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Miko had pulled this little supermarket-excuse trick plenty of times before.It had never failed her once.
She'd also noticed that most ghosts seemed to stick to a fixed territory.
Unless one had really locked onto her, it usually wouldn't stray far from its "haunt." Kind of like an NPC monster in a video game—run too far and it would just lose aggro and wander back.
So she was already congratulating herself on another clean getaway when—bam—Rosen suddenly stepped out in front of her.
She didn't even hear what he said at first. The scare hit so hard she almost screamed, then reflex kicked in and she clamped her mouth shut. But her legs? Completely useless. Like someone had poured molten lead into them.
Her mind went blank.
Only after a few seconds, when Rosen waved a hand in front of her face, did she start processing again.
"If you don't say anything," he said lightly, "I'll just take that as a yes."
That snapped her out of it enough to actually hear the words. Her brain creaked back into gear.
After all, if this was a ghost, she'd already be halfway down its gullet by now—her startled reaction alone would've been enough to get her killed.
Plus… well… the guy was way better-looking than any ghost she'd seen.
"You…" She swallowed, still shaky, then frowned. "Why were you chasing me?"
"I called out, you suddenly took off, so what else was I supposed to do? Had to catch up."
He shrugged like it was the most natural thing in the world.
Sure, he'd been having a little fun with it—but he knew there was a line not to cross.
And honestly? When she thought about it, his explanation did make perfect sense. She had no comeback.
She wanted to say it was because she could see spirits, and that ignoring strangers was her survival rule… but what good would that do? She'd tried telling classmates, even her mom. She'd even posted anonymously online.
Best outcome? People thought she was weird. Worst? She attracted more trouble.
So she just said, "Girls should be careful out here. If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. And stop calling me randomly, okay?"
Honestly, the only reason she even bothered explaining was because he happened to be her type. If it had been anyone else, she wouldn't have wasted a breath.
She turned to go. Clearly not someone eager to get friendly with strangers.
Rosen didn't try to stop her—at least, not right away. He just said, "Aren't you curious where that ghost that followed you all the way here went?"
Her steps froze.
Ghost?
How did he know? And how did he know it had been tailing her since the bus?
…Could he see them too?
She couldn't just ignore that.
Shock gave way to a mix of emotions. She'd been able to see ghosts for a long time—but keeping it to herself was the only way to stay alive. Every single day she had to endure their presence in silence. Six months of this had left her carrying more fear and stress than she knew how to handle.
She'd long wished for someone she could actually talk to about it. Hana was her friend, sure, but this wasn't the kind of thing she could dump on her.
And now—suddenly—someone else who could see them?
Her voice shot out before she could stop it. "You can see them?!"
"Not only can I see them,"Rosen said, "I can get rid of them. The one that was chasing you? I already sent it on its way."
"Sent it…? You mean, like, exorcised? Are you a monk or something?"
"Just a figure of speech. You could also say I killed it."
"…What?!"
Miko's eyes lit up. For once, it felt like the universe had decided to throw her a bone.
"You can kill them? How? Tell me!"
She'd never sounded this excited in her life.
"It's easy. Just a touch is enough—kind of like in those exorcism movies you've seen."
He gave her the simplest answer he could.
"Then teach me!"
"…Not right now."
Her face fell instantly, all that hope leaking away.
Still, she couldn't even be mad about it. Deep down, she figured it made sense.
She'd been to Buddhist temples before, prayed at Shinto shrines, and begged the gods for safety. She'd bought all kinds of charms and amulets—blessed bead bracelets, foreign peachwood swords, cursed dolls, crosses—you name it.
None of them worked. They'd all ended up as useless trinkets collecting dust in a corner.
Even if there really was a way to deal with vengeful spirits, such things were extremely rare. And of course, there was no way someone like her—a complete outsider—would ever get her hands on it so easily.
Still, that one word—temporarily—had caught her attention.
"So… there's some kind of condition? Like, I'd have to join a sect or convert to some religion or something?"
At that, Rosen smiled.
Miko Yotsuya had always been a sharp one.
"That's right. There's a requirement."
"..."
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