Seeing Ghosts

In the desolate courtyard, fallen leaves covered the ground and weeds grew rampant. The oppressive atmosphere of the convalescent hospital, abandoned for many years, seeped out into the air.

On the third floor of the abandoned hospital, the Onmyoji girl Yura Keikain was pacing across the rotting floorboards. She moved forward amidst the creaking of the wood, the doors of the dilapidated wards on either side standing open. A chilling cold emanated from within, and the scent of decay permeated the air, thick with cobwebs. Yura walked slowly, her attention focused on guarding her left and right.

Suddenly, a deep shadow emerged from the floorboards behind her and lunged. However, it was repelled by a sudden ripple of spiritual power that flickered behind Yura. The shadow struggled and twisted on the decaying corridor as it retreated. Yura turned instantly and threw a talisman. The talisman struck the shadow, causing it to erupt in blue flames before it vanished with a strange shriek.

At that moment, the doors on both sides of the corridor swung open simultaneously. Several withered, skeletal ghosts staggered out, surrounding Yura. Witnessing this, Yura smiled slightly and gripped several talismans in her hand.

"Are you all finally showing yourselves? Perfect..."

...

In the afternoon, on the sun-drenched school campus, a chestnut-haired girl with a broad forehead named Akiko Shikaku sat in a spacious classroom. Surrounded by a crowd, she sat with her legs crossed, enjoying the admiring gazes of her classmates. A soft voice suddenly caught her attention.

"Are you Akiko Shikaku?"

Led by Hayakawa Rin, Miketsu had entered the neighboring classroom. She immediately spotted the chestnut-haired girl encircled by students and asked her question directly. Her words caused Hayakawa Rin to startle slightly, and she immediately whispered a reminder.

"U-Um, Inaba-san, in this class, you should address Shikaku-san as..."

"Hey, what class are you from? Don't you know you should call her Lady Shikaku?" a boy standing beside the chestnut-haired girl shouted toward Miketsu. Hearing this, Miketsu was momentarily stunned.

'Lady Shikaku? This person's cult of personality is quite well-developed... and you're all just middle schoolers...'

"Don't get worked up, Yasuo. You're being rude..." Akiko Shikaku waved her hand slightly, silencing the boy as if dismissing a servant. Her expression remained haughty as she looked at Miketsu.

"That's right, I am Akiko Shikaku. You aren't from our class, are you?" Akiko said with a slight smile.

"Yes, I'm Fushimi Inaba from the class next door. I've heard the rumors about you being a spiritual expert. I'm also very interested in the supernatural, so I wanted to come and see for myself," Miketsu nodded. Hearing this, Akiko's internal pride swelled.

'Oho~ so my reputation has already spread to other classes... More and more people are learning about me. This feels great...' Akiko thought excitedly. As a girl of about sixteen, she thoroughly enjoyed being worshipped by her peers. As her fame grew, she felt increasingly satisfied and thankful for her "talent for seeing ghosts," something ordinary people lacked.

'It's wonderful to have something special that others don't! This talent must be a gift from the gods!' Her vanity fully satisfied, a smile played on Akiko's lips. She spoke to the visiting girl in a boastful tone.

"Oh, another seeker of knowledge wishing to glimpse the hidden side of this world. Welcome, welcome. I have some photos of 'unclean things' that I went to great lengths to capture. You're welcome to take a look..." Akiko drawled. She didn't press the girl for her earlier lack of respect; Akiko believed that once the girl witnessed things normally invisible, she would naturally come to revere her.

Miketsu picked up the photos on the desk. After looking through them, she nodded and spoke with a hint of feigned wonder.

"These... these are truly incredible photos... many of them are quite terrifying..."

Akiko nodded proudly. Miketsu then shifted the conversation.

"They are extraordinary, but it's a pity they're only photos... If I could see a ghost with my own eyes, that would be truly wonderful."

"Seeing a ghost with your own eyes, huh? Hehe... then you've come at the perfect time. I was just about to open everyone's eyes..." Akiko said mysteriously. The surrounding students looked on with immense anticipation, their eyes fixed on her.

Under their expectant gazes, Akiko reached into her bag. After rummaging for a moment, she pulled out a large glass jar.

The jar was tightly sealed with a plastic lid, and a pile of small white crystals was scattered at the bottom. Miketsu recognized them instantly as salt.

In Miketsu's vision, an ordinary ephemeral spirit was stuffed inside the jar. The spirit, in the form of a soul fire, looked extremely weak and pained under the influence of the salt. The soul fire flickered and struggled, seemingly on the verge of dissipating.

This was a common wandering soul, unable to even form a human shape—an existence even lower than the grotesque entities of the demon realm. Somehow, Akiko had managed to capture such a common ephemeral spirit.

Seeing Akiko produce such an ordinary-looking jar, the students looked on with curiosity. Satisfied with the attention, Akiko tapped the jar on the table and smiled at the crowd.

"None of you can see what's inside, can you? Inside this jar is an 'unclean thing' I went to great trouble to catch..." As soon as Akiko finished speaking, a wave of minor panic swept through the students. They instinctively stepped back, though their curiosity kept them from going too far.

Looking at the extremely faint dark shadow in the jar, Akiko scanned the audience again. She then pulled a small, thumb-sized glass bottle plugged with a cork from her bag. It was filled with a transparent liquid.

"Ordinary mortals like you need help to see unclean things. This is cow's tears. If you place this small bottle in front of your eyes and look through it, you'll be able to faintly see the shadow that shouldn't exist... Who wants to try first?"

Excitement rippled through the students, mixed with a hint of fear. Everyone wanted to try, but they were hesitant. The first to speak up was Miketsu, who was closest to Akiko.

"Please, let me see..."

"Oh... you? Sure. Just don't get scared..." Akiko said, handing the small bottle of cow's tears to Miketsu. Miketsu took it and held it up to her eye, observing the glass jar through the liquid. Akiko sat back proudly, waiting for Miketsu's reaction.

Looking at the weak ephemeral spirit in the glass bottle, Miketsu's lips moved slightly. With a silent mantra, she instantly ascended the ephemeral spirit. Looking at the now-empty large glass jar, Miketsu spoke with a confused tone.

"Huh... I don't seem to see anything. Is there really something unclean in here?" Miketsu asked, still peering through the small bottle. Akiko was startled and turned her gaze toward the jar.

"You can't see it? That's impossible... It's right there, if you just look closely... Eh?"

Akiko froze in shock. Before her eyes, the dark shadow that had been floating in the jar had completely vanished. Only the salt at the bottom remained.

"Quick! Give that to me!"

Akiko frantically snatched the bottle of cow's tears from Miketsu and held it to her own eye to inspect the jar. She saw nothing. Panicking, she held her hand up and tried to peer through the gaps between her fingers, but she still found nothing.

"No, that's not right. Where did it go?" Seeing the black shadow disappear, Akiko's panic grew. She began rummaging through her bag, pulling out a collection of bizarre trinkets and trying various folk methods to see ghosts, but all to no avail. The surrounding students watched her frantic movements in stunned silence.

Suddenly, Akiko realized that her panicked state was damaging the image she had built. She immediately sat upright, cleared her throat twice to regain her composure, and continued.

"Ahem... well... it seems there was a slight error with my seal. The ghost has escaped. It's a pity I couldn't let you witness the unseen today..."

As Akiko finished, whispers broke out among the crowd. Hearing this, Akiko's expression hardened. Determined to save face, she spoke again.

"Although there was a small accident, it doesn't matter. We'll move on to the next step. According to the rules, I will perform a free divination for one of you today..."

At the mention of divination, the students' interest was instantly piqued again. They crowded forward, raising their hands to volunteer.

"Don't rush. We'll follow the usual rules. Here is a deck of cards. Whoever draws the Joker will have their fortune told." Akiko spread a deck of cards across the table. The students stepped forward to draw. It seemed Akiko frequently performed divinations for her classmates, and her accuracy was apparently not low.

"So, who among you drew the Joker?" Akiko asked, looking at the students who were staring at their cards with troubled expressions. The response came in a familiar soft voice.

"It's me."

Miketsu held up the strangely colorful Joker card. Seeing Miketsu, Akiko was momentarily stunned.

"You again? You seem to have quite a bit of luck..."

"Yes, my luck has always been quite good," Miketsu replied with a smile. Akiko nodded.

"In that case, sit down in front of me..."

Miketsu pulled over a chair and sat opposite Akiko. Akiko then pulled something new from her bag: a small calligraphy brush. Miketsu looked at it with curiosity.

"This is..."

"Hehe, this is your first time seeing this, isn't it? This is an important tool for divination..." Akiko said with a smug smile. Miketsu replied playfully.

"Your method of divination... it wouldn't happen to be Planchette, would it?"

...

Elsewhere, in the desolate courtyard not far from Miketsu's school, the battle between the Onmyoji girl and the malicious spirits haunting the abandoned hospital was nearing its end.

Under the refined heritage of the thousand-year-old Keikain Clan, the spirits in the hospital were no match for the girl. Amidst flying talismans and surging spiritual power, countless lesser ghosts had been destroyed. Only a few larger malicious spirits remained.

"Kotodama: Bind!"

With her fingers forming a seal and her voice chanting the spell, a Five-pointed Star Array glowing with a faint blue light manifested beneath the feet of the remaining tall, grotesque spirits. Instantly, an immense binding force suppressed them. Seeing this, a slight smile appeared on Yura Keikain's lips.

"Now, it's time to end this..."