lovemei'mnew? :o
Title: Ghost Story
Author: jibunnohana
Theme: #15 - death
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ni~yaxSakito (Nightmare)
Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn't bother writing about them.
Comments: Yeah, I think I botched the ending. And please don't hate me for forgetting to give Ruka a part. :x Oh, and this is AU.
"Yomi-kun...that's absurd."
"But it's true! What's-his-name upstairs said he saw it with his own eyes. Terrifying, he says." Yomi nodded vigorously for emphasis, eyes wide as he chewed unconciously on a fingernail.
Despite his eccentric neighbor's repeated warning, Sakito continued to lace up his sneakers. With an exasperated sigh, he made one more firm declaration that no matter what Yomi said, he was still going, "Imaginary ghost or no, I'm still going jogging in the woods." With that, he herded Yomi out of his apartment, the shorter man protesting with whatever random ghostly facts he deemed necessary to deter Sakito.
Outside the sun was just about to set, casting the street in a warm glow while the rays bounced off windshields and polished bicycles. Sakito liked being outside this time of day, especially when the sky was aligned just so as to give the sun such a magnificent goodnight. He stretched and took off down the sidewalk, thinking he would hit the middle of the woods right at dusk, the only time of day he loved even more than sundown, when the stars were just beginning to peek through the branches of the trees.
Houses and cars and people going about their business flowed by as Sakito jogged at an easy pace, slowing occassionally to cross the street. At last he reached the edge of the neighborhood woods, a patch of old growth forest that had magically escaped the contractors. He paused for a moment at the entrance to the trail and gave the trees a skeptical glance over, "You don't look very haunted to me." Shrugging to himself, Sakito plunged into the lengthening shadows, following a well-worn path deeper and deeper into the forest.
Everything was beautifully green and mossy, from the bark on the trees, to their shivering leaves, to the rocks underfoot. Sakito was enjoying the cool evening immensely, keeping a steady pace, but more slowly than on the street as to take in his surroundings. I should bring my camera next time, he thought, passing an elderly, moss-covered stone statue, barely visible in the thick mist creeping slowly around the trunks of the trees.
Quickly the trail was becoming less passable, and Sakito was forced to slow to a walk. He began to consider turning back and calling it a night before the path was swallowed up in the dark and he would end up either getting hopelessly lost or spending the night out here. Unexpectedly, he caught a glimpse in his periphery vision of a flicker of light off to his right, but upon turning to get a better view it vanished. Perplexed, Sakito took a few hesitant steps toward where the light had been, thinking that the fog and his eyes were playing tricks on him. As his vision adjusted, a faint outline of a small, broken structure just beyond the first curtain of trees. Intrigue brought Sakito to take a closer look. Oh, it's an old shrine.... The little gate was not more than waist high and thoroughly rotted to the point where it almost looked like branches leaning precariously against each other, save for the smoothness that suggested a human touch.
Before he could examine the shrine more closely, something caught Sakito's attention in the distance, and that thing was the light he had shrugged off as as nothing more than a trick of the fog. Yet, there it was, glowing steadily and illuminating little. Every hair on the back of Sakito's neck felt stiff as a board, and he froze in place. That's more than a little weird..., he thought as the memory of Yomi's ghost story invaded his concious mind. Sakito kept staring at the cold light, unable to tear his gaze away, until a full minute later it disappeared without warning. Startled, Sakito realized that it was now completely dark in the forest and he had the unpleasant, uncanny feeling someone or something was watching him from the boughs just above his head. Not waiting to discovered if his fears were grounded in truth, Sakito turned tail and started back down the path at a brisk pace, refusing to look back over his shoulder.
***
"Ooo, you really saw a ghost? What was it like?"
Sakito held the phone with his shoulder while he dug out some unnamed leftovers from the refridgerator, kicking the door closed and turning to the microwave. "I guess. It was...weird. Like someone was watching me from above. I didn't really stick around to find out who." Punching a few buttons on the microwave, he shifted the phone to his other ear.
Hitsugi's thrilled voice drifted through the earpiece, "You should go back! Better yet, take me when I visit. I'd love to see a real ghost...." The voice trailed off dreamily. "Er...and you of course."
Laughing, Sakito picked up his meal and sat down. Ever since he had moved, he and Hitsugi had talked on the phone nearly every day, the majority of the conversations consisting of his best friend bugging him about a) when could he come visit, or b) did he have a girlfriend yet. "Yeah, right! I knew you were using me."
"Saki-chaaan," Hitsugi protested.
"I already said you can come stay with me anytime," he shot back around a mouthful of food. "Stop whining about it and get off your butt."
A short huff came from the other end of the line, and Hitsugi promised to visit in the next couple of weeks, as soon as he could find a good cat-sitter. They hung up and Sakito continued to eat in relative peace...at least until the unpleasant sensation of being watched crept up his spine. Wha...? Whipping around in his chair, half expecting to see his ghost from last night, Sakito was greeted with Yomi's ear pressed to the screen of his open porch door. Dumbfounded as his neighbor's sheer shamlessness, all he could do was stare open-mouthed.
"I told you so," Yomi said smugly when he noticed Sakito was aware of his presence.
"Yomi...why are you on my porch?"
The shorter man shrugged and opened the screen, padding over the table barefoot and sitting down next to Sakito. "I told you there was a ghost in those woods."
"Er..." Shaking off his initial shock and chalking up the incident to Yomi's inherent eccentricity, Sakito hoped that this eavesdropping thing would not become a common occurance. "And?"
Yomi shrugged again. "Just 'I told you so'." He reached over snatched a carrot from Sakito's plate, but not without getting his hand swatted. "Geeze, snappy today." Quickly cramming the carrot in his mouth, Yomi hopped up and scurried out the door, turning once to stick his tongue out at Sakito.
Alone again, Sakito rolled his eyes and finished his meal. "Weirdo." He set his dish in the sink and went to lounge on the porch, mulling over last night's supernatural encounter. Somehow, that was all he had been able to think about all morning, not to mention the entire time he was waiting to fall asleep last night. Intrigue was taking over for fear, and Sakito was nearly convinced that whatever entity he had seen was completely harmless. How could a wispy bit of vapor and light be dangerous? That didn't quite add up. He had been toying with the idea of going back since waking up that morning; after all, it was another beautiful day and Sakito liked jogging in any forest, regardless of haunting status.
Alright...I'll go back. If nothing happens this time, I'll bet it was just my imagination.
***
Sakito did go back to the old shrine that evening, but this time there was no fog to distort his vision. Panting slightly, he slowed to a trot and then stopped at the same spot he had first seen the apparition. Squinting into the gathering darkness, he found himself actually wanting the ghost to show itself, and without thinking took a few steps further than before. Sure enough, his wish was granted, and the appearance of the soft light in the distance sent little thrills up Sakito's spine. There! And there's no mist this time, so it definately wasn't just my eyes! After a minute, the light blinked out, yet he didn't feel the same sensation of being watched as he had before. Waiting a good ten minutes to see if anything would happen, he returned home slightly disappointed, but even more curious than before. For the next week, Sakito returned to the spot daily, but he was rewarded with nothing more dramatic than a quick glimpse of his ghost.
Finally, on the eighth day after a particularly lonely afternoon, Sakito noticed as he sat against the trunk of a tree that the spirit was lingering a little longer than usual. Tentatively, he spoke to it, uncomfortably aware that any passerby would likely think him crazy. "Why won't you come closer?"
No reponse, not that he excepted one.
"I wonder who you are..." Sakito mused wistfully, leaning his head back against the tree. The ghost flickered and dissipated, and he sighed. "Guess it's time to go hom--" he started to say to himself, but the light came back a few feet closer. "Oh, you're still here." No sooner had Sakito said that, than the ghost left and reappeared yet again, but this time farther away.
Sakito pushed himself up from the ground, suddenly having an insane urge to try to trail his ghost. Perhaps the thing wanted him to follow it; throwing caution to the wind, he started picking his way through the dense forest, gathering speed as it became clear he was gaining on the ghost. By the time he burst into a clearing ten minutes later, so sure he had caught up with the ghost, it was gone. Completely. And with it went the dim light cast from its ethereal body plunging the woods into darkness. Stopping dead as soon as everything went black, Sakito stood stock still, that old unpleasant feeling of someone watching him close by creeping through his body. This was a bad idea....
***
Sakito stared into the inky shadows, breath rasping from the exertion of running through the woods and trying to keep calm. Afraid to blink lest the beastly forest snatch him up to be born away on rough branches, never to be seen again, he willed his eyes to adjust faster to the few slats of moonlight filtering through the canopy. If something was to happen, Sakito hoped it would be quick. He was doubtful of his skill to find a way out of the thick woods, but at least if he started sooner he might get to bed before the wee hours of the morning.
The outlines of the tree trunks were finally fading into view when the diaphonous light currently causing Sakito so much frustration blinked from a branch a good twenty feet above his head. In a way, he was relieved--at least the ghost cast a small amount of light. Perhaps it would lead him back to the path, or at least out of the forest. Instead, the light dimmed before his eyes, obviously about to go out again. "And where do you think you're going?" Sakito's voiced quavered a bit, but he mustered enough courage to sound forceful. Each word gained a little extra momentum and before he knew it he was shouting. "I followed you out here, now what do you want? If you brought me here for something then spill already!"
For a moment the clearing was plunged into pitch black again, but before Sakito could even finish one irritated thought, the mists gathered before him and formed the ethereal visage of his ghost. The features on its face were elegantly masculine, and the tendrils of vapor radiated a strange familiarity that Sakito couldn't place. Raven hair fell across his face as the ghost looked up into his pursuer's eyes.
Sakito couldn't help but take an involuntary step backward as he was confronted with the intensity in the spirit's eyes. "Ah..uh...you..." Sakito stammered, backpedaling another step and nearly falling over a vagrant tree root.
"Don't go. Please," the ghost's voice was deep and quiet, and not at all hollow like Sakito expected such a voice to be. He wasn't begging in the least, but rather requesting, asking permission even, for Sakito to stay.
He didn't feel as if he was in any danger, and stopped, nodding slowly. Words escaped Sakito for the moment, stolen away in utter awe of standing face to face with a man not of this world. Instead of asking one of the thousand questions vying for prevalence in his head, Sakito chose to say nothing and waited for the ghost to speak his piece, and he did, after a moment of gazing at his face. "You're the first one to acknowledge me in quite a while."
"I...oh?" Sakito was not sure how to respond. "...How long have you been out here?"
The spirit chuckled softly, "Too long." He drifted closer, but still kept a comfortable distance. "The years start to run together." For a fleeting moment, the ghost's expression changed to one of sorrow, but by the time Sakito blinked the one facing him was impassive again.
"That must get awfully lonely," Sakito murmured, experiencing a pang of pity for the poor ghost. How terrible it must be, having nothing to do but lurk in the forest day after day, no one to talk to except the trees. He received no reply for his sympathy, but the spirit swayed side to side in the breeze rustling through the forest. Eventually, the ghostly mouth stretched into a half smile.
"Sometimes people come by my neck of the woods, but they never stay. Not like you..."
Somewhat taken aback by the ghost's tone, Sakito plucked at his sleeve nervously. "Well...I like running through here almost every day. If you're not going to try and possess me or anything I wouldn't mind stopping by that shrine for a bit on my way through. You aren't going to try and possess me, are you?" Heck, the only other person he knew in this town was his odd neighbor, why not make acquaintance with a ghost as well?
Amused, the ghost shook his head. "Only if you make me angry."
Sakito relaxed visibly. "Then I will," he answered, noting a happy lift in the spirit's expression. "But I might change my mind unless you show me back to the path."
"Of course," the ghost said quietly, floating gracefully forward a few feet to illuminate a small branch of the trail. "This will take you back. It's not far." As Sakito turned to go, the ghost followed him to illuminate the path. They moved in silence for a short time, until the old shrine appeared in the brush.
"I'll come back soon." Sakito turned and waved as he stepped onto the trail. "Oh, wait...do you have a name?"
"You can call me Niya," the ghost answered obligingly.
"Ok, Niya. I'm--"
"Sakito."
How the spirit knew his name, Sakito hadn't the faintest idea, and hearing it from the mouth of someone long dead sent chills up his spine. "...Yeah. Er...see you soon," Sakito stammered, and began walking away more quickly than he intended.
***
Despite being thoroughly creeped out by Niya's untold knowlege of his name, Sakito kept his promise and returned to the shrine nearly every day, even if just for a short time. After a while, he realized that it wasn't pity that kept pushing him to go back, but more of a slowly developing friendship with the ghost. Niya didn't say hardly anything about his past life, preferring to listen to his living friend tell about his day, the weather, and what Yomi was up to. Hitsugi had been indignant that his friend returned to find the ghost without him, and Sakito couldn't bring himself to mention his tromp through the forest, much less that he knew the spirit's name.
The sky outside was threatening rain one day while Sakito was flipping through his mail on the couch. Listless was the right word for his state of being that day, and he tossed the unopened envelopes on the coffee table. Knowing he would likely get caught in the impending rain, but dismissing the thought as unimportant, Sakito got up and slipped on his shoes by the door. The longer he knew Niya, the more he noticed that they knew things about each other without prying that they shouldn't have known. Not hard facts like their birthdays or where they were born, but more of an uncanny familiarity. Sakito had begun suspecting his ghostly friend was hiding something, yet he couldn't possible fathom what that was.
For this visit he didn't bother using the excuse of going to exercise, and thankfully didn't run into Yomi in the hall. Sakito certainly wasn't in the mood to fend of his neighbor's intrusive questions. The clouds held back rain for the time being, although the forest was humid and smelled strongly of moss and moisture by the time he reached the shrine. The sky was darkenening early from the storm clouds, so Sakito thought the ghost might be out and about before dusk. He leaned on a tree in plain sight and waited, staring at his toes digging little holes in the dirt and dead leaves.
"It's going to rain, you should be inside."
Sakito nearly jumped out of skin when Niya's voice reached his ears from only inches away. He hadn't seen the other appear, although that wasn't much of a surprise. Niya's figure was barely visible in the daylight, no matter how dulled the sun was by the clouds. "...Don't sneak up on me like that," Sakito breathed, when his heart fell back into it's proper place instead of his throat. "I can barely see you."
"That's the problem with being a ghost in the daytime," Niya responded with a shrug of his transparent shoulders. "I didn't expect to see you today."
"Yeah, well..." It was obvious something was bothering Sakito, yet he couldn't think of the right way to voice his thoughts. Niya waited, and watched him searchingly from under the dark forelock characteristically hiding part of his face.
Sighing lightly, Sakito looked up. "I'm not even sure what I want to say. From the first time we talked I've felt like I know you from somewhere, but that would be impossible. It's strange...."
"I wondered if you had noticed." Niya drifted closer, until there was almost no space between them. Sakito's breath caught in his throat and his fingers dug into the bark of the tree as the ghost's hand reached up to touch his cheek. His touch was like a gentle breeze, barely felt and miraculously warm. Sakito always thought ghosts should be cold, bitter and envious of the living as their icy tendrils reached toward solid flesh. "I've been waiting for you for so long...."
Frozen in place, it took a Herculean effort for Sakito to move his jaw, "...Wh-what?" We just met, he's crazy....
If Niya noticed his fear, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he spoke again, softly. "You did know me, a long time ago, in another life. You...loved me."
Sakito's knees went weak, and he was glad of the trunk at his back. The pieces of the puzzle fell together neatly, even if he didn't want to believe it. Everything was true--this Sakito couldn't possibly remember the details, but deep down it made perfect sense from the presence of the shrine to his unfounded desire to keep coming back here. Before Sakito could protest the ghostly figure of Niya had leaned forward and brushed unsubstantial lips against his own, and an involuntary whimper escaped his mouth. He could run away, as there was nothing holding him back but fear and shock. Niya would not be able to stop him, yet Sakito stayed where he was in spite of the intense urge to flee.
Moving away, Niya faded to almost invisibility. "I'm sorry," he offered, staying far enough away to give Sakito the chance to recover.
"No...it's alright. I understand now." Pushing himself away from the tree shakily, Sakito hugged his arms to his chest, suddenly chilled. Terrified and thrilled at the same time, he wobbled the few steps back to the path while Niya watched, expression unreadable. "I'll come back, Niya. I don't want to get caught in the rain today."
Niya studied his face, eyes trying to bore straight into his soul. "Will you?"
"I promise," Sakito answered, returning his old love's gaze steadily.
End.
Author: jibunnohana
Theme: #15 - death
Rating: PG
Pairing: Ni~yaxSakito (Nightmare)
Disclaimer: If I owned them I wouldn't bother writing about them.
Comments: Yeah, I think I botched the ending. And please don't hate me for forgetting to give Ruka a part. :x Oh, and this is AU.
"Yomi-kun...that's absurd."
"But it's true! What's-his-name upstairs said he saw it with his own eyes. Terrifying, he says." Yomi nodded vigorously for emphasis, eyes wide as he chewed unconciously on a fingernail.
Despite his eccentric neighbor's repeated warning, Sakito continued to lace up his sneakers. With an exasperated sigh, he made one more firm declaration that no matter what Yomi said, he was still going, "Imaginary ghost or no, I'm still going jogging in the woods." With that, he herded Yomi out of his apartment, the shorter man protesting with whatever random ghostly facts he deemed necessary to deter Sakito.
Outside the sun was just about to set, casting the street in a warm glow while the rays bounced off windshields and polished bicycles. Sakito liked being outside this time of day, especially when the sky was aligned just so as to give the sun such a magnificent goodnight. He stretched and took off down the sidewalk, thinking he would hit the middle of the woods right at dusk, the only time of day he loved even more than sundown, when the stars were just beginning to peek through the branches of the trees.
Houses and cars and people going about their business flowed by as Sakito jogged at an easy pace, slowing occassionally to cross the street. At last he reached the edge of the neighborhood woods, a patch of old growth forest that had magically escaped the contractors. He paused for a moment at the entrance to the trail and gave the trees a skeptical glance over, "You don't look very haunted to me." Shrugging to himself, Sakito plunged into the lengthening shadows, following a well-worn path deeper and deeper into the forest.
Everything was beautifully green and mossy, from the bark on the trees, to their shivering leaves, to the rocks underfoot. Sakito was enjoying the cool evening immensely, keeping a steady pace, but more slowly than on the street as to take in his surroundings. I should bring my camera next time, he thought, passing an elderly, moss-covered stone statue, barely visible in the thick mist creeping slowly around the trunks of the trees.
Quickly the trail was becoming less passable, and Sakito was forced to slow to a walk. He began to consider turning back and calling it a night before the path was swallowed up in the dark and he would end up either getting hopelessly lost or spending the night out here. Unexpectedly, he caught a glimpse in his periphery vision of a flicker of light off to his right, but upon turning to get a better view it vanished. Perplexed, Sakito took a few hesitant steps toward where the light had been, thinking that the fog and his eyes were playing tricks on him. As his vision adjusted, a faint outline of a small, broken structure just beyond the first curtain of trees. Intrigue brought Sakito to take a closer look. Oh, it's an old shrine.... The little gate was not more than waist high and thoroughly rotted to the point where it almost looked like branches leaning precariously against each other, save for the smoothness that suggested a human touch.
Before he could examine the shrine more closely, something caught Sakito's attention in the distance, and that thing was the light he had shrugged off as as nothing more than a trick of the fog. Yet, there it was, glowing steadily and illuminating little. Every hair on the back of Sakito's neck felt stiff as a board, and he froze in place. That's more than a little weird..., he thought as the memory of Yomi's ghost story invaded his concious mind. Sakito kept staring at the cold light, unable to tear his gaze away, until a full minute later it disappeared without warning. Startled, Sakito realized that it was now completely dark in the forest and he had the unpleasant, uncanny feeling someone or something was watching him from the boughs just above his head. Not waiting to discovered if his fears were grounded in truth, Sakito turned tail and started back down the path at a brisk pace, refusing to look back over his shoulder.
***
"Ooo, you really saw a ghost? What was it like?"
Sakito held the phone with his shoulder while he dug out some unnamed leftovers from the refridgerator, kicking the door closed and turning to the microwave. "I guess. It was...weird. Like someone was watching me from above. I didn't really stick around to find out who." Punching a few buttons on the microwave, he shifted the phone to his other ear.
Hitsugi's thrilled voice drifted through the earpiece, "You should go back! Better yet, take me when I visit. I'd love to see a real ghost...." The voice trailed off dreamily. "Er...and you of course."
Laughing, Sakito picked up his meal and sat down. Ever since he had moved, he and Hitsugi had talked on the phone nearly every day, the majority of the conversations consisting of his best friend bugging him about a) when could he come visit, or b) did he have a girlfriend yet. "Yeah, right! I knew you were using me."
"Saki-chaaan," Hitsugi protested.
"I already said you can come stay with me anytime," he shot back around a mouthful of food. "Stop whining about it and get off your butt."
A short huff came from the other end of the line, and Hitsugi promised to visit in the next couple of weeks, as soon as he could find a good cat-sitter. They hung up and Sakito continued to eat in relative peace...at least until the unpleasant sensation of being watched crept up his spine. Wha...? Whipping around in his chair, half expecting to see his ghost from last night, Sakito was greeted with Yomi's ear pressed to the screen of his open porch door. Dumbfounded as his neighbor's sheer shamlessness, all he could do was stare open-mouthed.
"I told you so," Yomi said smugly when he noticed Sakito was aware of his presence.
"Yomi...why are you on my porch?"
The shorter man shrugged and opened the screen, padding over the table barefoot and sitting down next to Sakito. "I told you there was a ghost in those woods."
"Er..." Shaking off his initial shock and chalking up the incident to Yomi's inherent eccentricity, Sakito hoped that this eavesdropping thing would not become a common occurance. "And?"
Yomi shrugged again. "Just 'I told you so'." He reached over snatched a carrot from Sakito's plate, but not without getting his hand swatted. "Geeze, snappy today." Quickly cramming the carrot in his mouth, Yomi hopped up and scurried out the door, turning once to stick his tongue out at Sakito.
Alone again, Sakito rolled his eyes and finished his meal. "Weirdo." He set his dish in the sink and went to lounge on the porch, mulling over last night's supernatural encounter. Somehow, that was all he had been able to think about all morning, not to mention the entire time he was waiting to fall asleep last night. Intrigue was taking over for fear, and Sakito was nearly convinced that whatever entity he had seen was completely harmless. How could a wispy bit of vapor and light be dangerous? That didn't quite add up. He had been toying with the idea of going back since waking up that morning; after all, it was another beautiful day and Sakito liked jogging in any forest, regardless of haunting status.
Alright...I'll go back. If nothing happens this time, I'll bet it was just my imagination.
***
Sakito did go back to the old shrine that evening, but this time there was no fog to distort his vision. Panting slightly, he slowed to a trot and then stopped at the same spot he had first seen the apparition. Squinting into the gathering darkness, he found himself actually wanting the ghost to show itself, and without thinking took a few steps further than before. Sure enough, his wish was granted, and the appearance of the soft light in the distance sent little thrills up Sakito's spine. There! And there's no mist this time, so it definately wasn't just my eyes! After a minute, the light blinked out, yet he didn't feel the same sensation of being watched as he had before. Waiting a good ten minutes to see if anything would happen, he returned home slightly disappointed, but even more curious than before. For the next week, Sakito returned to the spot daily, but he was rewarded with nothing more dramatic than a quick glimpse of his ghost.
Finally, on the eighth day after a particularly lonely afternoon, Sakito noticed as he sat against the trunk of a tree that the spirit was lingering a little longer than usual. Tentatively, he spoke to it, uncomfortably aware that any passerby would likely think him crazy. "Why won't you come closer?"
No reponse, not that he excepted one.
"I wonder who you are..." Sakito mused wistfully, leaning his head back against the tree. The ghost flickered and dissipated, and he sighed. "Guess it's time to go hom--" he started to say to himself, but the light came back a few feet closer. "Oh, you're still here." No sooner had Sakito said that, than the ghost left and reappeared yet again, but this time farther away.
Sakito pushed himself up from the ground, suddenly having an insane urge to try to trail his ghost. Perhaps the thing wanted him to follow it; throwing caution to the wind, he started picking his way through the dense forest, gathering speed as it became clear he was gaining on the ghost. By the time he burst into a clearing ten minutes later, so sure he had caught up with the ghost, it was gone. Completely. And with it went the dim light cast from its ethereal body plunging the woods into darkness. Stopping dead as soon as everything went black, Sakito stood stock still, that old unpleasant feeling of someone watching him close by creeping through his body. This was a bad idea....
***
Sakito stared into the inky shadows, breath rasping from the exertion of running through the woods and trying to keep calm. Afraid to blink lest the beastly forest snatch him up to be born away on rough branches, never to be seen again, he willed his eyes to adjust faster to the few slats of moonlight filtering through the canopy. If something was to happen, Sakito hoped it would be quick. He was doubtful of his skill to find a way out of the thick woods, but at least if he started sooner he might get to bed before the wee hours of the morning.
The outlines of the tree trunks were finally fading into view when the diaphonous light currently causing Sakito so much frustration blinked from a branch a good twenty feet above his head. In a way, he was relieved--at least the ghost cast a small amount of light. Perhaps it would lead him back to the path, or at least out of the forest. Instead, the light dimmed before his eyes, obviously about to go out again. "And where do you think you're going?" Sakito's voiced quavered a bit, but he mustered enough courage to sound forceful. Each word gained a little extra momentum and before he knew it he was shouting. "I followed you out here, now what do you want? If you brought me here for something then spill already!"
For a moment the clearing was plunged into pitch black again, but before Sakito could even finish one irritated thought, the mists gathered before him and formed the ethereal visage of his ghost. The features on its face were elegantly masculine, and the tendrils of vapor radiated a strange familiarity that Sakito couldn't place. Raven hair fell across his face as the ghost looked up into his pursuer's eyes.
Sakito couldn't help but take an involuntary step backward as he was confronted with the intensity in the spirit's eyes. "Ah..uh...you..." Sakito stammered, backpedaling another step and nearly falling over a vagrant tree root.
"Don't go. Please," the ghost's voice was deep and quiet, and not at all hollow like Sakito expected such a voice to be. He wasn't begging in the least, but rather requesting, asking permission even, for Sakito to stay.
He didn't feel as if he was in any danger, and stopped, nodding slowly. Words escaped Sakito for the moment, stolen away in utter awe of standing face to face with a man not of this world. Instead of asking one of the thousand questions vying for prevalence in his head, Sakito chose to say nothing and waited for the ghost to speak his piece, and he did, after a moment of gazing at his face. "You're the first one to acknowledge me in quite a while."
"I...oh?" Sakito was not sure how to respond. "...How long have you been out here?"
The spirit chuckled softly, "Too long." He drifted closer, but still kept a comfortable distance. "The years start to run together." For a fleeting moment, the ghost's expression changed to one of sorrow, but by the time Sakito blinked the one facing him was impassive again.
"That must get awfully lonely," Sakito murmured, experiencing a pang of pity for the poor ghost. How terrible it must be, having nothing to do but lurk in the forest day after day, no one to talk to except the trees. He received no reply for his sympathy, but the spirit swayed side to side in the breeze rustling through the forest. Eventually, the ghostly mouth stretched into a half smile.
"Sometimes people come by my neck of the woods, but they never stay. Not like you..."
Somewhat taken aback by the ghost's tone, Sakito plucked at his sleeve nervously. "Well...I like running through here almost every day. If you're not going to try and possess me or anything I wouldn't mind stopping by that shrine for a bit on my way through. You aren't going to try and possess me, are you?" Heck, the only other person he knew in this town was his odd neighbor, why not make acquaintance with a ghost as well?
Amused, the ghost shook his head. "Only if you make me angry."
Sakito relaxed visibly. "Then I will," he answered, noting a happy lift in the spirit's expression. "But I might change my mind unless you show me back to the path."
"Of course," the ghost said quietly, floating gracefully forward a few feet to illuminate a small branch of the trail. "This will take you back. It's not far." As Sakito turned to go, the ghost followed him to illuminate the path. They moved in silence for a short time, until the old shrine appeared in the brush.
"I'll come back soon." Sakito turned and waved as he stepped onto the trail. "Oh, wait...do you have a name?"
"You can call me Niya," the ghost answered obligingly.
"Ok, Niya. I'm--"
"Sakito."
How the spirit knew his name, Sakito hadn't the faintest idea, and hearing it from the mouth of someone long dead sent chills up his spine. "...Yeah. Er...see you soon," Sakito stammered, and began walking away more quickly than he intended.
***
Despite being thoroughly creeped out by Niya's untold knowlege of his name, Sakito kept his promise and returned to the shrine nearly every day, even if just for a short time. After a while, he realized that it wasn't pity that kept pushing him to go back, but more of a slowly developing friendship with the ghost. Niya didn't say hardly anything about his past life, preferring to listen to his living friend tell about his day, the weather, and what Yomi was up to. Hitsugi had been indignant that his friend returned to find the ghost without him, and Sakito couldn't bring himself to mention his tromp through the forest, much less that he knew the spirit's name.
The sky outside was threatening rain one day while Sakito was flipping through his mail on the couch. Listless was the right word for his state of being that day, and he tossed the unopened envelopes on the coffee table. Knowing he would likely get caught in the impending rain, but dismissing the thought as unimportant, Sakito got up and slipped on his shoes by the door. The longer he knew Niya, the more he noticed that they knew things about each other without prying that they shouldn't have known. Not hard facts like their birthdays or where they were born, but more of an uncanny familiarity. Sakito had begun suspecting his ghostly friend was hiding something, yet he couldn't possible fathom what that was.
For this visit he didn't bother using the excuse of going to exercise, and thankfully didn't run into Yomi in the hall. Sakito certainly wasn't in the mood to fend of his neighbor's intrusive questions. The clouds held back rain for the time being, although the forest was humid and smelled strongly of moss and moisture by the time he reached the shrine. The sky was darkenening early from the storm clouds, so Sakito thought the ghost might be out and about before dusk. He leaned on a tree in plain sight and waited, staring at his toes digging little holes in the dirt and dead leaves.
"It's going to rain, you should be inside."
Sakito nearly jumped out of skin when Niya's voice reached his ears from only inches away. He hadn't seen the other appear, although that wasn't much of a surprise. Niya's figure was barely visible in the daylight, no matter how dulled the sun was by the clouds. "...Don't sneak up on me like that," Sakito breathed, when his heart fell back into it's proper place instead of his throat. "I can barely see you."
"That's the problem with being a ghost in the daytime," Niya responded with a shrug of his transparent shoulders. "I didn't expect to see you today."
"Yeah, well..." It was obvious something was bothering Sakito, yet he couldn't think of the right way to voice his thoughts. Niya waited, and watched him searchingly from under the dark forelock characteristically hiding part of his face.
Sighing lightly, Sakito looked up. "I'm not even sure what I want to say. From the first time we talked I've felt like I know you from somewhere, but that would be impossible. It's strange...."
"I wondered if you had noticed." Niya drifted closer, until there was almost no space between them. Sakito's breath caught in his throat and his fingers dug into the bark of the tree as the ghost's hand reached up to touch his cheek. His touch was like a gentle breeze, barely felt and miraculously warm. Sakito always thought ghosts should be cold, bitter and envious of the living as their icy tendrils reached toward solid flesh. "I've been waiting for you for so long...."
Frozen in place, it took a Herculean effort for Sakito to move his jaw, "...Wh-what?" We just met, he's crazy....
If Niya noticed his fear, he didn't acknowledge it. Instead, he spoke again, softly. "You did know me, a long time ago, in another life. You...loved me."
Sakito's knees went weak, and he was glad of the trunk at his back. The pieces of the puzzle fell together neatly, even if he didn't want to believe it. Everything was true--this Sakito couldn't possibly remember the details, but deep down it made perfect sense from the presence of the shrine to his unfounded desire to keep coming back here. Before Sakito could protest the ghostly figure of Niya had leaned forward and brushed unsubstantial lips against his own, and an involuntary whimper escaped his mouth. He could run away, as there was nothing holding him back but fear and shock. Niya would not be able to stop him, yet Sakito stayed where he was in spite of the intense urge to flee.
Moving away, Niya faded to almost invisibility. "I'm sorry," he offered, staying far enough away to give Sakito the chance to recover.
"No...it's alright. I understand now." Pushing himself away from the tree shakily, Sakito hugged his arms to his chest, suddenly chilled. Terrified and thrilled at the same time, he wobbled the few steps back to the path while Niya watched, expression unreadable. "I'll come back, Niya. I don't want to get caught in the rain today."
Niya studied his face, eyes trying to bore straight into his soul. "Will you?"
"I promise," Sakito answered, returning his old love's gaze steadily.
End.