Under Shimizu Koji's steady gaze, Hosaka Hideaki finally nodded, looking a little dejected.
After hesitating for a moment, he spoke softly, "It was a friend I grew up with… We've known each other since we were little. I—I don't know why he did those things, and I couldn't stop him."
"But I think… maybe he believes there was something suspicious about my death. I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could more or less guess from his expression at the time."
Couldn't hear what he was saying?
Koji's eyes flickered with understanding. That explained why Hosaka had looked so startled earlier when he mentioned the so-called supernatural incidents.
He really was gentle to a fault—inferring his friend's thoughts just from facial expressions. That level of sensitivity…
Koji didn't think of it as "effeminate," but honestly, this kind of personality might have been easier to live with as a girl.
On a boy, though—well, it was the classic "gentle-type" guy. No wonder he'd been well-liked by his classmates… and why that friend had been unable to let go.
"Um—"
Snapping back to attention, Koji saw Hosaka looking at him with a troubled expression.
"Don't worry," Koji said calmly, seeing through his concern at a glance. "I won't expose your friend."
As Koji spoke, his thoughts continued to churn. There were still plenty of things he wanted to ask this boy.
Hearing that answer, Hosaka visibly relaxed, his expression softening.
"You've been here this whole time?" Koji asked.
"Y-yeah… more or less. But most of the time, I'm sleeping inside my desk."
"You've never left the school?"
"No. I can't leave… I don't know why."
Koji asked a few more casual questions, and in doing so, got the answers he wanted.
The only thing that still didn't make sense was why Hosaka Hideaki could continue existing as a soul—and such a stable one at that. Judging from his condition, even continuing like this for another ten years wouldn't be a problem.
That didn't match Koji's understanding at all.
When Koji himself had experienced soul separation, his body had died in the accident. Later, an elderly man had arrived with his family. Though he couldn't see Koji, he'd still respectfully performed a simple ritual and sent him on.
Koji vaguely remembered the old man saying that once the soul left the body, if the body died, the soul would disperse within seven days at most.
"Um—"
Hosaka's voice pulled Koji out of his brief contemplation.
Seeing Koji refocus, Hosaka—who had looked conflicted—suddenly lowered his head deeply, unable to meet Koji's eyes.
"I—I'm sorry. This might be rude, but… c-could I ask you for a favor? No—two favors. N-no, just one… That's already too much trouble. I…"
Listening to him tangle himself up in hesitation, Koji's eyes softened slightly.
"Say it. All of it."
"R-really? Wouldn't that be too—"
"It's fine. Go on."
Hosaka's eyes lit up, gratitude nearly overflowing from them.
"I want to ask you to tell Seko—ah, his full name is Seko Kunishige, my friend—that I really did die by accident. Please tell him to stop doing those things."
"Mhm. And the other one?"
"And—and… I've always wanted to see my mother again, but I—"
Mid-sentence, Koji suddenly felt something and turned his head toward the opposite side.
Across from Building B was the library—pitch dark, empty, nothing there.
Shaking his head, Koji figured that after seeing a real soul tonight, his nerves might just be on edge.
"So… I want to ask you to check on my mother for me. Just—just to see if she's doing okay. If she is, then I can finally feel at ease…"
It was unexpected, but also completely natural.
For someone who died young, the one thing they couldn't let go of was almost always their parents.
And from what Koji had learned earlier that day, Hosaka Hideaki's mother seemed to be a single parent.
Hosaka didn't dare look at Koji. In his mind, asking a complete stranger to do something like this felt like an enormous imposition—his heart filled with guilt and apology.
But even so, he desperately wanted someone—anyone—to check on his mother.
"My name is Shimizu Koji."
"Huh?"
"I accept your request."
Koji raised his hand, intending to pat Hosaka on the shoulder.
The moment he agreed, Hosaka's eyes shone brightly, unable to hide his joy.
His expression froze in that smiling moment.
And then—
As Koji's hand hung suspended in midair, Hosaka Hideaki slowly dispersed. Only fragments of faint blue light slipped through Koji's fingers.
Koji paused, then withdrew his hand.
He hadn't expected this.
The obsession that had sustained Hosaka for so long—disappeared so easily, satisfied the moment someone agreed to his request.
Koji didn't know whether it was because of some quality of souls, instinctively trusting that Koji was someone who would keep his word—
Or if Hosaka was simply that easy to appease.
But now, Koji could finally understand why Tsukamoto Sumi was willing to set aside her intense studies just to find the student spreading those rumors.
Really… it was hard to feel any resentment toward him at all.
"Hm? What's this?"
With Hosaka gone, everything seemed to end abruptly.
Koji had no intention of staying any longer and turned to head downstairs.
But as he did, a blue butterfly-like silhouette fluttered toward him—and suddenly sank straight into his forehead.
Immediately, Koji felt something was different.
Not bad.
Very much the opposite.
His mind felt clearer than ever before.
His vision sharpened—every detail vivid. Even a tiny insect drifting through the air was perfectly visible, every movement etched clearly into his perception.
Koji took out his phone. It was an older model, but it still had a screen.
Holding it up like a mirror, he saw it clearly—
In his blood-red pupils, a single black tomoe slowly rotated.
Vaguely, Koji sensed that his mental strength had increased.
No—more precisely, his control over it had improved.
The nature of the power was hard to define.
But Koji had a feeling—
He could now control this pair of Sharingan.
This was…?
—
Across from Building B, inside the library.
On the dark fifth-floor corridor, hidden in the shadows near a window, stood Tsukamoto Sumi.
Recalling what she had just witnessed, even someone who had competed in countless tournaments found her breathing unsteady, her chest rising and falling.
She had originally thought Shimizu Koji was secretly investigating something.
She never expected to see him suddenly speaking—to empty air.
Then, a few minutes later, Koji had reached out, making a comforting patting gesture—
And under the moonlight, she saw it unmistakably.
Within that single motion, a faint blue human figure appeared—vanishing in the next instant, scattering like a butterfly dissolving into the night.
Though the distance was great, the silhouette, combined with the significance of that place, left no doubt in her mind.
If spirits truly existed—
Then what she had seen was undoubtedly Hosaka Hideaki.
Her heart shook violently, unable to calm for a long time.
What on earth…