters in his chest since the wood here might be a little mouldy but it's old and heavy. For something to be loud enough to be heard through it? Yuuji doesn't think about the claw marks in the master bedroom.

"It's probably a wolf," he says to Iguchi who has his hands clasped in prayer.

"That's not much better," Sasaki shakily says, clutching his jacket tightly.

"We should go," Yuuji whispers and everyone nods along with him. Very quickly, but also very quietly, they gather their things and practically leap out the door. The porch makes a loud sudden noise when they race across it but it doesn't matter since a loud growl reverberates through the house and they all pick up speed. Yuuji, who runs faster than both of them combined, picks up a dizzy Sasaki and grabs Iguchi by the collar to heft him onto his back. They make it back to the road quickly after that, Yuuji breathing harshly. He lets Iguchi and Sasaki down and they both collapse onto their asses.

"Maybe a… bad idea to go so late at night," Sasaki says to herself and Yuuji holds back a scathing remark. She ruffles through her bag and Yuuji watches her pull out a phone. A sense of dread hits him and he turns back to the house. Yuuji closes his eyes in mortification and pats his pockets, just in case he put it back and forgot.

"I'm gonna call my aunt to come pick us up," Sasaki says and Iguchi nods vehemently, sitting down on the road beside her. Yuuji stays standing and looks back towards the house. Iguchi's family isn't well off. They're like him. He's heard his mother talk to his dad about rent and getting another job when he stayed over for the night. He remembers when Iguchi got that phone, he didn't come with a packed lunch to school for a while. He said it was fine, Sasaki's family has more money than they know what to do with and it always makes Iguchi embarrassed to admit his is struggling, but Yuuji knows why. He needs to go back for that phone.

"I'll be right back," Yuuji says and starts heading back towards the house. Both his friends turn to look at him incredulously.

"Are you kidding?! We nearly died!" Iguchi bursts out, gesturing back towards the house.

"It's not actually haunted," Yuuji says but pauses when Sasaki gets a funny, hurt look on her face, "or at least we didn't prove it wasn't. It was just… a big dog. Besides, I left my… torch in there, when I fell at the stairs. My grandpa would kill me if I lost that thing." Without waiting for them to answer, Yuuji turned back towards the house and broke off in a light jog. He could hear them yelling at him to come back but Yuuji, who perhaps takes a bit more responsibility on in his life than anyone else, feels like he has to get back into that house. His head hurts. His ear hasn't stopped ringing and, during his more panicked times, it sounds vaguely like a scream.

It's doing absolutely nothing to calm his racing heart.

The house isn't any more or less scary the second time he approaches. He might notice things a bit more, the claw marks on the ground, the foreboding aura that seems to stem from it. It might have even gotten darker? He can't tell. When Yuuji walks through the front door, a chill goes through him. It feels like he's walked into a freezer. Through the general darkness of the room, he can barely make out the distorted shape of the furniture; a long curving lamp across the room, the couch, two pairs of beady eyes staring at him, as well as the entry way to the kitchen. He turns towards the stairs and then, very suddenly stops.

Turns back towards the sitting room.

Stares into the muzzle of a wolf he really should have heard coming.

Yuuji's heart drops to his stomach and he recoils back, hands raising to cover his face and eyes sliding shut in fear. He felt it's warmth breath on his chest, even through his coat. There's no wonder why he didn't see the thing considering it's pitch black inside and the dark fur does wonders for the wolves camouflage. Heart racing and mind blank, Yuuji takes a few hurried steps backwards, back hitting a wall. He doesn't collapse but it's a near thing. He braces and braces and braces, for a bite, a growl, a snarl that will, apparently, never come. Instead of the wolf, something else snaps at him. Or rather, someone.

"I thought you left!" Someone barks at him, coming out of the shadows to stand in front of him. Yuuji's mouth opens a bit, shocked. He stares at the boy across from him, wondering just how he could have missed him in the house. He's got striking features — long, spiky black hair, a beautiful pair of moss green eyes that stand out starkly against his pale skin, exacerbated by the cold weather. There's a pink flush on his cheeks. Yuuji feels himself get warm even looking at him, the terror that shot through his body replaced with something much more pleasant. "Kuro, go check upstairs again," he says to the wolf, dog?, and it prowls away. Yuuji thinks it's tail might actually wiggle a bit.

"I forgot something," he says back on instinct, eyes flitting over to the staircase. The boy raises an eyebrow at him, unimpressed.

"So you came back into the haunted house after you and you're friends scuttled out of here?"

"We didn't scuttle!" Yuuji protests, almost finding it funny how unamused the other boy is, but there's something familiar about him that has Yuuji squinting. His clothing is pretty basic, actually, aside from the unique buttons and the high collar. Yuuji assumes it's some sort of uniform, though it couldn't possibly be for a school since it's Christmas break. When he turns his head to look away, most likely irritated at Yuuji, it clicks in his head. "I saw you earlier on! Yeah, when I was waiting for the bus with my friends. What're you doing here?"

"I could ask you that," he grumbles, stepping away and towards the staircase. The sound of his wolf-dog-thing upstairs goes quiet. Whatever emotion was on his face suddenly drains away and his gaze snaps up the stairs, rather than on the floor where he was absentmindedly poking Iguchi's phone with the toe of his shoe. Yuuji reaches forward to grab the phone, intent on grabbing it before he gets distracted talking to this guy but his wrist is clutched tight in a strong grip before he can take it.

Caught halfway leaning down, Yuuji has to look up slightly at the guy. He tilts his head and starts to ask what he's doing because, frankly, it's weird to suddenly grab people when he sees that he's got his own phone and and texting someone with one hand.

"Uh, can you let go?"

"You need to leave."

The stranger lifts his phone up and takes a picture of something before letting go of Yuuji's hand, kicking the phone closer to him. His face hasn't gotten much paler than before, the moon light doing his skin tone no favours, but there's a thin layer of sweat building on him that has Yuuji raising an eyebrow.

"Are you, like, a ghost hunter or something?" Yuuji asks as he pockets the phone, assured now that Iguchi won't have to go back to his parents with his metaphorical tail between his legs.

"What?" the boy asks, astonished and shooting him an ugly look. Yuuji shrugs and makes a vague motion in front of himself, like that's a defence he can use.

"You came here all alone, you're taking phots of things and it's the middle of the night!"

"You're doing those things too?" He points out and then squints at Yuuji, like there's something off about him. Stepping closer, the strange (and only getting stranger by the second) boy tilts his head, eyes looking around Yuuji instead of directly at him. He comes closer and closer and then, impossibly, closer still. Yuuji is caught staring into his green eyes, wondering if it's really a small slip of brown he sees in the left one or if it's the lighting. He's so distracted that he doesn't even notice him raising a hand, transfixed by his frown. He mumbles something, half a question and more of a demand for Yuuji to stay still, and bats at the air beside his ear. The ringing intensifies for one brief second before cutting completely.

"Whoa! How did you do that?" Yuuji rubs his ear, glad that it's not that sore anymore. It was more of a background ache than anything but he couldn't exactly go to the doctor this week, or even get medicine for an ear infection. Maybe he should stop wearing earmuffs and thick hats… the heat might be irritating them? When he gets to school, he'll look it up on one of the computers.

"You had a — never mind. Ghosts or whatever you believe in," he says, more to himself than Yuuji, but he hears it anyway. They stay still for a second, Yuuji looking slightly up at the other boy. He's taller than Yuuji is. After a second, the boy looks away and ducks his head down into the collar of his shirt, moving away from Yuuji. They keep moving down the hallway.

"Do you actually believe that there's such a thing as ghosts?"

"Do you?" he asks, absent mindedly, staring at something on the wall. Yuuji walks closer to him, wondering how old he is, what he's doing here, and tries to see whatever it is that's caught this strangers attention. Yuuji can't see it. There's something increasingly strange about this boy and for some odd reason he feels drawn to him, maybe, or he could just be interested. Yuuji can't remember the last time he was honestly interested in someone. Looking up and resting his hands behind his neck, Yuuji leans back just a little so that he's comfortable.

Now that he's with someone else that isn't as afraid as Iguchi and Sasaki can get, this place isn't so bad. Also, the apparent ghost hunters wolf-dog thing could explain the sound they heard earlier on as well as the disturbances in the dust. He could be the footprints too.

Yuuji chuckles. He feels stupid for being so worried earlier on. He wonders if it'll spoil all the fun for Sasaki if he tells her that there was another ghost hunter around that was responsible for all her "evidence" or if he should let it go this time.

"Not really," Yuuji mumbles, then backtracks when he sees the deadpan expression he's been given, "okay well, a little? It's just that — there's so much out there we don't know. Like how we've only explored five percent of the ocean or genetics, you know? We're still discovering stuff now. So we don't know enough to prove if it's real, but you also can't prove it doesn't either. I'm neutral, I guess," he finishes, only feeling sort of lame. He gets it's a touchy subject for some of the hard core believers, like Sasaki, but it's hard to believe in spirits and ghosts and kami when there's no physical proof behind it. It's also hard to disparage it when there are a lot of places like this house, a feeling lingering in the air.

"Cool," the stranger says with a slow nod, like it was too much information for what he asked. Yuuji shrugs. "You were leaving," he reminds and then turns and walks away, heading up the stairs.

"Actually, I was asking what your name is, not leaving," Yuuji says quickly, following him up the stairs. He only hesitates a second when he sees the boy head own to the left, disappearing into the shadows with grace. Yuuji follows after him. He catches up easily, grinning at the nasty look he's been given.

Yuuji stays close to the stranger. He's not afraid, no way, but if they'd gone down to the right he'd be more comfortable leaving some more space between them. The darkness is overwhelming, he's barely able to see his foot when he takes a step forward, but the boy beside him moves forward like he knows where each panel of wood is. He turns into a room and turns on the flashlight on his phone to illuminate it. Yuuji sees the dog before he hears it, two yellow eyes staring at him.

"It's Fushiguro," comes his stilted answer. Yuuji smiles at him, even if it sounds like he wasn't too pleased to be handing out his name. There's a grimace on his face. It only gets worse when he sees Yuuji's wide smile, and Fushiguro stares for a second before turning away to walk towards his dog. "You got it, now you can go."

"You're dog is kinda scary," Yuuji comments while wandering around the room, poking at the books on the shelf. These guys must have been avid readers, he thinks to himself, staring at the spines of the books. While faded, it's easy to tell they're not the typical book, each of them having a strange symbol down at the bottom. Looking up, Yuuji misses the look Fushiguro gives him for the comment, confused.

"They're not dogs," he says. Yuuji pauses at the strange tone, as if Fushiguro is trying to clue him into some secret. Despite how he turns the sentence over in his head though, there isn't a secret hidden meaning no matter which way he turns it.

"Is it a wolf?" Certainly big enough to be one. Fushiguro stares at him from across the room before he shakes his head, apparently moving on. Huh. Did Yuuji fail or something? He feels a little disappointed that he missed something but something under the bed catches off the light of Fushiguro's phone, a glint in the overly dark room. He walks over to it, wondering in the back of his mind what they needed another bedroom for, and bends down. Yuuji's kneed scuff off the ground, dust collecting on his pants.

"What are you — get off the ground!" Fushiguro sounds a little too grossed out for someone that was casually walking around an abandoned house but Yuuji ignores him. He sounds a little… far away, to be honest. Like he's at the end of a tunnel Yuuji's on the opposite side of. Frowning, Yuuji bends at the waist and looks under the bed. Right in the centre, is a small glass box hanging from the bed frame. It moves a little, knocking whatever is in it around but Yuuji cant seem to see what it is. It blurs and moves out of focus every time the box moves.

Arm pressed to the ground, he reaches in. And reaches. And reaches. It's almost as if the closer his hand gets, the further the box gets. Yuuji huffs, and slides closer to the bed. His face is practically on the ground, inhaling dirt and dust and whatever else is littering the floor. His shoulder bumps into the bed frame, sending a small jolt down his spine. He's almost there, fingers ghosting off the side of the box. His face is pressed to something cool and out of the corner of his eye, he sees something black lining the ground, but he can't register it. Must be a scorch mark or something. If he could just reach a little… farther… in…

"Move!" Fushiguro's hand slaps on his shoulder, hauling him up and away from the bed. Something turns it over, a huge green blob in his peripheral, but Yuuji's eyes follow the box. His back hits the wall painfully and it jolts him out of the daze, eyes widening as they lock with Fushiguro's wide green ones. His hands are clutching at Yuuji's jacket, the fabric bunching in his firm grip, knuckles white. There's something in his eyes that has Yuuji focusing more, the tightness around the edges.

"What—" Yuuji trails off, trying to figure out why he feels so brain dead. He can't form a cohesive thought. The bed is overturned on the other side of the room, the box lying between two of the wooden supports. On the opposite side of it is…

"Is that a giant frog?" Yuuji asks, strangely breathless. His head hurts. Actually, he generally is in pain which sort of sucks. "Also, how strong are you?" He feels like he got thrown through a wall, not pushed against one.

Fushiguro seems… defensive, somehow. He squints at Yuuji and doesn't answer either of his questions despite how the gigantic frog (? maybe?) spits out its tongue and blurs after a second. His head hurts trying to see what its doing so he looks back at Fushiguro. A tightness around his eyes, a slight purse of his lips — Yuuji's grandfather looks like that whenever he asks about his parents. There's something here Fushiguro doesn't particularly want to tell him.

The house seems to rattle for a second before, somehow, Yuuji's vision settles. His headache clears. Yuuji absolutely, a hundred percent, has gone crazy. Something in him softly clicks into place.

There's a small creature (?) sitting on the upturned bed, hissing and splitting out liquid at Fushiguros Frogs tongue, and even if it fizzles and steams a little, it seems fine. Its wrapped protectively around the box. Yuuji can see inside it now, even if its still jingling around in the mouse-like things grubby little hands. His nose wrinkles at the sight of an old, red finger. The muscles are torn and visible, a little staining on the box. A sharp black nail touches the edge of the box, little white lines torn into the top of it from the finger moving around.

Something akin to dread builds in him. It feels a little like excitement as well but it bites too much, stings in his cut a little more than it should. His stomach hurts, although it's less like nausea and more like a hunger pang.

"I don't have time to explain this to you," Fushiguro mumbles under his breath, looking back towards the rest of the room. While the frog is busy trying to grasp the box, the wolf had slipped out of Yuuji's notice. Fushiguro doesn't seem too worried about the animal. "You need to leave."

It's not like before when Fushiguro seemed irritated that he was hanging around but, grudgingly, let him come along. This time instead of annoyance in his tone, maybe a bit of exasperation, Fushiguro is genuinely telling him to leave. He's not… afraid but there's a harshness there, a small growl that has the hairs on the back of his neck sticking up. Feeling less and less dazed as the seconds tick by, Yuuji nods. His grandpa always told him to mind his business and this does not seem like his business any more.

Fushiguro stays in the room when Yuuji leaves but, despite how he tries to calm down, he stays tense. It sort of feels like someone is watching him which makes no sense but the feeling lingers. When he turns back into the dark hallway, he expects to see a pair of yellow eyes maybe or the outline of Fushiguro in the doorway making sure he actually leaves. The phone in his pocket buzzes, most likely a text from Sasaki about her aunt. Yuuji doesn't pull out the phone. If he just focuses hard enough, stares into the darkness a little harder than he might have before, he swears he can see something. It's moving.

No.

Yuuji turns around and goes back to the staircase.

His grandpa is in hospital, Yuuji can't cause trouble for him. They're not exactly struggling but Yuuji can't say he's living a life of luxury either and if, god forbid, something were to happen to him and then they had his hospital bills to take care of as well? No, Yuuji needs to do what Gramps always says he should do. Put his head down, work hard, and live a life he'd be proud of when he's as old as gramps. When he takes the steps down, he doesn't look back or imagine what the hell Fushiguro is. He doesn't think about how the frog had a strange symbol on it's stomach, how the wolf had a similar one of it's head. He doesn't question his faith in the paranormal, doesn't count up evidence to Fushiguro being something other.

He makes it to the front porch, much farther than the small voice in his head thought he'd get, before there's a loud bang upstairs. Yuuji looks up just in time to see Fushiguro go flying out a broken window, body twisting in the air, drops of blood falling from him as he soars. He makes a strange hand signal and then, out of nowhere, a huge bird catches him. He hangs from a single talon and looks down, straight at Yuuji.

Something wraps around his leg before Fushiguro can tell him to run away.

Yuuji's world blurs for the second time that night. The house is a mass of darkness underneath him as his body swings upwards, something long and black attached onto his leg. There's a loud creak underneath him, as if a tree fell, and then the sickeningly sweet smell of candy takes over his senses. Another loud creak and the grip on his ankles tightens, tightens, then breaks. He's soaring over the woods before he can react and beyond the thought of holy shit the paranormal is real, there's a very prominent thought of I'm going to die.

The air is cold on his face, a whip lashing on his exposed skin, and the top of a tree grazes his stomach as he starts to dip downwards. Between one beat and the next, Yuuji is descending further into the forest, branches swatting his face and cutting the skin around his neck. His hand grasps a branch but it cracks underneath the combination of his weight and momentum, sending him tumbling over himself. The ground is plummeting closer or, rather, Yuuji is plummeting towards the ground.

He could probably land safely if he was turned the right way and not going as quick. But he can't. He can see it so clearly it's almost frightening — his body slamming into the ground and turning into a mess of broken bones, blood seeping out around him, cold and broken. Dying on Christmas Eve. What would his grandpa do?

Yuuji's middle is caught and twin sensations of teeth dig into his stomach, the hot breath of a pant up against him, before he's tumbling again. Something incredibly large and soft is underneath him, every harsh pant coming out of it's jaw warm across his chilled body, much bigger than the first wolf. Yuuji's heart is hammering in his chest as he looks at the amalgamation underneath him, what appears to be the black wolf and maybe a white one? He's so confused and a little keyed up on adrenaline.

There's a sharp command from above them, a whistle that rings over the trees and settles in his chest, and he takes it to be for the wolf (?) underneath him. Easily taller than him and much heavier, the creature stands and throughout the motion, Yuuji ends up on it's back. They're racing back towards the house before he can question it. Whatever this thing is, it has the same mark on it's forehead that the black wolf had. It's under Fushiguro's command.

A long, wispy hand comes out of the front door of the house, dark green and when it sweeps over the ground in search of something to grab, the wolf jumps up and over it. Yuuji hangs on tight and sends a prayer out to anyone who will listen. The phone vibrates again.

"Get off!" Yuuji doesn't wait for a reason or another shout, instead rolling off the wolf and hopping onto the ground in a fluid motion, watching as it races back into the house with a growl. The large bird from before swoops down and drops Fushiguro beside him, before disappearing back into the sky with a loud screech. That definitely scared his friends, if they heard it. He's got a feeling not everyone can see these things, which is why Fushiguro looked at him funnily earlier on. Suddenly, he feels a little embarrassed for his answer about ghosts. Clearly, Fushiguro had proof and Yuuji had even commented on it without realising.

"Are you okay?" Fushiguro pants out, sweat gliding down his face. There's a cut across his cheek, jagged and long and painful. Yuuji nods, though his hand feels a little strange, like he got some sort of burn from trying to grasp the tree. His head definitely isn't screwed on right since he's not running away either. Instead, he rolls his shoulders and gets ready to listen to what Fushiguro wants him to do. Fushiguro, who is staring at the house with a furrow in his brow. Fushiguro, he seems to be favouring his left leg over the right.

"Are you?" Yuuji asks, though he can see he's not. Yuuji might not have known Fushiguro very long but he was clearly looking out for him ever since they first met, telling him to leave for his safety, not because he disliked him (although, Fushiguro hasn't exactly given him the idea he does like him but whatever, semantics). He even sent his weird wolf thing after Yuuji to save his life.

"I'm fine. You should go, you can't help here." Fushiguro has the same cadence as before, stressed and growly, but Yuuji doesn't immediately go. He's got no idea what's going on right now. He's virtually helpless here. Nothing but dead weight for Fushiguro. Yuuji can barely see what this thing is and, beyond the feel of it's hand on his leg, has no idea what it can do. Logically, he should go.

Keep your head down.

However. Despite all that, Fushiguro is hurt. He can't run, if the way he's not putting any weight down on his foot is an indication, and with his wolf thing inside, then there's nothing but the bird out here to protect him. Yuuji is a lot of things, strong, fast, smart when it counts, but he's not a coward. Does it make him a coward to leave a fight he knows he can't win?

Live a life you'd be proud of when your my age.

Could he be proud of himself when he's old, withered and memory going, if he left Fushiguro here? He'd never know if he was okay. He'd never know what's going on, what exactly threw him, what Fushiguro is. He'd never know Fushiguro. It sends a rock into his stomach, falling deeper into the pit of anxiety that's opened up inside him.

Keep your head down.

Yuuji could leave. Fushiguro told him to. His foot slides backwards, hands clenched tight at his sides, ready to defend.

Live a life you'd be proud of when your my age.

"Listen to me! You can't help! You don't have cursed energy, alright?" Fushiguro pants, obviously seeing the hesitation. Yuuji doesn't know what cursed energy is. Is it the rippling blue power all around Fushiguro's body, most of it constrained tightly around his hands? It's almost bleeding out of him. "You can't help."

What to do?

The hand stretches out of the house again, the wolf caught on it and chomping down hard on the wood that seems to make it up, but it's not doing a mindless swipe. The long, gnarly fingers are open and outstretched, tips sharp as the top of a tree, and it's coming straight for Fushiguro. Who's got his head turned towards Yuuji, pleading with his face for him to go. Yuuji makes his decision.

Sorry grandpa, he thinks as he plants his feet and breaks off in a run, picking up Fushiguro before the ghost (?) can, but keeping my head down would be the cowards way out.

Fushiguro is light in his arms but then again, everyone is. He doesn't go very far, just barely out of the creatures grasp, and there's a loud boom as it's hand slaps down on the ground where Fushiguro was just standing. Saliva pools in his mouth, heart racing, as his eyes dance over the house. All the windows before, seemingly just empty and dirty, have been broken. What looks like wood is pushing out of them. If he concentrates he thinks he can see the shape of a body folded up, putting the vague shapes he sees from each window together. Whatever is in this house it's huge. Yuuji wonders how he didn't see it before or, hell, feel it.

He was just in there.

"You need to get out of here!" Fushiguro calls as Yuuji starts at a sprint towards the house, rushing past the wolf that drops from the creature to whip and come after him instead. He barrels through the house, wondering just how he's supposed to help here. There's a clap of thunder and then another screech. The bird dips low, low, low and then there's a piercing howl from the centre of the house. He reroutes his course, heading there instead.

Slowly, the house begins to crumble around them. Or, more accurately, the wood fades away from the plank form and gets sucked into the creature. When Yuuji gets to the centre of the house, he's got a vague idea for a plan. Inside in the kitchen was a butchers knife and grabbing it along his way wasn't much trouble. Now with clothes floating through the air and the distinctly huge but humanoid creature unfolding above him, his vision isn't much better. It's dark, whatever this thing is takes up most of his sight anyway and it's a dark green like the trees around him. However, Yuuji's instincts have never failed him before.

He plants his feet, loosens his knees along with his shoulders and drops down onto his hand before the creature can slap him away with a much too large hand. Fingers pressed into rotting wood, he pushes. Fushiguro's face comes into view as he goes up, the wolf beside him curled protectively to shield him from flying branches heading his way. The box is in his hand. Yuuji's eyes stray to it and never leave it, as if a siren calling him. When he's up high enough, reluctantly, he twirls and lands on the creature. It's solid all the time, which is a plus, as the thought was there that maybe it's only solid when it wants to crush Fushiguro.

Yuuji runs up one long arm, feels his leg muscles begin to cramp up with the amount of quick running he's doing, and gets met with the sight of a dace no bigger than his torso. He slashes across it's eyes with the rusty butchers knife, relying more on pressure than the actual blade, and runs across the arch of it's back to the other side. It doesn't do much other than make it pause for a brief second before it resumes trying to squish Fushiguro like a bug. From the same side he was just on, the bird swoops and electricity dances across it's wingspan. It aims for the place Yuuji just hit and the creature wobbles back in pain. Yuuji jumps off it, unsettled at the noises it's making, and lands a few feet away from Fushiguro.

His eyes go back to the box.

Cursed energy. It's gotta be something special, right? Yuuji's thoughts are going a mile a minute, trying to figure out how to help, how he can get Fushiguro out of here in one piece. He doesn't particularly care for killing the creature or exorcising it, whatever the right term would be.

So caught up, he doesn't notice the other limb careening right towards him until the wolf snatches it first, growling and tearing it from the creature. Now that the house has been destroyed, and it's unfolded properly, it's not as big as Yuuji thought it would be from the outline. It's simply very skinny, legs folded and back hunched. He goes back over to Fushiguro, dropping the apparently useless butchers knife as he goes.

Fushiguro sizes him up. He seems very reluctant to ask Yuuji to help him, even though he clearly needs it, and instead stays silent. Although Yuuji hasn't known Fushiguro for very long, he can tell he wants him to leave and is very unimpressed with his vehemence to stay.

"What's the plan now, ghost hunter?" Yuuji asks, giving him a sunny smile as well. He feels strangely good. Whenever he'd go for a run or, god forbid, act as a sub for the baseball team at school, it always left him feeling jittery. Everyone always said he'd be better in the wrestling club, a brawler to his core or whatever, but Yuuji said no each time. When he was four, he tore down the wall in his room by accident during a temper tantrum. Despite what his grandpa might have said, he knows that's an abnormal amount of strength. Yuuji didn't want to hurt anyone.

Now though, racing through trees and swinging will all his might, he doesn't feel like he's coming down from a bad high.It's more like the beginning of it, all floaty and loose-limbed. He feels good. Is this an adrenaline high? Maybe. He hopes he doesn't become one of those junkies after this because, well, he doubts anything will be able to beat this.

"You're crazy," Fushiguro practically whispers but then shakes his head. Kneeling down, he reaches — reaches into his own shadow?! Feeling like his eyes are probably bulging out of his head, Yuuji watches him draw out a broad knife with a chunk of fur at the bottom. He hands the strange knife (dagger?) over to Yuuji, handle first. When he reaches out for it, Fushiguro doesn't let go immediately. "Be careful with this, okay?"

"I know knife safety," Yuuji says but doesn't try and take it forcefully from his grip. Fushiguro's hand is warm and so very close to his.

"No, I don't care if you hurt yourself with it," he says and scowls at Yuuji like the suggestion was silly, "but it belongs to my cousin and if anything happens to it, she'll fillet us both." He nods and takes the blade. Fushiguro drops into a more fighter ready position, hands folded in front of him in a symbol of some sort. Before he does anything though, he turns back to Yuuji.

"This is a cursed spirit, only cursed energy can dispel it. That is a cursed item. Hitting it won't work because you're not a sorcerer, you'd need cursed energy. Use that and you'll be fine. This one is stronger than I thought it would be but we should be fine if we work together." It's probably the most words Fushiguro has said to him all day and Yuuji is hanging off them for multiple reasons, mostly because if he doesn't listen, he'll likely die. He ignores the part of his mind that simply enjoying listening to Fushiguro talk.

Yuuji can't say he's doing much during the ensuing fight. It's mostly Fushiguro telling him where to go, what to do. Since he's hurt his leg, Fushiguro stays in the same spot and using his hand motions, summons creature after creature. They all have some sort of symbol on them, something that signifies them as other — a mark from Fushiguro maybe? Yuuji doesn't dwell on them long since if he looks for too long, they start to blur and fade out of focus. Slowly, they slash away at the creature until it's a touch smaller, more manageable for the bird to swoop down and pick it up off the ground.

Yuuji lands a few meters away from Fushiguro, panting. He feels alive, blood thumping through his body. He's never felt like this before, not this easy breathing. He always thought, privately of course, that he wasn't made to fight despite what people thought. Not the way they wanted him to — not on the streets, with blood over his teeth. He was born to fight for peoples lives. He would fight this thing for Fushiguro for life if it meant he'd be okay, if it meant no one else would get hurt. If Iguchi and Sasaki could live their lives without fear, no more than what they need for the ghost in their closet or the local legends that trail around their feet.

Whatever Fushiguro is, a ghost hunter or something else, a part of Yuuji wishes he was that too.

Then, a branch sprouts from the ground and shoots right through Fushiguro's stomach and he's sent spiralling up into the air. His bird screeches and dips down to pluck him off the newly grown tree but it's grabbed by the curse, held in a punishing grip. Yuuji watches him gargle and cough, blood spilling out of his mouth like a waterfall. There's no instruction with this, Fushiguro can't tell him how to save his life. Not like how he was telling him to hold the knife, to slash away at the curse, where to stand and what to do.

He's going off his instincts again. Yuuji darts forward and, out of the corner of his eye sees something glinting in the woods. Thinking it's another tree about to sprout beside him, Yuuji swirls and looks into the woods to try and see it. He doesn't see anything and, despite feeling like there is something out there, gives his full focus back to the curse. Fushiguro lets out a hoarse yell when the box falls from his hands and, without thinking much, Yuuji grabs it as he races past towards the centre of the creature. Despite the warning he was given about taking care of the knife, Yuuji fixes his grip and winds his arm back.

At the same time as the box opening, the tip of the knife breaches the centre of the creature but he doesn't see what happens to it as the ringing in his ear starts up tenfold. Yuuji drops down to the ground and clutches at his head, the box held close against his chest, and pants through the sudden pain. While he's groaning on the ground, and Fushiguro is struggling for life ten meters above the ground, a figure steps out of the woods and holds their hand out. Slowly, with much struggle, the curse is forced into a small ball and clutched in their hand. They walk away before either of the boys notice them. The knife, previously cutting a line through the creature, falls to the ground and sinks into the ground shallowly.

With the curse gone, the tree that's holding up Fushiguro suddenly disappears. With a grunt, he falls to the ground. Yuuji isn't is that much pain anymore, after letting go of the box to clutch his head, and tries to dart forward to grab Fushiguro. They both groan when he lands in his arms but Yuuji falls forward a little too heavily for them to stay sort of standing. He ends up on his knees with Fushiguro held in front of him and Yuuji drops him down onto the ground gently. He keeps his arm underneath his shoulders, lifting him up a little bit. Fushiguro lets him.

"Do you — will I call an ambulance?" Yuuji asks, mind mushy from the loud noise. Whatever is in that box is fucking with his head too much, it feels like a small alarm ringing in his eardrum. He needs to be near it but being near it hurts. Being around Fushiguro dulls that a little bit.

Fushiguro coughs a little bit but it doesn't sound as wet as before, doesn't spew as much blood. Still, he's got a hole through the side of his body. Small, but still. A hole in his body. "No," Fushiguro says, and fumbles for his pocket, "get my phone and dial one. When he answers, just say I'm hurt. He'll come."

Confused, Yuuji nods. Fushiguro's phone doesn't have a password or lock on it and so he can dial one without much fuss. When the phone rings, Fushiguro seems to do something that stops the bleeding. He doesn't press a hand to his side or anything just… breathes a funny way. The energy in the air moves with it. The wolf approaches them, sniffs a little at Fushiguro's side and whines a touch. Yuuji reaches up to pet it without thinking, listening to the phone ring and ring.

"He, uh, didn't pick up," Yuuji mumbles when the tone goes and he pulls the phone away to look at it. He's a little insulted for Fushiguro, to be honest, since he's sort of bleeding out a little.

"Call again. He never picks up the first time," Fushiguro says and rolls his eyes a little bit. Yuuji nods and redials. The number auto fills and then changes just as quickly to someones name, Gojo, with a little smiley face beside it.

"Also," Yuuji says with a warm face, both embarrassed that he forgot to mention it and nervous it won't be received the way he wants it to, "I'm Yuuji. Itadori!" He follows when he remembers his manners and that Fushiguro is practically a stranger, as drawn to him as Yuuji is. "Itadori," he repeats, much calmer. Fushiguro swallows, Adams apple bobbing, and then nods his head a little bit.

"Itadori," he says, more to himself than anything since he doesn't follow it with anything. "Nice to meet you."

"You too," Yuuji responds with a little laugh, hoping that whoever this Gojo is answers the phone soon. He's no doctor but a hole in your side is never good.

"Itadori, I'm going to be honest with you right now," Fushiguro says, strangely serious. There's a small line of blood going down his cheek and Yuuji wipes it away with his hand, phone squished between his shoulder and his ear. If Gojo doesn't pick up soon, then he'll have to redial. Based on Fushiguro's actions, he suspects this is typical of the guy. Yuuji nods as wipes the blood on his pants, staring at Fushiguro a little too intensely. "I'm not a ghost hunter."

"Oh my god," he blurts, relief lancing through him. Fushiguro keeps the serious face for all of five seconds before his lips twitch in a small smile, eyes closing. He's got really long lashes.

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way."

"I thought you were going to give me your last will or something!"

"It must seem like such a betrayal."

"You're a jerk," Yuuji deadpans, redialling the phone. After this, he'll call al ambulance, this is getting crazy.

"You're crazy, so," Fushiguro replies, smiling lightly. Yuuji nods down at him, ignoring the ringing pain around him. His left ear is being covered by the phone, making it impossible to ignore how his right ear is thumping in time with his heartbeat. He feels a small trickle of wetness down the side of it and doesn't have to check to know it's blood. Whatever is wrong with him probably isn't that serious. Yuuji hopes so anyway.

Yuuji looks at the box again. It's only a few meters away but it feels impossibly close. He doesn't like it, Yuuji decides, even if it feels like a missing piece of his soul. Or maybe not his soul like a… missing piece of him, maybe? Devoid of his own soul.

"What is that thing?" Yuuji whispers, still looking at it. Fushiguro opens his eyes to follow his gaze and his shoulders get tight underneath his arm, face shuttering away from the brief glimpse of happiness Yuuji saw.

"Don't touch it. It's dangerous." Well. That's all he needs to stay away from it definitely now. He trusts Fushiguro. After a second, he nods and looks away, back at him. Attention split between Fushiguro and the box, he barely notices that the phone isn't ringing anymore and that there's not the tone of an automatic voicemail.

"Hello?" He says into the phone, curious. There's a bit more silence after it as well, intentionally quiet. Yuuji swallows down a question and looks down at Fushiguro's face. His eyes are closed again but he seems like he's still conscious, if a touch pale. He didn't say make small talk, he said tell him he's hurt and that this guy would be here. "Fushiguro needs you. He's hurt and bleeding, a little-a lot. He said you'd come for him."

A dial tone.

Yuuji pauses. Pulls the phone away from his face to look at the dial and wonder if that really happened. He puts the phone down and looks back at Fushiguro, other hand spare now. Carefully, he reaches up to slide away that trickle of blood again. When his eyes open again, he looks right up at Yuuji.

"Why did you stay?"

There's a small crack somewhere off to the side. Yuuji doesn't look away from Fushiguro, wondering if he can put it onto words. It was more than a sense of justice to stay, his morals making it clear to him. He helps people, that's what he does. He goes into haunted houses first so that his friends can hide behind him. When his neighbours fence broke down, he fixed it for them because they couldn't afford to hire someone to. Yuuji couldn't have lived with himself if he walked away from someone who needed help.

But…

"You needed me. I stayed." Fushiguro seems a little stunned but he could just be dazed from the blood loss. Yuuji wonders if maybe he's being a little too intense, coming on a bit hard, but he likes Fushiguro. Isn't his grandpa always saying to put himself out there? That he needs more friends? This is… unconventional but certainly a way to gain a friend.

When Yuuji blinks, Fushiguro has been wrenched from his arms and there's a man's face inches from his own. The man has the box on him, Yuuji knows, because the ringing in his ears gets ten times worse at the proximity. It practically muffles what the man says to him. Fushiguro is wriggling a little in his arms, green eyes locked onto Yuuji's face. He reaches out for him but the man moves him away a bit, making it clear that Yuuji is no longer permitted to touch. He's got a blindfold on but still, he feels like he's being flayed open. He hums but Yuuji doesn't hear, focused on Fushiguro. If he looks away, he'll see the box and that seems worse for him right now than ogling Fushiguro.

"Interesting. Bye now," he says and taps Yuuji's forehead.

He's out before his head touches the grass.