"High school," Riku muttered as he leaned against the chain-link fence outside the main gate. "The true hell of any dimension."
Students passed by, chattering and laughing, unaware that less than ten feet away stood someone capable of ripping open reality with cursed energy alone. His tall frame towered over most of them, and yet he wore the standard uniform — somehow custom-tailored overnight — with the top few buttons undone and a black cloak barely stuffed into his backpack.
A group of girls whispered nearby, eyes darting to him.
"Is he a new model?"
"No way he's a student. He looks like a… prince or something."
"Tall. Hot. Dangerous. My type."
Riku sighed, rubbing his temples. Blending in was going well. Too well.
At least Momo was late — probably picking another fight or scouring town for paranormal leads. Aira had already warned him: "She's the chaos; I'm the consequence."
Then came the heavy sound of sneakers skidding on pavement.
"Yooo, freakishly tall dude!"
Riku didn't even look. "Morning, Momo."
She stopped beside him, hands on her hips, eyebrows raised. "How do you always know it's me?"
"Loud footsteps. A trace of bubblegum perfume. And the distinct aura of someone who probably punched three ghosts before breakfast."
"…fair."
She grinned and bumped her shoulder against his. "You joining classes today?"
"I was told it's part of the cover," Riku said with mock exhaustion. "Attend school. Don't explode the building. Smile and nod. Real top-tier infiltration stuff."
"You'll love it. We've got math, boring history, and—oh yeah—a demonic infestation in the third-floor bathroom."
Riku blinked. "What?"
"I was gonna tell you earlier," she said, waving a finger. "But then I thought, nahhh, I'll just watch his reaction in person."
Inside the school, things looked normal enough. Posters for upcoming sports meets. A calendar of cultural events. Students giggling or grumbling about midterms. But beneath it all, Riku could feel it.
A pulse of cursed energy. Thin. Slippery. Wrong.
Momo was already walking ahead.
"Come on, Golden Eyes. Time to see what kind of monsters are hiding behind the urinals."
They reached the third floor in minutes. The bathroom door was cracked open. Flickering lights buzzed inside. No one else dared enter.
Riku stepped in first.
The smell hit him like rotting blood and mildew. The mirrors were cracked. Water dripped steadily from a sink even though the knobs had been broken off. And on the wall above the last stall, someone had scrawled in red marker:
> "He watches from the pipes. Don't flush."
Riku knelt and placed his hand on the floor.
Shadow rippled.
His cursed energy surged outward like sonar. And then—
SPLASH!
From the toilet behind him, a monstrous arm shot up — twisted, skeletal, and slimy. It launched itself toward Riku's back with razor-sharp claws.
CRACK!
He caught it with one hand — without turning — and crushed it instantly.
The rest of the creature dragged itself up and out, like a massive centipede built from corpses. Its face was stitched in the shape of a toilet seat. It screeched.
Momo gagged. "Ugh, a latrine demon?! That's a first."
Riku's golden eyes glowed.
"Stay behind me."
"I can handle—"
"I know," he said gently, "but this one… is feeding off shame."
The curse laughed, a gurgling hiss as it split into three smaller forms, slinking along the walls, floor, and even the ceiling tiles.
Riku raised his hand.
> "Ten Shadows Technique: Rabbit Escape!"
Dozens of shadowy rabbits burst from beneath him, each darting and zigzagging around the room, confusing the curses' senses. One tried to pounce, only to be met with a Cleave slicing it in half mid-air.
Another dove at Momo.
Before she could react, a massive toad surged up from Riku's shadow.
> "Toad!"
It swallowed the curse whole.
Riku stood in the center of the chaos, calm, elegant, and lethal.
With one step forward, he pulled the remaining curses toward him using soul threads — a subtle control that forced them to look into his eyes.
"I don't care where you crawled from," he said, voice low. "You die here."
He clapped his hands together.
> "Cursed Technique: Flame Maw."
A burst of cursed fire consumed the remaining spirits in an instant, searing them into ash that danced in the fluorescent light before fading.
Silence returned.
Momo stared at the blackened tiles. "You're insane, you know that?"
"Possibly."
She walked to the sink and splashed water on her face. "Still… you saved that freshman earlier. That curse had followed him for days. I'd only sensed it just this morning."
Riku nodded. "Curses that feed on emotions like shame, humiliation, or fear often attach to school zones. Too many unspoken emotions in one place."
"You sound like a teacher."
"I am teaching," he said, smirking. "Lesson one: never flush spiritual waste. It might flush back."
Momo groaned. "That's so gross."
"Accurate, though."
As they walked out, students stared wide-eyed at the smoke trailing from the third-floor bathroom. No one said a word. But one teacher mumbled, "We need to call a plumber…"
Riku chuckled softly.
Later, as he looked out the window during class, Momo passed him a note.
> "You're weird. But kind of awesome."
"PS: Lunch on the roof?"
He glanced at her. She smiled, tongue out playfully.
He smiled back.
For now… the demons were gone.
But the world of Dandadan was just beginning to crack open.