In the school building, Class 1-F.
Yotsuya Miko, who was packing up her textbooks, felt her phone vibrate. She took it out and saw a message from Lin.
"See you in half an hour."
Yotsuya Miko's eyes flickered slightly.
After making plans with Lin last night, she had fallen asleep without realizing it.
As before, she was 'pleasantly surprised' by a nightmare again in the middle of the night.
She couldn't go back to sleep after waking up.
That was why she had dark circles under her eyes and always felt sleepy during class.
After learning that Lin could also see evil spirits, she hoped to get useful information from him.
She, Yotsuya Miko, had had enough of this life.
"Okay."
She replied to Lin with a single word.
"Miko, let's eat."
Just then, her good friend Yurikawa Hana came over with a large bento box, her face full of cheerful smiles.
"Mm."
Yotsuya Miko nodded slightly and took out her own bento box.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Lin, who had opted not to bring a bento, left the classroom and headed towards the United High's All-Eatery cafeteria.
Today was April 14th.
It was now the third week of school.
Since the first day of enrollment, Lin had never brought a bento.
In a word, lazy.
He always ate lunch at the cafeteria every day.
The United High's cafeteria was excellent, offering international cuisine.
Moreover, most of the chefs hired were from the countries corresponding to the dishes.
Because of this, almost half of the students at the United High chose to eat lunch at the cafeteria.
The other half still chose to eat the bento they brought.
Upon arriving at the cafeteria, Lin ordered a plate of Twice-Cooked Pork over rice.
It tasted quite good.
In the blink of an eye, about twenty minutes had passed.
Class 1-F classroom.
Yotsuya Miko, who had finished her bento, packed away her lunchbox, quickly rinsed her mouth and wiped her lips, then looked at Yurikawa Hana:
"Hana, I'm going out for a bit."
"The restroom? Let's go together."
Yurikawa Hana stood up upon hearing this.
"No…"
Yotsuya Miko shook her head slightly, refusing: "I need to go find someone for something. I'll go by myself."
"Find someone? Do I know them?"
Yurikawa Hana's brows furrowed slightly.
Her large eyes blinked, a hint of doubt and curiosity surfacing.
"You… know them."
Stared at directly by Yurikawa Hana, Yotsuya Miko hesitated but ultimately chose not to lie.
"Who is it?"
Knowing it was someone she knew only made Yurikawa Hana more curious.
If she knew them too, why wouldn't Yotsuya Miko bring her along, but go alone instead?
Could there be something she wasn't supposed to know?
"Lin."
"Who, Lin?!"
Yurikawa Hana was startled, her eyes widening slightly as she looked at Yotsuya Miko with surprise and astonishment.
"Yes, it's him."
Since things had come to this, Yotsuya Miko could only nod.
Worried that Yurikawa Hana would keep asking questions, she quickly stood up:
"I'm leaving now."
As soon as the words left her mouth, without waiting for Yurikawa Hana to say anything, she hurried out.
After all, she couldn't tell Yurikawa Hana about the evil spirits.
Putting aside the question of belief,
Yurikawa Hana was so terrified of evil spirits that if she knew, she'd probably be scared all day and night.
"Oh…"
Watching Yotsuya Miko's retreating back, Yurikawa Hana opened her mouth to say something but ultimately didn't speak.
She was slightly stunned, a little surprised.
She could sense that Yotsuya Miko was hiding something from her.
Snapping out of it, she couldn't help but lightly frown, pondering to herself:
"Why is Miko going to see Lin-san alone?"
"And she's hiding something from me."
"Could it be…"
Yurikawa Hana suddenly remembered some things from yesterday and immediately formed a very plausible guess.
That Yotsuya Miko had really fallen for Lin-san!
Could it really be love at first sight?
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Yotsuya Miko, on her way to the Student Council Office, had no idea what her best friend was thinking.
About five minutes later.
Yotsuya Miko arrived at the Student Council.
She knocked on the door, and after waiting a few seconds, she turned the doorknob.
"Excuse me, sorry to bother you."
She opened the door and walked into the office.
Her first glance caught Lin sitting on the sofa.
"Come sit."
Lin looked at her and smiled gently.
Yotsuya Miko's golden eyes flickered slightly. She closed the door and came to sit on the sofa opposite Lin.
Their eyes met.
Neither spoke, and the atmosphere was momentarily strange.
Seeing this, Lin was the first to break the silence: "Yotsuya-san, don't you have a lot of questions?"
"If you have nothing to ask, I'll be heading back to class."
"Wait."
Yotsuya Miko no longer hesitated.
She began to voice the questions that had arisen last night, one by one.
Lin smiled upon hearing this and said:
"One by one. I'll answer the first question first."
"First, as for when I started seeing evil spirits, it was actually just a few days ago."
"Huh, a few days ago?!"
Yotsuya Miko was slightly stunned.
Snapping out of it, she looked at Lin with an expression that seemed to say, 'I'm not well-read, so don't try to fool me.'
Facing evil spirits without a change in expression, treating them as if they weren't there, she had thought Lin must have been able to see evil spirits for a long time.
That was the only way he could act like that.
But now he was telling her it had only been a few days.
Honestly, she didn't believe it.
She herself had been seeing these things for a month, yet each time she was terribly frightened.
Lin's veteran demeanor when facing evil spirits looked nothing like a fresh newcomer.
"What, you don't believe me?"
Taking in Yotsuya Miko's expression, Lin guessed her thoughts without even needing to think.
"→_→"
Yotsuya Miko said nothing, her expression said it all.
Lin's lips curved slightly: "One cannot generalize about people's constitutions. You definitely shouldn't underestimate me."
"Now, onto the second question."
"Is there a way for you to stop seeing evil spirits? The answer is yes."
"What is it?"
Yotsuya Miko's eyes brightened slightly, looking at Lin with some anticipation.
She instantly cast the previous topic out of her mind.
Lin: "There definitely is a way, but I don't know it yet."
"Uh…"
Disappointment welled up in Yotsuya Miko's heart.
Lin continued: "Now for the third question: Are there really exorcists in the world?"
He deliberately paused here, building suspense.
"!!!"
Yotsuya Miko stared intently at him, her hands lightly clenching into fists.
Don't misunderstand, she wasn't about to hit him.
She was just a little nervous and expectant.
Lin smiled slightly: "The answer is yes, but I haven't seen one."
Before his golden finger appeared, he had tried various possible methods to deal with the Clawed Fiend.
For example, searching for exorcists.
He had also visited several shrines.
Although he found nothing in the end.
But Lin was certain that special individuals like exorcists and yokai exorcists existed in this world.
Not having met them didn't mean they didn't exist.
For example, Shimomachi Kagame.
"I see…"
Hearing Lin's answer, Yotsuya Miko sighed helplessly, her hands on her lap slowly unclenching.
Disappointment flashed in her eyes.
This answer was within her expectations.
Because she hadn't done nothing either.
She had tried looking for exorcists, visited shrines, and worn protective items like amulets and Buddhist rosaries.
The result, one could say, was not useful, or rather, completely useless.
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