Anomalous (Yanderes x reader)

[30] Ghost City

It was safe to say the train was pretty packed this evening. It was crammed with individuals ranging from those in business suits home from work to students who were relishing their final weeks of school for the year. You, someone who planned to simply stare at the window and daydream, ended up garnering plenty of attention. Your plans to socially isolate yourself were in shambles.

First, it was the subtle glances and whispers towards your general direction that mainly came from teens and young adults. Then one student approached you, then another. And it all spiralled down from there. You attracted a lot of attention from aspiring students aiming to work for the AEI. You felt popular, but also a little old being surrounded by teenagers.

"Don't tell my mum this but..." A girl leaned over to you. "I think it's so cool that you have an apparition under your control."

"Right? The wolf looks so cute as well!" Her friend exclaimed.

You chuckled and gently corrected them, "He's not necessarily under my control. I work with the apparition, we're companions."

The students slowly nodded, but you had a feeling that your words didn't really sink in. Made sense considering the strict stigma on apparitions.

A boy asked, "You're not worried the wolf would turn on you or something?"

"No, I trust him. Plus, if I was granted an ability to work with apparitions that was accepted by the chairman––" Using the chairman's name to support your argument left a bad taste on your tongue, but you knew it was the best way to add more weight to your words. "––then isn't it saying something about apparitions? They can't be all bad, right? Fun fact, the wolf apparition was once a loyal puppy."

It was easier to accept Mochi because animal apparition attacks were essentially non-existence. An apparition's objective is to survive (Mochi is an example of a special case as his objective is speculated to be to protect the house of the family that once raised him) and animals typically don't need to harm humans to survive. Alastor and the kids? Yeah, convincing is going to take more than a few sentences.

The students glanced at one another. They didn't look doubtful of your words, they were thoughtful if anything. You wanted to elaborate more and talk about how apparitions are the way they are because of their strong desire to live and how it differs from individual to individual, but you had a feeling you'd only earn weird looks.

"I guess I can see that," one of them said.

"You're an SF member. That says a lot."

"Yeah! Plus, I haven't seen animal apparitions attack anyone."

You smiled. It was a breath of fresh air discussing these kinds of things with younger individuals. The elderly who were eavesdropping in your conversation rolled their eyes at you.

Yes, for the first week or so there was some stigma on your abilities. After all, society antagonised apparitions and your ability required your cooperation with them. You made a huge effort to quell some doubts through interviews and media presence. The chairman's words of praise helped you greatly, but mostly elderly and critical members of society were still skeptical. Not everyone accepted you, but at least no one was coming at you and loudly voicing their ridicules.

I can try and send a message on how not all apparitions are harmful with my abilities. Easier said than done, though.

You didn't plan on hiding Alastor and the kids forever. But for now, Mochi would take the spotlight as your apparition companion.

Eventually, the students returned to their seats. After them, a few people exchanged greetings with you every now and then, but you were left alone for the most part.