"I don't remember ever saying I'm into nightmare fuel."
Clint muttered under his breath. The moment he stepped inside, tension crawled up his spine.
The place looked less like a shop and more like a shaman's tent, dim lights, strange smells, odd trinkets everywhere.
"Good…" The guy behind the counter started groggily, then glanced at the clock and corrected himself. "Afternoon. Here to buy, or just looking?"
"More like a review," Enega said, her tone shifting to ice-cold serious. "I bought a doll from you not long ago. Turns out it came with a free spirit included."
"What?" The shopkeeper stared at the young woman blankly.
"I'm asking where the girl is. The one who was sitting here a month ago," Enega pressed, pressing her fingers between her eyebrows to mimic a deep scowl. "The gloomy one."
"She's not working right now. She's out sick," the man replied defensively. "But I can handle whatever problem you have."
While they talked, Clint scanned the room. He couldn't figure out why just standing here made his ass clench in apprehension.
The atmosphere was off. The corners of the room were draped in shadow, and the dolls on the shelves seemed to stare out from the darkness like wild beasts eyeing their prey.
Yet, the shopkeeper's counter was bathed in a soft, warm light that radiated an eerie sense of peace.
"So, what exactly did you mean by 'spirit'?" the seller asked, pressing his fingertips together to form a rhombus shape.
"I'm not sure you can help," Enega said dismissively. "Just give me the girl's address."
"Excuse me? I can't just give out private information like that. Especially regarding my own family..."
"That changes things." Enega's posture shifted. She wasn't asking anymore. "I need every scrap of information you have regarding her doll-making process."
She looked completely different from the lazy woman in the car.
She moves like a tank, Clint thought, watching his aunt bulldoze through the conversation. A very... arrogant tank.
She was a serious, confident woman standing her ground. In moments like this, Clint realized how much she must trust him to usually act so sloppy and relaxed around him.
But as he watched, he finally pinpointed what was stopping him from relaxing.
A small pendant in the shape of a black book, hanging on the wall.
If a "sixth sense" existed, then Clint's was currently screaming at him to look at that pendant.
"I can tolerate a lot, but don't forget where you are. I am not your subordinate to be ordered, " The shopkeeper puffed his chest out, stepping toward Enega, but Clint cut him off.
"Excuse me, what is that?" He pointed at the pendant.
"A book. Can't you see?"
Enega stared at Clint's frowning face for a few seconds, reading the room, before turning back to the seller.
"How much? And who made it?"
"2100 yen," the seller answered curtly, not even looking at her.
"Who made it?" she repeated, ignoring his attitude. "The sister again?"
"You're not going to leave me alone, are you?" The shopkeeper let out a heavy sigh, finally crumbling under her glare. He slumped back into his chair. "Yes, my sister. She'll be back next week. You can solve your problems then..."
"Understood. Thanks." Enega slapped 2300 yen onto the counter and turned to leave.
"Thanks for the purchase," the seller grumbled to their backs. "At least it's something."
….
"So, what do you think?" Enega asked once they were out in the corridor, eyeing the pendant in Clint's hands.
"Might come in handy..." Clint turned the tiny black book over in his fingers. The inscription was illegible. "Maybe."
"'Maybe'?"
"I just get the feeling it's somehow connected to that doll..." Clint's voice sounded strange, distant.
"And you said you were Quirkless," Enega chuckled, heading toward the exit.
Clint stayed silent, following her, his eyes glued to the object in his hands.
A strange feeling... of significance.
….
YES! YES! YES!
He looked at the cameras!
I did a little victory dance behind the kid, waiting for the payoff. I've been working so hard to be the nice, friendly ghost neighbor who poses absolutely zero threat.
Suddenly, the kid jumped up. I saw pure, primal terror in his eyes. It was like he was being chased by a predator. He scrambled to his feet, packed his shit in a panic, and bolted out the door.
I just stood there, stunned, watching his escape. I couldn't understand what went wrong... untill the truth hit me.
I looked down at my body.
I looked like the main villain of a slasher movie, the kind where everyone gets gutted in the finale.
"Guess my brains really are rotting..."
Idiot! He's a normal guy! He's never seen real shit before in his life, let alone a two-meter-tall black beanpole that looks like it gives old people heart attacks just by existing! I'm a moron. Congratulations to me!
Okay, fine. Looks like we're going with Plan B.
I have no intention of spending eternity as a monster. I need a standard human body. That's why I've been trying to subtly possess the kid, but the only thing I've managed to do so far is give him migraines.
But whatever. I'll learn how to trigger a full possession eventually. Am I a ghost or am I just a bad joke?
I glanced down at my own mouth, the one that stretched vertically from my nose down to the middle of my chest. A chuckle escaped me as I imagined taking a massive dump right into it.
I had to force myself to stop thinking for a second to keep that train of thought from going off the rails.
I learned to clear my mind out of necessity. Death, rebirth, and months of isolation really do a number on your mental health...
Anyway, back to the kid. I have no idea where he ran off to, but I need him.
I need to practice possessing him, otherwise, I'll never figure out what world I'm in, or if I even left the old one.
And just my luck, he's boring! He never watches TV or does anything interesting! He eats with his aunt or he eats listening to music!
"Sigh... It really is lonely here..."