As the cycle repeated, Miko noticed the faces in her photos began to blur and distort, eventually morphing into something resembling bleached skulls.
Terrified, she fumbled and dropped her phone.
Clatter.
The sound of the phone hitting the pavement snapped her back to reality. Realizing she was overreacting, she quickly scrambled to pick it up. Checking the screen, she saw her chat with Hana had returned to normal. Everything that had just happened felt like a waking nightmare.
'That sucks! Want me to bring you an umbrella?'
Hana's message allowed Miko to finally breathe. She convinced herself it was just exhaustion and the psychological effect of watching too many horror videos lately.
"I must be more tired than I thought," she muttered, rubbing her eyes to clear her vision.
But when she opened them again, her heart stopped.
Directly in front of her was a massive, pitch-black face. Thick, dark miasma burned around it like freezing flames. Grotesque joints formed twisted limbs—a monstrosity that defied human logic had manifested inches from her face, its hollow eyes locked onto hers.
"Can... you... see... me...?" the creature asked in a raspy, gargling voice.
Miko froze. The sheer shock left her paralyzed.
"Can you see me?" it asked again.
Miko's entire body trembled with primal fear, but her face instinctively hardened into a mask of cold indifference, as if she were looking right through it.
"Ah, the bus is so slow... Isn't it here yet?" Miko said, pointedly looking toward the road.
However, the monster followed her gaze, thrusting its head closer. "Can you see? Can you see? Can you see?"
Miko gritted her teeth, keeping her expression as still as stone. Even though she felt like she was about to collapse from the sheer terror, she didn't let a single muscle twitch.
"I guess... you can't see me..."
Faced with Miko's lack of reaction, the monster sounded visibly disappointed. It began to slowly turn its lumbering torso, preparing to move on.
I'm going to die! What—what was that?! I could see it so clearly! It was right there!! Miko's mind was screaming, praying for the thing to just vanish into the rain.
The black entity was indeed about to leave, but before it did, it noticed Haruki Aizawa sitting at the other end of the shelter. Driven by instinct, it drifted toward him and repeated the same question.
"Can you see me?"
Haruki gave no response. His pupils didn't even flicker toward the monster's position. Disappointed again, the ghost turned to depart.
But at that exact moment, Haruki turned his head toward Miko and spoke.
"Hey, miss. Is there something standing right in front of me?"
The moment those words left his mouth, the air at the bus stop turned deathly silent.
Everything happening today was a disaster for Miko Yotsuya.
First, she had stayed late at school to find a lost keychain. Then, she got caught in a torrential downpour. She finally made it to a shelter only for a literal nightmare to appear and repeatedly ask if she could see it.
Miko's mental fortitude was incredible. Even though she was terrified to the point of tears, she had successfully tricked the monster by staying perfectly still.
But she never expected the boy waiting with her to speak up at the worst possible second. Worse yet, Haruki's question effectively stripped away Miko's cover. The ghost, which had been about to leave, whipped its head around and drifted back toward her.
"W-What are you talking about?!" Miko stammered. Her composure was finally breaking.
As the monster loomed over her again, she fought back the urge to cry and kept her eyes fixed on Haruki. "I don't see anything at all!"
"Really? From the way you're moving, it seems like you're reacting to something invisible..." Haruki said, looking at her calmly.
Haruki had originally intended to just wait out the rain so he wouldn't get lectured by the girl waiting at home. But while sitting there, he had noticed the girl next to him behaving strangely. While her acting was flawless and would have fooled any ordinary person, Haruki's perception was on a completely different level.
He could tell her reactions weren't normal. It was as if she were staring at something that shouldn't exist.
This discovery thrilled him. For a man seeking strength, the unknown was the ultimate lure. He had assumed this was a boring, everyday world, but it seemed there were supernatural elements hidden beneath the surface. If there were entities that ordinary people couldn't see, it meant there were opponents worth fighting even in this "peaceful" main world!
But while Haruki was excited, Miko was in absolute peril.
Because of Haruki's words, the ghost was now scrutinizing her with renewed intensity. Since she had briefly let her guard down, she couldn't instantly return to her expressionless mask. Her face, now visibly pale with dread, was all the proof the monster needed.
"YOU CAN SEE! YOU CAN SEE! YOU CAN SEE!!"
The black monster let out a horrific, distorted laugh. It began to writhe with excitement, its shadowy limbs stretching out like tentacles to coil around her.
It's over! It's over! It's over!
Miko couldn't even scream. She didn't even have the energy to hate Haruki for what he'd done; she only felt a sense of hopeless resignation. If only her acting had been better... if only she hadn't let him see her slip up.
As the end neared, her only hope was that the boy standing near her wouldn't get dragged into this mess.
"Guh!"
A heavy, dark chill began to settle over Miko. Ghosts, being manifestations of energy, couldn't always physically interact with the world, but they could possess and corrode the human spirit. Seeing Miko's potential, the ghost intended to crawl into her body through her very pores.
"No..."
In her despair, Miko instinctively reached out for help. She knew a normal person couldn't do anything, and even the police would be useless against a ghost, but the primal urge to survive made her heart scream for a savior.
Deep down, she knew no one was coming.
"Is that thing right next to you now?" Haruki's voice rang out clearly beside her.
"???"
Before Miko could process his words, she saw Haruki reach for the long object on his back. He tore away the cloth wrapping to reveal a weapon.
It wasn't a wooden sword. It was a tachi—a real blade engraved with ancient, solemn runes. The inscription was the Taoist "Nine Syllable Seal"—Rin, Pyo, Toh, Sha, Kai, Jin, Retsu, Zai, Zen.
This was the legendary blade, Kujisada. Haruki had obtained it by chance, and though it was said to possess spiritual properties, he had never had a reason to draw it for real—until now.
Sensing the malevolent presence about to consume the girl, Haruki drew the steel. Without a moment's hesitation, he swung the Kujisada in a straight, lethal arc toward the empty space beside Miko!
Slash!
The blade moved in a blur, cutting through the air with perfect form. But to Miko's eyes, it passed straight through the ghost's ephemeral body without leaving a scratch.
Miko's heart sank. She understood. Physical weapons couldn't hurt a spirit.
"AAAAAAAGHHHHH!!"
But before Miko could accept her fate, the ghost in front of her let out a blood-curdling, ear-splitting shriek.
Spurt!
Haruki's strike hadn't missed. The blade had cleaved through the spirit, slicing it clean in half
To a bystander, Haruki's strike would have looked like the height of "Chunibyo"—a high schooler swinging a sword at nothing but thin air.
However, in Miko Yotsuya's eyes, it was a miracle. Haruki's blade had physically connected with the entity that was about to possess her.
"AAAAAAAGGHHHH!!"