CH:04. Half Dead And Half Alive.

Ryo's jaw dropped. He never expected her—the most famous girl in school—to talk to him. His mind went blank. He had no idea what to say or how to answer Ayame's question. His tongue felt like it had twisted into knots, and he could barely get a word out.

Ayame crouched down in front of him, carefully pressing her arms against her thighs to keep her short skirt from revealing too much. Meanwhile, Ryo sat hunched over, eyes locked onto hers. They stared at each other in silence until Ayame repeated her question.

"How can you see me? I'm dead." Her head tilted slightly, curiosity shining in her eyes. She had been trying to talk to him for the longest time, but until now, she had never been able to get his attention.

"Dead? Huh?" Ryo scratched his messy hair, trying to understand what he just heard. Maybe he was just sleep-deprived. Or maybe he was hearing things.

How could she be dead? There was no way a ghost could look this gorgeous and fresh. If anything, he looked more like the walking corpse between the two of them.

"You weren't listening to the announcement earlier, were you? You were just sleeping the whole time, Okame-kun, huh?" Ayame teased, flashing him a playful grin.

Ryo's face heated up. Embarrassment mixed with a strange, unfamiliar thrill—was this what they called crush? He quickly averted his gaze, but as soon as he turned his head, he realized that the rest of his classmates were now staring at him.

Judging by their weirded-out expressions, they definitely thought he had lost his mind.

"Here we go again. He's talking to himself again."

"Is he on drugs? Look at those eyebags—dude hasn't slept in weeks. Is he high?" The guys sitting in the back snickered, making no effort to hide their mocking whispers.

They were the usual bullies—the ones who used to steal Ryo's lunch money and boss him around. But ever since Ryo had Sato-san scare the life out of them, they had stopped the physical bullying. Of course, that didn't mean they had stopped talking behind his back.

"Shhh—quiet! If he hears us, that bald ghost might show up again!" one of them whispered in terror, gripping his friend's sleeve as he anxiously pulled them toward the classroom door.

The remaining students finally left the classroom, leaving Ryo alone with Ayame. As soon as he fully grasped who—or rather, what—he was talking to, he lowered his head, avoiding her gaze.

The last thing he wanted was to have any sort of connection with the ghosts in this school. It was already bad enough that he could see them—if word spread that he was talking to them, it would only make things worse. And if the teachers found out? It would eventually reach his dad. No way was he letting that happen.

"So, the rumors are true? You can see ghosts?" Ayame mused, tilting her head. "Is that why you're such an emo kid? Or do you just have a lot of ghost friends?"

Ryo ignored her and quietly packed his things.

What did being emo have to do with seeing ghosts? It wasn't like he dressed goth or anything. Sure, he had side-parted hair, but that was just a hairstyle. How did that automatically make him some kind of paranormal magnet?

"Heyyy, I know you can see and hear me. It's too late to pretend you can't," Ayame teased. She hopped onto Ryo's desk, making him flinch.

Ryo was a virgin, never had a girlfriend, never been kissed, never even held hands with a girl outside his family. If there was a dictionary entry for "touch-deprived," his face would be right next to it.

So having a girl—his age, no less—this close to him? Yeah, his brain was short-circuiting.

"Aren't you even the least bit curious about how I grabbed your eraser? I mean, I'm a ghost. I should've just phased right through it, right? Pretty cool, huh? Maybe I'm some kind of special ghost?" Ayame chattered on, completely unfazed by Ryo's silence.

Without a word, Ryo stood up, slung his bag over his shoulder, and walked straight out of the classroom.

Did that stop Ayame? Of course not. She trailed right after him, following him down the hallway.

"Look, I'm floating! Cool, right?" She spun in midair, grinning. "Being a ghost isn't so bad, you know! I mean, I've got freedom. No one can tell me what to do, I can go wherever I want, and I can pull off all sorts of fun pranks without anyone noticing. Hehe."

Ryo hurried down the stairs, desperate to escape the school and leave Ayame behind. He figured that if he got far enough away, the ghost wouldn't be able to follow him. The moment he reached the locker area, he yanked off his shoes and bolted straight out of the school grounds.

"Haaa—" He didn't dare look back. He just ran.

He sprinted all the way to his scamming area—ahem, his business place, where he worked on his side hustle.

By the time he reached the riverbank under the bridge, he was completely out of breath. Dropping his bag to the ground, he collapsed onto the grass, staring up at the bright blue sky. The fresh air filled his lungs as he tried to steady his breathing.

Just as he was about to close his eyes—

Poof.

Ayame's face suddenly appeared above him, her long purple hair falling over his face. Strands of it tickled his skin as her pink eyes locked onto his.

Now that her bangs had shifted out of the way, Ryo could finally see it—

Her huge forehead.

"So that's why you have bangs," Ryo muttered without thinking.

He didn't even realize he was talking to the very ghost he had been trying so hard to avoid.

"Aha! I knew you could see me!" Ayame grinned triumphantly.

Ryo shot up from the grass, his heart pounding—not just from the shock but from the realization that he had fallen for her beauty again.

"You idiot! Stupid! Useless!" he groaned, punching his own leg in frustration.

Ayame, on the other hand, just laughed and laughed.

"Come on, stop denying it. It's not like I'm here to haunt you. Oh, wait—am I haunting you? What do you even call this? Stalking? Or maybe... ghosting?" Ayame grinned as she crouched beside Ryo again.

Ryo let out a deep sigh. "What do you want exactly? Look, I don't talk to ghosts for free." He forced himself to stay calm. Business is business. No matter how cute Ayame was, it wouldn't distract him from running his little operation.

With that, he stood up and walked over to a hidden stash of supplies in the corner. He quickly set up his makeshift workplace—a small yellow tent, a glowing LED sign reading "Spirit Knows Best," and two folding chairs in front of a table with a very fake crystal ball.

Ayame stepped inside, eyes widening in amazement. She never expected this side of her quiet, aloof seatmate—the same guy who never once spoke to her, no matter how hard she tried.

For months, Ayame had gotten to know everyone in their class. She had become friends with all of them, even students from other sections. But Ryo?

If he wasn't sleeping in class, he was spacing out. He disappeared during lunch breaks and vanished the moment the final bell rang.

It was like they lived in completely different worlds despite sitting next to each other every day.

And yet, here they were—finally talking.

Not in a classroom. Not during school hours.

But under a bridge, inside a tiny yellow tent, with a fake crystal ball between them.

"Wow, so you're a fortune teller? Can you see other ghosts, too?" Ayame asked, her eyes fixed on the setup Ryo was preparing. She watched as he skillfully faked the swirling mist inside the not-so-magical crystal ball.

"Yeah," Ryo replied flatly. "And if you need something, you have to pay for it—or work for me."

He adjusted his glasses before settling into his seat across from Ayame.

"If you have a last will you want to fulfill, I can help you. But nothing comes free—there's always a price. It depends on what you can offer." He pushed up his glasses with his middle finger, the gesture adding to his air of mystery.

Ayame tilted her head. "Hmmm... if my last will gets fulfilled, does that mean I won't be able to come back to this world?"

Ryo gave a firm nod.

"You'll move on to the afterlife—where you actually belong. But if you refuse to rest and stay here for more than three years, you'll become a wandering spirit. Eventually, you might turn into a bad spirit, and when that happens, you won't be able to ascend to heaven. Ever." His tone was serious, his gaze steady as he watched Ayame rest her chin on her hand, deep in thought.

Then, she smirked.

"But what if... I'm not really dead?"

Ryo's brows knitted together. "What do you mean?"

Ayame chuckled, clearly amused by how clueless he was.

"I mean," she said, leaning in slightly, "I'm only half dead and half alive."

"Huh!?"