Meeting the Wishing Ghost
Chapter 1
"Have you ever heard of… Haruto in the classroom? Whoever wishes for him will be granted... With a price of course."
Rumor has it that a wishing ghost resides in an abandoned Evergreen High School building. Mae Silva, an ordinary 3rd year high school student, decided to summon the wishing ghost. Inside an abandoned classroom in the old building, the books are in disarray and every corner of the room is filled with cobwebs. Students have yet to set foot inside since it is filled with dusty chairs and garbage.
Mae grabbed 5 chairs and formed them into a circle. She drew something on a piece of paper and placed it at the center of the circle. Mae started summoning the ghost with some weird incantations she read on another piece of paper in her hand. There's a hint of hesitation in Mae's actions since she doubts whether this ritual will work or not.
Moments later, the floor began shaking, various objects on the ground started bumping into each other, and the old books that were scattered on the floor began to float.
The continuous shaking and moving doesn't seem to stop, until... She saw a boy appeared out of nowhere, an intimidating aura but with a cute face. He has black with faded brown hair, ventured violet eyes, and a transparent body. He wore the school's old uniform that Mae saw from yearbooks in the library with his vest that looked like a cape. He seemed to be a student in her school back then.
A chuckle came out from his mouth, echoing through the vicinity. Mae jumped out of fear in which she almost touched the ghost boy, but her body surprisingly passed through him. She cannot feel a single flesh!
"Eh... W-who's there..!" Mae felt the urge to ask to avoid misconceptions about the situation. She wants to confirm the truth before embarrassing herself. At least, that's what she thought.
The ghost boy let out a chuckle again, as he floated freely in the air toward the teacher's table. He sat down and crossed his legs. Then, he began introducing himself.
"I am Haruto of the classroom." He paused before he spoke again. "For summoning me, I am here to grant you a wish. Nice to meet you, by the way!"
Unable to speak, her mouth gaped widely while her eyes opened fully as she couldn't believe what she had just seen. "Y-you're a real g-ghost!" Despite her initial shock, Mae still chose to speak out to let out her fright.
"Of course, I'm real..!" Haruto exclaimed as he let out an annoyed huff. "Now, give me your name and your wish."
Mae's hands slowly reached out to Haruto's transparent body. As expected, it passed through. She instantly stepped backward, still skeptical of the whole situation and whether what she was experiencing right now was real or not, despite coming here to summon a real ghost. The irony is laughable.
"I-it's just... I can't believe the story is real..."
"I'm real, alright." Haruto reassured.
"I don't know... Are you sure you're not some kind of a con artist?"
"Hey! That's rude~!"
"A-are you not a hologram either..?"
"Do you want me to grant your wish or not??" The impatience was perceived in his tone.
Mae is still suspicious of this ghost, but she has no choice. Now that she had summoned the Wishing Ghost, she'd have to take responsibility of her own actions.
She took a deep breath and began introducing herself. "My name is Mae Silva, currently in my 3rd year of high school. I wish to be the smartest student in my class." Mae didn't want to admit that she felt an excitement coursing through her body, despite finding this situation bizarre and unbelievable. The only thought in her head is that her wish will finally come true.
"So, you wanted intelligence… may I ask why?" Haruto pulled out a random notebook and a pen from his seemingly spatial pocket.
Mae silently hesitated if she should answer his question or not. It wasn't anything grand like earning the title of being a genius or something more ambitious. Thinking about this, Mae found her reason- well, unreasonable. After gathering up courage, she spoke. "W-well, my friends are… always teasing me for being dumb." She sighed.
"Pfft, what???" Haruto said as he burst into laughter.
"H-hey! Studying is not my thing, you know! But in all seriousness, I need good grades so my mother won't get disappointed in me again." Mae's face unusually turned serious.
"Too bad, you might start studying now."
"What..?" Mae asked, confused.
"Nothing! I have something in mind to grant your wish^^ A foolproof plan!"
Mae raised her eyebrow at Haruto, perplexed by his words. "By the way... Haruto, what do you use to grant people's wishes? Some magical book? Spiritual powers? Or unearthly stuff?"
"Usually my Spiritual powers, but I rather don't use them"
"Ehh? Why not?" Mae asked.
"Too dangerous," He smiled. "Hey, you don't mind coming back here tomorrow after school? Same time, same place." Haruto added.
"What do you mean? What about my wish?"
"Trust me." He smiled genuinely at her.
"...okay." Mae hesitantly agreed.
However, every wish comes with a price. The greater the wish, the greater the price you'll pay.
That is how the story of Mae with the wishing ghost begins...
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Wednesday Morning
As Mae walked through the school's gates, she saw something unusual floating in front. It was acting weird and suspicious, but nobody seemed to notice it. She tried approaching it until she realized it was actually… a ghost!?
She ran as fast as she could to flee from it. When she thought she got away from it, the whole school was packed with numerous apparitions from the halls down to every classroom! The whole day, she couldn't even focus on her classes because of the disturbing image of a spirit's head hanging barely onto his neck. Mae could tell she was about to pass out.
After classes ended, 3-5 ghosts had already started following her. The people around her scrutinized her actions when she began to panic and ran straight to the old classroom where she summoned Haruto.
Mae barged through the door and hurriedly ran in terror toward the wishing ghost. "Harutooo! Help meeee! I can suddenly see those… things and it won't leave me alone!" Mae said while pointing fingers at the ghosts as she hid behind Haruto's back and cried for help.
Floating freely in the air, Haruto moved towards the ghosts that were trailing Mae. "These "things" are my acquaintances. I told them to keep an eye on you quietly." He said, glaring at the poor ghosts.
A befuddled look appeared on the girl's face. "Why would you order them to follow me? Why am I suddenly seeing them?? Are they dangerous??? Do they hurt humans????"
"Now, now... One at a time." The wishing ghost patted Mae's head through the air, as if doing so could calm her. "You can see them because you have summoned me. That means, you also have summoned your ability to see what others can't see. Cool, right?!" Haruto clarified.
In other words, she can now see the things that ordinary people can't, such as ghosts, spirits, undead, and unknown creatures that are lingering on Earth.
"No! Not cool. I was living here in peace until those creatures showed up!"
Haruto tilts his head to the side. "Hmm~? But you're the one who summoned me in the first place. You would've anticipated that these kinds of situations would happen. You should've prepared yourself." He deliberately annoyed Mae with a tone of mockery.
She pursed her lips and stared at him for a long time. Then, she turned her gaze to the ghosts. "A-are they dangerous?"
"Some of them, yeah! That's why I ordered my acquaintances to keep an eye on you. Besides! They owe me a debt." Haruto glared at the ghosts again, quivering in fear.
"..But don't you worry Mae! I'll protect you from those dangerous spirits! Although I can only protect you at school since I'm an earthbound spirit, I will do my utmost best to keep you safe." He said.
"If you don't mind me asking... Why can't you go to the other side..?"
He smiled at her before speaking. "Like typical ghosts, I also have a grudge... That's how I became a wishing ghost."
She had some questions in mind, like what grudges does Haruto hold? Why did he become a ghost? Why bother granting wishes to random people? Nevertheless, she just stayed silent.
Haruto turned to the ghosts who were following Mae. "These guys almost ruined my wishing business... So, I befriended them and made them help me instead." Haruto said with a sarcastic smile.
Mae raised her eyebrow to Haruto. Then, at the ghosts. She can't help but recall what happened earlier when they were following her. It was so embarrassing to the point where she wished she could dig a hole and die there. It was also the ghost's fault that she started going crazy and running around the hallways like a headless chicken. She stepped aside her thoughts as she had a feeling that she had forgotten something to remind Haruto.
"Ah right, your wish. You want to be the smartest student in class, right?"
Oh. She almost forgot about that.
"Yes sir!"
"Are you ready??"
"Yes sir!"
"Alright! Let's get to studying, Ms. Silva!"
Mae's face turned from excitement to confusion. "Uh.. what?"
"From now on, I will be your tutor for the whole school year! Don't you worry about the fees, I won't charge you large money."
She looked at Haruto with uncertainty. "Uhh.. I thought you'd grant my wish??"
"If you graduate with the highest grade in this school year, I guarantee you, your wish will be granted," Haruto answered.
"I-I don't understand... I wished to be the smartest, not graduating from high school!"
"Huh, now I know you're not kidding when you said your friends keep teasing you for being dumb." He almost chuckled at the thought.
"Wha-! What's that supposed to mean..!?"
"Mae, graduating with the highest grade means you're the smartest student in your class."
Mae blinked at the realization, but her bewilderment didn't leave. "Didn't you have spiritual powers like you said yesterday? Why not use them and make me the smartest student in class? I'll surely graduate with the highest grade in no time."
"What, are you going to cheat your way out and become a genius right away? That's dangerous Mae, don't be greedy. You don't wanna pay a steeper price, do you?"
Her eyes widened from the revelation. "There's a price..?"
"Every wish has," Haruto replied.
She can't catch up to what Haruto said. Every wish has a price..? So, the greater the wish, the steeper the price? Is this how wishes work? She wanted to confirm one more thing.
"What would happen if I wanted more? If I want you to use your powers?"
Haruto paused for a moment as if considering something. "I'll give you an example instead." He floated towards the window. "See that golden statue over there?"
Mae turned to the window where Haruto was pointing. It is a golden statue that represents a student in her school. It is located at the center of the school's gate. Its right hand is placed on its chest. The other hand is relaxed down, facing at the entrance of their school. This student is a boy.
In bewilderment, she asked. "What about that?"
"He used to be a human. Until he wanted something from me and it backfired."
Mae's eyes widened. "Wha.. what happened?"
Extra
Mae learned something new from Haruto. Other than him being a spirit with a grudge, he wanted to become a teacher someday. But, fate ruined it. He died at an early age. His cause of death is unknown. A mysterious wishing ghost, who is supposed to be resting in peace, is still lurking on Earth.