Murasame Shizu

When Eriri arrived at the old school building, Murasame Shizu was, as usual, sound asleep.

Since no one had come here for years, she had absolutely no sense of alertness when she slept.

So even when Eriri walked into a classroom on the second floor and came right up to the sleeping Murasame Shizu, she remained blissfully unaware, still slumbering with a sweet smile.

As a ghost, she would be invisible to ordinary people unless she chose to manifest herself.

But for Eriri, that rule simply didn't apply.

She could clearly see Murasame Shizu lying on her side on the floor, a faint smile on her lips, seemingly lost in a pleasant dream.

She had long, straight light-blue hair, blunt bangs, a delicate face, and wore a white yukata over her curled-up body.

If not for her semi-transparent form and the two white ghost flames floating beside her, Murasame Shizu would look like an ordinary beautiful girl.

Eriri crouched down and reached out with her right hand, poking Murasame Shizu's delicate cheek with her index finger.

Yet despite this, she didn't wake up—instead, she merely pursed her lips and turned over, continuing to sleep.

Watching her cute behavior, a smile unconsciously appeared on Eriri's face.

But Eriri had no intention of letting her sleep any longer.

She reached out again and poked Murasame Shizu on the other cheek, then lightly pinched it.

Though Shizu was a spirit, Eriri could still feel the soft texture of her skin.

As Eriri's actions grew more persistent, even someone as carefree as Murasame Shizu finally stirred from sleep.

"Mmm..."

Murasame Shizu slowly opened her eyes, rubbing the corners with the sleeve of her yukata.

When she saw Eriri crouching before her with a smile, her hand paused mid-rub.

But instead of reacting with fear or shock like most people would, she simply said:

"Um... good morning!"

Letting out a yawn, she greeted Eriri with a gentle smile, then floated up off the floor.

Eriri was a bit surprised by how calmly she reacted.

But remembering that this girl had an airhead nature not inferior to Tearju's, her surprise quickly faded.

"Good morning. Though, it's almost noon now—it's not exactly early~"

As Murasame Shizu floated upward, Eriri stood up naturally and joined her in conversation.

"Eh, it's already noon?"

Murasame Shizu showed a surprised expression, but it soon faded from her face.

"Oh well, that nap was really nice~"

Stretching her arms wide, she let out a contented sigh.

Then, as if remembering something, she looked at Eriri with clear violet eyes.

"Ah… I forgot to introduce myself. Nice to meet you, I'm Shizu, the girl who died here four hundred years ago."

Seeing her bow politely, Eriri responded with a smile.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Eriri~"

"Hi, Miss Eriri. I guess we know each other now."

Murasame Shizu flashed a sweet smile.

"By the way, Miss Eriri, did you come here for something?"

"Since there's no one else here but you, Shizu, what do you think I came for?"

"Eh? Don't tell me you came just to find me? But we've never met before."

Murasame Shizu tilted her head in confusion.

"Who says you have to know someone to seek them out? Do exorcists need to be acquainted with spirits before they purge them?"

As she spoke, a playful smile appeared on Eriri's face. She clearly intended to tease the innocent little ghost.

Sure enough, the moment she heard Eriri's words, the smile on Murasame Shizu's face instantly vanished, replaced by one of fear.

"Ex… Exorcist?" Murasame Shizu cried out in fright, her body suddenly floating several meters backward.

"So Miss Eriri is an exorcist? But I'm not a vengeful spirit! I'm just an ordinary ghost who's never done anything bad!"

Murasame Shizu still had some idea of what an exorcist was.

Back when she was alive, there had been folk legends about exorcists and spirits.

Though she had never seen an exorcist herself, now that she was a ghost, she naturally believed those legends were real.

"Oh? Is that so?"

Eriri made no other moves, merely crossed her arms and looked at her suspiciously.

Seeing a possible turn in the situation, Murasame Shizu nodded rapidly.

"Yes, yes, that's right! Miss Exorcist, please believe me!"

Hope lit up her face—until Eriri's next words froze her completely.

"But… just like bad people don't admit they're bad, ghosts who've done bad things surely wouldn't say they're evil either."

"Eh?"

"So… you should just give up and let me take care of you, little Shizu~"

With a mischievous grin on her face, Eriri stretched out her right hand and made a grasping motion toward Murasame Shizu from several meters away. A gentle force immediately enveloped her.

"Nooo!!!"

Feeling her body being pulled helplessly toward Eriri, Murasame Shizu panicked.

No matter how hard she struggled, it was all in vain. In the end, she simply shut her eyes and braced for her fate.

But the expected pain never came.

Instead, a few seconds later, she felt herself being wrapped in a warm, soft embrace filled with a captivating fragrance.

After staying in that embrace for several moments without anything else happening, Murasame Shizu finally opened her tightly shut eyes with trepidation.

What met her gaze was Eriri's dazzlingly beautiful face.

And then a gentle voice reached her ears.

"Shizu, I've already taken care of you. You're no longer a lonely ghost now!"

...

Inside the infirmary at Sainan High School.

Tearju and Mikado Ryouko were happily chatting, exchanging stories about what each of them had experienced over the years.

At the same time, Ryouko learned from Tearju about Eriri's origins and overwhelming strength.

Only then did she understand why Eriri had casually claimed that manipulating time was a simple matter.

Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps interrupted their conversation.

They both turned their eyes toward the infirmary door, and the next second, they saw it being flung open forcefully.

A man in his twenties rushed in, looking frantic.

The moment he saw Tearju sitting next to Mikado Ryouko, he froze.

But recalling why he'd come to the infirmary in the first place, he quickly snapped back to attention and turned his anxious gaze toward Ryouko.

"Miss Mikado, something's wrong—the principal… something's happened to the principal!"

Ryouko blinked, her expression slightly confused.

"Hm? Something happened to the principal?"

She knew exactly what kind of man the principal was, and since Eriri had just gone out not long ago, she instinctively assumed Eriri had done something to him.

"Yes, just now I passed the corner of the west wing and saw the principal rolling on the ground…"

Before the male teacher could finish, Ryouko interrupted him.

"Ara, isn't that perfectly normal behavior for our principal?"

"Um… Miss Mikado, I wasn't finished yet…" the male teacher said awkwardly.

"Oh, then go on."

"Ahem… Not only was the principal rolling on the ground, but his whole body was twitching nonstop, and he kept screaming—he was clearly in great pain..."

Recalling what he had seen, the teacher involuntarily shivered, fear flashing in his eyes.

"Because his body kept thrashing around, I couldn't bring him to the infirmary, so I came to ask you to go take a look."

"I see. Since there's nothing urgent right now, let's go check it out."

Mikado Ryouko had no fondness for the lecherous principal and didn't particularly care to help him.

But as the school's nurse, she still had to do her job. And besides, she was genuinely curious about what had happened to the principal.

From the male teacher's brief description, she could already tell this wasn't a normal medical condition.

If Eriri was responsible, she wanted to see exactly what she had done—her curiosity had definitely been piqued.

Before following the teacher, Ryouko turned to Tearju to ask her opinion.

"Tearju, are you coming with me, or would you rather stay here and wait for Eriri?"

"Hmm… I'll go with you. No matter where I am, Eriri will know."

"Alright, then let's go."

...

When Mikado Ryouko and Tearju arrived at the scene with the male teacher, they found it already surrounded by a crowd of students and faculty.

It was between classes, so many passersby had naturally noticed the principal rolling on the ground—just like the male teacher had.

"Miss Mikado is here!"

"Miss Mikado..."

The crowd quickly noticed their arrival.

Thanks to her superb medical skills and stunning, sexy appearance, both students and faculty at Sainan High held deep admiration for Mikado Ryouko.

Everyone happily greeted her and cleared a path.

Though the students were very curious about Tearju, who followed Ryouko, none asked about her just yet.

Once they reached the principal, Ryouko crouched down and took out a medical device she'd brought from the infirmary to begin examining his body.

The male teacher, meanwhile, averted his eyes nervously as he watched the principal spasming violently on the ground, hands clutching at his face.

"Miss Mikado, it looks worse than before… He wasn't clutching his face earlier, and the convulsions weren't this bad..."

Ryouko didn't respond, focusing fully on the examination.

After more than ten minutes, she finally stood up and put the device away.

By then, most of the students and teachers had returned to class.

Seeing Ryouko finish, the male teacher quickly approached.

"Miss Mikado, how is the principal?"

"I'm sorry to say, I couldn't find anything wrong. Based on my tests, he's in perfect health. Even the scratches on his skin were made by himself."

"However, what's strange is the feedback from his neural signals—it indicates he's experiencing continuous, intense pain, as if his bodily tissues are being destroyed."

A curious look crossed Ryouko's face—she was clearly baffled by the result.

There was an old saying across the universe: as long as someone wasn't dead, Mikado Ryouko could save them.

That alone was testament to her medical prowess.

But this time, her skills were useless.

After all, she couldn't treat someone who wasn't actually sick.

She had also considered if it was a neurological issue, but the scan showed no problems with the principal's nerves.

Even more baffling was that despite the prolonged, high-intensity pain, his brain remained completely unharmed.

This made her feel that whatever was happening had already surpassed the boundaries of medical science…

"Then what should we do? Oh, I'll call an ambulance."

Originally, since the school had a top-tier school nurse who could solve any medical issue, the male teacher hadn't considered calling emergency services.

But now that Ryouko couldn't help, he had no choice but to turn to the hospital.

As he began dialing, Ryouko didn't stop him, nor did she consider taking the principal to her lab for study.

She was already more than ninety percent certain this was Eriri's doing, and she intended to ask her about it when they met again.

"Even if I couldn't help, I still fulfilled my duty. Let's head back to the infirmary."

With that, Ryouko gave the teacher a quick word, then returned to the infirmary with the still-silent Tearju.

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