Chapter 3: The Volunteer Club's Request and the 'No Limits' Guardian
She hadn't slept all night.
When Yuigahama Yui arrived at school with heavy dark circles under her eyes, the entire world felt hazy and unreal, as if viewed through a layer of frosted glass. The teacher's voice in class seemed to come from a distant horizon, each word as fleeting as a feather, unable to leave any trace in her mind.
She didn't dare to sleep, didn't even dare to close her eyes for more than three seconds. The moment she did, the image of that cold, wet little hand and the eerie footprints on the floor would immediately surface, making her feel as if she had been plunged into an ice cellar.
"Yui, are you okay? You look terrible," her seatmate, Miura Yumiko, asked with concern, prompting their other friends to also cast worried glances her way.
"Ah... I-I'm fine! I just didn't sleep well last night," Yuigahama Yui quickly forced a smile that looked worse than crying, waving her hands to bluff her way through.
She couldn't tell them.
She didn't dare tell anyone what happened last night. Her friends would just think she was joking or had gone mad; her parents would be even more worried and might take her to see a psychiatrist.
It was the fear of being haunted by something invisible, a loneliness that she couldn't share with anyone.
The entire day, she was on pins and needles. Whenever the surrounding light dimmed slightly, or when she was alone, she would feel that cold presence lingering around her. She could even hear a faint dripping sound, as if from a pipe, even in places where there was no water source at all.
The mental torment was pushing her to the brink of collapse.
During her lunch break, with almost nowhere else to turn, she went to one place—the Service Club.
The Service Club's room was as quiet as ever.
The club president, Yukinoshita Yukino, sat upright in her chair, holding a hardcover paperback, her posture as elegant as a classical painting. Sunlight streamed through the window, casting a faint halo on her ink-black hair.
Seeing Yuigahama Yui's disheveled state, Yukinoshita Yukino closed her book, an imperceptible trace of surprise flashing in her calm eyes.
"Yuigahama-san? You seem... to be in a poor mental state," she stated the fact in her usual cool tone.
"Yukinoshita-san..." Yuigahama Yui, as if grasping at the last straw, recounted the experience in the old school building and the nightmare from the previous night, her voice nearly breaking into a sob.
Yukinoshita Yukino listened quietly without interruption. Only after Yuigahama Yui had finished did she pick up the black tea on the table, take a gentle sip, and then slowly speak in her rational, emotionless voice:
"Yuigahama-san, I believe what you experienced is a typical combination of psychological suggestion and mass hysteria."
"Eh?" Yuigahama Yui was stunned.
"Firstly, 'Hanako-san' is a long-standing school legend. Before you conducted your 'test of courage,' your mind had already preset a fearful scenario that 'might happen'," Yukinoshita Yukino analyzed methodically. "In such a high-pressure environment, any slight disturbance in the old school building, such as the sound of the wind or a mouse squeaking, could have been misinterpreted by your brain as the 'response' you heard."
She paused, then continued, "As for the nightmare and the footprints, it's more likely a case of what you think about by day, you dream of by night. The immense psychological stress led to the nightmare. The so-called wet footprints were perhaps just a cup of water you accidentally knocked over by your bed, and you stepped in it in a half-awake state, which your fear-filled mind then twisted into a supernatural phenomenon."
Yukinoshita Yukino's analysis was logical and airtight. To any normal person, it would be the most scientific and reasonable explanation.
But to Yuigahama Yui, who had experienced it all firsthand, those words were so pale and powerless.
That bone-chilling cold, that feeling of being dragged, was so real!
"But... but..." she tried to argue, but found she had no evidence to refute it.
"My conclusion is that you need sufficient rest and psychological relaxation, not to continue immersing yourself in such frightening delusions," Yukinoshita Yukino finished, reopening her book and adopting a posture that clearly meant 'you may leave'.
Her hope was completely shattered.
Yuigahama Yui walked out of the Service Club, utterly dejected. If even Yukinoshita-san said so, then perhaps there really was no one in this world who could help her...
She wandered aimlessly through the school, a tide of despair threatening to drown her.
Just then, a vague memory fragment flashed through her mind. It was something a few girls had been discussing behind his back when the transfer student, Natsume Yu, had just joined the class.
"I heard that Natsume-kun is from the countryside. His family seems to own a shrine."
"Really? No wonder he has such a unique aura, always so quiet and by himself..."
A shrine family?
The words were like a faint ray of light shining into the darkness of her heart.
Right, there was still him! Natsume-kun, the one who had warned her yesterday "don't force yourself"!
Although it sounded absurd, the current Yuigahama Yui couldn't afford to be picky. Like a drowning person, she had to grab onto even a single straw with all her might.
After asking around, she finally found him on the roof of the school building.
Natsume Yu was lying on the concrete floor of the rooftop, arms pillowed behind his head, eyes closed as if asleep. The afternoon breeze gently rustled his black hair. His expression was calm and peaceful, isolated from the bustling campus, creating a tranquil world of his own.
Yuigahama Yui tiptoed over, afraid to disturb him. She stood beside him, hesitating, unsure how to begin.
Before she could speak, Natsume Yu opened his eyes.
What a pair of eyes they were.
Cerulean pupils, as clear as a cloudless sky, yet so deep they seemed to reflect the cosmos. When those eyes looked at her, Yuigahama Yui felt as if all the panic and helplessness in her heart were seen through completely.
"Ah, you," Natsume Yu's voice was still calm. "It's following you."
"Eh?" Yuigahama Yui froze.
"A little girl in a red jumper dress, soaking wet," Natsume Yu sat up, patting the dust off his clothes, and described calmly. "She's趴 on your back, her face pressed against the nape of your neck. No wonder you look so tired."
Boom—!
It was as if Yuigahama Yui's mind was struck by lightning.
He can see it! He can really see it!
The terror that had tormented her for a whole night was given a clear, concrete form in Natsume Yu's few understated words. After the immense shock, an indescribable feeling of grievance and excitement surged into her heart, and her eyes instantly turned red.
"Natsume-kun... Please, save me!" She could no longer control her emotions, her voice trembling as she spoke in a pleading tone.
Natsume Yu looked at her, his cerulean eyes holding no sympathy, no pity, only a bottomless calm.
"I can," he nodded, agreeing crisply. "After school, go to the old school building."
Dusk fell once again.
When Yuigahama Yui stood before the door of the third-floor girls' bathroom in the old school building for the second time, her mood was completely different from the day before. Although she was still afraid, the silent figure standing beside her gave her unprecedented courage.
Natsume Yu didn't do much, just stood there quietly.
"It's in the third stall," he said.
The moment he spoke, a chill ten times more intense than yesterday erupted from behind the door! The temperature in the restroom plummeted, and Yuigahama Yui could even see her own breath turning white.
"Hee hee hee..."
A hair-raising giggle sounded, and then, the door to the third stall creaked open slowly.
A little girl in a red jumper dress, dripping with water, her face a deathly purple, slowly floated out. Her eyes were two empty black holes, "staring" intently at Yuigahama Yui.
"Hanako"! A low-grade Cursed Spirit formed from the combination of a school legend and the resentment of a drowned child.
Yuigahama Yui couldn't see the Cursed Spirit's physical form, but she could clearly feel the malevolent presence rushing towards her! She let out a terrified scream and subconsciously hid behind Natsume Yu, clutching tightly to the corner of his shirt.
The Cursed Spirit let out a sharp screech and transformed into a black shadow, rushing towards the two of them with a foul, watery stench!
However, the instant the black shadow was about to touch Natsume Yu, a bizarre scene occurred.
The shadow seemed to crash into an invisible wall, brought to a hard stop in mid-air, always separated from Natsume Yu's body by an unseen, absolutely insurmountable distance.
The Limitless Cursed Technique.
Around Natsume Yu existed a layer of "infinity." Any object that approached him would slow down infinitely, never able to truly touch him.
Hiding behind him, Yuigahama Yui clearly felt everything.
Just a moment ago, the malice that had nearly frozen her soul came to an abrupt halt when it reached Natsume Yu's side. It was as if, in the midst of a raging storm, the place where she stood was an absolutely calm and safe harbor.
She couldn't see the Cursed Spirit, nor could she see the barrier. But she could feel that she was being protected by a powerful, gentle, and absolutely safe domain.
The Cursed Spirit frantically slammed against the invisible barrier, making dull "thudding" sounds, and the lights in the entire restroom flickered violently. But no matter how hard it tried, it couldn't advance a single inch.
Natsume Yu stood in place from beginning to end, not even moving. He just quietly watched the futile Cursed Spirit before him, like watching a moth bumping against glass.
"Too noisy."
He frowned with some impatience, then slowly raised his right hand and flicked his index finger.
There was no sound, no flash of light.
But in Yuigahama Yui's senses, the coldness and malice that had enveloped the entire space vanished in that instant, as if it had never existed.
The restroom returned to tranquility, and even the air seemed to become fresher. The afterglow of the sunset shone in from the window again, warm and peaceful.
It was all over.
Yuigahama Yui let go of her tight grip on Natsume Yu's shirt. Her legs went weak, and she collapsed onto the floor. Once her tense nerves relaxed, a huge wave of exhaustion washed over her. She gasped for air, tears of relief streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.
Natsume Yu turned, looking down at her with the same calm expression.
"It's over."
Saying that, he extended his hand to her.
Yuigahama Yui looked up through her tear-blurred eyes at that clean, slender hand, and at the reassuring figure behind it, stretched long by the setting sun.
At that moment, she felt that her drifting, uneasy heart had finally found a harbor where it could dock.