Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Saiki was not having a good day. Somehow Toritsuka had garnered the wrath-of, well, he couldn’t tell, which was more scary than anything else. All he had to work with was his ghost-nuisance perv’s nickname (Ghost King…) and with almost no mental signature in the area.

Yare yare, it didn’t seem like he would be getting rest anytime soon figuring out this mystery. Toritsuka, for his part, seemed scared to death of the mysterious caller. And with him not knowing the actual name of the culprit, long distance likely wasn’t an option. Unless he was Japanese, which he somewhat doubted, otherwise he would have noticed earlier.

Apparently his fr-nuisance had received an angry call from the King for whatever reason. Saiki wasn’t sure what it was; perhaps it had something to do with the ‘favors’ he always asked the local ghosts. But if he wasn’t from Japan (and wasn’t as obsessive as his brother) then why would he care?

His answers were given to him on a silver platter later in the day. He had just enough in his pocket worth enough to replace for a coffee jelly, so he ate one on his way home. He liked the flavor and texture enough to save him from the overwhelming stress of thinking of a situation largely outside of his jurisdiction (and therefore his control).

Toritsuka was talking to the same mysterious figure on the way out of school. He seemed to hyperventilate enough to collapse in the middle of a walkway just outside. This was bad, and highly irregular for him. The esper reluctantly picked up the man, hoping to teleport and get things over with. Perv’s actual phone rang, however.

The Unknown Number on the caller ID was quickly read by him as originating from somewhere in the US. Saiki debated whether to bring Toritsuka back to his house or not; people might get the wrong idea if he did. But it was closer.

He picked up the phone and responded in as calm a voice as possible: “Yes?”

His voice must have echoed through the speakers as the reverb seemed to almost echo painfully through the device.

The response through the other side was surprisingly more matter-of-fact.

“You aren’t Toritsuka! Wait, then, why do you have his phone?”

The number’s accent was grating in how American it was. Not Southern, exactly, but an unplaceable American kind of sarcasm to match his own dry Japanese version.

“He passed out, you idiot.”

This was slower seeing as he used his powers to both null the blasted echo and make the other understand his words.

The response was that of a surprised but oddly pleased American.

“Good. Served him right. He was harassing too many ghosts.”

Wait.

“Why do you care? You’re not from Japan.”

“I’m the Ghost King. Wait, how did you-“

“Caller ID. You were stupid enough not to use a burner.”

Perv groaned, still in Saiki’s arms.

Saiki just sighed.

“He’s my…friend.”

It took too much for him to say that.

“And therefore my responsibility if you traumatize him.”

The other laughed.

“Wait, that makes too much sense. In that case…I have a friend just like him. But, hey, ghost business is my business, so keep him under control, kapeesh? Unless you want me to visit.”

Don’t bother, I’ll just teleport there myself.

“Got it.”

He had a new respect for ghost-nuisance for putting up with that guy.

Chapter Text

After dropping Toritsuka off, Saiki felt a weird tingling towards his limiters. Or it might have just been his brain.

Good grief.

It hurt like hell, that was for sure-whatever it was tickled in a certain premonition kind of way.

Which meant-

He held his head and flashed forward.

A man’s deep but piercing cackle.

His parents with a strange technicolor device that looked too garish for Kusuke to have made it.

A video game screen with him tapping against the glass.

Toritsuka, unconscious again.

Damn it…he’s going to have to carry Toritsuka again, isn’t he?

“What a world” he muttered to himself.

—

“Ku, your friends are here!”

He had lost track of time.

 Due to carrying Toritsuka home (he had no choice, Perv would have been even more of an annoyance at his house) he must have forgotten another *social gathering* that his friends and family seemed to hold specifically for his own torture.

This particular set of friends seemed to be spread across multiple rogues galleries: 

First and foremost was Aiura, her eyes darting from one end of the room to the other. 

“Saiki, have you seen-“

“He’s at his house.”

“Saikiiiiiii, I brought you some sweets!”

‘Now he’s GOT to say ‘oh wow’ at least once! Just pray the brat isn’t also-‘

“Cyborg Cider Man Number Two! You must be so courageous hosting this party and inviting Baron Cola! It’s to lure him in, right?”

I’m not hosting this party, I didn’t even know it was a party.

“Hey friend!”

Of course Nendo was there. And it seemed Kaido was there as well.

“Your being late must be a result of the Dark Reunion stealing you away!”

No it wasn’t. But whatever.

So…it wasn’t that big of a party after all. Just the original nuisances and Aiura. 

He could handle that. His mom started explaining, as if that would make up for him literally rescuing someone and not being excused to eat his coffee jelly in peace.

“Ku, we were holding this party for the new foreign exchange student but he never showed up, so the food would go to waste if your friends didn’t-“

Oh. There was Mera. And Saiko? Thought he didn’t like cheap food.

And…of course, Akechi. 

Wait-what did his mom say? 

He’d kept up with the records. There was no new foreign exchange student. That broke the loop so therefore it wouldn’t happen. Right?

He shot an urgent look at Aiura just in case.

“I can eat the food, Mrs Saiki’s mom,” Mera said, having already eaten half of it.

Stuff seemed normal enough, but that earlier comment didn’t sit right. 

Chapter Text

After the party, Saiki pulled Aiura aside, frantic. He liked to say (to himself especially) that he had no emotions, but that would be a very unfortunate lie. Due to being an esper, he had to force himself to block them out so he was just so used to not experiencing any at this point. 

She attempted to comfort the poor psychic, however it was clear she was trying to hide her own concerns on the matter.

“You sure you didn’t know there was a new exchange student? And that you didn’t see or make contact with the person who you flashed forward to?”

“Well, that’s the thing, really. This whole day has been improbability after improbability. And you know that I treat saying that very seriously.”

“I really do. Wonder what’s up.”

“Nothing good.”

‘Maybe we can get closer on the way to figuring this out…could be fun for both of us”

“Aiura. Focus.”

She smiled, sheepish.

“Sonnovabi-“

Saiki crossed his arms.

“Moving on to the much better topic”

Aiura snapped another glance at Saiki. The fortune teller questioned him with her eyes. 

I am still worried about Toritsuka. 

“Oh, Toritsuka is fine-I dropped him off at his place earlier. And if you’re worried about Akechi, well, I think he’s still at the party. 

But what does worry me is the coincidence of Toritsuka passing out on the behalf of an American Ghost King and the exchange student coming today-it is too quick but still feels…off.”

“You’re kind of right.”

She sighed.

“Wait, Toritsuka passed out? You must be exhausted then.”

Saiki looked back at her.

“A bit, but if I had to I am sure I could force my way through a situation or two.”

He frowned.

“If it comes to that, I'll see what I can do to make sure my normal life is at least partially maintained.”

She laughed.

“It’s never been, and you know it.”

It was her turn to frown.

“I got a premonition as well…do you think it would help if you knew it?”

Of course, but I kind of already know.

“Right.”

“It was exactly like mine.”

The fortune teller gasped.

“Then we are soulmates!”

Saiki frowned. 

“Don’t push your luck-it’s an anomaly that we even got the same signal at all. I was outside the house, not in it, and I had to have seen or registered the object or human of the flash.”

He sighed.

Yare yare.

“ And I doubt there are others who can duplicate or have the same traumatic future that happens to involve my parents but it’s more likely than a soul connection any day.”

Chapter Text

Danny Fenton never got a break. 

Between his home life, school life, and ghost life, he certainly didn’t have enough time left over for hanging out with his friends. 

And shouldn’t that be a big part of a high school career?

A blue stream of smoke came out of his mouth for the fifteenth time that day and it was only 9:00. He had been up all night.

“No-not againnnn,” he trailed off as he yawned.

A figure was there in front of him, foreign, smiling but clearly tense.

“I came all the way here, my King.”

Danny yawned again. 

“Can’t this wait?”

He sighed, as loud as ever.

“No it can not, sir. I keep getting…used by this kid for personal ends-had to travel for too much time to admit to get to you, Mr. Phantom.”

The room got notably colder.

“What did you say????”

Phantom snapped, his face pained, his eyes bloodshot with a feral electric green.

“ My subjects. They are getting used in this way? How haven’t I known about this?”

His visage seemed to cloud.

“Ghosts should know how I feel about cheating.”

“Yes, of course, your Majesty, but they’re not in Amity. They might not have heard.”

“Where are they, then?”

“Japan, sir-“

Danny was just confused at this point.

“Japan? I really have jurisdiction over ghosts in frickin’ Japan? ”

He sighed.

“Well, if they’re being exploited I suppose I have no choice, now do I. As the king of apparently the entire undead population of our dearest planet.”

Chapter Text

As time started to slow to a dangerous and rather familiar pace, Danny blinked. 

Of course he was involved. How could he not be?

Clockwork’s annoying but calm and calculated face greeted him. 

Sure he liked the mentor well enough but he could take care of his own diplomacy thank you very much.

Phantom’s eyes darted between him to the other ghost then to him again. 

“What is it, Clocky? Were you finally going to tell me that I have gone international?”

“No, Daniel, the news I am going to give you is rather different.”

He morphed to his old man form to say the next part.

“There has been a temporal anomaly.”

He looked down.

“I can not deal with such a thing myself so you’re just going to have to deal with heading away on diplomatic business. I’m giving you a head start now, but it’s largely your responsibility.”

He sighed. 

“I can get you there, but as for living arrangements and an excuse to exit your other obligations…I am sorry.”

“What do you mean you’re sorry ?”

“Exactly as I said. I don’t have any property in Japan, and, were I to pull the proper strings myself something might happen to offset the time loop above fixing the root itself-“

“Time loop?”

Phantom growled. 

Clockwork quickly retorted.

“I’m sorry I didn’t explain earlier.”

He shifted to the angsty teen. 

“Were you expecting me to keep your mission from you this time around?”

Danny just stood still, having not properly processed everything.

“Wait, Japan?”

Clockwork nodded.

“Clocky, if there’s a temporal disturbance in Japan, and this ghost over here is also from Japan…that’s one hell of a coincidence.”

The timely ghost only grinned.

“Why yes it is, Daniel.”

A small part of Danny felt that he might be bluffing and actually not know this time. But he pushed it aside in a ‘how can I get proper arrangements in Japan’ type of way. 

He knew one way, but Clockwork would hate it. And so would Danny himself. 

But he was starting to think it was the only way. 

Hopefully Dani was away farther than Japan that day…

He wouldn’t want the cheesehead to regain his little sister.

-

“Ha. Little badger, you expect me to put you up in a property in Japan under an elaborate and fake backstory, and do this all for free?”

Danny relented, and grit his teeth.

“Yes.”

“I have just the thing.”

He grinned.

“Son…”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Fine. Daniel. I have a favor to cash in with the Metori’s there. Their son would love a break from schoolwork as well. A perfect opportunity-he isn’t perfect like you, but he certainly is rich.”

“What would the excuse be?”

“You’ll be going to school for him, and he will supposedly be going to school for you, although I have made arrangements on that end that don’t involve him at all. You see, you already agreed, I have to get my plans done somehow. You know how it is.”

“Like an exchange student.”

“Exactly.”

“But he still gets his room.”

“Yes.”

“Ugh this makes no sense. And you’ll also likely be testing some maniacal experiment the whole time. What a frootloop way of doing things.”

He grinned.

Vlad responded in a matter of fact sort of way.

“Please don’t call me frootloop, Little Badger. I have a contact I’ve been meaning to, eh, contact that promised me the Packers in exchange for some…work that would be easier to do if I had regained access to your profile, my dear boy. Don’t you worry your head about it.”

“Well, thanks, I guess.”

Danny looked strained. All of him did. 

“No problem at all, Daniel.”

Vlad’s smirk was overwhelming.

—

Illicitly snooping through weird Japanese ‘Hot Singles in Your Area’ websites was not something Danny enjoyed or would ever think about doing.

However, with his friend Tucker’s help he was able to get the email of one Toritsuka Reita. And through that, his number.

Having less than a day to prepare before he left for Japan, he still needed to resolve his diplomatic issues with the man-apparently ‘ghost harasser’ had led to many dead ends before finding this absolute creep of a guy.

H̛͇̩͔̻̦͓̓͆͆̄̽̚̚̕͝ę̛͔͓̖̻͎̈̿̄͠l̸͖̺̰̭̝̖̀̔̀͆̑͑l͓̠̹̖̝͇̖̱̇̑̀̿̑͑͒͢͢͠ơ̗̳͉̩̐́̃̾͗̚͘͢͝ͅ,̧̯̹̦̜̗̞̌̈́͊̈̓̋͟ͅͅ į̶̺͈͇̻̃̏̐̽͐̕ş̥̳̖̫͉̤̆̋̑͗̃̋͑͐̕͟ͅ ţ͈̲̲̺̹̙̯͌̎͒͒͊͆͒͢h̶̡͙̹̩̺̯̽̈́̂͘͢͝í̡͕͙̹͓̭̖̃̈̅̕͜s̴̯̳̖͙͒͗͐̃̌̕͢͜ T̴̡̛̛̠̱͎̠͇̗̓̿͊̅͒́̕ò̢͖̞̼̭̫̬͋͌̔̋̔̇͗͐ͅŗ̵̧̗͚͔̬͇̽̔͆̾̔̕͝͡ͅi̡̟̗͙̦͖̻͕̾͐͋̀̒͞͠ͅt̸̨̧̨̟̙͔̤̟̉̓͒͂̃̌̐̊̒͢͟͝s̞̗̺͕̪̫͎͐͗̓̓̈̄̓̕͝u̷͖̜̻̼̤͎̩̔̆̂̔̎̾̓͂̾̕k̲̹̦̯̩̤͖̳̓͛̉͛̃̀̌ą̯̖͔̙͍̗̪͊̔͌̽̍̿͢͠ Ř̨͍̺͔̱̯̠̋̒̓͌̂͛͘e̶̢̺͚̱͔̅̂͊͌́̀̃͢͠i̢͍̫̼͇̯̯͑͒̎̐͂̾̎͊̀͘ṱ̷̯͉̣̩̖͊̾̎̒̎̎̀̃̕͢ͅa̸̧̛̜͎͉͓̱̖̱̟͐̐̀̀͆̈̚͟͞?̛̫͇̩͕̹͓͓͍̾̂́͠

Perfect. That would teach him.

.

.

I̡̳̞̹̤̞̟̯͂̃̐̾̌̐̋͑ á̧͚̜͚̳͕̓̅̋̑͑̔̏͘͜͝ͅm̴̱͚̖̟̦͆͗̿͛͛̊͞͡ t̸̼̬͓̻͕̞̄͐͐̿̏̀̽̇͡ͅḩ̪̣̼͕̤̝͍̔̎͂͌̿͢͟é̸̡̳̞̯̗̎̑͑̾͘ g̵̡͓̦̯̯̔̅̅̂̈̑̽͠h̷͚̘̞̪̑̋̆̇̊̏̊̾͑͜ó̫͓͇̤̞̯̄̋̈́͐͛̃̐́͝s̢̛̥̝̖̠͍͎̃̍͛̔̿͋̂͛͘͢͢͜t̶̡̠̥̻͙̜̳͇͓̿̄̈́̾́̑̈́̆̕͟͠ k̟͙̭͖̭͖̰̟͌͌̇̔͠ͅì̛̛͍͇̖̲̖͗͘n̷̗̤̳͈͉͐̄͑̾̔͒̏͂̿͌g̸̢͔̠̘̟̀͌̍͋́̋͐̓̚͢͠ a̵͈͍͉̱͓̣͛̄́̂͋͊̐͘ͅn̨̳̜̫̦̹̰̮̗̔̽̿̿̃̑̐̀̀͢d̵̞̺͔̺̤̭̎̂̌͛͋̚͢ Ị̧̨̱̖̲̯̼̃̐̒̃̽́͟ w̯̙̙̞͖͚͚̓͋̒̋́̐̔͢͟͜ȍ̸̱̳̥̗͎̼͖̜̈͊̌͡ư̹̣̳̘̣̜͙͖̣̋̄̐̃̆͟ļ̴̣̠̰̪͊͂̏̚͢͡ḑ͈͕̹̻̬̻̣͈̜͛͂̀̕͠ l̴͍̞͈͙̳̪͒͌̍̀͐͊̑̍͜͠i̵̢̡͔̪̜̞͍̤̳͆̄̏̈́̀̿͡ͅķ̫̮̜̭͂̿̽͑͝ͅȩ͖̤͇̺͇͖͖͛́̾̾͐͊͘͞ t̨̧̥̻͗̑̇͊͒͑̏̈́̓͘͟͢o̷̧̧̻̥̫͍͕͊̀̏͑̇̏͒͂̚͠ k̙̰̠̺̭͔̭̩̃̃̍͂͝n̠͉̮̝̦̤̏̑͂̒́̄̎͡o̵̡̺̘̠̻̲̪͛̑̈́̄̎͗w̸̠̦͓̟͙͛̍̔̓͗̆̉͝͞ w̞̫̭̫͔͖̫̳̾̆̎͌̌̾̌̈͜͝͠ḩ̥͈͉͈̼̫̅̌̏̀̀̄̈̓ý̷̱͉̤͈̳̗͉̄̃̊͑̽̆͒͑͜ y̢̛̺̺̘̩̖̆͆̏͆͌͘͘͟͜o̢̫͔͉̠̔̆͑̅͂͌̀́̂̓ư̶͇̫̦̭̗̰̏̔̅̈́ͅ h̨̛̭̩̯̜̻̩͐̀̓͑͊͆͟a̸̛̬̞͕̳̱͈͆̂͛͆̀̃̔͢͢͡v̛͈̝̳̜͙̰̏̓̿͒̋ë̡̼̩̣̺͈̊̋̒̂͘ b̟̮͈̬̩̼̦̫̬̬̄̓͛́̓̆̊̌͝ê̷̖̘͓̪̣̈́̍́̔͂̃͋̇̕e̡̗̳̖͓̞̝̜̻͂̆̓̌͛n̡̧͇̮̗̞̔̓̏̑̎͢͢ t̡̛̜̗̳̜͇̘̾͑̉͋̏̒̚é̷̹̩̰̟̬͇̺̞̾́̋̐̒̂͜͜͞ŕ̨̧̪̠͈͚̪̟͇̂͂̿̚ȑ̥̼̺̙͕̫͓̣̖͊͆̓̅̀͘͟o͙̤͖̦̲̗̣͔͂̅̊͂̎̚ŗ̙̱̠̠̦͂͊̈͒̉̓͠i̴̡̖̙̪̜̩̊̔̅̓͋ͅz̸̛̛̳̝̖̣̭͗͋̃͒̀̅̕͢ǐ̴̫͖͎̬̝̪̬̾̎̓͊̉͂ń̵͉̙̫̼̞̣̊̏̔̄͂̍g̵̨͔̭̬͖̰̞̑̈͌̒͑̌͂ͅ m͎̗͉̝̘̭̅̔̅̆̅̐̓͝ỷ̶̢̧͚̤̝̰̰̱͒͑͌̚͠ͅ c̴̛̗̗͇͈̯̲͚͆́̐̉̏̇̉̇̂í̡̟̰͚̬͎̤͕͑̀̍͌͗̓̆t̷͖̝̳̖̜͕͎̠̫̊̌̽̋̃̌̕͟i̸͙͕̩̯̫̼̅̓̒̓͑̆̒̚͘z̴̡̧̤̙̖̯̍̒̀̚͞e̴̙̰̞̰̠͖̣͍̩̔̉́̉͐ņ̸̨̛͉͔̠͎̠͍̟̑͛͆̒͗̕͟ş̸̢̢̛͙͕̯̒͂͐̈́̓͗̏̎.̵̦̜̖̺͕͕̈̃̀͋̇̇̍͞

.

.

He could almost hear the tension  from the other side. 

Served him right. 

.

Chapter Text

Saiki Kusuke had connections.

 Many of his connections would probably be considered more on the shady side but that was only because a lot of what he needed as a tool for his brilliance happened to be highly volatile. No other reason…

Kusuke happened to be a mastermind of the highest order, due to the reputation he had built for himself: convenient and consistent, liked to help people, totally not hiding anything questionable, especially not from his brother!

He grinned just thinking of his precious Kusuo-always one step above him yet painfully trapped in the past. 

His friend had a similar problem, one he related with completely, although his goals were ever-so-slightly different. 

Vlad was a great ally, although he would regret it if he ever was betrayed by the man. 

He hadn’t outlived his use, however. Having image permission from Vlad’s son and greatest rival was a dream come true for Kusuke…

Danny Phantom would become the next big property, he was sure. 

And if he made a few dozen robot clones in his spare time, who could call him out? 

—

“Vlad, my good friend. You owed me a favor, and that favor has been repaid. But I would feel remiss if I didn’t ask another to even the score. 

Your perfect son will be attending the school my precious brother is attending, in place of Saiko Metori, right”

Vlad frowned. 

“That is correct.”

Kusuke grinned, showing all of his teeth.

“This is my territory.”

One could hear bickering in the other room, even as Kusuke’s lab had soundproofing.

“Apologies for the noise. My grandparents are probably arguing about how much my grandpa wastes precious time sulking.”

Kusuke sighed.

“Ku-1, set up a contractual agreement.”

‘Of course, brother, I’ll be right on that.’

A lab coated Kusuo hologram triggered the printer function, smiling and going back to its usual rotation. 

Vlad cleared his throat. 

“I can’t just…not interfere. I used my connections to get my boy what he needs here in Japan.”

“And I’m using my connections to claim Japan once again as home turf even though I will dearly miss London. Oh, and…”

He holds up a separate, filled out contract.

“I got you the Packers, Vlad. Don’t understand your obsession with American football, but you finally did it.”

Chapter Text

Danny was invited to a party. Well, the ‘new student’ was invited to one, and so was Saiko who, surprisingly, still wanted to attend despite his vocal dislike of people ‘beneath’ him. 

It was an easier way to figure out the loop earlier than later as school didn’t really start again until the coming week. 

But it quickly became more complicated as Saiko had already been welcomed in and he was left outside, to the left, invisible (with ectoplasmic energy not fully lost), and a familiar face floating down to join him.

“Dani?”

His cousin just grinned.

“Japan is cool, right? I’ve had to learn how to live here but it’s been great so far! When I heard you were here-“

Her expression dropped.

“And what you had to do-“

Her eyes met Danny’s with a soft but firm glare. 

“…You could’ve just called me! I actually have a place now, and…”

She slapped her forehead.

“Of course. I never gave you the number of my new burner.”

He went visible and started walking away from the party house.

“Wait. I think there’s a party there. I wanna go!”

“Yeah there is, it’s for me, and I thought you knew this because you figured out the other thing.”

“I didn’t know there would be a party.”

The air turned to discomfort and the tension would not let out as, although not a ghost, the ‘I am being followed’ reflex definitely was instinctual as well for them. 

“We shouldn’t stay out here. It feels iffy.”

“Iffy, unsafe, I don’t know.”

“Did you hit anyone on the way here? Anyone who’d hold a grudge?”

“I did push by someone accidentally. Couldn’t exactly see their face but they had green hair.”

“Doesn’t sound like you’d’ve ticked them off. I brushed the side of someone accidentally on the way here when I lost track of Saiko, and they didn’t seem mad at me, just stood for a sec and looked panicked. I mean, I freaked out a bit too but they didn’t seem angry, just almost sus enough for me to care. But they weren’t a ghost.”

“That’s almost worse.”

“You know what’s ‘almost worse?’ Not letting me know you’re here, especially  when Vlad has been associated with ‘here’ recently and I want you safe. And again you clearly know that I had to make a deal with him to get here, so what’s yours?”

“Point taken. My ‘deal’ is I got a deed in my name here that I got paid for from someone named Koganei who, I am pretty sure is not connected to Vlad. I never heard his name in any of Vlad’s rants. He said he was trying to be more like a civilian and therefore he was gifting extravagant stuff away that he didn’t want for himself-apparently this was just to something he had never used. An old family property that had never been touched since an obscure branch dropped the place.”

“That sounds unbelievable and too good to be true but I’ll take your word for it.”

“It’s kinda haunted, like Vlad’s getaway home, but the ghosts are nice.”

“Again, why haven’t I heard of this?”

“Didn’t want you to worry.”

“Haha you don’t know the half of it.”

Chapter Text

Sam and Tucker, a while earlier

“So you’re saying he just left a message ‘explaining’ that he was leaving for Japan and booked it?”

Tucker shoved another handful of specialty popcorn in his mouth, the bacon grease from said popcorn making him have to sanitize his hands every few seconds in order to not injure his phone. 

Sam sat next to him, physically recoiling from the smell.

“Yes, that is what I was saying. Didn’t you also get one? Thought you guys were lovebirds or something.”

“Yeah. Maybe I missed it-“

“Gimme that phone. Maybe promotional deals from Hot Topic have covered your messages.”

“Activism, actually. Did you know how bad for the environment fast fashion is? I am pushing it even owning tech like you do but we all kinda have to in this day and age.”

“You get spam for that?”

“That is not the question we need to be asking right now.”

—-

Wes Weston was having a bad day. His hair had gotten all tangled in the time it took him to find a community online who could help find Danny for him but he didn’t seem to care, did he? 

As long as he could get some leads, some dirt, anything, he couldn’t believe he was saying this but hygiene would have to wait.

CONSPIRACYGEEK9999

At 3:27 AM 

Anyone seen signs of ghost boy?

It took a second before replies would filter in but he wouldn’t be a lick surprised if they weren’t all up at that very minute.

Someone was typing. It was someone named GOLDEN_NERD_JAPAN.

They weren’t very popular or rich so he had been confused about the name for a while. He never asked, because others said he would over share if he asked.

Good riddance for translation-he didn’t have to even click the ‘translate’ button based on the responses from everyone else.

It was never perfect but he figured he wouldn’t have to learn Japanese any time soon to track down Danny.

typing…

typing…

typing…

C’mon, just finish already.

typing…

Wow this one is quite long.

typing…

That doesn’t seem like it’s ending any time soon. Classic Golden right there. Argh.

Well, one thing for sure, they knew where Danny was.

Or they didn’t and they just wanted to talk.

Or they did, and they just wanted to talk about something else.

“It’s late, turn your light off. You have football at 6:00.”

Oh right. He’d have to wait on that message to regain precious sleep. No matter.

—

“So this place is all yours?”

The building seemed quite old and quite big, panels and boards being a washed out white carried into trimmed tiers as if it were a cake.

Some sort of government seal seemed to be on the door. Or a crest. Or both. 

A note was under it. 

“Dani” Dani started reading as soon as she picked up the note “hope you like this old place. I have my own house and am trying to live the low class life a bit more. 

I work at the convenience store near 6th in the prefecture you saw me in last-don’t want to say the name, as my friends and family have had incidents with privacy recently. 

We all trust you, though.

The key is fingerprint activated-just touch the crest. I hope you don’t mind that I scanned for that. It was the least I could do.

-Koganei”

Danny looked an unhealthy mix of shell shocked and dumbstruck.

“You know this guy? Can you vouch for him?”

Dani just nodded as she touched the crest and the door creeeeeeakkkkeddddd open.

Recognized. Koganei Dani.

“They, uh, adopted you too?”

“Seems like.”

“You didn’t know?”

“I kinda did?”

“I hope he isn’t like the frootloop.”

“Trust me he isn’t. You didn’t meet him.”

“Ok. Let’s just see this place-“

Danny gasped at the first real ghost sense he’d seen since entering Japan. 

“This is…fun.”

“Yeah it is!”

Dani grinned nervously.

“I hope these are the better ghosts that live here-“

Danny stared daggers.

“There are worse ghosts?”