Amanda and Shin: A Unique Friendshipbetween Esper (Indigo) and Living Ghost
April 2022, North Jakarta
In April 2022, at a school in North Jakarta, a teacher entered the classroom with a girl wearing a grey-and-white uniform.
"Good morning, class," the teacher greeted.
"Good morning, Mr. Baskoro," replied all the students in the class.
"We have a new student in this class. Please introduce yourself," said Mr. Baskoro, turning to look at the girl standing beside him.
All the students in the class, both girls and boys, gasped at the sight of the student standing at the front. The reason was that the entire student was white; yes, the student had albinism, even her hair was white like an elderly woman's gray hair, and her pupils were red. However, not a single male student blinked, as the girl was incredibly beautiful with a captivating upturned nose, sexy thin lips, a slender body, and long eyebrows. The girl standing at the front took a long, deep breath and exhaled through her mouth to prepare herself for the introduction, also covering her nervousness.
"Hello everyone, my name is Amanda Ivanov," she said firmly.
"Wow, are you mixed-race?" one student blurted out.
"Yes, my mom is Indonesian, my dad is Russian," Amanda replied.
"Where do you live? What do you like to eat? What are your hobbies?" another student asked.
"Sorry, my address is a secret. As for food, I like almost everything. For hobbies, I'm not sure," Amanda replied.
All the classmates immediately laughed at Amanda's seemingly casual and offhand answer. Mr. Baskoro asked Amanda to sit in any empty seat she liked. Without delay, Amanda walked past her classmates to a seat in the very back that had no neighbors. As she sat down, "Thud!" a loud sound was heard. All the classmates immediately turned to look at Amanda, though Amanda seemed nonchalant and unfazed by her classmates' stares.
"Hey, what was that sound?" asked one female student.
"I don't know, but it happened right when she sat down. Could her butt be made of stone?" whispered the student next to her.
Everyone immediately giggled, but none of them knew that the real reason Amanda sought an empty seat without neighbors was to make room for someone who came with her and was always by her side, no matter where she was, even if her seat was alone in the very back.
"Hey, Manda, did I sit too hard?" someone asked in Amanda's head.
"Yeah, everyone's looking. It's only the first day, and you're already a celebrity. You're hopeless, Shin," Amanda replied, turning slightly.
"Jeez, sorry, don't pout, it's still early," Shin said.
Next to her sat a man wearing a general's battle cloak and armor from the land of the rising sun, complete with a helmet and a samurai sword (although he could actually change his clothes as he pleased if Amanda asked him to, but that attire was his favorite). However, his body was shrouded in mist, and his face wore a mask, with only his red eyes visible. His name was Takeda Shinjou, Amanda's only friend who understood her, as she was always considered strange by others everywhere. How the two came to be together, and of course, no one could see Shin, all happened about 13 years ago when Amanda was only 5 years old.
******
"Mom, look, Mom, there's something flying up there," Amanda suddenly said while walking home from the market with her mother, looking up and pointing with her tiny index finger.
"Oh, really? Mom doesn't see anything," her mother replied.
"Really, Mom, Manda isn't lying, really, Mom," Amanda tried to convince her mother in her lisping voice.
"Enough now, let's go home, it'll be too late. Dad will be home soon, and Mom hasn't cooked yet."
Her mother immediately pulled her daughter's hand, who was still looking back at something flying in the air. Since she was little, Amanda could see many things beyond what others perceived; she could see ghosts and other astral beings. Her parents were truly worried because Amanda was not like other children. Although she was of Ukrainian descent, her skin color was truly white, even whiter than Ukrainians themselves.
Furthermore, her hair was also white due to a lack of black pigment in her hair roots, but what worried her parents the most was Amanda's red eyes, which led to no peers wanting to play with her, whether at the park, at kindergarten, or elsewhere. Everyone was afraid of her, and Amanda often got the nickname "ghost" from her friends.
One day, at a kindergarten, Amanda was cheerfully drawing alone in class. A teacher approached her.
"Wow, what are you drawing, Manda?" asked the teacher, bending down to look at Amanda's drawing.
"Drawing Ms. Ilen (Irene)..." Amanda replied.
"Let me see, dear," the teacher replied, craning her neck towards Amanda's drawing.
"Gulp," the teacher swallowed her saliva. Her face became tense and slightly pale; the drawing Amanda made was not an ordinary one. In the drawing, one of her teachers named Irene lay on the floor with a bleeding head, blood gushing like a fountain, and in her hand, she held something shaped like a book.
But the most terrifying thing was the background, which depicted a room with two large hands on the wall, seemingly having pushed Irene, causing her to fall. Everything was clearly drawn by Amanda and colored in combinations that looked like a horror movie setting.
"What is that drawing, Manda? Why is it scary?" asked the teacher.
"This is Ms. Ilen (Irene) at her house," Amanda replied cheerfully.
"Kriiiiing... kriiiiing," the school phone rang. The teacher immediately ran to answer it. After talking for a while on the phone, the teacher's face became very pale, surprising the other teachers. It turned out that the caller was Ms. Irene's husband, who had come home early from work because Ms. Irene had fallen in the reading room while cleaning it and had been rushed to the hospital because her head hit the edge of the table and bled.
Immediately, out of fear, the teacher called Amanda's parents and told them what happened. After that, because Amanda's parents were angry at the school for accusing their child of things that weren't true, Amanda's family finally decided to move to her maternal grandparents' house in Bandung and intended to enroll Amanda in school there. Upon arrival, Amanda saw an old house from the colonial era that was old but still very well-maintained, making it worthy of being a cultural heritage site.
While her parents were settling in, Amanda went to the backyard. There was a large old tree there. She brought her sketchbook and intended to draw there, but as she approached the tree, she looked up and saw a skull-faced man lying casually on a tree branch, chewing on a twig.
"Hello..." Amanda greeted.
The man turned and saw a little girl, all in white, standing in front of the tree, hugging a sketchbook larger than herself, with a smiling face and cute, round eyes looking at him. But what startled the man so much that he floated down from the branch was,
"You can see me?" he asked in a terrifying voice.
"Eh, you can talk," Amanda replied.
"Of course I can, I'm human, how could I not talk?" the man said.
"But usually you just watch Manda, can't talk," Amanda replied, confused.
"Don't compare me to spirits that just pass by. Who are you? Manda?" the man asked.
"Yes, I'm Manda, and you?" Amanda asked.
"Takeda Shinjou... that's my name," Shin replied.
"Takuta Siju?" Amanda asked, confused.
"Ah... no, Takeda Shinjou, or just call me Shin," Shin replied.
"Yes, Chin..." Amanda replied.
"Not Chin... oh well, then why did you call me?" Shin asked, surprised.
"Let's play..." Amanda invited.
"Huh... play?" Shin asked.
From that moment on, Amanda and Shin's friendship began. Shin tried to remember who he was, but he couldn't recall anything. He only remembered arriving in Indonesia because he had previously been confined inside a katana sword carried by one of the soldiers from the land of the rising sun who occupied the capital. However, when World War II ended and the land of the rising sun lost, their soldiers in Bandung fled back to their country. Shin was left behind and settled in Bandung. Since then, he learned everything about his new country, and perhaps he became more fluent in Indonesian and Sundanese than his own native language. But he still couldn't leave the city and was bound to that colonial-era house without knowing the reason why.
He enjoyed telling Amanda many things, and she would faithfully listen until she dozed off. He was also interested in Amanda because she liked to draw bad events that hadn't happened yet and helped prevent them. He also taught Amanda self-defense to protect herself. Sometimes he even helped Amanda drive away anything that wanted to harm Amanda and her family.
However, Amanda's parents became increasingly worried because their child now had an imaginary friend and enrolled her in a special school. But ever since Shin was with Amanda, no one complained about Amanda anymore, although Amanda still didn't have any friends because everyone was afraid of her. Nevertheless, Amanda continued to grow into a beautiful and intelligent girl.
However, when Amanda was 15 years old, exactly two years ago, Amanda's parents died in a plane crash just as they were flying to Amanda's father's country. After turning 17 and living alone for two years with only Shin, Amanda decided to sell her house to the city government as a cultural heritage site and move to Jakarta, but there was one problem: Shin was bound to that house and couldn't leave it. Finally, Amanda made Shin become bound to her and entered into her.
After Shin merged with Amanda, unknowingly, Shin finally became a loyal servant to Amanda, inseparable from her, although Amanda still considered Shin her playmate. Shin's powers were indirectly inherited partially into Amanda's body, making Amanda even more accurate in using her indigo power. She could predict upcoming events in the near future or truly far in the future. Finally, after arranging her school transfer, they went to Jakarta, and Amanda continued her schooling there.