Miko Yotsuya nervously pursed her lips, staring at the "door" in the distance. At that moment, she felt the blood in her body almost stop flowing.
"No, no, no… no…"
She muttered repeatedly, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead, her shoulders trembling uncontrollably, and deep fear burning in her golden eyes.
"How can something like this exist in the world...?"
Now she understood why Kiba Hoshiki remained so calm when facing evil spirits. All the twisted-faced demons she had seen before combined weren't nearly as terrifying as the aura radiating from that "door."
Something like this simply shouldn't exist.
Even from a distance, Miko felt as if her soul was being sucked in.
Seeing her expression, Kiba didn't rush to speak. He waited until her emotions settled before smiling gently and explaining.
"From what I've investigated recently, there's more than one of these doors in Kyoto City."
"The effect is simple: the door strengthens the evil spirits and ghosts nearby, making them more aggressive, and increasing their urge to attack humans."
"As for the range, the smallest door's influence covers just a few hundred meters, but the largest I've seen reaches a diameter of three kilometers."
Miko took a deep breath, her eyes grave.
"So, you're saying that wherever there's a door, the evil spirits nearby get stronger. Even the harmless ghosts that don't normally attack humans will be affected—and turn violent?"
"Yes, but that's not all."
Kiba nodded and added,"You might have noticed that for those who can't see them, the harm evil spirits cause is limited—they might possess a person, making their luck worse, clouding their mind, or messing with their emotions."
"But under the door's influence, evil spirits become far more dangerous."
"In addition to disguising themselves as humans and deceiving special people like you, which you've seen, they can also make people fall into a coma instantly. A few of the strongest ones…"
Kiba locked eyes with Miko, the smile fading from his face as he said carefully,"They can even possess a human and control their every move."
Miko's pupils shrank as she whispered,"That's just too terrifying…"
She instantly grasped how devastating these doors could be.
Not to mention possession and control, just the ability to make someone fall unconscious right away...
For example, if the driver of a bus fell into a coma while driving, what would happen next?
Miko didn't dare imagine.
Her mood turned heavy as she asked quietly,"Is there any way to make these doors disappear?"
"Of course there is…"
Before Kiba could finish, Miko suddenly remembered something."Oh, right—you can eat the door, can't you?"
The moment she said it, she caught Kiba staring at her as if she'd lost her mind, which made her blush a little.
"Uh… did I say something wrong?"
"Honestly, I think you're a bit nuts."
Kiba rolled his eyes and pointed toward the wooden door."Look carefully. This thing affects evil spirits, but it's made of wood. You want me to gnaw on wood? You'd have better luck going to a carpenter or a professional."
Miko smiled awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
"So what should we do?"
"Burn it."
Kiba answered flatly, then shrugged."But I didn't bring any tools today. I just wanted you to see it. We'll talk more later."
"Okay, we'll talk later."
Stepping out of the alley into the busy street, bathed in warm early spring sunshine, Miko finally relaxed a little.
She glanced at Kiba's profile and whispered,"By the way... why are you telling me all this?"
Before Kiba could answer, Miko waved her hands frantically, afraid he'd misunderstand."Of course, it's not that I don't want to help. If what you said is true, the door really is dangerous."
"But you saw for yourself—besides being able to see these things, I don't have any special abilities."
"To be honest, I don't think I can help you. I'll probably just slow you down."
Kiba nodded thoughtfully."You're right. Right now, you're not very useful."
Miko was momentarily stunned, pouting. If I say I'm a burden, that's one thing—but shouldn't you comfort me instead? Why say it so bluntly and make me feel awkward?
"However," Kiba noticed the gloom in her eyes and smiled."If you want to fight evil spirits, I can help with that."
"Really?!"
Miko's heart leapt, and a rare excited expression appeared on her usually calm and sweet face.
Since she could see evil spirits and ghosts, she had tried many things: visiting famous spiritualists, buying amulets, bracelets, rosaries—only to become poorer and gain nothing.
Now Kiba was saying he could give her the power to fight?
It was hard to believe.
Seeing her skeptical look, Kiba yawned lazily and explained,"First, let me ask you: apart from the door's special influence, when can evil spirits harm humans directly?"
Miko answered cautiously,"When they know humans can see them?"
"Exactly."
Kiba nodded and continued,"You also saw me fighting evil spirits this morning."
Miko thought to herself, "Fight? More like one-sided abuse." But she just nodded.
"Then, based on that, when both sides can see each other, is it only evil spirits who can harm humans?"
Miko paused, muttering,"Could that be?"
Kiba said casually,"In other words…"
"Do you think this morning's harm to the evil spirits was caused by the peach wood dagger and silver nails... or by me holding those weapons?"