Magical Girl Phantom Ascension

You stare down at your lap without seeing it, struggling to process what you've just heard. She seemed upset earlier, but you had no idea it was this bad… and that wasn't even getting into the fact that you were apparently the source of her pain. It seems incomprehensible that someone you never even properly noticed could be so troubled by your passing, and even she seems as confused by that as you are. Perhaps you could look at it another way, though...

After you've hesitated too long, her expression becomes wary, and she hides her face in her knees again. Gently, you turn around and crawl partway onto the bed so you can reach better, and set a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you," you say, trying to pour as much of your confused gratitude into your voice as possible. "Thank you for caring that I was gone."

"Wha?" She sounds weak, disoriented, as she lifts her head again to fix you with an uncomprehending stare.

"I think most of the others… didn't." you elaborate, thinking back to the funeral and the lackluster eulogies your classmates had given. "So… I'm grateful you noticed." She still doesn't seem to realize your meaning, blinking at you like a sudden inconvenient puzzle more than anything. You finally decide to cut to the chase. "I'm a ghost now. I'm Yukimura Kikuko."

It takes a moment for her to react, but her eyes finally widen in shock, and she stares at you intensely before looking away, gears almost visibly churning in her head. Now it's your turn to feel awkward again as she thinks this over, expressions flickering across her face too quickly to decipher, and you stand up and turn away, pretending to examine her desk as a distraction from your nervousness. How will she react? Will she be glad to have you back, or maybe feel awkward? She did spill a lot on you after all, and you're not entirely sure how you feel about some of-

"That's not funny."

You feel your phantom blood run cold at her tone, but do your best to remain calm as you answer. "I… wasn't trying to be."

Turning back around, you find her standing up, glaring at you with a sullen sort of rage. "Get. Out," she demands, voice ragged, and points at the open window. She's trembling with barely-restrained fury and there's a dangerous look in her eye; you take an unconscious step back. "I don't know what you're playing at, but it's not okay. Get out of my sight, now."

She suddenly winces, clutching at her side. You immediately rush to help, but she slaps your hand away, hard. "Don't touch me!" Despite the obvious pain, she pulls out a medical kit's worth of items from her pouch pocket and carelessly tosses them across the bed, rifling through them in search of something.

"Is there any way I can help?" you offer despite yourself.

She just snarls at you again. "You can help by leaving." You can't help but feel a little defensive at this point, and she evidently notices it on your face, because she turns to you imperiously and puts her hands on her hips. "Are you for real? Trying to tell me you're the ghost of a dead girl, and then you wonder why I'm upset? Do you think I'm an idiot to believe that? I won't repeat myself anymore; get out."

Shrinking back, you finally nod in resignation and clamber onto her windowsill. "What I said, I meant," you tell her, and jump out. Given the string of hostility that follows after, you get the feeling she isn't ready to believe you just yet, or her wound acted up again. Most likely both.

It stings, that she doesn't believe you. You felt isolated enough as it is, when you saw your parents earlier; this somehow makes it even worse. On some level you think you understand where she's coming from; even with all the day's revelations, you still barely believe any of it, and that's without grief entering the equation. At some point everyone has a limit, and it seems she's reached hers. Regardless, her reaction hurts, and you still don't even know where to begin sorting out how you feel about everything else she said. For now, you push it to the back of your mind, and once safely detransformed again, focus on figuring out where you are.


It takes a bit of wandering, but you finally gain your bearings - her neighborhood isn't too far from yours. Still, staring up at your house, you don't quite feel ready to turn in just yet, a lingering feeling (Unease? Sadness? Simple restlessness? You can't quite place it, exactly.) stays your hand.

But what else is there to do? Whatever the stranger was doing, surely they'd be done by now, right? Maybe you could summon and talk to them. Or, another thought strikes you; much earlier, Death said you could walk through walls, even though as a ghost you've been surprisingly… tangible. Perhaps there's some sort of trick to that? Your high school should be empty at this hour; maybe you could head there and try to figure that out. Then again, making your way back into your room might be best for now. You don't know if you need sleep anymore, but despite your earlier feelings you kind of want to draw something, to calm your nerves and get your mind off everything else.

What do you want to do now?
> Practice 'haunting' the school
> Speak with the stranger
> Doodle and get some rest