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Kitamura Haruki wasn't born for the dead. Well, not born for the dead, but he wasn't born unliving. It sounds complicated, but it's not. He was born alive, a healthy human. You see, in a world where supernatural beings are the prominent life form, it's very simple. You are either supernatural or you're not. However, most of the population is supernatural.
Haruki used to be a beautifully tanned boy with dark hair and charming brown eyes. He lived a happy nineteen years as a human with love interests, family, curiosity, and actual joy. But when Haruki suddenly passed away, he didn't 'go to the other side' as the popular belief was. Instead, he crossed into ghost territory, given only the powers of a ghost and the curse to live forever.
When he died and became a ghost, he became pale and lost his tan because the sun's rays did not reach him completely. His charming brown eyes grew sad and his irises changed to a piercing, dead color of golden. His old smile that could brighten a room swapped places with a saddening frown.
He stayed in a state of unliving when he could not contact anyone, not even his family, even though he could see them. It wasn't until a fellow ghost found him and sought out to teach him how to reach the 'living' world.
Unfortunately, it would be too late. By the time Haruki had learned how to fully access the 'living' side of the supernatural world, his family would be dead. He had spent a full one-hundred and twenty-seven years stuck in an unliving state.
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- Kitamura Haruki: POV -
"Ruki? You alright?"
"I need a moment to think, Xander. Just.. A second to breathe."
I ran my fingers through my black hair, rolling my eyes back. Inhaling deeply, then exhaling dramatically, I slowly look at Xander. He lights my cigarette, prompting me to take a drawl. I do, blowing out a cloud of smoke and thinking about the past five years.
You would think that I would have stopped counting the years, that they didn’t matter to me. But they still do. Xander’s dad says it’s because I’m still young.
“You’re practically a baby! One-hundred and twenty-seven years old,” Mr. Drewitt said.
But Mr. Drewitt was born into a family of ghosts. In fact, his bloodline is the purest of ghost bloodlines. So he didn’t have to face the difficulties of dying and being taken over to the side of the unliving that wasn’t meant for.. People- Ghosts- like me. However, his ancestors did, a man from his grandma’s side of the family. Poor guy, I can’t help but empathize with him. Even so, Drewitt apparently means “phantom or ghost” in German, so I guess it’s kind of meant to be.
Mrs. Drewitt was the one who found me. I was next to my youngest brother, who was two when I died. He was on his death bed, and I wanted to watch him cross over to where I couldn’t go. His two grandchildren were at his bed, and I was standing over him, wanting to touch his cheek so badly.
“Why don’t you talk to him?” Mrs. Drewitt practically appeared out nowhere, looking at me questioningly. I could see her, she could see me. I looked at her, raising my eyebrows.
“I can’t. I’m a ghost.”
“Well, I am too, and I can talk to him. Right, Kitamura?” Mrs. Drewitt smiled at my brother, and my brother reached out to her. I jumped, the hairs of my arms standing up.
“How?? Tell him Ruki is here! Tell him I’m stuck! Tell him.. Tell him I love him.”
“Kitamura, Ruki is here. He says he’s stuck as a ghost, and that he can’t talk to you for some reason. But he loves you, and he wants you to know that.”
Kitamura Minato passed away at eighty-nine years old, fully aware that he would never be reunited with me. But I remember what he told Mrs. Drewitt- or rather, what he told me- before he passed.
“Ah, Ruki-san...”
I will never forget the next words. Because they mended and broke my heart at the same time. He told them to me in Japanese.
I will never meet you again, but you live in my heart.
I scribbled it on my paper now. Three times in english, four in Japanese.
二度と会うことはありませんが、あなたは私の心に住んでいます
Xander watches as I do this, examining my handwriting. I lean back and take another drawl of my cigarette. He looks up at me, staring at me now. I shift uncomfortably, glancing down at my paper.
We sit there in silence, Xander taking a deep breath. I look at him again, chewing the inside of my cheek. It was Xander who finally broke the silence.
“Are you ever going to go see your great nephews and niece? With all of their knowledge that you are their uncle?” He asked abruptly. I feel angry with him for breaking the silence for such a stupid question. My face goes pale- paler than it already is, if that’s even possible.
I have four great nephews. Two from my brother Minato’s side, Two from my sister Kana’s side. Their names are Haruto, Junichiro, Masashi, and.. Haruki. My great niece’s name is Kosuke. I often visit them, but they don’t know I’m their great-uncle. They don’t even know I’m there.
“Maybe one day.” I finally respond. I still have the chance to visit my youngest nephew, Kitamura Atiko Haruki . He’s in his fifties, and was named after me by my older brother Minato. I think I’ll introduce myself to him, just not yet. It’s got to be a little weird, going up to a fifty-year-old man in a nineteen year old’s physical appearance and introducing yourself as his uncle. His dead uncle, who he was named after. He looks like me. If I would have aged properly, would I have looked like Akito Haruki?
Xander stands up, holding out his hand to me. I know I should be happy, it’s Minato’s birthday, after all. We should be celebrating the fact that he at least got to live a long, healthy, and happy life. I grasp Xander’s hand, and he pulls me up.
“Let’s go drink in honor of the youngest Kitamura sibling,” Xander suggests. I smile.
“Yeah, let’s go do that.”
We drink, and at the end of the night, I feel woozy- but tricked into happiness.
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Characters met during Chapter One: Haruki
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Kitamura Haruki- a born human turned ghost, Main Protagonist 1
Xander Drewitt- a born ghost, Supporting Character
Mrs. Drewitt- a born ghost, Supporting Character
Mr. Drewitt- a born ghost, Background Character
Mentioned Characters (Mostly Kitamura Family): Kitamura Minato, Kitamura Kana, Kitamura Haruto, Kitamura Junichiro, Kitamura Masashi, Kitamura Akito Haruki & Kitamura Akito Haruki (great nephew).
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Heya! I’m Light and I’m the author of this story, and I’m so glad you happened to stumble across it! In case you hopped into this story thinking it would be something else, I’ll tell you exactly what it is now.
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Cold-Blooded and Transparent is meant to be a supernatural love story. Of course, we haven’t even entered the love part- much less met Ruki’s love interest yet! So yes, if you were wondering- this is going to be a slow-burn romance. I do also write fast moving romances, but that will not be one of those stories. Indeed, Haruki is a male, if you didn’t read carefully enough. His love interest is meant to be a male, but there may be other possible love interests for him - their genders are currently undecided. This first chapter is meant to give enough information to keep readers interested, but not to reveal the whole story. Currently, although you know some about Haruki, you do not know the entirety of his appearance, or what the cause of his death was. This was indeed, on purpose.
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This story will be angsty, in case you couldn’t already tell. What can I say? It’s an intriguing topic, and I can’t help myself! There will be mentioned suicide, self-harm, self-hate/destruction, and sensitive topics. If any of these things trigger you, I will advise you to stop reading now. I will always post a trigger warning at the top of the chapter, but it is at your discretion whether you heed to that warning.
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Lastly, this story/storyline and characters all belong to me! The universe it is set in also belongs to me! So please, if you want to write using my characters or the universe/storyline, ask me first! So we can talk about it and how you can credit me and promote my original work.
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Thank you again, and I’ll see you in the next chapter!
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