Kitagawa Tera put the last bit of rice into his mouth and gave Kamiya Mirai a suggestion. "You have Ryoko's number. Asking the police for help is your best option."
"Asking the police for help is indeed the best option right now." Having regained her composure, Kamiya Mirai continued, "But I don't know why, I just feel that instead of asking the police for help, it's more reliable to get Tera-kun to protect me."
"Is that also your intuition?" Kitagawa Tera was a little surprised. Why was this little girl so confident in him?
"Hehe. Instead of calling it intuition, it's closer to 'instinct' now. I am someone good at avoiding danger!"
Kamiya Mirai appeared to be very confident in her instinct. Her pair of glittering black eyes were staring at Kitagawa Tera without blinking. "So, I would like to ask Tera-Kun to protect me."
"No." Kitagawa Tera refused without hesitation. Are you kidding me? Although the Kitagawas' mother isn't at home, there's still a Kitagawa Eri at home that I need to look after. Where would I find the time to take care of another girl?
"I can pay you! One hundred thousand yen! Just let me stay for these few days! Once the culprit is caught, I will immediately go home myself!" Kamiya Mirai patted the long bench vigorously, making Kitagawa Tera an offer that moved him slightly.
The Kitagawas' mother worked hard abroad most of the year, and she would transfer 200,000 yen for living expenses to Kitagawa Tera and Kitagawa Eri every month.
Without needing to rent a house outside, sharing 200,000 yen equally meant that they each got 100,000 yen. It was more than enough for a high school student. However, Kitagawa Tera had given Kitagawa Eri a 50,000 yen red packet a bit ago and had also given half of the money from the Kitagawas' mother this month to Kitagawa Eri for safekeeping, leaving him with only 130,000 yen.
Although 130,000 yen sounded like a lot, Kitagawa Tera was in the process of the system transforming his body and had a large appetite. He might also need to spend some of the money on transportation or other miscellaneous things, so he needed to tighten his belt to pass his days.
Therefore, the allure of a 100,000 yen was significant to him.
But Kitagawa Tera still did not promise to Kamiya Mirai. He looked at her. "Kamiya-san, do your parents allow you to stay at a boy's house? There may be other troubles then. Besides, only my sister and I are at home, and it may not be necessarily safer than your home."
"Uh… About that… Actually…" Kamiya Mirai touched her head awkwardly. "My parents will probably not be home these few days. They called yesterday to say that they were going on a business trip for seven days. Being alone at home is really a bit… Uh…"
No matter how brave Kamiya Mirai was, after encountering what happened at the lake park yesterday, it would be too difficult for her to stay in an insecure home alone.
Once she shut her eyes, Kamiya Mirai seemed to see Hoshino Nana's large eyes staring fixedly at her face.
At this moment, Kitagawa Tera said, "You had a nightmare yesterday?"
Eh???!
Aren't you going too far? Not only did you guess that someone broke into my house yesterday, but you even know that I had a nightmare?
Kamiya Mirai was placed so accurately that her scalp was slightly tingling. She recalled what Kitagawa Tera had said about dissecting real people before and smiled. "I sometimes really suspect that Tera-kun is a worm in my stomach. Tera-kun knows exactly what I'm thinking."
"I can tell."
"You can tell?" Kamiya Mirai was a little surprised.
She vaguely sensed that this might be the important reason why Kitagawa Tera had entered the lake park alone yesterday.
He was different from ordinary people and seemed to possess a type of supernatural power.
It might be because of this incomprehensible power that Kitagawa Tera's character had changed drastically after the ten-day winter vacation.
Honestly, Kitagawa Tera was not ugly and even slightly handsome. It was just that this was always overshadowed by his gloomy and irritable atmosphere. Now that his aura had changed greatly, people started paying attention to his appearance.
Kitagawa Tera looked handsome, and he had a hard and cold temperament, but he was not as untouchable as before. And this happened to be Kamiya Mirai's type.
"What are you looking at?" Kitagawa Tera frowned and tapped his fingers on the long bench. His voice was flat. "You can pay me fifty thousand yen, and I will solve the Hoshino Nana problem."
"Hey, I haven't even told you who I dreamed about, Tera-kun." Kamiya Mirai opened her small mouth, not expecting Kitagawa Tera to even know who she had dreamed about.
He can't read minds, can he? She could not help thinking.
"I can't read minds, nor am I a worm in your stomach."
A black mist flashed across Kitagawa Tera's eyes. His gaze fell straight on to Kamiya Mirai, and his tone remained the same. "Seems like you've already come into contact with the other side of the world long ago."
Under Kamiya Mirai's incredulous gaze, a black mist was hovering around Kitagawa Tera's fingertips.
The weather now was clear, with no clouds in sight. The snow had already completely melted, and everything seemed to be coming back to life.
However…
How did Kitagawa-san's fingertips have a black mist appear there out of thin air? And it isn't dissipating?
This obviously violated the laws of physics.
Moreover, the black mist made her feel very uncomfortable and even caused her hair to stand on end.
Looking at this black mist, Kamiya Mirai only felt that she was standing in front of a large door.
Behind that door was a boundless world, one she had not seen before.
"It's amazing! Tera-kun! How did you do that?! I definitely didn't see anything burning, but the black smoke just appeared out of thin air!"
Kamiya Mirai reached out to try to catch the black mist, but Kitagawa Tera stopped her.
However, the exceptionally curious Kamiya Mirai ignored him. She cast her worries aside and leaned her soft body on Kitagawa Tera.
"If you want to lie in the hospital, you can touch it."
"…" Kamiya Mirai's watery eyes stared at Kitagawa Tera's fingers. But she stopped moving and sat back in her original spot. "Is this Tera-kun's secret?"
"Haven't you come into contact with something similar in the past?"
Come into contact with something like this?
Kitagawa Tera's calm gaze caused Kamiya Mirai to calm down too.
"Is Tera-kun referring to… the paranormal?"
"Yes. Apart from Hoshino Nana's grudge, there's something else. And you seem to have seen it directly before." Kitagawa Tera extended two fingers.
"Ordinary people haunted by grudges will have nightmares and reduced luck, possibly even affecting their body. You have another grudge on you, but not much is left due to how long it's been.
Hearing Kitagawa Tera say this reminded Kamiya Mirai of something.
The supernatural event that she had encountered in middle school.
"That tall lady in the Four Corners Spirit Channeling game…" Kamiya Mirai murmured. She quickly regained her composure. "Tera-kun said just now that you would help me resolve the Four Corners Spirit Channeling game and Hoshino Nana issues for fifty thousand yen?"
"Yes." Kitagawa Tera nodded.
"Then, can Tera-kun let me stay at your house?!" Her eyes glittered, and her voice sounded somewhat excited.
"No."
"I can pay more!" Kamiya Mirai gritted her teeth, determined to push on.
"…" Kitagawa Tera's face sank.
Following his expression, Kamiya Mirai's heart sank as well…
"How much more?"
Eh??? Kamiya Mirai opened her little mouth in astonishment and finally gave her bottom line. "Add fifty thousand yen to that one hundred thousand yen!"
"Okay, deal!" A smile broke out across Kitagawa Tera's face.
But looking at his smile, Kamiya Mirai did not know why she felt a chill.
As long as Kitagawa smiled, nothing good was going to happen.