Melancholy

Hey, hey, hey, is that even food? It just looks like a bowl of radioactive waste! I can't even tell what it was originally made out of!

[Sayori looked at the bowl in front of her with a bit of confusion]

Sayori: Ah, I see! You made soup?

Female Ghost: U-Uh, no...

Sayori: Um, are they stewed vegetables?

Female Ghost: ...

Sayori: Er... fried vegetables?

It must be some sort of ghost food! There's no way you could cook something like this!

[The female looked down with an awkward smile]

Female Ghost: A-Ah... it's that bad, is it?

Sayori: N-No! Plus, how the food looks doesn't really matter, you know?

...But it still matters to a certain extent! In the last story, when someone ate something they didn't recognize, they died!

Female Ghost: Ah, it doesn't matter! T-That makes sense.

Sayori: Um, so just asking because I'm curious, what is this?

Female Ghost: U-Um... cupcakes.

Sayori: ...

...

[Sayori took another glance at the green sludge in a bowl and laughed awkwardly]

Sayori: Ah, I've never seen cupcakes be served in a bowl before! You're so creative!

Female Ghost: R-Really?

This is what being too creative is called! How can you even call those cupcakes? Assuming it even was made of flour, that's just a bunch of rotten flour!

Sayori: Very creative! Ah, I'll try some now.

What? No! That's being even dumber than the ghost is being right now! I can't tell what it smells like from here, but I can still vaguely see some sort of vapor rising from the thing, that's not supposed to happen in a damn cupcake!

Female Ghost: Ah! Please tell me how it tastes.

[Sayori took a spoon and scooped up some of the "cupcake" and put it in her mouth without much hesitation]

Oh god... I'm going to throw up...

Sayori: Hmm...

[The ghost nervously tapped her fingers together]

Female Ghost: H-How is it?

Eh? Is it actually good?

Sayori: It's a good start!

...Ah. So it was bad.

[Sayori scratched her cheek with her eyes closed, slowly deliberating over what she had eaten. It was a little strange, since she had suddenly become serious.]

Sayori: Um, some of what I tasted was definitely overcooked, and some of it was also undercooked.

...How is that even possible?

[She then raised her finger in the air proudly]

Sayori: But I did taste a tiny bit that was cooked properly!

...Um, I don't think that's something to be praised.

Female Ghost: Ah! S-So, I've made some progress!

Sayori: Exactly!

...

[The female ghost smiled brightly after hearing that, having her enthusiasm renewed completely. She then looked back to the cooking area of the kitchen, and noticed the huge mess that was made.]

Female Ghost: Ah! I should clean this up...

[Food was splattered across the walls, countertop, and floor. Due to the difficulty of the ghost's ability to move objects, she had created quite the mess. She hurriedly brought out a rag and began cleaning everything up.]

Female Ghost: Oh dear... at least it isn't as bad as usual.

Am I the one that's weird? Is this supposed to be normal? I-I...

I don't know anymore...

Sayori: Alright, I'm going to finish it!

Nevermind. It's definitely these two freaks.

Female Ghost: Eh? R-Really? I'm sure that it isn't too good though...

Not too good? It's practically biowaste!

Sayori: Don't worry, it's better not to waste food anyways!

What the- you're even crazier! That food is already wasted, the only thing that eating that is going to do is screw your health over!

[The ghost looked quite nervous, but Sayori nonchalantly picked the spoon back up and began eating the green sludge as though it was a perfectly normal meal. Her expression warped each time she put the spoon in her mouth, but she still forced herself to eat it.]

S-She's actually eating it... Oh god, I have to look away.

Female Ghost: U-Um, you really don't have to worry about finishing it!

Sayori: It... It's ok!

I-I don't understand. It's not like she wants you to eat it in the first place!

[The female ghost looked quite concerned, but eventually turned her focus back to cleaning. As for Sayori, she clearly struggled dearly with eating, but still forced herself to continue. By the time the ghost was finished cleaning the kitchen, Sayori had also finished the so-called food.]

Sayori: See?... It wasn't... that bad...

Yes, I think I understand now. She is a masochist.

Female Ghost: Ah! R-Really?

Sayori: Y-Yea-

[Before she could finish her sentence, she clamped her mouth shut with both hands, while her eyes widened considerably. Her body was reflexively throwing up, but she desperately held herself back. The ghost rushed over with worry when she saw this.]

Female Ghost: Oh no! Are you ok? W-What should I do?

[Sayori was unable to respond, as she was currently fighting back the urge to throw up. That was when another ghost came into the room.]

???: Yuri, what in the world are you doing!

Female Ghost: Ah, Natsuki? What are you doing here? I-I thought I said to let me handle it on my own!

Eh? Who's this?

[The ghost that was called Natsuki appeared from behind a door. She looked like a cute young girl, with short pink hair that was bunched up into two miniature pigtails. However, there was one slightly off-putting part about her. She consisted of only the top half. Where the stomach was supposed to be was instead wrapped tightly and tied with bandages.]

Natsuki: What did you do to this girl?

Yuri: I-I wasn't trying to do anything! B-But she ate some of what I cooked and...

Natsuki: And you didn't try to stop her?

Well, to be fair, she kinda did.

Yuri: I said that it wasn't necessary to eat it!

[Natsuki put her hands on her hips and let out a sigh]

Natsuki: Next time, tell her not to eat it! If she really insists, then slap the girl for her own good!

Yuri: O-Ok!

E-Er, well that's the right idea, but I feel like the slapping might be a bit too far.

[After lecturing Yuri, she turned to look at Sayori that was crumpled onto the ground. Natsuki let out a sigh before helping her up and getting her next to the sink. As for Sayori, she couldn't really process what was happening, and continued trying to hold back.]

Natsuki: ...What the heck are you doing!

[Natsuki forcefully removed Sayori's hands that were blocking her mouth, and from there, rainbow-colored glitter spilled out of her uncontrollably]

Wait, what? Why rainbow glitter?

[Because it's a girl]

...Fair enough.

[Yuri wished to help, but also had no idea how to do so, thus ended up standing there awkwardly. As for Sayori, her knees were shaking. Natsuki continued to hold her up until eventually she was done expelling the contents from her stomach.]

Natsuki: Are you ok now?

Sayori: I-I think so.

Yuri: Sorry!

Sayori: No, no. I probably shouldn't have been so enthusiastic to eat it.

Natsuki: It's both of your faults! Yuri, you shouldn't have let her eat that in the first place, and you shouldn't have forced yourself to eat in the first place! Yuri's ego isn't so fragile that you have to do something like that!

What is this? An actual reasonable person? ...Impossible!

[Sayori and Yuri both looked down with guilty expressions, which was quite the strange scene considering they both appeared a considerable amount older than the person lecturing them.]

Sayori: Hehe, so... your name is Yuri?

Natsuki: Wait a minute, don't tell me you guys haven't even introduced yourself to each other yet?

Sayori: ...

Yuri: ...

Sayori: W-We were getting to it!

[Natsuki facepalmed]

Natsuki: Whatever, I guess we can all introduce ourselves now.

[She put one hand just above her chest and another on her hip confidently]

Natsuki: My name is Natsuki, and I don't need anyone's help!

[Yuri straightened up before bowing down]

Yuri: M-My name is Yuri. Um, I like books!

[Sayori tried to stand up, but her legs gave out. Natsuki held her up.]

Sayori: U-urgh...

Natsuki: You should sit down on the couch over there.

Sayori: B-But!-

Natsuki: It's not like you have to do introductions while standing. Plus I guess it was a little bit unreasonable for me to ask you to do them while you're in this state... sorry.

Sayori: Ah, n-no it's fine.

[Natsuki helped Sayori onto the couch. Then she backed off, and floated a little bit higher into the air, almost like she was too ashamed of her height while living, thus she wanted to make herself seem taller as a ghost.]

Sayori: It's nice to meet you, Yuri and Natsuki. My name is Sayori, and I like flowers!

[Yuri did a little clap, and even smiled. Natsuki also let out a small smile as well.]

Natsuki: Hm... so you really are a human, huh?

I would've said yes before, but now I don't really know...

Sayori: Um, y-yes?

Natsuki: Hah. I never thought that there would be a human that could normally talk to ghosts. Did you already have experience with ghosts before, leading you to come to this mansion?

[Natsuki sounded slightly hostile, though that wasn't really her intention. As for Sayori, she blinked obviously and let out a soft hum.]

Sayori: I don't think I've seen ghosts before... Ah, but there was this one time when it was raining, and there was this really loud sound that was scary!

Wh- really?

Yuri: E-Eh? That sounds like thunder...

Natsuki: ...

Oh.

Sayori: Um, and I heard that this place had ghosts, but I didn't really care about that. They said that there were people that would pay you for living in this place, and it was really true! Can you even believe that?

Natsuki: Eh? So you find that more unbelievable than actual ghosts?

Yuri: Hm? Aren't ghosts pretty normal though?

I finally have a partner that's also as confused as I am! Now if only that partner wasn't a ghost...

Natsuki: Well, anyways, welcome to our place. I wouldn't normally say this, but from your reaction, it looks like you plan on staying here for quite a while.

[Sayori nodded excitedly]

Sayori: Yes! It's such a good deal to get paid and even get a free mansion! And there are even so many fun people here too.

Fun, huh?

[Natsuki smiled bitterly]

Natsuki: You are... really something.

Yuri: A really nice person!

Sayori: Ehehe, you guys really think so?

That's not what Natsuki meant at all!

[Natsuki let out a sigh before floating to Sayori's side, inspecting her curiously. As for Yuri, she sat down next to her and was also staring at her curiously. Sayori tensed up nervously, wondering why she was getting so much attention.]

Sayori: U-Um, why are you guys looking at me like that?

Yuri: Ah! Sorry, I didn't mean to stare!

[Natsuki shrugged casually]

Natsuki: We've been here for a super long time and it's like, really hard for us to leave. So everything here looks really old to us, so we can't help but be interested in anything that is new.

[In response, Sayori curled her hair around one of her fingers]

Sayori: Ahaha, so that's what it was.

Yuri: Mm... and most of the guests don't really come to visit us. Usually, we only get a glimpse of them and a bunch of yelling. And I've already read all of the books here...

Sayori: Ehh? That sounds so sad!

[Natsuki clicked her tongue]

Natsuki: We don't need you to pity us! We still have each other, and that's more than enough.

Yuri: E-Eh? You really think so?

[Yuri blushed despite being a ghost, while Natsuki averted her gaze]

Natsuki: W-Well yeah...

Hey wait a sec, when did this become this kind of story? I thought it was supposed to be a scary story!

[Sayori had a finger on her chin, thinking to herself]

Sayori: Hmm... hehe, then I have a big surprise for you!

Yuri: Eh?

Natsuki: Hm?

[Before explaining any further, Sayori rushed out of the house.]

Eh? Is she running away? Hmm... I guess ghosts are pretty scary. Her acting was really good that whole time, I must say.

[Loading Choice List...]

[1 - Buy a book called, "When The Blossoms Fall"]

[2 - Buy a book called, "A Bloody Nightmare"]