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"What exactly happened?"
"Um… Mr. Asher, it's like this…"
Yotsuya Miko quickly explained everything to Asher.
After PE class that day, Miko and Yurikawa Hana were changing in the locker room. That was when Miko saw it. An evil spirit shaped like a baby.
At first, Miko thought that as long as she pretended not to see it, it wouldn't notice her. That had always worked before.
But who could have guessed that the moment the baby-like spirit saw Hana, it reacted as if it had discovered something irresistibly tempting.
After they left the locker room, the infant spirit crawled right onto Hana's head and stayed there.
Miko had no idea what to do.
She had never seen a malicious spirit cling to someone who couldn't even see it.
Afraid that too much contact would harm Hana, Miko had no choice but to seek help from Asher, who was also at school.
After listening to her explanation, Asher nodded.
"I see. I understand now."
If Asher remembered correctly, in the original anime, Yurikawa Hana had a rather special constitution.
She didn't have the ability to see spirits like Miko did, but her life energy was unusually strong. That kind of vitality naturally attracted spiritual beings.
And when a malicious spirit stayed with a human for too long, the person's body would inevitably suffer. That was what people commonly called "yin energy entering the body."
"Just keep doing what you've been doing," Asher said calmly."After school, bring Yurikawa Hana to see me."
"Huh…? Can't you help Hana right now?" Miko asked, puzzled.
Asher shook his head.
It wasn't that he didn't want to deal with the baby spirit immediately. The problem was that whether he used onmyoji techniques or summoned shikigami, the commotion would be far too obvious.
This was a school, after all.
If his identity were exposed because of an exorcism here, there was no telling what kind of trouble would follow.
"In the short term, it shouldn't be too serious," he said."Doing an exorcism right now would attract too much attention."
Hearing that, Miko could only nod.
"Okay, I get it.""I'll come find you with Hana later."
"Mm."
Asher responded and turned to leave.
But just then, Miko suddenly spoke up again.
"Um… wait, Mr. Asher."
Asher turned back.
"What is it, Miss Yotsuya?"
Setting Hana's situation aside for the moment, Miko realized that facing Asher again made her unexpectedly flustered.
After hesitating for a bit, she finally gathered her courage and spoke.
"Um… Mr. Asher, are you free this weekend?"
"This weekend?"
Asher thought about it, then nodded.
"I don't have anything planned. I should be free."
"Oh… then, Mr. Asher, how about I treat you to a meal this weekend? Would that be okay?"
"I just want to thank you properly for saving me before…"
Miko spoke nervously.
This was the first time she had ever been this bold about asking a boy out.
If Asher rejected her again, she wasn't sure she could handle the embarrassment.
Even though Asher had said it was nothing, Miko clearly hadn't been able to let it go.
Seeing her like this, Asher was about to refuse again.
But then, suddenly—
Miko took two quick steps forward.
Her slender hands reached out and grabbed Asher's right hand.
She looked up at him with pleading, pitiful eyes.
"Please, Mr. Asher.""If you don't agree, I'll feel guilty forever."
Miko was already very pretty to begin with.
With that vulnerable expression, it was almost impossible to bring himself to say no.
Asher sighed and gave a helpless smile.
"Alright. Since you're being so sincere, I'll accept."
"R-really? That's great!"
When she heard him agree, Miko froze for a moment. Then her slightly gloomy-looking face instantly lit up with a bright smile.
"Okay, then I'll head back to class now."
"If anything urgent comes up, just give me a call."
"Okay, I will. Sorry for interrupting your lunch break, Mr. Asher."
Miko nodded happily and watched as Asher walked away, his figure gradually disappearing from her sight.
Once he was completely gone, she couldn't hold it in anymore and let out a quiet giggle, like a girl experiencing her first crush.
But soon, she realized something.
She remembered how she had just grabbed his hand and made that pitiful expression to get him to agree.
Her face instantly flushed bright red.
Luckily, no one was around. Otherwise, she would have been too embarrassed to face anyone.
…
After saying goodbye to Miko, Asher left the small garden behind the school building.
Just as he was about to head back to class and finish the bento he had only eaten halfway, a figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, blocking the path back to the building.
Seeing the petite, slender girl with blonde twin tails standing in front of him, Asher showed a hint of surprise.
"You?"
At the same time Asher was looking at her, she was also studying him closely.
When she saw his familiar, handsome face, she spoke with a trace of delight.
"So it really is you. I knew I wasn't mistaken."
"I never expected the mysterious onmyoji to be a high school student at the same school as me. That's seriously surprising."
The small blonde girl standing before him was none other than the girl Asher had rescued in the alley the previous afternoon.
"How did you find me?" Asher asked, confusion in his eyes.
And only now did he realize that her face felt strangely familiar. Not because of yesterday, but from a much older memory.
Perhaps it was because she had been in such a sorry state when they first met that he hadn't noticed it then.
Hearing his question, the blonde girl replied with a subtle hint of pride.
"I was in my classroom, about to eat lunch."
"I turned my head and saw a familiar figure run past the classroom door."
"I felt like I knew you, so I followed you."
"Looks like my intuition was right."
"I see…" Asher hadn't expected their reunion to happen in such a coincidental way.
"Anyway, thank you again for saving me yesterday."
"My name is Eriri Spencer Sawamura, a student from Class 2-G."
"And you are…?"
"....."