#miyamoto fumbled the ball so hard

[yrpspiritsintheshadows]

Imaginary Friends

Imaginary Friends

School was out for Geistville Elementary. As students hurried to the bus or for their parents’ cars, one student was left to wait in the playground as he always did.

Ken, honestly didn’t mind waiting to be picked up from school. It was extra play time as far as he was concerned, getting the full run of the playground and not have to share the area with anyone…

Except for one person. 

He had met her back when he still went to the preschool that was attached to the building. She was around his age and was always there waiting to play with someone. The other kids couldn't see her of course but Ken didn’t mind.

“Weeee! C’mon, Ayami, catch me!” Ken giggled, ducking under the jungle gym as his friend chased him, floating just off the ground. 

Her laugh echoed around them, the glow around her body illuminating the area.

Ayami, didn’t dress like the other ghost kids Ken had seen over the years. She wore a set of black and white armor,with flower like designs and crystals embedded into it. Her hair was pure white and one of her eyes was a bright green color, contrasting to her other eye, which was a pale blue color.

“I’m gonna catch ya!” She phased through the jungle gym, floating upwards as Ken bounded across the top. 

“Nya!”

She giggled before tackling him as the two children rolled across it, laughing up a storm, one having to catch his breath.

“That was fun! We haven’t rough housed in a while! It’s been too long!”

Ken sat up, grinning.

“Way too long.” He giggled, leaning back. “We gotta play more often.”

Ayami fiddled with her hands, unsure.

“I dunno… I’m not normal.”

“But you're my friend!” He insisted. “We never play except during school days and then during summer I never see you!” 

“But…” She looked down. “Would your parents be okay with a ghost friend?”

That was the problem she was worried about. For a while, she looked and acted very much like a human child. Ayami had been deceased for a long time. Ken never asked her about what happened and she didn’t bring it up either.

It was an unspoken kind of rule. Don’t ask about the things that would make either of them upset.

Ken poked her forehead, getting her attention.

“My daddy was like me when he was little. I’m sure he’d be okay with it… and you’re a nice ghost. Pleeeaaase?” He gave her the puppy eyes.

Ayami squeaked, covering her own eyes.

“Kennny!!! That’s not fair!”

“Please? Please? Please?”

“Ooohhh bother…” She giggled, lowering her hands. He was still making the face. “Okay, okay!”

“Yippee!” Ken threw his arms around her. “You know where my house is? I can tell you where it is or you can sneak in and hide with me and my brothers!”

“I can find you easily.” She winked. “That’s the cool part of being a Ghost Guardian.”

“Right! Maybe I can meet more of your ghost friends too?” He tilted his head. “If you're okay with it.”

“Maybe. Oh! If you ever come to where I stay, you can meet Dree Dree! And Jackie and Aggie too!”

“Oooo… Yeah! Yeah!” Ken giggled, holding out his pinky finger. “It’s a promise!”

Ayami giggled, looping her finger with his.

“A secret promise!”

“A secret play date!”

oooooo

Around early evening, when the sun was still high in the sky, Ken had a knock at his window.

He looked up from his game system, grinning at who he saw. Ayami was floating just outside of his window, her white hair blowing in the wind.

“Is it a bad time?”

He pushed the window open, leaning out a little.

“You’re good! Wanna come in?”

“Hm…” She furrowed her brow, looking down to where she could see through the window to the rest of the Miyamoto family. “Not yet. Wanna come outside and play?”

“I can! Hikaru helped me with my homework!” 

“Cool! I got done training early too.”

The two children laughed before Ken hurried to grab his coat, grabbing one of his toys too.

“Daddy?”

Eiji looked up, adjusting his reading glasses.

“Yeah, Kiddo?”

Ken smiled, giving him a bit of a puppy eyed look.

“It’s still daytime, can I go outside for awhile?”

Eiji hummed in thought, glancing outside. It would still be about two hours before night fell.

“Only an hour and a half. I want you back just before sunset, okay?”

“Okay, thanks!”

Ken hurried outside, meeting Ayami at the backdoor… This time, however, Okami was wary as she stared at the ghostly child.

“Um… Is she okay?”

“She’s a nice doggy, don’t worry. Okami, c’mon! You can sleep while we play.” 

Okami huffed but followed after anyways, not wanting to let Ken out of her sight.

The children didn’t pay her much mind, since she kept up with their pace easily.

“I brought my bouncy ball. We can kick it around or something! See?” Ken pointed to the pale green designs around the black ball. “It glows in the dark!”

“Ooo, like me!” Ayami giggled.

“Yeah!” Ken moved back several paces, once he was sure they were a bit out of sight. “Ready?”

“Ahuh, ahuh!” Ayami got into position, bouncing in place. 

Ken grinned before kicking the ball her way, the girl jumping into the air a bit to kick it back.

“Nice!”

He ran a bit further in before kicking it as hard as he could.

Ayami squeaked as it barreled right towards her, turning her body intangible as it flew right through where her stomach would’ve been.

“Eeek! Sorry!” 

Ken ran up to her.

“You okay?”

“Yup!” 

Both children looked to where the ball had gone. They couldn’t see it anymore, having lost sight of it in the brush.

“... Uh oh.” They murmured in unison. 

“... I’ll go get it-”

“I’ll go with you!”

Okami whined, watching them leave. Her ears folded before walking after them. 

Ayami phased in and out of the brush, looking for the ball, the leaves lighting up as her essence phased through them.

“Hm… Not here…”

Ken looked around, humming in thought. He peered down the hill, seeing a faint glow from the paint.

“Found it-”

His foot slipped, as he started to tumble down the hill. Ken yelped, bracing himself for a hard impact… only for Ayami to grab his jacket’s hood, pulling hard to keep him from doing just that.

“Oof!”

He sighed in relief as she set him down. Okami whined from the top of the hill, pacing back and forth.

“I’m okay, Okami, promise!” He turned to Ayami, smiling sheepishly. “Sorry.”

Ayami shook her head.

“Don’t. You okay?”

“Ahuh!”

Ayami smiled before floating off retrieving the ball. 

“I got it!”

Ken smiled, bouncing in place a little. “Wanna play here?”

“Hm… I don’t think so. It’ll take a bit to get you home.” Ayami offered her hand to him. “Hold on tight.”

Ken blinked, doing so… squealing as she floated upwards for a moment, going higher than the boy thought possible, rising over the treetops.

The entire forest was revealed to them as Ken looked around in wonder.

“Wow…” He breathed. “This… Wow.”

“Not too much?” Ayami asked, smiling sheepishly. “Not scary?”

“No way!” Ken laughed. “We’re FLYING, Ayami! Really flying!”

She looked to the ball and back to Ken. “Wanna forget catch for a bit?”

“Yup!”

She dropped it before getting a better hold on Ken, keeping him close.

“Ready?” 

Ken gave her a thumbs up.

Ayami grinned, her green eye glowing brighter before she flew off at a rapid speed, the children laughing up a storm the whole way.

Dipping up and down back through the tree branches as Ayami made them both intangible, even through the earth itself as they popped back up.

Ken squealed as they flew through a particularly large tree, spotting a family of owlets before they phased out of it and onto the next branch.

“THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!”

“And this is what I get to do all the time!”

After a while of flying like this, Ayami came to a stop in a particularly large oak tree that looked over the property. The two sat next to one another on one of the thicker branches, gazing out at the view before them. Ayami was a little tired, leaning against the trunk of the tree, while Ken was still bouncing a bit excitedly.

“That was… Seriously, you can do all kinds of amazing things and…” Ken rubbed the back of his neck, going a little red. “And I’m just the kid who can see ghosts…”

“Aww Kenny…”  Ayami pouted a little. “But you can do a lot of really neat things too. You can see what others don’t… and you aren’t afraid of those things either.”

“Not true… I have lots of bad dreams about bad things that happen to people…” Ken rubbed his arm. “I see people too that wanna get my attention because they can’t get anyone else’s. Like my big brothers’ first mommy and daddy. They haunted me all the time until Daddy was able to save Hika.”

“And I kept ‘em away from you at school, remember?” Ayami squeezed his shoulder, prompting a small smile from Ken. “Kenny, you just gotta practice. You’re still little.”

“Yeah… I wanna be just like my daddy when I grow up. I just… get scared sometimes… but Daddy says that this stuff happened to him too when he was little… same for my Auntie Naomi.” Ken fidgeted with his hands a little. “And I don’t have as many bad dreams anymore. Sammy helps me sleep better with Dreamster’s help. We play a lot when things get scary so I can sleep again.” He smiled a little. 

“What kind of dream stuff do you do?”

“Well…” Ken perked up. “Last night, I conjured up my oba-san’s house! It’s really, really huge!” Ken held out his arms as wide as they could go without causing him to lose balance. “And we played around the garden with her koi fish! The garden’s super, super big! It’s like a mini forest too!”

“Wow…” Ayami smiled. “And you did that.”

“Ahuh… and Okami helps me in my dreams too.”

“That’s cool!”

Ken smiled, looking down, seeing Okami at the base of the tree… giving him a disapproving look. 

“Yup. She loves me a lot. And I love her.”

Ayami smiled, closing her eyes as she leaned her head back. “So, you’re not just the kid who sees ghosts. Your daddy wouldn’t have known what to look out for with your brothers if you hadn’t seen their parents first.”

“Yeah… I guess so, huh?” Ken fumbled with his hands, frowning a little. “I just… hope no one’s in really big trouble, because of my new nightmares.”

Ayami squeezed his hand, taking it into her own.

“If they are, then we’ll get them out of it.” She gave him a grin. “That’s the job of a Ghost Guardian, to help people!”

“And… Memoria Coven members, can create Remembereds… or get spirit companions of our own when we’re old enough.” Ken smiled, a hopeful look coming to his eyes. “I wanna be that cool too.”

“And I have no doubts.” 

“Ayami…”

Ken hugged her tightly, startling her for a second before she returned the embrace, her glow brightening.

“Kenny...  I wanna help every step of the way. I promise.”

“And I know you will. It’s a promise… Okay?”

Ayami smiled, hugging him tighter.

“A secret promise.”

“A ghost promise!”

They giggled a little before Ayami helped him up, floating down to the ground.

Sunset was coming and they both knew Eiji and Carmen would NOT be pleased if Ken wasn’t home soon.

“Can we do this again tomorrow?” He asked as they hurried off for the house.

Ayami grabbed onto a tree branch, swinging down as she sprinted alongside him. 

“We sure can! More playtime, lots more play time!” 

“Yay!”