When Shizumi finally realized the truth — that he wasn't an ordinary person at all, but the very same infamous spirit Shisui everyone had been whispering about in the academy.
Shizumi's scream echoed through the entire corridor—so loud it made even the broken windows tremble.
Her trembling feet carried her up the stairs, her heart thundering like a drum in her chest. The old school building groaned around her like it was alive, each step creaking under her desperate weight.
"I have to get out... I have to get out..." she whispered, her voice shaking as she stumbled blindly through the dim second-floor hallway.
The corridor reeked of dust, rotten wood, and a deep, chilling dampness. Old class signs hung crookedly on the walls, papers scattered everywhere, fluttering with every ghostly whisper of wind.
She stopped near an old door labeled 'Music Room'—and that's when she felt it.
A breath.
Warm. Damp. Sickening.
Right against the nape of her neck.
Before she could move, a freezing hand slid over her head—fingers thin, bone like, almost a grotesque caress.
And then... something sniffed her hair.
Shizumi's entire body went rigid.
Her throat locked—her breath froze inside her.
Slowly... agonizingly slowly... she began to turn—
—and her voice broke into a choked, silent gasp.
Standing just inches away was a girl apparition—but not like any ghost she'd ever imagined.
Her body was unnaturally warped; her limbs were bent backward at impossible angles, bones cracking with every minor adjustment.
Her face was the worst—
Half of it was smooth, almost recognizably human...
But the other half was violently torn open, exposing dark, slick muscle and blackened, serrated teeth.
Her eyes were sunken, but the pupils glowed a faint, sickly red, swirling like dying embers in a storm.
Strands of her long, matted hair clung to her face, dripping with something that looked like old, crusting blood and wearing an old school uniform.
Her mouth opened, wider and wider—until it looked like it would split her entire skull apart.
From deep inside that hollow throat came a voice that was utterly inhuman—
more like a thousand simultaneous whispers crawling over one another.
"I'm... starving..."
Then her tongue—long, gray, and slick—slid out from her mouth, snaking toward Shizumi's cheek.
The sound it made was wet, rasping, and utterly repulsive.
Shizumi fell backward, hitting the floor hard, but her body wouldn't obey her.
Her limbs were trembling violently—she was frozen solid, trapped between sheer disbelief and paralyzing terror.
The ghost leaned closer, her tongue dragging slowly along Shizumi's face, leaving behind a trail of icy, suffocating wetness.
Her bones loudly snapped as she moved, her head twitching, her arms dangling loosely like a marionette with severed strings.
"So warm... so alive..."
Shizumi wanted to unleash a primal scream—but no sound would come.
Only her tears did, sliding silently down her face.
The ghost crouched beside her, moving in jerky, impossible motions, the tips of her fingers scraping against the wooden floor with a shrill, nail-on-chalkboard screech.
And then, just as her mouth opened again—ready to bite—
a blinding wave of blue light burst into the hallway.
A sharp jolt of energy slashed across the floor, sending the ghost flying back with an ear-piercing, unnatural shriek.
Her body hit the ceiling, twisting violently before melting into a dark, oily mist.
Shizumi blinked through her tears, shuddering.
And standing squarely in front of her, surrounded by that fading blue light—
was Akihiro.
His usually calm face was tight with a cold mix of anger and fear.
He held his hand out, his palm glowing faintly with electric blue sigils.
"You shouldn't have come here, idiot," he said quietly, his voice steady but dangerously low.
"This place... doesn't forgive the living."
The mist hissed again, reforming at the far end of the corridor—
And the ghost, though distorted and partially burned, began to crawl back toward them...
The burnt, twisted female ghost hissed, dragging her half-melted body toward them.
Her bones cracked with every movement, her empty eyes now glowing with blind fury.
Akihiro stepped in front of Shizumi, summoning his last ounce of energy — but before he could release another attack…
Music.
Faint, eerie humming drifted through the air, followed by the sound of footsteps.
Then—
The mist at the far end of the corridor shimmered, and from it emerged three familiar figures—
Shisui, Soha, and Moha.
But instead of appearing menacing…
They were dancing.
Soha twirled dramatically, his tails spinning like ribbons.
Moha was moving her hips lazily, flicking her lavender tail with sass.
And Shisui—mask slightly tilted, hands raised like a conductor—was singing in a low, hauntingly playful tone:
"Where are you my… I mean our freedom key~🎵"
His voice echoed through the dark corridor, playful and mocking.
Akihiro simply froze.
Even the terrifying female ghost stopped mid-lunge, her dislocated jaw hanging open in sheer confusion.
"Huh...?" she rasped, glaring at them with a crooked grin.
"You mean this girl... is my freedom key?"
The way she stressed the word "my" made the air go instantly cold.
Her head twitched, her face stretching into a twisted smile—hungry and possessive.
Shisui's humming stopped.
The air changed instantly.
The joking glint vanished from behind his mask.
In a single, smooth motion, his hand raised—fingers slicing the air—
—and with a sharp, wet snap, the ghost's throat split open, as if invisible claws had slashed right through her.
Black smoke burst from her mouth as her scream tore through the corridor—
And then, her head slid sideways. In that final moment, she choked out, "You'll regret this, you son of a bitch! I'll tell every corner of the school... everyone will know that... that she's return... khu... khu... khu..." Her chilling smile lingered as her head dropped, vanishing into a cloud of shadow.
The silence that followed was suffocating.
Shisui tilted his head slightly, his voice calm and freezing cold:
"What exactly did you mean... yours?"
Even Soha and Moha fell quiet. The air around them pulsed with dark, raw power.
The playful aura Shisui carried moments ago was utterly gone—
now he radiated something ancient, unstoppable, and deeply inhuman.
Akihiro stood frozen, staring at the gory aftermath.
His mind reeled, thinking, I had to gather all my power just to wound that thing... And he killed her like she was nothing.
"What is this power?" he whispered.
"That aura... it's demonic... beyond anything I've ever felt."
He swallowed hard, the terrifying realization dawning.
"So this is him... the infamous ghost of the old school building—Shisui."
Shizumi stood behind him, trembling, her eyes wide with disbelief—
while Shisui simply brushed imaginary dust off his sleeve, as if nothing had happened, and muttered:
"Tch. Messy work."
The infamous ghost Shisui's fox mask glimmered in the dim corridor light, his long coat brushing softly against the dust-laden floor.
He tilted his head slightly, then wrinkled his nose in exaggerated disgust.
"Eww... eww... eww... smells like the Kagetsu Clan."
His tone was cheerful, mocking, and entirely disrespectful. He then leaned forward slightly, pretending to sniff the air again.
"Ah, I'm surprised... but tell me, what's a weakling like you doing here?"
Akihiro froze. That casual insult hit him harder than a physical blow.
He could feel it—the sheer weight of the ghost's presence. It was suffocating, crushing... like standing in front of a storm that could erase him in a blink.
"What an overwhelming aura… but that's not the issue right now."
His eyes darted toward Shizumi, who was trembling behind him.
"I have to get her out of this cursed place... whatever it takes."
Without another thought, Akihiro summoned his power—bright, blue sigils flaring across his arm as he slammed his palm forward.
A blast of spiritual light shot through the air—
—but Shisui simply stepped aside, letting the energy explode harmlessly against the wall.
He actually yawned. A bored, drawn-out yawn.
"Oh, come on," Shisui said lazily, sidestepping another glowing strike, "if you're going to attack, at least try not to bore me."
Akihiro clenched his teeth, sending another burst of energy toward him—
But Shisui tilted his head, weaving through every blow with almost bored elegance.
He even stretched his arms as if warming up.
"Mmm~" he mused, dodging one last attack, "you Kagetsu types are always so dramatic. All that flashing light... no real bite."
"Shut up!" Akihiro shouted, his eyes blazing.
He gathered a massive orb of blue energy between his palms and hurled it straight at the ghost.
The corridor shook from the blast—dust, light, and sound colliding in a deafening chaos.
When the glare faded...
Shisui was standing unharmed, right behind him.
"Boo."
Akihiro jumped, spinning around and slashing his hand through the air—
but Shisui was already gone again, his mocking laughter echoing all around them.
> "Answer me one thing," Shisui said in a sing-song tone, his voice bouncing through the mist.
"Why did you come to my playground, hmm?"
"I don't want anyone else to die because of you!" Akihiro shouted, firing another wave of power blindly into the fog.
The blast ripped through the corridor—
and Shisui appeared again, standing calmly amid the debris, completely unscathed.
He tilted his head, the faintest curve of a smile visible beneath the mask.
"Oh? So noble."
He turned his gaze toward Shizumi, who was pressed against the wall, pale and wide-eyed.
"Don't tell me…" he drawled teasingly,
"you came all this way to save your love?"
Akihiro's face flushed with a mixture of rage and confusion.
"Shut your mouth, ghost!"
Shisui clutched his chest dramatically.
"Oh, the pain~ the jealousy~ how romantic!"
He spun once, laughing, then stopped and whispered in a tone so low it instantly chilled the air—
"Careful, Kagetsu boy... you might actually make me feel alive again."
The temperature dropped instantly, the corridor trembling as his aura surged.
The playful mocking vanished, replaced by something ancient and terrifying.
Even Soha and Moha appeared faintly behind the swirling mist, watching with smirking amusement—
as Shisui raised a single finger, and the world around them began to hum with unstoppable, supernatural power.
~To Be Continue~