Tracking

It was a beautiful day on campus, with clear blue skies and a gentle breeze.

In the midst of the post-class bustle, the noisy chatter of students filled every corner. Yet, within this vibrant and peaceful atmosphere, a scream—unheard by most—echoed across the entire school.

On the roof of the teaching building, the tachi tsukumogami Ichimoku Ren was doubled over, clutching himself with both hands. His body trembled slightly, as if he were in extreme agony.

Beside him, the expressionless, black-haired, red-eyed girl Enma Ai and the elderly-looking yokai Wanyudo watched Ichimoku Ren's sudden distress. Wanyudo’s face was etched with shock, while Enma Ai, though showing no obvious emotion, let her mouth part slightly in surprise.

"Wh-what's wrong, Ichimoku Ren? What happened? Are you okay?" Wanyudo asked with a worried expression as he watched Ichimoku Ren clutching his face. Ichimoku Ren slowly straightened his back, panting as he spoke.

"Phew... Phew... I-I'm fine. It was just a minor accident..." Ichimoku Ren said, letting out a long sigh of relief as he finally caught his breath, though he still covered the eye hidden behind his hair. Seeing him like this, Wanyudo spoke with confusion in his eyes.

"A... minor accident?"

"It's nothing. I was just careless. It's normal to run into issues like this when using my demonic eye for farsight..." Ichimoku Ren continued, standing tall while still shielding one eye. Seeing his attitude, Enma Ai and Wanyudo did not press the matter further.

Ichimoku Ren was too embarrassed to admit he had accidentally been poked in the eye with a broom by an ordinary human. Although he was a being from the demon realm, as a yokai, he was different from ordinary ghosts or malevolent spirits. Most yokai possessed physical forms and could be touched by normal humans; humans only needed spiritual energy to interact with pure spirits. The three realms of the living overlapped within the same space, and the boundary wall only served to block ordinary people's perception of things from the demon realm.

"Ichimoku Ren can rest for a moment. Regarding the target... Wanyudo, did you find anything on your end?" Enma Ai turned to look at Wanyudo, her voice calm and steady.

After accepting a request, the Hell Girl would actively conduct a detailed and thorough investigation. She needed to understand the origins of the grudge and the circumstances of both parties involved. Their investigation into Eguchi had gone smoothly, and they knew almost everything about her. However, they still knew very little about the target of the grudge, Fushimi Inaba, beyond the basic information obtained from the school.

From what Enma Ai knew so far, Fushimi Inaba was an ordinary first-year high school girl with excellent grades who was somewhat socially withdrawn. As far as they could tell, she didn't even know someone held a grudge against her. To Enma Ai, this information was merely surface-level. She still didn't know anything about Fushimi Inaba outside of school—such as her family life.

Given Enma Ai's rigorous approach to her work as the Hell Girl, she felt it was essential to understand the full context of every request, making background checks on both parties indispensable.

"Uh... sorry, Milady. I don't have any further information yet. I was planning to check the student records in the archives, but the room is being renovated because it's so old. The files were moved elsewhere, and I haven't found them yet..."

Wanyudo adjusted his hat as he replied. Enma Ai fell into a brief silence, and Ichimoku Ren spoke up again.

"Sigh, things really aren't going our way. In that case, we have no choice but to follow the target after school. If we follow her home, we should be able to figure out her situation..."

"Yeah, that's all we can do..." Wanyudo nodded in agreement. The black-clad girl, Enma Ai, remained silent.

...

Time flew by, and soon it was time for school to end. As the school bell rang, students poured out of their classrooms.

As usual, Miketsu immediately slung her bag over her shoulder and headed down the stairs. She walked out of the campus and began her journey home. The moment she stepped out of the school gates, two pairs of eyes locked onto her.

"She's out... let's follow..." Standing near the gate within the demon realm, Wanyudo spoke as he watched the target appear. Beside him, Ichimoku Ren nodded.

And so, Ichimoku Ren and Wanyudo quietly followed the girl. Maintaining a certain distance, they trailed her from the school gates into the bustling, busy streets.

Miketsu walked at a steady pace, and Ichimoku Ren and Wanyudo followed closely behind, keeping their distance. Soon, Miketsu reached a crosswalk. Just as she stepped onto the zebra crossing, the green light on the opposite side began to flash. Seeing this, Miketsu and the many others on the crossing quickened their pace to reach the other side.

Behind her on the sidewalk, Wanyudo and Ichimoku Ren glanced at each other. To avoid losing their target, they hurried forward. However, by the time they stepped onto the zebra crossing, the pedestrian light had turned red, and the traffic light had turned green.

In an instant, a flood of cars surged forward toward Wanyudo and Ichimoku Ren. The two yokai, slightly startled, began to dodge the oncoming vehicles with agile steps.

At that moment, Wanyudo accidentally stepped on a newspaper that had been blown under his feet by the wind. He slipped and stumbled, breaking his rhythm. A truck happened to be heading straight for him. Unable to react in time, a shocked Wanyudo was sent flying by the truck. He slammed heavily onto the ground, his hat flying off and his shoes being knocked clean off his feet.

"Wanyudo!" Ichimoku Ren had successfully reached the other side after narrowly dodging the cars. He turned to see Wanyudo lying on the yellow line in the middle of the road, clutching his waist as he slowly stood up. Ichimoku Ren shouted in concern, but Wanyudo gritted his teeth and waved him off.

"Don't worry about me! Keep following her!"

Hearing Wanyudo's words, Ichimoku Ren breathed a sigh of relief and turned to run forward, attempting to regain sight of their target. However, after running for a while, he realized the girl's figure had vanished into the crowd.

"Did I lose her... No, she's definitely still nearby. I'll find her if I change my perspective..."

As he spoke, Ichimoku Ren leaned against a utility pole and closed his visible eye. With this action, a large demonic eye opened on the glass exterior of a nearby tall building, looking down at the crowd below to begin a careful search.

Demonic eye projection—this was Ichimoku Ren's scouting ability. He could manifest his eye on various nearby objects to see. Since one of his eyes hadn't fully recovered from being poked earlier, he was using the other one.

Ichimoku Ren used this high-altitude vision to search for traces of their target. Learning from his previous mistake, he didn't fixate his gaze on a single point this time; he also kept a close watch on the environment around his projected eye to prevent another accident.

Meanwhile, Ichimoku Ren's physical body stood by the utility pole with both eyes closed. His attention was entirely focused on the demonic eye projected onto the building, leaving him completely unaware of his physical surroundings.

Just then, a crow flew over Ichimoku Ren's head and dropped a splash of white bird droppings right onto the tip of his nose. Ichimoku Ren, who was intensely focused on his search, shuddered. The pungent smell hit his brain, causing his handsome face to twist in a grimace.

'No... now is not the time for this. If I don't find the target soon, she'll get too far away...'

Ichimoku Ren thought as he endured the discomfort, continuing his search. He had to find her trail again within a short amount of time.

At that moment, a white-furred dog slowly approached Ichimoku Ren's physical body. It wagged its tail, looked around, and then hurried toward the utility pole.

The dog reached the "unoccupied" pole, sniffed it, and immediately lifted a hind leg. It revealed its "marker" and fired off its long-held "marking water."

Suddenly, Ichimoku Ren felt a warm wetness on his calf. He shifted his demonic eye to look at his physical body's location.

Finally, Ichimoku Ren couldn't take it anymore. He deactivated the demonic eye and snapped his eyes open.

"Get lost!! Don't pee on me!"

Unable to endure it any longer, Ichimoku Ren actively crossed the boundary and manifested in front of the dog, preparing to kick it away. Startled by the sudden appearance of a person, the dog instinctively backed away, dodging the kick. Then, in its fright, it lunged forward and bit Ichimoku Ren's foot.

For a moment, Ichimoku Ren's expression was a complex and spectacular mix of emotions.

...

Meanwhile, inside a shopping mall, Miketsu was standing in front of a crane game. With a single coin, she had managed to catch three plushies.

Looking at the white dog plushie in her hands, she hugged it contentedly and rubbed her cheek against it.

"So cute~"