Riku's Apartment – Morning
Riku woke up with a gasp, like he'd just surfaced from drowning.
His chest heaved, lungs clawing for air. The room was too bright, sunlight stabbing through the cheap blinds in his apartment. He blinked, disoriented, his heart hammering like it was auditioning for a horror flick.
He was in his bed. His bed. His eyes ping-ponged around the room, landing on Tetsuya, who was rolled up in a blanket on the floor like a human burrito, glasses halfway down his nose, muttering about "critical hit percentages" in his sleep.
Over on the couch, Hana was sprawled like she'd lost a wrestling match with gravity, one arm flopped over the side, snoring loud enough to wake a coma patient.
Riku blinked. Looked around. "I was definitely at school. With Yuki. And the… the thing." He shuddered, remembering the hallway that stretched like taffy and Yuki's creepy forehead boop.
Panic mode: activated. Riku flung off his blanket—well, tried to. It got tangled around his legs, and he flopped onto the floor with a thud that rattled his dignity. "Ow," he groaned, crawling to his feet. "Yuki! Yuki, where are you? I need answers, not more bruises!"
He walked to the mirror in the hallway, heart thudding like a drum in his chest.
And froze.
In the mirror…He was alone.
Except—
Behind him stood Yuki.
Expression unreadable. Calm. Like she'd been there the whole time.
He spun around—
Nothing.
A chill slid down his spine.
And then—from the kitchen—
"You scream like a little kid, by the way."
Riku nearly jumped out of his skin. "Y-Yuki?!"
She stepped out, holding a slice of melon bread, already halfway eaten.
"You seriously yelled 'LEFT! LEFT!' like it was Mario Kart." She took another bite. "It was kind of adorable."
Riku flushed. "I was not adorable! I was trying to lead them away!"
"Mmhmm," she said with her mouth full. "So brave. So heroic. So sweaty."
He buried his face in his hands. "Please let it have been a dream."
Yuki leaned in, grinning now.
"Oh, it wasn't."
Riku peeked through his fingers, glaring at her. "Not helping, Yuki! Why are you eating my melon bread like we didn't just survive a haunted school trip from hell? And how are we even here? Last I checked, I was dodging sludge monsters, not waking up in my own bed!"
Yuki took another chomp of melon bread, crumbs sprinkling her hoodie like tiny snowflakes. "Mmm, this is so good," she mumbled, licking her lips. "You've got, like, a bakery in your cupboard. Respect." She hopped onto the counter, swinging her legs like a kid at a picnic. "As for the 'how,' you walked. Kinda. I helped."
Riku's eyes narrowed, zeroing in on the crumbs dusting her lap. "Wait, hold up. You're a ghost. Why are you eating? Do ghosts even need melon bread?" He pointed at her like he'd cracked a case. "Are you just stealing my snacks for kicks? Because that's low, even for a dead girl."
Yuki froze mid-bite, her cheeks puffed out like a hamster smuggling loot. She blinked, then burst out laughing, spraying crumbs across the counter. "Oh, man, you're so hung up on this!" She wiped her mouth, still giggling. "Okay, fine, detective. I don't need to eat. But, like, have you tasted melon bread? It's fluffy heaven! I can't haunt in peace without a snack fix." She waved the half-eaten slice at him. "Ghost perk: I get the flavor, no calories. Jealous?"
Riku's jaw dropped. "Jealous? You're raiding my kitchen because you're a foodie ghost? That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard!" He flailed his arms, nearly knocking over a stack of instant noodle cups. "What's next, you gonna haunt my fridge for pudding?"
"Anyway, stop whining. You've got bigger problems than my snack habits."
"Bigger problems?" Riku's voice hit a pitch that could summon dogs. "Like what? You booping me into a coma? Or us magically teleporting from school to my apartment?" He pointed at Tetsuya and Hana, still snoozing like they'd lost a bet with a sleep demon. "Why are they crashed out like we had a sleepover I didn't sign up for?"
Yuki's grin turned sly, like she'd been waiting for this. She leaned forward, waving her melon bread like a conductor's baton. "Oh, them? I took their memories. Poof, gone." Chomp. "Also, they can't see me now. Pretty cool, huh?"
Riku's brain screeched to a halt. He stumbled back, banging his elbow on the fridge. A magnet shaped like a cartoon onigiri clattered to the floor. "You what?! You wiped their memories? Like, erased their hard drives?" He clutched his head, eyes wide.
Yuki: "They think last night was a prank—sneaking into school, scaring you till you squeaked, then crashing here. No monsters, no sludge, no me. Just good ol' friend shenanigans."
Riku's face was a mix of horror and disbelief. "You rewrote their lives? What if they figure it out? Or—wait, why can I see you? Did your ghost powers glitch?" With a smug face Riku : "SKILL ISSUES HUH"
Yuki paused, her silver eyes glinting with something almost soft. "Glitch? Nah. You're just… you." She shrugged, stuffing the last of the melon bread in her mouth, cheeks puffing like a greedy squirrel. "Your brain's too stubborn to zap. Plus, you're fun to bug."
"Fun to bug?!" Riku yelped, his face turning the color of a vending machine tomato soup. "I don't want to be your personal prank toy! I want normal! Like, 'pay my ¥5000 rent and not get haunted' normal!" He flopped against the counter, muttering, "This is worse than the ghost tripping over her robe."
Raku's had enough. With a dramatic huff, he marched to Tetsuya's blanket burrito and yanked it off like he was unveiling a bad art project, ignoring Tetsuya's sleepy yelp about "statistical interruptions." "Up, nerd lord, time to roll home!" he barked, then spun to Hana, who was mid-snore, and tossed her sneakers onto her lap, startling her awake. "You too, couch hog—hit the road before I start charging you rent!" Yuki cackled from the counter, waving her latest melon bread like a tiny flag of victory, crumbs raining down like she was auditioning for a bakery explosion. "Aw, kicking out your pals already? And here I thought we were having a party," she teased, her silver eyes glinting with pure gremlin glee. Riku shot her a glare that could melt steel, jabbing a finger her way. "Keep it up, bread bandit, and I'm swapping your snacks for ghost-proof kale next time you haunt my kitchen!" As Hana and Tetsuya shuffled toward the door, grumbling about "prank hangovers," Riku flopped onto the couch, muttering, "If this is my life now, I'm invoicing the afterlife for overtime."