[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/pZjrYaU.png[/img]
[hr][h3]~6:15AM | KAMAKURA | JUFUKU-JI[/h3][/center][hr]The corner of Kazuto’s lip twitched up into an impulsive, nervous smile that drew a half-choked breath as his eyes darted from a smiling face to the enormous mallet held in the owner of said face’s arms.

[color=#bb3a4c]“Um, excuse me?”[/color] Well, he always figured that if he died, it’d be from overwork–wait, but his coworkers were still seeing him just fine. That was worse, wasn’t it? Worse. That was probably worse. 

Thankfully, before things could get worse, the dark-haired girl put a stop to the misunderstanding…

…is what Kazuto would have liked to say, before her hand was suddenly [i]in his chest[/i]. The chill was a psychological byproduct of the situation, the brunette knew, but that didn’t stop it from sending a shudder creeping up his spine. The man flinched back with a grimace, and he felt a surge of something between frustration and self-loathing rise like bile in his throat. Ah, damn it, he was a grown ass man–this shit shouldn’t still be bothering him, and it [i]certainly[/i] shouldn’t have been scaring him anymore.

But still, Kazuto took a moment to gather his thoughts back into order and calm his thundering heartbeat before trusting himself to even try a response to any of the strangers’ questions. They were looking for a dead guy, and they were dead too, so maybe it had been a group ordeal? That was something that Kazuto definitely, abso-fucking-lutely didn’t want to know about. In fact, the less he knew, the better! 

…

[i][color=#bb3a4c]’Damn it. Damnitdamnitdamnitdamnit, [b]goddamn it![/b]’[/color][/i] He just couldn’t leave it alone, could he? At the least, he could stay at arm’s length from them for the moment. No need for a repeat of having someone phase halfway into him. Again. Or, god forbid, worse.

[color=#bb3a4c]”Uh, Hayashi’s… fine,”[/color] Kazuto started with a small nod of acknowledgement to the least-threatening looking of the lot. [color=#bb3a4c]”And there’s always confused dead guys around the shrines, but I think a lot of them are supposed to be there. You know, called back for a ceremony or a seance or whatever, not the usual weird aura from confused dead folks. I–er…”[/color] The brunette rubbed his arm uncomfortably. [color=#bb3a4c]”Well, there are also a few at the hotel I’m staying at too. I, uh, tried to follow them a little before we started shooting last night, but I lost track of one of them around Kamakuragu and the other one ran into Raikoji. No way I could follow the guy there.”[/color]

Which… left that last uncomfortable question. With a grimace that spoke more than any words could, Kazuto instinctively moved to pinch the form of his earring for a moment. The emotional response was equal parts comforting and uneasy. 

[color=#bb3a4c]”And the earring was my old man’s. He gave it to me ‘cause of [i]this[/i] situation.”[/color] He made a motion pointing to his own eyes before directing the two fingers toward the group, indicating his clear ability to see them. [color=#bb3a4c]“The old fogeys back home always tell us only real specific people in the family know how to get them, but…”[/color]

The man’s eyes lingered, briefly, on the eerily similar gem that the red-haired stranger had adorning his own earring. 

[color=#bb3a4c]“Guess it’s too late for me to tell you that these freaky dark lookin’ ones don’t really work, huh? Least, never did its job a day in my life.”[/color][hr][@dragonmancer][@OwO][@Obscene Symphony][@Hero]