The next week came around faster than ever, one day taking forever to end. It was a lazy Saturday, one of those days where there were gray clouds looming overhead and the roads were deserted. That evening, the Ghost Hunters decided it was time for a meeting, and so they all met at Kori's house. The place was spacious, providing adequate space for the five members. Kori's parents had left the house for the night to visit relatives across the state, and Emmi was in her room, keeping out of the Ghost Hunter's business for once. The group was crowded in the living room, sitting down wherever they could as they listened to the plans with tired expressions.
"We need to figure out how on Earth we're going to redeem our club to the school in time for prom," Kori started, resting back of his armchair, "The club's on the brink of a ban from the staff unless we manage to bounce back."
Leanne groaned, her head gently hitting the wall behind as she sat next to Adara on the couch.
"Just remove the club ourselves. We're still gonna be in our group, and school's gonna end soon anyways! If the club is gonna get banned anyway, no matter what we do, we might as well get rid of it before anybody else can."
"Leanne has a point you know," Adara replied, "If the club will just be abandoned by the end of this school year, then there's no point in trying to keep it here."
"It's not about keeping the club here, it's about making us seem like we're not a danger to society," Kori sighed, trying to reason with the others.
"Let's face it, we are."
Everyone turned to the person who spoke, which happened to be Kai. He was sitting on the ground by the fireplace, his legs crossed and his head resting against the wall beside him. Leanne spoke up next.
"What do you mean 'we are'? We haven't done anything to render us a danger-"
"The summoning?"
At this, the group fell silent. It was a good point, and it would only be a matter of time until somebody found out about what the group had done.
"But…" Leanne huffed, crossing her arms tiredly, "We couldn't have actually summoned them, right? The chant was fake, the lightning just happened to appear at the worst time."
"And the students? How do we explain the students?" Adara piped in once more, kicking off with her fear about the new students.
"Mere coincidence." Leanne confirmed, her tone getting more and more annoyed.
Suddenly, there was a heavy knock at the door. Adara huffed, getting up off the couch to answer the door, mostly as a way of distracting herself from the group. However, as she opened the door, what she saw on the other side did nothing to calm her frustration.
At the door stood all of the new students, dressed in their school clothes from the previous school day. Adara let out a deep sigh at the sight of them, but put on a front of politeness as she addressed the student at the front: Beau.
"How did you find this address..?"
"Oh, Darpana found the address from a friend of yours. This is… Kori's house, correct?" Beau responded, a bright smile on her friendly face.
Adara's eyes narrowed.
"Yes..?"
"Great! Do you mind if we come in?-"
At this, Adara began to block the doorway.
"Woah there! Why do you want to come in?!"
Beau was taken aback by Adara's assertiveness, but quickly regained composure.
"We want to speak with your group."
"How'd you know we're all here?"
Beau pointed to the open window by the door, where the group's voices could faintly be heard. Adara sighed, trying to think of a reason to not let them in yet failing miserably.
"Why do you need to speak to us? Is it important?"
"Yes, quite."
Adara reluctantly agreed to let them in, and she led the students past the doorway and into the cramped hallway.
The group in the other room heard the commotion, falling silent in confusion and concern. But, their eyes widened at the sight of the new students as they showed up around the corner of the door. Adara walked back into the living room, sitting back down on the couch with a heavy thud as she spoke to the Ghost Hunters.
"These guys want to talk." She huffed, her arms crossed.
Kori nodded at this, and was about to speak up when he noticed Dani in amongst the group. The memory of their brief conversation the other day, plus the multitude of minute interactions throughout the week, came flooding back to Kori; his mouth began to dry up, and his face started to burn a bright pink. Leanne decided to speak instead after getting the hint.
"Why are you here? Why do you need to speak to us?"
Beau came to the front of the group of students again, a soft smile on her face.
"We know it was you who did the summoning at the church."
At this, the Ghost Hunters froze. Leanne's breath hitched, a chilled shiver running down her spine as she spoke again.
"H-How do you know about the summoning?"
"We live near the church. We all witnessed it happen: the lightning, you all running from the building, and most importantly, the flashes of color from the church once you all left."
This was enough to send the group into a joint shock. Everyone stared fearfully at the students, but Beau did nothing but smile back at them. Adara whispered to Kori, trying to calm her ragged breaths.
"We summoned the Cardinals. I told you."
"I can't fucking believe it…" Kori shuddered in response.
Leanne swallowed the breath she was holding, beginning to speak again.
"Come in. I guess we have a lot to talk about."
The evening escalated from fearful talks about the summoning of the Cardinal Sins to the initiation of an evening of banter, food, and games. The students started to warm up to the Ghost Hunters, and vice versa.
Leanne was with Darpana, Beau, Lena, and Miana, discussing topics of makeup and hobbies whilst playing a very high-stakes game on online Uno; Charlie was talking with Rio and Dani about cars and motorsport; Kai was bonding with Lavender on their shared liking of gemstones; and Kori and Adara were observing the interactions from afar with expressions of tiredness and slight annoyance (mostly from Adara). Kori whispered to Adara, leaning out of his armchair as he was about to get up.
"I'm gonna head outside for some fresh air."
Adara nodded silently, pulling her legs in as she let Kori pass her.
Kori headed past his kitchen, opening the door to his garden and stepping out onto the freshly trimmed grass. The ground was wet with evening dew, and the waning crescent moon's light shone down on the house with an ethereal glow. Kori took a deep breath in, his lungs inhaling the fresh nightly breeze.
Meanwhile, as Charlie and Rio continued their conversation, Dani noticed Kori's absence. He quickly said goodbye to Rio before he stood up, stepping out of the living room and gradually making his way to the garden. Once he arrived, he noticed Kori standing out on the grass, his hands in his pockets and his head raised high. Dani smiled to himself, walking up next to him.
At Dani's sudden appearance, Kori jumped, his heart leaping out of his chest momentarily. Upon realizing who it was, Kori's heart didn't cease its heavy beating.
"Oh, um, hi… Dani…" He muttered, his face a bright shade of red.
"Hey…" Dani responded, his voice as seductive and as smooth as ever.
"What brings… what brings you out here…?"
"It was a bit cramped in the living room. Plus, I wanted to have a chat with you."
"Ahh, ok…"
There was a brief awkward silence before Dani spoke.
"You didn't meet me after school the other day."
"O-Oh, shit, I'm sorry… I completely forgot…"
"It's okay. I wasn't expecting you to show up anyway."
Kori gulped nervously, trying to calm his nerves. His hands were quivering like mad, and he couldn't keep eye contact with Dani even if his life depended on it.
"Why're you so nervous? I don't bite, you know." Dani smirked, bringing himself a step closer to Kori's side.
"I-It's not that, I… I think you're-"
Suddenly, Kori was cut off by Miana's approaching voice. Luckily enough she was a bit away, but it seemed she was approaching fast. Dani's heart jumped, and it became evident he was starting to panic. Kori turned to him, forcing himself to make eye contact as he observed his panicked state. But before he could respond, Dani came right up to Kori, holding his red-hot cheeks in his hands.
"Kori, I…" Dani sighed, taking a deep breath, "I'm so sorry for this."
It was then that, as Miana approached the garden door, Dani leaned in and pressed his lips against Kori's. The sensation was electric, and Kori's eyes widened as Dani's soft lips moved with his. He quickly leaned into the kiss, his eyes fluttering shut and his arms wrapping around Dani's waist as he became overwhelmed with pleasure. Due to Dani's height, he had to stand up on his tiptoes to be able to reach a suitable height.
The kiss heightened as Miana arrived, and she stood observing the scene for a few seconds before huffing and wandering back to the living room.
The kiss, however, lasted a lot longer. Kori was savoring the sweetness of Dani's lips, the taste of strawberries and the smell of expensive cologne filling his senses as Dani passionately twisted his mouth around with his.
Soon, the kiss was broken slowly by the both of them, their sighs appearing as puffs of steam in the freezing night air as they caught their breaths. Kori opened his eyes, looking down at Dani. He noticed the desire in his eyes, but brushed it aside for now.
Dani took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts before he headed back inside. Kori's arms reluctantly left Dani's waist as he watched him go.
It was then that Kori realized something.
With a haste in his step, he headed back into the house, heading for the living room. However, as he reached the main entryway, he noticed Adara at the front door, adjusting his hijab in the hallway mirror as if she were about to leave.
"Adara!" Kori blurted out, rushing to her, "Are you leaving?"
Adara looked up at Kori, giving a simple nod.
"Yeah, I am… it's all too much, with the group denying my claims so forcefully, and with the students just turning up out of the blue, it's a bit overwhelming-"
Adara then noticed Kori's bright blush and the red tint on his lips. She raised an eyebrow, beginning to question his appearance.
"What happened to you?"
"Dani kissed me."
"He what?!"
"That's not important right now. What's important is… I think you're right."
Adara's eyes widened.
"What? That these students are the Cardinals reincarnated?"
"Partially, yes. Dani didn't kiss me off his own accord, he did it in reaction to Miana's approach. He must have a plan to do with me, something that means he has to do such things in front of Miana, or any of the other students in that instance."
"I called it. I called it, and you all thought I was delusional." Adara huffed, but she calmed down soon after.
"I know. I'm sorry for denying it before, but… we still need to investigate it. For now, I'm with you."
"Ok…" Adara nodded slowly, looking up at Kori with a tiny smile, "We'll figure it out."
"Alright… I'll see you at school, yeah?"
"Yeah, see you."
With that, Adara opened the front door and left the house. Kori stayed standing by the door, gathering his own thoughts before taking in a deep, unsteady breath and rejoining the others.