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For the first time in a while, Yu had gone off on her own without a word to Rei. He was really hoping she had completely stopped doing that, but maybe it was inevitable that Yu would want a break from her gloomy brother. There was a chance he'd been too obvious about how much their lack of memories had been bothering him lately… Well, hopefully she wouldn't try killing anyone.
Rei didn't feel like heading to town, so he decided to wander the cemetery. The ghostly twins had been staying there for what felt like forever, but looking around never got old. He liked to look at any bugs who chose to gather. The older headstones had interesting designs, too. The quiet time would be nice.
Yu had no idea how to catch a bug other than that you need a net, which she didn't have. This was a bit of a problem for her plan: catch a super cool and amazing bug for Rei. Nobody had stopped by the cemetary in ages, and he'd been extra gloomy lately. She was going to fix that! Luckily, she kind of knew someone who was an expert on catching bugs. After floating around the woods for a bit, she eventually spotted bright, cyan hair. He even had a bug net already!
She darted in front of him. "Hello~ Sorry to bug you, but-"
Sig turned around and began walking away.
"Hey, wait!" Yu followed.
"Go away." He didn't stop.
"But I simply moth ask for your help!"
"No."
"I haven't even said what it is," she pointed out.
"Don't care. Go away," he insisted, voice flat.
"Don't bee like that!" Yu then decided a direct approach would be best. "How do you catch a super cool and amazing bug?"
Sig stopped in his tracks.
"Also, in your expert opinion, what would bee considered a super cool and amazing bug?" Yu asked.
He considered the question for a bit. "A rhinoceros beetle or a stag beetle."
"I see, you can't beat a beetle." She knew what those looked like. "How do I catch one?"
"Why are you asking?"
"I'm going to surprise Rei!" Yu announced. "I can't wait to see the look on his face when I give him a super cool and amazing beetle!"
"Oh," Sig responded. "…Okay, I'll help."
"Really?" No puyo battle or anything? Nobody was ever this cooperative.
"Mhm."
"Yay! I owe you one, Bugmaster," Yu said. She knew just the thing that would make him super hap-
"Don't kill me," he stated.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes."
"Fine. Now, let's go find an unbeetlebly cool beetle!"
"What's that one called?" Yu asked.
"Eastern-tailed blue butterfly, or cupido comyntas. This one is male. You can tell by how blue the wings are. Female wings are usually darker, but, in some varieties, both males and females can be purple or pink," Sig answered.
"What about that one? It's beetle-ful!"
"That's a jewel beetle, also called metallic wood-boring beetle, specifically a sternocera aequisignata. They're part of the buprestidae family. Sometimes the elytra of their wings are used to decorate fabric."
"Ooooo!"
Sig did not like Yu, but he was fine with Rei, who also loved bugs and was okay to be around when by himself. That being said, Yu prompting him to share bug facts in between checking the trees he'd put honey on was fun. It was more like walking with a normal, energetic kid than a ghostly, sometimes murderous one.
"Is that the next tree?" Yu was pointing at one slightly that had a lot of bugs gathered in one spot. "It looks like a gathering of insectllectuals."
"Yes." Sig handed her the insect box, readied his net, and began creeping forward.
Yu quietly floated behind him, having learned not to rush in after the first tree. This spot had one of their targets: a large rhinoceros beetle that any bug fan would love. This would be an easy catch for Sig.
One… two… three… Unfortunately, most of the bugs flew off when the net hit the tree, but maybe he'd find them later.
"I caught it," he said. Mission accomplished.
"Yay!" Yu cheered and began trying to take the lid off the bug box.
"You just need to open the flap," Sig explained.
"Oh." Yu did that and Sig easily got the beetle in the plastic box. She was glowing with excitement. "We did it! Thank you, Sig! Rei is going to love it!"
"You're welcome."
"Okay!" Yu put the strap over one of her shoulders and flew off. "Bye!"
"Bye." Time to find some more bugs.
"REI! REI!" an eternally familiar voice shouted.
"Hi, Yu."
"Close your eyes and hold out your hands!" she directed. "Palms up!"
"…Okay."
"Are your eyes closed?"
"Yes."
She put a plastic box in his hands. "You can open them!"
Rei opened his eyes to the familiar, green lid of a bug container. He raised the box to eye level, allowing him to see inside. He gasped. "A rhinoceros beetle!"
A big one, too!
"Surprise! Do you like it?" Yu rushed up next to him.
"Yes."
"Is it super cool and amazing?"
"Yes." Rei smiled.
"Hooray!" she cheered.
"How did you catch it?" Rei had a feeling that, even when they were alive, Yu didn't know much about that.
"I asked The Bugmaster for help!"
"Who?"
"Sig," Yu clarified.
"Oh." He would be The Bugmaster. Would they need to return the box? Maybe he'd come get it eventually.
"And he told me about eastern-tailed blue butterflies, jewel beetles, and other bugs," Yu continued.
"Um… Yu? Why did you do this?" Rei asked.
Yu paused for a brief moment then her smile grew to a grin. "Quiz time!"
"Wh-"
"This quiz is only one, simple question: what are we meant to do as ghosts?"
It was something they agreed on pretty early on, whenever that was. They had pretty mixed success on it, but Yu was having fun. "Make people smile."
"DING DING DING! CORRECT!" Yu shouted. "And you're a people, and I haven't seen you smile in ages!"
Rei hadn't noticed that, and Yu hadn't gotten tired of him. He smiled again. "Thank Yu."
This joke sent his sister into giggles like it usually did. "Do you want to claim your prize?"
"What prize?"
"A super fabulous puyo battle!" she answered.
"Of course. Give me a second."
"It's your prize. Just say the word!"
Rei carefully put the beetle on a nearby rock, planning to release it the next day. That day had quickly gone from kind of bleh to really nice. Even losing the puyo battle wouldn't damper his mood, he just enjoyed getting to play with Yu.
Rei floated back over to her. "Let's…"
"Puyo battle!" Yu finished.