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"Why are you looking at me like that? This is something even an ordinary person could pull off."Rosen spread his hands.
Mai sighed.
Miko did too, then explained, "It's not that it wouldn't work, but right now, the only people who can see her are me and you, Rosen. I'm a girl… so you'd be the only one who could do it."
"I see. Worried about rumors, huh?"
Rosen nodded.
"Guess I didn't consider the impact it could have on a female celebrity."
His tone was joking, but Mai still caught a faint sting of mockery in it.
"If it works, I don't care about rumors. But wouldn't it cause problems for you?" she asked with a wry smile. "As someone in… let's say, the 'mystic' circles, I'm guessing you wouldn't want your identity exposed, right?"
It wasn't vanity—if her presence returned, her sudden reappearance after retiring only two years ago would cause a stir in Japan.
A gossip rag would probably run something like: 'Why Did Former Star Mai Sakurajima Suddenly Retire? The Shocking Truth!'
At that point, any chance at a quiet school life would be over.
"I wouldn't care much," Rosen replied, "but yeah… it wouldn't be the most appropriate thing for me to do."
And really, rumors wouldn't be the issue—he just had a more straightforward, effective method in mind than the cliché "youth romance" plot from the original story.
He looked over at the bunny girl standing in front of him, smiling warmly.
But in Mai's eyes, the handsome boy suddenly looked less like a gentleman and more like one of those shady DVD vendors in a back alley.
"Girl… would you like to make a contract with me?"
"…Contract?"
Mai blinked.
Then she remembered snippets of conversation between Rosen and Miko earlier—mentions of "spirits" and "Hanako."
And now that she thought about it, the "gun of light" Miko was holding didn't look much like a cosplay prop.
"This world has… spirits?"
"Want to see? I'll give you a free peek."
In supernatural stories, the so-called "spirit vision" wasn't exactly rare—any halfway competent Taoist could grant it with the right ritual. A swipe of a willow leaf, a drop of cow tears, that sort of thing.
Rosen's version was much simpler.
He just placed his hand on her shoulder and, with a flicker of divine power, opened her Yin-Yang Eye.
It would only last a short while, but long enough for Mai to see the other side of the world.
At first, she felt nothing unusual.
"See that black mass in the distance?" Rosen pointed helpfully.
Mai followed his gaze and could vaguely make out a warped, human-like figure beneath the shadows.
But… how could a human be that tall and that thin?
Just as she tried to get a better look, the shadow suddenly turned, paused for a heartbeat, and then—like a grotesque giant—it flung its limbs forward and charged straight toward her.
It was still far away, so she couldn't quite make out what it was mumbling—something like "You can see me…" over and over.
But as it drew closer, her mind reeled. Her body instinctively stepped back in fear, almost falling again—
This time, it was Miko who caught her.
"It's fine. Everyone's like this the first time," Miko said reassuringly. "I was too—but I pretended to rub my eyes and walked away before anything happened."
Mai wasn't listening. Her heart was pounding like it was about to burst.
"See? There are still plenty of things that can see you."
Looking at Rosen's smile, Mai wanted to shout, Is this really the time for jokes?!
But she was too shaken to speak, standing frozen like a horror movie side character—the only difference being that she hadn't screamed.
Rosen could tell the "real" world had hit her hard.
So he casually conjured a gun of light and threw it. It struck the tall spirit square in the forehead, and in an instant, the thing dissolved into ash.
"..."
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