The next morning.
When the first rays of sunlight slipped through the gaps in the blinds and spilled across the clubroom floor of the Occult Research Club's room, Natsume was leisurely enjoying the warm breakfast Utaha had brought over first thing.
Yashiro sat beside him, nibbling at her favorite chocolate cream puff that Natsume had casually bought for her, while her strange twin pupils stared intently at the expensive Patek Philippe ladies' watch he had given her the day before.
What she was studying was not the watch's price, but the precise internal mechanisms that could, in her eyes, qualify it as a high-grade cursed tool.
The atmosphere in the room was as calm and ordinary as ever.
Until...
Screech.
The clubroom door was yanked open with such force that it groaned in protest.
Two figures stepped in, one dragging the other.
In front was a black haired girl in the Shuchiin Academy high school uniform, strikingly beautiful, with an air of untouchable elegance. Her ruby-like eyes shone cold and sharp, her posture straight, her bearing noble. Every inch of her radiated an icy, aloof aura that warned strangers to keep their distance.
It was the Shinomiya family's young lady, vice president of Shuchiin's student council, Shinomiya Kaguya.
Behind her, almost hauled bodily into the room, was Ai, her face pale as paper, eyes bloodshot, her entire being drained of strength, trembling at the edge of collapse.
"Excuse me, who is in charge of this club?"
Kaguya's ruby gaze swept the room. When her eyes fell on Natsume, a flicker of surprise passed through them, so faint it was almost impossible to catch. That surprise, however, was quickly buried beneath a deeper layer of ingrained contempt and scorn.
She truly could not understand how someone like Ai, who had received the very best elite education the Shinomiya family could provide, could put stock in this kind of ghost-hunting school club that clearly existed just to swindle money.
In her view, "occult research" was nothing more than the cheapest trick in the scammers' handbook.
If not for the fact that since last night Ai had been in a daze, at times even hysterical, refusing point blank to go anywhere near a hospital and insisting she had to come here to seek "professionals", Kaguya would never have stepped foot in a place like this.
"I am."
Natsume set down his milk and looked at her calmly.
"Good," Kaguya folded her arms, her tone lofty and interrogative. "My maid, Ai, has been claiming since last night that she is being haunted by 'something unclean'. Personally, I believe this is nothing more than typical mental hallucinations caused by excessive stress and severe sleep deprivation."
"But, in 'respect' for her wishes," she deliberately emphasized the word, "I have brought her here so she can receive your so-called exorcism. You may begin your performance. I will say this beforehand, however. If your little scam causes any real psychological harm to her, the Shinomiya legal department will be more than happy to have a detailed conversation with you."
Her opening remarks were sharp and full of warning, and the air in the room grew noticeably heavier.
Even so, Natsume acted as though he had not heard the hostility at all. His gaze simply shifted, calm and steady, to the blonde girl who had kept her head down since entering, her body shaking uncontrollably.
"You," he asked, "what did you see?"
That one simple question was like flipping a switch, shattering the last fragile barrier of Ai's already exhausted mind.
"I… I saw…" Her voice was hoarse, soaked in fear. "A woman… without lips…"
"Last night, I played the 'Midnight Game'… and then she appeared…"
"She has been following me ever since. Wherever I go, as long as there is something that reflects light… a mirror, glass, my phone screen, even… even the reflection in a cup of water… I can see her."
"She stands right behind me, using those black eyes with no whites at all, just staring at me… staring at me…"
Ai's emotions collapsed completely. She babbled incoherently, hands clamped in her hair, as if she could tear herself free from this endless nightmare by force.
"Calm down, Ai."
Kaguya rushed forward to support her. Her face was still cold, but in her eyes there was a flash of genuine worry and pain. "You are just…"