Cold morning air hit my face.
Birds chirped.
I was surprised to see that my body was unscathed, but I still felt the damage I took inside that space.
The lady did say something about damaging my soul… I guess the soul and the body are more intertwined than I thought.
I stretched and groaned.
This is not normal. I shouldn't be sleeping in public places before I turn into folklore myself.
As I stood, I noticed a little rat waddling across the pathway.
Ordinary rat.
Ordinary morning.
Ordinary post–ghost-fight walk home at 5 a.m.
Perfect test subject.
I locked eyes with the rat.
It froze.
I reached out—just a little—tugging at the new thread of power inside me.
Empathy.
Influence emotion.
Make it feel what I want it to feel.
So I pushed the most confusing, unnecessary emotion I could.
Affection.
Pure, uncut, warm-and-fuzzy affection.
The rat blinked.
Then blinked again.
Then sprinted straight toward me like I was the princess of trash mammals.
"Woah—hey—don't make this weird."
It climbed my shoe.
Then my leg.
Then scrambled up my jacket and perched on my shoulder like it paid rent.
"…Yup. Ability works."
The rat squeaked proudly.
"Okay but seriously don't fall in love with me. I don't wanna break any hearts today."
I walked the rest of the way home with a rat passenger who clearly believed we had a connection deeper than destiny.
At the door, I gently set him down.
"Go, little guy. Be free. Live your best rodent life."
He squeaked again and ran off. Or maybe he cursed me. Hard to tell with rats.
I opened the front door.
BAM.
Two heels crashed into my stomach at the exact same moment.
I folded like cheap origami.
Hit the floor, saw God… he was disappointed.
"YOU LITTLE SHIT!"
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING COMING HOME AT 5 A.M.?!"
Here I thought I could get away with this.
Hazuki and Kana stood over me, hair messy, pajamas chaotic, expressions perfectly synchronized in death-threat mode.
I'm getting some déjà vu here.
I wheezed. "What the hell are you two doing awake at 5 a.m.?"
Hazuki pointed at me like she was accusing me of war crimes.
"We were waiting."
Kana cracked her knuckles.
"To beat you up."
"That's… very loving of you." I croaked.
Kana leaned down.
"So? Where were you? What's with those clothes? Do you have any last words before we bury you behind the shed?"
I smirked weakly. "I was at a girl's house."
Silence.
Then—
"EH?!?"
Both sisters recoiled.
Kana grabbed my collar.
"A girl's house? You? A romantic interest? You can't even hold hands without panicking!"
"That was one time." I muttered.
Hazuki squinted at me suspiciously.
"What kind of girl? If she's real, we need details. Name, age, zodiac sign, blood type—"
"Relax," I sighed. "Nothing Happened."
"OH."
Kana narrowed her eyes.
"So you did something normal? That's even more suspicious."
"This situation feels like severe bullying," I said.
Hazuki kicked my leg. "You came home at 5 a.m.!"
"I had… uh… stuff to do."
"Illegal stuff?!?"
"Sexy stuff?!?"
"Spirit stuff?!?"
"Okay the last one isn't even normal to accuse someone of."
Hazuki poked my cheek. "You smell like outside. Go take a shower."
"Well we are outside." I countered.
"We're hunting you," Kana said dramatically.
"Like wolves," Hazuki added.
"You two share half a brain cell," I said.
"And it's stronger than your one brain cell," Hazuki shot back.
Fair.
Then they crossed their arms.
"Alright Itsu," Kana said, "we'll let you go under one condition."
"Yeah," Hazuki chimed in, "you pay us."
I blinked. "What—why?"
"To stay silent," Kana said.
"To not tell Mom and Dad," Hazuki added.
"To not expose your morally questionable 5 a.m. activities."
"What activities? I didn't do anything!"
"Exactly," Kana smirked, "and that's embarrassing."
"You went to a girl's house and didn't do anything," Hazuki said, shaking her head.
"Absolute failure."
My soul cracked.
"How much?" I sighed.
Ririka held up two fingers.
"Two."
"Two thousand yen?" I asked.
"Two million."
Kana grinned.
I stared at them.
"Do I look like I have two million yen?"
"You look like you have two million yen with those new clothes." Hazuki said sternly.
"Yeah we asked you earlier where did you get those, they look so trendy, no way you picked that out yourself with your fashion sense."
I'm just going to ignore these outfit comments, I have no excuse.
"Guys—"
"Don't 'guys' us," Kana said.
"Pay up, or we snitch."
I rubbed my forehead.
"…Okay, fine. I'll owe you. Both of you. One favor. Anything. Within reason."
Hazuki and Kana exchanged a look.
Then smiled sweetly.
Suspiciously sweetly.
"Deal," they chimed.
I instantly regretted everything.
I staggered toward my room.
Hazuki called out, "Hey Itsu!"
I stopped. "What now?"
She smirked.
"We know you weren't at a girl's house but… tell her to return you before midnight next time. We close early."
Kana added, "Also, if you turn up possessed we're calling an exorcist."
"Again with the spirit comments, watching too many horror films lately?"
"And Itsuki?" Hazuki leaned on the wall, expression softening for a heartbeat.
"You're home safe," she said.
"Don't make it a habit," Kana added.
I nodded.
"…Yeah. Sorry."
They disappeared back into their room, bickering about who kicked me harder.
I took a shower, changed my clothes and washed the uniform then collapsed onto my bed.
Tomorrow—or technically later today—I don't know what I'll spend my time on. I usually wither away at school but now it's spring break.
Two ghosts. And two sisters extorting me. And a million secrets.
Great.
I closed my eyes.