Rated PG. Mild humor/fluff with supernatural, and brief cross-over with Yami no Matsuei. 1,460 words.

Stranger Than Fiction

Note: This has nothing to do with the movie. I just liked the title. XD

When strange things started to happen, at first Syuusuke dismissed them. Sure, things generally did not move on their own, but stranger things happened.

But when he woke up to a pair of wide, black eyes staring down at him from the ceiling, he thought maybe it was time to reconsider.

Eventually, Syuusuke decided blinking isn't going to make the apparition disappear. While Syuusuke brushed his teeth and washed his face, the ghastly, semi-transparent shade floated around the bathroom, and Syuusuke could see the black eyes watching him curiously. After he gargled, he reached for the towel and wiped his mouth.

"Well. This is inconvenient," Syuusuke said to the mirror, and the reflection of the ghost blinked, and followed him downstairs. Yumiko looked up from the papers when he came to the dining room, and stared for a moment.

"There's a little boy-ghost floating on your left, Syuusuke," she informed him.

"I know. Can you make him go away?" Syuusuke asked, sitting down.

"I think you just hurt his feelings," Yumiko said, watching the ghost dart behind Syuusuke's chair. "I'm not sure. It might take a while. Do you want me to try?"

"Exorcisms will have to wait until after breakfast," Yoshiko interrupted cheerfully, and laid a plate in front of Syuusuke.

Syuusuke thanked his mother and started on his breakfast. "I have morning practice today. Maybe later."

Yumiko nodded and went back to her papers. When Syuusuke got up, she looked up. "Want a ride?"

"No, thank you. Thanks for the food." Syuusuke picked up his tennis bag and left, the ghost trailing behind him.

"Have a nice day at school," Yumiko called after them.

---

Syuusuke had almost forgotten all about the ghost until the after-school practice. Tezuka gave him a strange look, and Syuusuke wondered if he'd dragged out toilet paper with his shoe, and was about to ask.

Tezuka beat him to it. "Fuji. There is a ball bouncing next to you."

Fuji looked to his left. Sure enough, the boy-ghost was bouncing a tennis ball on the ground next to him. "Yeah, he seems to like the balls," Syuusuke remarked, watching the ghost bounce two, then three tennis balls.

"Who?"

"The ghost. Do you want the balls back?"

Tezuka hesitated for 0.4 seconds before answering, "Yes."

Syuusuke nodded amicably. By then, the ghost was on his fifth ball. "Can you put them back?" Syuusuke asked, and the ghost cocked his head. "Please?"

The ghost shrugged, and the bouncing balls dropped to the ground. "In the basket," Tezuka corrected. The ghost obligingly returned the balls to the basket.

"Thank you." Syuusuke turned his smile to Tezuka. "Rather well-behaved, isn't he?"

Tezuka gave a curt nod. "He can stay as long as he doesn't interrupt the practice." He added over his shoulder, "You're on C-Court with Kikumaru."

"I'll be right there."

---

Kaidoh jumped three feet in the air and landed on his rear end when the ghost tossed the ball right back at him. "I think he wants you to hit Boomerang Snake again," Syuusuke suggested from the adjacent court. "He seems to like it."

Kaidoh turned white. "Who?"

"The ghost right next to you," Syuusuke clarified.

Kaidoh passed out.

Tezuka assigned both Syuusuke and the ghost twenty laps around the court. Syuusuke was oddly touched when the ghost obediently floated in step with him around the court twenty times.

"You shouldn't interrupt practice. Tezuka gets cranky," Syuusuke told the ghost while he changed. The ghost tilted his head in a way that somehow communicated understanding. "Good boy," Syuusuke said, and smiled when the ghost returned another stray ball to the basket.

---

Syuusuke wasn't in the habit of opening his eyes mid-kiss, but this time he couldn't help it. "What is it?" Tezuka asked. Syuusuke looked past Tezuka at the pair of ink-black eyes.

"Sorry, but can you wait outside?"

The ink-black eyes blinked at him, but turned and went through the door.

"This is one thing I don't want audiences for," Syuusuke said, and kissed Tezuka again.

Tezuka kissed him back.

---

"...There is a 35.7-percent possibility that an exorcism would be successful, with 6.2-percent margin of error both ways. The possibility of finding a capable onmyouji is --"

"Thanks," Syuusuke said. "What's the probability of my getting disqualified in official tournaments because of this?"

Inui pushed up his glasses. "Less than 1.8-percent, unless the ghost starts floating balls in the court. There is nothing in the official rules against those who are possessed or have supernatural affiliation."

Syuusuke nodded. "Thank you."

---

"Say, why did you come to me anyway?" Syuusuke asked one day, in the middle of his literature homework. "Do you want me to pass on a message to someone? Play igo for you? Avenge your death?"

The ghost blinked at him and said nothing. Syuusuke reached for his dictionary, but it was just out of his reach. "I mean, there must be some reason you chose me, right? Ah, thank you." Syuusuke took the dictionary floating just above his hand and flipped through it, making notes on the margin of his notebook.

"So do you have a reason?" Syuusuke said, closing his dictionary.

The ghost shrugged.

Seconds ticked by.

"Get me the book on the bottom shelf - third one from the left?" The ghost floated over and fetched the book. "Thanks."

The ghost nodded and went back to watching Syuusuke do his homework.

---

"So, have you ever been haunted in the past? Or seen things from the spirit world?" Tsuzuki asked curiously. Syuusuke shook his head.

"No. This is the first time."

Tsuzuki made a sympathetic noise. "Well, some people take a while before their first haunting."

Hisoka checked the box next to "First-time haunted" without looking up (Tsuzuki tended to become chatty and forget which boxes to check if he left it to him). "The thing is, I can't tell if Fuji-kun is sensitive to spirit world in general or not. His sister is, but..."

"Yeah, that was the first time a human just saw us when we're invisible." Tsuzuki sounded impressed. Hisoka rolled his eyes.

"We'll run the case through the Enmacho database and let you know what we find," Hisoka said, finishing his notes. "In the meantime, would you like us to take this spirit into our custody?"

The ghost blinked at Syuusuke the way he found particularly cute, like a puppy or a kitten, and Syuusuke looked back at the two shinigami. "No, that's alright."

Tsuzuki and Hisoka exchanged a look. "If you're sure," Hisoka said.

"So, what's it like, working as shinigami?" Syuusuke asked, curiously. Hisoka seemed a bit unnerved when the ghost brought out cups and juice for them, but thanked it politely. "Do you work on cases all over Japan?"

"Ah, no. Two of us are assigned to Kyuushuu, actually. We're just filling in for Kanto because the shinigami in charge of the area are on vacation." Tsuzuki answered, holding his cup for the ghost to pour juice.

"You get vacations?" This was sounding more and more like a government job.

Tsuzuki looked very much like kicked puppy. "Not us. We're the most overworked team in the whole Enmacho."

"That's because you blew up the Okinawa branch training facility the other day." Hisoka pointed out, and took a sip from his cup. "And the library the week before."

"Hisokaaaaaaaaa."

"Is nee-san's raspberry pie from yesterday still in the fridge?" Syuusuke asked the ghost, who floated over to the refrigerator to check, then nodded. "Would you like a slice?" Syuusuke asked, amused by the sudden sparkling, puppy-eyed look on Tsuzuki's face.

"Yes, please!" Syuusuke smiled and got up, waving at the ghost to bring out the napkin and forks, and started cutting pie slices himself. From behind, he could hear hushed exclamation of, "Pie!!"

Hisoka shook his head. "You're hopeless."

---

"What's the matter with him today?" Eiji asked, watching a tennis ball roll on the ground in forlorn loops.

"I think Yuu is upset because Kaidoh doesn't seem to like him very much." Syuusuke answered. "It's too bad. He's very fond of Boomerang Snake."

Eiji stared at him, wide-eyed. "You named it?"

"Sure. It's like having a puppy around." Syuusuke smiled at the ghost, who tilted his head at him cutely. "Besides, he's cute."

"A puppy that's invisible and picks up things for you." Eiji sounded envious. "I wish I had one like that."

The next day, Eiji came in looking harrowed, his hair in interesting shade of green. From the way Eiji was cursing at the floating broom next to him, Syuusuke rather thought Eiji might have changed his mind.

"Did you see my math textbook?" Syuusuke asked Yuu. The textbook floated over to his desk and landed neatly on the top of the notebook.

"Thanks."

Fin