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*Chapter 11: Tears, Screams & Spiritual Breakdowns*
Aether High was buzzing once again—not because of a haunting, but because of the *Afterlife Harmony Showcase*, a performance event where spiritual energies and emotions were projected through song, illusions, or dramatic monologues.
Guess who got *volunteered*?
"Yes, Kaito Nakamura and Jin Lee will be performing a soul duet!" Claude announced gleefully. "Chosen by fate—or chaos."
Kaito blinked in horror. "I'm sorry, *WHAT?!*"
Jin was equally frozen. "I can't sing in front of people—I can barely talk to them!"
David looked suspiciously smug.
"You signed us up?!" Jin hissed.
David shrugged. "I thought it would be… therapeutic."
"You want therapy, go to a spirit healer, NOT an afterlife-wide concert!" Kaito panicked.
***
The night came too fast. The ethereal stage hovered above the Soul Lake, audience seats floating in the air like a magical arena. Ghosts, demons, witches, and even some reapers gathered to watch.
Kaito and Jin stepped onto the platform.
Both trembling.
"This is fine," Kaito muttered. "This is okay. I just have to sing and not fall off the—"
He tripped.
Jin caught him.
They both stumbled into the enchanted spotlight.
Silence.
"Uh... we'll be performing an original duet called... *Two Lost Souls and a Ghost Bunny*," Kaito said with a cracked voice.
Jin whispered, "What kind of title is that?!"
"The emotional kind!"
The music began.
It was *horrific*.
Kaito's voice cracked on the first line. Jin, trying to harmonize, ended up sounding like a crying banshee. Mid-verse, Kaito accidentally activated a projection spell too early, conjuring a huge illusion of a sobbing ghost bunny floating behind them.
Then... Jin's emotions—too strong—spilled out.
Literally.
Spiritual energy flared from his chest. It hit the amplifying orb, which turned his pain into a giant holographic sobbing baby-Jin projection in the sky.
"MAKE IT STOP!" Jin screamed.
The crowd gasped.
Kaito panicked and tried to comfort him—by singing louder.
That only made things worse.
And then… Jin actually cried. Like, real tears. Onstage.
Kaito turned to him, confused and teary-eyed by default because his projection spell was now echoing the sadness.
So Kaito started crying too.
The crowd stared.
Two boys on stage.
Sobbing.
Singing terribly.
While a ghost bunny floated above them in a halo of sparkles and sorrow.
Claude, backstage, was wheezing. "This is—oh my death—this is ART!"
White Louise snapped a pen in half.
David facepalmed.
Alexander just… stared, his jaw tight.
***
After the show, Kaito and Jin were hiding behind the cursed vending machine.
"I want to evaporate," Jin whispered.
"I already packed my ghost bag," Kaito sniffled. "I'm running away to the Soul Mountains."
David arrived, arms crossed. "So... duet career, huh?"
"Don't," Jin said, hiding his face.
"You were cute, though." David winked and left.
Jin blushed furiously.
Alexander walked by slowly, glancing down at Kaito, who was holding tissues under his nose.
"You... made everyone feel something tonight."
Kaito sniffled. "Pity?"
"Chaos," Alexander replied. "But... it was very you."
Kaito blinked, unsure if that was a compliment.
Probably not.
But somehow, the embarrassment bonded him and Jin even more.
Just as the cursed vending machine finally exploded beside them—because of course it did.
( After the tragic performance)
The performance had ended, but the trauma? Oh, it *lingered*.
The very next morning, Kaito and Jin entered the main hall only to find their faces magically printed on every spirit newspaper in Aether High.
*Headline:* *"Ghost Bunny Ballad: Two Soulmates or Two Sob Stories?"*
Kaito shrieked. "They drew me with buck teeth and sparkles!"
Jin choked. "WHY AM I IN A DIAPER?!"
David strolled past, casually sipping a floating smoothie. "At least they called it emotional. Could've been 'disastercore'."
Alexander appeared behind them. "It was disastercore."
Kaito immediately started walking backwards into a pillar.
*Thud.*
He hit it. Again.
"Stop doing that," Jin hissed, pulling him up.
Students passed by with spirit holograms of the crying bunny and began making *crying sounds* every time Kaito or Jin walked by.
"Wah wah waaah," a banshee giggled, floating upside down.
To make it worse, Headmistress Spectra ordered the duo to attend "Emotional Projection Control" classes. Kaito called it "Afterlife Therapy for the Overdramatic."
Day one?
Their instructor was the very ghost bunny they accidentally conjured.
Named *Fluffernyx the Eternal.*
Fluffernyx floated in, wearing glasses and speaking in a monotone: "Today, we embrace our tears. Tears are power."
Kaito leaned over to Jin. "Is this real?"
"End me," Jin whispered.
Class was chaos. Fluffernyx made them do tear-powered yoga. At one point, Jin's emotional outburst accidentally triggered a storm cloud inside the classroom that zapped Kaito's pants off.
"I'M CURSED!" Kaito yelled, hiding behind a desk.
"YOU'RE WEARING AFTERLIFE BOXERS WITH GLOW-IN-THE-DARK GHOSTS!" Jin howled with laughter through his tears.
Fluffernyx clapped. "Breakthrough!"
***
Later that week, the chaos *continued*.
Claude, never one to let scandal fade, posted the full video of their performance to the AetherNet.
The video went viral.
Title: *"Two Boys, One Bunny, Infinite Tears."*
Comments were brutal.
*@DarkWitch92:* "Is this a comedy or a cry-for-help ritual?"
*@GhostChef:* "I've never laughed and wept harder. 10/10."
*@AlexanderStan4Lyf:* "Why did Alex *look at Kaito* like that tho 👀"
Kaito screamed.
"I CAN'T GO BACK TO SCHOOL."
David threw a cloak over him. "Then go in disguise."
"You're not helping!"
***
Things peaked during lunch when *the school band* did a parody remix of their performance in the cafeteria. Complete with fake tears and a cardboard bunny.
Kaito stood on the lunch table, mortified. "YOU PEOPLE HAVE NO MERCY!"
From the back, Claude yelled, "Encore!"
Even White Louise, smirking from her table, whispered, "At least he's finally *popular*."
Mara Gold snorted. "Popular for crying and summoning rodents."
Meanwhile, Alexander just sat watching it all. Silent. Cold. But something unreadable in his gaze.
And Jin? Jin leaned into it. He started wearing bunny pins ironically.
Kaito stared at him. "Why are you like this?"
"I've accepted my fate," Jin said solemnly, sipping a juice box labeled *'Spirit Energy Lite'*. "Might as well embrace the bunny life."
Kaito sighed. "We're officially Aether High's biggest mess."
David leaned in. "Speak for yourselves. I'm still hot."
The bell rang.
Jin and Kaito walked out of the cafeteria, students still sniffling and making fake crying sounds as they passed.
But this time?
They laughed.
Maybe it *was* embarrassing.
Maybe it *was* dramatic.
But it was also the most fun they'd had in the afterlife.
And deep down, neither would trade it.
Well… maybe *just* the holographic diaper part.
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