Sleepless Nights (1)

"Oukay! That's perfect! Well done Mizuki kun! Your Reitai is now perfect, only way you can improve from here is if you want a different shape or appearance" Daisuke claps, acknowledging her achievement.

"Whew.. today is way easier than my last two training session... I think I'll keep this look" Mizuki satisfied with her result, as she's checking her new body.

"Hmm that's fine too, this should work for your early stage, the splendid work on this well balanced leg, this fabric and not to mention, this genius workaround for your fake hairdo! Truly remarkable!" he comments as he points out to each one of those trait on her, making her uncomfortable.

"I get it already! S-stop staring too much!" she falls back into defensive pose, covering herself with both hands.

"haha take it easy now after this break and we'll continue with your external Reichitsu forming, simply put, creating a weapon. Don't worry, it's just Reitai forming with extra steps" he says convincing her, and a thumbs up for extra credibility.

After a good few minutes of practicing while listening to his guidance, Mizuki got the hang of the process.

"Mou! Last night was crazy" Mizuki complains out loud while casually shaping her SP form. Her voice alone fills the empty room.

"Why would that okubi wants to harm human in the first place? I thought they're harmless!"

While attentively observing her training, Daisuke explains, with his finger pointed upward like a teacher or an annoying nerd.

"Haunting humans, gaining human trust and tricking humans make them believe more in ghosts, believing in them makes them stronger, this principle itself is Credit"

"Believing in them makes them stronger? you said something similar about the curse too last night, is that also the effect of this Craze-It thing?"

"Correct! 98 points!" Again with his teacher persona. Slightly irritating her.

"Basically Credit is- no, let's call it 'Shinryo' for you. It is basically the power in beliefs, in trust, acknowledgement" he tries to make it sound exciting but met with an unamused reaction from her.

"It works alongside Reichitsu and of course, that's what powers Curses too, they make everything works in the spiritual sense. Shinryo doesn't only benefit ghosts, but also curses, and even us humans"

He points to a group of students gathering in the middle of the field cheering on their friend.

"And that is the source of.. Shinryo's power.."

Mizuki nods "I see, it gained it's power from the Track Club- OUCH!"

Daisuke gently knocks her head with a can of drinks as he make his way to the school gate. Treating her to a drink and ending today's training session "A crowd is it's source of power. In other words, people, in other words, everyone. The larger the crowd, the more people that believes in it, the more power it provides... although" bringing his hand to his chin

"calling it 'power' is kind of inaccurate"

"I see... it's the power of believing in your friends! Don't worry, I got it! It's a pretty common setting"

Mizuki gives him a thumbs up before hastily following behind him.

"I wonder if you actually do..." He glance at her while rubbing the side of his head, unconvinced.

"Well as you can see from yesterday's case, having enough people believe in it can even turn a fake curse into a real one" he proceeds.

"but why now? The story has been around for a long time already. Why only yesterday did it turned real?" she's still unsatisfied with his explanation, demanding more.

"because of the intensity of yesterday's crowd. After Kirei's case, they retell the rumor over and over again to whoever else that recently had contact with her. More people retelling the curse and more people believing in it ever than before, it even made the news."

"The curse?" Mizuki interrupts.

"Kirei's case. Well, then other people got curious and read into it, finding the curse story online. Spread by our lovely schoolmates and that's how it breaks out." he sighs from that last part, almost foreshadowing a bigger concern.

"ugh yeah that curse last night was pretty scary..." she recalls. "oh but can I learn that thing you did too? The lightning thing. If I can do that too I won't be as scared anymore! And it's also very cool" that last part sinks under her breath but he still heard her, her innocent eyes sparkles again.

"well the good thing about that is unlike the curse, it cannot backfires on the user itself so in that sense it's safer... But you're still too early for that" he explains a little stern while pushing her sparkly eyed face away.

"Coded Moves or Kishin jutsu are quite advanced and can misfire if you're careless with it" he disappoints her again.

"Egghh... still, it's pretty cool that you can gain more power just from having people believe in you. I thought that only happens in manga and anime" Mizuki recalls his earlier explanation but then stops to think.

"Well technically we...- Gehh!!" Mizuki reacts to what she sees at the front gate. Waiting at the school gate, is a person she's all too familiar with. The person is smiling but somehow it hides a hostile feeling behind it.

"Mom?!"

Behind Kitahara Fuuka is her homeroom teacher, Hirase, with a friendly smile waving mildly in her direction.

"I've got a bad feeling, Daisuke kun! Can you turn into-!"

She turns behind her only to find him already gone.

"Gaahhh?!" Mizuki's shocked.

"Welcome back, honey! You must be tired from school~" Fuuka is already right behind her.

"GAAAAHHH?!!" Double shock.

Fuuka puts her hand on her daughter's shoulder. Which Jolts Mizuki a bit like she's getting an actual electric shock from her touch.

"Well, I don't want to take too much of your time, Sensei. We'll talk again some other time~" contrary to her tight grip on Mizuki's shoulder, her other hand is gracefully waving goodbye to Hirase. But even Hirase can see Mizuki panicking though unable to save her in that situation. She just give them a proper send off and goes on her way home.

"M-mom what brings you all the way h-here today?" Nervously she inquires.

"Ahh no, I was just worried about you coming home late these past few days, so I thought I'd pick you up straight from school." A warm motherly voice with a threatening undertone.

"Oh no you don't have to anymore.. I think I can head straight home after th-" Mizuki tries to negotiate but Fuuka cut her off.

"Oh you know, while waiting for you, I bumped into Hirase Sensei and have quite a conversation. I asked about your activity after school too"

Mizuki gulps.

"It's strange, she told me you don't join any club after school, so that got me wondering..."

Slowly her voice shifts from that warm maternal voice into a more threatening one

"all this time you've come home late, sometimes even into the night..." That warm tone is now gone.

Mizuki who's been avoiding eye contact since earlier now have no choice but to lock eyes with her, involuntarily. Like she's being interrogated.

"What. Were. You. Doing. All. Th-" suddenly the neighbor who knows them greets Fuuka who's nearby.

"Ah Takaoka san, good to see you too~!"

Instantly all that menacing aura emanating from Fuuka vanishes like it never was there in the first place.

"Good to see you too Takaoka san!" Mizuki also hurriedly greets the old woman

"Don't worry about the stew, Mom. I can take care of it. You enjoy your chat here! Then, I'll be taking my leave~!" Grabbing that opportunity to escape her mother's wrath, Mizuki vanishes into the horizon before Fuuka could stop her.

"Oh my, what a good kid she is" the neighbor comments. Forced to entertain the chatty lady, Fuuka is stuck with her now.

At home, Mizuki is busy scrambling for plans to cool down her mom, create an excuse and most importantly make it out alive.

"Okay! Okay! What should I do now? I've bought us some time, I need to explain to Mom!" She thinks out loud to herself.

"There's no way I can tell her about Daisuke, and about all this ghostly nonsense, but then how do I explain coming home late at night?! 3 days straight!" She circles around in her medium sized bedroom, brainstorming her plan of escape.

As she's walking back and forth, she notices something on her window. A brass lock.

"Gehh?! I- I should've seen that coming..."

She recalls sneaking in through the front door the first time, and then the back door the second time and even through the window, though that one was with Daisuke's help.

"Arrghh I've ran out of secret entrance, the next time I come home late I'll be sleeping outside!"

Frantically she scratches her head.

"This is all Daisuke kun's fault! How can he just left me like that then!" In her anger, she randomly kicks something on the floor. Her shelf. Which in response drops half her childhood collections figure and some mangas. The horde of random action figure and mangas blanketed her and push her down on the floor.

The door creaks, downstairs.

'Mom's back?!' double the panic, or rather she was just delaying the inevitable.

'what should I do? What should I do??' as she look around her, she notices something beneath the avalanche of her collections. A sharp look on her face.

"Mizuki chan, come down here for a minute" Fuuka calls.

She gulps while staring at it, almost like a wild idea just appeared in her head but she's doubting it's effectiveness.

'it's all or nothing...' she thinks to herself, before heading down.

"Tell me honey, what were you doing these past few days?" A stern uncompromising, towering figure of her mom, locking eyes with her. Judging her incoming answer.

"I was... helping.." she tries to make up story.

"Before you make up any lie, I've talked to the other teachers in school as well. And all of them knows nothing about your activity after school, Hirase Sensei was the last teacher I talked to" she eliminates her attempt to use the teachers as excuse.

"I-I was going to say neighbors-" she tries to change her narrative.

"My earlier conversation with Takaoka san reveals that none of our neighbors knows where you are after school, and she's a regular at the committee too" again, she closes Mizuki's escape.

Like a predator cornering it's prey, the silhouette of her mom appears larger and larger every time she block off her attempt. Distorting into the menacing shadow of a shark. Guaranteed to go in for the kill. Mizuki even briefly sees her teeth sharpens for a split second while she's desperately trying to create a narrative.

'at this point- there's no other option! All I can do is-' Mizuki's anxiety induced brain can no longer think straight.

"Now honey, the truth!" Wasting not a second of having cornered her prey, she goes straight in while Mizuki's still fumbling her words.

"Actually-!!!" Desperately Mizuki speaks out.

"I've made a friend!" Fist clenched downward, eyes closed. She finally came out with it. Even Fuuka is surprised by her sudden exclamation.

"Is.. is that so...?"

"But you don't have to hide that from me no? Why would you need to come home so late because of your friends?" The sudden revelation instead make Fuuka more curious and investigative. She's now even more confused by her daughter's strange behavior these couple weeks.

"If they're a bad influence to you, then it's better for you not to get involved with them, find a new friend. Or at least bring them home sometime so I can get to know them too" Fuuka defending her stance as a mother. Even if her daughter is making progress, she can't let her progress in the wrong way.

"Th-they! Also have the same problem as me! Like, me from 2 years ago!" Again, Mizuki's statement caught Fuuka off guard and manages to break her argument.

"That's... That's why- I can't bring them yet! Not for now!" Seizing the chance, but also the continuation of her story.

"I have to break their shell first.. gain their trust... let them walk outside and get used to it.. slowly.." flashes of memory fires in her brain.

"Step by step... they can't trust other people yet, but they can trust me! So.. so I-" the memory running through her mind right now, her own memory. Of her first encounter with Daisuke.

"Teach them how to be strong.. teach them how to face their fear!" She recalls her experience, with him teaching her how to fight, how to face ghosts head on during their mission.

And while she still doubts her daughter's story, she can see that at least her feelings are genuine.

"I understand what you're trying to do. But I am still your mother. I can't have you coming home late without knowing where you went to."

"Understood, I'll make sure to be back home before night from now on!" Resolute, Mizuki stood her ground and defends her routine.

"Do I have your word?" She confirms with her, making her promise it.

"You have my word!" Fervently she replies. Trying hard to convince Fuuka that she's holding her breath while maintaining eye contact.

Fuuka just stares at her, testing her conviction and honestly curious to see how long she can keep that up. At some point Mizuki's struggling and have her eyes closed while still holding her breath. In her uniform, with hairs a bit unkempt.

And finally, a growling stomach. Ends the staring competition. She pats her head.

"*sigh* okay, okay, we'll talk some more after dinner"

"Good grief, who do you take after I wonder..." Rubbing her forehead while sending Mizuki off to clean herself up before dinner.

At the dinner, Fuuka announces

"From tomorrow, I'll be picking you up at school after class, and then you'll stay at home and study" nonchalant yet decisive, she decides her schedule.

"But Mom!" Mizuki tries to defend her schedule.

"If you must meet you friend at any cost, then I can drive you there after school. And join you..." She took a glance at her daughter. A rather unsatisfied reaction.

"or I can wait in the car until you're done, only until 7. And then we're going back home"

"Is that not okay with you?" She asks Mizuki, reconfirming.

"No it's... it's fine..." Mizuki surrenders. She can't look her straight in the eye and instead just stares blankly at the half finished dinner. Slowly chomping on her remaining meal.

"Can you at least tell me if it's a boy or a girl?" Fuuka plead.

But Mizuki just stays quiet, fiddling with her food. Sulking. But she's trying to act like she's not.

"Come now, don't be like that" she tries comforting her daughter back.

"Guess what? I've got a phone call today" wide eyed, she pauses a bit to see her reaction.

"Phone call?" Mizuki confused, wondering why her mother is telling her this and why she looks so excited to share.

"From who?"

"It's your dad! He's coming back in a couple weeks!" Enthusiastically she shares the good news with her daughter.

"Really?? Is that true, Mom?" The lights return to Mizuki's eyes, it sparkles with joy.

"Yes!! He heard about you getting sick last week and immediately promised me he'll make his way back as soon as possible"

"Mou Dad... I'm all grown up now... why is he such a worrywart..." Is what she said, but still a smile carved on the young girl's cheek.

"By the time you recovered, he already confirmed his ticket back" she explains further, laughing.

Gently pinching Mizuki's cheek

"It can't be helped. It's his one and only daughter that's in distress. There's no way he can sit still and focus at work"

"You both are so close... Mom can't even butt into your conversation when you start..." Fuuka hugs that one daughter of hers.

"And that's why you must make sure not to worry him too much."

"Now be a good girl and help me clean this up" the Mizuki that's now back to her cheerful self only complies. Humming her way to the kitchen, happy from the news.

That night, on her bed, humming, the overjoyed Mizuki is grinning to herself

"I wonder what will he bring back from his research this time~"

"I can't wait to hear more amazing stuff from Dad~" she starts to roll on her bed, trying to contain her excitement. At some point she rolls up and got reminded of that brass lock on her window, recalling Mom's conclusion earlier.

"I'd feel bad for Daisuke kun, but that's also his fault for not trying to help me earlier today!" Pouting. Remembering the events from school just irritates her even more.

"Why would I even care about meeting him again! Here I am desperately defending our routine and he's nowhere to be found..." arguing with herself again. With each new argument, she would roll to different side of the bed.

Until she stopped moving "Why... Did I try so hard to defend it anyway...?" genuinely, she's asking herself this question. A blank clueless expression on her face. Until she recalls her thoughts earlier

'As long as we get to see each other again like this, I'm fine'

"That's..." speechless from her own train of thoughts.