Breaking Up / After Turning Twenty-Nine

"Really! Unbelievable! Yuria and I were both stunned. We never expected you to be hiding such incredible talent."

She chattered on excitedly, expressing her joy at her friend's victory, while the winner herself touched her phone. Feeling the vibration inside and realizing that the prize money had already been deposited, she let out a sigh of relief.

Meanwhile, the little Tenku girl hummed a tune as she slowly entered an apartment. Ignoring the pungent smell of alcohol wafting from the open doorway, she dragged a disheveled middle-aged man out from the pile of junk on the sofa.

"Wake up. So what if you got fired again? Did you really have to drink this much?"

"Mm... Did I win?"

The middle-aged man rubbed his head as he woke. He looked at the little Tenku girl, who was clearly much shorter than him, and his face filled with confidence.

"I won, right? All the skills I've spent my whole life mastering were defeated by you..."

"You came in second, but it's enough to keep you going until you find another job."

The little Tenku girl sighed. Ignoring her stunned father, she began tidying the junk on the sofa.

"The first-place winner is amazing. I had no chance of beating her."

As she spoke, she tossed the photos she had taken with her phone to her father.

"You'll understand when you look for yourself."

The middle-aged man easily caught the phone in his broad palm. Squinting, he examined the calligraphy in the photo from close up and instinctively said,

"Someone who writes characters like this can actually win a prize?"

Breakup

Yotsuya Miko, completely unaware that someone had given her calligraphy such a terrible review, was still out shopping with Hana and Yuria. The calligraphy competition had not lasted very long, so they had plenty of time to wander around the streets before lunch.

However, after the competition ended, Miko's mood had become rather complicated. She felt that she had expected too much from this kind of competition. If it had been a more prestigious contest, perhaps the judges would have noticed the flaws in her calligraphy.

During the few days she had temporarily given up drawing talismanic patterns and switched to practicing calligraphy, the rumors surrounding Gintama had gradually died down. At least now, people had shifted their attention to a series of scandals that had recently erupted in the entertainment industry. She had no idea what was going on lately. Scandals involving one celebrity after another had been exposed, including coming out of the closet and time management, stirring up quite a controversy.

While this situation left Miko confused, it also made her consider whether she should continue drawing talismanic patterns. After all, having finished the morning's calligraphy competition, she finally had money in her account. It was enough to support her in drawing several hundred talismans. She thought about it, then shook her head, deciding it would be better to wait a few more days.

"Miko, Miko?"

"Hmm? What is it?"

Yotsuya Miko turned her gaze toward her friend beside her, Hana. The latter rolled her eyes at her and sighed.

"Seriously, why are you spacing out again? What have you been thinking about lately, Miko?"

"..."

Miko did not know what to say. She merely looked at Hana in silence, then lowered her head.

"I'm sorry, Hana. I just..."

A pair of hands tightly seized Miko's and pulled them into their owner's embrace. Caught off guard, Miko raised her head in surprise and looked at Yurikawa Hana. The orange-haired girl glared fiercely at her and stated her strict demand.

"You're not allowed to space out while you're shopping with me! Do you hear me?"

"Hana, isn't that a little..."

Yuria could not help pleading for Miko when she saw what Hana had done. But after Hana shot her a glare, she lost her nerve and swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Yotsuya Miko looked at the girl before her, unsure what she should say. Her heart was filled with guilt. Even she could clearly feel that whenever she went shopping with Hana, she would space out for no reason, or let her attention be drawn away by Ghosts, or think about matters related to Ghosts.

However, although her lips opened and closed, she could never bring herself to say anything. She merely looked at Hana before her and silently lowered her head.

She could not do it.

Ghosts had already become something she could never forget. Even if she wanted to escape, those Ghosts would constantly appear in her field of vision, reminding her that she was different from ordinary people.

"Sorry..."

Her hands were released.

Hana looked at her, all trace of a smile gone from her face. It was not that she failed to understand. It was that she felt unacknowledged. Even after things had reached this point, Miko still refused to tell her what was happening. Could it be that, in Miko's heart, she was really that unreliable?

She silently looked at Yotsuya Miko, then rose and left after calming herself somewhat.

"Sorry. I suddenly remembered that I have something to do, so I'll leave first."

As she spoke, she turned her back on Miko and walked away without looking back, her expression unchanged. But Yotsuya Miko felt it. She felt that pain.

"Hana..."

She reached out, wanting to stop her, but realized that she had no reason to do so. Any explanation would be pale and powerless. If she tried to hide the truth, it would eventually be discovered anyway.

In the end, that hand slowly fell, carrying its owner's sorrow.

"Miko..."

Yuria stood to the side like an outsider, watching the two separate without being able to do anything. After all, she was neither of them. She stood there for a long while before finally forcing a sentence out.

"You... aren't you going after her?"

"No. Let her calm down for a while."

Miko shook her head. Perhaps she felt that her current state was too pathetic, so she forced her expression to look a little better and pretended everything was normal.

"Since Hana's gone, let's walk around together, just the two of us."

"Where are we going?"

Miko looked up at a poster pasted to the wall.

"Then let's go... see Mr. Cave Bear."

[At last, the person said to be manlier than any man is about to arrive...]

She had nothing else she wanted to do. For now, she only wanted to get through the day as quickly as possible.

Someone else felt the same way.

The orange-haired girl wandered aimlessly down the road, feeling more dejected than ever before. Even the bread in her hand was difficult to swallow. But when she thought of Miko's appearance, she fiercely bit off a large mouthful.

"I'm angry. I'm really angry!"

She said it with the corners of her eyes stinging slightly. Whenever she thought of the time she had spent with Miko, tears began to flow uncontrollably.

"So why do you keep hiding it from me, Miko?"

Silently, she picked up the Ram Rabbit beside her schoolbag. It was something Miko had given her, and the hiragana "あ" had been inscribed on it. She had always treasured it carefully.

"Am I really someone you can't trust?"

She treated the Ram Rabbit as if it were Miko herself, gripping it tightly in her hand. Only when she caught sight of someone passing by did she wipe the tears from the corners of her eyes and place the Ram Rabbit back beside her schoolbag.

"That's really strange. I've never seen such strange calligraphy before. It doesn't have the slightest bit of life in it. If it wasn't written by a dead person, then what was it written by?"

"I told you, that's very rude! She was obviously a beautiful young lady."

The passing father and daughter said this without caring whether anyone else had heard them.

"Then you might have encountered a Ghost."

"Forget about whether it was a Ghost or not. Hurry up and find a job. Don't stay at home all day doing nothing. If you're short on money, go work at a construction site for a few days."

"Isn't this nice? I get to see you often."

"But I don't want to see you! You don't clean, you don't cook—honestly, I never should have believed you when you said you could teach me to cook."

Although the daughter's words were filled with scolding for her father, it was difficult to say that their relationship was poor. The burly father continued chatting as if nothing had happened, completely unconcerned by his daughter's disdain.

"Isn't that great? You learned how to cook, so I don't have to anymore. Besides, Sanae, you really do have talent. To be able to refine it to this level at your age... So, are you sure you didn't show me calligraphy written by some computer, some robot, or some program? Are you deliberately trying to hide the prize money from me?"

"...Believe what you want."

The daughter punched him, and the father put on an exaggerated show of pain.

"Ow."

Hana, who had stopped on the road, felt envious.

After Twenty-Nine

Cave Bear was a burly tough guy, just as he was in the ring. Although he was somewhat older, he was still active in various wrestling competitions. There was no denying that he was tremendously formidable.

However, compared to his ferocity in the ring, he seemed kind and approachable when standing offstage, like a kindly old neighbor. He warmly welcomed every admirer and encouraged them. That was, until it was Miko's turn.

"Oh? It's rare to see a young lady here—hahaha!"

He looked at the female high school student before him in surprise and let out a hearty laugh, seemingly delighted to have a female fan.

"Wrestling isn't something that excites many women."

As he spoke, he used a pen to write his name on the autograph board Miko handed him. His handwriting was not particularly attractive, but its essence burned like lava. Through Spiritual Sense, Miko observed that the life force within Cave Bear was extraordinarily robust. Even the most powerful Ghosts would probably retreat from him.

At that moment, however, Miko merely felt a little moved before sinking back into dejection. She smiled and thanked Cave Bear, but unlike the excited fans who wanted to keep talking to him, she turned and left as soon as she received his autograph.

This left Cave Bear rather confused, but he did not dwell on it and began greeting the next fan. Miko, who had walked out the door, still looked dispirited as she headed toward Yuria, who was waiting outside. Before long, the two of them found themselves unsure where to go.

"Um... Are you really all right?"

The blonde girl asked cautiously, lowering her voice considerably, as if afraid that it might irritate Miko.

"...If I say I'm fine, you won't believe me anyway, right?"

Yotsuya Miko said this as she slipped the autograph into her shoulder bag. She swept her Spiritual Sense over the distance and suddenly noticed someone inexplicably charging toward her.

A robbery?

He had probably seen her about to put something away and assumed that she was distracted, deciding that this was a good opportunity.

The thought flashed through her mind. The young man had already charged aggressively up to her and was preparing to knock her aside and snatch the shoulder bag she had just removed from her shoulder.

Of all times, it had to be now.

She shifted her body and, in the blink of an eye, darted behind the young man before driving an elbow into his back.

By the time Yuria noticed the young man charging over and was about to shout, the attempted robber had already stumbled and fallen to the ground, producing a dull impact.

"Wa—"

"—tch out."

Yuria glanced at the man lying on the ground, finished shouting the word she had begun, then looked at Miko, who continued putting away the autograph. She was somewhat unsure of Miko's current state of mind.

"What happened?"

The two people standing at the entrance and the young man lying unconscious soon attracted the attention of the waiting fans and the security guards. Two guards hurried over and asked what had happened.

Miko said nothing. She silently glanced at the robber on the ground, inexplicably feeling the urge to hit him with another spell, just to clear her head a little. Seeing her like this, Yuria could only hurriedly explain, clearly recounting what had happened. However, her explanation was obviously not very polished either. The two girls, along with the unconscious fellow on the ground, were politely invited back inside to a reception room, where they waited for the police to handle the matter.

"Are you really all right?"

Yuria could not help asking again. Miko had taken out the autograph at some point and was carefully stroking it. She looked as though the heavy blow had left her mentally unstable. In a way, that did fit Miko's current mood. Countless thoughts were running through her mind: how to deal with Ghosts, how to reconcile with Hana, the morning's calligraphy competition, and that night when she had seen Ghosts.

She carefully felt the essence within Cave Bear's handwriting, but only felt herself being forced by some emotion she could not understand into increasingly negative thoughts—murder, for example, or taking out every Talisman Iron Pellet she had and carrying out a great purge of the Ghosts throughout the city. In short, she was almost completely unhinged. All she lacked was a genuine opportunity to explode. And now, that opportunity seemed exceptionally close.

The young man finally woke from his unconsciousness and saw the situation he was in. He walked toward Miko with a dark expression. The guards seemed completely unprepared for anything, so he pulled a switchblade from his pocket and pointed the blade at Miko.

"You..."

Ah... A knife.

Miko glanced at it, then lowered her head and continued examining the strokes of the autograph, completely unconcerned by the man's mood, which resembled a venomous snake baring its fangs. After all, that switchblade was far too insignificant to threaten her. With a casual spell, she could kill him outright.

As she thought this, a spell formed and aimed directly at the young man before her.

"Miko!"

Both of them seemed to have tacitly ignored Yuria beside them. She could not bear the situation any longer. She tugged at Miko's hand and prepared to run toward the door, her face turning deathly pale.

"At least react! That's a knife... a knife!"

As she spoke, she looked ahead. When she saw the figure blocking the doorway, her already white face grew even paler.

"Trying to run? I'm telling you, you're not getting through that door, you idiots..."

The young man sneered, making no effort to hide his contempt for the guards. Who knew what they had been thinking, letting the three of them remain in the same room without supervision? But before his taunt was halfway finished, a pair of thick arms wrapped around his body. He struggled to breathe, and the switchblade fell from his hand.

"I can't pretend I didn't hear that."

Cave Bear said this as his burly body locked around the young man's torso. He held on until the man suffocated and passed out again, then released his arms and handed the unconscious young man and the switchblade on the floor to the guards who had followed behind him. He then turned his gaze toward Miko and Yuria, an apologetic look on his face.

"I'm sorry. The guards have never encountered anything like this before and didn't know how to handle it. Fortunately, you're both unharmed. Please tell me if there's anything I can do. Consider it compensation."

He was very straightforward. Miko silently withdrew the spell, glanced at Yuria, who still had not recovered, and shook her head.

"No need. Can we leave?"