A Saiyan's Journey

"Miko seems to be in a pretty good mood lately."

In another classroom, Hana Yurikawa observed Miko Yotsuya, who was sitting across from her eating lunch, and made this remark.

"Huh? Is… is that so?"

Miko Yotsuya, upon hearing this, displayed a slightly bewildered expression, puzzled as to why Hana Yurikawa would suddenly say such a thing.

"Because you used to always look so downcast."

Hana Yurikawa continued speaking to Miko Yotsuya as she ate her lunch—her appetite was voracious, and she often felt hungry at the most random times.

"But over the past few days, you've looked much better. Were you not sleeping well before and have only recently been able to rest properly?"

"Haha… probably so."

Miko Yotsuya laughed awkwardly, feeling a sense of helplessness inside.

What Hana Yurikawa referred to as her "downcast expression" was likely the look Miko had when she saw those bizarre and terrifying spirits, wasn't it?

For some unknown reason, Miko Yotsuya had, at some point, gained the ability to see things she shouldn't be able to see—things that constantly tried to confirm if Miko could perceive them.

Obviously, once these spirits realized Miko could see them, unpleasant things were bound to happen.

Because of this, Miko had made every effort to pretend otherwise. Even if these malevolent spirits were right in front of her, Miko acted as if she couldn't see them.

This effort to maintain her façade resulted in her looking perpetually uneasy, something that Yurikawa, as her friend, had naturally noticed.

Recently, however, Miko's appearance had improved significantly. This was because she had noticed something peculiar: the spirits at school had vanished.

Though she occasionally spotted a few lingering spirits, they would disappear by the next day. It was as if someone was systematically cleaning up the spirits around the school.

There were countless spirits at the school—some menacing and some harmless, almost forming an ecosystem. Yet, within a few short days, all these spirits had disappeared.

This could only mean someone was actively dealing with them.

Miko had tried to find out who was responsible for this miraculous clean-up over the past few days but to no avail.

Although the school had become almost a sanctuary for her, Miko could still see plenty of frightening entities outside of it. She secretly hoped that whoever was handling the school spirits might also deal with the ones outside.

Over the weekend, Miko and Yurikawa even visited a well-known fortune-teller's shop to buy prayer beads, but the results were underwhelming.

The beads seemed to have a slight protective effect, but when faced with particularly powerful spirits, they would shatter—nothing compared to the mysterious individual's efficiency.

"Maybe I should ask the Service Club again…"

While responding to Yurika's chatter, Miko couldn't help but think this.

She had previously discussed paranormal matters with Yukino Yukinoshita from the Service Club, but Yukino hadn't taken her seriously.

Miko had been disappointed, but shortly afterward, the school spirits began disappearing rapidly, eventually turning the campus into her haven.

Perhaps instead of asking Yukino for help with dealing with the spirits, she could ask her to find the person responsible…

Rip—

On the rooftop, Chuan Qin used his "Blackbird" ability to tear a newly appeared spirit into two.

It was unclear whether this spirit was naturally spawned within the school or had drifted in from outside.

Over the past few days, Shin had cleared most of the school's spirits. Though one or two new ones appeared daily, they were no longer overwhelming.

"It feels like I can sense the wind."

The gust from "Blackbird's" action caught Ikuyo Kita's attention, and she remarked joyfully.

"The wind on my face feels so nice."

Fortunately, Ikuyo couldn't see the spirits. If she knew the pleasant breeze came from Blackbird ripping a spirit apart, her reaction would be quite different.

Meanwhile, Hitori Gotou seemed to sense something faintly. Though she hadn't awakened any special abilities, she had the potential.

As a socially anxious introvert, however, she dismissed the sensation as another unwelcome illusion.

After finishing the rooftop cleanup unnoticed, the group of four sat on a bench to enjoy their lunch break.

The bench was just long enough for all four of them, though squeezing a fifth person would have been uncomfortable.

"Shin-chan, were you thinking about something strange just now?"

Despite Shin only imagining the scenario of squeezing five people onto the bench, Megumi Kato noticed and glanced at him.

After all, Shin, sitting with three beautiful girls on the rooftop enjoying lunch, was already an enviable situation for most guys.

Adding another? Megumi Kato would definitely feel even more uneasy.

"You're leaving early today?"

In the Shuchiin Academy Student Council room, Kaguya Shinomiya was surprised to hear Ai Hayasaka's statement.

As Kaguya's personal maid, Ai rarely left her side, whether during school or after.

Kaguya had grown accustomed to this, so hearing Ai mention leaving early was unexpected. Coupled with the fact that Ai hadn't accompanied her to school that morning, a trace of concern appeared on Kaguya's usually stoic face.

If there were anyone Kaguya still regarded with genuine feelings of "friendship" or "family," Ai Hayasaka was undoubtedly one of them.

"Is it some task your family assigned?"

Kaguya couldn't believe Ai would act on her own initiative. As her maid, Ai's actions were typically reported to her in advance.

The only plausible explanation was that someone higher up in the Shinomiya family had issued the orders.

"Don't worry, it's nothing dangerous."

Ai's face flushed slightly as she mentioned "dangerous," but her expression quickly returned to calmness.

Kaguya, not being particularly adept at reading subtle cues, failed to notice this fleeting change.

"It's just to meet someone."

To be continued...

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