: Teke Teke and Kashima Reiko

A light flickers in the distance. The sound of a person running circulates around the almost empty subway. A woman in her teens looks to be running for her life. She runs down the station and ducks into a women's bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her. She walks up to a stall and steps inside.

Teke teke, teke teke, teke teke.

The sound of fingernails hitting the ceramic floor comes from outside the bathroom before it disappears. The woman relaxes and places the seat on the toilet before sitting down. She plans to wait there until it's safe, but then she hears a voice from above the stall she's in.

She looks up, her eyes widening. A woman is staring down at her, her disheveled hair covering half of her face. She's wearing a school uniform, and half of her body is showing — the rest of her is missing.

In a small voice, the woman asks, "Where are my legs?"

The girl is terrified. She stares, frozen. With no response, the woman asks again, "Where are my legs?"

After a few minutes, the girl answers, "On the Meishin Expressway."

The woman's eyes narrow. "Who told you that?"

With a trembling voice, the girl responds, "Kashima Reiko."

The woman gives a confused look. "What's my name?"

"Kamen… Shinen… Ma," the girl answers in Japanese. The first few letters of her response spell out "Kashima." The woman seems to accept this answer and disappears.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the subway, Kurou walks in holding a box and some talismans. Inari walks beside him, holding a map of the station.

"Are you sure this is the right station? And what's up with the map? Are phones too complicated for a thousand-year-old fox?" Kurou asks.

Inari's sharp gaze never left the map, but Kurou could feel the weight of something unspoken in the air. The quiet between them felt heavy, thick with their shared knowledge of how dangerous things could get. Kurou wasn't sure if he was more worried about what they were about to face, or the fox beside him who seemed to know just how far to push him before snapping.

"I think we're on the right path. This subway can't be that big," Kurou says.

Inari tucks the map into his kimono and walks with Kurou. They eventually arrive at a dimly lit station. The bathrooms are down the hall and to the left, while the subway is right in front of them.

"Hey, Inari-san. Isn't the subway supposed to be closed? Why is there a train?" Kurou asks.

Inari points to the subway. "That isn't real. If you get on it, it takes you to Kisaragi Station. That legend is for another day."

Kurou nods. It makes sense. Someone could easily get on it, wondering why it's there, and end up somewhere else.

Inari leads the way toward the bathroom, but then he freezes, causing Kurou to bump into him.

"Hey, why did you suddenly stop?" Kurou asks.

Inari glares at him. "Did you hear that?"

Kurou pauses and listens.

Teke teke, teke teke, teke teke.

Inari turns around. Half of a woman is right in front of him, just a few yards away. She's dragging herself with her forearms, nails scraping the ground, making an eerie noise.

Kurou suddenly feels himself being pushed forward and falls flat on the ground.

Inari stands there, smirking. "Oops, I guess I don't know my own strength. I just wanted to place a talisman on you, just in case."

Kurou doesn't have time to be mad. Teke Teke probably heard him and is now coming. He quickly pushes himself up and grabs Inari by the sleeve, dragging him into the bathroom. He closes the door and locks it.

Inari slaps Kurou's hand away and fixes his kimono. "If you ripped this kimono, you're buying me a new one. Do you know how old this kimono is?"

Kurou doesn't answer. He doesn't even want to know how many days in a row Inari's worn it.

Kurou presses his ear against the door and waits.

Teke teke, teke teke, teke teke.

The noise passes the bathroom and disappears. Kurou knows it's not safe, so he decides to stay in the bathroom.

"What should we do now? Play a game? Let's play… 20 Questions," Kurou suggests.

Inari sighs but sits down next to the windowsill. Kurou joins him.

"Fine, we can play, but I'll go first," Inari says. "Why do you want to go back to Dream School in the first place?"

Kurou hesitates. He realizes he never told Inari why. They hadn't said much to each other that day. It's almost as if they both accepted their meeting like it was nothing.

"I have a best friend named Minami who got stuck in there. I want to save him. This is the only way."

Kurou pauses for a moment before asking his own question. "Why did you change your mind about taking my life on the day I met you?"

Inari looks at him, then gazes out the window. "You reminded me of someone I know. Someone I wanted to kill too. That's why I decided to help you. I don't usually do this for anyone. But I suppose it's my turn to ask a question."

Kurou raises an eyebrow. "Go ahead."

"Is there anyone you love?" Inari asks.

Kurou shakes his head. "Nope. I was busy with homework, trying to save my friend. I didn't have time to mingle with anyone back in school. I did run into one of my friends, Misuka, when I went to a library. She was reading a book on urban legends. We became friends, but I only see her as a friend."

Inari smirks and stands up. "I think it might be clear outside. Let's go."

Kurou follows him, and they continue to walk around the station.

"This time, instead of running, we're going to catch her," Kurou says confidently.

Inari chuckles. "Are you saying that to me, or yourself?"

Kurou already knows the answer to Inari's question. Both.

toward them at a high speed. It's ironic—she's faster than a human running, but she doesn't have any legs.

"Hold your ground. You can't outrun her," Inari warns.

Kurou nods and braces himself. Once she's close enough, Inari throws a talisman at her. The letters on the talisman burn a bright orange and red before the paper turns to ash and disappears. Teke Teke collapses, exhausted.

Kurou quickly opens the box he's been holding and seals her inside, placing a talisman on top. He hands the box to Inari.

"She's all yours," Kurou says. "I gotta say, capturing ghosts is easier than I thought it would be."

Inari shakes the box. A scream erupts from it, and Inari grins.

"Trust me, this job gets a lot harder when we deal with more powerful ones. Besides, you had me next to you. Teke Teke wouldn't go after me since I'm technically a being like them, just not as ugly. That's why it was easy. And we're not done. We still have one more to deal with."

He pulls out another box and hands it to Kurou. "She's in the bathroom."

Inari furrows his brow like something's troubling him. "It seems we have company. There's a girl in the women's bathroom. She's scared and trembling."

Kurou nods and walks toward the bathroom, but when he looks back, he realizes Inari isn't coming with him. He pauses at the women's restroom door, unsure if he's really allowed to go in. It is for a good cause, though.

After contemplating, Kurou steps inside. He hears a girl crying in one of the stalls.

He knocks on the stall door. "Miss? Are you okay?"

The girl opens the door and looks at him, surprised. "H-How did you get in here? I was being chased by a woman with no legs!"

Kurou gives her a reassuring smile. She seems to be a schoolgirl. If he's right, she's here because she was probably dared to come to the subway and prove Teke Teke wasn't real. Unfortunately, it backfired.

"I'll help you," Kurou says. "Just wait outside."

The girl agrees, and Kurou steps into the stall she was in. He closes the door and holds the box.The chill in the stall was so intense now, it felt like it was seeping into his bones. His fingers trembled as he held the box tightly, sweat beading at his temple despite the cold. He knows who he's capturing now: Kashima Reiko, a ghost like Teke Teke, who asks victims in the bathroom where her legs are. If they answer wrong, she kills them.

Kurou stared at the ceiling, his heart pounding in his chest. The air in the stall grew even colder as he waited. A voice, soft and haunting, echoed down from above. "Where are my legs?" The question pierced through the silence like a blade.

Kurou looks up and opens the box. He sighs. "At your house."

Taking in his incorrect answer Kashima Reiko lurches down with a blood-curdling scream. Kurou holds the box above his head. Kashima turns into blue orbs and is sucked into the box. As he shuts it, a bright white light shines from within.

As the blinding light faded, Kurou stumbled, disoriented. The air was heavier now, thick with an otherworldly presence. Meishin Station. The name hung in the air like a warning, as he read it from the sign above. His mind couldn't grasp why it felt so familiar. Was this where the legend really began? Kurou's head throbs. He's no longer in the subway, he's at a train station. His mind races as he looks around, but the confusion only grows.

"Hey! Kashima, slow down!" Kurou turns around and sees Kashima running away from a group of girls.

Wait… is that Kashima from the bathroom?

He follows her until she stops a few feet away from the platform's edge. The girls stop behind her and snicker as they make snide comments. They don't seem to notice Kurou, or maybe they can't see him.

One girl walks closer to Kashima. "Kashima, is it true that you have a crush on my boyfriend? Pfft…pathetic. He's clearly not your type."

The voices of the girls echoed eerily in the silent subway station, their cruel words bouncing off the walls like an unseen force. Kurou's stomach twisted in sympathy, yet he couldn't tear his eyes away from the scene unfolding before him.

Something about Kashima seemed so lost in that moment, like she didn't even belong to herself anymore.

The girls continue to bully her. One of them whispers something to the girl who spoke up. The girl giggles and walks closer to Kashima. The others watch the scene with cruel amusement.

"Kashima, you're nothing but a joke," one of them sneers. "Maybe this will teach you to stop pining for him."

The girl pushes Kashima toward the edge of the platform. Kashima stumbles, gasping for air.

"Please…" she whimpers.

Another push sends Kashima crashing onto the tracks. Her bag falls beside her. She tries to climb back, but she's too slow. A train comes barreling down the tracks, cutting her in half.