"This… how is this possible…?" Miko Yotsuya murmured.
Under the gaze of three pairs of stunned eyes, a soft pink light suddenly illuminated the air beside Miko Yotsuya.
When the glow dissipated, Yuria and Hana Yurikawa found themselves staring at a newly appeared girl—one so breathtakingly beautiful that she almost seemed unreal.
To Miko Yotsuya, Eriri's sudden manifestation made no difference, but the expressions on Hana and Yuria's faces told her everything she needed to know.
"You… you…"
Miko Yotsuya was completely dumbfounded, pointing at Eriri, unable to form a complete sentence.
Eriri remained floating about twenty centimeters off the ground, her lips curling into an amused smile as she addressed Miko.
"What's wrong, Miko-chan? Don't recognize me? We've been together day and night for several days now."
Hearing this, Miko's face changed drastically. "Wait… You knew I could see you this whole time?!"
"Of course, I knew!"
Eriri's confident reply made Miko swallow hard. Memories of the past few days flooded her mind—every moment she had spent in the bath, completely exposed under Eriri's unseen gaze, all the times she had been studied and scrutinized without realizing the full extent of it.
Before, she had convinced herself that Eriri was unaware of her ability to see spirits, so although she had felt embarrassed by certain situations, it had been manageable.
Now, realizing that Eriri had known from the very beginning, all while she had been desperately pretending otherwise, a massive wave of shame engulfed her.
Her cheeks turned scarlet, and she completely forgot about the monstrous malevolent spirit that had been lurking nearby, now frozen in place due to Eriri's presence.
Meanwhile, Hana Yurikawa and Yuria were finally snapping out of their daze.
"Miko, do you know this ghost lady?" Hana tugged on Miko's arm, glancing nervously at Eriri.
Perhaps due to Eriri's overwhelming beauty, Hana didn't feel as scared as she normally would when dealing with a spirit. Instead, curiosity dominated her expression.
Before Miko could answer, Eriri spoke up first.
"Of course we know each other! I've been with Miko-chan this whole time—twenty-four hours a day, in fact." Eriri winked at Hana, her smile taking on a teasing edge.
"Miko, is that true?" Hana asked, her face turning slightly red.
Judging from Eriri's tone and expression, Hana had already imagined several different scenarios in her head.
Though each version differed slightly, one thing was undeniable—Eriri was telling the truth. So, with her face still flushed, Miko could only nod in reluctant confirmation.
Hana glanced between Eriri's amused smile and Miko's embarrassment, suddenly feeling as though her best friend was being taken away from her.
The very next moment, she remembered the message Miko had sent her on LINE two days ago, and as realization dawned, she nodded knowingly.
"I get it now, Miko. When you said you met the most important person in your life, you must have been talking about—"
"Hana, don't!"
"—this ghost lady, right?!"
The moment Hana uttered the phrase "most important person," Miko knew things were about to take a disastrous turn.
She instinctively reached out with her left hand, attempting to cover Hana's mouth before she could finish her sentence.
However, she was a step too late. By the time her hand covered Hana Yurikawa's mouth, the damage had already been done.
"Oh my? I didn't expect Miko-chan to think of me that way. I'm quite happy about it," Eriri said with a playful smile.
Eriri was somewhat surprised by Hana's statement. She hadn't specifically eavesdropped on Miko and Hana's conversations, nor had she actively read Miko's inner thoughts.
"Uh… um…"
Miko Yotsuya looked at Eriri nervously, unable to deny Hana's words outright.
She felt conflicted. On one hand, she was embarrassed that Eriri had found out. But on the other, she didn't want to deny it now that it was out in the open—she knew that denying it would only complicate things further.
She wasn't the type to be tsundere and end up a loser in love.
So now, she was left flustered, unable to say anything coherent. However, her reaction itself was already an answer.
While Miko struggled with her emotions, Hana, whose mouth had been covered, squirmed and mumbled in protest.
"Mmmph! Mmmph!"
Since the situation was already beyond saving, Miko reluctantly let go of Hana's mouth.
As soon as she was freed, Hana pouted and protested, "Miko, what was that for?!"
"Sorry, sorry," Miko replied half-heartedly, clearly unwilling to dwell on it.
Just then, Yuria, who had been silent until now, suddenly interjected.
"Hey, what's the deal here? Why couldn't I see you before?" Yuria asked curiously, her gaze fixed on Eriri.
Unlike Hana, Yuria was wary of Eriri.
As someone aspiring to be a great spirit medium, Yuria remained cautious, even though Eriri seemed to get along well with Miko and Hana.
But before Eriri could answer, Yuria continued, "Also, earlier you said you'd show me a real malevolent spirit. Were you talking about yourself? But you don't seem like an evil spirit at all."
Eriri pinched Miko's soft cheek, drawing a shocked reaction from her, before shifting her gaze toward Yuria with an amused smirk.
Instead of answering, she raised her fingers and prepared to snap them.
Just before she did, Eriri finally revealed her identity.
"When did I ever say I was a ghost? I'm a perfectly normal, beautiful human girl."
With a crisp snap of her fingers, Yuria's vision shifted dramatically.
Before her, a massive entity loomed—several meters tall, its entire body shrouded in thick black mist.
The instant Yuria saw the grotesque form of the malevolent spirit, her pupils contracted in sheer terror. An overwhelming fear surged through her, unlike anything she had ever felt before.
"Th-this is also a spirit? That's impossible!" Yuria cried out in disbelief.
Up until now, her understanding of spirits was limited to small, mostly harmless apparitions. She had never encountered anything of this scale or malice.
"This is bad," Miko thought, her initial shock at Eriri's human identity quickly replaced by anxiety upon hearing Yuria's panicked scream.
She finally remembered that, besides them, there was also a particularly vicious malevolent spirit lurking in the classroom.
Yuria's outburst had effectively alerted the spirit that she could see it. In this situation, without any intervention, Yuria was as good as dead.
And the only one in the room capable of eliminating the spirit and saving Yuria was Eriri.
Realizing this, Miko Yotsuya instinctively turned toward Eriri with pleading eyes.
Sensing Miko's gaze, Eriri chuckled lightly. "Relax, I'm just giving Yuria-chan a little lesson. I won't let anything happen to her."
Hearing this, Miko let out a sigh of relief. "That's good."
By now, Miko had absolute trust in Eriri. When she called her the most important person in her life, it wasn't just empty words.
Their conversation, combined with Yuria's reaction, made Hana Yurikawa—who had not been given the ability to see spirits by Eriri—feel increasingly uneasy.
"Miko, what are you guys talking about? And… evil spirit? You mean there's an evil spirit in this classroom?!" Hana asked fearfully, tightening her grip on Miko's arm.
The pain made Miko wince, prompting her to turn to Hana and say, "Hana, that hurts."
"Ah? Oh!" Realizing what she was doing, Hana quickly let go and apologized. "Sorry, Miko, I got too nervous."
"It's okay," Miko reassured her with a shake of her head before adding, "Hana, don't worry. Eriri will protect us."
Since Eriri had introduced herself by name while pretending to be a ghost, Miko had remembered it clearly, even if she hadn't acknowledged it at the time.
Though Hana had never heard the name "Eriri" before, she quickly understood who Miko was referring to.
Before, she had been shocked to learn that Eriri was a ghost. Now, discovering that Eriri was actually human left her even more astounded.
Everyone knew that humans couldn't fly.
Yet just moments ago, Eriri had been floating in midair. And before that, she had been completely invisible. These were abilities straight out of a fantasy novel, leaving Hana both amazed and envious.
At that moment, Eriri turned to Hana with a playful smile. "Hana, since you're curious whether there's an evil spirit in the classroom, would you like to see for yourself?"
Despite Eriri's dazzling beauty, Hana couldn't shake the feeling that there was something mischievous hidden in her smile.
But she had no intention of seeing any spirits. For someone terrified of the supernatural, it was too much to handle.
Without hesitation, she crossed her arms in front of her chest and said firmly, "No thanks! I don't want to see any evil spirits."
"Is that so? What a shame. If you ever change your mind, you're welcome to come find me anytime~"
...
Just as Miko had anticipated, the malevolent spirit, which had been frozen in shock after Eriri's sudden appearance, instantly went berserk upon hearing Yuria's scream.
"You saw me? You saw me? YOU SAW ME!" it roared, charging toward Yuria.
As the vicious spirit lunged at her, Yuria let out a terrified scream and collapsed onto the floor, scrambling backward in a desperate attempt to escape.
But her back quickly hit the classroom wall, leaving her with nowhere else to retreat.
The malevolent spirit's razor-sharp claws were mere inches from Yuria's face. If no one stopped it, the next second, its claws would strike her head.
At that point, Yuria would become a headless Yuria.
Of course, Eriri wouldn't let that happen. She snapped her fingers once more.
The frenzied spirit instantly froze in place as if paralyzed by a binding spell. Its claws remained suspended in midair, just centimeters from Yuria's forehead.
"Yuria-chan, are you okay?" Eriri asked softly, walking over to her side.
Still slumped against the wall, Yuria glanced at Eriri, then at the nightmarish spirit looming just before her. Suddenly, she burst into tears, wailing loudly as streams of tears cascaded down her face like a waterfall.
And then—a stream of liquid spread across the floor beneath her.
"Uuuhhh… Spirits are so scary!" Yuria sobbed between hiccups, frantically wiping at her eyes.
Despite the pitiful sight of the teary-eyed girl, Eriri felt no regret.
Only by experiencing the full horror of spirits firsthand could Yuria truly understand just how dangerous they were to ordinary people. Only then could she avoid reckless actions that might endanger herself in the future.
In short, Eriri had done this entirely for Yuria's own good!
Now that her goal was achieved, there was no reason to let the grotesque spirit linger any longer.
With a flick of her finger, Eriri fired a pink energy beam at the spirit. The moment it made contact, the terrifying entity disintegrated into a cloud of black mist and vanished completely.
Watching the all-too-familiar purification scene, Miko Yotsuya felt a sense of warmth wash over her.
To her, Eriri was still Eriri—her perception of her hadn't changed just because she had gone from "ghost" to human.
In fact, learning that Eriri was human was wonderful news for Miko.
Because now, at long last, she could finally share everything she had kept bottled up inside.
Meanwhile, Yuria, having witnessed Eriri's overwhelming display of power firsthand, was still crying—but now, her tear-filled eyes shone with a newfound admiration and awe.
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