My Childhood Friend Always Wants to Hurt Me

Kobayakawa Aoi has an incredibly good-looking childhood friend.

Hair like irises, delicate features, a charming smile, and impeccable manners. Everything about him is captivating.

Little Kobayakawa Aoi and her childhood friend pinky swear that they'll always be together.

Then she dies.

After her death, Kobayakawa Aoi becomes a mindless ghost, wandering the streets.

When she regains consciousness, she finds a boy on a tennis court with iris-colored hair, wearing a mustard-yellow jacket and smiling brightly.

Kobayakawa Aoi is thrilled:

That's her childhood friend, the one who promised to always stay with her!

But her childhood friend seems to have grown up quite a bit?

Once Kobayakawa Aoi comes to her senses, she realizes that six years have passed since her death.

The childhood friend who was an elementary school student back then is now in his third year of middle school.

At first, Kobayakawa Aoi is simply happy to see her childhood friend again, all grown up.

But as time goes by, she realizes she's no longer the most important person in his heart.

Tennis, his teammates on the tennis team, and opponents from other tennis teams...

They all seem more important than she is.

Didn't you promise you'd always stay with me? You lied.

Slowly, Kobayakawa Aoi, feeling betrayed, is overcome by her instincts as a ghost.

If Seichi becomes like me, he'll stay with me forever, won't he?

A flowerpot pushed from a great height, a stair railing suddenly coming loose, a poison bottle falling into a cup...

Everything happening around them worries his friends, who urge Seiichi Yukimura to find a monk soon and have his childhood friend exorcised.

But Seiichi Yukimura remains unmoved by all their advice.

Just a little longer...

Then he'll be able to touch the childhood friend he lost and got back again.

Possible content warnings (?):

Written for my personal tastes. Out-of-character warning.

Contains many headcanons and plot holes, so readers looking for strict canon accuracy should steer clear.

Looks sick, but isn't that sick, though still a little sick (try saying that three times fast).

Theme: Keeping promises is a beautiful virtue