Spectrophilia (Chalarm x Siph)

[Chalarm]

The faint groan of the train's wheels picked up as the transportation left the pair behind on a dimly lit platform. The bright windows rushed by them quicker and quicker until the view of the train cars gave way to the sparse brush covering the rolling hills on the opposite side of tracks as the transport moved on to the next station.

Kaito looked down at his phone, confirming the time for himself and his well laid plans. He checked all his equipment, patting down every shoulder bag that hung off him for the hundredth time and spinning on the spot as he reached around his round waist for his backpack. Camera, check. Backup camera, check. EMF reader, check. Rations, check.

"We have 3 hours for the next and last train tonight back home. Better get going, I don't want to waste my whole weekend in some small town like this." He told his sole companion who was carrying none of the equipment. Not that he trusted her with any of his tools to begin with. He knew he should have been more excited, having found this perfect ghost hunting spot from a friend of a friend from an online forum. He was overjoyed to go hunt for evidence of the spirits, but tonight he was accompanied by the last person he would expect.

It just didn't happen, he was the portly outcast of the class with strange hobbies and she was... the exact opposite. He couldn't even really remember how she convinced him to let her tag along, as Kaito had been so suspicious of her motives initially. He was always waiting for the other shoe to fall when others would burst out laughing calling him a geek and moron for falling for her prank. "WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER WANT TO HANG OUT WITH YOU." The threat still lingered in his mind even now, Kaito abbrasive to her company and continuing to be suspicious even as she accompanied him on the train to this out of the way town. He still considered how he got here in this situation, remembering sitting back in class, nodding along to her pointless remarks while his head was in another ghost hunting book, dismissively saying "mhm" from time to time while waiting for her to leave him be or get tired of mocking him. But then the next thing he knew, she was in his face crowding out the book he was reading.
"Then it's decided! I'll join you on your next ghost hunt!"

The haunted location wasn't that far from their train stop, a short walk that still left Kaito huffing while carrying all the heavy baggage. The last of the daylight had faded beyond the horizon, so Kaito turned on his headlamp and provided a spare flashlight to his companion before he turned on his video camera and began to record his intro while they made their way through the trees to their destination.

"I am here just beyond Futoshi station about to enter the perimeter of the town's abandoned park. It is a hub of spirit activity based on the accounts of multiple experts and witnesses. The walls to the spirit world are thin around this dilapidated location, drawn to the feelings of abandonment and sadness for the old buildings that once held the laughter of children and families... but now, only silence."

For a moment Kaito forgot he wasn't alone, falling into his usual excitement as he narrated his video and poured over the small map of the local area.
"This location is full of many sites of spectral interest. The old tunnel that they say one can hear footsteps following you when you reach the middle. The old playground, where a dead body was found in the middle of the night 50 years ago, and his drunk spirit still lingers. Or the pond that houses the souls of many victims of the infamous water spirit."

 

[Siph]

"This is also the place with the public masturbator ghost, right?" chimed a different voice before his own had a chance fade away. The high pitch of enthusiasm broke through all of the ominous atmosphere that the recording could've begun with, and if Kaito had meant to present himself as an experienced professional, the guileless question alone was enough to turn a documentary into an ill-prepared home video. A long lock of blonde hair fell onto the paper map, sparkling in the harsh light of his lamp. "Mhh . . . Or did that turn out to be just some normal guy?"

There was no time to answer before the same voice piped up again. "Oh, I should probably introduce myself, too, right?" A few rapid steps -- the distinct crush-crush of shoes on dead leaves and branches -- and the girl jumped into view, close enough to disrupt the lens's focus from the overgrown trail to the brightly lit features of her face. It took a moment for the camera to adjust to the pinkish glow of her skin, and to the blue sparkles in her big eyes; her blonde bangs just barely reached the edge of the frame.

"My name is Hoshina Shino, I'm eighteen years old and I'll be . . ." She blinked and took a step backwards, clearly not having rehearsed what she wanted to say. What was she, really? She was his classmate, sure, but that didn't really count; she hadn't really known this Kaito guy until earlier this week, when she'd run into him more or less by chance. "Partner, no, copilot . . ." He hadn't really given her a role, either -- now that she thought of it, actually, he hadn't said all that much to begin with. Not on the way here, nor had he involved her in the plans leading up to tonight. She would've almost thought he didn't want her to tag along, if it weren't for the fact that, you know, she was right here with him right now.

A wistful pout appeared on the girl's lips, only briefly before she found the right word: "Cohost! I'm your cohost." With that, she spun around and trotted further along the path. Between the stylishly ripped hems of her shorts and the low ankles of her sneakers, the bare skin of her legs almost seemed to taunt the spring night's breeze and whatever critters lurked in the parkside bush. Kaito himself, in a different way, very much included.

"It's like one of those animal shows, where they have an expert talking about elephants, and someone else that goes like, holy shit, I'm feeding a real elephant, that's so cool." She shot a glance over her shoulder. "You know what I mean?"