"There's really no need for a bloody message on the mirror, you know?" Yuto sighed, stepping out of the bathroom to look for a cleaning rag to remove the mess. "I bought you a phone so you could just message me, remember?"
Mr. Ghostie
>> Yeah, but it's no fun!
>> And you should've seen your face!
>> *laugh emoji*
"Go on, then. Laugh at my misery. You're not the one who cleans blood off the counter every time," Yuto retorted, seemingly to no one but his phone buzzed with more laughing emojis.
After erasing the bloody 'Good Morning!' message on the mirror, Yuto went ahead and showered, not caring if the entity is still there with him or not.
It's been a few days. 25 days, to be exact, since his 'roomie' arrived and he has no one to blame but himself. If he hadn't taken the necklace from the location, he would not have had this being pestering him every chance it gets.
Well, Yuto's luckier than most. This one's friendlier than Casper. He helps around the house every now and then and even texts Yuto whenever he forgets something at home.
Mr. Ghostie
>> Are you going out today?
"Not really," Yuto said out loud instead of replying. He used to reply to him before but figured the being could hear and see him so there's really no need. He can't see or hear them, however, hence the need for the phone.
Mr. Ghostie
>> I thought you're supposed to meet Takaki-san?
>> And Yabu-san?
"How did you know that?" Yuto frowned, knowing very well he scheduled his meeting with them a month prior to Mr. Ghostie's arrival.
Mr. Ghostie
>> I can check your phone too. I saw your calendar.
>> I know the password.
>> It really shouldn't be your birthday.
>> I saw from the internet that it's very easy to guess.
"Oh, so, now, you're a tech expert?" Yuto answered and the bottle of moisturizer that fell is a clear sign of his disapproval. "Right, right. Anyway, snooping around other people's phones is not nice. That's a breach of privacy," Yuto said matter-of-factly.
Mr. Ghostie
>> The same way you entered my house?
>> Without my permission?
>> and took my belongings?
"Ok, point proven and taken," Yuto answered, looking at the necklace that's displayed on a vintage box on his bedside table. "To be fair, there were no proven activities in your house so I thought there were actually no ghosts," Yuto tried to explain. "And the necklace looked so nice, I couldn't resist!"
Mr. Ghostie
>> You trespassed and stole something!
>> and took me from my abode too!
>> The audacity!
"I'm sorry, okay?" Yuto exclaimed, gratefully bowing when he saw his clothes prepared on the bed. "I offered to return you more than twice and you always said no, if I must remind you," Yuto said. "The offer still stands, by the way."
Mr. Ghostie
>> I cook for you
>> I wash your dirty clothes
>> I earn my keep
>> Do you really want me back there?
Yuto knows somewhere in the room, the ghost could see him think. He's expressed his concerns, curiosities, even displeasure and approval of certain things but looking at him think and at this point, he's as good at guessing as his mother.
"You can't ask questions you know the answers to. That's unfair," Yuto said instead, making for the kitchen and surprised that a breakfast has already been made for him. "You still haven't told me about how you can make things when I'm not looking but can't even move a book when I'm around."
Mr. Ghostie
>> Ghost logic, I guess.
"Fair enough," Yuto nodded, enjoying every bite of the pancake he was made. "Won't you be lonesome while I'm gone?"
Mr. Ghostie
>> You're not special.
>> Just don't move the necklace and I'll be fine.
Today marks the 26th day of Mr. Yamada Ryosuke's residence in his apartment. 26 days since he came home from that location shoot with his buddies without telling them he took something back. 26 days of not letting anyone visit him at home and 26 days of him lying to them about the ghost that resides with him now.
He doesn't even know - well, he knows some ghosts are attached to specific items and they can't really move on until they finish a specific business or something. Or the item is destroyed in flames then they vanish permanently. No heaven or hell just - poof. Gone.
His roomie already forgot what it was keeping him attached to that necklace. He said he died a long time ago and when you're stuck in an abandoned place with nothing to do, you kind of forget what your original purpose for staying is or why you even died.
He did have cleaning the house as something to do but after a few decades, you start to get tired of it.
A few families have also lived in the house before. Yamada told him it's all dandy until they want to change the house and he can't really let that happen, he said. Not that it matters but he loves that house. He thinks the house had a meaning for him but he can't remember now. All he knows is that he feels anger - immense anger - when someone tries to change the house in anyway.
And that's how the ghost stories about the house began. About how it can't be touched.
Slowly, civilization moved away from the neighborhood and his house was left alone, a site for ghost hunters waiting for something to happen. Every now and then, when Yamada feels like it, he moves something or makes sounds. He's got an entire script for it based on whether he likes the visitors or not. Yuto remembers asking him why he didn't cooperate when they were shooting and Yamada simply said because one of them was really scared and he doesn't like scaring people who come in already scared. There would be no life lost under his watch, he said, whatever that means. Yuto figured it was probably Yuya - they found a lot of evidence about the place and hauntings were caught on camera. Yuya, despite being surrounded by more skeptics than believers, still shook with fear when they arrived at the place. And no matter how much he or Inoo tried to comfort him, the man jumps even at the sound of his own breathing.
You'd expect a skeptic like him, to be communicating with a ghost, to suddenly feel fear and change and all that but the way Yamada communicated with him made him feel more like he took home a pet that can talk. And can do house chores. When Yamada doesn't have the patience to type, he calls and they have a normal chat like normal living human beings.
Yuto found out, on his first call, that Yamada sounded good - most likely what you'd expect from a ghost decades and decades of years old. Something about people from the past have nice voices, Yuto thinks. He indulged him with a couple of songs and Yuto listens to that conversation recording every now and then when he's outside. When Yamada can't know he does. Sometimes, he wants to ask Yamada to call instead of just texting him but then he remembers that he's footing the bill so, better not.
Mr. Ghostie:
>> Take care on your way today!
"Thanks, Dad," Yuto teasingly grinned at no one in particular but got a buzz on his phone and an angry emoji.