The Haunted House

The Haunted House

A few minutes passed, and they arrived at a house about the same size as Hikari-kun's, but it was vacant and looked like no one had lived there for months. They entered through the wall as Kuina took over Hikari's body, allowing them to pass through.

Once inside, they headed upstairs, where Kuina sensed a strong energy - the part of herself that had been missing. As they neared the room, Kuina exited Hikari's body, gathered her ghostly self, and entered the room with Hikari following behind her.

The room was empty, not a single piece of furniture in sight. Hikari observed, "This place is completely abandoned, not a single piece of furniture, and its walls have cracked." Suddenly, he realized, "I get it! Since a part of your spirit is here, that means it must have chased away anyone who attempted to buy and live here. In other words, this house is haunted by you, of course!"

Kuina ignored Hikari's comment, walking towards the window. A blindingly intense light illuminated the whole room, and Kuina's body began to reappear slowly.

But their moment of triumph was short-lived. An unexpected guest spoiled the party - Sato, possessed by the Evil Spirit once again. "Hahaha, Hikari-kun, I finally found you!"

The Ghost materialized in front of Hikari, but unfortunately, Kuina was unable to help him, still being restored. Evil Sato sneered, "Hello, Hikari-kun. I'm Sato-kun." Hikari replied, "You're just using his body, you're not him. I'm not that stupid."

Evil Sato chuckled, "Of course not, that was a joke, Hikari-kun. A lame one, too. I shouldn't be making jokes; I'm quite terrible at this." His expression turned sinister. "But jokes aside, I need your Paranormal Energy to awaken my true power. You've got enough to share, but I'll just take all of it because I want to."

Hikari's eyes narrowed. "Who are you really?" he demanded, his voice firm.

Evil Sato's grin grew wider. "" (Dai Ichi no Yami Ō), First Dark Prince," he declared, his voice dripping with malevolence.

Hikari's determination hardened. "Well, good luck getting my energy. You'll have to get through me first."

Evil Sato sneered. "Hikari-kun, you're not good at sounding cool, so stop it and die."

With a wave of his hand, Evil Sato unleashed a fiery swirling wave, sending Hikari flying out of the room and crashing onto a wall in the hallway. Hikari struggled to get up, using the Ghost Mask to mask his presence.

But Evil Sato was too powerful, and he easily saw through Hikari's attempt to hide. "Hikari-kun, using the Ghost Mask against a ghost of my caliber is like trying to fly as a human - because humans can't fly, hahaha."

Evil Sato walked towards Hikari, his body radiating fiery swirling energy. He grabbed Hikari and his eyes lit up red again as he used the "Drain Punch" ability.

The punch hit Hikari with incredible force, sending him flying across the room to crash onto another wall. Tiny red specks shrouded his body as 5% of his energy was drained.

Evil Sato repeated the attack, hitting Hikari again and sending him crashing back and forth into the walls. Hikari lay on the floor, sensing his spiritual energy gradually decreasing.

On the other hand, Evil Sato was getting stronger, his body growing bigger as a red glow surrounding him increased in thickness. "It's working, I can feel it. I'm getting stronger," he cackled maniacally.

Dai Ichi No Yami O (Evil Sato) sneered, "How utterly pathetic are you, Hikari kun? You possess an astonishing amount of spiritual energy and paranormal energy, and yet you can't even put up a decent fight against me in my weakest form."

Hikari thought despairingly, "He's right; he hasn't even awakened his true self. He's still relying on a human as a fragile vessel, and yet I'm still no match for his power." He spoke telepathically, his mental voice laced with desperation, "Father, what should I do? Why am I so infuriatingly pathetic? Why am I still not good enough?"

Dai Ichi No Yami O continued to taunt Hikari, his voice dripping with sadistic pleasure, "Hikari kun, I'm still here. I haven't left yet, so whatever strategy you were working on in that thick human brain of yours isn't going to work. I ought to tell you right now, so you don't waste your time.

Meanwhile, Kuina's ethereal form began to solidify, her body taking shape as she regained her physical form. Her eyes, once closed, snapped open, and they gleamed bright blue, like sapphires shining in the sunlight. As she regained her memories of when she was still alive, a mixture of emotions swirled across her face.

Her full name, Kuina Chihiro, was printed on the cover of a book she clutched to her chest as she ran into the same house they were in now, which looked brand new at the time. She wore a crisp school uniform and reading glasses, her beautiful green eyes elegant behind the lenses.

Once inside, a man in his late 40s waited for Kuina by the stairs, a warm smile on his face. A woman in her early 40s emerged from the kitchen, her face lighting up with a radiant smile. "Isn't that my beautiful daughter, Kuina?" she asked.

The man replied, "Yes, it is, my dear." Kuina smiled as her mother joined them, and they shared a warm, tender hug, coming together like a perfectly woven tapestry.

Later that day, Kuina sat in the traditional Japanese dining room, her father sitting at the head of the table and her mother sitting across from her. They enjoyed a steaming hot meal of ramen and savory gyoza.

Kuina's Father smiled warmly at her. "So, Kuina sama, there's something I've been meaning to tell you."

Kuina's eyes widened with concern. "I hope it's not something bad, Otousan."

Kuina's Father's expression turned serious. "Not at all, my angel. We're moving again to another city - Sapporo."

Kuina's face fell, her eyes welling up with tears. "But why do we always have to move every 3 months? I've barely acquainted myself with this new environment, but you want to uproot us to somewhere else."

Kuina's Father sighed, his eyes filled with a deep sadness. "I'm sorry, Kuina sama. But to tell you the truth..."

Kuina's Mother chimed in, her voice laced with a mix of sadness and determination. "We're not going to move anywhere else once we get there, I promise."

Kuina's Father continued, "You deserve to know the truth, Kuina. You're 15 years old now; you're old enough to understand."

Kuina's Mother's expression turned stern, her voice firm. "It's your fault, Hazo. You should have never borrowed all that money. We would've found a better way to survive."

Kuina's Father's eyes dropped, his voice barely above a whisper. "Then I would've lost my daughter."

Kuina's confusion deepened. "What's going on, Otousan? What's going on, Okaasan?"

Kuina's Father's eyes locked onto Kuina's, filled with a deep regret. "Kuina sama, you were adopted. Your real parents were two high school students who shortly after your birth died in a car accident in which you survived."

Kuina's Mother picked up where her husband left off, her voice trembling. "We couldn't have children of our own, and that's why we chose adoption. From the day we saw you in that lineup of children, we knew you were the one we wanted."

Kuina's Father continued, "We pushed for adoption, and after hearing the story about your real parents, we knew we had to give you the life you deserved - a life this world was trying to deny you."

Kuina's Mother's voice cracked as she spoke. "But in reality, we were just poor farmers who had just moved to the city seeking a better life. Due to this, we were denied adoption certificates, and we were devastated. Even after working odd jobs for months, we still couldn't save up enough money to make you our daughter, so we resorted to a life of crime, selling drugs for dangerous drug lords all over Japan."

Kuina's Father's eyes filled with tears. "During one of these missions, we decided to quit, but not before stealing money from a dangerous man. We were finally able to become your legal guardians, but we were also being sought after to be assassinated by the man."

Kuina's Mother chimed in, her voice barely above a whisper. "We're sorry, Kuina. We're so sorry." Tears streamed down their faces as they gazed at their daughter, their eyes filled with a deep regret.

Just then, the window's glass shattered, and they heard a bang as the door was kicked open by a masked man. Kuina's Father's expression turned grim. "We were too late. They're here."

Kuina's Mother's eyes widened in fear. "We must protect Kuina, Hazo-sama. We must make sure Kuina survives."

Kuina's Father stood up, his eyes blazing with determination. "I'll go apprehend the gentleman. Akana take Kuina with you and go hide in the basement."

Kuina's Mother nodded, her voice trembling. "Thank you, Hazo-sama."

Kuina, however, refused to back down. "No, Hazo-sama. You don't have to do that. You can't sacrifice yourself for me anymore."

Kuina's Father's expression turned stern. "Shut up, Kuina. You're too precious. You're my diamond, and I'll protect you with my blood if I have to."

Kuina's Mother tried to intervene, but Kuina ran towards her father and clung to him. "Let's go, Kuina," her mother said, trying to pull her away.

But it was too late. A sturdy man with a menacing look, accompanied by four masked men, appeared before the family. "Hazo and Akana, I finally found you. You pieces of trash, and you're all here with your lovely daughter. What a beautiful display. Now, it will be easier to just kill you all."

Kuina's Father tried to reason with the man. "Listen, about your money, I promise I'll—"

But the man signaled him to stop. "You had your chance, years of chances to pay me back, but you just had to keep thinking you're going to run and hide until I die. But I'm still here, and it looks like you're the one who's going to die now. Any last words?"

Kuina stepped forward, her eyes shining with tears. "Hazo-sama and Akana-sama, thank you for everything. Hearing your story made me realize something—that it doesn't matter what happens as long as we stick together. It will all work out. You showed me love in its truest form, and I'll say this: there's no place I'd rather be now than here with both of you. If this is the way we go, then I'm happy knowing that I'll be with you even in the afterlife."

Kuina's Father smiled, his eyes filled with pride. "You're one of a kind, Kuina-sama."

Kuina's Mother nodded in agreement. "We love you too."

The man sneered, his expression twisted in cruelty. "How touching. Now, let's end this." He instructed the masked men to kill them, and they died in each other's arms, brutally gunned down, their bodies lying in a pool of blood.

***

Back to the present, the glow in Kuina's eyes faded, and tears streamed down her face. She muttered to herself, "I'm Kuina Chihiro, the daughter of Hazo Chihiro and Akana Chihiro. I promised to be with you, Hazo and Akana-sama, in the afterlife, and I think you've been waiting for too long."

Kuina's eyes narrowed, her jaw set in determination. "That incident where we died took place a year ago. I don't know how I've been able to last this long, but I won't keep you waiting any longer. But first, I must save Hikari-kun and thank him for his kindness."

Hikari's eyes remained fixed on Dai Ichi No Yami's menacing stare, his eyes welling up with defeat and despair. He muttered to himself, "Otousan, please give me a sign. Otousan, what should I do?"

Dai Ichi No Yami sneered, his voice dripping with sadistic pleasure. "Hehehe, has Otousan responded to you yet? I've been listening to you pathetically cry out." He mockingly repeated Hikari's words, "Otousan, Otousan."

Dai Ichi No Yami's expression turned cold, his eyes gleaming with malevolence. "But enough, Hikari kun. Let me end you right now." He loaded up another Drain Punch, this one shrouded in enormous red swirling energy.

"I'll use up all my Paranormal Energy and drain all yours. It will be a fair exchange. After this last attack, I'll disappear, but when my power is recharged, I would've gained all your Spiritual Energy and thus awaken my true form. And you, on the other hand, will be dead. And that little bitch ghost of yours, Kuina, you'll never see her again. Bye, Hikari."

Just as Dai Ichi No Yami was about to unleash the devastating punch, Kuina materialized in front of Hikari, her eyes blazing with determination. She charged up her paranormal energy, its blue aura swirling around her.

Kuina's voice rang out, filled with conviction. "Hikari kun, I'm here now. I remember everything. I remember who I am. I'm Kuina Chihiro, and my parents were Hazo Chihiro and Akana Chihiro. They taught me true love and sacrifice, and I have you to thank for that. I also acquired my paranormal energy now. Thank you, Hikari kun."

Hikari's eyes locked onto Kuina's, a sense of newfound strength surging through him. He pushed himself up, despite being low on Spiritual Energy.

Hikari's voice was filled with gratitude. "Then let me help you one last time, so you can go and meet your parents in the Light World. Thank you, Kuina chan."

Kuina nodded, a fierce determination burning within her.

Hikari continued, "On a count of three, after you use your 'Essence Beam' I'll use Heavenly Song send you the Light World.' 3... 2... 1... Do it, Kuina chan."

The Heavenly Song is a light blue aura like ability that a person with Paranormal and Spiritual Energy and has Hikari's ability to send ghost's to the Light World uses to send a ghost to the Light World once they have settled their business in the world of the living . It is not an ability one can acquire through learning but rather one that is automatically bestowed upon them from birth like talent .However one can unlock this ability through learning to control their Spiritual Energy.

Kuina's eyes flashed with blue energy. "Shine my Essence, The Blue Bird Beam" Her beam took the shape of a magnificent dragon, its blue scales glistening with paranormal energy.

The Blue Bird Beam connected with Dai Ichi No Yami's Drain Giga Punch, causing sparks to fly. Just then, Hikari gathered his actives paranormal energy.

Hikari's voice rang out, his essence shining brightly. "Shine my Essence, The Heavenly Song!" He directed the Heavenly Song towards Kuina, and the whole area was engulfed by a brilliant light, accompanied by a loud bang.

Essence is an aura that forms around the person's body like a faint cloak. It is a manifestation of one's unique Paranormal energy. Each every person has a unique Essence energy which allows them to use abilities that are only unique to them. One can activate their Essence by chanting the words "Shine My Essense. However if one can unlock another special ability or a powerful version of their special they would call out the words "Shine My Essense, Shine Brighter"

The atmosphere of the house cleared, and Dai Ichi No Yami had exited Sato's body. Kuina was walking towards a radiant light appearing just slightly above, a serene smile on her face.

Hikari stumbled over to Sato's body, trying to shake him up, but exhaustion overwhelmed him, and he collapsed onto Sato's body.