At dusk, the students had mostly left the school. The halo of the setting sun bathed the campus, and the fading light of the western horizon filtered through the wire mesh onto the rooftop of the school building. There stood the black-clad Hell Girl, Enma Ai, her blood-red eyes gazing at the distant, dying sun.
Behind her, her two yokai attendants, Ichimoku Ren and Wanyudo, stood in a sorry state. Wanyudo, in his form as an old man, was hunched over, clutching his waist. He was covered in dust, his hat was nowhere to be seen, and he had only one shoe left. He stood with a slight stoop, his face contorted in pain as he massaged his lower back.
On the other side, Ichimoku Ren looked dazed. Although he wasn't missing anything, he exuded an unmistakable, pungent stench. Beside him, Wanyudo couldn't help but put some distance between them because of the smell.
"Phew... My, my sincerest apologies, Mistress. We... we ran into a bit of trouble while tailing them. We couldn't keep up with the target..." Taking a long breath, Ichimoku Ren adjusted his chaotic state of mind and spoke solemnly to Enma Ai.
At this moment, both Ichimoku Ren and Wanyudo felt incredibly frustrated. Usually, investigating both parties of a request was a minor task they could complete quickly. But today, for some reason, a routine investigation into ordinary humans had not only gone poorly but had been plagued by a series of misfortunes. Both of them had ended up in this pathetic state.
Hearing Ichimoku Ren's words, the black-clad girl paused slightly. She turned around, her expression flat.
"Too many... accidents."
Enma Ai pointed out the core of the problem. Wanyudo and Ichimoku Ren exchanged a glance, and then Wanyudo struggled to straighten his back to speak.
"Mistress is right... The number of accidents we encountered today was truly excessive. It was as if we were hexed. This is highly abnormal..." Wanyudo said slowly. Hearing this, Ichimoku Ren couldn't help but retort.
"Hexed? Hey now... that's not exactly the right metaphor. We're yokai from the demon realm ourselves. If anyone's being hexed, it should be ordinary people running into us..." Ichimoku Ren grumbled. "Regardless, today's situation was far too strange... If I recall correctly, the client also failed because of various accidents when she tried to target Fushimi Inaba. This isn't normal... Could she be god-blessed?"
Wanyudo spoke in a low voice, and Ichimoku Ren was momentarily stunned.
"God-blessed?! Hey, don't joke like that... If there were truly a god-blessed person in this day and age, they'd be presiding over matters in a Great Shrine, not attending a regular high school."
Enma Ai was momentarily still, then she continued in her indifferent tone.
"This world is deeply mired in a vortex of hatred. The protection of the gods has long since departed... Do not believe there are still gods who cherish mortals... I sense nothing special about Fushimi Inaba."
Hearing her words, Wanyudo's expression darkened. After a moment of thought, he spoke.
"Since even Mistress doesn't sense anything unusual about Fushimi Inaba, she must just be an ordinary person with a bit of good luck. In that case, we'll continue the investigation tomorrow. If we're more careful, we should be able to follow her home."
"Yeah... tomorrow is our only option now..." Ichimoku Ren agreed.
Just then, Enma Ai spoke again in her cold voice.
"When the time comes, I doubt you will need to continue the investigation..."
"Mistress, you mean..." Confusion appeared on the faces of both Ichimoku Ren and Wanyudo. Seeing her attendants' doubts, Enma Ai continued.
"The client's resentment is clearly insufficient. This contract likely won't be sealed. Therefore, there is no need for you to waste your efforts on an investigation."
...
The moon set and the sun rose. As the night faded, daylight once again descended upon the city.
Bright sunlight spilled across the campus. As time passed, the morning classes quickly ended, and lunch break officially began.
At noon, students were working up a sweat inside the fenced-in tennis courts. Outside the fence, Eguchi, with her curly yellow hair, stood alone. She gripped a small straw doll tightly, her eyes filled with distress and hesitation as she stared at it.
'I still can't make up my mind... the price of this Hell Correspondence is just too high. No matter how I look at it, I don't want to go to Hell... And... although I hate that girl, it's not to the point where I have to send her to Hell...'
Looking at the straw doll in her hand, Eguchi thought to herself. After agonizing for a long time, she let out a long sigh.
"Phew... I really can't do it. Going to Hell for something like this is just too much of a loss..." Eguchi whispered to herself. The moment she said those words, she had made her decision.
Right then, a familiar male voice sounded behind her.
"Eguchi, what a coincidence to see you here..."
Startled by the voice, Eguchi spun around and saw a familiar figure.
"Senior Matsugami! What... what are you doing here?" Eguchi stammered, her cheeks flushing. She clearly hadn't expected to run into the person she admired at a time like this.
"Haha, nothing much... I was just passing by on a walk and saw you, so I thought I'd say hello... From the look on your face, it seems like you have something on your mind again..." Matsugami said with a smile. As he spoke, his eyes focused on the small straw doll in Eguchi's hand.
"This is... the token of the Hell Girl. Eguchi, did you really use the Hell Correspondence?" He spoke with a hint of shock in his tone. Eguchi was also surprised.
"Senior Matsugami... you actually know about this?" Eguchi asked curiously. She hadn't expected him to recognize the doll. Although he was the one who had told her the legend of the Hell Girl, she thought he had only heard rumors and hadn't witnessed it himself like she had.
"Yes... I've heard that the Hell Girl gives a cursed straw doll to the person she's making a contract with. Eguchi, do you really want to send the person you hate to Hell?" Matsugami asked, his expression serious. Eguchi quickly responded.
"Senior Matsugami, let me explain..."
Eguchi then told him everything she knew about the Hell Correspondence. After listening, Matsugami nodded and let out a sigh of relief.
"Phew... It's a good thing you didn't pull the red string. If the consequence of sending someone else to Hell is that you'll eventually fall into Hell yourself, the price is simply too high. It's really not worth it." Matsugami spoke to her in a concerned, persuasive tone. Feeling the care from the person she admired, Eguchi felt a warmth in her heart.
"Thank you for your concern, Senior. Don't worry... I don't plan on pulling the string anymore..." Eguchi replied. Seeing how much he cared for her and how he had persuaded her not to pull it, her affection for Matsugami deepened. On the other side, Matsugami's expression visibly relaxed, as if he were relieved she had stopped in time.
Just then, Matsugami's eyes narrowed as he looked at the straw doll. He spoke as if to remind her.
"Ah, Eguchi, look. The red string around the straw doll's neck seems to be damaged or poor quality in one spot. It looks like it's about to snap."
"What?! Where!?"
Startled by his warning, Eguchi immediately began to frantically and carefully turn the straw doll over to check the red string, but she couldn't find any obvious signs of damage.
"It's right here, let me show you..." Matsugami said, reaching for the straw doll in Eguchi's hand. Just as Eguchi was waiting for him to point out the damaged spot, the unexpected happened.
Suddenly, Matsugami's hand moved with incredible speed. He clamped down on Eguchi's fingers and, with a quick flick of his own hand, he directly pulled the red string from the straw doll's neck.
It happened so fast—in less than a second—that neither Eguchi nor even Hone Onna, who was disguised as the straw doll, had time to react before the unraveled red string drifted through the air.
Watching this, the smile on the corner of Matsugami's mouth curled into an exaggerated, grotesque arc.
"Now, we both share the same fate, Eguchi..."
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