| Uninvited, Unrequited? (I)

School, later that day. Loi's head eased into his palm and slid. His eyes clicked shut, then flashed open again. Flickering light from the surrounding windows glinted in his dim periphery. He let them close, this time savoring the feeling of drifting in the fatigue. Watching the waves of consciousness lap away and mix into sleep. Perhaps, if for only a moment...

"Hey, Loi?" Kenta's voice rose, shattering the illusion. An irritated eye lazily peeled open. Kenta waved. " 'Sup?" Loi dropped his eyelid and let himself be taken again. "You look so tired...are you okay?" Kenta inched in. An exasperated sigh flowed out of Loi's slumped body. "I didn't sleep well because of her..." he droned, forcing serious eye contact. "Because of Maya?" Kenta asked, almost sounding skeptical.

A vignette of the night before flashed across his thoughts as he filled Kenta in. "We watched a horror movie, in order to scare me...but it turns out that Maya is scared of horror movies..." A clear sight of Maya suspended in a doorway, glancing into the kitchen for that glass of water cloaked in penumbra. "Not to mention...she is also scared of the dark...so very scared that she asked me to sleep with her in the bed...what a pain in the butt." he bemoaned.

Kenta glared coolly. "So, you slept with her?" he clipped. Loi answered quickly, "Yeah...I know what you're thinking." Kenta was slightly flushed and had that kiddish grin once more - dirty thoughts. "We both slept just fine for the night, okay? That's all, nothing else happened..." A sweet voice crept in. "Good morning Loi, good morning Kenta~" Loi's eye flung open again, but he was astonished by who appeared.

'Nena?!' He wasn't ready for her. She came near over him, flashing a brilliant smile. "Goo-goo-good~ morning Nena!" he cawed, rapidly standing to meet her pose. The proximity was dizzying, face-to-face with Nena, of all people...

---

The instructor held a formal tone, but the news he delivered struck a very sour chord with the students listening. "Class, we have a test tomorrow. If you fail, you will have to take a make-up test." The air got heavy, inclement weather rumbled in the room. "What? Not again!" Kenta and Jaja were petrified. Locked in the statuesque position, there was a reason for their dismay.

Kenta and Jaja were known as 'The Math Hater Duo' in their class, and having already failed three separate times in Mathematics, this sudden of a test might make that a fourth. "Loi!" they desperately called out. Loi stared back, seeing the trepidation. "Please! Help us!" they cried, emphatically. Loi shrugged and respired deeply. "Here we go again..." His friends were ecstatic. "Yay!" they said, flinging their arms up. He ventilated again. "You guys are hopeless."

Nena popped by. "Can I study with you guys?" she asked, gently. "Sure, sure!" Loi blurted out, only half-realizing just who he was speaking with. Kenta and Jaja jumped for joy. "Alright, it's decided! We're having a group study!" They danced and hollered.

The setting was to be after school at Loi's house.

The last place that was considered by the person who actually lived there...and therein lie the problem. "I agree with the group study thing...but why does it have to be at my place?" Loi questioned. The three visitors each bore a calm smile. "We just miss this place, that's all." Jaja stated, relaxedly. Out of the corner of the room, Loi noticed Maya drifting by the doorway.

She stopped and narrowed her eyes. "I see a new visitor...a new target for haunting~ MUAHAHAHA~" she cackled to herself, donning a playfully malevolent smirk. "Well, it's okay. As long as I can see Nena." Loi thought, studying her. Nena noticed, and was delicately simpering. 'She's so damn cute...' Loi appraised before spotting Maya drifting over to the table...

'I forgot about Maya!?!' he tensed. "Hehe~ I'm going to haunt this girl~" Maya giggled under her breath. Nena's light brown eyes crossed her fierce red ones. Her pupils dilated and Maya's contracted, a goofy shape curving across her face. Then she had an epiphany. She was being stared at! Maya's eyes flew to Nena's buxom chest. 'Big melons...tch...' she berated to herself.

"Do you want something to drink?" Maya spoke, face held in an uncanny formation somewhere between glee and malice. "...Sure?" came Nena's uncertain reply. "Are you a cosplayer?" she asked. Maya was not following this line of questioning. "No, I'm a ghost, my name is Maya~" she drafted in a shallow, deadpan delivery. Nena was in an awkward position. "Hehe?" she chuckled, nerves taking over.

Jaja broached the tension and smoothed it easily. "For me, you're a cute, silly ghost~" she chortled. Nena beamed. "You really look like a ghost, Maya! Keep it up!" Maya was at an impasse. This one couldn't be reasoned with so easily. 'But...I'm a real ghost!' she agonized, feeling hurt. 'Good thing Nena doesn't know that Maya is a ghost...' Loi pondered.

'She thinks that Maya is just a cosplayer...I hope she won't do something stupid...' An elbow dug into his side. "Hey, hey~ She's your type isn't she? You like her because she has a big chest, hehehe." Maya pressed.

Loi flashed a worried expression and shushed her. "Shut up...she might hear you..." he hissed.

Nena analyzed their bantering ways. "You two seem so close. Are you two, perhaps, a couple?" she floated, with no pressure attached to her inquiry. Loi and Maya became erratic, vehemently denying. "Hell no!" Maya took it a step further. "Yuck~ no way!" she shrieked, with eyes curled in disgust.

Jaja adopted a cat-like face. "But you're acting like a couple..." she breathed gently, unconvinced. The two were quick to reject the theory. "No way! Maya is just my housemate..." Loi prodded, clearly signaling appropriate distance. Space that Maya was readily widening. She squinted slightly. "He is not my type...I don't like perverts like him..." she cut.

Nena stared at her with vexation written in her eyes. Loi frantically began waving his declination. "Ghaaa! She's just making up stories!" he roared. Nena just closed her eyes, free from judgement or rebuke. Loi turned to Maya and spoke from the corner of his mouth. "Maya, do me a favor...I'll do anything... Just don't ruin my love life." he pleaded. Maya felt her opportunity. "You'll do anything?"

A warm expression cascaded across her face as she held up a pleased arm. "Okay~ Leave this house by tomorrow, and everything will be fine~" she declared. Loi balked at her comfortable face. "Never mind..." She had to regain the lost ground somehow. "How about next week or next month?!" she asked, desperately. "I said, never mind..." he finished. Maya glanced over at Nena again. "By the way, what are you doing here?"

Kenta eased in. "We're having a group study~" Maya launched daggers at him. "I'm not talking to you, so get lost...trash!" Kenta's self image crumbled to dust. He skidded over to Loi and pouted. "She called me trash..." he whimpered. 'Maya is still mad about that incident...' Jaja defused things a little. "We're here because Loi is going to teach us before tomorrow's test~" she happily announced. Maya was stone faced. "Loi is going to teach you?"

She raised a skeptical eyebrow before succumbing to the building laughter she was fighting back. "That was a good joke~" She was still catching her breath. Jaja emphasized her sweetness and carried on. "No, Maya...I'm not joking~" Maya stopped. "Wait, what? This stupid pervert will be teaching you? For real?!" she spilled out, carelessly pointing at Loi with malcontent. Jaja addressed her, unfaltering. "Loi may look stupid...but he is the top student in our class..."

Maya let her guard down. "Eh...really?" She blinked.

---

"To find x," Loi said, in an educational tone, "You need to substitute the y in there and divide it by that, then that and that..." he glided on. "I see..." Nena said, somewhat surprised. "I get it..." Kenta and Jaja chimed in. "Finally, it's done...and that's how you solve the problem." Kenta and Jaja were burned out, steam pouring from their overburdened heads. They saw themselves out. "Thank you so much Loi! Good luck to us, see you tomorrow!"

"See you Kenta, see you Jaja!" he called. Nena waved. "Thank you so much, Loi... See you tomorrow at school." Loi felt satisfied with himself. "Good bye Nena! Take care." The door closed with a gentle thud. Loi glowered at Maya. "No kiss for you? Too bad..." said Maya, puckering mockingly. "You just ruined the mood..." he snapped. "Don't forget I'm still haunting you." Maya stated blankly. "You're so persistent, you know that?" Loi chided.

The clouds of steam billowed up around the shower. Water poured off of Loi as he washed. "Just try to haunt me inside of here...you'll see my beautiful naked body..." Maya soured, hearing those words. "Shut up, you pervert! You're being unfair! But I can wait here and haunt you later...MUAHAHAHA!" Loi shot back a warning volley. "You sound creepy!"

Six minutes later, she was snoring noisily. "Oh! I fell asleep..." she mused, after stirring. 'He's done...maybe even on the bed already... Haunting time!' she laughed to herself, and flung the door open wide. Loi froze, holding a pair of underwear. Maya went whiter than her perma-pallor and her eyes tried to escape. Loi just stared back, meekly. "Ahhhhhhh!" Maya unleashed.

---

Loi was crouched at the fridge. "Boo! What are you doing?" Maya asked, popping up beside him. "I'm going to cook something." he breathed. "What? An idiot like you can cook? You might end up burning down this house, and I won't let it happen..." Maya blared, boorishly. "Don't underestimate me! I'll make you drool with my cooking skills. Behold!"

Loi worked with the speed of several. Chopping, heating, stirring, turning, plating. "Done! Have a taste of my special Adobo!" he proclaimed, striking a glorious pose. Maya sat at the table and joined her sleeves. "Thank you for the meal!" she blessed, and dug in. 'This food!' her mind agonized as her body lurched over.

Suddenly, she began to vomit, the essence exuding out of her in waves. "It didn't make me drool, it made me puke, you idiot!" she screamed, visibly enraged. "I didn't know that a ghost can still puke..." Loi apologized. This was going to be a lot harder than he thought.