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Vincent slowly opens his eyes. A familiar face watches over him patiently. He manages a small smile as he recognizes the half-ghost.

"Welcome back," she whispers.

Seems like she won the match. That last technique is unlike anything he has ever seen. Not even his [other self] could recognize the attack. But despite his defeat, he feels satisfied. He hasn't felt so close to this girl up until now. In fact, her face is pretty close at the moment, and the soft sensation behind his head seems to be her lap.

"Good to see you're still too soft," he says.

Youmu frowns at him.

"Soft? Did you think I was holding back? If you must know, I only hesitated during that last attack. Besides, didn't we agree that this was a friendly duel? What did you expect? A fight to the death or -"

Vincent laughs softly. She frowns harder at him.

"You really are pretty soft, aren't you?"

"S-stop saying that! If you want, we can go at it again! I'll surely slash the stupid out of your head this time!"

He shakes his head.

"Don't misunderstand. I wouldn't want it any other way."

"Eh?"

The half-ghost looks at him incredulously. He just stares at her in reply. A moment later, her cheeks start turning pink. She quickly looks away.

"I, I don't really understand what you're saying..."

Vincent slowly holds one of her hands. She gasps in surprise, but she doesn't pull away. He squeezes it slightly. Their eyes meet, and silence fills the room. He can hear her heart beat just a little faster.

"By the way, your lap makes a great pillow."

"..."

The half-ghost slaps his hand away and puffs up her cheeks.

"S-shut up! Stupid! Hmph!"

He laughs at her reaction. It really is pretty cute, her angry face. He never really tires of it. Then, a moment later, he realizes something strange. He expected her to drop his head down to the hard wooden floor and start lecturing or kicking him.

"..."

Instead, she just stays still, letting him rest upon her lap. He doesn't really understand it, but maybe their worlds are starting to get just a little bit closer. Of course, he isn't lying about what he said. She really is a very soft girl. In fact, she is almost too soft. He can feel his mind melt as he closes his eyes to enjoy this rare sensation just a little bit longer.

~~~

The walk back to the mansion was uneventful, and neither of them had much to say. There were several extra guests for lunch, so Vincent offered to help out with the cooking. He wasn't really that good around the kitchen, but the half-ghost said that she didn't mind. An extra hand was always appreciated.

"Oh! Before I forget..."

Youmu stops in her tracks and pulls something out from her ghost half.

"I found this yesterday."

"Huh?"

She hands him a sealed letter. It seems to be addressed to him.

"When I woke up, my wounds were completely healed. But there was no one with me. This was the only clue I could find."

"What's inside?"

The half-ghost shakes her head.

"It is inappropriate to open letters addressed to others."

Youmu sighs to herself.

"I only hope that Lady Yuyuko learns that concept someday. I kept it hidden so she wouldn't get any ideas."

"I see. Thanks.. I think?"

He shrugs as he opens the letter in front of her. After everything that had happened, he feels that she deserves to know this. The fact that she had prudently kept this from Yuyuko made him feel only more guilty.

"Wait, what?"

There are a few things inside the envelope: two odd coins and a small note. The coins seem to be made of silver, but he doesn't recognize the insignia engraved on it. Is this a raven of some sort? The note is even more confusing.

> Change

He turns to Youmu and shows her the items, but she just gives him a puzzled look. Vincent shrugs to himself as he pockets the things.

"I don't get it. Did you find anything else?"

The half-ghost pauses to think.

"Well, Ran said that she found a strange black book at the sealing circle site. She said that she would take it to the lab for analysis. Was it anything important?"

"Ah.. well, not really," he mutters.

Vincent reminds himself to talk to Ran about it later. He needs to remove the seal on Youmu's ghost half as soon as he can. Then, he looks up to see the half-ghost staring at him.

"E-eh? What is it?" he says.

"It's important, isn't it?"

He sighs to himself and decides to come clean.

"If that's the same black book I'm thinking of, then I'll need it to remove the binding seal on your ghost half."

"I see," she says. "Well, I do hope you plan on getting that done one of these days. Carrying this skull around isn't as comfortable as it looks."

"Ahaha... sorry about that."

"You better be! Hmph!"

~~~

They didn't talk again until they arrived at the mansion. They didn't meet any of the others on the way to the kitchen, but the place was surprisingly noisy. Several wisps flew back and forth, carrying wooden planks, tools, and other odds and ends. Were they assisting with repair work?

"No one's here," he says aloud.

There isn't anyone in the kitchen either.

"Hey Vincent," says the half-ghost. "I just remembered something."

She turns around and smiles at him mischievously. For some reason, a shiver runs down his spine. While that expression is natural for someone like the ghost princess, it just doesn't feel right with this girl.

"W-what is it?" he mumbles.

Youmu winks at him.

"Since I beat you earlier, you have to do whatever I say, right?"

[ ] "That's right."
[ ] "No way."
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