Chapter 11: A Special Offering
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
All the blood in Yotsuya Miko's body went cold, her brain shutting down from the extreme fear. The monster's black, gaping mouth was just inches away. The rotten stench and heart-stopping whispers wrapped around her like an invisible net, holding her fast.
It's over.
The thought surfaced in her mind with utter despair.
Ding-dong—
Just then, the convenience store's automatic doors slid open again. The crisp chime, like a stone dropped into a stagnant pond, shattered the suffocating silence.
A figure in a Sobu High uniform walked in, his pace unhurried.
He was tall and slender, with a calm demeanor. Beneath a head of soft black hair was a pair of cerulean eyes that seemed to reflect the sky.
Natsume Yu.
As usual, he was just stopping by to buy a bottle of milk before heading home.
However, the moment he stepped into the convenience store, his special "Six Eyes" captured the extremely discordant flow of Cursed Energy within the small space.
His gaze swept calmly over to the girl trapped in the corner of the aisle.
Under the insight of the "Six Eyes," nothing could hide.
He saw the Cursed Spirit, formed from the pure resentment of "hunger." Its form was hideous, and while its Cursed Energy level wasn't high, the negative emotions it emitted were unusually viscous, greedily feeding on the fear before it.
What caught his attention more was the girl herself.
Yotsuya Miko.
He recognized her, the quiet first-year student.
Right now, in his vision, the girl's body was enveloped in a thin but incredibly tough barrier constructed from "self-hypnosis." This barrier was trembling violently due to the Cursed Spirit's proximity, covered in web-like cracks, and looked as if it could shatter at any moment.
Within the barrier, he could clearly "see" that the girl's mental state was at its limit. The spark of Cursed Energy that represented her life force was flickering like a candle in the wind.
Her soul was screaming and trembling, yet her body was forced to maintain the last shred of composure.
Natsume Yu's brow twitched, an almost imperceptible movement.
Has it... always been like this for her?
In an instant, he understood the immense pain and suffering the girl was enduring beneath her seemingly calm exterior.
The Starving Ghost Cursed Spirit also noticed the new "living thing." Its disproportionately large head slowly turned towards the entrance, a threatening hiss coming from its black, gaping mouth.
However, as if he hadn't seen a thing, Natsume Yu walked straight through the narrow space between it and the girl, heading for another aisle.
His movements were so natural, so calm, without a shred of hesitation.
The Starving Ghost Cursed Spirit was stunned. Even the near-breakdown Yotsuya Miko forgot her fear for a moment due to this sudden, completely illogical scene.
Natsume Yu walked to the shelf of rice balls, chose carefully, and picked up a simple plum-flavored one. Then, he took a bottle of mineral water from the refrigerator.
Carrying the two items, he walked to the checkout counter and calmly paid under the drowsy gaze of the clerk.
The entire process was as smooth as flowing water.
It was as if that monster, which was enough to drive a normal person insane, was truly just a mass of invisible air.
"Th-thank you for your purchase..." the clerk yawned, handing him the bagged items.
Natsume Yu took the small plastic bag, turned, and once again walked towards that corner of despair.
The Starving Ghost Cursed Spirit's attention was completely drawn to him. In its chaotic senses, this new human emanated an aura that it both craved and feared.
Natsume Yu stopped about a meter away from the Cursed Spirit and the girl.
He crouched down and placed the plum rice ball and mineral water he had just bought gently on the cold floor, side by side.
Then, he extended his index finger and tapped lightly on the rice ball's packaging.
A faint, almost invisible stream of cerulean Cursed Energy, like a living brook, silently flowed into the rice ball.
The ordinary food, in that moment, seemed to transform into the finest delicacy.
The Starving Ghost Cursed Spirit's body shuddered violently.
It abandoned the "delicious" girl exuding fear before it and turned to "stare" intently at the rice ball on the floor.
It was a craving that stemmed from the very essence of its existence, an irresistible urge.
"Hungry... hungry..."
It let out a more urgent hiss than before and dragged its bloated body with its withered arms, inching its way laboriously towards the special "offering."
It reached out a filthy hand, clumsily tore open the rice ball's packaging, and then stuffed the entire thing into its black, gaping mouth, making a sickening chewing sound.
A strange scene occurred.
As it ate, the dense, black resentment clinging to its body began to slowly dissipate at a visible rate, growing weaker. The curse, born from "hunger," seemed to find a small measure of comfort and peace in that moment.
It was no longer so terrifying, no longer so aggressive. It was simply like a starving creature, focused on the food before it.
Only then did Natsume Yu slowly stand up, turn his head, and look at the girl who was still frozen in place, her soul yet to return to her body.
Yotsuya Miko's pupils were wide with shock. She stared blankly at the scene unfolding before her, at the upperclassman who had so easily resolved her life-or-death crisis.
On Natsume Yu's face, there was no sharpness of battle, no pride of exorcism.
His gaze was as gentle as a quiet night sky.
He walked to her side and said softly, in a voice almost only the two of them could hear:
"It must have been so hard, always having to pretend you don't see them."