"Miko, good morning."
Natsuki raised his hand in greeting.
"Morning~"
The black-haired girl's voice was drowsy.
Miko Yotsuya.
The eldest daughter of the Yotsuya family next door.
A quiet girl who loved studying.
The Amamiya family had moved here three years ago. Natsuki and Miko happened to attend the same middle school, so in a sense, they could be considered childhood friends.
"Your dark circles seem even darker. What have you been up to lately?"
Natsuki asked casually.
"Nothing." Miko lightly bit her lower lip. "I just... watched a horror movie, so I didn't sleep well."
"Watching horror movies alone? Quite the brave warrior."
"..."
The two chatted as they walked toward school.
When they reached a certain intersection, Natsuki's gaze suddenly sharpened.
Among the crowd on the other side of the street, there was a particularly eye-catching female office worker—well-dressed, with a nice figure and pretty face. She drew quite a bit of attention.
Natsuki watched the woman silently, though his gaze wasn't on her face but on her back—
Clinging to the office worker's back was a massive, bloated infant vengeful spirit. A long tongue dangled from its mouth, occasionally lashing out at nearby pedestrians. Unfortunately, no one could sense it.
"Hm?"
Natsuki suddenly noticed that Miko's pretty face had gone pale. She was staring down at her feet, fingers tightly clutching her sleeves, her knuckles turning white.
"Miko?" Natsuki lowered his voice. "What's wrong?"
"I'm fine."
Miko bit her lip, subtly shaking her head.
The light turned green.
Pedestrians on both sides of the intersection began to cross.
The pretty woman started moving, and the infant spirit on her back happily squirmed.
Natsuki took a deep breath and was about to cross when a hand suddenly tugged at his sleeve.
"Wait."
Miko looked up at him, her eyes misty, wearing an expression like she wanted to cry but didn't dare. "I just remembered I need to buy something... Come with me to the convenience store?"
"What do you need to buy?"
"Don't ask so many questions. Let's just go."
Miko grabbed Natsuki's wrist and pulled him in the opposite direction.
"Phew..."
Watching the woman carrying the infant spirit walk away, Miko quietly let out a breath of relief, her face showing an expression of reprieve.
And then... her expression froze again.
At the convenience store entrance, a twisted vengeful spirit wearing a convenience store uniform was bowing at the waist, seemingly greeting customers as they came and went.
Even as a vengeful spirit, it still remembered to work. As expected of Japan!
Miko paused for two seconds, then silently turned around. "Never mind, I don't need to buy anything. I just remembered I have a spare pencil in my bag... Let's go to school."
"..."
Natsuki silently looked at the twisted spirit at the convenience store entrance, a possibility forming in his mind.
Could Miko see them?
If so, was she also a player in the bizarre game?
He pondered for a moment, then decided to ask directly. He leaned down slightly, bringing his lips close to her ear.
"Wh-what are you doing?"
Miko leaned back slightly, a faint blush rising on her pretty face.
"The bizarre game?"
Natsuki whispered, making sure no one else could hear.
"Huh? What game?" Miko looked confused, tilting her head in bewilderment. "What are you talking about?"
"Nothing." Natsuki straightened up and let out a small breath of relief. "Let's keep going."
So he had overthought it. Miko wasn't a game player... That was for the best, at least she wouldn't have to worry about the unknown punishment for failing the game.
But that raised a question—why could Miko see vengeful spirits?
Natsuki was about to ask when a girl's clear, pleasant voice suddenly called out from nearby.
"Miko!"
A girl with short golden hair and an impressively voluptuous figure came running over, waving her arms happily.
"Oh, Amamiya-kun, good morning."
The short-haired girl flashed Natsuki a radiant smile, as if making the sunlight itself a bit brighter.
"Yurikawa-san, good morning."
Natsuki replied politely.
Hana Yurikawa.
A friend Miko had made at the start of the new semester. They seemed to have already evolved into close girlfriends, and they occasionally ran into each other on the way to school.
"Hey, Miko, why are your dark circles even worse?" Hana's attention quickly shifted to her best friend. "Staying up late is a girl's worst enemy, you know."
"Yeah, I know..."
Miko yawned again.
"You're already tired right after waking up? Don't tell me you didn't sleep at all last night?"
Hana's eyes went wide.
Miko trotted out the same excuse. "I watched a horror movie with my little brother last night, so I didn't sleep well... That's all."
"Ah, I get it. When you watch horror movies, even though you know it's all fake, you still get too scared to sleep."
No, you don't get it.
The vengeful spirits are all real.
And what happened to blankets being invincible?
Pulling back the covers only to find a severed head lying inside—who could possibly sleep after that?!
She couldn't tell anyone about seeing vengeful spirits. No one else could see them; only she could. There was no evidence to prove they existed... She'd either be dismissed as having eighth-grader syndrome or suspected of having mental problems, right?
Today was another day of despair.
Slap.
Hana smacked her own forehead with a crisp sound. "Oh right, I used up all my pencils last night. Let's go to the convenience store and buy some?"
"Huh?"
Miko's eyes went wide. Thinking fast, she blurted out, "I can lend you some..."
"The convenience store's right there. Why bother borrowing?" The busty blonde grabbed Miko's arm and pulled her toward the store, her voice bright and cheerful. "Come on, I want to stock up on some snacks too."
She turned to look at Natsuki. "Amamiya-kun, you go ahead to school."
"...Best friends indeed."
Natsuki silently agreed, watching as Miko, eyes brimming with tears, was unwittingly betrayed by her clueless girlfriend.
At the convenience store entrance.
The twisted vengeful spirit in an employee uniform bent at the waist, looking at Miko. "Wel...come..."
Natsuki considered for a moment, then activated his Evil Dispersion aura and took a few steps toward the teary-eyed Miko.
He couldn't just stand by and watch his childhood friend be tormented by evil spirits!
He quickly entered the five-meter range.
The employee spirit recoiled as if scorched by flames, stepping backward as its body dissolved into mist and rapidly dispersed.
"Huh?!"
Miko's eyes went wide, her face filled with disbelief. "How did it... disappear?"
"It looked like... it was dispelled?"
Miko whipped her head around and saw Natsuki standing behind her, giving her a small nod.
"...Natsuki?"
"Come on, come on, let's go buy stuff!"
Her best friend interrupted, pulling the bewildered girl into the convenience store.
Natsuki turned and headed to school.
He soon arrived at Shuchiin Academy.
This school... those who know, know. No need to elaborate.
Natsuki made his way to the shoe lockers in a corner of the first floor, preparing to change into his indoor shoes. Suddenly, he spotted a girl with waist-length black hair standing in front of the girls' lockers, radiating an aura of cold detachment—the ice sculpture girl herself. It was his teammate from last night's game: Kaguya Shinomiya.
The first semester had been underway for half a month now, and they were even classmates, but Natsuki had never spoken to her.
The "Ice Princess Kaguya" had her intimidation field at full power. Anyone who dared approach would be frozen into an ice sculpture.
"Strange..."
Natsuki quickly noticed something was off about Lady Kaguya. Her body was rigid, frozen in the pose of having just opened her locker, motionless as a statue.
As he focused his gaze, a line of text appeared above her head a moment later.
[So scary so scary so scary... What do I do what do I do what do I do... Why is something like this in my shoe locker?]
Natsuki looked over curiously and discovered that inside Kaguya's shoe locker was a vengeful spirit's severed head, its red eyes staring fixedly at the ice sculpture girl.
Sensing Natsuki's gaze, the head's eyes swiveled to stare directly at him.
"Can you... see me?"
That line again. Are all you vengeful spirits just broken records?!
Natsuki kept his expression neutral, walked over to stand beside Kaguya, and activated his Evil Dispersion aura. The head in the locker recoiled as if scorched by flames, dissolving into black smoke amid twisted screams, vanishing in an instant.