After the mermaids defeat Y/N helped Hanako get off of the ground after checking for injuries, even though Hanako insisted he was fine since he was a ghost.

     "W... What about you Y/N? Are you injured!?" Yashiro fretted, concerned for her best friend's well being. Y/N turned around to look at the tiny fish and flashed a grin, giving her a thumbs up. 

     "I'm completely fine Yashiro! I'm just so happy that I was able to protect you." Y/N replied, her usual cheerful tone back into play. Yashiro blushed slightly at her friend's kind words, but she couldn't help but think back to how Y/N acted only minutes earlier.

     Was that really her best friend she saw a few minutes ago?

     Yashiro's thoughts were cut off by Hanako's loud voice interrupting the girls' conversation, a grin on his face as well. "I'm so glad that you and Y/N are safe as well! However, Y/N only temporarily got rid of the mermaid. She's pretty persistant though, and I know for a fact that she'll be back again soon if we don't fix your predicament.. But at least we brought ourselves some time to think things over." 

     "I don't want to go through that again!" Yashiro exclaimed, tears in her small beady eyes. "Can you guys keep her away...? I don't want to spend the rest of my life with that awful sea witch! This is all because I wanted a boy to like me.." Before Y/N could even try to reply or comfort her friend, Hanako stepped in front of the tank with a closed eye smile. That is, until he looked down into the tank, giving Yashiro a taunting expression, poking a finger at her head. 

     "You humans love ghost stories, but you don't take them seriously until someone gets cursed. You think that every spell will work in your favour. I begged you not to eat that scale, didn't I?" Hanako taunted, poking Yashiro's tiny head with his pointing finger repeatedly. "But.. You. Did. It. Anyway." He said with each word receiving a poke. 

     "Hey Hanako..." Y/N spoke up, causing the black haired boy to turn his head to the girl walking towards him and Yashiro. "Yashiro didn't use that scale on Minamoto, which means she still has a chance at becoming a human right?" 

     This question made one of Hanako's eyebrows raise up in interest before he nodded to agree with the H/C haired girl. "That's right!"

     "And that chance of becoming a human also comes with a price, am I correct?"

     "Correct." Hanako replied to Y/N, inspecting the scale he had between his fingers as his eyes flickered between the scale and Y/N.

    "That's fine then!" Y/N exclaimed, then snatched the scale right out of Hanako's hand, startling both Hanako and Yashiro. Though the ghost boy was even frightened than the latter because the young exorcist girl started to put the scale to her mouth, making Hanako panic even more if that was even possible. "I'll grant Yashiro the freedom to be a human myself, since you're going to make her pay a price! I'd rather take on Yashiro's suffering rather than her take it herself!" 

     Finally regaining his composure, Hanako stopped the girl by gently grabbing her wrist before snatching the scale back with his other hand. "Fine, fine! Her price wasn't even going to be life threatening or terrifying anyway.. But since you want to make her price as low as possible, how about we split the scale between the both of us? After all, I can't have my bodyguard turn into a fish on me." Hanako teased, before breaking the scale into two perfect halves, giving the exorcist one. 

     "Oh right, I forgot.. I already swallowed one. I guess swallowing two would make me a fish after all.. I guess I have to be cautious and think before I actually do anything.." Y/N thought before snapping out of her thoughts to place her attention back on Hanako.

     "Alright Yashiro, since this is Y/N's wish there won't be any repercussions for what you caused but.. You still have to help Y/N and I out since we basically saved your life. Understood?" Hanako clarified with the tiny fish they had ignored until that moment. "Damn you Y/N, with your selfless wish.. Why would you even inflict this much pressure and pain on yourself for others anyway? Why not change your wish to something more selfish?" Hanako was once again brought back to reality when Yashiro exclaimed, "That's okay! Please, just turn me back into a human!" 

     That was the cue for the exorcist and the ghost to swallow their halves of the scale. Suddenly, Y/N heard a loud crash come from in front of her, causing her to look down immediately. Seeing the seafoam haired girl stare up at the two of them in awe, Y/N immediately helped her her feet, ushering the girl to the nurse's office but Yashiro stated that she would just head home on her own, assuring her friend that she was fine.

     "Don't forget Yashiro, our fates have been tied!" Hanako called out, seeing Yashiro about to take her leave because of Y/N's orders. "I'll just be like any other person now to you! You can smack me, hug me, touch me-"

     "Hanako, please change the wording of that sentence. That just sounds dirty." Y/N deadpanned at the ghost, hitting his head before shaking her head and turning back to her best friend with a bright smile on her face as Hanako dramatically yelped out in pain. "Anyways Yashiro, please go home and take good care of yourself! If you really want to pay me back, just make me a bento for tomorrow. Your cooking is absolutely divine." 

     "How come people at this school don't like Y/N again? I genuinely just can't understand." Yashiro thought before nodding to her best friend in agreement. "Of course Y/N! I'll bring you your favourite food tomorrow!"

     Hanako popped up behind Y/N, slightly startling her with how close he appeared to be. "What about me Yashiro? I granted you a wish and I've been hit all day! I at least deserve something!' Hanako whined.

     "Hm.." Yashiro put a finger to her cheek before shaking her head with a smile on her face. "Sorry Hanako, but Y/N did most of the work here and actually needs the food. Anyways, see you two tomorrow!" And with that, Yashiro ran out the door. 

     "Wait-!" Hanako called out before stopping himself, realising that Yashiro had left them in the dust. 

     There was a moment of silence between Hanako and Y/N in the classroom as Y/N decided to put the messed up desks back in their original places. 

     "Y/N." 

     "Yeah?" Y/N replied after a moment, putting the last desk back in it's place before turning to look at the black haired boy. Seeing his conflicted expression, Y/N tilted her head in confusion. "What's wrong?"

    "Why?" Hanako asked. his eyes holding an unreadable emotion in them. Sadness? Anger? Confusion? Y/N would never know.

     "Why what?"

     "Why did you ask for such a selfless wish? It could cause you so much pain and suffering, so why do it for other people when instead you could wish for something that would benefit yourself? I can change your wish if you'd like." Hanako offered after his series of questions, stepping towards the girl slowly.

     "It's because I want to see others smile. I don't want them going through the same suffering I constantly go through every day. I already go through a lot at home considering I'm supposed to be an esteemed exorcist, adding a bit more pain won't hurt much. Plus, see how we helped Yashiro out of a life-or-death situation just now? I also took the price for Yashiro's actions instead of her taking them on herself. Doesn't helping people give you a sense of self worth?" Y/N answered without hesitation, looking the ghost boy straight in the eye with a soft smile on her features. 

     "Self worth? Shouldn't you already be confident in yourself as is? You could exorcise me easily at any moment, you're good at gardening, great at cooking and you even keep up your studies." Hanako replied before shutting up instantly, as he had let out a bit too much information than needed. Truth be told, he had been having Hakujodai follow her and give him a report of how she was doing, since the young exorcist had peeked his interest.

     "Truth be told Hanako," Y/N started, ignoring the fact that Hanako had basically been secretly following her around. Her sweet, kind smile had instead turned into a bittersweet one. "I truly don't value myself. I only see myself as someone who took up space on this planet, since that was all I've been taught not that I care about that though. I truly value my friends, Yashiro and now, you." 

     "Y/N, please.." Hanako held both of the girl's hands, looking into her E/C eyes, as if looking for some sort of resolving answer. "Let me help you." 

     Y/N's eyes widened at his plea not expecting for someone, especially him, to want to help her. Y/N took a moment to compose herself and finally intertwined her fingers with his, smiling brightly once again. "Only if I get to help you though!" 

     "You truly are a kind person, you know that Y/N?" Hanako broke into a smile, enjoying the moment of peace between the two of them. 

     The setting sun had enveloped the classroom into an orange hue, a slight breeze coming from an open window and the teenager's hands intertwined had set the scene to a peaceful moment. Y/N's bright E/C eyes stared into Hanako's amber ones, as the two enjoyed each others company.

     She hadn't realised it at the time, but soon enough she would figure out where her destiny would lead her. All of her fondest memories, all of her sorrows.. They all started officially on this day, where the young exorcist girl made a promise to a ghost boy that he could help her as long as she could help him and others. This is the moment Y/N's entire life turned around all because of one silly ghost boy she met in a girl's bathroom. She wouldn't have changed that encounter for the world.

♡

{ Hey guys! As you can see, I completely changed the aesthetic of my book. I usually go with this simple aesthetic for my books and I honestly just really disliked the way this book looked before. It was all cluttered and it looked like a seven-year-old made it so... here we are! Much more simplistic.
Anyways, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! I also hope that it wasn't too cheesy or anything 🤧 I'm loosely following the original manga storyline for the beginning, but I want to create my own storyline for Y/N, since Yashiro technically isn't Hanako's assistant in this story so yeah!
Also, thank you so much for getting me to over 70 votes!! I never thought that this book would be this popular haha. I really appreciate you guys!
Don't forget to comment and vote my beautiful readers and I'll see you all next time! Peace!

Word count: 1.9k
Status: Unedited }