Vol 1 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2

The hour hand of the clock crossed the twelve-mark; with that, the date advanced.

I woke up on the first Friday of April, only to be met by the still-dark sky in the wee hours of the morning. Outside, it was still wispy-dark; inside, the room was dimly lit, as the cheap curtains were unable to completely block the street and city lights outside.

To my right, about three centimeters in the air above my bed, was Misao, breathing in the slow steady rhythm of sleep. One of the few actual ghost-like powers that Misao had was her ability to freely turn invisible, which left me with few chances to see her dozing face. Occasionally though, like at this very moment, Misao let down her guard enough to reveal her defenseless sleeping form.

When Misao slept, she typically only wore a simple, white, and slightly-translucent s.h.i.+rt which could be considered to be little more than a piece of cloth. Whatever it was that she wore, it seemed to be her default attire or something.

Whenever Misao took a breath, the soft and artistically-drawn curves of her chest rose and fell, exposing her neck and her back at different angles. Like a baby, she slept curled up, revealing the milky-white creamy softness of her thighs. All in all, the view was intoxicatedly tantalizing.

Sufficed to say, I couldn't sleep, and the view didn't help.

In the darkness, I turned my attention to stare dully at the a.n.a.log clock and its hands, which showed that it was half-past three. It was the dead of night; but for some irritatingly mysterious reason, I couldn't fall back asleep.

Out of nowhere, a screeching sound echoed down from above, startling me.

This place was old, I told myself. The creaking wood could have been caused by the humidity or by the temperature changing just the right way. I could rationalize my surroundings, but the fact that I was just not used to it still made it all a little scary. It didn't help that the sounds that echoed down sounded almost like footsteps either.

”Nn...” Mis...o...b..eathed, causing me to look directly at her. She had turned just enough so that the view of her collar bone and cleavage pierced directly into my eyes. That nearly-translucent cloth served to only highlight the curvy outline of her body even more.

Is she wearing anything underneath that? I thought to myself.

I sighed. There was no way I could sleep like this. Plus, now I needed to go to use the bathroom too.

I rolled off of the futon, which was finally delivered last night, and headed out of the room and down the hallway. The room I had claimed as my own faced southeast on the second floor, but it felt more like an attic than anything else. In addition to that, if I were to talk about the problems with this room, the biggest one was that the restroom was too far away. I rubbed my eyes as I descended the treacherous decline. On my way down, I slipped and barely kept myself from falling down the stairs.

When I reached the bottom, thankfully safe and sound, I stopped and s.h.i.+vered. It was April, but the nights were still cold. The wintry and h.o.a.ry rays of the moonlight pierced into the living room through the open door and chillingly lit the hallway.

Suddenly, an unfamiliar dark shadow sliced silently through the pale silver rays of moonlight that filtered into the living room.

”Eh?” I gasped in surprise.

But before another word could escape my mouth, I was shoved forcefully against the wall.

My voice wouldn't come; my body couldn't move. Is this kanas.h.i.+bari[1C 1] I thought to myself numbly in my state of drowsiness.

While in my drowsy state, I ruled out being possessed by a spirit or something similar, since I couldn't detect the presence of any at all. Although, even if I had never experienced it before, I didn't think the force of a kanas.h.i.+bari would be this violently strong...

Whatever it was, I couldn't breathe, and the back of my head hurt from being slammed into the wall. Even if I had my doubts, I nevertheless concluded that there wasn't any explanation other than kanas.h.i.+bari either.

Then again, it helped that the proof that this was kanas.h.i.+bari was right before my eyes: in front of me, the spirit of a young girl stood there.

It was also notable that a part of me felt that there was a little something about her aura that reminded me of Misao...

But I knew immediately that she wasn't Misao. She was someone else. Misao would have never glared at me with such terrifying eyes. Hovering brightly against the darkness, the color of each individual eye differed: jet-black and emerald-green. Had it not been due to the contrasting darkness, I would've never even noticed the difference, and wouldn't have thought it was anything out of the ordinary.

But this person definitely wasn't human; at least I had managed to grasp that idea.

Leaving the situation as it was, I couldn't help but realize that I had been meeting nothing but vengeful, yet d.a.m.ned pretty, ghosts. Misao was, if I had to say, a western-style teenage beauty, whereas this one in front of me was more of the traditional kind. Her nose-bridge was prim and proper[1C 2], her eyelashes were long, and she was wearing a traditional kimono. White robes and a crimson s.h.i.+rt; it was something one would see a miko[1C 3] wear at a shrine during hatsumoude[1C 4], so it was most definitely a miko dress. But for some reason, I was getting a sinking feeling about all of this.

Why was a ghost-miko popping up in a western-style house?

As that thought bounced in my head, my temporarily-forgotten terror suddenly began to ripple through and out of my spine.

This Meioutei was definitely an old western-style house. For all I knew, having ghosts popping out all over was commonplace. I was starting to believe I might have seen this place introduced in a magazine sometime ago. There could be a dead body buried beneath the Sakura tree. There could be a hidden underground bas.e.m.e.nt where there could be monsters being raised. But no matter how one thought about it, a miko dress was still out of place here.

”Where is... the Asura Machina?”

I didn't understand what she was saying. Asuramakina? It was the first time I had ever heard those words. Was it some famous cuisine from some random country? Something like Kima curry[1C 5] or Sata andagi[1C 6]?

More startling than her question, however, was the explosive strength her arms, which I had just begun to notice.

The miko's thin fingers gripped my throat in an unbelievably tight stranglehold. Without an extraordinary effort of strength and will, I wasn't able to move my body at all. This was probably what I had mistaken for kanas.h.i.+bari.

Those arms... That strength...

p.r.i.c.kling sirens flashed painfully across the surface of my oxygen-deprived cerebral cortex.

Wait a minute. She was touching me with that arm. She was no ghost!

”Uwaaah!” the pathetic scream escaped out of my lips. In an instant, my drowsy, sleepy consciousness snapped wide awake. My a.s.sumption had been wrong. I had gotten used to the idea of meeting spirits and ghosts, but that didn't mean I couldn't meet other monsters.

For the first time, I met a vengeful spirit that was not Misao and I still couldn't believe the reality of this situation. I couldn't comprehend at all why this was happening to me. I was completely panic-stricken.

”Please hand over the extractor. Its existence is dangerous. Because it's dangerous, you mustn't hold onto it.”

I completely failed to comprehend what she was saying.

Countless questions kept on rolling around in my head. What was this girl? How did she get in here? Why was she dressed like that? What was her motive...?

My vision was fading to black rapidly as my consciousness slipped toward darkness. Not enough oxygen... My remaining fragments of strength were slipping right out through my legs. ”Aaah...”

After a long while, the miko finally realized that I was near collapse and loosened the grip of her left hand from around my neck and let me breathe again.

Slowly, the oppressive weakness that permeated my body gradually faded away. Instinctively, I thought to run away – to escape – from her, but my exhausted legs felt like lead and I couldn't take even a single step.

A shaky, swooning sensation began flooding through me, but fortunately the miko caught me as I swayed forward and fell face-first.

Her b.o.o.bs were soft.

Although it was not noticeable from the clothes she was wearing, this girl had surprisingly large b.r.e.a.s.t.s, especially given her slender figure. Unfortunately, I couldn't afford the luxury of enjoying the sensation at the moment. The fact was, I had nearly suffocated to death and was barely conscious anyway. At the same time, it didn't seem like the girl realized just what state and position I had fallen into either.

”Where is the Asura Machina?” she repeated, as if oblivious to my state.

Her question barely registered and all I could focus on was the girl's body. Even though her body temperature was cooler than mine, she felt snug and warm. Needless to say, her hair also smelled pleasant. But, due to oxygen-deprivation, my head felt numb and thick. Maybe all of this was just a dream. In the middle of the night, some beautiful girl dressed like a s.h.i.+nto miko suddenly shows up, and I ended up with my face in her b.o.o.bs; even suffocation somehow seemed like a too-good-to-be-true situation. This was the sort of dream boys would have during p.u.b.erty. If I just continued to live this dream, it certainly would have felt great. On the other hand, it might also prove to be exceptionally dangerous...

If I somehow managed to see the morning, I'd have to figure out how to wake up without disturbing Misao, since I'd have to sneak out and secretly wash my underpants.

”Tomo!” I heard Misao call out my name.

In an instant, I snapped back to life out of my stupor, similar to how one would after being smacked by the P.E. teacher for sneaking a nap during morning salutations[1C 7]. The pseudo-miko, hearing Misao's voice, loosened her grip completely and jumped back.

She wasn't going to chase me.

Misao flew straight down from the corridor ceiling and drifted further downward into sight of the pseudo-miko. The pseudo-miko froze in an expression of disbelief.

Her black and green eyes went wide in shock and surprise.

”Aaa! Body projection...?!”

”Eeh? What? Who?” It was now Misao's turn to be taken by surprise.

Until today, there was no one who had been surprised by seeing Misao. Of course, this was probably because there was no one else besides me who was able to see her. But in just the span of a few hours there were now two more that could: the black-clad woman from earlier this evening, and this girl.

Misao turned towards me with a troubled expression. But even if she looked at me with that expression, it didn't change the troubling facts of the situation.

The pseudo-miko's eyes flashed in my direction as well. Why did she look like she was about to burst into tears? It was the first time I had ever seen such a pretty girl make such a face. Regardless of what sort of monster this girl might be, I still felt a twinge of surprise run through me.

A seemingly infinitely long time pa.s.sed between the three of us where none of us moved, collectively frozen in surprise.

The pseudo-mike girl recovered first, however. All of a sudden, with a “poof” sound, the pseudo-miko girl tapped the air and her body flipped backwards.

Pus.h.i.+ng off hard against living room floor, she leapt toward the closed window. At the instant I thought she would crash through the gla.s.s, a brilliant flash of white sparked from her left hand.

She had extended her fingers and drew a glyph in mid-air, which began to give off a scarlet glow in the darkness.

In the next instant...

”Uwaa?!”

A flash of searing light, followed by the blast of an explosion, rippled through. Instinctively, I ducked and covered my head, overtaken by surprise.

As if in the midst of an earthquake, the foundations of the crumbling Meioutei rocked and shook. A gust of warm air blew past and fluttered the unkempt bangs of my hair. The cracked walls, loosened and damaged, shed their stucco coverings like drops of mud onto the hallway floor.

”What was that... just now?” Misao asked, her eyes wide, when the shaking finally subsided.

I shook my head and said nothing.

Through the completely-obliterated living room window, I could see the faintly visible rays of the brightening dawn sky, along with the dancing petals of the Sakura tree. The fake-miko was nowhere in sight.

My legs gave out from underneath me and I crumpled down onto the living room floor, coughing. My throat, at the spot where the girl had strangled me, was dull red. A lingering, beating heat burned my skin from where her thin fingers had touched.

It wasn't a dream.

Even now, the sweet scent of her hair and the sound of her voice were still lingering in my nose and ears.

Asura Machina. Body projection. Those words echoed in my head.

”Hey, Tomo, why were you hugging that girl just now?” Misao's voice was a quiet whisper in my head.

I guess that it really looked like we were hugging, even if there was a little bit of strangling involved too. Not that I could have said that to Misao, even if I wanted to. It's not like she would listen to me, anyway. It would just end up making Misao even angrier. And Misao would be certain to be ”interested” in the ”faint sensation of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s.” Ah, Misao, why should there be a problem? You're a ghost after all...

Just how am I going to cover up for this one? I wondered to myself.

In a light and playful voice, Misao asked, ”...did it feel good?” Contrary to her tone, however, I felt Misao's eyes, narrowed and humorless, bore into my back with a sulky peevish fury.

I sighed, but remained quiet.

The bike my brother had left behind for nearly two years was rusted to the point I suspected it might have been dumped into hydrochloric acid. Consequently, I left the house thirty minutes earlier than planned and even then still arrived at school late. My first taste of high school was being late on the first day of the new semester. What a way start my high school life.

The school I was to attend was named Rakurowa High School, even though it was meant to be called ”La Cloa High School”. ”La cloa” apparently meant ”one who aims for the cross” in French. But even though the name was in French, I didn't think there was any need to force the name into Kanji.[1C 8]

Anyway, Rakurowa was a mission school. It wasn't a particularly large school. Even though it was supposed to be a college-prep school, no one seemed particularly impa.s.sioned about the test-preparation guidance it provided. And despite being called a mission school, we didn't have any religion cla.s.ses. Then again, the place was just a normal high school. Although, if pressed, I'd say that the church had a hand in sponsoring the school. So, even though it was a private school, the tuition was cheap. Of course, as a result, there was the occasional cross sewn on various parts of the uniform. Well, if I was ever attacked by vampires after school, at least all those crosses would probably be put to good use, right?

My grades were just barely good enough to acceptable, so preparing for the entrance exam of this school was an arduous task. If my middle school homeroom teacher ever saw my posted test results, she would have probably said, “Great job,” as tears of surprise and relief would have flooded her eyes. In truth, I was probably that dangerously close to not making it into here.

But I have to say, before I even put in all that effort, I was thinking of turning Rakurowa down simply because this place was where my brother went to.

I had accepted, without a doubt in my mind, the fact that it was impossible for me to get into the same university as my brother. Knowing that, I was more than ready to just give up; but, seeing as how Inaka was a small town, the neighbors would have probably never shut up if I dropped out after high school.

I would have seriously become known as the r.e.t.a.r.ded little brother and be treated like an idiot everywhere I went in Inaka if I did. Then one day, when I would be heading off to work, a stranger would probably approach me and say something along the lines of, ”Don't lose your spirit and work hard!”, while sustaining myself on those chocolates on display in pinball machines. A day like that would depress the h.e.l.l out of even me.

”Umm...looks like someone has a self-persecution complex... Anyway, isn't this school great? The uniforms are cute and all.” Misao said as we slipped through the stern-looking steel school gate.

This morning, Misao was wearing a brand new Rakurowa's school uniform. If someone had seen the two us walking to school together, he'd probably a.s.sume we were a lovey-dovey high school couple. But of course, one of us was grouped under the “ghost” category, and so no one saw anything of the sort.

The ghost and I headed off to the school's opening ceremony. As expected, it was making me a little depressed. I knew that, in no time at all, I would be known as the kid who was possessed by ghosts. Uppercla.s.smen would hear the rumors and undercla.s.smen would found out because of their curiosity and I would be stuck with that label. I was used to it, but I guess – how should I say this – it sucked. And Misao didn't seem to mind if I told her that. I wish she would mind though, even if it was only a little.

Shaking those thoughts out of my head, I took a closer look at Misao's attire. Rakurowa High's girl's uniform design looked like a cross between the images of a colonial-era scholar and a vocalist in a church choir. Somehow, the retro and Goth look seemed to suit Misao just perfectly. Although, I must say I didn't think any colonial-era scholar ever had a skirt that short.

”Misao, what's with that uniform?” Like, where did you get it from? What were you planning to do with it? You're always finding the most popular cute clothes to wear; you might as well change your hair style to match. I wasn't curious enough to ask out loud, but it certainly was a little suspicious if I thought about it.

Misao, with a little proud smile, said, ”It's a secret.”

Well, whatever. You're a ghost, so it's fine. Despite my total indifference to these kinds of thoughts as recently as yesterday, I found myself strangely interested in all the minute details today.

Not only that. I suddenly recalled the events involving that strangely dressed girl who looked (sort of) like Misao.

The pseudo-miko had referred to Misao as a ”projection body”. Misao said she didn't know what she meant, but...

”Mornin' Tomo!” The tensely energetic voice of a girl invaded my ears and interrupted my thoughts. It was Ann. She had spotted me, and now purposefully ran out from the school building towards me.

”You're late, Tomo! You didn't see the cla.s.s listings, right? You're in Cla.s.s 7, with me.” Ann said really suddenly. As we discussed our cla.s.ses, it turned out that all of her elective cla.s.ses were exactly the same as mine; some strings must have been pulled in the background there.

”You seem really down...” Ann gave me a disappointed look over my lack of reaction.

”I didn't get enough sleep, that's all. But at least you're energetic today.”

”That's nothing out of the ordinary. But not getting enough sleep... Did something really come out, in that house of yours?” Ann asked with an extremely happy expression on her face, despite it being none of her business. But then, could it be that she was imagining - hoping - that I had been killed by that pseudo-miko girl?

After the incident, I basically didn't do anything about it. It was too ridiculously nonsensical that I hadn't even bothered telling the police about it. The only thing that suffered any real damage was one pane of window gla.s.s. Plus nothing had been stolen anyway.

”Anyway, I've got to go! My friends are waiting for me. I'll see you later in cla.s.s!” Ann carried on her one-sided conversation and then once again ran back into the school.

”Isn't she cute, that Ann-chan,” Misao remarked, smiling.

She certainly was cute, in the same way a small animal just works its way into one's heart was cute.

Since I still had a little time, I took a look at my surroundings. If there was one thing truly peculiar about Rakurowa, it was the randomly vast amount of area dedicated to greenery and gardens. I found it difficult to understand any reason to need all that. There were already more than enough incessant distractions from the new incoming students and their relatives. If there truthfully was a cla.s.s list posted somewhere in the building and someone wanted to check it, just how would they ever make it to the entrance way with all the distractions around? With nothing else to do, I went inside and discreetly slipped out of my shoes.[1C 9] As I put on my school slippers, someone suddenly snuck up behind me and put me in a chokehold.

”Tomo!” exclaimed the person. It was Higuchi.

Higuchi, who might actually be considered handsome if he'd just keep his mouth shut, laughed with a sneer, ”Rejoice! We're in the same cla.s.s again.”

And of course this guy also chose the same elective cla.s.ses as me. Well, if we picked an elective where the two of us could just screw around, all h.e.l.l would break loose.

”Saeki and Takatsuki are there too. Oh, and that Ann as well.”

”Eh? Who?” I asked, since I was at a loss. Well, I already knew about being in the same cla.s.s as Ann though.

”Saeki Reiko.[1C 10] We were in the same cla.s.s during middle school. Last year at the Cultural Festival, she won with the sister complex... remember?”[1C 11]

I already knew her. She was the girl Higuchi was completely unsuited for, but for whose affection he still continually pursued for the past three years.

”Not her. The other one.”

”Oh, Takatsuki? She's the girl from Kitachuu,[1C 12] you know. Takatsuki Kanade. She's pretty hot, too.”

”How do you know someone from Kitachuu?” I asked as Higuchi curled up his lips in a c.o.c.ky smirk.

”I've got my information connections.”

”Oh, the photography club...”

”Yeah.”

I got it.

Outside of the occult, Higuchi had one other hobby: photography. He often boasted about becoming a professional photographer in the future. He actually had some talent and skill at photography, and would occasionally even enter various contests in photography magazines.

Uncharacteristically, however, the main subject of Higuchi's shots was usual city scenery; he did not take pictures of girls. Higuchi had apparently said no to such sort of thing. However, there were plenty of comrades in Higuchi's photography club whose very specialty was hiding in the bushes and sneaking shots of girls. Since they often borrowed and lent various camera parts to each other and Higuchi was, after all, mixing with people of that sort, he naturally got his hands on some questionable pictures also.

”Anyway, look at this. Taken for informational purposes, of course,” Higuchi said as he produced a photograph from the inside of his uniform's pocket.

It was a photo of a high school girl going home after school. The background was probably a bus stop and the season was autumn. The girl in the photo was wearing Rakurowa High's uniform.

”Tomo! It's that person!” Misao cried in a high pitched voice as she glanced at the picture.

”Ah!”

The girl in the photo had the height of a model. She had shoulder-length, suavely-cut, silky black hair, which framed her sharp and orderly facial features. It was a face I recognized instantly: it was the pure-black-clad lady with the trunk from last night. She wasn't wearing her gla.s.ses in the photo, but there was no mistaking it.

”Someone as hot as her! Man! I just knew there were going to be people that knew about her if I asked around. Looking her up and investigating was justified, am I right?” Higuchi puffed his chest proudly.

And it was something to be proud of. This was certainly an amazing piece of information. I had thought that I would never have another chance of meeting her again.

”So she was someone from our school... I wonder if she's still around...?” ”Ah. She entered only last year, so she's just one grade above us. She should be a second-year right now.”

”... A high school student, huh...?” Misao commented in surprise.

When we met her yesterday, she seemed far more mature. After seeing her wearing the school uniform in the photo, the fact that she now seemed like a normal high school student was ultimately mystifying.

”Her name is Kurosaki Shuri. She lives somewhere in Ayas.h.i.+ma's direction. Other than that, however, I don't know much about her. Sorry man.”

”No need to be sorry. Just getting this much information is already amazing, Higuchi,” I honestly thanked him.

This was a huge piece of the puzzle. It would be far more beneficial to meet her directly and get information than waiting indefinitely for my brother to contact me. There were so many unknowns right now: the contents of that silver-colored trunk, her relations.h.i.+p with my brother, and finally Misao. I had a ton of questions I would want to ask her if she could really see Misao.

”When the entrance ceremony is over, let's go take a look at the second-years' cla.s.srooms. You could probably strike up a conversation with her without seeming unnatural. Besides, it's not like we're going to get many chances to get close to people that beautiful,” Higuchi said with an overly serious face.

”Eh? You're coming too, Higuchi?”

”Of course! Why the h.e.l.l do you think I would go so far out of my way to get this photo?”

Oh, I see. So in the end, that's what you're after, huh? I thought, but decided to simply let it go. It doesn't change the fact that Higuchi was actually of use for once.

Higuchi, who still sported that serious expression, suddenly whispered, ”Later, Tomo. And watch out, man.”

”Eh?” I had no idea what he was talking about.

”'Watch out?' For what?”

”I don't know.” Higuchi shook his head. s.n.a.t.c.hing the photo from my hands, he continued, ”I was just warned the same way by the guy who gave me that photo. Watch out. Don't delve too deep into this.”

Huh...?

What the h.e.l.l was that?

Misao and I exchanged glances, but the two of us nodded silently in agreement with Higuchi.

The Kurosaki Shuri in the photo did not say anything and simply continued to stare at us with a graceful smile on her face.

I slept through nearly all of the glorious high school entrance ceremony. I realized there had been a tough-looking female teacher glaring fiercely at me from on stage, but what could I do? I was sleepy. I didn't have the b.a.l.l.s or the daring nerve to just drop back into sleep immediately after surviving a monster attack, so I hadn't gotten a wink of sleep after the incident before dawn.

Either it was just as I suspected, and that Misao also didn't get enough sleep as well, or perhaps the princ.i.p.als boring speech just happened to be at the same time, but Misao simply vanished midway to go nap. She's a friggin' ghost and yet she still somehow manages to not get enough sleep - that's certainly at least a little weird... But I was still a little jealous of her.

When the princ.i.p.al and then the superintendent and then the members of the PTA and then the land owners and then finally some random old guy finally finished their formal greetings, my head was completely drowning in the hazy dredge of sleepiness. Somewhere in the middle, I think some person that called himself the student council president came on stage with three people, but I think I might have been dreaming by that point.

And, as expected of a mission school, midway through the opening ceremony, a hymn started to flow through the room. It reminded me strongly of when I attended some relatives wedding while I was still in elementary school. The uppercla.s.smen in the choir singing the hymn were a group of fairly pretty girls. Kurosaki Shuri, however, was not amongst them.

Finally, the opening ceremony ended and all the students began to move toward their respective cla.s.srooms.

Meanwhile, Higuchi said, ”Let's go the restroom!” and dragged me along.[1C 13]

Raku High was an all-girls' school until about fifteen years ago and so the current ratio of girls to boys was about six to four - more girls than boys. But since it was an all-girls' school until recently, there were extremely few men's restrooms. As a result, there were not enough for all the boys of this school, especially since the school had approximately the normal number of students for a school of its size.

And so, as if it was the premier day of some new video-game system, there was a huge line in front of one of the rare men's restrooms. I separated myself from the line at unhurriedly waited for Higuchi to return at the agreed upon location.

Misao had yet to return at this point.

I was so tired too...

As a result of napping earlier, my neck hurt as a result of dozing in an unnatural position and my joints were crunching and squeaking with agitation. I sucked in a huge breath, yawning.

Then...

”!?” I spat out the breath I had just taken. I couldn't even blink. Walking right before me was the very thing that had startled me so much.

It was a girl. It was a girl wearing Rakurowa's uniform.

From her uniform, I could tell she was a freshman, and she was walking, separated from the other students by a slight distance.

In her immediate vicinity, the entire aura of the place was different. She wasn't flamboyant and so she didn't stand out, but if one looked closely, she was easily very pretty. But that wasn't important right now.

What was important was that I knew her.

I couldn't forget her. She was the miko-cosplay girl that had tried to strangle me to death at Meioutei. That pseudo-miko.

I couldn't confirm the colors of her eyes from this distance, but there was no mistaking that pet.i.te face and long hair.

Moreover, there were the buxom curves of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s pressing up against her uniform. How could anyone mistake a killer like that for anything else?

”You!” My body reacted far faster than my mind could think. I s.n.a.t.c.hed at and grabbed her arm as she walked past me.

”Uwa!” she yelped. She seemed like she was ready to raise her voice in a shriek.

Her wrists were thin.

But she didn't scream.

”Hya...” A small gasp, sounding almost kitten-like, escaped her lips as she swallowed her breath.

That's not to say she wasn't completely startled. As proof, her eyes widened enough that her eyeb.a.l.l.s could have popped out. [1C 14] In any case, the fact that I was here in this school must have been something far outside the realm of her expectations. I had her.

However, I hardened and froze as soon as I had pulled her close up to my face.

I might have grabbed her arm, but I did not think about what I would do after.

And now that it was ”after,” my heart was thumping furiously in my eardrums. The memory of the freakish arm strength of the girl that tried to strangle me before dawn flooded back to my mind. If her martial arts instincts were active, then grabbing her arm out of the blue like this might turn out to be very bad for my health.

With a troubled expression on my face, I looked at her straight in the eyes. ”...Uh...um...please let go,” she requested in a cute tone. She probably remembers my voice, I thought.

But her character and att.i.tude seemed different from the pseudo-miko before.

”We're blocking the corridor for everyone...please let me go.” She repeated in a meek voice. She was almost panicking - that much I understood. But whether it was because of our unexpected second meeting, or whether it was simply because she was suddenly accosted by some unknown male who latched onto her arm, I had absolutely no idea.

She glanced up at me with a frighten stare as she timidly curled up her shoulders as if to shrink away from me. Her expression was one of an innocent and pure high school girl being hit on and objectified by a b.a.s.t.a.r.d with a bad pick-up line.

I realized immediately after that, no matter how anyone looks at this, I was definitely the bad guy here.

”You, Natsume! What the heck are you doing?” some girl pa.s.sing by asked angrily.

I looked at the source of the voice. It was Saeki Reiko, who had come from the same middle school as I had. That wasn't the best person to run into right now... I thought to myself. I was really bad at dealing with this girl. She was just always angry.

”Let go! Can't you see she clearly doesn't like it?” Saeki barked, glaring at me.

c.r.a.p, I thought to myself. The constantly angry Saeki was a defender of herself and girls in general; often, the spear point of her rants and rage was jabbed towards the opposite s.e.x. And it's no coincidence that all of Higuchi's pick-up attempts toward Saeki have ended in failure; in fact, there were plenty of rumors circulating that she was actually lesbian.

”You don't understand, there was an incident...”

”Incident? What?”

”Um...I wanted to ask her...”

”And you're trying to pick her up with that? I thought you weren't like that, but in the end you're just the same sort as that Higuchi.”

But you don't understand!

I decided I was getting nowhere dealing with Saeki; unknowingly, I curled my shoulders, shrinking myself, as I glanced helplessly at the other girl.

”Um...you weren't the person that came to my house this morning, right? I know that sounds really weird...”

She averted her eyes from my sudden glance and shook her head vigorously.

”See, you're wrong!” Saeki declared victoriously as her eyebrows rose, ”And you're the one who is making up weird c.r.a.p now.”