Chapter Text
The aged floorboards of the ancient row house groaned as if to protest its uninvited guest. His feet clad in worn socks, Ryou carefully tiptoed up the steps to the second floor. Unease swirled in Ryou’s stomach as oppressive darkness surrounded him, and he clutched his equipment bag for a sense of tactile comfort. His nostrils filled with the scent of decay as he moved forward. The intense, white beam from Ryou’s flashlight bounced from wall to wall, revealing neglected, peeling wallpaper.
Rounding a corner, he reached his destination. A twin bed lay nestled into the corner of the room, its roof slanting down steeply enough to force Ryou to crouch through at least half the space.
A surprisingly well-preserved chest sat where the ceiling was at its lowest, carelessly left open and strewn about with long-abandoned toys. One in particular caught his gaze – a white rabbit with hastily-stitched crimson patches. Its left eye had fallen out long ago, threads extending as if seeking a lost piece of itself. An ebony button served as its right eye, and it peered at Ryou with an inquisitive stare.
After setting his bag down, he knelt down to scoop the wretched thing into his arms. Despite a heavy coating of dust, its downy fur still retained a shocking amount of softness. Idly, Ryou ran his fingers through the velvety material…
Until skittish footsteps behind him tore him out of his daze. His blood ran cold, heart hammering in his chest as he turned around. Unfastening the buckle, he fished desperately through his camera case, sighing with relief as his fingers closed over a familiar weight.
Hastily, he turned on his infrared camera as he tore out the bedroom door. The empty hallway revealed no heat signature as he ran through and leaned over the railing to scan the first floor below him, revealing nothing out of the ordinary.
He was the only sign of life.
Turning the light below him, he strode in the opposite direction. The only prints left on the dusty floor belonged to him. Ryou sighed to himself, relieved he hadn’t encountered an angry squatter. But his target eluded him – he knew they were there. Quietly, he returned to his equipment, and the plush rabbit that lay discarded, face-down on the ground.
“I’m sorry I left you like this,” Ryou said ruefully, brushing off the material and placing it neatly against its box.
“You’re there though, aren’t you?” Ryou continued. He hoped for an answer, but heard only the uneasy sound of the house settling in on itself.
A rush of unseasonably chill air blew through him, making him shudder. Yes, someone absolutely was here. He darted around, raising the infrared camera to find a form taking shape, a face materializing in the darkness…
“What dangers lurk in the old row house?” Ryou’s voice emanated from the speakers flanking his monitor. “To find out, subscribe and be the first to catch the next episode of Domino Unsolved!”
Ryou sighed, rubbing his eyes from strain as he finished editing his latest video. His channel recently exploded in popularity, growing from 1,000 to 50,000 subscribers in a matter of weeks, and he sensed that was only the beginning. His old fanclub were the first to tune in. Whether or not they were interested in the paranormal was completely unknown to him, but when they caught up with him at his five-year Domino High School reunion, he halfheartedly suggested for them to watch.
He’d grossly underestimated the power of word of mouth – within days, his viewership exploded. His modest monetization grew as well, allowing him to purchase better equipment and seek out more distant locations.
Finished with his workstation for the day, Ryou pushed out his chair and stretched, his lower back aching from hunching over his keyboard like a cooked shrimp. Sighing, he slipped into his well-worn sneakers – as much as he wanted to relax at home, he had one last stop to make.
***
Crickets chirped in dusky rhythms as Ryou returned to the abandoned row house. He’d been visiting for a week with his equipment in tow. But tonight, he crept into the decaying home with no spirit box, no microphone attached to the neckline of his shirt, and no camera. Instead, he carried a curious object – a violin case.
Like he would when entering any home, Ryou removed his shoes at the door. The sun had just finished descending into the horizon, and the indigo of the evening sky cascaded in through the windows. Although dim, Ryou could just make out the shapes of wooden furniture and sheet-covered upholstery. The worn, threadbare carpet muffled his steps as he crossed the living area before ascending the stairs to what clearly was a child’s room.
Gently, Ryou set the case down and popped open the locks. Paying no mind to the oppressive darkness closing in, he went to work removing the bow, tightening it, and running its coarse hairs across the gemlike rosin in his left hand.
When he was satisfied, he removed the violin, grasping it by the neck and setting it on his lap as he sat cross-legged on the floor. A flat note sung out into the otherwise silent house as he began to tune the instrument, making delicate work of plucking the strings while adjusting each matching peg. He strummed all strings in time until they sang clearly through the dust-caked room.
“I don’t know if you’re here now,” Ryou spoke quietly as he gingerly slipped on the shoulder rest. “But I’d like to thank you for letting me visit you.”
Standing up, Ryou settled the instrument into position. He gulped, knowing he was out of practice, but he pressed on regardless.
After obtaining the Millennium Ring, his father rented him an apartment and left him there, barely a teenager, completely alone. Saddled with the responsibilities of keeping himself alive, fed, getting himself to and from school, and the dreadful mire of bearing the Millennium Ring, he stopped taking violin lessons. Ever since he was freed of the Ring’s influence, he began to play again. On top of being a decent player, it brought him joy, even if his lack of formal education showed.
After letting go of a deep breath, he began. Soon, the lively melody of the theme to Howl’s Moving Castle rang throughout the halls. Instead of a classical piece, Ryou chose one he thought the home’s left-behind resident would enjoy more.
As he’d hoped, the stale, unmoving air throughout the house began to flow more freely. Ryou felt an icy breeze swirling around him, brushing his arm before settling onto the bed behind him.
Smiling to himself, Ryou played pieces from movies he loved growing up. When he’d make a mistake, he couldn’t help but shudder and stop for a few seconds, his bow arm suddenly unsure, before continuing.
By the time he’d finished, night had settled outside. The sky coated the area with shadows, the city’s lights preventing a single twinkling star from revealing itself. Despite the creeping chill, sweat settled on Ryou’s brow as he lowered the instrument to his side.
Ryou could swear he could hear a clap piercing the silence that had set in, startling him. Darting his head behind him, he saw it, a form neither his infrared camera nor any of his equipment could catch – the tiny, delicate frame of a little girl, emitting transparent silver light.
“Wait–” Ryou cried.
He reached out his hand, but she dissolved from his grasp, as ephemeral and transient as a summer breeze. He knew it. The spirit haunting the house was a child. Tears welled in his eyes at the thought of her staying in the decrepit house all alone. Setting the instrument back down into its case, he sprinted through the halls, poking his head into every room before accepting her disappearance.
“I’ll be back again, I promise,” he called into the empty living room before packing his things and heading out the door.
By the time he returned to his apartment, Ryou was drained. After setting his violin case by his bed, he fell face-first onto the mattress, stewing in exhaustion and frustration. Since he’d started his ghost hunting channel, he’d received numerous tips about one particular block in Domino full of buildings that had been condemned years ago. With his equipment in tow, he investigated many of them with varying results, mainly flecks on his infrared camera and whispers on his EVP recorder.
But today, he found an actual ghost, a kid without friends, family, siblings…
Ryou buried his face into his pillow and tried to stave away the memories, but it was too late. Despite the pitch blackness filling his bedroom, he could see flashes of red, hurried footsteps, and the shifting of broken glass as he was extracted from the upturned car. His hands were empty, barren, when just moments earlier they felt the last hint of warmth leave Amane, his little sister.
Over the years, he’d been comforted in knowing the mother and sister he lost that day had passed onto a better place, one where they didn’t have to endure the loneliness of losing family. He couldn’t bear to think of Amane alone somewhere, confused and lost as she wandered the crash site.
Shaking his head, he willed himself to roll over and check his phone – he needed a distraction. But sifting through photos of his friends’ pristine moments without him and doomscrolling only made his heart sink further. Biting his nails, he was tempted to text Yugi when he received a notification. Clicking through to his emails, he found a tip about a haunted office building down the block from the little girl's house.
His curiosity piqued, he recorded the address, determined to explore the next day.