After hours upon hours of cleaning, the end of the day came upon us. The bell shrieked throughout the school, causing kids to run out of classes in clusters. It only took a few minutes for the school to have crowds of kids flood out, & leave the school - literally - ghost empty.

I shoved the mop back into the bucket, leaning on its handle, "Hanako, can I be down now with this task? It's been hours..."

Hanako sat perched on the window sill per usual, one leg set up so his arm could rest on it. He changed his view from the window to me to the perfectly cleaned bathroom.

I scrubbed up everywhere & anywhere, in all the noticeable places & unnoticeable places. In the places we don't speak of, & will NEVER speak of. I took every inch of dirt, mold, & stain & destroyed it with any cleaning utensil Hanako supplied me with.

He inspected it, floating around, looking at his spruced up boundary. Hanako turned to me with a grin, giving me two thumbs up, "Perfect!"

I smiled, jumping up a little in excitement, "FINALLY!"

Hanako giggled a little, before suddenly wrapping his arms around me. I stiffened at the sudden contact, keeping my arms close to my chest. I couldn't move for a few moments, shock enveloping me at the sudden contact. I felt like if I moved back, my knees would've given out from either the shock or the weird nervousness that was enveloping me.

I swallowed my pride, slowly wrapping my arms around Hanako, allowing him closer to me. This was the first hug I had had in years. I didn't know how much I liked it or liked the feeling at all. It was different since we were both dead after all.

No warmth was shared between us, but it was a comfortable cold. One of his hands was on my back, & the other one held the back of my head comfortably. Hanako was taller than me, so I rested gently on his chest as he held me in this close hug. It sure wasn't warm, but my face sure was.

It was silent. No words were exchanged, just a sudden hug. I didn't know what was happening, but my mind felt a little...haywire.

Did Hanako...? NO! ...he couldn't...

Or could he?

My mind spiraled, causing me to stutter out a sentence, "I-I uh...H-Hanako?"

Hanako jumped a little, pulling back, exiting the hug. He rubbed the back of his neck, giving a sheepish smile, "OH! Sorry for the sudden hug, I got a little too excited..."

I was about to retort, but he quickly continued the conversation on, "Anyways, Sephy? Are you ready to go searching for the Mokke?"

I inspected Hanako closely, noticing how he quickly regrouped. At first, he seemed shy & sheepish...& now he seemed confident & pulled together again. I let a little puff of air through my nose before I responded, "Yes. Where are we going to start?"

Hanako floated towards the door, exiting, causing me to follow.

"Well, I have no idea where these little guys are hiding." Hanako sighed to himself, floating down the hallway with me, "So, I guess we're going to have to check everywhere."

I stopped in my tracks, causing him to follow. I dropped my jaw, staring at him, "That's going to take forever, if we don't even have a starting point!"

He shrugged, continuing down the hallway, "Well, let's start down this hallway!"

Face palming, I trudged along behind him once again, "You know, you're really a pain in my ass."

As we walked down the hallway, we looked high in low. When we passed by classroom windows, we gazed in inspecting to see the creatures. We'd go in & look under every desk, every chair, & behind every chalkboard. We were leaving no item left unturned.

Every window was peered through, every door was opened, & each item was slightly moved to be inspected. We'd even knock on the walls of classrooms & halls to see if there was chittering noises or scuffling of little feet. But to our dismay, there would be nothing.

We walked up & down many flights of stairs, took many twists & turns down halls, & walked through plenty of corridors. But there was no sight of any Mokke, nor any other creatures.

We had made it to the second level of the school, going completely biserk in the way we were searching. It made no sense, but I guess if we were searching, it was working.

"Okay...well...we've searched almost every classroom, & every known bathroom & janitors closet." Hanako listed off, as we floated beside each other. He tapped his finger on his chin, as his eyes held a serious glint, "Where could they be?"

I started thinking aloud as we passed more classrooms, still inspecting each one, "Well, we have the library, the broadcasting room, the roof, the garden, & the unused building to check still."

Hanako sighed, placing his hands in front of him like any ghost would, "Wow, if only we were playing hide-n-seek...this would be a lot more fun."

I chuckled at his joke, as he laughed along with me, "Too bad, we'd be the losers."

"True." he replied, "It just means more time to hangout Sephy!"

I rolled my eyes, "Okay, yeah, whatever."

Hanako nudged me a little, making me give him the side-eye, "What?"

"Why you acting so cold all of a sudden?" he pouted, teasing just the slightest.

"None of y-" I started to trail off, as I saw someone standing down the hallway, "Shit."

"What?" Hanako said, stopping himself, having me stop as well.

I continued to stare down the hallway. The figure was faced away from me, but I could see who it was. They were standing outside the classroom, only a few doors away. If they saw me, I would be in some deep shit right now.

Before Hanako could even open his mouth, I whispered-hissed out, "We need to go NOW."

I snatched his sleeve, trying to turn him around before the figure saw us, but it was too late.

I could see there pissed off expression from here, as they yelled, "YOU! Get over here!"

Dejectedly, I let go of Hanako's sleeve & started to float over to the figure. Hanako trailed behind me, silently confused & probably laughing at me internally. I quickly & quietly made it over to them, who had their arms cross & was tapping their foot.

I stood in front of them, my head hung along with my arms.

I looked up at them & sighed, "Hey...Mr. Tsuchigomori."