Haruka sat in the center of the living room in her previous house, her posture rigid while sitting on the couch, deep in thought.
The floorboards were layered with dust, but she didn't mind. Her gaze was fixed on a specific knot in the wood of the low table, her expression a mask of clinical detachment.
She had failed.
The ritual was executed with mathematical precision; she knew deep in her heart that their old house is the most significant place in her heart, after all this is where her old life ended and her new life began.
Then, she had done the incantations Retsu told them and she believes it was phonetically perfect, and indeed it was, as the spirits had manifested.
Yet, none of them wanted to sign a contract with her.
The spirits had looked through her, and had dismissed her not for a lack of aptitude, but for a lack of intent.
