2.1

On a regular gloomy Friday afternoon, we found ourselves joining the Ghost Hunting Club at Kamiyama High in Kyoto. It was an extraordinary club in an otherwise ordinary government-run school. Until now, we only knew its name and that it held some secrets beyond the grasp of normal students like us. Little did we know, we were about to dive headfirst into a world of mysteries.

The club's main mission? Investigating paranormal activities, especially those happening in the mystical city of Kyoto. There were only two schools in each state of Japan with such clubs, and here we were, newly minted first-years in Kyoto, with very little knowledge of what lay ahead.

As we stepped into this enigmatic world, our club president, Hiromi, seemed to have immense faith in our abilities. But we, Rika and I, were determined to prove him wrong. We were just normal students, after all, and we were about to discover if we truly had what it took to navigate the extraordinary challenges that awaited us.

So, here we were, geared up for our very first official ghost hunt. But, as luck would have it, it had to be raining on this utterly ridiculous evening, which was already off to an eventful start. Rika and I stood in front of a quaint café, seeking refuge from the relentless rain, while our ghostly mission hung in the balance.

Rika grumbled, "Why, Hiromi? Why'd you send us to work on a Saturday? Nobody works on Saturday!"

I couldn't resist teasing her, "Well, everyone does, except you, the queen of procrastination."

Her eyes narrowed, and she shot back, "Don't forget, I did your math homework."

I shrugged, "That's a different kind of torture."

The playful banter continued, momentarily lifting our spirits, until Rika's eyes shot daggers at me, her arms crossed tightly against her chest. "Three minutes, you said you'd be here on time!" Her voice carried a mixture of frustration and disappointment.

I fumbled for words, trying to explain my tardiness. "I'm so sorry, Rika. The traffic was just..."

She cut me off with a stern glare. "No excuses. I was waiting for you, but you were late. Now see, we're both late."

Rika, with the patience of a toddler, began shouting at me for being three minutes late. I mean, seriously? I take longer than that to decide which cereal to eat in the morning!

"It's because of you, you know!" she muttered, her frustration evident. "I was waiting, and now look, it's raining!"

I chose to ignore her, much like I ignored my math classes. But eventually, I couldn't ignore the sheer spookiness etched onto her face. but eventually, I noticed the creepy expression on her face. She was undeniably cute, or rather, beautiful, no doubt, with a decent height. However, her current expression made me feel like I was in deep trouble. As she start moving with a touch of enthusiasm, my eyes unintentionally went rogue and landed on her chest, triggering a nostalgic flashback of mine with her. Rika's breasts were well proportioned, not too big, not too small.—the perfect size.

"Nagato-kun, were you pondering something silly just now?" she asked.

"Er, no, not at all."

"I thought I detected some strange vibes."

Yep, she could read me like a book. A really inappropriate book.

At that moment, I was mentally flipping a coin. Either she'd kick my rear into the next century or slap me repeatedly until my face turned red look like a tomato in a blender, and people had to rescue me. But luck was on my side this time as she grabbed my collar and, miraculously, the rain called it quits.

"I guess the rain had enough of us," I quipped.

After realizing that the rain had officially retired, she darted forward with all the grace of a water buffalo on roller skates, nearly slipping into a puddle. Luckily, I channeled my inner superhero and grabbed her hand, saving the day. This time, we were lucky, and I couldn't help but think, "Ghost Club adventures: 1, Nagato's awkwardness: 0."

Without wasting a second, we charged toward the haunted house nestled near the forest. Back in our old school, I was a top athlete, but this time, I was outrun by Rika, or perhaps it was her complete lack of patience. The house stood eerily vacant, a place where the old lady had breathed her last just last year, and her daughter had hightailed it to the US. We arrived at the imposing, old-fashioned mansion; it looked spectacular, but my excitement was quickly doused as it was as creepy as Rika's evil smile.

We discovered a few other vacant houses nearby. The owners, who had been witnessing paranormal activities for months, had hightailed it out of there, leaving the place to us for investigation. Cowards, I thought, even us youngsters were braver than those folks.

"Ready for this, Rika?" I muttered.

"Absolutely, let's dive right in," Rika replied, brimming with enthusiasm, while I was crying internally, yearning for my cozy home and a video game marathon.

We proceeded to the entrance gate and were relieved to find the door unlocked. As we ventured inside, I clutched my cursed knife in my right hand and a UV torch in my left, while Rika wielded a saltwater spray and a ghost capture jar. We called out to the spirits, exploring every nook and cranny to detect any paranormal presence. Rika glanced at me and asked if I was scared. I jokingly retorted, "If you get scared, feel free to seek refuge in my arms," even though I was secretly the most frightened one.

After 15 minutes of searching, I noticed a shadow moving within the UV rays, albeit unclear. Determined to confirm, we delved deeper into the investigation, and sure enough, it was the ghost. I saw bloodstains on Rika's clothes, and the ghost seemed to have developed a keen interest in her. I swiftly recommended that she stick close to me, brandishing the holy salt Hiromy had provided to break the ghost's pursuit.

After several tense minutes, Rika shot me a mysterious smile. To be honest, I was scared, wondering if she had been possessed by the ghost. I stammered, "Oh, so you're trying to give me a good scare, huh?"

Rika suggested, "Let's proceed with the ritual; we've got candles too."

My heart skipped a beat. Rituals? Those were like playing with fire, and not the fun kind. Hiromy had warned us about ghostly rituals, how they could turn spirits into extra-grumpy guests, and even though I was on the verge of tears, I reluctantly agreed. Sure, I wanted to impress Rika with my bravery, but it was so scarce you could count it in negative numbers.

I stood behind Rika, ready to be her defense against the supernatural forces. Rika started creating a circle on the floor using salt, then placed a triangle with its corners on the circle's circumference. She carefully positioned burning candles at each corner, and the ritual symbol was complete.

"Now, it's your turn. I designed the symbol so you could easily activate it," she murmured.

I hesitated. "No, it was your idea, you wanted to perform it, so you should do it."

Rika's eyes sparkled mischievously. "Oh, I see it scared you, huh? I thought boys were always the brave ones, Nagato. But I guess I was wrong."

At that moment, I felt like a pawn on a chessboard, and Rika was the queen. Reluctantly, I agreed, but deep down, I was convinced that I was going to meet my ghostly end. After all, she would have plenty of time to flee as soon as I started the ritual.

Immediately, we switched our instruments and adopted a defensive stance. Rika held the UV torch and saltwater, while I gripped the cursed knife, ready to strike down the ghost if necessary. Taking a deep breath, I cut my hand and let three drops of blood fall into the center of the triangle, signaling the start of the ritual. The atmosphere grew charged with an eerie presence, and our hearts raced in response.

Even though it had been Rika's plan to enact the ritual, it was now my turn to potentially meet my ghostly end. The ghost wasted no time in attacking us, slashing through the air. I received three slashes, and my blood stained the floor. Rika also bore the mark of the ghost's fury. It seemed all too clear that we were about to meet our demise together.

"What a lovely place to meet our end," I muttered sarcastically.

The ghost continued its relentless assault, and I managed to deal some serious blows to it. However, it grew furious with me and lunged forward. Just as it closed in on me, Rika doused it with saltwater. It began to burn, though not as effectively as we had hoped. Now, it turned its attention to Rika, who sprinted to safety but slipped, falling to the ground. Her saltwater bottle shattered – our last line of defense was in shambles.

As the ghost aimed its next attack at Rika, I delivered a well-timed strike. However, we still couldn't see the ghost clearly; we were relying purely on luck. Then, it unleashed a devastating attack on me, sending me crashing to the ground. I was bleeding profusely and on the brink of unconsciousness. Suddenly, it entered our dimension, becoming visible. It was a female ghost, not extremely dangerous, but the ritual had empowered it.

"You're still here, as you weren't visible before. You can start counting now," I mumbled to the ghost.

"I knew it, my hero," Rika said.

"Shut your mouth; you pushed me into this mess," I replied.

Summoning my last reserves of strength, I lunged at the ghost, delivering several cuts, but only a few proved effective. The curse on my knife was gradually fading with each strike. It retaliated with a powerful blow, causing me to lose consciousness.

When I finally regained consciousness, I was met with an unexpected sight—the ghost had been vanquished, and a new face stood beside me. His name, as we soon discovered, was Sanemy.

"Hey there, are you feeling all right?" Rika asked, concern etched across her face. Sanemy, however, had already begun his medical examination.

"How many fingers can you see? One or maybe two of the twelve?" he quipped, clearly trying to lighten the mood.

I mustered a weak smile. "I'm okay, you fool. But seriously, who are you?"

Sanemy leaned back, revealing a mischievous grin. "The name's Sanemy. Hiromy sent me over to lend a hand since I had some free time. I must say, you two put up quite a show back there. It's just that cursed knife of yours that got you into trouble."

"Thanks, but did you manage to finish off that ghost?" I asked, still a bit shaky from the encounter.

Sanemy shook his head. "Nah, Rika's the real pro here. She captured it. She's quite the strong hunter, you'll see."

As we arrived back at our club house, Hiromy took the opportunity to formally introduce us to each other. We exchanged greetings, and then, to our surprise, Hiromy handed us our hard-earned payment for our ghostly adventure. However, Sanemy respectfully declined his share, claiming that it was Rika and me who had weakened the ghost in the first place.

As we bid our farewells and started on our way home, Sanemy, ever the curious one, couldn't resist asking us about how we first crossed paths. Rika and I exchanged glances, sharing a knowing smile, before launching into a shared flashback:

On my very first day of school, I began, I was late because I'd managed to sleep through my alarm. I sprinted down the hall, desperately trying to reach my classroom before the teacher, and then it happened. I slipped and collided with a girl who, as fate would have it, was also running late, rushing from the opposite direction to the very same class.

After the collision, she tumbled to the floor, and I landed on top of her. My face ended up right on her chest, and I found myself in a situation I had never experienced before. We froze for a moment, and my cheeks turned as red as a tomato. She broke the silence by asking, "How long are you planning to stay down there? Are you okay?"

I stammered an apology, utterly embarrassed.

"I'm so sorry," I stammered. "I didn't have a plan for that."

She chuckled, lightening the awkward moment, and replied, "Well, neither did I. Let's just forget this ever happened, deal?"

We both agreed to keep that awkward encounter as our little secret, a memory that would later become an amusing story to share.

"Please, don't tell anyone about this. I don't want to be teased by anyone," she implored.

I quickly reassured her, "No, never, I won't tell a soul. I'm so sorry again. Um, by the way, are you a first-year student since you were running in my direction?" I mumbled, trying to ease the awkwardness.

She nodded, recalling the urgency of our tardiness. We entered the classroom together, but we became the center of attention as we both arrived late.

Back in the present, I turned to Sanemy and shared, "Rika and I have been good childhood friends for quite some time now." Rika chimed in, confirming the statement.

Sanemy nodded and said, "Alright then, see you tomorrow. Oh, by the way, I'm in the second year of Kamiyama High."

With that, he bid farewell, and we went our separate ways, each of us carrying our own unique memories and stories from that day.

As Rika entered her home, she was greeted by a heartwarming scene. Her family, well aware of her mother's ongoing battle with cancer, had been through difficult times. Rika's little brother, with his innocent eyes and an appreciative smile, brightened up as he caught sight of the food she had brought home.

"Hmm, oh no, it's my favorite food!" he exclaimed, his voice filled with genuine excitement. "I've missed this so much. Thank you, sis, you're the absolute best."

Rika's heart swelled with a mixture of joy and sadness. Seeing her little brother's happiness was a ray of light amidst the challenges they faced as a family. As they began to enjoy the meal together, her mother, weakened by her illness, joined them at the table. Her presence added a special warmth to the moment, reminding them of the love and resilience that bound them together, even in the face of adversity.