Tokyo: I can enlighten all obsessions

Mid-June.

Before the rainy season had even completely swept over Tokyo, a sultry heat and humidity had already impatiently enveloped the private Shujin High School.

The air became thick, as if every breath carried a mixture of cheap antiperspirant spray, hair wax, and the restless scent unique to adolescence.

For these high school students with boundless energy, the world right now seems to consist of only two "immense" matters.

Either they are wailing about the upcoming test, trying to force those incomprehensible math formulas into their brains during the ten-minute break between classes.

Alternatively, they might immerse themselves in a "love game" that makes the person involved blush and their heart race, while attracting the attention of onlookers.

In the corner of the corridor, you can always see a girl with a flushed face handing out a pink envelope.

There are always boys lingering in front of the shoe cabinet, pretending to tie their shoelaces, but actually waiting for their goddess to put down her shoes.

Jealousy, longing, anxiety, admiration.

These overwhelming emotions collided and fermented within this closed ivory tower, eventually converging into a massive, invisible "obsession."

In this suffocating atmosphere of restlessness, the school bell for the first class sounded particularly jarring.

The English teacher on the podium was talking at length about the subjunctive mood, but Toru Kamiki's mind was not on the textbook at all.

The overwhelming hormones and anxiety around them are like throwing a person with heightened senses into a fermenting swamp for someone with spiritual disorders.

To find the source of this "abnormality" in this pile of emotions, sitting in the classroom is definitely not an option.

So, he decisively raised his hand, his brows furrowing slightly, his face turning deathly pale instantly as he controlled his breathing.

"Teacher... I'm not feeling well, I might be anemic."

……

A few minutes later, in the infirmary.

The air was thick with the faint smell of disinfectant, and only the old wall-mounted fan overhead made a creaking sound, cutting off the noisy chirping of cicadas outside the window.

As the sound of the school nurse's high heels faded into the distance, until the frosted glass door clicked softly, Kamiki Toru immediately threw off the thin blanket and sat up in bed as if nothing had happened.

He stretched his stiff joints, and his face, which had looked sickly and on the verge of fainting, was now full of joy.

Using class time to investigate paranormal events is like taking a paid day off at work.

As for investigating during private time after school?

What a joke.

That is the sacred realm of "working to earn money".

If you waste your precious after-school time doing unpaid work for the countermeasures office, what's the difference between that and the evil "unpaid overtime"?

He would rather spend two more hours standing guard at the convenience store than waste his time standing guard for that long, at least he could earn a few real Fukuyuki, instead of working himself to the bone for the branch's pitiful budget.

With this impeccable logic in mind, Shimaki Tetsu stood up with a clear conscience, his gaze quickly sweeping across the entire infirmary.

Medicine cabinet, weighing scale, pillow still warm from body heat...

The spiritual vision was clear, without the black filth that represents spiritual obstacles, or the nauseating, sticky malice.

"Not here."

It seems the source of that "restless stench" is somewhere else.

Kamiki Tetsu didn't linger. He casually straightened the sheets, opened the frosted glass door, and stepped into the empty corridor.

The corridor was empty, with only the occasional sound of lectures echoing through the air from between classroom windows.

Kamiki Tetsu's brain was rapidly searching through those overused "campus ghost stories".

Since these are unique to schools, they are often inseparable from classic templates passed down by generations of students.

Is it the legendary "thirteenth step" that appears every night?

Is it still the old piano in the music classroom, which automatically presses the keys even when no one is there?

Or perhaps it's the plaster statue in the corner of the art room that sheds blood and tears every full moon?

While Toru Kamiki was still mentally reviewing the shortlist of candidates for the school's "Seven Mysteries"—

Around the corner, a figure suddenly appeared in his field of vision.

"what!"

With a short gasp, the two collided without any way to avoid it.

A soft, yielding sensation came from Kamiki Tetsu's chest.

That softness, unique to young girls, was transmitted through the thin summer shirt without any obstruction.

Immediately afterwards, a scent reminiscent of freshly washed clothes mixed with a faint citrus shampoo filled the cramped corner.

"Feel sorry!"

As the girl hurriedly apologized, the items she was holding seemed to lose their weight and scattered all over the ground.

What met Kamiki Toru's eyes was an overwhelming expanse of pink.

A dozen or so beautifully decorated envelopes were scattered like cherry blossoms on the linoleum floor of the corridor.

Each envelope was adorned with an exquisite heart-shaped sticker and exuded the sweet scent of an unknown perfume.

Kamiki Tetsu subconsciously glanced at the few letters at his feet.

"To: Hoshino-kun, please go out with me!" — From Sato, Class 2-B.

"To: Hoshino-kun, I've always been watching you!" — From Takahashi of the basketball club.

"To: Hoshino..."

Kamiki Tetsu's fingers paused slightly as he picked up the envelope.

The senders' names were incredibly varied, ranging from those with athletic backgrounds to those with liberal arts degrees, but the recipients' names were remarkably uniform.

"...Isn't this number a bit too outrageous?"

While helping to pick up the items, Kamiki Tetsu couldn't help but mentally rant and rave.

There were more than a dozen letters scattered on the ground alone. If you include the pile she was protecting in her arms... the number is simply outrageous.

"Here, this is the last one."

Kamiki Tetsu handed over the pink envelope he had picked up, then looked up and his gaze fell on the face of the girl who was at the center of the storm.

However, what came into view was not some stunningly beautiful girl.

At this moment, she was looking down, with a pair of slightly heavy black-rimmed glasses perched on her nose, obscuring most of her face.

Her hair was neatly combed back, making her look like the kind of library committee member you see everywhere, someone who has no presence whatsoever.

Simple and unremarkable.

If you threw her into a crowd of people leaving school, she would probably disappear in the next second.

But the moment their eyes met, Toru Kamiki's heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

Not right.

Although her facial features were completely obscured by her glasses, and she didn't wear any special makeup, she exuded a strange attraction that made it hard to look away.

That kind of temperament is clean and transparent, yet carries a certain indescribable charm, like a rare diamond casually wrapped in rough newspaper. Just a sliver of light leaking through the crack is enough to arouse the most primal desire for exploration deep in one's heart.

"This woman... is a bit strange."

Kamiki Tetsu narrowed his eyes, a sense of vigilance rising within him.

Just then, a strange chill crept up Shenmu Che's spine and up to the top of his head.

"Che-kun..."

The voice was soft and indifferent, instantly silencing the surrounding noisy cicada chirping.

Kamiki Toru turned his head.

Saori stood quietly in the shadows of the corridor, clutching a box of "high-potency iron supplement" with a straw already inserted in her hand. The edges of the box were slightly deformed from the force she was using.

She tilted her head slightly, her dark, deep pupils reflecting no light, her delicate, doll-like face expressionless.

His gaze first swept over the pink love letters scattered on the ground, then slowly crept up the hand that Kamiki Tetsu was handing over the love letters.

"Aren't you... feeling unwell?"

The girl took a step forward, her voice echoing in the empty corridor:

"So, what are you doing right now?"

Despite the chaotic scene, Toru Kamiki showed no sign of panic at being caught red-handed.

After all, to him, Saori was just a slightly... heavy friend, nothing more.

He glanced at the cardboard box in Saori's hand, which was about to burst, and said calmly:

"Ah, it's Saori."

Kamiki Toru gestured with his chin to the mess on the ground and explained frankly:

"I just came out for some fresh air because the infirmary was too stuffy, and then I got into a car accident around the corner. As you can see, I'm currently helping this... 'most popular' student clean up the mess."

There was no explanation as to why the two were standing so close, nor was there any rush to distance themselves from each other.

This overly calm, even somewhat sluggish, attitude actually caused the thick, murderous intent in the air to dissipate slightly.

"...But, you bumped into it?"

Saori tilted her head, her empty eyes lingering on Kamiki Toru's calm face for two seconds, as if to confirm whether he was lying.

"Puff!"

She expressionlessly released her grip, and the poor iron supplement finally gave way, the reddish-brown liquid gushing out from the straw, staining her pale fingers red, looking like some kind of fresh blood.

"Since it's an accident, there's nothing we can do about it."

Ignoring the stickiness on her hands, she stepped over the love letters on the ground, walked straight to Toru Kamiki, and forcefully shoved the still-dripping cardboard box into his hands.

The voice remained soft, yet carried a firm tone:

"Here you go. Drink it and go back to bed."

After she finished speaking, her gaze shifted slightly, as if she had only now noticed the bespectacled girl who was squatting on the ground sorting through the envelopes.

That look swept over with disdain, as if looking at an insignificant dead object on the roadside.

"and……"

Saori Megumi withdrew her gaze and stared at Kamiki Toru once more.

"It's not very safe at school lately."

She reached out her hand, which was covered in a sticky liquid, and gently straightened Kamiki Tetsu's collar; her fingertips were icy cold.

"So, Tetsu-kun had better behave..."

"Please don't run around!"