It took Haruka and me less than half an hour of walking to reach the tunnel entrance. By the time we arrived, the sun had completely set. The area was swallowed by darkness; since it was an abandoned road, it was visibly deteriorated, with only a few streetlights still working along the way.
The atmosphere felt like something out of a horror movie. An absolute silence reigned—there weren't even birds chirping. But the most unsettling part was the inside of the tunnel: no matter how hard I strained my eyes, I couldn't see anything. It was total blackness, clearly unnatural. It felt strange… we catsith have, besides excellent hearing, superior night vision. I'd never had trouble seeing in the dark before, but this was different—like something was actively blocking my sight from looking inside.
—"Mochi, let's start with a small test. Try to sense the ether."
Haruka had completely switched into teacher mode.
—"Understood, Haruka-sensei. I'll get right to it," I replied with a smile, trying to ease the tension.
I took a few steps toward the entrance and closed my eyes, focusing just like Haruka had taught me. I took a deep breath. After a minute, I began to feel that familiar sensation: the air becoming thicker, as if charged with something invisible. Ether flowed around me. I could feel it like fine strands of energy stretching out from inside the tunnel—like living roots moving. But not just that… I also sensed intense emotions: hatred, fear, despair.
—"There's something in there," I murmured, slowly opening my eyes.
—"Very good, Mochi. There's definitely an anomaly inside… and it already knows we're here. Get ready to enter. I'll go first—stay close behind me and make sure to follow every order I give," she instructed seriously.
Without wasting time, she pulled her combat fan from the inside of her left sleeve. I figured it was finally time to use my own weapons. I pulled the brass knuckles from their hiding place in the inner pocket of my jacket and slipped them on. They fit my hands perfectly. My heart was pounding—not from fear, but from excitement: I was eager to face an anomaly… and punch it.
Once I was ready, I followed Haruka inside. I stayed close to her back; I've seen too many horror movies to make the classic mistake of splitting up when entering a place like this.
The inside of the tunnel was absolute darkness. We had to turn on our phone flashlights just to see where we were walking. By the way, I had to buy myself a new phone after losing the last one during that chase...
Progress was slow, and the silence grew increasingly oppressive. Nothing was happening—but that only made me more nervous. I had the distinct feeling that something, or someone, was waiting for us deeper inside, setting a trap.
Every few meters we stopped so I could practice sensing the ether. Each time I did, the feeling was the same: we were surrounded. Something, hidden in the shadows, was watching us.
Slowly, we made our way closer to the other end of the tunnel. The feeling of being watched never faded. I wondered if whatever was stalking us was just waiting for us to lower our guard when we reached the exit… so it could attack us from behind.
—"Haruka, we're almost out. In the end, that anomaly never showed up... Guess it was too scared to face me," I joked with a smile, trying to ease the tension.
—"That's probably the case," Haruka replied with complete seriousness.
—"Huh?"
Her response completely threw me off.
I'd only made the comment to break the ice, but… is the anomaly really afraid to show itself?
—"Is the anomaly really scared to appear? I didn't think they were intelligent."
—"Anomalies can become more intelligent over time," Haruka explained calmly, without stopping—"Some even manage to pass as regular people and live among us. But they never stop being creatures that feed on humans."
—"Then… if it's intelligent, does that also mean it's powerful?"
—"Not necessarily. There are many weak anomalies that are intelligent. It's precisely that intelligence that allows them to survive despite their lack of strength. As for this one… it's somewhat powerful, but not as much as the cat that attacked you. However, it's the animalia type, which are troublesome to deal with. And those can become very dangerous if not eliminated in time, because—"
A blood-curdling scream suddenly interrupted our conversation. I jumped, and without thinking, clung tightly to Haruka from behind.
—"Mochi, let go! I can't move like this."
—"Sorry!" I let go immediately, my heart still pounding, and got into a defensive stance.
The screams were getting closer fast, accompanied by the hurried sound of footsteps.
—"Hide your weapon, Mochi. It's not an anomaly… it's humans."
She quickly tucked her fan back into her sleeve. I followed suit, hiding my brass knuckles in the inner pockets of my jacket.
Shortly after, we saw them: Haruka stepped ahead of me and positioned herself defensively. Out of the darkness came a boy with glasses and a girl with messy hair, running toward us. Both were drenched in sweat and panting heavily. They stopped right in front of us, gasping desperately for air.
—"It's following us! It's following us!" —screamed the boy, his voice high-pitched with panic.
His glasses were crooked and his face was pale.
—"W-We have to get out of here…" —the girl stammered, staggering. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees right next to me, tears streaming from her eyes.
—"Calm down, listen," —Haruka said, her voice firm but calm as she took a step toward them—. "I need you to come with us to the exit. You're safe now, but I need you to show us where it happened. We're going to protect you."
—"Protect us!? That ghost made Daichi explode like a balloon!" —the boy screamed, backing away with a crazed look in his eyes—. "I don't want to die! I'm not staying here!"
—"It's dangerous to go on your own," —Haruka warned, frowning—. "Stay with us. I'm serious."
—"No! No! No!"
Haruka tried to calm him down, but it was useless. The boy screamed at the top of his lungs and ran back into the tunnel, disappearing quickly beyond the reach of our flashlights.
—"Hey! Stop!" —Haruka shouted, but he was already swallowed by the darkness.
Before she could react, the girl clung tightly to me, burying her face into my shoulder. Her body was shaking like a leaf, and she couldn't stop sobbing.
—"Don't… don't leave me… don't leave me alone…"
—"Go!" —I yelled to Haruka as I held the girl close—. "He's too panicked, he won't stop! I'll take her to the exit, don't worry!"
Haruka looked at me in silence for a few seconds. Then she nodded firmly.
—"Mochi, if anything happens, don't try to be a hero. Just run, got it?"
After saying that, she turned and ran after the boy. Within seconds, her figure vanished into the darkness.
—"Everything's going to be fine," —I whispered to the girl, holding her tightly—. "We're getting out of here… I'll take you."
—"By the way, my name's Noa," —I added, trying to smile at her—, "but you can call me Mochi."
I gently took her hand, and we started walking together toward the exit.
***
The girl introduced herself as Noa, but with a sweet smile she told me I could call her Mochi. She took my hand as if it were the most natural thing in the world, as if she already knew me, and without letting go, she started guiding me through the tunnel.
Her hand was warm. Warmer than I expected. I guess, after everything I'd been through, I needed a little warmth. She radiated a calm, peaceful energy. As if her mere presence was enough to chase away all the fear I'd felt just moments ago.
On the way back, I couldn't help but glance at her again and again. Her pink hair swayed gently with each step, fluffy and light like cotton candy… but not the loud, artificial kind—more like a delicate shade that made you want to reach out and touch it. Her ears—small, covered in short fur—twitched subtly with each sound, and her tail… it swayed back and forth in a soothing rhythm.
Pretty. I don't know why, but that was the first word that crossed my mind.
I realized I still hadn't introduced myself, so I swallowed hard and murmured:
—"Miyu… Tachibana. My name is Miyu Tachibana."
—"Nice to meet you, Miyu," —she replied with a tender smile, not stopping, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
We finally emerged from the tunnel. The cool night air hit me all at once, and I paused for a second to take a deep breath.
And then I saw it: the phone booth. It was just a few meters ahead of us, exactly where… everything had happened.
But it was clean. Incredibly clean. Not a drop of blood. Not a single stain. No trace of what had occurred inside. The glass looked spotless, even gleaming under the dim streetlights.
A chill ran down my spine.
—"That's… that's where…" —I couldn't finish the sentence. I just squeezed Mochi's hand tighter.
She nodded slowly, understanding without needing me to say anything else.
She took a step toward the booth.
—"W-wait…" —I whispered, not letting go of her. I didn't want to get closer. I didn't want to see that place again. But I didn't want to be away from her either. So silently, I walked beside her, clinging tighter to her hand.
Mochi examined the booth from different angles. Nothing happened. It looked like a normal phone booth again.
After checking it thoroughly, we decided to move away from it, just to be safe.
We stood there, motionless, staring toward the tunnel. Waiting for the return of the elf girl who had gone after Shunji.
Suddenly, we were both startled by a sound.
Riiiing... Riiiing…
I slowly turned toward the phone booth… and what I saw took my breath away. This time, something was different.
There was something inside the booth.
It looked like a human figure… but distorted, blurry. Its body had no defined edges, just fragments of dark mist that trembled and slid slowly across the glass walls. It was like smoke trapped in a shape that was trying to be human… but wasn't.
It had no face. Nothing. Just a dull void at the center of that living fog. And yet, I could feel its gaze. Fixed. Unmoving. As if it were piercing right through me from the other side of the glass.
Riiing… Riiing…
The phone kept ringing, right beside that thing.
It didn't move. Not even an inch.
And yet, I felt it calling to me.