Neio, Dahlia, and Faelan watched Wraith since the ball's conclusion. Since then, he's nearly isolated himself, staying in his room and only leaving on rare occasions. Steadily, their concern and worry grew until they felt an oppressive air leak from his bedroom, pushing them to gather themselves and confront him. The three entered the dark room and were immediately met with a dense humidity, making it difficult to breathe. Although the almost fully opaque canopy hid him, from the atmosphere alone they knew that Wraith was in his true form. This was further confirmed by his change in voice and manner of speaking, which was far from normal or human.

“...Boss…?” Neio initiated. “You doing alright in here…? Everyone's been wondering about you, and by everyone I mean mainly us.”

“I’m Fine.”

“You don't seem fine.” Faelan added.

Dahlia stepped forward post Wraith's silence, “Please tell us what's on your mind. It's difficult to watch you like this.”

“.....I…..Worry, For That Boy. By Associating With Me, He Puts His Life At Risk, Yet He Turns A Blind Eye, Or Chooses To. I Am Surrounded By Snakes And Vultures That Will Wait Centuries Upon Centuries For The Rat To Peak Its Head From Its Hole, And He Is Akin To Leaving Out A Tail For Them To Grab.”

“But Izumi is fine with that, and he's got us and you to help him. No one's laid a finger on him yet, and I doubt they ever will.” Neio reassuringly affirms.

“That, I Do Not Understand. Why? Why Is He Willing To Put His Life At Risk? For Knowledge? Enjoyment?”

“If you're so unsure, and it's irking you that much, then you could ask him.” Dahlia suggests.

The temperature in the bedroom decreased, allowing for easier breathing, and through the drapes emerged Wraith in his human form, or at least mostly, save a dog’s tail and ears. His hair and clothing were disheveled, reflecting his lack of self care the past few days. Wraith gestured for them to sit down, and he sat across from them but upside-down, his head hanging off the edge of the couch.

With the disappearance of his true form, his normal voice and speech returned, “You know, someone told me that once before.”

“Then why don't you?” Faelan asked.

“I don't know..it seems...weird. Oh hey, Izumi, by the way, how do you feel about me?” Wraith simulates. “It’s just...why would I care? Or more he'd say why do you care? Except he wouldn't because it's Izumi. But I don't even know why I care.”

“Then, ask yourself the same question: How do you feel about Izumi?” Between the three of them, Dahlia always seemed to have the wisest decisions.

“How do I feel about him...?”

“Yea, break it down maybe. Pretend we're not here if it helps.” Neio adds.

“I’m a grown man I can talk to people.” Is what he says, but then again, he's sitting upside-down to make it easier to speak. “I...I get this weird feeling I guess, when I see him. Super happy..? And it kills me to see him sad or upset. His smile and laugh makes me feel like people hate me less and he does this adorable thing when he gets embarrassed or shy, his ears burn up and he fumbles over his words. When he's nervous he likes to hold things, like his shirt or pants, and everytime he says my name I feel this weird ripple in my chest and I just want to spend time with him, even if we aren't doing anything. Just his company is enough for me.”

He pauses.

The spirits exchange glances with Wraith and amongst each other.

“Oh. Shit. I like him.” Pouring his thoughts aloud helped him put emotions to a label. Wraith rubs his hands on his face and groans, “UGHHH fuck I like him...” He flips himself, sitting properly on the couch and grabs a glass of alcohol that's always on the table, throwing a shot back while fighting the imaginary voices in his head. “Fine! I'll ask him out. I don't care if people think less of me for it, people already think I'm a shit stain. I just-...calling him my boyfriend would be nice...and if he doesn't feel the same then maybe I'll try to get him to like me or something I don't know I just wanna be with him.”

For them, it was a bit frustrating to watch Wraith turmoil with his obvious feelings for the longest time, knowing since even before Hodaira that he started to like Izumi, but the end result was worth it. It was better that Wraith came to terms himself rather than being told how he felt.

“So...how are you gonna tell him?” Leaning forward, Neio poured a drink for himself as well after refilling Wraith's glass.

“I’ll figure it out. Ugh…” He downs another shot, heaving a sigh. “The clown falls for the queen. Lavina would laugh but I'm sure she knows, and knew for the longest time.”

So did everyone else, the spirits think, but don't vocalize. Still, at least he finally resolved his convictions. Next though, was the difficult part.

  At home, Izumi celebrated his new job with Eiji, his mother, and Lala, along with the conclusion of his part time jobs. Yet, something felt off. As happy as he was to be with them and to be free of the maid uniform, something was lacking. This reflected in his foggy gaze that struggled to match the concern.

Noticing this, his mother approached him with worry, “Are you alright Izumi?”

“Y-yea…” He outlined the rim of his glass, avoiding eye contact with his mother.

“That wasn't a very convincing yea. Look at me.”

Nothing got past her, and she saw it all through his eyes.

“Do you miss him?”

“Huh?”

“That guy, he helped you with your articles. The revenant.” Kanae remembered his name, but only wanted to egg her son on.

“Wraith?”

“Him, yea.”

“....I guess I do…. It's just, he’s been acting weird lately so I left him alone but...”

“Well, I think it's only right that you have a party with him and his friends too. They helped you get your job after all.”

“Yea... you're right. I should...But what if he doesn't wanna see me?”

“I don't know what's between you two but I doubt that's why since you're always thinking the worst. Just ask if you can come over and celebrate, I doubt he'll say no, and even if he did, what's the worst that can happen? You get a little disappointed and just brush it off.”

Izumi continuously nodded, his mother's advice invigorating him. “Ok, ok! I'll ask him.”

----------------------------------------

“So, why did you come to us first instead of Wraith?” Lavina walked down the hall to Wraith's bedroom with Neio and the others.

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

“I wanted to surprise him.”

Everyone knew that was a partial lie, and Neio was the first to call it out, “Just say you didn't wanna ask him because you were scared.”

“Ok fine yes I was scared he'd say no because I thought he would say something like you shouldn't be drinking or whatever because I told him once I'm a light drinker.”

“Then the last people you should drink with is this lot, specifically Neio.” Lavina huffed a cloud of smoke.

“You know I'm the reigning drinking champion here! Minus Wraith he beats me all the time but he doesn't count.”

“More like reigning alcoholic.” Faelan jokes, a faint and nearly missed scoff slipping from Dahlia and even Izumi.

“Oh yea? I'm not the one who got painted on the wall by a sleeping specter!”

“You two made me do it!”

“Both of you be quiet. Neio, you open the door.” Lavina ushered, making Neio bite his rebuttal as he moved to creak open Wraith's bedroom door.

“Boss…?”

Wraith was in bed, trying to sleep away the pain.

“What?” He groaned.

“Izumi’s here.”

In a flash, Wraith shot out of bed and teleported over, completely ignoring Lavina's presence and nearly scaring Izumi in the process.

“Hi! What are you doing here? You don't have work?” His bed hair along with his dog ears and wagging tail were too adorable for Izumi to handle and he tried his hardest to focus his eyes elsewhere. Though he knew Wraith could shapeshift, it was still surprising to see.

“No, I start on the first day of next week. I got a new job.”

“Really?!”

“Mhm! I finally got a job in my field! So I quit doing part time. Mainly thanks to you honestly, the pieces I did on Fuhiro and Hodaira really helped.”

“That’s great- wait, you're still gonna come by, right?”

“Well yea, of course. Even without the whole medium thing not being solved yet, I still wouldn't just leave without a trace. You gave me this, remember?” Izumi held up the bloodstone chained around his neck. “That’s like if you gave me a diamond and I moved out of the country.”

Neio, tired of watching their amorous exchange, ushers everyone into the bedroom. “Come on!!! Enough talking, time for drinking!!”

The spirits sit in their usual spot, while Wraith and Lavina sit across from them but on opposite ends, with Izumi wedged between Neio and Dahlia. Wraith's ears went back to normal– his tail also disappearing. Neio poured drinks for all of them, boisterously laughing and grinning from ear to ear as he gulped drink after drink. By comparison, everyone else had a much slower pace, including Wraith. Faelan and Dahlia didn't seem to drink at all really, since the process they had to go through to do so was too aggravating, with Faelan’s skeletal head and Dahlia's lack of a body.

“WOO!!! Here, let me tell you a story. So you see this scar up here?” Neio gestured to the large gash on his shoulder.

“Yea, you said that Wraith gave it to you, right?” Izumi remembered a past conversation that felt like ages ago, back when Wraith and himself first shared a bed.

“Yep! So, what happened was some centuries ago, there was some hubub in the dining room. There usually is because there's always a party in there but it was more than usual, you know? So Dahlia and I go in and we're like alright if they're fighting we're gonna have to break it up because Wraith is gonna have a follower count of zero if he catches them and the last thing we wanted was to be the only spirits in this huge ass mansion again. There's like this huge circle, and everyone is surrounding this pair in the center.” Neio takes a quick pause to swig another drink, Izumi sitting on the edge of his seat waiting for him to continue, the others listening as well.

“Gah-! So! We part the crowd and we're like alright alright what's going on and they're arm wrestling right. Dahlia looks at me and is like, you think the boss will be ok with this? And I'm like I don't know they're not tearing up the furniture or anything so it should be fine. Then after the match the spirit who's running the whole thing is like oi Neio and Dahlia, you guys should run some rounds you’d smoke these guys and Dahlia is all shaking their head like hell no I'm not trying to get in trouble because you see Boss wasn't home at the time and Dahlia wasn’t trying to get caught condoning anything in case he did get pissed. I was kinda feeling the same way but then everyone started being like yea come on who's the stronger general! You're a big brute with four arms Neio, Dahlia only has two! So eventually we caved and were like alright alright. First round, Dahlia wins, second I do, and it just keeps flipping between us. Then we say ok, we'll run some rounds with the others, so we start arm wrestling the other spirits. Obviously we win each time, and then the whole room goes SILENT. Like imagine when a teacher comes in or something, exactly like that. The crowd parts like the sea and we just see Wraith coming down the aisle, robe in the wind and all. Dahlia and I look at each other and kiss our jobs good-bye, and then Wraith says what are you guys doing? We say arm wrestling and Dahlia tries to cover for us but Wraith is like nah it's fine I don't really care, but who won the most between the two of you? We say it's even and he tells us to do some quick rock paper scissors, and we're like ok…? I pull rock, Dahlia pulls paper, so he says ok Neio play me. My dumbass thought he meant rock paper scissors for a second and he swatted my hand away and said no arm wrestle me. So Dahlia scoots over and lets him sit and my heart is RACING just straight about to burst out of my chest because I knew I was in for some shameful beating but it was even worse than I expected! Soon as the referee signaled to start, he tore my arm off!! Broke the table and everything! The whole crowd was just dead quiet and you could hear some gasps and murmurs here and there and then he finally said ah crap my bad and just glued it back on with magic like it was nothing. My bad he said! Boss is a beast man!!”

Lavina side eyes Wraith and Dahlia to confirm the story, and Wraith looks away while Dahlia nods.

“And then what? Did he arm wrestle Dahlia?”

“He did! You see, Dahlia tried to get out of it, because as soon as he finished with me he looked at them and said you wanna go? And Dahlia said no I'm alright and he said ok well you're gonna and they just lost their will to fight back, hard to say no to the boss.”

“And he tore my arm off too.” Dahlia finished the story, trying to save themselves the embarrassment of Neio relaying the information.

“Seriously?!!” Izumi eyed Dahlia's arms and shoulders, looking for any hint of damage.

“I don't have any flesh for him to scar, so it was just a matter of putting it back on, but yes, he did. It still hurt though.” Their slight shame could be heard in their voice.

“What happened after?”

“He just went about his day like nothing happened! Got a drink and left the dining hall. Everyone dispersed because they were all shit the generals got rocked so fast and we just felt our pride shatter.” Neio concluded the story with another drink, refilling his and Izumi's glasses.

Izumi sipped some of the alcohol and coughed from the burn before turning to Wraith, who was fairly quiet the whole time. “Why did you do it?”

“What? Tear off their arm? I didn't do it on purpose, I just didn't know how much strength to put into it.”

“Oh bullshit you were putting your dick on the table.” Lavina barked at Wraith.

“No I wasn't! You always do this shit I'm not always trying to boast my ego for fucks sake.”

“You don't know yourself well enough then because you sure are.”

“It was centuries years ago! I spent over a thousand years like a gigantic walking corpse I wasn't used to fighting or anything in a human form.”

“Mhm?” Lavina taps the embers out of her pipe sarcastically.

“Ugh, whatever.” Wraith sinks into the couch.

“Here, Izumi. I want you to try something.” Neio materializes an extravagant bottle of alcohol that he's never seen before.

Immediately, Wraith intervened, “Nonono, don't give him that.”

“Why, what is it?” Izumi asked.

“Aw come on boss, it's a party and he's never tried it! It’s this booze that we spirits made, some strong stuff. You want some?”

“No he doesn't.”

“Please Wraith?”

Fuck, “Fine. But if you get drunk off your ass don't blame me.”

Lavina scoffs at Wraith's inability to decline Izumi and he clicks his tongue at her.

“I won't!”

  And indeed, he did get drunk. It didn't take more than a shot or two of the fancy alcohol before he was intoxicated to the point of his cheeks turning a bright scarlet pink. Neio and Izumi exchanged drunken interactions with slurred words and light slaps across the face, while Wraith stared in worry.

“YoiuuUuuU are rEaaally NiCe!” Izumi fumbled a gesture to Lavina.

“At least someone thinks so.”

“Can it.” Wraith snarled.

“NeeeiiiiO! When did chuew get ssso many armssSss? Hick-!”

“Hwhat do you mean? I ALWAYS ditd!”

“NoooOooooooo, Wraaiittthh, did heee?”

Wraith sighed, “Yes, he did.”

“Nooo!!!! Youu-hick-! Told nmme not to liEe, so whY cannchu?”

Izumi crawled across the table, nearly falling onto the floor if Wraith didn't catch his ragdoll of a body. He pulled him closer to try and keep him from falling as he wriggled and writhed in his arms.

“ahHhh!?! don't hug mee!!! my hehart can't zhtake iT!!!!”

Wraith's leer studied Izumi's bashful shame and close proximity, looking up back at the others. With a gesture of his head, they understood to leave them alone, with Dahlia and Faelan having to drag the intoxicated Neio out of the room. Before she left, Lavina smirked at Wraith and he rolled his eyes, knowing Wraith's intentions.