Doing extracurricular studies and programs had never piqued his interest. As soon as he was finished with the school day he was ready to be done. He saw the social structure at school as a way to practice important skills required of his family: creating and maintaining a façade. He was sociable to a slight degree. He allowed himself to have fun and laugh with his classmates, but he did no more than simply dip his toes. School life was a secondary world for him. A world hidden and separated from his home life. School Kiraki was school Kiraki and home Kiraki was home Kiraki—and whenever the two blended he his instincts would scream at him and panic would prevail. He had to keep them separate.
Not all his shared laughs were a ruse but most of them were for show, and he had his peers eating out of the palm of his hand. Kiraki Amaya had always had a mysterious and charming aura about him and he learned at a young age how to play it. He had to admit, there were times he loved having people seek out his approval, find small ways to spend time with him, and try to learn more about him. It was like a game to him. Could he hold up his façade while his peers tried to pry him open?
He kept them at a distance that left them wanting more. This was carefully practiced; something he had been doing his entire life. It was a trait needed for his family's business. He never disclosed his family's true nature to anyone. It was a dark and complicated entity, his family.
Once that school bell rang he was given a very short time to just himself. After keeping his teachers and schoolmates charmed left him wanting to do only one thing: hit the arcade. Staying behind at school to clean or hit up a club sounded sickening.
He would normally blow as much of his allowance as possible at the arcades. Video games were not permitted in his home and the arcades, especially Round 2 in particular, had become his secret escape. Kiraki never invited anyone from school along. He would go there on his own. In the beginning, he would spend time alone and stay away from the other gamers, but after time he did make a few acquaintances who managed to become casual friends.
Round 2 was his favorite arcade because it had the best racing simulators. These games had lit a flame inside him. He strived to become #1 in the ranks in every racing machine in the building. It was foreign for the teenager to harbor such an exciting passion. When he was behind those wheels, fake as they may be, he imagined the wind actually blowing through his hair. The smell of tar and gasoline became real to him. Driving and not looking back being his only goal. There was nothing that could stop him. Kiraki allowed himself to become fully immersed. He smiled for only himself. It felt good.
His fellow gamers did not pry into his life outside of the arcade and he liked it that way. Most of the conversations were game-based, with the occasional small talk of world affairs. No one asked about his home life. No teacher asking about how his relationship with his parents was. No classmates asking to study over at his place. It was all about gaming.
The arcades had been his escape until he heard about the Ghost Host Club.
He didn't know anything about the club but it sounded like a hoax. His school, Muraki High, had been known for its ghost stories but an actual club built around the supernatural seemed heavily unlikely. And what on earth did it mean to 'host ghosts'? He had spent so much time avoiding after-school programs that it was entirely possible he had passed by such a peculiar school club. Did the students actually speak to ghosts? Could they? Was it a prank? It was something so farfetched that he had to see it for himself.
His eyes were cold as they narrowed in on the small letter in his grasp. Whoever left him this mysterious invitation that insisted he explore the Ghost Host Club must have been very skilled at reading others. Despite his doubts about this Ghost Host Club, his experience with ghosts was real. His family had been involved in the supernatural for centuries; not that he had ever shared that fact with anyone. The Amaya Clan had worked as Onmyoji for underground societies and companies. Venturing into the spirit realm was not new to him but saying, "Yeah, sure. I talk with the dead all the time. My fam has been doing it for years." Wasn't exactly a great way to strike up a conversation and be taken seriously. It was another part of his family life he did not like exposing to his classmates.
Usually by this time, he would not be standing in his lonely classroom. He would have been at Round 2 or another arcade. But he had to know who wrote the invitation. Baby blue and covered in little white doves with closed eyes adorning long cartoony lashes, the rectangular letter was the exact same kind his sister used when she was alive. He remembered she would get them from the stationary store whenever they visited Hokkaido. She had only used them for the utmost special occasions—especially after seeing the little stationery store shut down the last time they visited family up North.
He'd been lost in anguish since the death of his sister and not even his own family had shown signs of noticing. Yet someone from school? The very people he did not allow to see his true self? It was hard to imagine.
But maybe someone did see him. Saw all the pain he felt?
'Kuroki…' He thought, imagining those perfectly straight teeth that sparkled in her smile. He could remember her sweet laughter. The weight of rocks filled his chest. Never did he imagine such ache from the absence of someone. He'd spent much of his life trying to find solace. He missed her every day and it felt like a growing hole in his stomach.
Kiraki set off to find the Ghost Host Club. By this hour, the school halls were usually filled with cheerful voices, eager student bodies, and teachers shouting reminders or the occasional warning not to run. But not down the hallway via the directions on the invitation. This Ghost Host Club was indicated on the upper west corner of the campus and it appeared to maybe lead to the Muraki Manor. Many times the young man had heard the Muraki Manor was somehow connected to the school, but he'd never seen how the two different buildings were connected.
The further he traveled the unknown corners of the school the more the walls around him appeared more dated than the rest of the school. The paint wasn't an egg-shell white but a cold shadow-white. The standard almond-brown trim was replaced with a deep, royal blue. The hall ceilings seemed much taller than the other parts of the school. The glass in the windows looked wrapped with age. This corridor was fairly out of the way main rooms but it still hard to imagine he missed all this before.
At the end of the narrow hallway stood two double doors. After he opened them, his fateful encounter with the Ghost Host Club had most certainly changed his life.
That had been his experience upon receiving the mysterious invitation and finding the Ghost Host Club well over six months ago now. Now, it was someone else's turn to stumble into the Ghost Host Club. At first glance, Kiraki thought he was a specter. The curious boy opened only one of the double doors and peeked in as though he was sneaking into a forbidden place.
"Excuse me?" The boy's eyes bounced around the room, stepping inside ever so slowly, bowed at the shoulders as is seeking permission. He clearly had some reservations about him. Did he even know where he was? It was rare—maybe impossible—for just a simple passer-by to find this place. Kiraki had learned in his short time as a Host that there was something eerily special about the club.
Kiraki also knew all too well what it was like to venture into the Ghost Host Club unsure and dazed. Right now, it was a quiet place with the hosts bust preparing but soon it would be coming to life… if you could say that.
He and his co-host, Yume, exchanged a glance. It was time to welcome him to the Ghost Host Club.