Chapter 2.6 (1/2)

Part 6

“I’m back~”

The unbroken silence that felt like thirty minutes or an hour was broken by Akira’s bubbly voice.

Hearing that voice, Yumiko took in a deep breath.

Perhaps the pressure from Kujou made her forget to breathe.

The pleasant voice of Yui, who had enjoyed having desserts freely for a whole day, and the disappointed voice from Akira, who hadn’t had a single bite of the desserts even at the end, were approaching the reception office.

With the pleasant sound of the door k.n.o.b being turned, they two entered the room.

“Welcome back, Miss Yui.”

Kujou stood up and made a deep bow, receiving the duffle coat and the casquette from Yui and hung them onto the nordic-style wooden hanger stand.

“Kujou~ Please take mine~ Too.”

Akira showed Kujou his tired face from walking around all day investigating by himself, and gave out his blouson.

“The trash bin is over in that corner.”

“This is not a trash–!!”

He seemed to have the energy to tsukkomu1.

After introducing the client to them, they drank the newly brewed darjeeling tea by Kujou in order to warm their bodies while listening to the details of the case.

“I see. The kamikakus.h.i.+ of your mother and the mischief of youkai.”

Contrary to her appearance of a girl, Yui spoke like she had understood life. She reached for the special strawberry roll cake.

Although she was eating desserts twenty-four seven, it seemed like they all went into another stomach of her. Only she knew which would be considered the main course and which would be considered as desserts.

Glancing at her sideways, Akira talked to himself while reaching his hand to the Darjeeling tea.

Because, of course, nothing was placed in front of him except for the black tea.

“I’m sorry, Yumiko. We were interrupted in the middle of our conversation, right? Let’s return to our topic immediately.”

She felt the gentle care from Kujou, and nodded with slight hesitation.

“So we had talked about that in order for the phenomena to be called youkai, one must share the same experience with another. However, it seemed like only you had experienced the phenomena that occurred around your side. And there is no information about any suspicious people who followed you.”

Kujou took up the secret box, which had an irregular shape because almost all the locks had been opened, and continued talking.

“The first youkai you saw was betobeto-san, correct?”

“Correct.”

“The youkai betobeto-san is a phenomenon of having the feeling of being followed by someone when walking at night. Long story short, it refers to hearing footsteps… You had probably heard the footsteps approaching your room at night. And it continued for days. However, knowing the truth, you just didn’t want to reply.”

Hearing that, Yumiko opened her eyes wide.

“Then day after day, it turned out to be your stress, and it became hard for you to fall asleep. Of course, your sleeping became more shallow. You wanted to sleep so desperately, but you couldn’t. When you slept, you would worry about something unnecessary. That was the second youkai that appeared, makurakaes.h.i.+.”

Yumiko’s breath started to be a little rough while Kujou stared at her.

“The third youkai that appeared was hidarugami2. Even though this youkai was named a G.o.d, it does mischief, such as the phenomenon of people gaining weight suddenly and unable to move in the mountains… Day after day, your stress and lack of sleep caused the significant consumption of your energy, and you became unable to move anymore. ”

Kujou was turning around with the irregular box in his hands.

“However… You said that no one gave you a hand, right?”

… There was no response.

Although Yumiko’s eyes were looking at Kujou, they were vacant as if they were looking at somewhere far away.

Kujou murmured in loneliness and continued the conversation.

“… After a while… You did not have any energy after the repeated stress and realized something when you were in your bed. ”

“I see. That’s why I could not perceive the existence of kamikakus.h.i.+ and youkai.”