*Chapter 15: Detention with Ghosts (And Feelings?)*
Kaito had survived cursed tunnels, awkward lip collisions, and memory orbs showing past-life romance with the hottest guy in school. But nothing—absolutely nothing—could've prepared him for the horror of…
*Detention.*
He sat at the back of the dim, echoey classroom with peeling runes on the walls and cobwebs dancing in the corners. The desks floated slightly off the ground, creaking every time someone breathed too loud.
"I didn't even do anything!" Kaito protested for the fifth time.
"You exploded a memory orb and accidentally summoned a banshee. That's at least a week's worth of detention," Alexander said from the desk beside him, arms crossed.
"Technically, the banshee summoned *herself*," Kaito mumbled.
Jin and David sat nearby, whispering and occasionally snorting with laughter.
"I can't believe they made *us* attend too," Jin whined. "We weren't even involved."
David raised a brow. "You threw a holy water balloon at a teacher."
"She was possessed!"
"...She was the librarian."
*CRASH!*
A chalkboard floated off the wall and slammed into the floor. The ghostly detention warden floated through it, glaring. "QUIET. Any more disturbances, and you'll all be scrubbing demon moss off the fountains."
Kaito sighed dramatically and dropped his head onto the desk. "I hate this school."
Alexander leaned over, voice soft. "You didn't hate it when you kissed me. Twice."
Kaito groaned so loud the banshee probably heard it in another realm.
"*It was accidental!* Both times!"
"Sure it was."
From across the room, Jin suddenly burst into tears.
Everyone turned.
David panicked. "What happened?! What did I do?!"
Jin sniffled. "Nothing. I just remembered… that one time you made me noodles and called me a 'little spicy bun.'"
Kaito blinked. "You're crying over *noodles?!*"
"*Emotions are complicated, okay?!*" Jin wailed.
The ghost warden sighed. "I'm too dead for this."
—
After detention, the group shuffled out into the moonlit courtyard.
White Louise was waiting.
"What do *you* want?" David asked, instantly on guard.
She looked at Kaito. Her eyes glinted—not with malice, but fear. "You need to see this."
She handed over a glowing scroll. As Kaito unrolled it, a symbol flashed: the same one from his dreams, the cursed mirror, and the ruins.
But this time, it was surrounded by a circle of flames—and the words:
*"THE VEIL WILL BREAK."*
Kaito's heart pounded. "What does it mean?"
White looked grim. "It means... we don't have much time."
---
( Same day deferent location)
The day *should* have ended after detention. But no. Aether High had one more surprise.
"Kaito, Jin—training duty. Now," barked Professor Gravemore, pointing to the haunted athletic field glowing under a ghostly sky.
Kaito paled. "Can I just… spontaneously combust instead?"
Jin groaned. "If this is about the enchanted goat from last week, I *swear* it wasn't my fault."
FLASH BACK
it *was*. When they had they very chaotic training again
They were handed spirit rods and told to "tame the spectral herd." Aether High's farm beasts weren't cows or horses—they were floaty, semi-transparent *ghost goats* with attitude problems.
"These things bite!" Kaito yelped as one charged.
Jin screamed and jumped into Kaito's arms. "WHY ARE THEIR HORNS ON FIRE?!"
"Put me down!" Kaito snapped.
"YOU PICKED ME UP FIRST!"
"No, I didn't—AHH!" A goat slammed into them both.
They went flying straight into a haystack—magically alive and cursed, obviously—which *launched* them back into the air… and right onto the stage where the drama club was rehearsing.
Mid-rehearsal.
Mid-*kiss scene*.
And somehow, in the chaos, Jin *faceplanted* right into Kaito.
Their lips collided for the third time.
*Dead silence.*
Then—
*"WHY?!"* Kaito screamed, flailing. "WHY IS THE UNIVERSE OBSESSED WITH OUR FACES?!"
"YOU HAVE SOFT LIPS," Jin blurted before slapping a hand over his mouth.
The entire club stared.
The drama teacher clapped slowly. "That was… unplanned. But deeply moving. Keep it."
"I want to ascend out of embarrassment," Kaito whimpered, crawling behind a prop tree.
David had witnessed the entire disaster from the bleachers. He was wheezing from laughter.
Alexander stood beside him. "They're going to combust one day."
"Spontaneously. On stage," David nodded.
White Louise, also watching, narrowed her eyes. "This school is full of lunatics."
Backstage, Kaito lay face-first in a pile of fake rose petals.
Jin sat beside him, face as red as his shoes. "We're disasters."
Kaito groaned. "At this point, they should just call the show *'Two Ghost-Hunting Idiots in Love and Pain.'*"
They both burst into laughter. And, somehow, that made the humiliation… just a little easier to survive.
---