Chapter 57: Aoi

Hiyori was lying on the couch, unconscious. Before her, on the floor and on the coffee table, multiple empty bottles stood while one such thing was still hugged by her. Everlong said nothing, letting her do as she pleased while he was ringing up multiple of his connections and sometimes speaking in a completely foreign language. While he quickly calmed down, seeing way worse things throughout his life, for Hiyori this was a nightmare. When she was immersed into Yukari’s mind or seeing a demonic wave of fishpeople rushing at her, trying to eat her, she could deal with those. It was… normal. But seeing it happen to someone? Some innocent girl who probably was only living her own life? Far away from anything like this? It was freaking her out.

 

The image of the mutilated girl in the bathroom was way too real, starkly reminding her what the word ‘demon’ really meant. Questions started to rise up in her mind; How many die like that every day? Would she have ended up like her? Is this something that she is going to experience again and again? The more she thought the more nervous she got, unable to stop the shaking of her hands while raising the bottle to her mouth. In the end she just fell to the side, falling into a sleep… no, into a coma, blanking out her mind completely to not even dream about anything. 

 

“Mhmm…” woke up after who knows how many hours later. The room was well lit, blinding her as she opened her eyes into small slits, making her groan. The strong beams not just hurt her eyes but she felt her head was about to melt down and blow up into a spectacular firework of gore and gray matter. “I’ll never drink again…” moaned, turning onto her stomach and by just doing that she felt her stomach turn with an uncomfortable feeling rising upwards alongside her throat. “Ugh…” groaned as she held it back somehow.

 

“A-are… you okay?” asked a timid voice, coming from behind the couch.

 

“Yeah… I will be!” answered Hiyori with a moan, trying to push herself into a kneeling position but suddenly her whole body just froze in place. That was NOT Everlong’s voice! Not at all as it belonged to a woman! “Who?!” turned her head so quickly she felt dizzy. Seeing the slightly dim, transparent figure standing there, looking down at her she let out a muffled scream, flailing with her limbs, falling off of the couch, knocking the back of her head into the edge of the coffee table. Her painful yelp was accompanied by the clanking of bottles as they fell over, creating a cacophony of chimes. 

“Are you okay?!” asked the new voice with a surprise, leaning forward that drew another, now much louder scream out from Hiyori’s mouth.

 

“Stay away!” she raised her arms, gasping for air. It was not the fact that she saw a ghost floating there that scared her but at that exact moment she saw Yukari’s distorted, grinning face staring down at her. Subconsciously she believed that she came back to haunt her once again.

 

“S-sorry!” flinched the girl. Watching Hiyori’s rapidly changing expressions greatly confused and flustered her. The same was true at the opposite end as Hiyori was watching the clearly afraid ghost nervously playing with her own fingers, looking around with her trembling eyes behind her glasses. 

 

Focusing on her, the image of Yukari was slowly disappearing as Hiyori managed to reign in her fears. Rubbing her eyes, making them adapt to the strong light she was watching the long, braided, black hair of hers, her loose, long sleeved sweater drooping forward on her arms. She was the complete opposite of her as her body was curvier, plumper than she would ever be. It was that moment she recognized the face of hers, being the same girl she found in the bathroom, hanged up like cattle!

 

“Ugh…!” drew her palm before her mouth Hiyori, gulping back a lot of things that wanted to come up to say hello to her. The ghost’s timid, afraid expression was completely different from the image of the almost severed head flashing through Hiyori’s mind.

 

“I… I’m… Am I…?” asked the girl, at the edge of crying, already guessing at her state. She was not oblivious to the fact that she was partly see through, floating in the air, passing through every solid object she touched. She was dead… not stupid. 

 

“You are…” nodded Hiyori, managing to stand up but still wobbly from the amount of alcohol still circulating in her blood. 

 

“I see…!” sniffled the girl, shedding tears but those never reached the back of the couch, disappearing as soon as they left her incorporeal body. “I don’t really remember what happened, I… I… I just woke up here. I don’t even know where I am!” explained, wiping her tears away from behind her glasses.

 

“Well… you died here.” replied Hiyori after a bit of pause trying to figure out what to say. Realizing she was alone with her and she did not want to make a scene while Everlong was out. Even though she was told what kind of strength a ghost would have she couldn’t help but be afraid she is going to turn into a second Yukari.

 

“Oh…” nodded, with a sudden ‘realization’ “You killed me?” 

 

“No!” snapped at her Hiyori, finding her assumption greatly shocking.

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“Ah… o-okay! Sorry!” recoiled the ghost, afraid of her, fidgeting as she looked around. “Floating out there I saw footprints of blood on the floor and… well, they are similar in size as your feet. That is why I thought… you know. “ started to explain but Hiyroi just flinched, checking her now bare, clean feet. She remembered tossing out her boots, throwing them into the garbage while she was drinking, but looking at the small trash can at the corner it was already gone from it. Probably emptied out by Everlong.

 

“I was the one who found you! Your body… That’s all!” sighed, rubbing her throbbing head “Neither I nor Everlong were the one who killed you!”

 

“Everlong?” tilted her head, fiddling with her index fingers, looking around.

 

“My Boss! Probably out, getting rid of your body or something, I don’t know, okay?!”

 

“Oh, o-okay, okay! I… I just… I was curious how I died!” nodded rapidly like a little chicken “It is rare to wake up and find yourself dead! I thought death was like… more emptiness and more blackness? Like falling asleep, without dreams, never to wake up again.”

 

“I don’t know what it is like!” shook her head Hiyori, walking to the table, rummaging through the upper drawer, searching and finding a box of cigarettes, hurriedly lighting one up. “But I learned that those who die the way you did, sometimes they remain here! I had one attached to me for 15 years, almost driving me to death! I only just recently got rid of it and I’m not in the market for getting a replacement for her! I want to enjoy my thirties without another abomination attached to me!”

 

“S-sorry! I, I won’t do that, promise! Um… should I leave?” floated backwards, acting way too timid and afraid… and that was making Hiyori more uncomfortable by every minute. 

 

“No! I didn't mean it… like that! Ahhh… Just, stay, okay? We’ll wait for my Boss to come back and ask what to do! Haahh… God damn it!” closed her eyes, pinching the ridge of her nose, feeling her headache worsen.

 

“15 years…” mumbled the ghost “I thought you were younger than me, yet you are older than my mother!”

 

“Just… just shut up!” moaned Hiyori, not even opening her eyes.

 

“S-sorry!” yelped, remaining silent but only for a minute or so. “Um… My name is Aoi! Yours?” smiled with an apologetic look, floating closer a little.

 

“Hiyori…” answered quietly, taking big drags from her cigarette, trying to collect her thoughts and get a grip on the situation.

 

“I hope we can be friends!” said Aoi, her voice kind, filled with expectations and weirdly hopeful. 

 

“...”  Hiyori opened her eyes a little, into small slits, watching the girl. Aoi’s eyes were still filled with glistening tears, wearing a smile that was trying to mask her fears, without too much of a success. Hiyori’s heart at that moment hurt, what she felt was not something she could describe with words to anybody. “Um.” nodded in the end, closing her eyes back with a kind, quiet voice. “Me too.”

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