Chapter 6: The Tsundere Young Lady's Refuge
"Address."
On the other end of the line, Natsume Yu's voice was still calm, without a single ripple, as if Eriri's desperate, near-breakdown plea for help was just a casual greeting.
But that very calmness, like a steady hand, instantly checked the fear that was growing rampant in Eriri's heart.
She reported her home address in a trembling voice, then heard him reply crisply, "Wait there," before the line went dead.
The wait was an agony, every minute and every second a torment in purgatory.
Outside, the distorted, blurry face pressed against the glass did not disappear. It clung there like a sticky, malicious piece of taffy. The bizarre "po, po, po" sound, like the most precise metronome, tirelessly beat against Eriri's already fragile nerves.
She didn't dare look at the window anymore. She could only shrink into the corner, hug her legs tightly, and bury her head in her knees like a frightened ostrich.
After what felt like an eternity, just as she felt she was about to be driven mad by the pervasive sound, the doorbell rang downstairs, followed by her mother, Sawamura Sayuri's, slightly surprised voice of greeting.
I'm saved...
The moment that thought surfaced, Eriri's tense body went limp, and she nearly collapsed. Leaning against the wall, she used all her strength to stand up and stumbled out of her room.
When she ran to the top of the stairs, she saw her mother leading a figure into the living room.
Natsume Yu.
He was wearing his Sobu High uniform and carrying his shoulder bag, his expression calm, as if he weren't here to deal with a deadly curse, but just visiting a classmate's home.
The moment she saw him, Eriri's heart, which had been suspended in mid-air, finally fell back into place. An unprecedented sense of security, like a warm tide, instantly washed over her cold limbs.
"Eriri, who is this?" Sawamura Sayuri looked at her pale-faced, frightened-looking daughter, then at the unbelievably handsome boy before her, her green eyes filled with curiosity and a hint of subtle amusement.
"He's... he's my classmate..." Eriri's lips trembled, at a loss for how to explain.
"I'm here to exorcise a curse," Natsume Yu answered for her, his tone so direct that both mother and daughter were momentarily stunned.
Ignoring their reaction, his cerulean "Six Eyes" scanned the area, finally settling on the second floor. The dense, ominous Cursed Energy was entrenched there, like a dense, un-dissolvable blot of ink.
"Please lead the way, it's upstairs," he said to Sayuri.
Although Sawamura Sayuri was full of questions, seeing her daughter's distraught state and the boy's unquestionable presence, she nodded and followed him upstairs with a trace of worry.
The three of them returned to Eriri's bedroom.
Upon entering, Natsume Yu walked straight to the closed window.
"Don't go!" Eriri screamed.
Natsume Yu's steps didn't falter in the slightest. He walked to the window, calmly looked at the blurry face on the glass, and then, under Eriri's horrified gaze, he pulled the window open.
Whoosh—
The evening wind rushed in, blowing the white curtains.
Outside, there was nothing.
The terrifying face, the tall figure, along with the deadly "po po po" sound, all vanished without a trace the moment the window was opened.
"Eh?" Eriri was stunned.
"It sensed me, so it's hiding for now," Natsume Yu closed the window, drew the curtains, and turned to explain to the still-shocked mother and daughter. "Now, let's talk about the rules of this curse."
In the living room, the atmosphere was a bit heavy.
"The 'it' you mentioned... are you referring to Hachishaku-sama?" Sawamura Sayuri, being a worldly adult, quickly recovered from her shock. She frowned, trying to recall the somewhat familiar name.
"It's merely a Cursed Spirit that has been given the name 'Hachishaku-sama.' Its essence is a curse formed from the convergence of fear, urban legends, and the resentment of unnatural deaths," Natsume Yu sat on the sofa, his expression as calm as if he were giving an academic lecture.
"This type of Cursed Spirit's behavior usually follows a fixed pattern. It randomly selects a target to 'mark,' then spends three days gradually intensifying its psychological torment. On the first day, the target will only occasionally hear its voice or glimpse its figure. On the second day, the frequency increases, making it impossible to ignore. On the third day, which is tonight, it will fully manifest and then... kill you."
Natsume Yu's words were devoid of emotion, but they made Eriri's body tremble uncontrollably once more.
"Then... then what should we do? Call the police?... O-or find a shrine?" Sawamura Sayuri's face was also filled with worry as she tightly held her daughter's cold hand.
"Useless," Natsume Yu shook his head. "Ordinary people can't see it, and modern technology has no effect on it. It's a curse that only targets the marked individual. It won't harm anyone else until it kills its target."
An atmosphere of despair began to spread again.
"But," Natsume Yu's tone shifted, "it's not without a solution. As long as you can survive tonight... or rather, survive until sunrise tomorrow, the curse's power will temporarily wane, and it will leave to find its next target."
"Really?!" Eriri's eyes lit up with renewed hope, as if she had grasped a lifeline.
"Yes," Natsume Yu nodded, then said something that made the atmosphere instantly delicate:
"So, to ensure your safety, I must stay here tonight."
"Huh—?!"
Eriri's face turned beet red, the blush spreading from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. She leaped up from the sofa, pointed at Natsume Yu, and stammered, "Wh-what nonsense are you talking?! Letting-letting a boy stay over at a girl's house, in-in my room... a-absolutely not!"
Seeing her daughter's classic tsundere reaction, some of the worry in Sawamura Sayuri's eyes dissipated, replaced by a deep interest. She propped up her chin and looked at Natsume Yu with a grin. "My, my, Natsume-kun, are you going to be Eriri's guardian knight? That sounds very reassuring."
"Mom!" Eriri was both embarrassed and anxious.
"It's the safest way," Natsume Yu ignored Eriri's protest and spoke calmly to Sawamura Sayuri. "I will set up a barrier in her room. As long as she stays inside, the Cursed Spirit cannot get close."
"A barrier?" Sawamura Sayuri blinked. The word made her feel as if she had stepped into a movie.
"Then I'll be in your care, Natsume-kun," she made her decision almost without hesitation. Nothing was more important than her daughter's life.
"Mom! You can't just agree to something like that!" Eriri protested weakly.
"Now, now, Eriri," Sayuri patted her daughter's shoulder with a teasing smile. "You should feel honored to have such a handsome classmate protecting you so closely. Mom won't disturb you two young people's private time."
With that, she even gave Natsume Yu a wink, then hummed a little tune and left the living room, "thoughtfully" closing the door behind her.
For a moment, only Natsume Yu and a blushing, flustered Eriri were left in the large living room.
In the end, faced with the fear of death, the young girl's modesty and pride were defeated. She lowered her head and said in a voice as quiet as a mosquito's buzz, "Then... then I'll be troubling you..."
In Eriri's bedroom, the unique sweet fragrance of a girl's private space filled the air.
The room was tastefully decorated, but signs of its owner's "other side" were everywhere—the shelves were filled with various manga and art books, a few popular anime posters were on the wall, and the desk was piled high with professional drawing tools and several sheets of unfinished line art.
Natsume Yu paid this no mind. He walked into the room and began to survey his surroundings.
"Hey, you... don't look around! And-and don't touch my things!" Eriri followed behind him, her hands nervously clasped behind her back like a supervisor, her words a final, feeble resistance.
Natsume Yu ignored her completely. He walked to the window, extended his index finger, and a tiny, barely visible mass of Cursed Energy gathered at its tip. Then, using the window frame as a starting point, he began to slowly trace an esoteric pattern on the four walls, ceiling, and floor.
He didn't use any tools or chant any incantations, but as his finger moved, Eriri could feel the air in the room seeming to become... 'thicker'.
It felt as if an invisible, warm film was enveloping the entire room, isolating it from the outside world. Even the faint "po po po" sound from outside the window seemed to become distant and unreal.
The whole process took about ten minutes.
When Natsume Yu withdrew his hand, a simple barrier, invisible to the naked eye but constructed from Cursed Energy, was complete.
"Done," he clapped his hands and turned to Eriri. "Tonight, stay in this room and don't go out. As long as you don't step out of this door before dawn, you'll be safe."
Looking at his calm and confident eyes, Eriri's wildly beating heart finally settled down completely. She nodded and replied with a small "Mm."
Natsume Yu showed no intention of leaving. He casually pulled out the chair from the desk, sat down in a corner of the room, closed his eyes, and began to rest.
A single boy and girl, alone in a room together.
The atmosphere, for a moment, became incredibly delicate.
Eriri stood where she was, not knowing what to do with her hands and feet. She stole a glance at the boy resting in the corner. His profile was sharply defined in the soft light of the desk lamp.
Although it was a heart-poundingly embarrassing situation, for some reason, Eriri's heart was filled with an unprecedented sense of security.
Outside the window, the curse was lurking.
Inside, however, was the strongest sanctuary she had ever known in her life.