Miss Heir wasn't very kind to me.

Chapter 134, Section 10: "The Haunted House and the Seven Mysteries of North High School"

"What did you do to make them worship you so much?"

Upon entering the haunted house, Rinne tilted her head curiously and asked him a question.

Masumi then explained it to her.

"..."

“Boring.” Rinne shook her head slightly, uttering a short word from her lips.

"It is indeed very boring."

Masumi smiled and nodded, then saw the black-haired girl staring straight into his eyes and asked, "So what do you think?"

"Ok?"

"Is it true that the more girls surrounding you, the better?"

"Cough! Of course not." Masumi choked on her question. "Why are you asking all of a sudden?"

"So that means... five are enough?"

"Not at all."

After giving this answer, the girl rested her chin on her hand and said something meaningful.

"Really? So you want more?"

"I didn't say that."

Hearing Masumi's somewhat flustered reply, Rinne pursed her tender cherry lips, then slightly curved them into a charming smile.

Masumi gave a wry smile: "When did you become someone who makes such malicious jokes?"

Seeing her slightly cunning expression, with her eyes crinkling in a smile, she was nothing like the usual Kamishiro.

When did things start to change? Probably after the Obon festival, after the fireworks display on the Uji River.

"Is that not allowed?" Rinne asked in a questioning tone.

"You've been joking with me all along. I'm not the type to sit idly by and wait to die."

"Huh? Really? I'm usually a very serious person, right?"

There have been all sorts of people who have said they are serious and earnest, although Masumi knows very well that these evaluations are probably no different from the polite words a teacher says to a parent during a three-way interview, such as "this child is very smart".

However, hearing what Kamishiro said still felt a bit of a blow, for some reason.

"He's clearly just pretending to be serious."

Rinne pursued him with a cold tone: "When we were in Rokko, you deliberately bought me very bitter green tea, and in Daikichi, you peeked at my underwear while I was applying medicine."

Air poured out of her throat with a hiss, making Masumi realize what was happening and she gasped for breath.

"Uh, hearing you say that makes me feel terrible."

"It's just awful."

The black-haired beauty maintained her usual indifference, slightly nodding her head, and a weak murmur, tinged with the truth, escaped from her cherry-colored lips.

"And I... you've made a mess of things too."

Feeling that her words had taken a turn for the worse halfway through, Rinne stopped Masumi from blurting out a sarcastic remark with a look, then turned her head away to avoid the main point.

“You’ve been here four times, so you should be quite familiar with it by now. That’s why I’ll go first this time.”

"okay."

Masumi responded and handed her the flashlight, watching as Kamishiro strode off with great momentum, her taut legs peeking out from under her navy blue dress.

After walking for a while, Rinne suddenly stopped.

Masumi glanced at the light stretching to the ground and saw Kamishiro in black canvas shoes. Her ankles, encased in white socks, outlined a beautiful curve as she walked towards them.

"that……"

His shirt cuff was caught, and looking down, he could see the girl's slender fingers tightly gripping the hem of his shirt.

Because she was making desserts, her nails were cut very short and unpainted, but they still shimmered in the dim light of the haunted house.

"What, are you scared?"

"No."

She gently shook her head, and after a moment's thought, said, "Those four...were they also like this when they went to the haunted house with you, right?"

“It’s even worse than that.”

"so?"

Her fair and smooth skin peeked out from the cuff of her dress and pressed against Masumi's arm with some hesitation.

"Yeah, but they all hugged you much tighter."

After saying this, Masumi belatedly realized that what she said sounded almost like she was encouraging Kamishiro.

The soft touch of the fabric seeped into Masumi's arm, and Rinne gently bit her lip, her long, glossy black hair covering her flushed face.

"This is... already the limit."

A gentle silence melted into the air.

"Ah, it doesn't have to be that way."

After offering a pale explanation, Masumi immediately got to the point: "Let's keep going."

"Ah."

The haunted house has two kinds of background music: a woman's sobbing and the sound of water dripping. The two play on a loop, and this time it's the former's turn in the game.

"so poor."

Hearing the crying coming from the speaker, Rinne suddenly spoke with a rather sentimental tone.

"Pitiful?"

"Ah."

She nodded. "These vengeful spirits are usually those who have encountered something so sad that they cannot let go of it, which is why they cannot become Buddhas and have become wandering ghosts."

"Uh, I think that's how it is," Masumi replied woodenly.

There are many ways to stay calm in a haunted house.

Some people are driven by sheer grit, like Seno, while Masumi herself is driven by a desire to explore the principles behind mechanisms.

But this was the first time he had ever seen someone overcome fear by empathizing with a ghost.

A chilling wind blew from all sides, causing the curtains on both sides of the passage to sway eerily.

"If you were to wander around by yourself, it would actually be a little scary."

Rinne unconsciously hugged Masumi's arm tighter.

"Only a little bit?"

"There's only a little bit."

She snorted through her nose, a slight blush spreading across her fair cheeks, but instead of loosening her grip, she hugged him even tighter.

How long does the whole process take?

Masumi thought for a moment and said, "It took about 10 minutes."

"So long?" she asked, slightly surprised. "It's just two classrooms put together."

"Because cardboard boxes and curtains are used to divide the space, creating a maze effect, and in a pitch-black environment, people will subconsciously walk very slowly."

"so."

Masumi's explanation was convincing, and Rinne nodded, but then narrowed her eyes imposingly and turned her head to face him.

"what happened?"

"You spent much more than 10 minutes with each person just now, didn't you?"

"There are always unexpected situations."

"Is that so?" Rinne looked suspicious, her luscious lips curving into a distorted arc.

"Hmm." Masumi carefully selected examples from her memories. "For example—"

"Wow--"

She suddenly let out a sharp, mournful cry.

"What happened?" Masumi asked hurriedly.

"It felt like something brushed past my feet."

The blood drained away, and the girl's once rosy cheeks returned to their fair complexion.

"You must have kicked a prop toy."

Masumi tilted the flashlight beam downwards, but could only see Rinne's slender feet; nothing else.

"There's nothing there. Are you just too nervous?"

"you do not believe me?"

Rinne's expression turned cold, and she stomped her right foot slightly on the spot where she had been touched.

She was wearing white stockings with ruffled edges today, and the lace at the top of the stockings trembled delicately and charmingly.

"I wanted to grab the top of her lace stockings, slowly lift her ankle to her toes with my fingertips, and like unwrapping a gift, take off her socks to reveal her fair and smooth feet."

—Such a perverse and evil thought flashed through her mind, lingering in the dark corner of the haunted house. Masumi moved the flashlight away.

"No, of course I believe you, but I've been here four times already, and there really aren't any mechanisms moving at high speeds underfoot—"

"Wow!"

This time, it was Masumi herself who uttered the lament.

"What are you yelling about?!"

As Rinne glared at him, a hint of trepidation flickered in her eyes. "Could it be... that you sensed it too?"

"Ah."

Masumi recalled the shock and the sensation: "It was furry, like a doll, and it moved very fast. It didn't feel like it was being controlled by a mechanism, but rather like it was moving on its own."

Could there really be living, terrifying dolls?
"The Seven Wonders of Taipei High School".

Rinne suddenly muttered to herself.

"What is that?" Masumi asked in surprise.

“The strange tales about this school that have been circulating among students for a long time,” she said with a look of disgust.

"The first six all have clear directions, but the seventh one is inexplicable; no one knows anything about it."

"It is said that if anyone finds out, that person will disappear without a trace."

"It must be that the person who made up the ghost story was too lazy to think of a seventh one," Masumi thought.

"So you suspect that what just swept past was the seventh incredible thing?"

"do not know."

Rinne shook her head frankly, "However, I would be very unwilling if I disappeared like this. There are still four things I'm concerned about that I haven't been able to do well."

"Concerns? Four things?"

“If the old ladies and everyone at the orphanage, Mr. Iken’s illness, and the fact that he entrusted the coffee shop to me were to disappear, I would be very unwilling,” Rinne said earnestly.

"Orphanage, coffee shop, my father... uh, that's only three, right?"

"If it were here, there would only be three items."

Rinne gave an irrelevant answer, turning her gaze straight into the depths of the passage, where it was pitch black and seemed like a monster with its mouth open, ready to swallow any human who had strayed in.

"Can we still get out?" she asked worriedly.

"Uh, I think so."

As Masumi answered, she wiped the sweat from her palms onto her trouser leg.

He hadn't cared at first, but after being introduced to the situation by Kamishiro in such a serious manner, he began to feel a chill run down his spine.

As a boy, Masumi felt he couldn't show weakness, so after calming himself down and grabbing his flashlight, he continued walking forward with trepidation.

From this point on, the two people's emotions were truly stirred by the haunted house, and their bodies subconsciously snuggled closer together.

Arms intertwined, skin overlapping, the girl's skin, covered with a thin layer of sweat, felt cool and comfortable, but the tense environment left Masumi no time to notice these things.

Although it's called a maze, once you see through the deceptive traps, it's a simple one-way path. And since this is my fifth time playing it, if there's a light source, I can easily reach the exit.

Masumi has that kind of confidence.

"We've tampered with the props; they won't light up in certain areas. Please enjoy yourselves without worry."

Suddenly, the words of the male student who was handling the entrance came to mind.

Masumi's expression froze instantly. She didn't know the range of the EMP attack, or if she could avoid it...

"Wow!"

The flashlight went out, plunging everything into darkness. Rinne screamed in panic.

A sudden impact struck Masumi's side, and the girl, who had been holding his arm, wrapped her arm around his back and hugged him tightly, closing the distance between them in one breath.

"W-Why did it suddenly go out? The flashlight."

Rinne's voice trembled as she buried her face in his shoulder. Sweat trickled down the contours of her pointed chin and dripped onto Masumi's chest. Even through her clothes, he could feel her unease.

Things that cannot be discovered without getting close include things like what we are doing now.

In the past, Kamishiro would never have exposed her weakness like this, but would have endured it alone. Now, she is willing to entrust some of her unnecessary strength to herself, which must be because she has opened her heart to herself and is willing to trust herself.

This fact satisfied Masumi's pride, but also added a heavy sense of responsibility to her.

Yes, it's not just mentally, but also physically; it's really heavy. No wonder Kamishiro complained about sore shoulders.

"Don't be afraid. It's the same thing that student mentioned before. It will automatically disappear when it reaches the designated area. It has nothing to do with any mysterious phenomena."

Masumi's arms hung at her sides as she comforted her with words.

"Yes, is that so?"

The unease in Rinne's voice still lingered.

It seemed that this was not enough. Masumi hesitated and reached out to gently pat her slender back.

The action seemed quite effective; he could clearly feel the tense lines of the girl's body in his arms slowly relaxing. Perhaps someone had done this to her before when she felt uneasy. Was it her deceased mother?
"...I understand, thank you."

"Are you okay? Have you calmed down?"

"Well, it's no problem."

Rinne's voice gradually returned to its usual calm tone.

Realizing how inappropriate her posture was, she hurriedly let go of her arms, then looked away as if to hide her feelings, scratching her hair with some embarrassment... She had been far too "coquettish" today.

"Then let's continue towards the exit... Wow!"

The same softness suddenly struck Masumi once again, just like before.

"That thing just ran past my feet again," Rinne said tremblingly.

Masumi frowned deeply, as if sensing something was amiss. Just who was this person?

"Meow~"

As I was concentrating, I seemed to hear a cat meow.

Huh? Why is there a cat in a haunted house?
Masumi asked, puzzled, "Is it you? Kamishiro?"

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Rinne lifted her face from his shoulder, her brows furrowing in displeasure. "How could I possibly be in the mood for this..."

"Meow~"

The sound was very close, seemingly right at my feet.

Rinne's arms were still wrapped around Masumi's neck as she carefully turned her head toward the source of the sound.

The cat's round eyes shone brightly in the dim light.

A fluffy ragdoll cat is sitting on the ground.

Masumi breathed a sigh of relief. "The seventh mystery is actually a cat—"

The moment he said that, the sound of a curtain being pulled open suddenly came from behind, and the two of them turned around cautiously.

With disheveled long hair, a torn and tattered dress, and covered in blood, the woman murmured in a low voice:

"So...it's here...I've been looking for it so long~"

"Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

Caught off guard, Masumi was tackled to the ground by the wailing heiress.

◇

— Progress on collecting the CG for the haunted house event at the cultural festival: (5/5)

Asami typed this line on the tagging app on her phone.

"You're something else, Masumi-kun, you actually triggered a surprise event."

Mami gently nudged his side with her elbow.

"It should be 'frightened'," Masumi said, still shaken.

This is the "Cat Public Relations Shop" opened by Class 2-D. Students who own cats bring their own cats, and it's very popular. If you want to see these adorable little creatures, you need to wait in line for at least ten minutes.

The six people were specially invited here as both heroes and recipients of compensation. The girls each held a cat and played with it.

"I'm so sorry, I startled you."

The female student dressed as a ghost kept bowing, apologizing to Rinne and Masumi.

"It's ok."

Rinne gently shook her head, took off her shoes, revealing cute white socks with upturned toes, and knelt on the tatami mat.

The girl ran her long, slender fingers through the fluffy fur, lovingly stroking the ragdoll cat that was dozing on her lap.

Because they were too busy with business, the students didn't notice that a Ragdoll cat had sneaked out of the classroom and accidentally wandered into the haunted house. Because of the feline nature of chasing light, it followed the flashlight beam and darted back and forth under Masumi and Rinne's feet.

—That's the truth of what just happened.

Masumi sighed deeply, filled with emotion.

The clear autumn sky was cut into a square by the window.

That said, what are the six known mysteries of Taipei High School?

(End of this chapter)