"What's wrong?" Jiu Ming, who had returned ahead of her, noticed Mikage Yuzuki's flushed face and asked.
"Ah!? It's nothing." Recalling the conversation she'd had with her best friend on the way back, she guiltily shook her head. "It's nothing."
"Is that so?" Jiu Ming watched her suspiciously for a moment. Maybe it was just his imagination, but her face seemed to have turned even redder. "If something's wrong... well, if it's personal, then forget it."
"Mm." She lowered her head and softly murmured in agreement. Then her gaze fell upon what Jiu Ming was doing. That little black blob was now cowering timidly beside his hand. Even when he had been distracted talking to her just now, it hadn't dared seize the chance to run away.
"What are you doing?"
"I was just curious about this little thing's nature, so I'm taking a look." As Jiu Ming spoke, he grabbed the black blob again, making it shrink back in fright. "A Great Yokai once told me that newly born little yokai like this have extremely weak intelligence. They're not even as clever as spirits born from embodiments of nature."
Holding the black blob, Jiu Ming explained, "But this one's intelligence seems a little too high, so I'd better get to the bottom of it."
Even as he explained, Jiu Ming's hands never stopped moving. Only then did Mikage Yuzuki notice that he was wearing a pair of strange gloves. Every so often, he drew a wisp of black mist out of the blob. The instant that mist landed in his hand, it quickly vanished into Jiu Ming's palm. The black blob was deliberately avoiding the three-centimeter area around him.
As though something there posed an immense threat to it!
Unable to contain her curiosity, Mikage Yuzuki reached out, wanting