In her despair, she began turning to superstition.
But someone beat her to it.
That day, she received a piece of intelligence. It came from Afterglow, friends of Tae and the others.
"You might not believe this..." Sitting across from Ruiyi in a family restaurant, Uehara Himari looked hesitant. "We went to ask... someone."
"What?" Ruiyi didn't understand.
"Well..." Himari shuddered at the memory. "The kind from ghost stories... something that flies and wanders around a school at night..."
"Oh." Ruiyi nodded, unsurprised. "I understand."
Afterglow had once accidentally encountered a suspected supernatural entity at Haneoka at night during their first year of high school. The experience had left them with some terrible memories. For a long time, they had tried to avoid bringing up the subject, but now that their friend was in danger, they had no choice but to take the risk.
"We really did meet her." Himari shuddered again, as if still terrified. "She said she really did know where Kasumi... where Tae-chan and the others had gone, but she couldn't tell us."
"She couldn't tell us?" Ruiyi's sudden shout in the family restaurant drew the attention of everyone nearby.
Realizing she had lost control, she sat back down. "Sorry for making a scene."
"It's all right." Himari continued, "She told us that she had died in the place where Poppin'Party was now. If she told us the exact details of that place, we would immediately be dragged there."
"We thought about it. After all, we still have our own families. Especially Chisato—after something happened to Little Ako, she's all that's left at home... so I'm really sorry." Himari's eyes reddened. Knowing that her friend was in danger while being unable to help made her feel awful as well.
"We thought about it and decided that no