#originally i was gonna go a bit darker so spekky's a bit ooc but puppydog with a crush spe is so cute

[merryfortune]

Spectre the Friendly Ghost

Written for Respectfulshipping Week 2024

Prompt: Dragon | Ghost

Title: Spectre the Friendly Ghost

Ship: Respectfulshipping | Ryoken/Spectre

Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh! Vrains 

Word Count: 3,287

Rating: T

Tags: Alternate Universe - Casper the Friendly Ghost

   Exorcists, GhostBusters, and a construction crew.

   They all tried and… they all failed.

   All they had to do was get rid of a ghost or four. 

   Surely that had to be easy. After all, ghosts don’t exist. Or at least that’s what Ryoken believes - or believed. Right up until he moved into a certain house in a certain place with his Father who was vehement that he would do what those before him had failed to do: exorcise the ghosts of this mansion.

   He wasn’t an exorcist, however, so he didn’t speak in tongues or prayers. Nor did he have the kooky technology of a Ghostbuster and he wasn’t about to go all demolition crew on this mansion either. No. Dr. Kiyoshi Kogami was a psychotherapist to the undead. Completely and utterly one of a kind - and out of his mind if you asked Ryoken.

   Until six months ago, his Father was a normal, sane man with a normal, sane job in the world of science. Then, his wife and Ryoken’s mother, passed away in an accident and he became obsessed. He began to believe in ghosts, in life on the other side and he was going to prove it.

   So far, all he had done was tatter his reputation and his relationship with his son. They were constantly in flux, moving all over the place, a media circus typically following because they wanted to know what the crazy ex-scientist was doing next! 

   Kiyoshi claimed he’d had successful clients and helped CBT ghosts to the other side but Ryoken wasn’t convinced. He hadn’t seen anything until right now.

   “Hi, I’m Spectre, it’s good to meet you!”

   Ryoken screamed. Then fainted. Then screamed again when he came to the ghost of a child was still hovering over him. 

   The most recent client that his Father had taken on was a woman who went by the alias of Queen. She had recently inherited a mansion through some obscure relative she hadn’t even known existed until she was notified that she was in the will. The mansion was old and abandoned but she wanted it cleaned up and when conventional methods hadn’t worked because of reported poltergeist-like activity, she called in yet more guns: Dr. Kogami and his son. 

   And now, out of all the cases they had seen so far which had been more busts than not, they had finally found a house which was well and truly haunted.

  The mansion certainly looked the part. Tall and intimidating, filled with antique furniture and cobwebs, on the edge of a cliff. It looked straight out of a Stephen King novel but it wasn’t until they’d gone inside when they realised it was abandoned. It was still very much lived in. Just by no one alive.

   Ryoken encountered Spectre in his room. Well, it was Ryoken’s room now but it had been Spectre’s up until he died. Kind of, considering he was still haunting it. Then, in the foyer, Ryoken’s Father encountered Spectre’s relatives: his two uncles and an aunt.

   “It’s good to meet you.” 

   Spectre didn’t look anything like the ghosts on television. He wasn’t all that person shaped for a start, nor was he a boo ghost with a bedsheet over his head, either. He was translucent, though, and his colouration reminded Ryoken of the halo behind the moon: the silver, whites, and blues which were shifting and eerie. He had massive porcelain doll-like eyes, too, which were completely soul devouring.

   Compared to his aunt and uncles, Spectre was sweet as pie. A little kid who just wanted to make friends. 

   His aunt and uncles were raising Hell for Ryoken’s father downstairs, taunting him that they knew someone who knew his wife. He tried not to take the bait and stay on task but where was the fun in that? Not when Dr. Kogami made for such a good chew toy. So it was apparent that they weren’t going to be convinced that positive self-talk would be good for them, that they should let go of their unfinished business and cross over to the other side. Though, they did find Kiyoshi amusing for trying. Looks like he was going to be in for the long haul for these three clients.

   Ryoken didn’t know if he was terrified or thrilled. He was fully on board with ghosts now, living in a house full of them. But he could see that the actual drudgery of dealing with them was wearing his Father down, too. 

   Then there was Spectre and whatever his deal was.

   He struck Ryoken as being a little bit younger than him. Two or three years, give or take. And he was infatuated with Ryoken, too, now that he had a playmate about the same age as him - and didn’t boss him around like his aunt and uncles, either.

   They used him around the house more like a servant than a family member. Ryoken couldn’t believe that there was a personal connection between them. To him, it seemed more like a mishmash of people than not but hey. What did he know?

   The names of the aunt and uncles - Baira, Faust, and Genome - were carved into the heads of the western style beds, after all. Spectre didn’t even have that but he did seem like he had the rest of the house. He was free to float through it but he didn’t really, he preferred to keep to himself and his room.

   But he did have a special place.

   “Do you want to see it?”

   Spectre didn’t wait for an answer.

   Ryoken screamed as he was taken out through his window and up, up, and away. It was cold and windy but so beautiful, too. The ocean was a navy blue as it expanded endlessly out over the horizon and Ryoken could swear he could see over it from this turret in the corner of the mansion.

   They sat together on the edge, feet in the gutter, Ryoken’s bum on the tiling and got talking. About things, about life, and death, too.

   “Do you think she’s out there?” Ryoken asked. “My mother?”

   “Probably not… but that’s a good thing. It meant you and Dr. Kogami loved her so much, she didn’t need more time with you.”

   That was one way to look at grief. Spectre would know better than Ryoken, he was just a thirteen year old fleshie after all. Ryoken hugged his knees tighter.

   “So does that mean there was someone whom you didn’t get to love enough in life?” Ryoken asked. “Is that why you’re still here, as a ghost?”

   Spectre shrugged.

   Ryoken chewed his bottom lip. It felt gauche to ask yet appropriate at the same time. He glanced at Spectre.

   “Why are you a ghost? Like, um-”

   “How did I die?”

   Ryoken nodded.

   “I’m not sure either. I just remember that it was cold. Very cold… I don’t remember anything else aside from that. Not how old I was when I died, or if I had parents to miss me. Nothing…”

   “Oh… I’m sorry.” Ryoken replied.

   Seeing Spectre, the idea of Heaven, if that’s where his mother was at all, seemed a lot better than this post-death amnesia where he couldn’t stray too far from what tethered him materially. He couldn’t even remember why he was here. It was kind of a pity but he must have wanted to know too because the next day, Spectre invited Ryoken to explore more of the house.

  It was a big, big mansion - nigh labyrinthian - so there had to be a hint. A clue.  Somewhere he did not usually go and didn’t want to go which would elucidate more of why Spectre was a ghost at all.

   Ryoken agreed to help and it didn’t take them long to find something. They wanted to avoid Spectre’s relatives as well as Ryoken’s Father. They were all clumped together in the main rooms around the foyer for their so-called therapy sessions. So, Ryoken and Spectre went sneaking around upstairs and in the attic.

   Up there, they found a treasure trove. 

   No wonder Spectre didn’t typically hang out up there. It was full of precious memories and mementos from when she had been alive. Toys, clothes, and yes, even the newspaper article on how his untimely death drove his poor mother to madness and, allegedly, witchcraft. 

   Ryoken looked at Spectre as he absorbed what he could of the attic. The dust motes floated in the air, through musty windows with the battens hatched and boarded up. He had been dead for a long, long time and alive for just the blink of an eye really. It was a lot to take in, no wonder he had been subconsciously avoiding it.

   “I wanted to see my mother again…”

   Made sense.

   Except. She wasn’t here. Clearly, she was in that other place. Well away from the mansion and her son and their other relatives to had stayed.

   “She turned to witchcraft to… to… to find a way to bring me back to life.” 

   “But that’s impossible, right?” Ryoken asked but when Spectre turned around, he was grinning maniacally.

   Clearly, Ryoken ought to know better than to call something impossible. He changed his mind on the existence of ghosts pretty quickly upon arriving at this haunted mansion.

  “No, she found a way. I-In the basement, come with me. I remember now.”

   Just as quickly as the night before, Ryoken was taken for a ride. Spectre grabbed his hand and they raced through the house. They passed Ryoken’s Father and Spectre’s relatives on the way. Huh, weird, they were in a kind of good mood now, leaving the house, actually so they could do something together. Strange.

   Didn’t matter though. Especially since Spectre knew he was going to be up to no good, defying the conventions of life and death. With Ryoken in tow, of course. 

   Down in the basement, there were trap doors and other contraptions. It took them for a ride and then they arrived somewhere even further down than the basement.

   “Wow, what is this place?” Ryoken asked, his eyes wide as he took in the bizarre surroundings, deep in a cavern scented with salt water.

   “My mother’s laboratory.”

   Spectre raced off and Ryoken followed along. He looked over dusty tomes and cluttered desks. It was all left in such disarray, free to age over the decades, abandoned by all who had died over the years. 

   All except something at the heart of it. A set of potions embedded in wooden holders, just one and it glistened, shinier and redder than a ruby. Spectre pointed it out as though it wasn’t obvious from miles away.

   “This… This is the elixir of life my mother brewed.”

   Ryoken wolf-whistled, impressed.

   Spectre’s expression was frantic, excited, his eyes glittered then he spoke up again after hold this moment of relish which left Ryoken thunderstruck.

   “There’s enough for a one time go. One ghost to become human again. All you have to do is put it in the holder and I go into the chamber and then presto.” 

   It all sounded so simple when put like that but Ryoken glanced at the chamber that Spectre mentioned. It looked unsafe to say the least. A monstrosity of wood and metal, bolted and boarded up, like a zero gravity chamber before those were even conceived of as being a thing.

   “You can help me, right? I want to be human, again, just like you. We could go to school together and play games and-”

   Ryoken laughed. He smiled. Spectre sounded so excited, how could he possibly say no? His Mother designed it and it's not like he was going to get any deader. If it worked, it worked. If it didn’t? Spectre would be heartbroken but they could still hang out and play together, just like they had been before.

   “Alright, I’ll help.” Ryoken agreed.

   Spectre grinned and he dived into the chamber.

   Ryoken turned and he unlatched the glass potion from its wooden holder. His fingers grazed the surface and then he heard something. It made him jump out of his skin, it made him look up.

   “Father?” Ryoken exclaimed.

   His heart stopped.

   He knew it had been weird to see his Father in a good mood around his clients. They were so good at dragging him down, through the mud and draining the life out of him. Not to mention, he was nothing if not professional.

   “There was a little accident, kiddo.” 

   “It wasn’t our fault.” 

   “He did it to himself.”

   One by one, they all spoke up. Genome. Then Baira. And then Faust last.

   Ryoken watched. He stared in anguish as his Father joined them. No longer alive, no longer flesh and blood like he but a ghost. Like the others. Strange, spectral figures who twisted and contorted what it meant to be human-like, in eerie shades of green, pink, and brown.

   “We were going to do it quick.”

   “Harpoon through the heart.”

   “He chose to break every bone instead.”

  Again, that same choir going down the line: Genome, Baira, and then Faust last. Then, together, in unison.

   “He fell to his death in a pit!”

   Ryoken flinched.

   He didn’t even so much as wince when Spectre had revealed the snippets of his own death but this? This felt just like when he heard his Mother had been in an accident. 

   “And I have never felt more alive!”

   Ryoken watched as his Father floated, looped and swirled through the air.

   “What are you even doing down here?”

   “I didn’t even know we had a down here!”

   “Where’s Spectre?”

   Sure enough, at Faust and company’s beck and call, Spectre was prompted. He drew himself out of the chamber and was just as slack jawed to see the new ghost in the mansion’s fold.

  “Dr. Kogami!”

   Spectre joined Ryoken at his side. Ryoken’s lower lip quivered but he was in such denial, he couldn’t shed any of the tears in the corner of his eye.

   Ryoken couldn’t bring himself to ask. Spectre didn’t want to say it. But they were both thinking it.

   “Are you sure it works?” Ryoken asked, his voice cracking.

   He knew that Spectre wanted to be his friend in life and living again but.

   He needed his Father.

   Spectre swallowed thickly. A bluish colour swished through him.

   “I’ll help. Anything for you, Ryoken.”

   Spectre jetted off and glared at his aunt and uncles. They tried to stop him but this was the first time he had ever glared daggers at them. Not so much as a word as he ripped Dr. Kogami from their sides, grabbing him and dragging him down, down, down into the chamber.

   Dr. Kogami rambled drunkenly. Ryoken put his hands over his ears. He ignored the cries and demands that he was being a partypooper from Baira, Faust, and Genome. He grit his teeth together and hoped that Spectre was right. That the magic potion his mother had made all those years ago did work.

   “Ready?”

   Ryoken wasn’t much use though. Spectre did most of the hard work as he surrendered the elixir to Dr. Kogami. Ryoken pushed aimlessly at a ship captain’s wheel and the machine came to life. It whirred and roared and when it finished, it made a ding like a laundry machine.

   Steam poured out of it and the door to it opened.

   A ghost had gone in but a ghost did not come out.

   “Huh? Where am I?” Dr. Kogami asked. “Ryoken?”

   Ryoken ran to his Father’s side and wrapped his arms around him tightly. Spectre hovered like, well, a ghost and disappeared just as quickly. His relatives booed and heckled but it had worked.

   That’s all that mattered.

   Ryoken, with his Father, staggered back up into the main part of the house. Dr. Kogami rambled about how… how… he still didn’t see his wife again. Ryoken was just glad to have his father still but poor Spectre.

   There was only enough to save one and Ryoken had seen how that cherry red elixir evaporated into the mechanism of the machine. No recipe to be seen amongst the dusty tomes.

   For the rest of the day, Spectre made himself sparse. He ignored his aunt and uncles’ demands to be “fed” so they could enjoy the farce of dinner and he ignored Ryoken’s plea to see him again.

   Ryoken felt awful but it was the right thing. For that, Spectre ought to be proud of his selflessness. His Father certainly appreciated it after his maligned fall. He didn’t say much about it. The same could not be said for either Baira, Faust, nor Genome, however.

   “Where is the brat?”

   “He’s never late.”

   “Wait, what’s that?”

   The dining room was conjoined to the main foyer which ws, typically, the dimmest part of the house as it was covered by the storeys above, surrounded by doors rather windows which was why it was mighty peculiar that any light would come through it. Especially one as bright and angelic as this one.

   Everyone ran inside, only to stop in their tracks.

   “Sorry for being late…” Spectre said. “I, um, I’m out of practise putting clothes on.” He sheepishly admitted.

   Ryoken couldn’t believe his eyes.

   He had always imagined Spectre as being a dorky little kid but he actually looked older than expected, with silver-grey hair and of course those big blue eyes which looked dollike. Especially from afar and he was all dolled up in a flowy villager shirt and neat, black trousers. 

   He descended down the stairs slowly. He wasn’t used to walking, either. Too used to zipping and floating about as a ghost.

   “How the hell-?”

   “Uh-uh, not hell. Heaven.” an Angel interjected.

   The voice came from further afar the stairwell’s main flight and Dr. Kogami couldn’t believe his ears, nor his eyes. He would know that voice and that appearance from anywhere.

   “My love.” he gasped.

   He raced up as he let Ryoken and Spectre congregate in the foyer, in the middle of the aged orange and brain tiles. Spectre made the excess fabric on his shirt’s sleeves twirl as he stopped Ryoken from following hot on his Father’s footsteps.

   “Not yet.” Spectre said. “I… I want your attention first, please, Ryoken.”

   “Oh, um, right, sorry, but - but that’s my Mother…?” Ryoken said, looking over and past Spectre’s shoulder impatiently before returning his attention to the human boy in front of him.

   Spectre nodded, “It is. She, um, helped me out. Like a fairy godmother.” Spectre said. “Turns out my aunt and uncles do know someone who knows someone who, um, knows her and she wanted to thank me for preventing your Father from well. Becoming a full-time ghost.”

   “Wow, really?” Ryoken’s eyes went wide.

   “Mmhm.” Spectre mumbled. “But only for one day.”

   “Like Cinderella.” Ryoken said. “Well, we’re going to have to make it worth it then.”

   “Yeah.” Spectre smiled.

   Ryoken quietened down and realised he had something he wanted to ask of Spectre, “So, um, what about your mother?” He asked in a tiny voice.

   Spectre laughed, “In heaven. I asked your mother that too. It, um, turns out they’re friends.”

   “No way.” Ryoken couldn’t believe the odds.

   “So, let’s enjoy our time together though? Please? I’m so… so…” Spectre’s eyes began to fill up with tears of gratitude, his whole body trembled. “I’m so excited to have any time at all with you because um… I have a crush on you!”

   Ryoken blushed. He couldn’t say he was surprised by the confession but he nodded. He wasn’t sure how, if it could work, but for now. Ryoken took Spectre’s hand and that was enough to feel like they were flying on cloud nine.