Bloodstained Memento (3)

"You're... that girl..."

Mizuki's eyes widened.

"My late sister... You're already dead!"

"Yes, it's Fubuki Ne, your big sister"

She smiles warmly.

"It's been a while, Mizuki chan"

"This can't be! You can't be her, dead people don't turn into ghosts!"

Refusing to accept another ghostly story considering what she had experienced before.

"Mizuki chan.. don't you remember me?"

"Stop trying to impersonate her!!"

Mizuki responds aggressively.

"Mizuki chan I'm-.. I'm lonely out here... you left and never came back... All I wanted was just to-"

Mizuki visibly a bit threatened hearing that, she readies her weapon. A broken off wooden leg from a chair. She tries to create her SP weapon on top of that stick which as a result, fortifies the wooden piece, enveloping it in a coat of SP (Spiritual Properties). Her footings spread across the ground, lowering her center of gravity and enabling her to quickly reposition herself if need be.

Surprised by her reaction, the ghost, now calling herself Fubuki, reassures Mizuki.

"Ah don't worry! I'm not trying to get revenge or anything! I just want to... catch up! see how you're doing now"

Still on high alert, and directing her weapon towards Fubuki.

"What do you really want??"

Her hopeful face turns to that of a bittersweet emotion.

"Huuh, that's okay... I don't expect you to believe me. Just being able to see you again is enough..."

She smiles warmly

"You used to be afraid of everything, I'm glad to see you so strong now..."

A comment that piqued Mizuki's interest, her weapon lowers an inch. Curious.

"Oyy what's wrong, mizuki-kun? You're spacing out"

Daisuke calls out to her as he hits her SP weapon and breaks it into pieces.

"You're the one that's so raring to fight yesterday"

He calls out to her again, this time pointing at her weapon. They're fighting in the club room, all the tables are moved aside to free up space for an arena in the middle. Though it barely have enough room.

"At your level, you still need to constantly maintain your focus if you want to keep the structural integrity of your weapon"

Daisuke explains.

"It's not like I'm telling you this for free, you know! You gotta pay me back for this lesson, hmph"

And not forgetting his tsundere bit.

'so this is going to be a thing for a while huh...'

Mizuki is getting used to his ever shifting antiques.

She then rebuilds her weapon at the point where Daisuke breaks them and readies her stance for the next attacks.

"I'm just getting started!"

She gets fired up. She then lunges towards him, swinging her SP made bar as weapon. Exchanging several blows with Daisuke before breaking it apart again.

"Heeeh, is that all~? You have the Great Daisuke teaching you here, ya know? You better not be slacking off, since I go out of my way to teach you after all!"

Hearing that ticks her off.

"Are you mocking me?!"

She hastily recreates her weapon and greedily strikes at him without much thought behind her attacks.

Daisuke effortlessly parries her reckless attacks, managing to slip in a few words of provocations in between which throws her off even more.

However after a while, his otherwise jolly expression changes ever so slightly in the middle of that futile attacks.

'A foreign trace...'

Before he knows it, Mizuki is attacking him with everything else in the room, skipping the weapon making process and just throwing whatever are nearby as weapon.

"Wait! wait! wait!"

He panics while fending off her onslaught. At this point, she's not just doing this for the sake of training. Part of them is her getting revenge on him for annoying her earlier. As she gets more and more wild with her attacks, memories of her getting irritated by the imagined scenario of Daisuke getting all chummy during recess fuels her rampage even more.

After the dust settled, Mizuki's already too tired and is panting from all that workout.

Coming out from behind a table, Daisuke comments.

"Hmm, that was good rate of recreation. But still much too reckless at the end. Hmph, you've still got a long way to go, but that's it for today I guess."

All that frenzy drains out her temper and she's finally calmed down. The big movement she made messed up her hair a bit and one side of them is unbalanced.

While she's still dazed and is recovering, Daisuke holds up a bright red item to her. One of her hair clip.

Seeing it so close made her recall the earlier encounter. The meeting that steals away her focus during training in the first place.

"That hair clip... I'm glad you're still holding onto them."

Fubuki gestures towards Mizuki's bright red hair ornaments. Which Mizuki unwittingly also bring her hands to.

Just knowing that you still keep a part of me close by puts me at ease..."

A comment that left me Mizuki fuddled throughout the day.

Until.

Back at home.

"Is that true?"

Mizuki lying down along the couch directs the question towards her mother.

"Where did you-? I mean yes... That was your sister's... I'm glad that you're able to remember that Mii chan"

'so she's telling the truth...'

Mizuki reevaluates her opinion of the ghost that claims to be Fubuki.

"Do you remember anything else about your sister? Mii chan?"

Mom questions her, a hint of hopeful anticipation cowers behind her smile.

Considering the limited time she interacted with Fubuki, that's the only new thing she'd learnt.

"I.. maybe that's all for now.. it's all a bit hazy..."

She place her palm on her forehead.

"Mmm, it's fine. You were still too little when she's still around. It's normal if you don't remember too much about her. But do tell me if you remember anything else, okay?"

Gently Fuuka caresses her daughter's head.

"She was..."

Fuuka chuckles

"a very active kid, she's good in many sports at school but she won't join any of them"

Her mother pauses a bit while warmly taking a peek into Mizuki's eyes. As if waiting for a response that never come from Mizuki, before she continues.

"...She said they're too troublesome, good grief that girl... Mii chan should try more activities at school. It doesn't matter if you're not good at it, just enjoy your time with the friends you make"

"Where is this coming from..."

Mizuki shy away from Fuuka's 'nagging'.

"Nothing~! I'm just a bit glad when I heard from Hirase sensei that you joined a club. Although, Supernatural Club does sound a bit too much... are you really sure that's what you want to do?"

"I'm fine Mom, it's not really dangerous... we just uhh, research old legends and stuff..."

Leering to the side avoiding eye contact, she felt a tinge of guilt about lying

"... just some cultural stuff, you don't have to worry about it"

"Is that so? Then alright! But don't do anything too bold, okay?"

"I get it I get it. But tell me more, what was Ne chan like? What does she like to play?"

Mizuki steers the conversation back to her initial point of interest.

"Oh? You're especially curious this year? You never paid too much attention when I'm talking about your big sister before."

Fuuka seems almost careful to share more.

"I'm finally interested, that's all"

Mizuki explains, hiding her actual motive. She have her head raised facing Fuuka while her legs in the back moves rapidly back and fro, she's invested.

The young mother holds her head upward for a moment, then subtly exerts a deep breath before finally turning back to Mizuki. A moment of preparation, seemingly.

"Even if you were still a baby when Fubuki chan was in middle school, she really loves playing with you..."

At school, in the old almost abandoned blocks of the old school is Mizuki standing across Fubuki. Rather than a stand off, it's more like a hearing. Mizuki have her hands crossed listening to Fubuki's story.

"So we used to play pretend like we're in a fairy tale. You would be the adventurer, facing tough opponents in all shapes and size. A lot of them are very scary, but no matter how scary they can get, they can never beat us when we're together."

Mizuki looks unconvinced but still interested in what she have to say.

'it's almost the same as what Mom told me last night... what Fubuki Ne likes to play, her habit, her way of talking-'

She recalls her mother's description of her sister last night every time she notices it being expressed by the ghost in front of her claiming to be Fubuki.

'Everything matches up... everything except... the fact that... I went to school together with Fubuki Ne. One of them is a lie'

She holds her chin, thinking deeply while observing 'Fubuki' still describing their past together. The more she hears it, the more familiar it sounds, lining up with her own memory. Or at least very fragmented instances of a very vague memory she could actually recall. The past she shared with 'this Fubuki' progressively gets more and more vivid with each passing second.

'it doesn't make sense...'

Mizuki looks disturbed.

'why would she lie to me...?'

While all that is going on at school, back at home Fuuka takes out a picture from a box. Two little girls of almost the same age poses for the picture. A pair of joyful sisters smiling to the camera.

'Why would Mom... lie to me...?'