Yotsuya Miko murmured to herself. Using her ability, she leaped in through the window, took the Talisman Iron Pellet from beside the sleeping woman, and replaced it with a newly made one of her own—the kind that destroyed Ghosts.
Only then did she finally leave, feeling at ease.
"She won't know even if I switched it. After all, these things don't have any special markings."
That was what Miko thought. It wasn't until she was on her way home that she suddenly remembered something: under the influence of the Guardian of Silver Pellets, she had awkwardly made several Talisman Iron Pellets with markings. Then she remembered that she wasn't planning to keep the silver pellets' popularity up like she had last time. She hadn't intended to get involved.
"...I should hurry up and destroy those marked ones after all. Honestly, what was I thinking back then?"
As she spoke, she secretly erased the markings on those Talisman Iron Pellets. Only then did she return to bed and lie down to sleep.
Wait, how many had I made?
Miko closed her eyes, but before she could come up with an answer, her consciousness gradually faded away, and she fell asleep.
It was one of the earliest nights she'd had in days. She fell asleep at three in the morning.
"I shall remember your words."
The female teacher figured she was probably too worried about her father's illness and whether her salary would continue to cover the medical expenses. She dreamed that Sadako climbed out of a well, brushed the long hair away from her face, and revealed a face covered in tiny silver-white pellets. Then she spoke to her in a hoarse voice.
Then she woke with a start.
"I really shouldn't have gone to see a horror movie with my friends. And just how much have I been obsessing over the silver pellets' effects?"
She grumbled as she rubbed her messy hair. Still, after washing up, she stuck to her original plan and went to visit her father in the hospital. She urged him to keep a small, unmarked pellet with him, then hurried off to work.
"That child... How could she believe in something so silly?"
The old man in the hospital bed didn't argue with her to her face. He only let out a long sigh after she left.
"My illness has her worrying too much."
He thought it over and decided to do as his daughter had asked, planning to put the iron pellet under his pillow to reassure her. But before he could, black marks suddenly appeared on the silver-white pellet in his hand.
Unable to see very clearly, he called a nurse over to help him take a look.
"This is... a silver pellet?"
The nurse had heard of the urban legend, too. Looking at the black marks on the iron pellet, she silently read the words inscribed there.
"? What does that mean?"
The nurse, completely baffled, looked at the pellet, then... called a doctor.
She didn't know what had happened, but an urban legend seemed to have appeared right in front of her.
The peaceful routines of daily life
In the morning, Yotsuya Miko got out of bed and, for once, felt refreshed.
"Mm..."
She stretched, feeling a pleasant, lazy warmth throughout her body. After sleeping for such a long time, her body, which she'd been pushing too hard, had started to recover.
Honestly, if she didn't have school, she would've slept until noon.
"Was I just not taking care of myself for a while there?"
Muttering to herself, she got out of bed and checked the box in her shoulder bag that held her Talisman Iron Pellets. After making sure they were all working properly, she took her time getting dressed and went to brush her teeth and wash up.
The Yotsuya household was much the same as usual that day. Yotsuya Kyosuke had gotten up early as always, and their mother, Touko, had already prepared breakfast for them both.
"Big Sis, you look pretty energetic today."
Kyosuke ate his breakfast slowly, looking at his older sister with his fierce eyes. He was quick to notice that Miko seemed different from usual.
"How should I put it...? It's rare to see you not looking unhappy."
Usually, his older sister looked as though she had a bad case of morning grumpiness, with a blank expression that practically screamed, "I'm unhappy." But she wasn't like that today.
"Not really."
Yotsuya Miko retorted. She looked at the lavish breakfast before her and quickly dug in, paying no attention to Kyosuke's confusion.
She didn't plan to answer her little brother's questions. He was too prone to imagining things.
"Maybe she finally got a good night's sleep for once."
Touko watched them with a smile, picking up the conversation for Miko.
"Miko hasn't been sleeping well at all lately."
After all, what mother wouldn't worry about her child? Miko had looked sleep-deprived every morning for a while now. Even someone as careless as Touko would have noticed by now.
"...Mm, I've been having a little trouble sleeping lately."
Yotsuya Miko was silent for a moment, then gave an excuse.
"I've been a little worried about the competition."
She used the calligraphy competition as an obvious excuse. After talking with Kyosuke last time, she'd signed up for it, figuring it would be a way to relax.
And, to her embarrassment, she'd recently started running short on money.
If not for the calligraphy competition, she'd have planned to take a few part-time jobs during the break to earn some money for materials. But a job would be even harder to explain.
Besides, working would take up quite a bit of time.
"Oh... You mean the calligraphy competition?"
Kyosuke looked at her and asked in surprise,
"Did you really sign up, Big Sis? No way."
It looked like this little brother still needed a few more beatings.
Miko gave him a smile that didn't reach her eyes, ready to put some effort into their sibling relationship today.
"What, you think your big sister's calligraphy is bad?"
"No, it's just... Um... How do I put it..."
Seeing the smile on Yotsuya Miko's face, Kyosuke remembered the pain he'd experienced before. Only then did he realize just how thoughtless he'd been.
He hurriedly waved his hands to show that wasn't what he meant.
"I mean... Big Sis doesn't need a competition like this to prove how good she is."
"That was a very nice thing to say, Kyosuke."
Touko covered the corner of her mouth with one hand to hide her smile, then turned and went into the kitchen to put away the used dishes.
"Make sure you finish breakfast soon and get off to school."
She didn't mind the way the siblings showed their affection. And after receiving a certain look from their mother, Miko's smile widened.
"Hey, could you repeat what you just said for your big sister?"
As she spoke, Miko had already stood up from her seat. She looked down at Kyosuke, who was trembling in his chair, and grabbed him by the ears without the slightest hesitation.
"No... Ow, ow—go easy, go easy! I'm sorry..."
A scream, half genuine and half for show, soon rang through the living room. Touko, busy putting away the dishes, smiled faintly, glad to see the two of them getting along.
"The children's relationship hasn't changed much, dear."
She spoke softly, poured a cup of hot tea for herself, and filled another cup as well.
After a bout of bickering filled with pain and laughter, Kyosuke and Miko quickly finished breakfast, gathered their things, and headed to school.
After the area had been cleared of Ghosts for quite some time, the number of Ghosts on the nearby streets had dropped significantly. At least there weren't so many that they were everywhere. In fact, she was lucky enough not to see a single Ghost on the way from home to school that day, though her Spiritual Sense still picked up a whole crowd of them.
If only it could be like this every day.
Yotsuya Miko thought that, then gave a slight shake of her head. She knew that wish would probably never come true. Sometimes, things didn't go the way people wanted.
Even the peaceful life she'd once hoped for had been disrupted when a powerful Ghost like the Kimono Ghost set its sights on Yurikawa Hana.
Unless she became strong enough, all this peace would eventually be shattered. And when that day came, it wouldn't matter how much she regretted it.
"What are you thinking about, Miko?"
A powerful bump. Something soft pressed against her back, accompanied by an energetic voice.
"I was thinking about how much you ate for breakfast today, my little glutton, Hana."
Yotsuya Miko teased her, turning around to look at Yurikawa Hana's puffed-up cheeks.
"That's so mean! You could at least call me a foodie."
"What's the difference?"
Miko smiled and walked toward the classroom with Hana, chatting and laughing.
"Have you heard? The new teacher, Tono Zen, seems to have received the Guardian of Silver Pellets."
"Mm, it seems like the teachers have been talking about it."
Yotsuya Miko nodded, showing no sign that she was the one behind it.
"Looks like Mr. Tono has his own worries and troubles. I hope the silver pellets can help him resolve them."
As she spoke, she glanced at Tono Zen walking down the hallway.
The Talisman Iron Pellet only tracked things, but she had definitely helped kill the Evil Spirit of the cat that had been attached to him, along with that Ghost.
"That's true."
Hana nodded, then instinctively rubbed her stomach and grimaced.
"I overslept, so I didn't get to eat much this morning. I'm already getting hungry."
"You really are something."
Miko shook her head. Just as she was about to say something, a blond girl slowly came over.
"If you don't mind, you can have this."
Yuria held out the bread she'd prepared on purpose. She didn't know why things had turned out this way, but giving Hana a piece of bread every day had become a habit.
She'd clearly decided that morning not to bring any bread, but when she checked her schoolbag at school, there was a bag of bread inside as usual. Habits really were frightening.
That was what she thought. Since she couldn't eat it herself, she had no choice but to keep feeding Hana. After all, a few loaves of bread were nothing to her family.
She'd consider it payback for yesterday's doughnut.
"Wow, thank you so much, Yuria-chan!"
As she spoke, she once again wrapped Yuria in a tight embrace with her ample figure.
And Yuria immediately regretted it.
"Help..."
Seeing Yuria trapped in Hana's arms and unable to breathe, Miko smiled and came to her rescue.
"All right, all right. Hurry up and eat."
"Mm, I've decided. Tonight, I'll treat you to strawberry Butt Mochi."
"Then I will, too."
"Of course, Miko."
### Zen Tono had heard of the Guardian of Silver Pellets, but he hadn't paid it any mind—until today.
He gazed out the window, somewhat distracted. Even for someone who didn't like crowds, the weather was unusually fine, putting him in a good mood.
For some reason, Tono Zen gradually began to feel that a heavy burden had been lifted from him.
He suspected it was his imagination, yet he couldn't help feeling that something was different.
It was Japanese class, and today's lesson was to read an excerpt from Ryunosuke Akutagawa's Rashomon. The sound of reading soon filled the classroom. One student after another was called on to recite a different passage, each in a steady, measured voice, as though such a tone were best suited to reading aloud.
Long passages of description, filled with the intense imagery of the author's style. Just a few short lines were enough to sketch a scene from that time.
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