Sister and Brother

"Oh?!"

Yurikawa Hana poked her head out from the side and looked at the pudding in the yellow wrapper.

"They sold this last year, too. It's really good."

"Mm."

Miko nodded in agreement, then turned to look at Hana.

"Actually, I didn't get to try it last year."

Because something had happened—something rather bad.

Miko naturally didn't tell Yurikawa Hana that. She just looked at the pudding and picked up another one from the counter.

"Then it's been ripening for a year."

Hana teased her.

"Don't go making it ripen without permission."

Miko retorted, tucking the two puddings in her arms.

"Then I'll buy one, too."

As she spoke, Yurikawa Hana reached out and picked up a pudding. She was already holding quite a lot of snacks, and Miko couldn't help glancing at Hana's arms. Even so, after picking up the pudding, Hana thought of another snack.

"I forgot I still have to buy a Gluttony Pineapple Bun."

Before she'd even finished speaking, she hurried off toward another aisle.

"You can go pay first."

Miko said nothing. She just recalled how Hana had piled snacks up against her chest, and how her chest matched the quantity of snacks.

All her calories went straight to her chest.

She glanced again at the shape of her own figure, difficult to make out beneath her beige coat.

I'm so jealous of her.

She placed the two puddings on the counter. As the cashier greeted her listlessly, Yotsuya Miko opened her wallet.

Let's see, 220 yen...

"That'll be 206 yen."

Miko looked up at the Ghosts reaching out with both hands beside the cashier. From its clothes, it seemed to have been a cashier at this store.

206 yen? Was it cheaper before, or what?

"That'll be 206 yen."

The Ghost, with its elongated neck, said again. Its two crooked eyes and its fluffy yellow hair, standing straight up like a broom, made it seem relatively friendly and kind.

"Um... the total is 220 yen."

Looking at the girl frozen in front of her, the cashier reluctantly stated the price.

"206 yen!"

The Ghost kept correcting her, stubbornly insisting on its price. As though enraged, gray-black gas puffed from several small holes in its neck.

"Ah... Would you like to buy anything else?"

At that, Miko shifted her gaze from the Ghost to the poster beside her.

(Kansai-Style Oden 60 Yen)

"Cod Treasure."

"Okay."

The Ghost trembled, seeming for some reason to have trouble holding its shape, and gave the price again.

"That'll... be... 6...1... yen."

Three percent sales tax.

For no particular reason, Yotsuya Miko thought of that. She glanced at the Ghost again. It didn't seem to be making up prices at random. So... could she get eight yen off?

"Bags cost extra. Would you like one?"

"Yes."

"Thank you for your purchase."

With the cashier's weary voice behind them, Miko and Hana left the store carrying their bags. The difference was that Yurikawa Hana's bag was heavy, while Miko's was light, much like the difference between their chests.

"We bought so much."

Hana exclaimed, while Yotsuya Miko looked at the Cod Treasure in her bag—the oden she'd bought for an experiment.

"Hana, do you want some Cod Treasure?"

"I do!"

Hana raised her right hand high.

"I'll eat anything, no matter what it is!"

"Really? Then..."

Miko bent over slightly, took out the wrapped Cod Treasure, and picked up a piece with the little chopsticks that came with it.

"Ah..."

Yurikawa Hana helpfully opened her mouth, and Miko placed the piece of meat inside.

"Oh, this is really good, too."

"Is it?"

Miko picked up another small piece of Cod Treasure and put it in her mouth.

"Mm, it really is."

"Another piece!"

"Okay, okay..."

The two of them finished the serving of Cod Treasure, taking turns eating one piece at a time.

"Next time, I'll buy one, too."

Yurikawa Hana said, smiling at Miko.

"As a thank-you."

"...Ah... yeah."

By the way, the Mountain God didn't seem to be a Ghost. It was more like the product of some kind of spiritual dependence. But I understood that much already. Why did it look so absurd?

Sisters and Brothers

Tonight, as usual, she was keeping her little brother company while watching Creepy—before she taught the brat a lesson.

She hadn't forgotten what the little punk had said that morning.

"Ow."

"That's what you get for saying that this morning."

Yotsuya Miko rubbed and ruffled Kyosuke's head, speaking with a smile.

"Don't let me hear you say something like that again."

"N-no problem."

After Kyosuke promised her, Yotsuya Miko finally lifted the hand she'd had on his head and continued watching the television.

"100 Paranormal Photos."

"Here's the next photo."

The man with two lit candles stuck into his head lowered his voice and held a photograph up to the camera.

"This was taken while they were having a campfire by the river. It looks like a very happy camping memory."

In the picture, the young men and women, lit by the fire, smiled at the camera while making peace signs. It really did look like a sweet memory for the people involved.

"At first glance, there doesn't seem to be anything wrong with it."

As the man spoke, his voice suddenly rose. The image abruptly changed, and a line of bloody-red text appeared.

"Can our viewers spot it?"

If you mean the Ghost on the right side of the TV, then yes.

Miko felt nothing at all. She even calmly looked straight at the Ghost over there.

Come to think of it, should I make some talismans or artifacts at home? These things are showing up way too often. As she thought about it, Yotsuya Miko rubbed her head again at the thought of her father.

She wasn't sure how to make intelligent talismans or artifacts, but making one for Hana seemed like a good idea.

As she pondered this, the image returned to the camping photo, and the camera gradually shifted down to the tent beside the young men and women.

"Take a look. If you look closely, you'll see that inside the tent..."

As the photo brightened, a person's face suddenly appeared in the middle of the tent.

"Waaah...!" (TV show sound effect)

"Haha... That's obviously a composite,"

Kyosuke pointed at the image, leaning slightly toward his older sister as he spoke, apparently hoping Miko would agree with him.

"This is why people keep looking down on viewers. No wonder fewer and fewer people watch TV."

"Right?"

He said this, then turned to look at Yotsuya Miko, who was still watching the screen.

It was hard to say you hadn't been creeped out, considering how you were acting.

Miko glanced at him, giving a half-hearted response.

"Mm, yeah."

"We'll take a short commercial break. Please stay tuned. If you change the channel, you'll be cursed."

"Why are they going to commercials again?"

Yotsuya Kyosuke was a little annoyed. He was a bit scared, sure, but the show itself was pretty interesting, too.

"They just keep trying to create suspense. No wonder everyone's stopped watching TV."

Good. Let them keep creating suspense. If you really saw a Ghost, that'd be a disaster.

Miko thought as she watched the commercials on the screen and the Malevolent Ghost acting in them, then glanced at her little brother again.

Who knew how you'd react if you found out there was a Ghost right there on the TV?

"Fragrant, lustrous hair. Our shining formula leaves every strand silky smooth for longer."

The commercial seemed to have an ulterior motive. Though the camera was pointed at a woman's smooth hair, the edge of the TV was positioned at just the right angle, as if it were testing the boundaries of decency.

Yotsuya Miko could only see the woman's face, since the uninvited dark priest was blocking everything else.

"I'm going to get something to drink."

With the dark priest filling the screen, Miko had little interest in continuing to watch TV. She was a bit thirsty anyway.

"Huh?"

Kyosuke looked at his older sister as she got up, puzzled.

"Why so suddenly?"

"I suddenly felt like having a hot drink."

"Then I want a cola."

"Mm, I know."