Work Text:
Mafuyu sits at the dining table in his apartment, staring at the plate of food in front of him. The food looks…questionable to say the least. He fears if he eats it his stomach will immediately projectile vomit it out. His gaze turns to the person next to him, who has been staring at him for the past five minutes.
“Do you need something?”
The person blinks, unmoving for a few moments.
“What makes you say that?”
Mafuyu deadpans at them. “You’ve been staring at me for a while,” The ghost, whose name is Mizuki, pouts.
“Only because you’ve not eaten the food I whipped up!” They say, a bit annoyed.
“I’m just wondering how you’ve even managed to cook this…you’re a ghost, are you not?”
Mizuki turns to avoid eye contact, their pink hair bouncing along. “It sounds to me like you’re discriminating against ghosts!”
The boy sighs and looks back at his food. It’s better to just ignore them instead of engaging with them. Even if they start to annoy you by poking you non stop cause they’re bored and want someone to talk to.
Mafuyu’s stomach growls, the sound bouncing off the walls. “Aww, Mafuyu, you’re hungry! I think it’s time you eat the food I made for you, yeah?” The ghost says floating around the dining room—with their arms behind their head—which occupies the kitchen and living room. “C'mon, it’s good! I tried it!” They add after seeing his disgusted expression.
“Ehh…I don’t know. Is there a reason you cooked for me in the first place?”
The ghost stops floating around. They stand still, staring straight with a blank expression. “Well,” they start. “Ever since I…died, I noticed you haven’t been eating properly. So I…” Mizuki couldn’t finish their sentence before feeling tears welling up in their eyes. They use their sleeve to wipe their tears away. “I’m sorry, I—“ When they look up, Mafuyu is scarfing down the indistinguishable food, face turning green, or pale? Who knows. “M—Mafuyu!” Mizuki flies to their friend and tries to help him out, but their hand goes right through him. Curse this .
Mizuki watches with a guilty face as Mafuyu chows down the dinner. They wish they could force him to stop, it doesn’t look like he’s enjoying it away, but he needs to have something in his system before he passes out from lack of nutrition. After a few minutes, the food is scraped off.
“Hm, amazing.”
“Heh…I feel like you don’t really mean it.”
Mizuki picks up the plate—which reminds them, it’s weird how they can touch objects but not humans. Sometimes they wish it was the other way around, so they can just hold Mafuyu on the days he’s crying and tell him he’s okay. Or hug Ena and tell her everything is not her fault. Or keep Kanade in their arms, and tell the small, gentle girl everything will get better sooner or later. They wish on that day, they hadn’t…
“Mizuki?”
“Hm?”
…
“Mafuyu?” Mizuki turns around from the sink and almost loses one of their eight more lives when they see Mafuyu standing still behind them with a blank face. “Haha…do you need something? I’ll be happy to help!”
The lyricist looks the ghost up and down before reaching out to grab their hand but frowns and deflates when his hand goes through. “Follow me, I want to show you something.”
Mizuki tilts their head in confusion but follows along. “Sure! But, you look sick, are you alright?” Any attempt to make sure the boy is alright is met with him ignoring them, as usual. It’s nothing new.
When the two reach Mafuyu’s bedroom, Mizuki briefly wonders why he brought them there before he opens the balcony door and then makes way for them. “There’s something I want you to see.”
The pinkette side eyes Mafuyu as they walk past, making sure he isn't and or won’t do anything suspicious. But, those thoughts are gone when they look at the sky:
The moon is enlarged and bright, brighter than any star around it. Its color is a completely blinding white with dark spots in different regions of the moon called Maria. The sky behind it…wow. It's a beautiful galaxy sky with its different colors. The moon contrasts perfectly with the sky. Mizuki’s eyes light up as their gaze goes across the sky. “Woah, Mafuyu. It’s so…pretty.”
Mafuyu smiles gently at the ghost in front of him. His gaze falters down to their hand and his smile fades. One of his dreams is to hold Mizuki’s hand once more, to tell them they’re not alone. But, he knows he can’t. Mizuki is dead. They’re not here anymore, they’re gone.
The ghost in front of him flickers before disappearing, and Mafuyu looks down, nails digging into the palm of his head and tears threatening to escape their confines. “The moon reminds me of you, Mizuki.”
He looks back up again at the moon, its bright, large structure hanging in the sky without a care in the world. He wishes he was the moon…he raises his arm and holds his hand out, trying to reach the moon, thinking of himself trying to be his best friend, and once, lover.