Tokyo: I was tricked into marrying a yandere ghost

Will you protect this guy?

How could that be!

If there were any real danger, Kiyokawa Kiri would definitely run away, since Tomie is immortal, but he isn't.

"What's next?" Kiyokawa Kiri asked directly.

"The second step is to begin the summoning. Take the knife and the mirror, close your eyes, and silently recite the instructions on it..."

After finishing her sentence, Kawakami Tomie handed a note to Kiyokawa Kiri.

The latter took it and saw a very short psychic incantation written on it: "Lost soul wandering at the crossroads, heed my call, appear here."

It has a very chuunibyou (adolescent delusions of grandeur) vibe, but for some reason, under the dim light of the streetlights, the words appear rather distorted and eerie.

"Remember, you can't open your eyes during the ritual. The way to tell if it's successful is whether the surrounding air gets cold... If it's successful, to send the witch away, you have to prick your finger with a knife and drip the blood onto the mirror," Kawakami Tomie emphasized.

This is for real; it would be better if it hadn't been summoned.

If they are summoned, and if any step is done incorrectly, the two could very well die here.

Although Kawakami Tomie was somewhat confident in her abilities, it was still her first time encountering something like the "Crossroads Witch," and with Kiyokawa Kiri, who knew nothing about this, standing beside her, she couldn't help but feel a little nervous.

"Let's get started once we're ready."

"Hmm, close your eyes..."

Kiyokawa Kiri watched as Kawakami Tomie obediently closed her beautiful eyes, and only then did he close his eyes as well. Then, just as she had said, he took a small knife and a mirror and began to silently chant a spirit communication incantation.

"Lost souls wandering at the crossroads, heed my call, appear here..."

The incantation wasn't long, but nothing changed after it was recited.

Kiyokawa had heard that the spell for communicating with spirits had to be repeated silently 3, 7, 13, etc., in order to have a chance of succeeding.

So he quickly calmed himself down and continued to recite it silently in his mind.

However, two or three minutes passed quickly, and he had already read it twenty-one times, but nothing happened.

The surroundings were quiet, and the soft light of the streetlights could be vaguely perceived. The two stood motionless in the small white circle in the center of the intersection, unaware of what they were expecting.

Just as Kiyokawa was about to calm down and repeat the mantra a few more times, the girl in his mind finally chuckled.

—What does this mean?

Kiyokawa Kirito inwardly scoffed for a moment, then hesitated before asking:

"Tomie, have you opened your eyes?"

"No, how many times have you repeated it to yourself?"

"It's already been twenty-one times. According to the previous numerical logic, the next time I might have to read it up to the thirty-first time, right?" Kiyokawa Kiri whispered.

He hadn't opened his eyes yet, but he felt in his heart that this attempt at spiritual communication might have failed.

Come to think of it, things like spiritual communication are never that simple.

Tomie Kawakami's ceremony was based on urban legends, so who knows if there are any mistakes in it?

Although she didn't succeed, Kiyokawa Kiri wasn't too discouraged, at least she didn't have to pay the price—but figuring out how to find out the truth about the amnesia later became another problem.

"So it really didn't work?" Tomie Kawakami slowly opened her beautiful eyes and sighed almost imperceptibly.

She also hoped that after successfully communicating with the spirits, she could learn the truth about her high charm from the witch at the crossroads.

Looks like all that effort tonight was for nothing...

"Should we try other psychic games later?"

"Let's forget about it. I don't think these kinds of spirit communication games are very useful." Kiyokawa Kiri said, shrugging, somewhat speechless. "Let's try to investigate from other places later."

Hearing this, Tomie Kawakami, though unwilling, could only nod silently.

So the two decided to leave the small white circle first, tidy up the area, and then go back.

However, just as they were about to step out of the small white circle, a slightly serious voice suddenly rang in Kiyokawa Kiri's mind.

[They've arrived...]

Almost instinctively, Kiyokawa Kiri stopped with one foot that was about to step out of the circle, and Kawakami Tomie, who was next to him, also immediately noticed something was wrong and stopped in place, looking at him warily.

Something seemed to have disappeared from the air...

Cold sweat gradually appeared on Kiyokawa's forehead. He slowly pulled back the half of his foot and then realized what had disappeared.

—It was a sound, but the sound disappeared.

A street lamp not far ahead suddenly began to flicker, appearing extremely eerie at the otherwise unchanging intersection.

The two of them turned their heads at the same time and looked at the flashing street lamp in the distance. After flashing a few times, the street lamp suddenly went out with a "thud".

Kiyokawa Kiri opened her mouth, as if she was about to say something.

But in the next instant, the symmetrical streetlights on both sides of the road began to go out one after another at a rapid pace.

"Ta-da!"

As the streetlights disappeared, a thick, deep darkness spread toward the center of the intersection where the two were, as if some unknown entity was rapidly approaching!

Upon seeing this, Kiyokawa Kiri's pupils suddenly contracted, and he instinctively stepped back while reaching out to pull another person.

But to his utter surprise, the other party was much faster than he was!

Kawakami Tomie's expression changed slightly, and she instinctively stepped in front of Kiyokawa Kiri.

The two men stared in horror as all the streetlights in front of them went out, and darkness instantly filled the area in front of the intersection.

This scene can no longer be described as merely bizarre.

At the crossroads, all light was lost ahead. Even though the streetlights on the three roads were still working, the darkness was as thick as ink, making it impossible to see the roads and buildings ahead. It was as if something enormous was blocking the view.

Kiyokawa Kiri swallowed hard, his expression quite complicated.

He hadn't expected the psychic communication to succeed, and he certainly hadn't expected Tomie Kawakami to stand in his way at this crucial moment.

Just as the two of them were still looking at each other in bewilderment, an extremely faint breathing sound came from the pitch blackness.

A sudden chill crept up the back of my neck, so cold that it gave me goosebumps.

Kiyokawa Kiri even felt a chill run down his spine, but he realized he had to say something, so he immediately pulled back the "restless" Kawakami Tomie, reassuring her with his eyes, and then awkwardly began:

"I want to know why I ended up here a few days ago..."

The breathing in the darkness seemed to intensify, followed by a series of indistinct murmurs that were impossible for others to hear.

As the whispers grew clearer, Kiyokawa's temples throbbed, his face contorted as he clutched his head, images flashing through his mind like a revolving lantern...

That was something he had absolutely no recollection of.