"...Done."
Kaguya tied the red ribbon into a butterfly bow, perfectly symmetrical on both sides.
Natsuki looked at the ice queen before him, feeling something inexplicably strange he couldn't quite put into words.
She was still the same person.
But... why had the word "absurd" suddenly popped into his head?
"Not bad." Natsuki withdrew his gaze—the light was too dim to see clearly anyway. "Let's go."
Clang.
Just as they reached the doorway, a strange sound suddenly reached both their ears.
"This sound..."
Kaguya's expression shifted ever so slightly.
Natsuki pondered: "Sounds like it might be the mirror?"
The next moment.
A hand shot out quickly, nervously gripping the hem of Natsuki's clothes.
Hey, strange sounds were totally normal in a haunted house, weren't they?
This was textbook once bitten, twice shy!
"The only way to overcome fear is to face it head-on." Natsuki suggested. "How about we go back and check?"
"No need." Kaguya bit her lower lip slightly. "Let's just leave quickly."
She didn't want to spend a single extra second in any room with a mirror!
If daily life didn't still require the use of mirrors, she would have had Hayasaka rip the bathroom mirror out of the wall ages ago!
"Out we go, then."
Seeing the ice queen had no intention of confronting her fear, Natsuki didn't press the issue.
As for that strange sound just now... all manner of sounds were normal in a haunted house. There was no need to get to the bottom of it.
The two left the room and entered the corridor.
The corridor remained gloomy and eerie, a thin mist drifting through the air and obscuring visibility.
Natsuki oriented himself, quickly saying:
"Behind us is the way we came. I agreed with your mom earlier—once we find everyone, we'd meet back at the original crossroads."
Kaguya nodded lightly: "Let's go."
Natsuki had an excellent sense of spatial memory. A path walked once, and he'd basically never get lost on it again.
Leading the way, the two retraced their steps together and soon arrived at the crossroads where they'd been separated earlier.
"That might be Kitagawa?"
Natsuki half-squinted, looking toward a girl standing at the intersection.
Waist-length hair.
About the right height too.
Because the light was so dim, he couldn't make out her face.
Natsuki was just about to walk over and confirm when an ice-cold hand suddenly reached out and grasped his right hand.
So cold. Her hand was so cold.
If the Evil-Repelling Aura wasn't still running, he'd have suspected she was a ghost!
"Don't go over there." Kaguya's willow-shaped brows furrowed slightly as she murmured. "That's probably not Kitagawa-san."
"There's no choker on her neck."
Then it definitely wasn't her.
Marin seemed to genuinely love choker accessories. Playing in a haunted house, there'd be no reason for her to take it off.
As they spoke, screams from girls erupted again from the corridor.
Several female players came rushing past, screaming and shrieking, colliding into a chaotic tangle.
This time Natsuki had learned his lesson. He pulled Kaguya close against the wall to avoid being separated again.
The players came screaming and ran straight through the body of the supposed blonde gyaru. Neither side made any physical contact whatsoever.
An evil spirit after all.
Such a small haunted house—just how many evil spirits could possibly be hiding inside? This was way too many!
After the players had run off into the distance, Natsuki released his grip and said quietly:
"It seems like there's something really frightening in that direction—or maybe a worker. Generally speaking, there should be haunted house completion clues somewhere..."
He waited a moment. Hearing no response, Natsuki turned his head. He found Kaguya with her left fist clenched tightly against her chest, head slightly lowered, dark hair falling over her eyes. Her expression was impossible to read.
Ah, she'd actually touched Amamiya-kun's hand just now!
"It feels... so strange."
Kaguya held her breath, feeling nothing but her heartbeat racing at breakneck speed.
In all sixteen years of her life, this was the very first time she'd touched a boy's hand. Turns out it was this warm... Oh no. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding. What to do, what to do, what to do.
"Are you okay?"
Natsuki cautiously stepped back half a pace, raising an eyebrow as he asked.
"I'm fine."
Kaguya's tone came out faintly aggrieved.
Seeing this, Natsuki retreated another half step.
The lingering terror of once being at the mercy of a yandere Kaguya surged through him all over again.
"Why are you backing away?"
Kaguya tilted her head to look at him.
Of course he was afraid she'd suddenly pull out a box cutter. The Evil-Repelling Aura could only guard against evil spirits—it was powerless against a girl who'd gone dark.
"Just stretching." Natsuki maintained a cautious distance. "Why haven't you said anything this whole time?"
"Just now..."
Kaguya pressed her pink lips together.
How could she possibly say it out loud—the truth that her heart had been racing and she'd been utterly at a loss for what to do!
"Kaguya-chan?"
A hesitant voice suddenly rang out from the corridor.
Immediately after, Natsuki felt his pinky finger begin shaking rapidly.
"It's us." Natsuki answered, while simultaneously signaling back with his own pinky.
Footsteps came quickly. The pink-haired girl came rushing over. Upon spotting Kaguya, she let out a delighted cry, threw both arms around her, and rubbed her cheek against her enthusiastically:
"Finally found you guys!"
Who found whom was still debatable.
Natsuki looked past the pink-haired girl. Mrs. Kaguya had silently materialized behind her.
"Natsuki-kun, mission accomplished." Mrs. Kaguya made a peace sign. "I found little Chika."
"What about Kitagawa?" Natsuki looked behind her, but saw no sign of the blonde gyaru.
"I don't know." Mrs. Kaguya shook her head. "I only found little Chika by herself. Didn't spot little Marin."
"I ran into a bunch of ghosts earlier, and I couldn't tell which were workers and which were evil spirits at all." Chika looked pitiful. "Let's find Marin quickly and then get out of here, okay?"
"Marin must be really scared all by herself."
"Best if we can find her." Natsuki's tone carried a meaningful undertone.
"But what if we can't find her?" Chika tensed up immediately. "Are we just supposed to let her vanish into thin air?"
Natsuki quipped: "If we can't find her, we just leave first."
"Impossible! Marin wouldn't abandon us and run!" Chika protested.
Kaguya folded her right arm across her chest: "Before seeing the truth, it's best not to get your hopes up. It would be completely normal for Kitagawa-san to have left on her own first."
A moment later.
The three of them successfully found the blonde gyaru.
As it turned out, Kaguya's assessment had been wrong—Marin hadn't fled at all.
But Chika's judgment wasn't entirely right either. The blonde gyaru was nowhere to be found huddled up and shaking by herself. Instead, she'd blended seamlessly in with the other haunted house players, chatting them up effortlessly, not a trace of fear on her face.
After regrouping, Chika had lost all interest in trying to scare anyone inside the haunted house. The group fell in behind other players, cleared the haunted house along the way, and finally exited.
"We're out."
Natsuki let out a quiet breath and looked up at the sky. The sun was already slanting westward, painting the clouds in brilliant golds and reds.
"Hahaha, that was so much fun!" Marin placed both hands on her hips, facing the sunset with a smile that was especially radiant. "Screaming together with everyone, there was absolutely no need to worry about being recognized by evil spirits... Chika-chan, let's go through it one more time!"
"No more." Chika shook her head. "It's almost dark, and we'd have to queue all over again... Eh? Eh?!"
The pink-haired girl suddenly widened her eyes, gasping in surprise.
"What is it?" Natsuki turned to look.
"...The fun quest is complete!"