The Spirit Who Fainted

"Wh-Who's clinging to you?!" Tohka snapped, quickly letting go of Origami's arm. Her face was red, whether from fear or embarrassment, or both. "I-It's just tight in here! Y-Yeah! The space is small, so we have to squeeze together to fit!"

Origami turned to her with a blank stare. "The passage is exactly 4.8643752 meters wide. It can comfortably fit at least seven people walking side by side."

Tohka's brain short-circuited. "Wh… huh? Wha—?"

Origami continued without blinking. "The probability of contact in a space this size is less than 12.438%. Just admit it, you're scared."

"Ughhh!" Tohka groaned, clutching her head as Origami's overly specific numbers flooded her mind. Her head started to spin. She wasn't built for math ambushes.

But before Origami could further fry her brain with decimal warfare, Tohka snapped out of it, just in time to see Origami's faint smirk. She was being provoked.

"I-I'm not afraid! If you don't believe me, I'll walk ahead of you!" Tohka declared with exaggerated confidence.

Before Origami could reply, Tohka marched forward with large, determined strides, putting some distance between them. However, despite her bold words, her legs visibly trembled with each step.

"Ghosts aren't real… ghosts aren't real… They're just humans in costumes... yeah, that's right!" she muttered to herself, repeating it like a mantra in a shaky voice.

Then, forcing a proud smirk onto her face, she turned her head back toward Origami and called out, "Haha! See? I'm not afraid at all!"

But the smile froze on her face the moment she realized something terrifying.

Origami was gone.

"Huh…?" Tohka blinked, her confidence draining like water from a leaky bucket. "O-Origami? Where are you?!"

She spun around in panic, eyes darting between the cobwebbed walls and flickering lights. "Are you hiding from me?! T-This isn't funny!"

Her proud stance completely crumbled. Within seconds, she went from brave warrior to frightened rabbit, clutching her arms and shivering in place.

Tohka continued to call out, her voice growing more desperate with each step.

"Origami? Hellooo? This isn't funny anymore!"

But there was no answer.

Not a single sound.

Only the echo of her own voice bouncing off the haunted house's eerie walls.

A cold chill ran down her spine, and beads of sweat began forming on her back, trickling down as dread settled in. The silence felt suffocating.

She walked nervously, glancing left and right, her eyes darting between flickering lights and looming shadows. Every creak of the floor made her flinch.

"Shidooo... help meeee…" she whimpered under her breath.

Just as she turned a corner, her heart nearly leapt out of her chest, but this time, it wasn't fear.

It was relief.

At the end of the hallway, she spotted a familiar figure standing still, her back turned, Origami.

Tohka's face lit up instantly with joy. "Origami!" she called out, her voice nearly cracking from emotion.

But then she remembered something very important, Origami had abandoned her.

Her joy morphed into a pout.

She puffed her cheeks and stomped toward her with adorable indignation. "Geez! Why didn't you answer me?! I thought something really happened to you! You left me behind and I was all alone! What if a ghost had eaten me, huh?! Hmph!"

She stopped just a step behind Origami, hands on her hips, still grumbling.

Seeing that Origami was completely ignoring her calls, Tohka huffed in frustration. With puffed cheeks and narrowed eyes, she marched up and placed a hand firmly on her shoulder.

"Hey! Are you even listening to me?!"

She spun Origami aroun, and instantly froze.

The figure before her looked like Origami… but something was very wrong.

Her skin was deathly pale, her mouth twisted into a chilling smile, and worst of all her eyes… her eyes were gone, replaced by empty, bloody sockets that trickled crimson down her cheeks.

Tohka's breath caught in her throat.

"What? Did you call me?" the Origami-lookalike said in a disturbingly calm voice, her eerie smile stretching wider.

Tohka didn't even get the chance to scream.

She fainted on the spot, collapsing like a puppet with its strings cut.

Thud.

The ghostly figure blinked in surprise. Then, slowly, she reached up and peeled off the creepy mask to reveal the real Origami underneath, looking down at Tohka with a rare hint of confusion.

"…Did I scare her too much?"

Origami crouched beside Tohka's unconscious body and tilted her head.

She had originally planned to mess with Tohka a little, maybe get her to scream or run in circles, maybe even destroy a fake wall or two in panic, but this outcome was… unexpected.

Still, Origami couldn't help the faintest curl at the corner of her lips.

"…Should I say this is mission accomplished?"

Origami looked down once more at Tohka, who was still sprawled unconscious on the floor, and let out a small sigh.

"…I suppose it's time to leave. We've completely lost track of Shido anyway."

Without much ceremony, she hoisted Tohka up with practiced ease and began walking toward the haunted house's exit, the dim lights casting long shadows behind them.

Whatever chaos had unfolded in the haunted house was known only to Tohka and Origami. The rest of the world, including Shido and Kurumi, remained blissfully unaware.

Meanwhile, the pair sat quietly at the peak of the Ferris wheel, bathed in the golden glow of the setting sun. The city stretched out beneath them, glistening in orange and pink hues, while a gentle breeze passed through the cabin.

Neither spoke, yet the silence between them felt warm and natural, an unspoken bond carried on the breeze, wrapped in the colors of twilight.

The atmosphere was quiet… ambiguous… almost like the calm before a heartbeat.