Chapter Text
When MARI was still alive, she didn’t think much of what an afterlife might entail. She thought it’d be one of those situations you’d see on TV or movies, where you go through some kind of waiting process or you go on some spiritual journey with all the sins of your past- or something.
Maybe she should’ve given it more thought back when she was alive. If only she did, she’d have more of a plan or a rough idea of what to do next when she was eventually living in the afterlife.
Turns out, you just turn into a ghost. Then you kind of just float around as a ghost.
MARI sighed as she floated upside down, letting her hair fall despite the fact that gravity didn’t affect ghosts as it did living people.
Yeah, she was still trying to get used to understanding the rules herself.
She watched SUNNY as he diligently worked on his homework from his new school, studying to catch up on all the grades he missed. He’s become more studious now after everything that happened to him.
Which was good, she was quite proud of him for deciding to take studying so seriously now. He didn’t have to either, she wouldn’t have minded if he still did the bare minimum to keep up his average grades from before if he really wanted to. The fact that he was willing to put in the effort to change himself for the better just made her happy, since it was a sign he was fully working on moving on.
A small part of her was definitely feeling guilty though, especially when seeing him frown in frustration and scratching his head a little too hard. If only she could somehow reach out to pat his head and go “Keep at it, Sunny! You’re doing great!”
Yeah, that would be nice. Sadly, she couldn’t seem to do ghosty things like that anymore.
Rules for the afterlife were weird. There were a lot of things that ghosts could or couldn’t do, and it all seemed to depend on circumstance rather than anything set in stone.
Normal people couldn’t see you unless they were one of those people with latent ghost-speaking psychic powers or something. This wasn’t a very strict rule either, as she was able to interact with a few people who she was for sure didn’t have any psychic powers to begin with… at least to her knowledge
SUNNY and HERO, for example. From the times she would follow them around to check up on them after she died, her presence seemed to unintentionally cause her to haunt them. The brief moments where MARI was able to interact or speak with them, only seemed to scare them away and worsen their mental psyche. It took her a while before it was finally drilled into her head that being near them was really not helping anyone.
Which sucked, since she was way too worried about them to even consider staying away.
Well, there was that one time with her piano in their old house… Buuut it seemed to be a one-time thing since she couldn’t do it again even after HERO left the room.
Ghost rules, man. They were so convoluted.
Everything seemed to work out fine eventually though, even if she could only interact with them in a limited capacity. SUNNY was slowly coming to grips with reality and took responsibility for what happened all those years ago. Then he confessed to everyone, letting them know what truly happened.
That moment really lifted a huge unknowing weight she was carrying at the time. It felt really freeing to finally have how she truly died come out in the open.
Their friend group was a bit rough around the edges at first after the confession, but eventually, they all finally came to terms with it all and strengthened their bonds together. Including HERO and BASIL, which made her super relieved to see.
With everything falling into place for an open-ended happy ending, you would think that MARI would finally be at peace with herself and eventually fade away to wherever ghosts go once they had no more earthly regrets.
Turns out, no. She was still here.
Ghost rules, man… Seriously, they were just… Ugh.
On the bright side, MARI was finally able to follow SUNNY closer without it somehow triggering a mental breakdown. So that was nice.
Being able to keep watch over him helped her pass the time. She had a lot of free time, now that she was dead.
And it wasn’t just him either! Whoever she had a strong connection with in the living world, if they ever thought about her, she could use it as a quick way to just pop in and out to check up on their lives.
Following AUBREY around was fun, she never had the chance to do that except when she and the others were together with SUNNY. It was nice she had a friend group of her own to keep her company, although MARI personally found them to be a liiiiittle distasteful. Well, it wasn’t her place to judge, she was sure they were all very good people once you got to know them. Hopefully.
She still kept in contact with SUNNY, which made MARI happy. Nothing serious seemed to happen yet, but MARI could feel the tension in the air whenever they called each other. It was so cute~! Hopefully, they have a daughter and name her after MARI. It was only fair since she was dead and all, hahaha~
BASIL was doing much better, which was nice. Out of the two of them, BASIL proooobably handled killing MARI the worst compared to SUNNY. She really didn’t know too much since she never left SUNNY’s side, but the fact she could sense how close he was brushing near death was definitely a huge concern.
KEL was still KEL, and that honestly comforted MARI a lot. His being able to somehow hurl himself towards life with no hesitation made everything almost seem normal and unchanged. Seeing him be the big brother for the new sister in the family was always heart-warming to see! Sally was absolutely adorable!
And HERO… Eeehh, he was still working towards recovering.
Honestly, out of everyone in the gang, he was the one she was most worried about these days. Despite the fact that HERO was able to forgive both BASIL and SUNNY after they confessed, she could tell that HERO had a lot weighing on his mind. Whenever she got the chance, she would often check up on him to see how he was doing.
He was getting better. Slowly.
He still wasn’t over her yet, which made her sad and guilty. She was hoping that he’d find a cute girl one day who could fill in the space in his heart that MARI left behind.
Sigh…
Beyond stalking all of her friends to see how they were doing though, there really wasn’t much else she could do as a ghost.
If she wanted to, she could decide to mess around with them and start moving small pieces around or make spooky noises in the middle of the night to scare them. But like… Why would she do that?? That was mean, not fun.
Stalking them and watching them go about their daily life was all she could do these days. It was getting boring.
No idea why she hasn’t “passed on” or whatever ghosts do yet. She couldn’t think of any reason why she would still be sticking around.
Not like she has any really big regrets or anything that she couldn’t already come to terms with.
The recital was a bust, but she didn’t care about that anymore after how much it negatively affected SUNNY.
Couldn’t exactly bring any of her favorite stuff with her to the afterlife, so she chose to get over that pretty quickly.
Yeah, no. She really had no idea why she was still sticking around.
Ghost rules, man. Seriously. They suck.
With a bored sigh, she floated herself closer to SUNNY to see what problems he was having with his study sheet.
...
Agh, geometry. Makes sense, she always had trouble with that too back when she was alive. She could never fully comprehend how shapes took part in math… Not that you'd ever hear her admit it out loud.
If only she could give him some hints and pointers that managed to help her out back when she was having trouble. Sigh…
Well, if MARI managed to get by with an A+, SUNNY will somehow find a way to get a passing grade. She believes in him.
…
…
…
AAAAAAAGH, she was so bored.
She felt a little selfish for thinking this, but she kind of hoped that someone in the group would get involved with something exciting or dramatic these days. Or at least purposely left the TV on so that she could watch while they were busy with something else.
…
Oh.
MARI could sense it somehow.
HERO was thinking about her.
Floating over to the opened window with a curious gaze, MARI wondered how HERO was doing right now.
Maybe she should go see him…
A brief gust of wind entered the room, causing the curtains to flutter about. SUNNY felt chilly from the cool weather outside and decided that it was enough to close the window before going back to studying.
MARI’s ghost was already gone as soon as the curtains settled.
He wasn’t doing very well these past few days, she could already tell.
When she arrived, MARI could only float nearby as she watched HERO go about his life as if nothing was wrong and everything was totally normal.
She could see it in his demeanor that he wasn’t okay though. Not in the slightest.
That was definitely bad. He was making so much progress too from the last time she checked up on him. It wasn’t perfect, but it was at least progress.
What could’ve made it regress so badly this time?
Pardon the pun, but it was almost as if he’d just seen a ghost recently.
Which would’ve been funny, if it wasn’t for the fact that MARI hasn’t been anywhere near HERO for a week or two now.
“Hey there HERO, long time no see! How’s it going?”
A college friend of HERO casually linked an arm around his shoulder, while another one came up with a friendly smile.
If she remembered correctly, they were… ANDY and MELVIN, or something… Right?
Hm… College life… MARI wondered what college would’ve been like for her if she was still alive. She would definitely be trying to get into the same college as HERO, just so that they could remain close together.
Sigh… No chance of that happening anytime soon. Or ever.
The three of them were catching up with each other while MARI was distracted by her thoughts. They began inviting him over to the usual spot their group would gather, and everything seemed fine and normal so far.
But it was clear that it wasn’t only MARI that could sense how off HERO was acting.
It wasn’t that long ago when HERO finally had SUNNY confess the truth to all of them. It would make sense if he was still just reeling in from the fact that she didn’t die from suicide, and was still coming to terms with it. But this situation right here didn’t seem to be about that.
His mind flickered on and off, having thoughts about her before immediately trying to think of a different subject. MARI had a vague awareness of it, that he was purposely- almost violently- trying to stop himself from thinking about her.
If only she could actually read his thoughts though, this would make the mystery easier to figure out…
MARI decided that she should keep watch over him for the next few days to see if she could realize what was wrong.
If nothing but to sate her own curiosity and worries. Not like she could do anything to help him, but she’d feel restless if she didn’t take a proactive stance otherwise.
Something was definitely up with him.
He always seemed to act fine when he was around his friends, but he was always bothered by something while he was in the classroom or walking around campus.
MARI kept an extremely close eye on him to try to understand what he was bothered about but to no avail.
It wasn’t like HERO wasn’t aware of it either. He was doing his best to meditate to try to calm himself down, whether it was alone in his dorm room or when he was in the middle of lectures. Whatever was bothering him was enough to distract him even in the middle of his studies.
There was a brief period while she was following him around where it felt like he was starting to get better though.
Some kind of flu was going around, causing most of the students in his lecture period to not attend. The solitude seemed to be a good thing for some reason. Maybe it was the silence and the lack of other people distracting him that made him feel more at ease.
She didn’t really know for sure, but she was thankful that he’d gotten a hold of himself at least.
…
Floating by his side, she whispered, “If only you could talk to me, HERO… I wish I knew what was going on in your mind, to help make you feel better somehow.”
Of course, he didn’t hear her. Nobody ever heard her anymore. She was a ghost after all.
Sigh… Ghost rules, man. They sucked.
While everyone else in his class seemed to have gotten sick early in the flu season, HERO ended up getting sick near the very late end of it.
She stood by him every day while he was in his room recovering, watching him sleep the flu off. The time spent in bed seemed to do him some good though, as he was starting to get that usual cheer back in his face when he finally recovered.
Was it just because of the flu after all then? All of that uncomfortable behavior from before was just some early symptom of a flu that he didn’t realize until it finally caught up to him?
Somehow, she doubted that theory.
When he was healthy enough to attend lectures again, MARI continued to follow him around to make absolutely sure that he was going to be okay.
There was a bit of nervousness from him at first when he was about to enter the main building. MARI watched carefully as his eyes darted around, as if he was trying to scan everyone’s face to make sure he recognized them.
MARI wondered why he did that… She looked over all the people in the hallways, trying to understand what about them caused HERO to be so nervous.
After a while, he seemed to give a small sigh of relief, as if everything was finally normal and going exactly the way he expected.
MARI still had a concerned frown, wondering if it would really be that easy…
Eventually, HERO arrived to join his friends in the break room. Everyone greeted him warmly as he sat down in a seat next to them.
“Morning guys. KATE’s not here yet. Is anything holding her up?” HERO asked.
KATE, that one female friend in his group. She was pretty, MARI liked the way she applied her makeup. If MARI was alive, she was sure that she would’ve gotten along with her. MARI didn’t really have a lot of female friends while growing up, so it would’ve been nice to have someone to relate to when it came to certain feminine aspects.
One of them, LUKE, answered back “You know that with the flu going around last week, a lot of plans have been cancelled or postponed, right? This also includes a bunch of the events planned by the student association, so now they’re scrambling to reschedule. From what she told me it’s kind of a lot of work.”
HERO chuckled silently to himself, before asking, “Sounds like it must be tough. Maybe we should help her out?”
“Are you sure about that, HERO? I think you should still take it easy. You won’t be of any help to them if you overwork yourself.” ANDY worriedly said, before continuing, “Also, I don’t think it’s a good idea for LUKE to join either. He and KATE would probably be too busy with each other to do some actual work.”
LUKE laughed as he weakly denied it, “We would not… probably… maybe.”
Smooth. MARI giggled to herself.
“Anyway, the team already expanded recently and the new member apparently helped out immensely, according to KATE. It seems she immediately got fond of her. As a matter of fact, she messaged me she was going to bring her over to introduce her to us, just before you got here.”
Oh, a new person might join the group? It was a girl too?
The news brought a smile to MARI’s face. Meeting a new friend might be able to help HERO get his mind off of what’s been bothering him lately. Oh, and if she ends up being a really sweet and cute girl, what if HERO gets a crush on her and then they might start something between the two of them?! Scandalouuus~
She really really hoped that would be the case. It was about time HERO found someone to love and care for him.
Before she could continue that thought, KATE popped into the room, “Hey guys, meet the person who just single-handedly saved me from having a nervous breakdown!”
Everyone turned to face the door as the new girl arrived to view.
For MARI, it was like time had frozen.
The past few days following HERO around, she was always trying to figure out the root cause of what had been bothering him. She expected the reason had to do something with her from the way he acted.
But…
She clearly wasn’t expecting this.
“Hey there. What’s cooking?” An extremely familiar girl smiled politely at the group.
HERO had long since dropped his smile the moment the girl came into the room.
Suddenly, the past few days all began to make sense.
MARIA.
That was her name.
MARI could only stare in wonder as she floated near the girl in question, studying her features while she was busy listening to lectures.
It was like looking into a mirror. A future mirror, where it showed you a possible future of yourself that might or might not come.
“Seriously, the resemblance is uncanny…” MARI whispered to herself as she brought her face closer to MARIA.
MARIA’s nose tingled a bit before she gave a cute sneeze, before resuming her attention to the lecture.
If there was a god, and he had a sense of humor, this girl here was almost definite proof of it.
For HERO, It had to be a very cruel joke at the least.
It was no wonder why, even now, he couldn’t even concentrate on his classes. The poor boy looked like a shell-shocked veteran in the middle of a really bad episode.
MARI couldn’t blame him, after everything he’s been through. Seriously, how would a normal person react if the person they fell in love with died a long time ago, only to seemingly come back to life as a complete stranger?
She couldn’t get over the fact how much this MARIA looked SO MUCH like her.
The eyes were the same, the skin complexion was the same, the hairstyle was the same- even the voice was the exact same- whaaaaaaaat??!
Did MARI have some kind of secret twin in the family that nobody ever bothered to mention? Was DAD secretly some kind of playboy in his youth and left behind a trail of bastard children before settling down with MOM around the time they had her?
If that was the case, she was going to have a serious talk with the man when it was eventually his time to go. Oooh, just thinking about him made her angry! She already prepared a long rant waiting for him about the way he treated his own son and abandoned him when SUNNY clearly needed help and love. Add adultery and siring off half-siblings without ever telling them to the list!
Well, she was getting ahead of herself. There was a chance that MARIA was completely unrelated to her, and it was all just a massive cosmic coincidence that they happened to share details about everything together, down to the similarity in their names.
…
Man, this was… so not fair.
A selfish part of her almost felt like some skinwalker stole her face and began living out life in her shoes without even bothering to ask.
Guess life is like that though. Unexpected and unfair.
MARIA gave an absent-minded look as the lecture went on, before turning around to glance at HERO.
HERO panicked and looked straight down at his notes, doing his best to avoid acknowledging the gaze of the girl far in front of him.
She gave a soft sigh before facing back and furrowing her brows in frustration.
MARI tilted her head confusedly. What was she so frustrated about?
HERO? Was she mad at HERO for some reason?
Well, to be fair, he did react pretty strongly towards her when they first met. Without knowing any context, it would be understandable for her to be peeved at the odd way HERO was treating her.
Sigh… If only MARI knew how to help explain it to her somehow…
Gosh, HERO just couldn’t seem to catch a break…
No, seriously. HERO never seemed to ever catch any breaks.
It was like fate itself was messing with him for the next few days.
Even after shrugging her off so many times, MARIA still seemed persistent in trying to hold a conversation with him. To make matters worse, they were even paired up together as partners for a biology assignment.
Oh and hey, if the confusion about MARIA looking and acting like MARI didn’t pop up enough times, it turns out that MARIA even knew how to play the piano too! That surely didn’t make HERO’s mental health any worse!
If MARI didn’t know any better, she would be calling MARIA an unoriginal copying bi- Well, okay, that might’ve been too far.
BUT STILL! PIANO SKILLS. WHAT ELSE DO THEY HAVE IN COMMON?!
Shortly after all of that, poor HERO realized too late that his entire friend group had already noticed the weird behavior he’s been having around MARIA and were actively trying to get them to interact with each other, even setting up situations where HERO would have no choice but to be nearby her.
No matter what they tried though, HERO would end up clamming up and hiding himself away from the rest of the world. It was a sight pitiful enough to make MARI want to cry.
All of this would end up culminating in that fateful day…
Someone was having a house party, as a celebration for something or another that MARI didn’t bother to pay attention to.
What was important was that HERO chose to attend this party for some reason. Almost like he was in denial about the past few days and just wanted to try to socialize to forget about everything that just happened.
Even as he smiled towards everyone who greeted him, the smile never reached his eyes.
MARI watched helplessly as he took sips from his alcoholic beverage to try to loosen himself up and mingle with the crowd. In any other circumstance, she’d be more than happy to see HERO partying and relaxing after dealing with such a stressful week.
She could only worry about him though, hoping he doesn’t end up doing something crazy to hurt himself.
At least he didn’t go towards the group sharing weed together, thank goodness. MARI would’ve given him a piece of her mind if he ended up joining.
MARI watched as he moved about the house, catching up with his friends after separating for their own reasons. He walked around the gardens only to end up meeting with ANDY, with some girl cuddling up to him.
“Oh, HERO, enjoying yourself?” ANDY inquired, “I know I sure am, though I think I’ll be calling it here. I’m gonna go home along with EMMA here, turns out we live in the same dorms. Wish me luck, heh.” With a grin, ANDY walked past HERO, not even giving him the opportunity to reply.
HERO gave a small wave as he watched the two of them leave, only to visibly sag with a frown when they were out of sight.
MARI frowned as well, knowing what he was thinking about.
She floated down to be closer to him, seeing the envy in his eyes.
Yeah… She knew the feeling.
It would’ve been nice if that was them. Two drunk college kids having the time of their lives, living like it's their last moments together, before spending the night together in passion. The only way young people could enjoy their lives before they grew too old and tired to do things like that anymore.
HERO would have to experience all that stuff… without her.
“I’m sorry, HERO…” MARI whispered to him, knowing full well that it would never reach his ears.
Still, she at least pretended. She pretended to wrap her arms around his and scooched close, hoping it was enough to lessen his lonely thoughts. If only she could feel his warmth, being this close.
…
HERO decided to shake himself out of his thoughts before downing his entire cup of beer. He moved away even as MARI was left in the cuddling position she put herself in.
Ghost rules really suck.
With a sigh, MARI snapped herself out of it before continuing to follow after HERO.
HERO had gone back inside to mingle with the others.
MARI kept close watch as he kept downing beer after beer, worried about his long-forgotten sobriety.
It was like he tried to control himself at first but just gave in to the atmosphere as he drank who knows how many cups of beer once it was passed to him.
It wasn’t a surprise when he ended up looking like a drunken mess. MARI felt concerned as she saw him slowly get up and wobble around, unable to walk straight.
Thankfully, it seemed like someone was worried enough about him to take him somewhere else so that he could rest. Making it to the second floor of the house, they entered a bedroom that was quiet and cozy.
MARI nearly had a panic attack when he saw that person go into the medicine cabinet and pull out painkillers, but was quickly relieved when HERO was still sober enough to decline the offer.
Seriously, does this guy not know any better? Never mix alcohol with meds! Everyone knows that!
Apparently not him though, as that person shrugged and downed a fill of tablets himself before heading back to the party. She wasn’t even alive anymore to feel it, but her liver seemed to cry out in pain after seeing that.
Still, this was a good spot to rest. Now that he was away from all that alcohol, MARI could feel herself relax.
HERO went out to the small balcony outside the bedroom and just leaned over the railing in thought.
MARI watched him as he stared out at the gardens, his mood somber and melancholy.
Even now, she knew he was thinking about her. She could feel it, even if she couldn’t see it.
Oh, how she wished that she could see through his mind to know what he was thinking… She’d give anything to know what thoughts were running through his head.
She wasn’t clueless though… She had a few ideas of what was going through his mind, as a few droplets of tears ran down his cheek.
…
Him being near the balcony started to make her nervous. Why did she have this feeling that he was this close to meeting his death?
“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it?”
A voice exactly like hers rang out from behind them, startling the both of them as MARI turned around.
MARIA. Her again.
It still shook MARI to her core to see her exact copy walking around and breathing on her own. She wondered if she’d ever get used to it.
HERO never turned around, instead gripping the railing tightly even as MARIA drew closer.
It was obvious she had a few drinks in her as well. MARIA’s face was just as flushed as everyone else in this party, though she was the only one who seemed so genuinely frustrated and disappointed.
But why? MARI couldn’t help but wonder why MARIA made such a face like that.
“Hey… so, would you mind turning around?” She asked.
HERO didn’t respond. He chose to keep still, holding tighter onto the railing.
A moment passed by with neither doing anything. The silence was deafening, and MARI could feel her spirit growing colder as the seconds ticked on.
HERO… was in danger.
“Alright, that… t-that is enough! HERO, turn around! Look at me! Please!”
The pleading tone from MARIA was a surprise. The way HERO had been acting towards her must’ve genuinely affected her way more than MARI had initially thought. Something told her that it wasn’t just the fact that he’d been giving her the cold shoulder had caused MARIA to act out like this.
HERO eventually turned around at her insistence, and their gazes seemed to have properly met for the first time ever.
And HERO was terrified.
MARI felt so cold next to HERO. If only she could grab him and pull him away from the ledge.
“I want you to tell me something.” MARIA softly sobbed. “Just… just why...?”
HERO… Please… Please step away from the balcony. MARI was begging at this point, please stand anywhere else but near the balcony.
She was so scared that HERO was going to die.
“Why are you avoiding me!? Why do you always try so hard to get away from me whenever I try to approach you!? Did I do something wrong? Just tell me already!”
When MARIA stepped forward, it caused HERO to step back.
MARI’s fear came to light as HERO tilted over the railing in his drunken stupor.
It felt so cold. So so so cold.
As HERO fell over the railing, MARI reached forward out of reflex to try to grab him before it was too late. She knew it was useless to do so, she knew it was absolutely pointless.
And yet…
There she was, right on top of the balcony, gripping onto his leg before he could drop.
For a moment, she thought she was finally able to do something.
But no… it was actually…
“W-w-what the hell!? I-I got you, climb… climb back up!” MARIA grunted as she pulled HERO’s leg back in with her.
Tears flowing uncontrollably, he closed his eyes as he shouted, “Stop… please, just stop. Please just let me go already.”
Never. Never ever ever, no matter what. No matter how much he would beg, MARI would never let go.
“A-are you crazy!? You will die if I let go!” MARIA shouted back exasperated.
He was still so cold…
“Why…? Why have you come back like this? I’ve been trying so hard… I thought I finally moved on from you. Why do you need to torment me like this?”
Please… Don’t give up like this… Live a little bit longer, just for her. It was selfish for MARI to force this onto him, she knew. But please, live on if only just for her sake…
“W-what? I don’t…” MARIA mumbled in confusion before shaking her head, “H-HERO, please! Please don’t do this! J-just take my hand!”
MARIA held on tightly to him, even as she leaned forward to try to reach out for his hand.
Her tears landed right on top of his.
“I… I can’t lose another…” MARIA cried so quietly to herself as she held out her hand.
Just like that… HERO wasn’t cold anymore.
He pulled his hand up to grab hers, giving her the chance to pull him back onto stable ground and away from the railings.
Everyone was breathing heavily from the adrenaline rush, including MARI despite not being able to do anything to help.
Still… She was so relieved to see HERO alive. He was alive. Alive and well…
That was so close… So close…
Thank you, MARIA… Thank you so much…
The two of them talked together after that, with MARI floating nearby to listen to it all.
HERO explained everything to MARIA about why he had acted the way he did. The death of his girlfriend, the way MARIA looked completely identical to her, and how it was nearly breaking his mind as he had to deal with that all these weeks.
MARIA, however, proved skeptical.
“Show me.”
“...Show you?” HERO repeated.
“Yes. Show me.” MARIA practically demanded, “Prove to me how much we look alike.”
The reaction wasn’t unrealistic. Being told that you looked exactly like someone else, down to the bone, was a really tough piece of news to swallow. MARI would’ve reacted the same way if she hadn’t already seen it with her own eyes.
They both had a heated argument about this though, the two of them shouting and lashing out at each other before it suddenly quieted down to a glaring contest.
Yet it didn’t take long for MARIA to crumble first, as she apologized with an embarrassed, “Sorry…”
That was enough to bring HERO back down as he felt ashamed and apologized as well.
After a moment of awkward silence, MARIA asked, “What was her name?”
HERO was at a loss as to how to answer that.
“No, seriously, tell her!” MARI chimed in, “I want her to also understand just how freaky it is that the two of us are almost completely identical! She even plays the piano! LIKE WHAT ARE THE CHANCES OF THAT HAPPENING?!”
Predictably, neither of them could hear her.
“You’re not gonna believe me.” HERO finally uttered.
“Oh god, don’t tell me her name was also MARIA too or something.” MARIA frowned as she massaged her scalp.
HERO looked up at her for a brief moment, only to turn away and say, “MARI.”
MARIA had an incredulous look plastered all over her face.
“RIGHT?! HOW COULD ANY OF THIS BE POSSIBLE?!” MARI shouted as her feelings were vindicated.
It was like a bad episode of the Twilight Zone. So full of plot contrivances and coincidences that you couldn’t help but think that the writers were a bunch of uncreative hacks!
Eventually, it was MARIA’s turn to explain why she was deadset stubborn on trying to reach out to HERO all this time.
MARI and HERO listened patiently as she regaled her story. About her best friend, and how he chose to take his own life. About how much she regretted not paying closer attention to him, because if only she did, then she could’ve done something to stop it. How it was her fault.
It touched a lot of familiar nerves. Almost exactly what HERO went through when MARI… when she passed away.
It almost felt like kindred spirits gravitating towards each other. MARI couldn’t help but chuckle at the comparison, considering she was actually a spirit herself.
When MARIA almost nearly broke down crying, HERO ended up consoling her and taught her to focus on her breathing.
The two of them began breathing in unison together after a while, and MARIA was able to calm down a bit.
“Thank you for that. I just...” MARIA sighed tiredly, “Thank you.”
“...She taught me that,” HERO whispered.
MARI smiled a bit at being mentioned. Even when she wasn’t here anymore, he could be such a flatterer.
“So, about your friend…” HERO decided to ask, “I’m guessing that he’s… somehow related to this situation with us right now?”
Wiping the tears from her eyes, she tiredly stated, “Something like that. And before you ask, he doesn’t look like you. It’s weird that I have to clarify that, but considering what you’re going through, I didn’t want to leave things to assumptions.”
Yeah, that would be a genuine statistical anomaly. At that point, you’d have to suspect actual supernatural forces to be involved somehow.
“I mean, I wasn’t thinking that.” HERO murmured, “But I guess it would be a huge coincidence if that was the case. Or a cosmic prank by the universe.”
“Wouldn’t it?” MARIA snickered a bit.
“That’s what I’ve been saying!” MARI threw her exasperated hands up in the air.
The conversations began to become more light-hearted after that. Every other moment afterward, the two of them would fill the room with laughter as they got to know each other better, and MARI laughed along with them as well knowing that everything was going to be fine.
Topics varied wildly as they continued their conversation, things like how HERO saved SUNNY and BASIL from drowning, whether HERO was his real name or not, the HERO SANDWICH that HERO got his nickname from…
How MARIA’s laugh sounds exactly like MARI’s.
"Am I really that much like her?" She asked curiously.
“Like an exact carbon copy. I would’ve flipped out if we ever met each other before, that’s how scary it is.” MARI commented.
"Not perfectly. The differences are there, and I think I'm smart enough to see them now… but…" HERO shook his head, "if you had lied to me and said that you were her… that you never died… I probably would've believed you, no questions asked."
…
Sigh… Oh, HERO… MARI wish she could hug you right now.
MARIA looked at him with such a pitying gaze. If MARIA and MARI were truly that alike, then MARI could probably guess what she was thinking right now.
If it’ll make you feel better, I could pretend for you…
It would be a terrible way to help someone cope. But MARI was the type to spoil people like that, especially to the ones she loved. She’d be weak enough to give in and let them have their brief moment of happiness, however false they might be.
Thank goodness that MARIA proved to be much stronger than her.
“I’m not her, HERO. You know that.”
Looking away, HERO awkwardly scratched his head, “Right… I’m sorry, I made things awkward.”
“It’s okay, really.”
Despite her assurance, the room did become overwhelmed with a completely awkward atmosphere.
MARI sighed at the buzzkill moment happening.
“Jeez, I get it guys. I’m dead. Can’t we go back to having fun like just a moment ago?” MARI lamented to herself.
Being a ghost sucked.
Soon after, they all found out that the party had been over for a while. HERO’s friend LUKE suddenly came in to interrupt and pushed them all out to make way for someone who was comatose from drinking too much.
But not after teasing both HERO and MARIA for being alone together and suggesting something more risque going on between the two of them.
MARI couldn’t help but giggle uncontrollably at the way both HERO and MARIA became flustered from the insinuation, their adorable denials making the scene all too cute.
She always knew that HERO was adorable whenever he got embarrassed, but MARI never got to witness an out-of-body experience of seeing her own ears glowing red before. Oh gosh, she was exactly like SUNNY in that sense!
It was no wonder why HERO always used to rub it in and seem so happy whenever he had the rare upper hand to make her embarrassed back when she was alive. She totally gets it now.
…
…
…
They walked together a small distance away from the party. The way they continued to tease each other and banter so happily, it made MARI feel so nostalgic.
That used to be her. Right where MARIA was standing, that used to be MARI bantering with HERO and flirting with him whenever she had the chance.
“See you at college then. Take care, okay?” HERO waved at her.
“You too! See you then, HENRY.” MARIA replied as she crossed the street.
It didn’t escape MARI’s eyes, how the two of them seemed to be acting so giddy after they parted ways. That smile on MARIA’s face was the exact same smile she used to have on herself after all.
HERO’s too. The way he grinned in that cute happy daze of his. It was exactly how he always acted whenever MARI spent a whole day with him.
But it wasn’t MARI doing it to him anymore. It was another girl.
She looked the same as MARI and sounded the same as her. But it was another girl.
Seeing HENRY smiling to himself as he shambled his way back to his dorm room, the first real natural smile he ever had in such a long time…
MARI was jealous that she couldn’t be the one to make him smile like that anymore… but she was happy. She was so incredibly happy that he found someone who could make him smile in her place.
It might be weird considering the circumstances and how similar MARIA was to her, but… MARI really hoped that the two of them would get together for real. They would make a cute couple.
“I’m probably just biased though.” MARI giggled to herself, floating in the air as she trailed after HERO.