But today, Diary's reply had changed.
Spend 5 Reading Points to unlock basic Spirit Vision (can be turned off voluntarily). Insufficient Reading Points at present. Please maintain the good habit of reading the diary every day.
Chapter 25: Shinomiya Kaguya Makes Someone Sleep with Her
Diary had gained a new ability!
Five Reading Points could unlock basic Spirit Vision...
So this world really did have Vengeful Spirits!?
Did that mean You Know Who might really have met Yotsuya Miko on the train today, which was why he had written about it in the diary?
In other words, if she could find Yotsuya Miko, she might be able to follow that lead and find You Know Who?
Shinomiya Kaguya took a deep breath.
Reading the diary's descriptions of those Vengeful Spirits, she felt that even if her future Reading Points were left to rust away, she would never willingly unlock Spirit Vision for herself.
She had no strange fetishes, nor was she interested in dealing with Vengeful Spirits and ghosts.
Shinomiya Kaguya wrote a few more lines in Diary, asking whether there were any Vengeful Spirits around her.
The answer she received was that she could unlock Spirit Vision and investigate for herself.
That ambiguous answer left Shinomiya Kaguya unable to sleep.
She glanced at the time. It was ten at night.
It was late to discuss business at this hour, but it also seemed a little early to sleep.
Still, feeling as though something strange might be lurking in the room, Shinomiya Kaguya called Hayasaka Ai into her bedroom.
"Lady Kaguya, is something the matter?"
Hayasaka Ai, who was the same age as her, was an absolutely competent maid in every respect.
The moment Shinomiya Kaguya called for her, she set aside her other work and came to Shinomiya Kaguya's bedroom.
In the past, the two of them would often chat a little before bed after finishing the day's work.
But over the past few days, Hayasaka had felt that her mistress had gained quite a few secrets.
A few days ago, Shinomiya Kaguya had handed her a list and asked her to investigate the identities of those people without drawing anyone's attention, especially the attention of the Shinomiya Family.
The second daughter of the Yukinoshita Family of Chiba Prefecture, a detective known as Sleeping Kogoro, an obscure underground idol, an ordinary high school girl with no special identity besides being pretty...
Hayasaka spent every day with Shinomiya Kaguya, and it was summer vacation. Since Shinomiya Kaguya rarely went out, Hayasaka should theoretically have known any information her mistress received.
Yet she had no impression of any of those names.
Perhaps because she had never seen Shinomiya Kaguya so serious before, and because she truly had no idea how to explain where her mistress had heard those names.
She couldn't exactly say they were all new online friends her mistress had met.
Shinomiya Kaguya was still using the old flip phone she had received when she was five, and she only used it as a communication tool.
Not to mention LINE—she had never even used the phone's camera function.
No matter how little Hayasaka Ai understood it, she still had to complete the task her mistress had given her.
So she used her own methods and spent her own salary to investigate the information Shinomiya Kaguya wanted, then handed it over to her.
And that very night, she concealed something from the Shinomiya Family's main house for the first time in her life.
If she was questioned later, she could say they were online friends who wanted to meet her offline.
And based on what she had observed over the past few days, she realized that her mistress seemed to have some way of contacting people outside without going through her, her capable maid.
Although that left her feeling a little empty inside, she was actually quite happy about it.
Shinomiya Kaguya had been lonely ever since she was little. The only person who could barely be called her friend was the young lady from the Fujiwara family.
Yet even that friendship was constantly watched by the other members of the Shinomiya Family.
If her mistress could truly make more friends, that would naturally be a good thing.
The only problem was that while Shinomiya Kaguya could still avoid the Shinomiya Family's gaze for now, how long could she keep it up?
And when the time came, how was Hayasaka supposed to face the wrath of the Shinomiya Family's main house for missing such important intelligence?
Shinomiya Kaguya could actually sense Hayasaka Ai's emotions as well.
She simply had not expected Hayasaka Ai to be worrying about something so much more complicated.
She looked at Hayasaka Ai, who had grown up alongside her.
She had suddenly asked Hayasaka to investigate so many people a few days ago without telling her why. Hayasaka probably had many questions in her heart now.
Shinomiya Kaguya wanted to tell Hayasaka about Diary, but because of the rules, she could not do so.
Even trying to skirt the rules would not work. For example, saying she had dreamed it in a dream, or claiming a mysterious ghost only she could see had told her—any method that might reveal Diary was forbidden.
She could demonstrate something like Ripple Chi Kung, which she had learned from the diary, but a power whose source she could not explain would probably only make Hayasaka worry even more.
But tomorrow would be the seventh day since she had obtained Diary. She wondered whether, after unlocking Diary's new permissions, she would be able to tell Hayasaka Ai about it.
She waited for that day to arrive.
"I... can't sleep. Let's just chat for a while first." Shinomiya Kaguya patted the space beside her on the bed, motioning for Hayasaka to come over.
Hayasaka Ai looked at her mistress in confusion.
It was only ten. Even if her mistress went to bed early, she usually would not sleep until eleven.
But since her mistress had said so, Hayasaka naturally could not refuse.
She then sat by the bed and began talking with Shinomiya Kaguya about work and everyday life.
Those things were boring enough to talk about, and even more boring to listen to.
But that was their daily life.
What interesting things could two people bound by the Shinomiya Family, who had never even attended a summer fireworks festival, possibly talk about?
Hayasaka Ai herself did not even notice that, under Shinomiya Kaguya's deliberate guidance, she had gradually ended up half-lying on the bed.
By the time she realized something seemed wrong, Shinomiya Kaguya had already wrapped an arm around hers.
The warmth from Shinomiya Kaguya's palm caused the fatigue Hayasaka had accumulated for so long to burst forth all at once.
Watching Hayasaka Ai slowly fall asleep, Shinomiya Kaguya, who was using Ripple Energy on someone for the first time and had no experience, froze for a moment.
She had only wanted to use Ripple Energy beneath the covers to gently relax Hayasaka's body. Then they could tell a few ghost stories, and she could naturally persuade Hayasaka to stay the night.
Why had Hayasaka fallen asleep right away?
And she was sleeping so soundly that Shinomiya Kaguya felt too embarrassed to wake her.
Could Ripple Energy have a hypnotic effect too?
Shinomiya Kaguya looked at her palm, feeling as though she had mastered a new skill.
But since her goal had already been achieved, a few deviations in the process did not matter.
She had originally planned to have Hayasaka Ai investigate Yotsuya Miko tomorrow, then visit a temple to find a few masters and bring back some consecrated ritual items to protect the house.
Since Hayasaka Ai was already asleep, they could talk about it after she woke up tomorrow.
Kaguya gently turned off the light, then pulled the blanket over herself and Hayasaka Ai.
"Good night, Hayasaka."
Chapter 26: Yotsuya Miko Didn't Want to See Diary
Shinomiya Kaguya had Hayasaka Ai sleeping beside her, but the other girls who had obtained the diaries felt more or less creeped out after seeing the "truth" described within Diary.
Unable to sleep, Kasumigaoka Utaha simply used the diary's contents to write a ghost story overnight, planning to post it on her blog using her main account once it was finished.
Yukino Yukinoshita, who lacked a sense of security, spent the entire night practicing Ripple Chi Kung.
At the same time, she pondered whether she should try persuading her mother to keep a Black Cat at home. She had heard that Black Cats could ward off evil.
But there was one even more excited exception among them.
A certain chuunibyou girl who had just moved into a new home and wore colored contacts nodded very seriously after reading today's diary.
"So that's how it is. Only people with stronger Spiritual Power can witness stronger evil spirits. This is the truth of the world—I completely understand now!"
"Is it because the Evil Eye in my right eye is still sealed and cannot display its original power that I cannot use it to explore the location of the 'Unseen Horizon'?"
Takanashi Rikka clenched her fist tightly, and a thread of Ripple Energy burst from her hand.
"But now that I have mastered the power of Ripple, as long as I keep training, I'll awaken the true Evil Eye sooner or later!"
Of course, Spirit Vision was another matter. Even a chuunibyou girl maintained the same complete rejection toward those hideous and grotesque Vengeful Spirits as any normal person.
"But no matter what, the Evil Eye is the strongest! Even the most powerful Vengeful Spirit would be helpless before my fully awakened Evil Eye! Ahahahaha!"
She only quieted down after her older sister next door warned her, "Don't disturb other people in the middle of the night."
The chuunibyou girl was over there imagining her colorful future.
As for someone who truly possessed Spirit Vision...
Yotsuya Miko had known for several days that a strange Diary had appeared beside her.
But ever since the first time she opened it and saw the obvious trap of a message that read, "I'm XXX, and I've been sealed inside this Diary," she had never dared open it again.
Even though the Diary seemed to have latched onto her and refused to leave, and no matter what she did, she could not throw it away.
So she began ignoring it—something she had gradually become skilled at.
Not long ago, her eyes had begun seeing things normal people could not see.
She had tried to find someone who could help her, but so far, she had not found anyone else who could see what she saw.
All this time, she had pretended not to see those things, and the Vengeful Spirits and ghosts seemed not to have noticed that someone who could see them had appeared in the world.
It was a little hard, but fortunately there were not too many of them. As long as she was careful, she could barely manage.
As for this Diary that had suddenly appeared, she regarded it as some higher-level Vengeful Spirit.
The wizarding world sounded like it might solve her problem, but what if it had been fabricated by the thing inside to deceive her and escape?
There was probably some incredible demon king sealed inside!
That was what Yotsuya Miko thought.
But as long as she did not open the Diary and was not bewitched by the sealed Tom inside, nothing should happen... probably?
"School will be starting soon. I just hope I won't see anything strange there."
"If I can't find a master at the temples around my home, should I visit a more famous shrine or temple?"
With faint dark circles beneath her eyes, Yotsuya Miko casually swept the Diary that had appeared by her bed onto the floor. Out of sight, out of mind.
Then she turned off her bedside lamp and lay beneath the covers, hoping she could have a good dream tonight.
After all, dreams were the only time she could relax now.
Before you continue