Morgana had fallen asleep again.
Ren was a little worried about how much he had been sleeping lately, but Morgana assured him he was fine. He felt as though he was recovering from a cold he didn't know he had.
Out of the corner of his eye, Ren caught sight of a girl with a head of red hair standing alone next to an intersection, looking at a vase of flowers on the ground. Someone must have passed here recently.
He had to walk by, and as he did, he met eyes with the red-haired girl.
Her eyes widened, and she quickly asked, "Can you see me?!"
Ren blinked. "Uh. Yeah. Why wouldn't I?"
The girl was clearly standing there. She was wearing casual clothing, like she had just left a workout of some kind. Cloth shorts and a form-fitting T-shirt.
The girl suddenly started crying, causing Ren to jump.
He tried to calm her, but noticed that no one had been paying attention. No one noticed her bawling on the side of the street.
"No one has seen me in weeks," she cried. "I just sit here alone, and everyone ignores me. I want to go home."
Ren exhaled softly.
"What happened? Why can't you go home? Why can't people see you?"
"I died!" she whimpered.
That was when she stood up and looked at Ren, revealing a chain attached to the center of her chest. There were around ten links on it, and it was tied to the post behind her.
---
Ren was stunned.
Ghosts.
He was talking to a ghost.
What the hell?
He hadn't even activated his Third Eye. Did he need to go to a psychiatrist?
"So your name is Kasumi Yoshizawa, and you died after being hit by a car here in April?" Ren asked, hoping to clarify his confusion.
He vaguely remembered Sojiro saying something about a fifteen-year-old girl dying in a car crash back when he was enrolling at Shujin.
"I'm scared to move on. I don't wanna go to hell. My sister is miserable because of me. Maybe it's good I'm dead," she cried.
Ren noticed a link in the chain attached to her chest begin to disintegrate. He didn't know what it represented, but when he saw it, a chill ran up his spine.
He was lost on what to do, but he decided to do his best.
He bent over and adjusted the flowers, pruning dead leaves. He tried to pat her on the head and said,
"I'm sure she misses you dearly. While you're blaming yourself here, what if your sister is blaming herself? You have to be strong. And get ready to pass on when you're ready," Ren said gently.
Kasumi began to calm down gradually, and the chain link stopped disintegrating.
"I have to help my friend," Ren continued softly. "I will stop by on my way back to see you. You aren't alone."
---
Rukia watched Ren walk away from the ghost from a distance. She couldn't help but smile.
It was good she didn't get too close to him. Otherwise, he would see her in her Shinigami form. Thankfully, she had followed him.
She had confirmed he could see ghosts.
And she had also confirmed that he wasn't a threat.
That was clearly the first time he had seen a ghost. It was almost shocking how quickly he acclimated.
"That poor girl needs a Konsō," she whispered in melancholy before vanishing in a flicker.
---
---
CHAT LOG
[art]
Can we meet at the station and find somewhere to talk?
[Joker]
I'll be right there. We can go wherever you'd be comfortable.
---
"Hey, Yusuke," Ren said as he approached the young artist.
Yusuke looked up. He was wearing his school uniform pants and a wrinkled button-up shirt. He had bags under his eyes and looked weak.
Right before Yusuke could begin talking, Ren suddenly shook his head and said,
"No. We're going to where I live. I live above a café. Let's get you some coffee and food."
Yusuke opened his mouth, then closed it before thanking Ren quietly. They headed to Yongen-Jaya.
On the way past where Ren had met Kasumi, he was going to ask if Yusuke saw her as well. But the girl had vanished. There was only a dainty blue butterfly sitting next to a red—almost black—butterfly.
---
Ren had left money for two cups of coffee and a plate of curry on the prep counter. Sojiro had to take it whether he wanted to or not!
Yusuke sat silently in Ren's room. Morgana was lying quietly on the windowsill, looking out to make sure no one was listening in on the conversation.
"Ren..." Yusuke began. "Were you the one who sent those messages?"
Ren flinched a little. It must have hurt him deeply.
"I didn't send them personally. But I asked someone I trust to send them," Ren decided to be honest. "Sorry, Yusuke."
Yusuke tapped his fingers on his coffee mug a few times while looking at the floor. He sighed, looked up, and said, "Thank you. But also fuck you."
"I know," Ren said gently. "Sorry, bud."
"It's fine. I know you were remembering," Yusuke said.
"...It's not an excuse to hurt someone," Ren answered. "It just... There was a way I could help, and I just had to do it."
Yusuke didn't respond.
"To make it up to you, I want to show you something important. With your artistic mindset, you'll understand what's going on within a few seconds of seeing it."
Yusuke furrowed his brows and nodded.
"I think it's something you would be interested in seeing," Ren said. "I... We want to help you."
---