After the call ended, Hikigaya Hachiman stood frozen, still holding his phone.
Yuigahama Yui glanced at him with curiosity. "Was that Komachi calling? Did something happen?"
"Ah... nothing, just asked me to go grab some discounted groceries at the store."
The dead-eyed boy snapped back to reality, glancing at Yukinoshita Yukino with a slightly apologetic tone. "I need to leave now, or the good stuff will be gone."
"Okay."
Yukinoshita Yukino gave a brief reply.
"Wow, I didn't expect this side of you, Hikki. I thought you were just a dark, gloomy guy."
Yuigahama Yui remarked with a cheerful tone.
"Come on, I'm aiming to be a stay-at-home husband."
Hikigaya Hachiman tugged at his lips, forcing a grim smile, then said his goodbyes and grabbed his bag to leave the Service Club.
Not long after leaving, his phone in his pocket vibrated again. He pulled it out and saw a message from Yukinoshita Yukino, containing Hayashizaki's contact info.
A glimmer of excitement appeared in Hikigaya Hachiman's eyes. After a moment of adjusting his mood, he dialed Hayashizaki's number.
The phone was quickly picked up, and Hayashizaki's voice came through. "Come to the rooftop of the special building."
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At dusk, the witching hour arrived.
The sun had completely set below the city, leaving only the lingering red glow of the Tachibana sunset that colored the western sky. The deep blue night began to spread across the sky, gradually swallowing up the last traces of sunlight.
The last rays of sunlight that had poured into the school building also faded, and the corridor grew dim, illuminated only by faint moonlight.
The clear sound of footsteps echoed in the empty, silent hallway.
"Wow, the school at night is pretty creepy."
A girl with short bobbed black hair, wearing a traditional sailor uniform and pleated skirt, rubbed her arms, the black stockings hugging her slim, delicate legs.
"You're the one who suggested we come explore, Saki-chan, and yet you're the one scared first,"
said the other girl with brown curly hair, holding her mouth and smiling teasingly.
"Isn't it even a little scared?"
Saki asked in response.
"Of course not, what's there to be scared of?"
Eri proudly tilted her head, "It's just a little darker, you're only scared because you're scaring yourself."
She said this while glancing back at Komachi, who was following behind them. "Right, Komachi?"
"Hmm?"
Komachi, who had been looking at the city nightscape outside the window, turned her head. "Well, it's fine, actually. It feels a bit new."
She flashed a cute smile, showing her small tiger teeth. "And, it's so late and still no piano sound. Looks like it's just a hoax!"
Just as she finished speaking, the sound of a piano began to play somewhere in the school, faintly reaching the ears of the three girls.
The smiles on their faces froze instantly.
Even Eri, who had just claimed she wasn't scared at all, subconsciously grabbed Saki's arm, which was closest to her.
"Is this for real...?"
Komachi's expression started to crack. She had just said the campus ghost stories were fake, and now the piano sound started playing. This was a bit too fast for a slap in the face, wasn't it?
Could it be that the ghost from the story heard her words and got upset?
"What do we do now?"
Eri asked, her voice trembling. "There really is a piano sound. Maybe we should leave the school quickly?"
"No way! We've come all this way!"
Saki, who had been scared at first, suddenly grew bold, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
"There's only a piano in the music room. Maybe a student is still practicing there? Let's go take a look!"
"Ehh? No way, it feels too scary..."
Eri said reluctantly, casting a pleading look at Hikigaya Komachi. "Komachi, you want to go home too, right?"
"Komachi, don't you want to confirm if the campus ghost stories are true?"
Saki also looked at her eagerly.
"Ehh—You want me to decide?"
Komachi's face showed a slightly troubled but cute expression.
"Well, I guess we can take a look?"
She spoke hesitantly. "After all, there can't really be ghosts or anything, right?"
"Yay!"
Saki almost jumped up in excitement. She grabbed Eri's hand and started heading toward the music room, with Komachi following closely behind.
As the three girls got closer to the music room, the piano sound became clearer, the music flowing beautifully, as if a piano master was performing live.
"You know, the music actually sounds really good. If it's really a student from our school playing, our school should've won many piano competitions by now."
Eri commented while listening to the piano.
"Maybe the one playing is a genius student, but because their piano skills were too outstanding, other people became jealous and killed them. The student became a vengeful spirit, stuck in the music room, unable to rest. They lure students with the piano sound and then kill them!"
Saki whispered seriously, her voice deliberately gloomy, scaring Eri, who shivered. Goosebumps rose on her slender arms.
"Stop it! If you keep saying stuff like that, I'm not going with you anymore!"
Eri grumbled unhappily. She just wanted to distract herself by talking, but instead of working, her friend told her a scary ghost story and made her even more frightened.
"Okay, okay, I won't say anything more."
Saki chuckled softly. By this point, she didn't seem scared at all. Excited, she tugged Eri's hand and quickened her pace. "The music room is almost here. Let's hurry up!"
"Hey, you two are walking so fast while holding hands. Be careful not to trip!"
Komachi kindly reminded them from behind, then quickened her steps to catch up.
The three girls quickly arrived in front of the music room.
After hesitating for a while, Eri pushed Saki forward. Saki nervously tugged at her pleated skirt and then reached for the door handle of the music room.
"Ehh?"
The classroom door, which was thought to be tightly closed, wasn't actually shut all the way. A gentle push opened it.
In the dimly lit room, several beams of moonlight filtered through the window, and the tiny dust particles in the air danced in the light.
Thanks to the moonlight, the room could be seen to have many different kinds of musical instruments neatly arranged. And in the corner of the room, the grand piano, known as the "king of instruments," sat quietly.
The three of them carefully peeked their heads around the door to look inside.
The soft leather seat was empty.
But the piano keys were still moving on their own, producing notes that formed a beautiful, melodious tune.
Suddenly, as if it had noticed the visitors, the piano stopped playing, and the music abruptly ceased.
...
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You can read 10 advanced chapters at my patreon.com/YeyeQiu