Haunted House / The Spread of Emotion

"All right, I get it. Then how about going here?"

Yotsuya Miko pulled out her phone and pointed to an advertisement.

"Challenge the haunted house and get twenty free donuts!"

"Aw, that's so mean, Miko."

"Not going?"

"I'm going! And Yuria-chan has to come too!"

"Huh? Me? Even if I—"

"Then the three of us will go together."

Yotsuya Miko made the final decision.

"Let's go together."

"Okay!"

"Uh... sure."

Right, what about Yuria?

Chapter 49: Haunted House

A haunted house had been hastily set up, and an employee wearing a pumpkin head was enthusiastically advertising it.

Looking at Yurikawa Hana trembling beside her, Yotsuya Miko wanted to ask, Where did that courage you had when you went into the Cursed Building go?

"Hana, you don't have to force yourself to go in."

"But..."

Hana looked at the two visitors who had just come out of the haunted house. They were chatting and laughing as they accepted their prize from the employee.

"You get twenty donuts just for going in and getting a stamp."

Her love of food once again won out over her fear of haunted houses.

"Going in is the only option, isn't it?"

She said it with such dignity and conviction that, for a moment, even her fear of the haunted house was overwhelmed.

"Your appetite beat your fear?"

Yotsuya Miko teased her, while Yuria took the chance to share her own thoughts.

"Yeah, I'm not scared of this kind of haunted house."

For someone with spiritual abilities, going to a haunted house probably wasn't much of an experience. After all, people like them had seen the real thing.

Hearing that, Yurikawa Hana happily wrapped her arms around Yuria, as if she'd found an incredibly powerful piece of gear in a game.

"My reliable friend."

She hugged little Yuria tightly, pressing her chest against her until Yuria could barely breathe. But it was no wonder she was so happy. If Yuria really wasn't afraid of haunted houses, then those donuts were as good as... guaranteed!

"Yuria, I'm counting on you. Thank you."

Yotsuya Miko glanced at Yuria, who was once again struggling to breathe, then looked toward the haunted house in front of them. Her Spiritual Sense made it impossible for this place to hold any mystery or terror for her.

It was like having X-ray vision. She could sense any ordinary person hiding anywhere, as well as one ordinary ghost.

In short, she had absolutely no expectations for this trip to the haunted house.

"Next group, please come in."

Before long, it was finally their turn. Yotsuya Miko took the card that needed to be stamped and headed toward the haunted house, with Hana clinging tightly to Yuria behind her.

It was clear that Hana had placed all her hopes in Yuria. The fact that Yuria was once again being smothered made that trust painfully obvious.

The blood-red door opened, revealing an impressively convincing atmosphere inside.

White candles burned beside a human skull pierced with knives. Blood splattered everywhere, and a damaged doll hanging from the ceiling swayed slightly.

Red light washed over everything. The dimness kept visitors from seeing the whole scene at once. Only when frightened guests suddenly came face-to-face with something did they realize what had been lurking in the shadows. Then, the shadow-covered objects would appear all at once, giving them a sudden fright.

Sometimes it was a severed hand, sometimes a pair of vividly hateful eyes, and sometimes just a few pieces of bone.

All in all, the atmosphere was perfect for creating terror. If an actual murderer were hiding in there, it would be a full-blown disaster.

Even though this was only the appetizer, Hana was already having a hard time.

She clutched Miko's left arm and nestled against her. All the trust she'd originally placed in Yuria had now shifted to Yotsuya Miko. Maybe, to Hana, Miko was the only person she could rely on.

Along the way, they encountered several skeletons and corpses. They moved in all sorts of ways, and there was no sign that anyone was controlling them. The more they tried to make sense of it, the more their thoughts wandered to ghosts and other strange beings, which only made them more uneasy.

Then, when they really did come across a person dressed as a ghost, they stopped thinking and just ran for their lives. They even forgot they were in a haunted house, believing they'd truly entered a place full of ghosts. Everything they saw terrified them, and they stumbled along, screaming the whole way.

But neither Yuria nor Miko was given to that sort of thinking anymore.

As expected... this was utterly disappointing.

A trace of disappointment crossed Yotsuya Miko's face. Her Spiritual Sense constantly probed everything around her, so she could clearly sense where there were people. If they ran into a real ghost, it would be the ghost trying to escape.

As for Yuria, she'd been used to seeing "spirits" since she was little, so it was hard for her to feel afraid.

Hmph. So it really was just a childish game.

Yuria's lips curled into a confident smirk, and her chuunibyou streak flared at just the right moment.

For those of us who can see, this is nothing but a boring attraction meant to fool children. Let's hurry up, get our stamps, and go claim those donuts.

If Yotsuya Miko had heard her thoughts, she probably would have said that being able to see didn't help much. This wasn't a Japanese ghost story, after all.

At the sudden sound, Miko looked over at the figure who had appeared beside them before they knew it—or, rather, before Hana and Yuria knew it. The figure wore a paper-bag mask, was covered in blood, and held a kitchen knife. Miko gave a slightly startled expression, putting on a bit of an act.

"Huh?"

"Aaah! It's here!"

Yuria stared at the sudden appearance of the killer, feeling as if her brain had stopped working. Hana reacted even more dramatically. She wrapped both arms around Yotsuya Miko's neck. If she hadn't considered that Miko couldn't carry her, she might have wrapped her legs around her too.

There was no doubt about it: the two of them were terrified.

Before the killer could swing his knife, Miko grabbed Hana beside her and Yuria's hand, then ran in a different direction without a word.

After running for who knew how long, they finally escaped the monster's attack. Hana collapsed on the floor and clung to Yotsuya Miko's waist for support. Yuria was panting heavily too, feeling that this was a real pain.

This wasn't what I expected. It's an American-style physical attacker!

Hana also felt like she was about to die. She clung tightly to Miko's waist, leaving Miko not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"That was terrifying! This is way beyond what you'd expect from a donut shop."

She sounded dejected, utterly crestfallen.

"This is what they're actually good at. What the heck?"

Yotsuya Miko, who wasn't bothered by either Japanese ghosts or Western horror, watched the two of them and fell into thought.

So this is what it feels like?

Maybe my fear really is normal after all?

She thought as Hana, who had finally recovered a little, leaned against the wall, looking indescribably miserable.

But before Hana could vent her fear again, a fake spider lowered from the ceiling and startled another scream out of her.

"Aaaahhh—!"

She threw herself at Yotsuya Miko again. Miko hadn't even noticed what was happening before she was caught in Hana's arms.

"Uh... Hana's scream is scarier."

Yuria had shivered at the sudden scream too. Once she saw what it was, she relaxed—only to be struck by even greater shock.

"But... but..."

"You weren't afraid of the Cursed Building. Just imagine it's the same kind of thing."

W-what?!

Chapter 50: The Spread of Emotion

"Lord, please grant me strength."

On a stormy night, the cursed abandoned building gave off an ominous aura, a terrifying presence so overwhelming that even psychics had to keep their distance.

And at that very moment, two unwelcome visitors had arrived at the Cursed Building.

The orange-haired girl clasped her hands and prayed devoutly to her god. As she spoke, a powerful energy radiated from her body. It was a powerful golden energy, and seemingly drawn by its force, countless terrifying giant ghosts greedily peered at the orange-haired believer from their hiding places.

The weaker ghosts couldn't wait any longer. They rushed toward the golden light and were reduced to ashes amid wails and screams. Yet they seemed not to notice what had happened, and continued throwing themselves to their deaths like moths drawn to a flame.

As the ghosts were consumed, the golden light weakened at a visible rate. At last, the enormous ghosts could no longer hold back and began to attack the girl without mercy.

"That won't do."

Just as their enormous claws lunged at the golden energy, a beam of pure white light pierced one claw and struck its owner. The beam passed through the ghost's body once more, and the enormous creature let out a pained wail. Its body broke apart, signaling its death.

"Finally, I've drawn you out."

Clang.

The black-haired girl leaped down from the ceiling, forming hand seals without pause before bracing both hands against the floor.

"If you've got what it takes, then withstand this—the barrier renowned in the name of the Yotsuya family—"

"The Boundless Daybreak!!!"

The barrier spread from her hands, instantly enveloping the entire Cursed Building. As blinding white light radiated from it, countless ghosts and monsters let out pained wails and turned to ashes.

"Cursed Building, exorcised successfully!"

Yotsuya Miko took Yurikawa Hana's hand and smiled.

—All of that was Futamido Yuria's imagination.

In that instant, she seemed to finally understand why such a powerful psychic would spend time with Hana.

Was Miko using Hana's special nature to draw in every ghost and wipe them all out at once? What a terrifying combination of spiritual abilities.

Yotsuya Miko had no idea what an exciting scene Yuria was imagining. She looked at Hana in confusion. It seemed she'd finally been frightened, because Yurikawa Hana was clutching both her hands tightly.

"Please, hold my hands."

"I can, sure."

Yotsuya Miko answered reluctantly, feeling that Hana was being a little too clingy today.

It made her feel a little uncomfortable.

They continued walking, and Yotsuya Miko soon regretted her answer.

She'd thought Hana would simply hold one of her hands. Instead, Hana pressed close to her side and held both of her hands, even crossing their hands together so that their fingers were tightly entwined against the backs of each other's hands.

She glanced at Yuria, who was watching them with a strange look—in reality, Yuria was startled by her own imagination—and felt uncomfortable all over.

It was as if... she were doing something she shouldn't.

"Gurgle... [garbled]..."

"Ah!"

Even the slightest sound frightened Hana again, and she pressed even closer to Miko.

"Something made a noise."

"That was Hana's stomach growling."

Yotsuya Miko spoke, trying to keep her expression casual. Otherwise, Yuria's unrelenting stare would make her feel so embarrassed that she'd instinctively look away.

Was there something strange about this?

Yotsuya Miko tried to persuade herself to stay calm. Hana was just being overly affectionate, which was probably hard for Yuria to explain. She only had to clear things up with Yuria afterward. It wasn't as if the two of them were that kind of couple.

That kind...

Yotsuya Miko silently pushed the strange thought out of her mind. Otherwise, she'd be the one acting strange.