234 Spirit... Egg? (1/2)

”You don’t need to know anymore,” said the silver-haired girl. ”Right now, you would definitely refuse after you learn about it, so there’s no need to explain.”

Mika’s eyes flashed with a strange light.

”Okay, in that case—” Mika bowed deeply towards the mysterious existence of the school festival ”—thank you for saying all that to me, caring about me, and wanting to help me. Even though I don’t exactly know what you are—a spirit, ghost, demon, or something else—I’m glad to have met you. If it wasn’t for you, I might… have never learned the truth about him.”

Yes, the truth.

The fact that Seiji Haruta was no ordinary person.

The things he did during his break from school, the identity of President Natsuya Yoruhana, and the secret of this school… Mika learned all these things from this mysterious girl.

Yin-Yang Masters and Spirit-Branded Retainers… all of this sounded fantastical, but it really existed, out of sight from normal people.

When Mika heard all this two days ago, she found it difficult to believe and received a huge shock. But she couldn’t deny it, because the pink-clothed girl standing before her was the best evidence!

There were mystical things in the world, and a mystical realm to go along with them. Seiji was part of that world.

Kagura-san and President Yoruhana were a part of that world as well. There was a huge gap between this side (the ordinary world) and that side (the mystical world).

The silver-haired girl had promised that she could become ‘special’ by joining the ‘mystical’ world. However, Mika didn’t lose control simply due to this alluring offer. Now that she'd realized the importance of independence, she wouldn’t choose this risky option without paying thought to the risks associated with it. She wouldn’t be just like the Little Mermaid from the fairy tale.

”Thank you for telling me the truth… and goodbye.” Mika decided to leave after saying a polite farewell and turned around to go.

The silver-haired girl watched her figure. ”Wait a moment,” she called.

Mika was already seven or eight paces away when she heard the girl call out to her.

Turning around, Mika saw the silver-haired girl smiling as she floated over.

”I like you, Mika Uehara.”

”Eh?”

”When I met you for the first time, I actually didn’t think much of you, but after meeting you again… I discovered that I actually really like you.”

”Er…”

Mika was dazed at this sudden confession.

Just how was she supposed to react to a spirit’s ”confession!?” She had experience being confessed to, but this wasn’t the same at all!

Just how was she supposed to deal with a spirit’s confession!? Especially when the spirit was the same gender as her!

”I haven’t liked a human for such a long time…” the silver-haired girl sighed wistfully.

”Hmm?” The silver-haired girl tilted her head in confusion. ”Ahh… sorry, you misunderstood what I meant. What I meant by ‘like’ wasn’t about the type of like that you have for Seiji Haruta-sama—I meant… appreciation.”

”Eh... appreciation?” asked a surprised Mika.

”Yes, appreciation… well, you can interpret it as appreciation.”

Mika was rendered speechless. She still felt that the sudden turn of events was a little strange.

”You decided to use your own efforts to make yourself special, and I would like to support you. I’d like to give you a present.”

”…A present?” said Mika after a pause.

”Yes, this.” The silver-haired girl placed her hand on her chest. After a moment, she slowly lifted her hand, withdrawing a white ball of light from within her body.

The ball of light was slightly larger than the girl’s hand and was glowing faintly.

”What’s this?” Mika studied the ball of light curiously.

”This is a spirit… or perhaps I should call it a Spirit Egg.”

”Spirit… Egg?”