"Ooka, do you believe in the existence of souls?"
In Ooka's room, Mahito gently placed both hands on his brown hair, as if giving him a head massage, and spoke in a calm voice.
The room was sealed tightly, with the windows shut and the curtains drawn, casting a dim light over the entire space.
"Soul? Does such a thing really exist?"
Ooka asked, confused.
"My technique," Mahito smiled, "is about changing the shape of the soul through touch."
It was the first time he had tried injecting his technique into an ordinary human, and he was curious to see what kind of result would come from it.
Turning a human's soul into a cursed spirit through brute force was much simpler. But this method, changing someone's soul to give them cursed power and techniques, was far more delicate.
Still, he kept a casual attitude.
After all, it was just a small experiment. Even if it failed, he could always find another test subject. Humans were everywhere.
"Oops, I think I went a bit too far."
Mahito mischievously winked. "Oh well, let's leave it like this."
"Eh? What do you mean by 'too far'... Ahhh!!!"
Before Ooka could finish his sentence, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his head, as if a thousand silver needles were stabbing into his brain.
"Mahito, my head hurts so much!"
"It's fine, it's fine. This is the price for gaining power."
Mahito patted his head as if soothing a baby. "Now, you can do anything you want."
His voice echoed in Ooka's ears, which were clouded by the pain, like the whisper of a demon from hell, deceiving him into offering his soul.
"Anything... I want to do...?"
"Exactly, anything."
Mahito's gentle voice described the "wonderful future" to him.
"Take what you want, kill those you want to kill. You've transcended humanity and entered the realm of cursed users."
"Kill... just kill..."
The pain in Ooka's head began to fade, replaced by a growing malice and cruelty that swelled from deep within him. His eyes were unfocused as he murmured.
Meanwhile, hidden from his sight, strange eyes on the back of his neck spread across his spine, beneath his shirt.
"Make sure to use this power well."
After leaving that remark, Mahito abandoned his pitiful test subject and leisurely left.
To Mahito, Ooka was a failure. Perhaps in a few days, his soul would crumble under the distortion and he would die.
For the next few days, Ooka didn't go to school. He locked himself in his room, refusing to come out even when his family tried to persuade him.
He only ventured out in the middle of the night when his family was asleep, raiding the fridge for food.
Unable to do anything, Ooka's parents wrapped up meals in plastic and stored them in the fridge, waiting for their son to eat them in the early morning hours.
During this time, Hayama Hayato visited a few times. Even Tobe Yamato and Miura Yumeko came along, invited into the house by Ooka's parents, but they still couldn't get Ooka to leave his room.
However, when Hayama showed up, Ooka would yell at him to go away.
Hiratsuka Shizuka also came once. Having skipped so many classes, as his life guidance teacher, she had to check on the situation.
Though Hiratsuka Shizuka usually acted in a carefree, boisterous way, more like an older man than a refined lady, and was even nicknamed "Iron Fist Teacher" by the students, her dedication to her students was clear to everyone.
So, even though Ooka's mind had become increasingly unclear, when Hiratsuka Shizuka knocked on his door, he still spoke kindly, saying,
"Hiratsuka-sensei, please go home."
Unable to stop him, Hiratsuka Shizuka had no choice but to return to school.
As soon as she arrived back at Sōbu High, she went straight to Hayama Haruto to ask what had happened.
Seeing there was no way to keep it a secret any longer, Hayama could only smile bitterly as he honestly told her everything that had occurred.
"Ugh... Something like this actually happened."
Hiratsuka Shizuka sighed, looking frustrated as she smoked. For a moment, she didn't know what to say.
She couldn't exactly blame Yukinoshita Yukino for being too harsh, could she?
You can't just pass the blame like that.
"Does Yukinoshita know about this?"
After thinking for a moment, Hiratsuka Shizuka asked Hayama.
"I think... she probably knows?" Hayama Haruto hesitated for a moment before answering. Yuigahama Yui and Hikigaya Hachiman were in Class 2-F, so they should have explained the situation to Yukinoshita Yukino.
However, in reality, both Yuigahama Yui and Hikigaya Hachiman had chosen to keep the matter a secret and hadn't told Yukinoshita Yukino about Ooka's situation.
Upon hearing this, Hiratsuka Shizuka furrowed her brow even more deeply. She nearly dropped her cigarette as a large puff of smoke came out, making Hayama cough instinctively.
Seeing this, she stubbed the half-finished cigarette into the ashtray and waved her hand, signaling for Hayama to leave. "Alright, go back now. I'll think of something."
"With Yukinoshita's personality, she might just fixate on this..."
After Hayama Haruto left, Hiratsuka Shizuka lit another cigarette. But even as the cigarette burned down to the filter, she still couldn't come up with a good solution. Going directly to ask might not be the best approach.
After thinking it over, Hiratsuka Shizuka decided to call her former student and now friend, Yukinoshita Haruno, for advice.
After explaining the whole situation to Yukinoshita Haruno, her response was that they didn't need to worry about it.
"Shizuka, Yuki-chan has changed, she's not the same as before. We don't need to be concerned about her anymore."
That's how Yukinoshita Haruno responded to Hiratsuka Shizuka over the phone.
Even if something did happen, it would probably be handled by that Hayashizaki guy.
"Is that really the case?"
After hanging up the phone, Hiratsuka Shizuka put it down with some doubt. Haruno, of all people, would let her sister be on her own? Was this still the same Yukinoshita Haruno she knew?
Just as she hesitated whether to go check with the Service Club, the next day, Ooka came back to school.
...
...
Late at night, in a room shrouded in darkness, Ooka knelt on the bed, his upper body bare. His back was covered with large and small eyes, and his skin was unnaturally bulging, as though something was about to burst out. The skin appeared to be wriggling, as if something was about to break through the surface at any moment.
The bedsheet was torn apart by him. His throat emitted hoarse sounds, and his bloodshot eyes seemed ready to burst. A constant buzzing filled his ears, as though another version of himself was whispering incessantly.
Moonlight leaked through the gap in the curtains, casting an eerie shadow on the wall.
The shadow seemed like a large hand stretching endlessly, wrapping around Ooka's figure. He instinctively tried to struggle, but the thought was quickly suffocated by the tightening grip.
...
...
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