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The next day arrived quickly.
After being "trained" over the past few days, Asher woke up almost by reflex.But the moment he opened his eyes, he remembered something. Today was Saturday. No classes.
So he rolled over, pulled the softly mumbling Hotaru-gusa into his arms, and went right back to sleep.
Unfortunately, that peaceful rest didn't last long. The phone on the nightstand began to vibrate, shattering his dream.
"Hello…?"
Still half-asleep, Asher picked up the call.
A familiar voice came through almost immediately.
"Good morning, Asher! It's Miko!"
"Huh? You sound like you're not fully awake yet, Asher?"
"Mmm. Isn't today a day off, Miko? Why are you calling so early? Something wrong?"
"Well… um… sorry for disturbing your rest."
"But… you remember what we agreed on the other day, right? Since it's a holiday, we were supposed to go out together…"
Miko Yotsuya's voice had grown hesitant, careful, as if she were afraid of imposing.
In her heart, she had never truly treated Asher as an equal friend.She always placed herself a step lower.
Hearing this, Asher finally remembered.
"Oh, right. That."
"Don't worry. I remember."
After agreeing to meet around noon, he hung up.
"Alright, time to get up. No more sleeping."
Rubbing his eyes, Asher looked at Hotaru-gusa, who was still fast asleep, and lightly patted her butt.
She only rolled over and let out a lazy little sound.
"I know, Master…"
"But let Hotaru-gusa sleep a bit longer. I'm still sooo sleepy…"
"Suit yourself."
Asher shook his head with a helpless smile and got up to start his usual routine.
…
By noon, the time they'd agreed on was getting closer.
Asher threw on some clothes and was about to head out when Hotaru-gusa, now awake and watching TV with him, noticed his movement. She immediately grabbed onto his pant leg.
She looked up at him with big, watery eyes.
"Master, are you going out? Can Hotaru-gusa come play too?"
After spending several days with Asher, she had grown more familiar with the modern world. And as a little girl, curiosity about the outside world was inevitable.
Looking at her cute, hopeful face, Asher couldn't bring himself to refuse.
After a moment's thought, he rubbed her head.
"Alright. You can come with me."
"Yay! Master's the best!"
Hotaru-gusa jumped up happily, clung to his chest, and planted a big kiss on his cheek.
Asher could only smile indulgently.
Sometimes, having a shikigami really was fun.Especially one like Hotaru-gusa, so cute and childlike.
About half an hour later, Asher arrived at the meeting spot, holding Hotaru-gusa's hand.
It was beneath the iconic cherry blossom tree at the entrance of the shopping district.
From afar, he spotted Miko Yotsuya standing under the tree, looking tense and uneasy, glancing around nervously.
What Asher didn't know was that a towering evil spirit was standing right behind her, its head lowered, staring intently at the top of her head.
Miko knew it was there.
That was why she looked so stiff and anxious.
"Um… Asher should be here soon…"
She muttered softly, swallowing repeatedly from nervousness.
She hadn't expected to be this unlucky.The moment she stepped outside, she ran into an evil spirit.
Worse, it seemed to have noticed something strange about her.
So it followed her all the way to the shopping street.
Did she want to run?
Of course she did.
But remembering her promise to meet Asher here, she forced herself to stay calm.
As long as she held on until Asher arrived, she would be safe.
She had never, ever wished for his arrival as desperately as she did now.
"Good afternoon, Miss Yotsuya. Sorry to keep you waiting."
The familiar voice made her freeze for a second. Then, like grabbing a lifeline, she spun toward the sound.
There he was.Asher, holding the hand of an adorable little girl.
The moment she saw him, Miko's face twisted into an expression that looked like she was about to cry.
"Ash… Asher… please… help…"
Only then did Asher notice something was wrong.
Without activating spiritual sight, he couldn't see evil spirits at all.
Before he could say anything, the well-behaved little girl beside him spoke up.
Hotaru-gusa tilted her head, tapped her chin with a finger, and looked straight at the evil spirit behind Miko with her big, sparkling eyes.
"Wow… Master, that thing is really ugly…"
"…?"
"Eh?"
Hotaru-gusa's words left Miko completely stunned.
Even the evil spirit behind her froze.
But after realizing what had just happened, the spirit twisted its face into a vicious snarl.
[You can see me?]
[You can actually see me?!]
[…]
After letting out a few hoarse, grating sounds, it lunged toward Hotaru-gusa, arms outstretched, tearing through the air as it attacked.
"Watch out!"
Miko could only shout a warning.
But what happened next made her eyes widen in disbelief.
She saw the cute little girl who was holding Asher's hand somehow pull out a massive dandelion in her other hand.
With a casual swing—
"Ding~"
That was all Miko heard.
The evil spirit that had just attacked vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
No scream. No struggle. Just gone.
"W-What… what just happened?!"
Miko stared in shock, unable to process what she'd seen.
Asher's voice sounded, calm and amused.
"Miss Yotsuya, let me introduce her."
"Her name is Hotaru-gusa miled sweetly at Miko.
"Hi, Sister Miko!"
"…W-Wait, she's a shikigami?!"
Everything finally clicked for Miko.
No wonder this little girl could see evil spirits.And no wonder she could casually erase the one that had been haunting her.
"....."