"...Thus we see that both equations I and II resolve to half of M times V Squared, implying that the total change in mechanical energy of the freely falling body is zero. So we can say that the Conservation of Energy is also applicable..." The teacher droned on as she pointed to the equations she had scrawled on to the blackboard.

The topic wasn't terribly dull, Ayumu thought as he diligently noted down every word in his notebook. Though, he admitted to himself that the teacher could have presented it in a way that wasn't almost word-for-word from the textbook. Maybe it was a personal problem, but he lost some of his motivation to take notes when he knew that he was simply re-writing what was already in the textbook.

Regardless, it was practice all the same. Less work for later- something which he could appreciate.

Ayumu shivered slightly when a solitary gust of wind drifted in through the large window to tickle his sweat-drenched body. It was nearing the end of July, and the sweltering heat was already at its peak, coupled with an unbearable amount of humidity. He was eager to spend most of his day sitting in his room with the air conditioner at full blast.

He was glad that he had finished taking notes, because he cringed internally when he realized how pathetic that sounded. Granted, he thought dully, it wasn’t as though he was some sort of Hikikkomori. He had friends, he was pretty outgoing (in his humble opinion), but he was still somewhat of a recluse. He preferred peace and quiet, and moreover, he felt anxious when he’s anywhere but his own home.

He felt a poke on his back, and instinctually leaned back in his seat and discreetly put his hand behind him. A piece of paper was passed into his palm and he gave a slight nod when he saw the teacher look away.

As expected, it was from his friend who was sitting a few seats away. The chicken-scratch hiragana was unmistakable as the work of none other than his best friend Masaru- but it was also barely legible. Ayumu used to suspect that his friend deliberately made his handwriting nigh unreadable to all but the most acquainted with his penmanship, but their years of friendship made it clear that he simply has a bad gripping style.

“Remember, we’re meeting with Yuki and Haru at the school gates. Don’t be late.” The note said, and Ayumu smiled despite himself before crumpling the note up and dropping it in his bag quietly.

Masaru had been dying to go to that antique book store on the other side of town.It had been abandoned for years beforehand, only to open a few weeks ago. Apparently, it was also keeping some imported books in other languages, which were rather hard to come by over here.

Ayumu admitted that he wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of walking home alone when it was dark out, but it couldn’t be helped. Not like he could admit that he was nervous, he didn’t want his friends to think that he was a paranoid scaredy-cat.

So it was with a sense of dread that he began putting away his books and writing materials when the final class of the day came to an end and the teacher began their small speech regarding summer vacation. It was the usual advice to avoid procrastination and make the best use of the time off. Ayumu felt that the speech felt rather rote, but perhaps it’s because the teacher had been teaching for many years now, so he’s used to giving the same speech without much variation.

As soon as the teacher had dismissed them, a small collective whoop arose from the class, startling Ayumu.

“Oooooooi, Ayumu!” A familiar voice called out to him just as the din subsided, and Ayumu felt a large hand clap onto his shoulder with enough force to be barely painful, “Let’s go go go!”

He gave a look of amusement mixed with annoyance at the source of the voice- his friend Masaru. The boy with wavy brown hair and slightly tanned skin sported the usual huge grin.

“Jeez, let me make sure I have everything.” Ayumu told him with a small smile, “And you should as well, we don’t want a repeat of our last summer vacation.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Masaru said, his face screwing up into a grimace at the memory.

“But then again,” A cheeky smirk crept up his face as he squeezed his arm around Ayumu’s neck, and he said in a mock-cutesy voice “I have my buddy Ayumu-kyuuuun! The bestest note-taker in the whole cla-” He was interrupted by Ayumu using his elbow to poke him in his side, making him recoil back and shoot him an offended look.

“You know, I want to say that I won’t bail you out every time, but I’m sure I’ll just cave in to your whining eventually.” Ayumu sighed. “Alright, I’m done packing, let’s go. We don’t want to keep the girls waiting.”

“Wait wait, lemme double check as well.” Apparently Ayumu’s words had some effect on the other boy since he rushed back to his desk to check whether he had forgotten anything there.

“C’mon, let’s go go go!” Ayumu called to him cheekily as he scurried out of the classroom. He slowed his pace as soon as he was out of Masaru’s line of sight. The hall was awash with the orange light of the afternoon. The shadows of the students chatting and filing away towards the exit fanned across the white walls hypnotically.

“Oh, Maeno,” Ayumu turned around at the sound of his name to see one of his classmates, Takanashi, approaching him, “Um, I was meaning to ask you between classes but I didn’t really get the chance-“ He said with an awkward laugh.

“It’s okay- I’m not in that much of a hurry now so...” Ayumu replied, smiling at his classmate encouragingly.

“Right- I was wondering if you could lend me your English notes. I, uh, have a pretty hard time taking notes for it in the class.”

...Ayumu expected as much. Among his classmates, Takanashi was one of the people he had interacted with the least, so it’s no surprise that he’s feeling awkward to ask. He wondered how much of it was prompted by Masaru’s outburst in the class, seeing as he wasn’t the “obvious” choice when a person wanted to borrow notes. There were definitely a few people with better grades than him in the class.

Well, he didn’t quite mind lending his notes, he thought. Masaru is perhaps a bit too dependent on him keeping meticulous notes, so saying “no” to him was more about encouraging him to take his own notes rather than punishing him.

Ayumu nodded, “Sure, I don’t mind. But, uh, I’d like to have it back within a week at most.” He told him as he reached inside his bag.

“Of course!” Takanashi said gratefully, he clapped his hands together, “Just give me your number so I can get in touch with you.”

Ayumu nodded towards the other boy and brought out a pen alongside his notebook. He quickly scribbled down his number on the corner of the last page of his notebook. “Here- just make sure you don’t forget that it’s there, alright?”

“Yeah, sure.” Takanashi said cheerily, “Thanks, I owe you one, Maeno.” He said as he gestured towards his group of friends to tell them to go on while he put the notebook away in his own bag. “Oh, Hirokawa.” He greeted the wavy-haired boy as he approached them.

“Welcome back, slowpoke.” Ayumu joked as soon as he reached them, and Masaru rolled his eyes in response.

“You two are an unexpected combination.” Masaru noted rather bluntly.

“You need to work on the way you phrase things, Hirokawa.” Takanashi laughed, “I was just borrowing Maeno’s notes for English class.” His eyes widened momentarily as though he remembered something, “Oh, right. Hirokawa, is the soccer club moving its practice time earlier into the day? We wanted to change the baseball club’s time slot to be earlier as well.”

“Oh yeah. We talked to our supervising teacher about it already.” Masaru replied, crossing his arms thoughtfully, and they all began to walk together towards the school gates while the two of them spoke, “I don’t think you guys need to rush, not as if there are dozens of sports clubs fighting over time slots and field bookings.”

“Eh, I just hope the seniors don’t procrastinate too much.” Takanashi said, “The track and field club guys have overblown egos, so I’d rather not deal with them.”

Masaru grimaced in agreement. Ayumu vaguely recalled Masaru talking about them as well, “Oh, right, they’re the only club from the school to make the nationals for three years running.”

“Yep.” Masaru said sourly, “And they’ve definitely let it go to their heads. Even the first years talk as though they’re above the rest of the sports clubs.”

“Not to mention the favoritism they receive.” Takanashi huffed. “They probably get double the funding the rest of the sports clubs get, even though their ‘Golden Generation’ are all third years now and the rest still haven’t proven themselves.”

“I, uh, didn’t know that there was so much inter-club politics between the sports clubs...” Ayumu said, vaguely amused at the mental image of sporty guys clumsily trying to outmaneuver each other in word games.

“I’d hardly call it politics.” Masaru chuckled, “The real politics is between the chess and shogi clubs, I tell ya.”

“Oh God.” Takanashi exclaimed, a strange mix of amusement and horror on his face, “The less we talk about them the better.”

Soon enough, their chatter died down and Takanashi excused himself to join his group of friends. Masaru called out to a few other people and exchanged passing words as they hurried on towards the exit.

They reached the lockers not long after, and their two other friends approached them just as they were done changing into their outdoor shoes.

“I thought Hirokawa was dying to get to that bookstore.” Yuki said drily, directing her words to Ayumu while disregarding Masaru completely “I swear, if he could get away with it he probably would have texted us during class too.”

“Ummm, Fujiwara-san, I’m standing right here.” Masaru said in an overly-polite tone while crossing his arms to mimic Yuki.

“Hmph, so you are.” She snapped and turned away.

“Now, now, no need to start arguing.” Haru, the final member of their little group, said soothingly, “It’s a plan we all made together- it’s not like we’re being dragged there against our will.”

“I know, Haru! But that’s not the point!” Yuki said with a long-suffering sigh. “This absolute child sent me over fifty messages! Fifty!” She turned around to glower at a nervous Masaru. “I can’t believe it! I gave him my Ray account number only a week ago and he’s already making me regret it!”

“I- I only sent you so many messages because they weren’t marked as ‘read’.” Masaru raised his arms defensively in front of him as he took a few steps back.

“I. Still. Got. The. Notifications.” Yuki said through gritted teeth. “You own a smartphone; you should know how this works!”

“Alright, people are starting to stare.” Ayumu said, standing between the two of them with a sigh, “Let’s just go. Masaru can treat you to any piece of pastry you want from that patissiere as an apology.” He added, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Ugh, fine.” Yuki sighed, giving one last reproachful look towards Masaru before turning away. Ayumu shook his head at Masaru, “Fifty messages?”

“Not you too...” Masaru whined as he followed the rest of his friends.

“You know she doesn’t like it when people tell her stuff she already knows over and over again.” Ayumu said in a low voice, “But seriously, your talent for pushing her buttons is unmatched. It’s like you two are natural enemies.”

“Oi, Yukino’s the one who takes every little thing so personally. I don’t see you or Haru getting so pissy about some messages.” He grumbled back, making sure to keep a good distance between himself and Yuki, who was leading the group with her indignant stride with Haru trailing behind her.

“It’s the quantity, man.” Ayumu sighed, “I know she’s easier to set off than others, but she’s been making an effort to be nicer to you. Just don’t do the kind of stuff that annoys her, alright?”

“Fine, fine.” Masaru said, “Uh, I hope you’d have the heart to chip in with a bit of cash for the pastry.” Masaru added sheepishly, “I, uh, don’t know whether I’ll have enough left over after buying the book I want.”

“...Fine.” Ayumu conceded after a few seconds of hesitation. He was the one to suggest the method of apology without taking into account whether Masaru could afford it, after all.

“Hey, Masaru,” Haru spoke up, “What kind of book are you after? It must be really special if you’re so excited to get it.”

“Probably some edgy and grimdark young adult novel that puts even trashy light novels to shame.” Yuki sniffed.

“Hah, goes to show just how little you actually know about me.” Masaru said smugly, “It’s actually a philosophical novel by one of the most well-known philosophers in the world! He considered it his magnum opus, even.”

Yuki raised her eyebrows skeptically, and while Ayumu didn’t doubt him considering how confidently he said it, he couldn’t help but feel like Masaru’s chuunibyou side would be resurrected by that book.

“Oh, that sounds very impressive!” Haru said brightly, “What is it called?”

“Also sprach Zarathustra: Ein Buch für Alle und Keinen by Friedrich Nietzsche!” Masaru announced, and Ayumu was impressed that he managed to not bite his tongue while trying to pronounce that, “The title translates to ‘Thus Spoke Zarathustra: A Book for All and None’.”

“Isn’t Zarathustra that... uh, prophet? He founded that religion from Persia.” Ayumu snapped his fingers trying to remember the name of the religion, “Right, Zoroastrianism. Their priests were called ‘Magi’. I remember reading about him when I tried to find where the word ‘Magi’ came from.”

“That’s so cool! It’s probably a mythological drama, then. Maybe something like Kaguyahime no Monogatari! I really loved that movie.” Haru said excitably, and Masaru seemed to puff up more and more in pride.

“I’ll lend you guys the book once I’m done with it.” He said in a very self-aggrandizing tone, “It probably won’t take that long, considering how good my English reading comprehension has gotten.”

Ayumu suppressed a cringe with great difficulty. His friend’s chuunibyou side was definitely resurfacing, but at least he had some pretty good English skills as a result.

Yuki, on the other hand, fell back into her grumpy silence.

“So, uh, Yuki,” Ayumu spoke up, picking up his pace to reduce the distance between them, “What are your plans for the summer? I know Haru is planning to do a part-time job to save up some money.” He said, nodding towards the other girl. “Masaru has the soccer club and his books…” He added in a slightly lower volume.

He wanted to get Yuki talking about something pleasant to maybe improve her mood, or at least distract her enough so that she wasn’t just stewing in her bad mood in silence. He wanted the best, but it seemed that the road to Hell really was paved with good intentions.

“...Hiro-nii and Onii-san will be visiting for the summer.” She breathed, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

A silence fell over the group, and Ayumu firmly shut his mouth to avoid floundering around. He had unintentionally stepped on a bigger mine than Masaru without meaning to. His mind raced as he looked to his other two friends for help, and it looked like Haru was about to intervene.

“Ehhhh, Ayumu asked what your plans for the summer was.” Masaru said flippantly, and Ayumu couldn’t help but shoot him an alarmed look. The sinking feeling in his stomach intensified as Yuki turned around and glared at Masaru, who had his hand behind his head in a laid-back manner while he walked at a casual pace.

“Hiroto and Taiyou probably have their own plans,” He continued before Ayumu or the girls could even open their mouths, “So make your own plans too; it’s not like Hiroto ever planned his shit around you or your folks, and Taiyou will probably stay away from home as much as possible while Hiroto’s there.” He said, and Ayumu had to admire his friend’s sheer nerve. It really wasn’t Masaru’s place to say it, and by social conventions he was definitely overstepping his bounds, but Ayumu agreed with what he was saying.

Yuki had stopped in her tracks and fell silent; her long, jet black hair shining red in the orange sun. “...I don’t want to hear that from you of all people.” She said, her voice pretty calm.

“Haruna-san, can you repeat what I said to Fujiwara-san?” Masaru looked at Haru with a good-natured smile, and she looked nervously towards Yuki, not quite sure whether she should play along as a joke “Since she doesn’t want to hear it from me.”

“Idiot.” Yuki sighed, “You absolute child.” She still didn’t smile, but looked as though she was feeling better.

“Yeah, yeah.” Masaru laughed airily and walked past Yuki without a second look, “C’mon now, I want to reach the store some time today.”

“Hey, Yuki.” Ayumu heard Haru say as they returned to their previous pace, a small smile on her face. “The conbini I’m going to work part-time in was looking for three part-timers the last time I checked in, so I thought you could join me as well?” She suggested to the other girl, “We could work on our homework and assignments in the nearby library after finishing our shift.”

Yuki looked pensive as she hummed softly, “Yeah… I was actually considering something like that. I don’t really need the money, but having some savings might be nice…”

“Which conbini is it?” Ayumu asked, putting on a small smile himself, “I didn’t have much planned myself, but I know I want to finish my summer homework ASAP, so I might be able to join you two.”

Ayumu heard a noise of disgust from Masaru who was the vanguard of the group now. He turned around and walked backwards while eyeing the rest of them, aghast, “I can’t believe all of you, it’s barely been a few minutes into summer vacation and you guys are already talking about homework?!”

“Unlike you, we’re not interested in making a mad dash on the last three days while begging everyone in arm’s reach for help.” Yuki sniffed, “Seriously, if you actually bothered working you’d probably have grades as good as Haru and Ayumu.”

“Wow, praise from Fujiwara-san. I am honored.” Masaru rolled his eyes, “And for your information, I do put in effort. I just like to enjoy the present to its fullest.”

“Yeah, sure… I’m sure that won’t backfire on you eventually.” Yuki rolled her eyes back at him.

“So, uh,” Haru cut in before the argument could go any further, “I was hoping to find some old newspapers in the antique bookshop. You guys remember Chio-chan, right?” She gestured towards Ayumu and Masaru.

“The school newspaper girl, right?” Masaru asked, and Ayumu was glad that he at least remembered her. He was embarrassed to admit that names weren’t his strong suit. He had trouble remembering most of the names of his own classmates even last month, so people from the other classes he didn’t interact with on a regular basis were out of the question.

“Yeah!” Haru said brightly, obviously thankful to be able to drive the conversation in a different direction from the bickering, “She was telling me the other day- apparently, there were some very old articles published around three decades ago about a family of folklorists who lived in our town. They talked about the stories of lots of fleeing Onmyouji who took up residence here after the Meiji Restoration. A lot of local legends about apparitions and youkai being exorcised well into the twentieth century.”

“Oh, wow.” Ayumu said, genuinely impressed, “I didn’t know this town had that kind of history. I guess this place did count as backwoods until fairly recently, so it makes sense for people running from the state to hide here.”

“Bah,” Masaru exclaimed, a look of slight disdain on his face, “I can’t get myself to believe anything interesting ever happened in this place.”

“Yeah… I have to agree with Masaru here.” Yuki said with a frown, “Sounds like people rattling off old wives tales they heard in passing and calling themselves “folklorists” to get attention and maybe money.”

“Ehh…” Haru pouted, “The one time you two agree on something, it’s just to be spoilsports. At least Ayumu has a sense of wonder and adventure.”

Yuki snorted in amusement, “Sorry, I think both of us have read one too many Light Novels to have anything resembling “adventure” or “wonder” left in our bodies.” she joked.

“Hey hey,” Masaru interjected in mock-indignation, “I read loads of proper fantasy novels as well. Don’t make me out to be some kind of closet otaku like you.” He joked.

“Don’t call me that,” Yuki said, mortified.

“Fine, but don’t bring up Light Novels again.” Masaru retorted, still in his joking tone “None of us are without sin, but that doesn’t mean we should expose them.” He nodded sagely.

“I’m definitely free of that particular kind of sin.” Haru giggled. “And Ayumu is as well.”

Ayumu laughed, “I guess? I have followed some series pretty religiously I will admit, but I’m not the type to, uh, develop unhealthy attachments to fictional characters.”

“Nah, just normal relationships with imaginary ones.” Masaru joked, “You used to daydream so much in elementary school. I remember that time you ran out of the classroom in second grade without asking the teacher- if she was the strict sort I’m sure she would’ve called your parents.”

“C’mon Saru,” Ayumu said with a touch of annoyance, “I thought you promised to not bring up our elementary days.”

“I mean, it’s just us…” Masaru said apologetically, his voice small. Ayumu felt a bit bad for slipping and calling him his old nickname; Masaru had a complicated relationship with it, where it was a term of endearment when it came from him but was also something their peers relentlessly used to mock him in their elementary school days, so whenever he used it outside of very private conversations, Masaru took it as a sign that he had went too far.

Admittedly, his own time in elementary school was a sticking point for him as well. He really did have a vivid imagination those days, almost to the point he wondered whether he had some sort of mental illness as a child. And that fact made it very hard to make friends or endear himself to his teachers. It could be said that his and Masaru’s friendship was so strong because it grew out of their shared alienation from their peers in those days.

Though he probably did overreact a bit, considering how much he trusted Haru and Yuki. It was a disservice to their friendship to act as though they would start treating him differently for stuff that happened in the past.

“Masaru,” Haru said gently, “I think you should avoid the topic. Ayumu wants to put that stuff behind him.”

“No, I should apologize as well.” Ayumu sighed, “I’m being overdramatic-”

“Dude, stop.” Masaru grinned, the slight melancholy air around him vanishing, “You spoil me more than my mother. You ought to adopt me once you get a job.” He joked.

“Why not marry him,” Yuki said cheekily, “Ayumu would make an ideal house-husband if he manages to get a job that allows him to work from home.”

Ayumu frowned at Yuki, “I know I don’t act like it a lot of times, but I would prefer it if Masaru wasn’t dependent on me for everything for the rest of his life.”

“Tempting, tempting,” Masaru nodded jokingly, “But I agree with Ayumu. I’d probably feel guilty for having him pick up after me.”

“...“Probably”, eh?” Ayumu noted drily.

Masaru acted as though he didn’t hear him and continued, “And I see that you’re showing that you’re rotten to the core. I knew you were a fujoshi from day one.”

“Don’t. Call. Me. That.” Yuki said through gritted teeth, her cheeks red.

“Hah, I’m just saying it like I see it!” Masaru said, “Imagine shipping two guys you’ve been friends with since middle school.”

“Hmph, don’t flatter yourself.” Yuki huffed, her blush still on her face, while Haru snickered into the back of her hand.

But Masaru had sensed weakness, so he wasn’t going to let it slide so easily, “I wonder what else you dream up in that rotten imagination. I’ll have you know, I’ve noticed the expression you have on your face the occasions Ayumu and I end up going to the bathroom together in school.: He said, and Ayumu was absolutely gobsmacked by how far Masaru was willing to go just to tease Yuki. He could feel the heat rising to his face as his friend continued on shamelessly against all his expectations, “Imagine being so poisoned by fiction to think “boys will be boys” inside a school bathroom. Though I am curious about who you picture to be the-”

“Stop! Please!” Ayumu almost yelled, his face in his hands and his ears as red as the setting sun, almost matching the sheer embarrassment on Yuki’s face as she stumbled over her words.

Masaru was roaring with laughter at their expense, something which Ayumu did begrudge him for. He can still refuse to chip in for the apology pastry Masaru promised, he thought.

“How much longer before we reach the bookshop..” He whined into his hands, still quite not over the mental image Masaru succeeded in conjuring up.

“We’re almost there. Just another turn.” Haru piped up, and Ayumu could hear her voice quiver with the effort of suppressing her laughter. Well, at least half of the group was having fun…

Ugh, he couldn’t even think of the words “having fun” now without it coming across as suggestive.

“Shut up!” Finally Yuki was able to find her bearings and jump on Masaru, trying to use both of her hands to cover his lips. “You’re the pervert! Imagine vomiting out something so shameless, in public no less!”

“‘Mmph… Okay, fime.” Masaru said, his words muffled as he struggled against Yuki’s palms. “I’m sorry for embarrassing you, Ayumu. I’m not sorry for exposing this shitty fujoshi.” Masaru dodged Yuki’s lunge with the kind of practiced ease years of playing soccer granted and then ran off towards the shop still laughing his head off, an equally flustered and enraged Yuki in hot pursuit.

“Those two will never change, huh…” Haru said fondly to Ayumu, who was still as red as a tomato.

“I sometimes really wish they would.” He sighed. “Let’s go and break it up before they cause a bigger scene. I’m sure someone might end up calling the police at this rate.”

“Oh you,” Haru said, punching him lightly on one shoulder, “Don’t be such a worrywort. You really do fret over us like a mother.”

“Gee, thanks.” Ayumu retorted drily, “I hope you guys have the decency to give me mother’s day cards and presents this year, then.”

“Sure thing, Mama.” Haru stuck out her tongue playfully, and Ayumu could only sigh in response.

They eventually caught up with the other two, and Ayumu wasn’t surprised at all by the scene of Yuki gasping for breath with her hands on her knees while Masaru jogged in place a few feet away with a cocky look on his face.

“I-” Yuki wheezed out, “I swear, one of these days I’ll get you…”

“I’ll be looking forward to it, Yuki.” Masaru said smugly.

“Enough of that.” Ayumu said, his tone a bit more strict, “We’re here.”

Yuki seemed to have expended the last of her energy chasing Masaru, so she didn’t protest. Nor did Masaru, who was now positively quivering with anticipation.

The shop was rather run down at first glance In fact, it was hard to tell whether it had been renovated at all since its closure so many years ago. But that impression was instantly disproven when they stepped foot inside.

Ayumu was impressed by how neat and tidy the shop was; its walls were a solid shade of blue-green wherever there weren’t books on lightweight racks obscuring it. Minimalist shelves housed books of different sizes and colors, all neatly organized so not one of them looked out of place. Truly, one would be deceived into thinking that the shop was rather small if they only saw the outside. But the inside was quite large indeed.

“Welcome, dear customers, to Mizuho.” A man who looked to be in his mid twenties said from behind the counter, his handsome face showing a polite smile as he gave them a shallow bow. He wore a very traditional tsumugi haori-hakama, which was a bit too formal of a dress to wear while shopkeeping, but Ayumu had to give him points for style.

“Whoa,” Ayumu heard Masaru say in awe, “This place is pretty nice.”

“Thank you,” The shopkeeper said, “Please let me know if you’re looking for a specific book and I’ll help you find it.” He gestured towards the back rows, “ The second-hand books and notebooks are in the final two rows. If you’re interested in antique books, the oldest and most fragile pieces aren’t on display, but the ones that can be handled without issue or have seen some restoration are on the opposite row to the used books.” He finished, inclining his head slightly.

“Thank you,” Haru said, giving him a shallow bow herself. “Our friend,” she gestured towards Masaru, who was already busy browsing the section with foreign books and translations, “has a specific book in mind. The rest of us will probably browse around before deciding what to buy.”

The shopkeeper nodded and went to speak with another customer who had called him. Ayumu and his friends all scattered to check out different rows. There weren’t very many people in the shop besides them, Ayumu thought. Most of them were either near the magazine rack or somewhere in the back, probably looking at the second hand or antique pieces.

Ayumu looked around, not really sure what kind of book he would like to buy, so he decided to see what his friends were checking out. He approached Haru to see what she was looking at, and it was a horror novel with the picture of a shadowy figure on its cover.

He honestly didn’t get the appeal of the genre, but Haru was a huge fan. Yuki and Masaru didn’t mind horror much, which meant that they were occasionally stuck watching horror movies together, much to his own chagrin.

He shook his head and then turned to look where Yuki was. He didn’t see where she was at first glance, but soon caught a glimpse of her behind one of the bookshelves. He walked a bit closer to get a better look at what section she was browsing. It seemed to be the nonfiction section, and she was flipping through a surprisingly thick book. On closer inspection, the cover had the picture of different spices?

He realized that Yuki had noticed him and was looking in his direction. She didn’t seem to mind and gestured for him to come join her. He shook his head and gave an apologetic smile, to which she shrugged and went back to browsing after putting away the book she was flipping through.

He decided to go check out the antique books. He wondered whether there were any interesting, or affordable ones. He doubted that he might find something truly valuable or out of print among them, but it was still worth a look.

Soon enough, he was standing in front of the shelves lined with worn-down books, some which looked like they were bound by hand to prevent them from falling apart. He ran his fingers across the spines and few of them had the name or title written on them.

Hm, some very old and out of date textbooks, some older editions of books he vaguely recognized, well-known titles he could easily get ebooks or newer editions for that would be infinitely cheaper…

He suppressed a disappointed sigh. He was expecting to find something a bit more… exciting? It was an extremely mundane collection of books, as far as he could see.

Just then, a title caught his eye. It was a relatively thick book with yellowing pages, and it sported new bindings to prevent its pages from coming loose, which wasn’t quite extraordinary. The title “Hundred-faced Spider Lily of Avici”, on the other hand, was anything but mundane.

He opened the book’s first few pages, only to be greeted by an ink painting of a field of spider lilies. It was very well done and beautiful, rather at odds with the sinister symbolism of the flowers.

He turned the pages, and it lacked the introduction or index one would expect from a normal book. He couldn’t tell whether they were missing because the pages were lost or whether the pages never existed in the first place.

He continued thumbing through the book, and with each page he was filled with a rising sense of dread. He couldn’t believe what he was reading. It couldn’t be possible.

He refused to believe that such unadulterated nonsense and knee-jerk contrarianism was actually put to print. He cringed spectacularly at a particularly edgy passage about how “All morality was a whore which yielded to the powerful and numerous” before snapping the book shut and returning it to where it was.

Sighing, he turned to look through the second-hand section which was right opposite to the antiques. Unlike the antique section, there were quite few people looking through the bookshelf.

He looked around but found little of interest. He was almost considering rejoining his friends to look somewhere else, but his train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a cat’s meow.

He looked around for the source of the sound, but couldn’t see any cats nearby. He heard the meow once more, this time a little louder, and it seemingly came from the opposite end of the row.

It wouldn’t hurt to check, he thought. He’s been fond of animals since he was very young, but his parents were against getting a pet, much to his own frustration. So he didn’t want to miss the chance to pet a cat, assuming the cat let him approach it.

He looked around where he heard the meow come from, and found nothing again. He was baffled and dimly wondered whether he was hallucinating or imagining it.

His disappointment mounting, he finally decided to get back to his friends instead of wasting more of his time. But before he could go, a small book caught his eye. It was about as large as a pocketbook and had a greenish-brown cover. It was barely noticeable, having been placed on top of the row of books. Perhaps to prevent it from taking up too much space. He was curious what the title was, so he grabbed it and carefully brought it out without disturbing the other books.

The title was both strange and hard to read due to some of the kanji, but the main title seemed to read “Verdant Reed-Book”, which was awkward for a title, and the subtitle seemed to indicate that it was a sort of travelogue.

...Well, it was a very short journey then, Ayumu thought to himself. The book wasn’t terribly large, and unless it used an incredibly small font, there probably wasn’t much content to get through. The cover looked quite new for something that was supposedly second-hand. He looked around to see how much the price was, but there wasn’t a single tag on the cover.

He opened it up and felt like facepalming- the characters were so small that one would need to either strain their eyes or use a magnifying glass to read anything from it. A publishing gimmick, perhaps?

He did have a magnifying glass at home, so maybe he could read it if he tried. And even if the contents don’t turn out to be interesting, it’s still a very nice-looking book. There was a slight sense of compulsion in him as he nodded to himself as if to say, “Yes, I’ve made a decision.” and made his way back to the counter.

He found the rest of his friends standing together at the counter, it seemed that his friends had just finished purchasing their preferred books.

He raised his hand to wave at them. He couldn’t help but feel happy as well when he saw the ecstatic expression on Masaru’s face. Well, chuunibyou-inducing or not, at least he was happy to have the book.

“What did you get?” He asked as soon as Ayumu was close enough.

“It’s a travelogue,” He said with a confidence he thought was maybe unwarranted, “To be honest, the book probably looks better than the content actually is, but I still want to buy it. It’s second-hand too, so it should be pretty cheap.”

Masaru nodded, and Haru curiously looked at the book he was holding. He handed the book to the shopkeeper, who still donned that polite smile, but his eyes were fixed on the book.

“Hm…” He examined the book after taking it from Ayumu’s hand, “This one, eh. Did you read a little to see whether it was to your tastes?” He asked softly, looking him directly into his eyes.

Ayumu hadn’t noticed at first, but the shopkeeper had brown eyes rather than the more common black irises like his own. The gaze was friendly, but rather overbearing, as though he was scrutinizing a fibbing child to make sure they are being honest.

“Honestly, the characters are in such a small print that I’ll need a magnifying glass to read it.” He confessed sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head with one of his hands.

“I see.” He said, turning his eyes back to the book, and Ayumu couldn’t really read what was going on in his head. “I’m sorry for delaying you, dear customer. I’ll give it back to you.” He said, handing him back the book.

“So, um, how much do I have to pay for it?” Ayumu asked when he didn’t state a price himself, “I didn’t see any price tags on it, and the inside doesn’t have any price written either.”

“You may take it without charge.” The shopkeeper said plainly, “To be perfectly honest, that book had been sitting here for a long time now, so we’re more than happy to get rid of it.”

“Are you sure?” Ayumu asked, rather baffled at the turn of events.

“Yes, I am sure.” The shopkeeper said firmly, pushing the book into Ayumu’s hands.

“Um, thank you very much.” He said, not quite sure how to feel.

The shopkeeper bowed politely, “Thank you as well, please come again if you need any books in the future.”

“Well, that was lucky.” Ayumu said to his friends, who nodded in agreement.

“Um, let’s get to the pastry shop quickly,” Yuki said, looking at her watch, “We can all take them to go, I don’t think we have the time to eat then in the shop.

“Yeah, you’re right.” Masaru conceded while Haru nodded in agreement, and Ayumu was glad that his friends agreed.

They hurried to the nearby shop and each picked their preferred dessert from the displayed pieces, Ayumu himself picking a pastry flavored with orange and dark chocolate.

Before long, he was parting ways from his friends, with a ten minute walk still remaining before he reached his house.

There weren’t many people outside at that time, and the street lamps had just recently sprung to life. He suddenly felt a chill run up his spine even in the late July heat, and he felt as though he was being watched by someone.

He quickly looked around, trying his best to not seem alarmed. There weren’t many people out and about- a group of salarymen chatting idly while making their way home, a woman in red with bags of groceries in both hands, another young woman wearing a surgical mask walking leisurely…

Nothing out of the ordinary, and none of them were looking at him. He sighed to himself, both relieved and frustrated by his own paranoia. Before he could start walking again, he heard the sound of a cat’s meow, similar to the one he heard in the bookshop.

He looked around again, and this time saw a cat sitting on a perimeter wall, looking directly at him. It was a lean black cat with a small patch of white on its chest and bright emerald eyes.

Ayumu sighed in relief. So it was a cat that was watching him. Perhaps it detected the pastry he was carrying?

Wait, did cats even like pastries? Wasn’t chocolate poisonous to them like dogs?

Regardless, he approached the cat carefully, remembering to blink slowly to not scare it off. It didn’t look afraid at all- in fact, there was a vaguely imperious look in its eyes as it surveyed him. He got as close as he could and reached out an arm. The cat didn’t even flinch.

Perhaps the cat had an owner. Or maybe it was very used to humans. Regardless of the reason, he felt a goofy grin creep onto his face as he gingerly stroked the cat on the head with his fingers. The cat didn’t even move, instead letting out a series of meows which sounded vaguely… annoyed?

“I’m sorry, I don’t really have treats for you.” Ayumu said apologetically, “Maybe if I see you again somehow, I’ll make sure to keep something you can eat on me.”

Did the cat… roll its eyes at him? Nah, he must have been imagining it. But the cat did look dissatisfied with him.

“Alright, thanks for letting me pet you, kitty.” He said, trying not to devolve into baby-speak, “I have to go now.”

He turned around and began walking towards his home again. The path he was taking wasn’t his usual route, but it wasn’t that much of a big deal. He took a deep, calming breath to try and get rid of the anxiety. He was being silly- this little town had so little crime that a drunken altercation was considered a newsworthy event, and random violence was almost unheard of. He wasn’t a girl either, so it was not as if he had to fear random perverts harassing him on the streets.

But the more animalistic part of his brain continued to refuse his efforts to calm it. He soon realized that he hadn’t seen another person outside for over five minutes now…

He picked up his pace to a brisk jog, deciding against running as to not draw unwanted attention to himself. He rubbed his eyes, realizing that everything in his vision had blurred edges for reasons he couldn’t fathom. There was a burning in his chest and neck which was unrelated to the physical exertion.

He stopped in his tracks, collapsing into a coughing fit. He couldn’t understand what was happening. It was as though something was stuck in his throat which was refusing to get out. The burning in his chest was steadily growing, and with each cough his mouth tasted more and more of copper.

He felt lightheaded, his vision obscured by tears. Even the vague outlines of the world he could see through the tears seemed wrong and out of place. What was happening to him? Was he dying? No, he couldn’t even concentrate on his fear. As the seconds crawled along all of his thoughts were replaced by the desire to purge something from his body- but what that “something” was he had no idea. His body simply wanted it out of him, and it felt as though it would expel all of his organs to that end if it were necessary.

With the biggest cough yet, something seemingly dislodged from inside his neck and chest, and it was as though a dam built inside his body had been broken. He could feel a lump landing in the hand he was covering his mouth with, and he shakily wiped his watering eyes with the back of his arm before looking at his shaking hand reluctantly.

He felt bile rise to his throat- the “lump” that he felt on his hand was a black clot of blood the size of a strawberry, and his palm was drenched in black blood. He was incredibly alarmed at the sight. The burning in his throat and chest was no more; in fact, it felt as if it was never there. His mouth still tasted of blood, he still felt incredibly disoriented and shaken, but he had enough sense to pull out his handkerchief to wipe his hand of the blood and wrap the blood clot in to perhaps show his parents and the doctor.

The world looked normal again, at the very least, and the sense of terror that was rising in him was ebbing away, replaced by a general concern for his health after what had transpired. He made his way towards a nearby wall on wobbly feet and leaned against it, trying to compose himself.

“Looks like the self-imposed seal was broken.” He heard a voice say. It sounded like the voice of a teenage boy, perhaps around his age even. He looked around, startled, but there was no one around to say it.

With an arm on the wall to steady himself, he started moving forward again. He didn’t care about anything but returning home now, he needed to get to safety and fast.

There still was not a soul in sight. He continued on for a few minutes, and his pace quickened with anticipation when he realized that he could walk steadily again and his house was only two roads away. He broke into a sprint after taking the first turn, eager to finally be indoors, but he took the second turn and had to come to an abrupt stop to avoid running into a woman who was standing in his way, nearly falling flat on his face in the process.

He straightened up, winded by the sprint, and he looked fearfully at the female figure. He let a low sigh of relief escape when the figure turned towards him and he recognized her from a few minutes ago- the woman in the surgical mask.

“Oh, you seem to be in a hurry.” The woman said, her tone strangely airy. “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing, but thank you for asking.” Ayumu said rather defensively. He still couldn’t shake off the sense of anxiety that had set in.

“It certainly is not nothing.” She said simply, “Is someone bothering you?”

“It’s… Um, the streets- yeah, the streets are very empty tonight, aren’t they?” He changed the subject clumsily, hoping that the woman reads the mood and just drops it. Maybe he could rationalize the situation to himself if he knew the reason for there being no one outside that night.

“Hm? Do you think so?” She said, her tone not changing at all, which was beginning to unnerve Ayumu, “I feel like it’s like this every night.”

“O-okay.” Ayumu said, deciding to just disengage himself and make a run for it again, “If that’s so, then I’ll be off-”

“Wait, just a second.” She said, stepping in front of his path with surprising agility, “Could you please answer a question before you go on?”

“I- uh, sure.” He said, thinking that it might not be wise to anger this person.

The woman’s eyes and eyebrows indicated that she was smiling, but why did that unnerve Ayumu even more…?

“Am I beautiful?” She asked, and the question almost sounded like a hiss.

“...Pardon?” Ayumu asked, only half processing the question. He rummaged around in his head desperately to remember why this situation felt familiar to him.

He looked around and his blood turned to ice when he realized that the woman had her hands behind her back and he barely noticed a trace of blood on the woman’s cheeks that were well-hidden from view by the surgical mask.

“I asked you…”

Ayumu couldn’t believe it. All the rational parts of his mind told him that what he was thinking was utter nonsense. It was an urban myth- even less than an urban myth, an internet horror story concocted for the express purpose of scaring gullible children.

“Am I beautiful?”

But his animal instincts were screaming at him to run as fast as possible, to escape to his home. He felt his breath quicken in tandem with his heartbeats again- and finally, both parts of him agreed that, whether or not he was standing in front of a monster from a horror story, there was a non-zero chance that the woman was mentally unstable and trying to copy the horror story in real life- and that was too large of a danger for him to overlook.

“Am I beautiful?” He asked her, and he was both glad and horrified when she looked utterly baffled.

Without any more words he turned around and made a mad dash for it, desperately hoping that he remembered the other path to his home. The other path went through a narrow opening going between two houses which led directly to the road in front of his house.

He looked back to see whether the woman was on his trail. He couldn’t see a trace of her, but still didn’t dare to slow his pace. He ran as quickly as his feet would carry him, ignoring everything else, even the faint outlines of people walking in the roads minding their own business, even the shadows which seemed to furl and unfurl on the walls and streets, even the staring eyes from the shadowy nooks without any bodies connected to them.

He ignored and disregarded everything, he just wanted to go home and collapse into his bed and forget all that he was seeing.

He found the small ‘alleyway’ he was looking for, barely one and a half feet wide and between the perimeter walls of two houses. He nearly dove into it, thanking his stars that he was lean enough to strafe through it without any problems. He put a hand on his mouth and nose to muffle his ragged breaths as he strafed between the walls as quickly and quietly as possible.

It wasn’t long before he was nearly at the end, and he could even see the front door of his house. A wave of relief washed over him as he placed a foot in the open and squeezed his body out.

He made a dash for the front door while fumbling around in his pocket for his keys. He yanked them out frantically, putting the key inside the lock easily despite his shaky hands.

The lock clicked and he twisted the doorknob-

An ice-cold hand came from behind him and clapped onto his mouth with such speed that he didn’t even get a chance to scream in terror. He was dragged back and could feel his back pressing against a body that might as well have been carved from ice as he struggled to get loose.

He smelled blood for the second time of the night, as he could see the face of the woman from the corner of his eye- he dared not look at her directly.

“What a rude boy-” He could feel her breath on his face; it smelled of rot and death. “Did your parents not teach you how to respect your elders?”

Ayumu’s thoughts were in disarray, he could feel sobs forming in his chest as he desperately tried to scream for help, but his voice was still being muffled by the hand on his mouth. Even with both of his hands he couldn’t throw off her vice-grip.

“Well, I should make you beautiful as well…” She whispered into his ear, and he felt her easily press him further into her body so that their faces were right next to each other.

Ayumu’s eyes brimmed with tears as he redoubled his struggle against his captor- he could hear the sound of shears and the woman’s face was clearer than ever.

He saw the surgical scissors come up to his face through his tears, and felt the touch of the woman’s tongue on his cheek which had pushed through the slit going across her own cheeks from the side of her lips…

Perhaps it was futile to struggle. He would be mutilated and left to bleed to death by this monstrosity that he would have laughed off as a fairy tale just an hour ago. What had he done to deserve this? Would his parents find him lying in his blood on their front door…?

“That is quite enough.” A voice said; it was the same voice he had heard after his coughing fit. “He is under my protection, you lowly spook. I will not allow you to harass him any longer.”

“Who are you?!” The woman exclaimed in fury, looking around frantically for the source of the voice “And why should I listen to you? What authority do you have over me?”

“It is as I said, spook.” The voice said, dripping with an amount of contempt which Ayumu never thought was possible. “I have been entrusted with the boy’s safety, and you are threatening it.”

“You are already overstepping the laws of your kind by entering his property without invitation.” The voice continued, “Leave him and get out of my sight willingly if you want me to spare you.”

Ayumu felt the woman yank him with great force, nearly knocking him off his feet, to turn both of them towards the road. Right at the threshold between the road and their home sat the cat he had encountered earlier. But there was no one else to be seen. Could it be…?

The woman cackled with glee when she realized where the voice was coming from, “I thought it was some bothersome guardian kami of this brat’s family, but no- just a little kitten spirit.” She said mockingly, “What are you going to do little kitty? Scratch me with your claws?”

Whether or not the cat had any amount of power, it seemed that the woman’s irreverence had touched a nerve with him, and if looks could kill, then the venom in the cat’s eyes could wipe out an entire city, “Well, at least I will be able to make an example out of you. The rest of the gutter trash can take a lesson from your fate.” The cat said lightly, and Ayumu was shocked to feel the woman freeze up. He was able to struggle out of her grip easily now, and he threw himself to the ground a few feet away.

The cat nodded at him, and the surreality of everything barely affected him anymore. The woman with the ghastly wounds on her face was stopped in place, and the only thing that could move were her eyes. Ayumu had no idea how the cat managed to do that, but he could muster up very little sympathy for her.

The cat strolled casually towards her, almost enjoying the confusion and terror in her eyes. The cat’s eyes were scanning all around the place, and Ayumu realized it was to look at the eyes and presences in the shadowy nooks that were witnessing the scene that was unfolding.

Apparently the cat was being serious when he said that he was making an example out of the woman, as when the cat was a short distance away from her, a wispy black hand erupted from the cat’s shadow and grabbed onto the woman’s head before slamming her unmoving body to the ground. Ayumu cringed and looked away, had it been a normal human, he was sure the woman’s skull would have cracked against the flagstone.

When he looked back, he saw the cat surveying the fallen figure with the smallest hint of pity, and then it simply pressed a paw on her head.

Instantly, her flesh evaporated into wisps of smoke, leaving only a skeleton behind, which also crumbled to a gray dust only moments after, leaving behind nothing but a solitary speck of light. The little light flickered and went into the white spot on the cat’s chest, which was glowing ethereally with a pale radiance. When the speck of light vanished into the cat’s fur, his chest also stopped glowing and he turned his gaze towards Ayumu.

“Rise. Out of consideration for your mental state, I will not burden you with the “who”s and “why”s and “how”s.” The cat told him, his tone seemed to imply that he was attempting to sound gracious, “Bathe and take supper. I will wait in your bedchambers to explain everything.”