Kyushu, Sakura Prefecture, Kyoto City.Today marked the first day of school for first-year students at Soubu High.
The early spring breeze carried the faint fragrance of cherry blossoms, pale pink petals drifting through the air. It was a picture of youth—boys and girls dressed in crisp uniforms, laughing, chatting, full of life. It was an incredibly beautiful scene.
Meanwhile, on the second floor of the main school building, inside a quiet clubroom—A girl with long, silky black hair stood by the window. She wore the standard Soubu High uniform, her golden eyes soft and calm at first glance. Her features, though not striking, were charming enough to be called cute.
To any outsider, she seemed to be admiring the view.But the trembling of her body, the glimmer of unshed tears in her eyes, and the subtle shiver in her gaze all betrayed a much deeper fear.
"Can you see them?""Can you see them?"...
To ordinary people, there was no one else in the room. It was so quiet that even a pin drop would echo.But to Miko Yotsuya, the clubroom looked like something straight out of a horror film.
A dozen grotesque, twisted evil spirits, cloaked in faint black mist, loomed around her.
One particularly monstrous spirit had its body slumped in the corner of the room. Its neck stretched out nearly five meters long, head dangling right in front of her face. Its bulging eyeballs—on the verge of falling out—stared at her with an intense, piercing glare.
"Can you see them?"
Surrounded by these terrifying spirits, Miko Yotsuya was frozen in terror. Yet somehow, she forced herself to maintain a composed expression, pretending to be absorbed in the cherry blossom scene outside.
"The w-weather today... is r-really nice," she muttered under her breath, her voice trembling.
She was on the verge of breaking down.
This wasn't the first time Miko had seen evil spirits or monsters. Usually, if she just pretended not to see them, they'd give up after asking two or three times and disappear.
But this time was different.
She had been trapped in this clubroom for nearly ten minutes, and the spirits showed no signs of leaving.
What should I do?
She bit her lower lip, trying to hold back tears. Her legs had long gone numb from fear. If she weren't gripping the windowsill for support, she would've collapsed already.
And if she collapsed—The spirits would know.They would realize she could see them.
That was the unspoken rule she had learned for survival: if you pretend not to see them, they won't hurt you.But even that didn't seem to be working now.
Just as despair threatened to overwhelm her—The door to the clubroom creaked open.
Miko turned her head with great effort and saw a boy with black hair and black eyes, around her age, walking in slowly. He had striking features and a calm, confident air.
In that moment, Miko knew she had found hope.A lifeline.A possible way out of this nightmare.
"Um… classmate," she called out with a shaky voice. Her golden eyes glistened with desperation. "I… I think I sprained my ankle. Could you help me back to the classroom?"
Under normal circumstances, she would never ask a boy she didn't know for help like this.But now wasn't the time for pride or social rules.She had to get out—fast.
"Sprained your ankle?"
To her surprise, the boy didn't move toward her. Instead, he smiled faintly and calmly closed the door behind him.
Then, under her confused gaze, he walked over to a desk, took out several odd items from his pocket, and began murmuring to himself.
"Let's see what I haven't tested yet… a peach wood dagger, silver nails, and a few talismans for exorcising demons. That should be it."
He laid the items neatly on the desk, then looked up and smiled gently.
"Hello. I'm Kiba Hoshiki, a first-year student at Soubu High. Just enrolled today."
Miko nodded reflexively. "I'm Miko Yotsuya. Also a first-year… looking forward to working with you."
As soon as she finished her introduction, she snapped back to reality. Her lips trembled nervously."U-um… could you help me first?"
But before she could say anything more—
All the evil spirits in the clubroom snapped their heads around and stared directly at her.A raspy, guttural voice echoed through the room:"Can you see them!?"
Her entire body shuddered violently, sweat soaking through her back.
And then—
"Ahem."
Kiba Hoshiki cleared his throat.He raised a hand casually and waved toward the spirits, speaking in a tone as if greeting familiar neighbors.
"I can see you."
Miko froze. Her golden eyes widened in horror."D-don't… don't say that out loud!" she whispered frantically.
She didn't know how he had the same ability she did, but that didn't matter now.He had broken the rule.He told them directly. He acknowledged their existence.And once they knew…
It was over.
But what happened next shocked her even more.
After Kiba spoke, the evil spirits in the room retreated.They backed away in terror, curling up in the corners, their twisted faces now filled with something Miko had never seen before—Fear.
"What… what is happening?" she whispered.Were the evil spirits actually… afraid?Afraid of him?
Kiba stared at the trembling spirits and sighed slightly in disappointment.
"Nothing especially strong here... Oh well, I'll make do."
He picked up the peach wood dagger, approached one of the spirits, and stabbed it directly.
The moment the dagger pierced it, the spirit let out a wailing shriek that echoed through the room.
Kiba's gaze remained steady. He watched as the wound slowly closed, then pulled out a small notebook and jotted something down.
"Hmm... peach wood is about as effective as steel on average evil spirits. No special advantage."
Then he tried again, this time with silver nails. Then talismans.
"Silver nails work a little better than regular metal. Still not great.""This talisman's useless. I'm going back to that old fraud at the shrine and demanding a refund."
When he was done, Kiba put away the notebook, stretched his arms, and let out a long yawn.
"Well, that wraps it up."
And then—
Miko watched in pure disbelief as Kiba opened his mouth slightly, and the dozens of evil spirits suddenly dissolved into black mist.
The writhing black fog flowed toward him, swirled through the air, and was sucked into his mouth, vanishing completely.
As the last wisp disappeared, Miko's mind finally broke under the pressure.
Her legs gave out.She collapsed to the floor, tears streaming silently from her wide golden eyes.
At that exact moment—
"Huh? What's going on in the clubroom?"
A female teacher, dressed in a white coat and black trousers, opened the door.
And was immediately greeted by the sight of:A girl sitting helplessly on the floor, trembling and tearful…And a boy, standing nearby—still holding a peach wood dagger in his hand.
"Wh-what's going on here?!"