"See you soon."
Looking at Arthur's reply, Yotsuya Miko finally let out a breath of relief. The fear in her heart slowly melted away.
Her lips couldn't help but curve up slightly.
She didn't know why.
But those four words—see you soon—gave her an immense sense of safety.
Maybe because she knew Arthur wasn't just an ordinary person.
After their conversation at noon, she had also learned that the evil spirit from before was deliberately lured away by Arthur.
And that he had already taken care of it.
Beside her, Yurikawa Hana noticed something. "Miko, what are you looking at? You look so happy."
Her big eyes sparkled with curiosity.
Since the spirit wasn't nearby at the moment, her hunger had lessened a lot, and she wasn't only focused on eating.
That was how she spotted the unusual smile on her best friend's face.
"Uh…"
Yotsuya Miko froze for a second.
Looking at Yurikawa Hana, a tiny pang of guilt rose in her chest.
It felt a bit like secretly getting a boyfriend and being caught red-handed by a parent.
But that guilty feeling passed quickly.
Yotsuya Miko calmed herself, suppressing her emotions. With a soft voice, she said:
"It's nothing, just—"
Her words cut off halfway.
She hesitated.
Should she tell Hana that Arthur was on his way?
"Just what?"
Yurikawa Hana leaned in closer, blinking her bright eyes.
Once again, she felt that Yotsuya Miko was hiding something from her.
She didn't know why.
It was just a hunch.
Miko had seemed different lately, somehow.
Though Hana couldn't put her finger on what had changed.
Yotsuya Miko saw her expression, and at last made up her mind.
She looked straight at Hana and admitted: "Hana, Arthur's coming over to meet us."
"Eh! Arthur-kun?"
Yurikawa Hana's eyes widened in surprise.
She stared at Yotsuya Miko.
"So just now, you were looking at Arthur-kun's message?"
"…Mm."
Yotsuya Miko gave a small nod.
"I see…"
Yurikawa Hana's expression turned thoughtful.
A string of ideas popped into her head, linking together with the smile she had just seen on Miko's face.
There could only be one truth!
Something had happened between Yotsuya Miko and Arthur.
Wait—did that mean they were already dating?
That's way too fast!
About ten minutes later—
Arthur arrived at the food street. He spotted Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana outside a shop selling dorayaki.
And he also saw the evil spirit.
It was holding another "little old man" in one hand, creeping closer to Hana, clearly planning to roast it again.
"Good afternoon."
Arthur walked toward the two girls.
"Arthur-kun, you're here."
Hearing his voice, Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana turned around. Hana greeted him with a smile.
Then she asked in surprise, "But… how did you get here so fast?"
Yotsuya Miko's eyes flickered slightly as she looked at him.
She wasn't surprised at all by his quick arrival.
After all, Arthur was a psychic.
He had probably used some kind of ability to get here so quickly.
And the fact that he rushed over right away made Miko feel a small, secret warmth in her chest.
Arthur chuckled and explained, "The student council happened to have an event nearby."
"Oh, I see."
Yurikawa Hana's face lit with understanding.
Miko, on the other hand, blushed faintly.
So it wasn't what she was thinking.
But if the student council had an event, did that mean Arthur had actually left midway just to come here?
At that moment, Hana spoke again, surprised: "Wait, Arthur-kun, you're in the student council?"
"Mm." Arthur smiled and nodded.
"What position?" Hana's curiosity only grew.
"President."
"Eh! But isn't Shinomiya Kaguya supposed to be the president?"
Not just Hana—even Yotsuya Miko blinked in surprise.
They hadn't paid much attention to student council affairs.
But they did know one thing: at Private Unified High School Academy, the student council president was usually the top scorer in the entrance exams.
And the top scorer was also chosen as the freshman representative.
This year's freshman representative… Wasn't it Shinomiya Kaguya?
So why was Arthur the president?
Seeing their puzzled expressions, Arthur could already guess their thoughts. He smiled and said:
"Because of some personal reasons, I was given the chance to be a freshman representative to Shinomiya-san."
The reason was simple—he didn't want to stand out.
If he gave the speech on stage, afterward he'd inevitably become the center of attention.
Plenty of girls would confess to him, or slip him love letters.
He'd been through that enough times already.
To avoid those hassles, he had turned it down.
And being a freshman representative didn't come with any real benefits.
Being student council president, however, did. As long as he served a full two-year term, he'd graduate with the school's official recommendation.
Back when his "golden finger" was still on horseback, that recommendation had already looked extremely valuable.
After all, Private Unified High School Academy's endorsement carried serious weight. That was why he accepted the job of president.
After hearing his explanation, Hana and Miko exchanged a glance.
Hana gasped. "So Arthur-kun, you were actually the top scorer in the entrance exams? You're a total genius, that's amazing!"
Arthur smiled modestly.
"Not really. Just the result of hard work and effort."
While the three of them chatted—
The evil spirit, which had just returned clutching its two tiny "old men," turned its gaze on Arthur.
The three blood-red eyes on its face writhed and squirmed.
It stared at Arthur for a moment… then turned back to Hana, preparing to barbecue again.
"Huh? Hungry again?"
Yurikawa Hana frowned slightly, puzzled.
But she didn't think much of it.
She simply took another bite of her dorayaki, her face glowing with happiness.
Arthur's eyes narrowed faintly.
The life energy Hana had lost to the roasted "old men" was already regenerating at a visible speed.
Seeing the spirit appear again, Yotsuya Miko looked toward Arthur.
Her eyes seemed to plead silently for him to act.
Arthur met her gaze and smiled gently.
Then, hands in his pockets, he turned his eyes on the evil spirit.
In his deep, luminous blue irises, a flash of silver light stirred.
The spirit sensed that gaze. Its body froze. Then it whipped its head around, staring back at him.
He can see me!
The moment it realized Arthur could see it, the spirit's face twisted into a hideous snarl.
But before it could lash out—
An invisible yet terrifying gravitational cage suddenly enveloped it, crushing down without mercy.
"Gaaaaahhh—!"
A shrill scream, inaudible to normal people, rang out. Black mist burst from the spirit's body as it struggled to break free.
But it was nothing more than a death spasm.
Its body twisted grotesquely, flattening rapidly.
Then, with a faint pop—it shattered into wisps of black smoke and vanished.
"!!!"
Yotsuya Miko blinked, her amber eyes widening in disbelief.
Her cherry-pink lips parted slightly on their own.
She had always known Arthur was strong.
But seeing it with her own eyes—watching a clearly formidable spirit get obliterated in an instant—still left her deeply shaken.
She hadn't even seen what Arthur did.
One moment, the spirit's body twisted. The next, it was gone.
This was on a whole other level!
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