Interlude

When he arrives back home the lights are shut off, it's pretty late at night so Belle assumes Liz is asleep and creeps silently through the house to his room where he falls onto his bed with a groan. He can't tell if everything went great or horrible, he got some new information from that woman in red but Cam went berserk and almost disappeared. He told off his parents but he didn't want to talk to them in the first place. He rubs his hands fiercely over his face to clear out the bad thoughts and refocus, he goes to check the Ghost Index for anything new and finds an entry for the red woman.

[Ghost Index]

[Name: Theresa Mills. Spirit-Type: Fourth-Level. A vain young woman who went on vacation to a small town and stayed at a hot springs. During her stay, she got murdered by another guest at the hot springs and her body parts were spread around turning her into a spirit. Ability: Eternal Youth.]

There wasn't any useful information about her identity after she became a ghost, but he wasn't hoping for much in the first place. He was tired, the mysterious organization was becoming more of a problem now so he had to worry about that, he also had to figure out what was going on with Cam. With a sigh he goes to turn off the lights, he could deal with these heavy thoughts tomorrow. He flops back into his bed and goes to sleep with his clothes still on and lying above the covers.

The next morning, he rolls out of bed around noon and drearily stumbles into the kitchen. Liz has already gone to work, but there's a note on the fridge from her reading, 'I'm glad you're back. I made some breakfast and put it in the fridge, enjoy :D' The note makes him smile a bit, and he grabs out the eggs and bacon, eating them cold. He then makes his way over to the couch and plops down to take a look at the system. 

After the last stream, he gained a lot of Ghost Points, and it would be good for him to decide what to do with them. He now had a grand total of 850 Ghost Points to use for whatever he wanted. The first things upgraded were the gun, the cleaver, and the kusarigama. This cost a total of 300 Ghost Points bringing him down to 550. 

The new effects of the weapons proved quite interesting with the cleaver claiming it could sever the contracts ghosts made, which would be a great help for the mysterious organization. The gun now had more power and better handling, with the added benefit of an extra shot for a slight spray effect. The kusarigama now had an automatic binding ability, where throwing it at an enemy would lock them in place, not allowing them to move or use any abilities. 

Overall he was happy with the spending but decided to hold off on spending any more Ghost Points as pretty much everything was 500 Ghost Points now. That night Liz returned home and greeted Belle with a big hug which he gratefully returned.

"I know it was only for a couple of days but I was so worried about you, are you okay? Did anything happen?" She frets, pulling apart and checking his body up and down.

"I'm fine Liz, don't worry." He reassures her. 

"What do you mean, don't worry, you're out there fighting fucking ghosts! Of course, I'm going to worry you idiot! Now let's pick out a movie and make some popcorn." She tells him, shoving past him and moving toward the kitchen. Belle shakes his head at his friend's actions and sits himself down on the couch, grabbing the remote to flip through some movies. He ends up picking some shitty romance movie and they spend the whole time laughing at how insane the main couple's actions were.

"I mean, who the fuck would actually fall for this guy in real life, this guy is literally the most toxic person ever!" Liz shouts at the screen.

"I know right? And the way she swoons over his every action when he's just a glorified stalker is insane." Belle adds. When the movie finishes they clean up the popcorn and Belle moves to head off to bed, but Liz pulls him back for one more hug.

"I just want you to know I'm always there for you, alright?" She tells him.

"Mhm." Belle mumbles, he turns away when they pull apart so she doesn't see the tears threatening to spill over. 

The next day he gets a call from Leslie asking if he wants to go out for lunch and he happily agrees. When he arrives he finds Leslie sitting at a table in the back, along with Lou and Luna.

"I hope you don't mind if I brought them, Lou wanted to see you again and Luna didn't want to be home alone," Leslie says sheepishly. 

"Silence, you are spitting lies, I simply wanted to try some food at this cafe." Luna huffs. 

"I don't mind, it's good to see you again Lou." Belle greets the young boy, sitting down at the table. The waiter comes by to take their orders, a ham sandwich and fries for Leslie. A chicken tender dish and fries for Lou, and a grilled cheese and tomato soup for Belle. When their food arrives Leslie sneaks a few fries over to Luna who chews on them happily. 

"How have things been going at home for you guys?" Belle asks them curiously. 

"Good, Luna is much nicer now after I bought some cute plushies for her to keep," Lou responds.

"T-that is completely wrong and blasphemous." Luna stutters, her face turning red. 

"Yeah right, I see you cuddling with them every night." Leslie chuckles. Luna and Leslie start arguing after that remark and Belle turns to Lou to ask him a question.

"Are they always like this? They seem to get along a little too well." 

"Ah, yeah, my brother is always so nice to everyone, he's been taking care of me for so long I'm glad he found someone he can play with." Lou smiles, watching the two banter. Once the argument calms down they finish their meal in peace, Belle stands up to leave but Leslie pulls him aside before he can get too far.

"I just wanted to say thank you, for letting me be your assistant and for being my friend, I really appreciate it." He says shyly. 

"It's no big deal, I'm friends with you because I chose to be friends, there's not much to it." Belle smiles.

"It doesn't matter, I still want to thank you," Leslie responds earnestly. Belle opens his mouth to say something but has to stifle a laugh when something catches his eye.

"I think you'd better stop Luna from messing with the restaurant staff." He chuckles, pointing behind Leslie. 

"Ah! Dammit! I've told her not to do that!" Leslie panics, rushing back into the restaurant. Belle heads back home with his heart lighter, grateful for his friends.