Chapter 38: Chaos Attracts Chaos
During the lunch break, Sakurai Saki headed to the student council room.
Floating in the air before him was a snow-white ghost girl: long white hair, long curled lashes, a cute face, and skin so pale it looked a bit unhealthy. A gentle smile was currently blooming on her face.
"Lunch~ Let's eat lunch!" Yakumo Shiro raised her hand and shouted energetically.
♡＼(´▽ `)ノ♡
Sakurai Saki opened the door to find Shirogane Miyuki sitting on the sofa.
"Sakurai, you're right on time! I thought you'd already gone to the cafeteria," Shirogane Miyuki said, holding up his bento for Sakurai to see.
This was something they had agreed upon yesterday.
In other words, today Shirogane Miyuki would help Sakurai prepare lunch.
As a result, Shirogane Miyuki had gotten up very early this morning, but since he had stayed up late the night before, he now looked rather terrifying.
His fierce eyes had gone from the level of [demon] straight to [dragon].
"Huh? Sakurai, is there something next to you?" Shirogane Miyuki felt like there was a faint, translucent figure beside Sakurai Saki.
"Probably a ghost or something." Sakurai Saki closed the door to the student council room.
"They say when people are on the edge between life and death, they can see things that normally aren't visible."
Just what did this Shirogane guy get up to after going home yesterday?
"Maybe it's because I stayed up too late?" Shirogane Miyuki said with a laugh.
(っ˕ -｡)ᶻ 𝗓
Clearly, he didn't believe a word Sakurai Saki had said.
In Sakurai Saki's view, black-and-white mist was swirling above Shirogane Miyuki's head, and on his back was a ghost wearing a checkered shirt, with a gaunt face, crawling along.
The two of them were practically clinging to each other now.
That ghost on his back…?
Why was the ghost on Shirogane's back a programmer? Was it a good spirit or an Evil Spirit?
Was Shirogane really destined to one day die of overwork just like that?
Sakurai Saki tilted his head and looked at the spirit clinging to his own back.
Umu, a white-haired, gray-eyed bishoujo. Nice~.
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧
Shirogane Miyuki noticed Sakurai approaching him with a strange look and sat down across from him.
He handed the bento to Sakurai and asked curiously:
"Sakurai, are you in a bad mood today?"
"Actually, I awakened a superpower today. I can see ghosts now," Sakurai Saki said truthfully.
Shirogane Miyuki laughed at that.
"You sure like to joke. Ghosts? There's no way they exist!"
Just as he finished speaking, the door to the student council room was pushed open again.
Fujiwara Chika entered, glancing around the room.
ヽ(°〇°)ﾉ
"A ghost!? EHHHH!! Where is it?!"
Fujiwara Chika had nerves of steel — naturally, she wasn't afraid of ghosts.
At this moment, she was absolutely brimming with curiosity!
Spiritual stuff! Super interesting!
"Want me to check out your guardian spirit?" Sakurai Saki said while opening his bento. A quick glance showed that most of the dishes inside were foods he liked — not surprising, considering he had picked out the vegetables himself yesterday.
"A guardian spirit!? Like a Stando Powah?! You can do that?!"
Fujiwara Chika sat down beside Sakurai Saki while speaking, sneaking a look at his bento and then at Shirogane Miyuki's.
"Today, Sakurai-kun and President Shirogane are eating the same bento~"
(✿ ≖ᴗ≖)
She knew the two were pretty close, but weren't they too close?
Normal male friends didn't usually make bentos for each other, right?
In Japan, making a bento for someone was considered extremely intimate — usually something couples did.
"Ah, I asked Shirogane to bring it for me. I was too lazy to cook," Sakurai Saki said, picking up a bite of rice and putting it in his mouth.
He chewed gently. The rice was sprinkled with seaweed and sesame seeds — even plain rice like this was already delicious.
After finishing a bite, he reached for a little octopus sausage and was just about to take a bite.
The ghost girl in front of him suddenly leaned in close, gulping down the octopus sausage in his hand. Sakurai Saki could see a wisp of light smoke rise from the sausage.
The distance between them was now only a few centimeters.
Their lips were practically about to touch.
Yakumo Shiro blushed and murmured:
"Sakurai-kun~ I'm so hungry~"
(っ- ‸ - ς)
Sakurai Saki quietly swallowed the octopus sausage.
The sausage, having been eaten by a ghost, had noticeably lost its flavor.
Fujiwara Chika glanced at Shirogane Miyuki, then at Sakurai Saki, her small brain kicking into full gear.
After coming up with a bold idea, she covered her nose with her hand.
This was kind of stimulating.
Once she calmed down a bit, Fujiwara Chika pulled out her own bento — after all, she had come here to eat.
"Sakurai-kun, what's my guardian spirit like?"
Hearing that, Sakurai Saki's expression shifted slightly.
This topic... maybe it's better to just skip it?
He looked up again and stared seriously at the top of Fujiwara Chika's head.
There, a strange creature was twisting and writhing, constantly letting out guttural howls. Its entire body was covered in inky-black tentacles, resembling a squashed-up octopus.
What kind of Lovecraftian spirit is this?! This is legit terrifying!
Do chaotic beings attract each other or something?
Was Chika and this thing the descendant of Azathoth or what?
Sakurai Saki had to admit — he was a little scared.
ദ്ദി ༎ຶ‿༎ຶ )
Even if he was an esper, running into the offspring of an Outer God was a bit much, wasn't it?
"It's... a very cute octopus," Sakurai Saki said with a forced smile.
ദ്ദി—ᴗ—ᵕ)
"What color is it?" Fujiwara Chika pressed on.
Ehm. Sakurai Saki took another look.
What even was that color? Vivid black?
"Pink."
ദ്ദി(ᵔᗜᵔ)
All girls liked pink, and Fujiwara Chika was no exception.
"Sakurai-kun's lying again~ But seriously, why are you two suddenly talking about ghosts? Is this a courage test or something? But it's not even summer yet." Fujiwara Chika figured these kinds of things were only fun during summer vacation.
Meanwhile—
"Hello, Octopus-san~!" The white-haired ghost girl reached out her hand to shake hands with the Lovecraftian creature, who very politely extended a tentacle in return.
What the hell is this?!
∘ ∘ ∘ ( °ヮ° ) ?
Sakurai Saki had been an esper for years, but this was the first time he'd ever seen anything like this.
"A courage test, huh? Ghosts and stuff are just human imagination," said Shirogane Miyuki, who had never had any experience with such things.
To be honest, he found none of it interesting at all.
He believed there were no supernatural beings in the world — ghosts, spirits, demons — all nonsense.
"Secretary Fujiwara, as humans, we should believe in science." Shirogane Miyuki was an atheist.
That said, he was completely obsessed with the fortune-telling segments on TV.
The daily horoscope often dictated his mood.
If his fortune was bad, Shirogane Miyuki would feel gloomy.
If it was good, he'd be productive and upbeat.
Sakurai Saki ignored the ghost girl and the tentacle monster having a chat beside him and cut in:
"It's spring right now. School just started a week ago. Summer break is still a long way off."
Just as Shirogane Miyuki finished his speech about science, the ghostly programmer on his back let out a groan like a zombie.
Faced with that scene, Sakurai Saki chose… to ignore it.
After all, ghosts were supposed to not exist.
And from that logic, espers and aliens didn't exist either.
Fujiwara Chika huffed at the two of them, deciding to drop the ghost topic altogether.
She glanced at Sakurai Saki's bento, poked his arm, and with big round eyes full of innocent sparkle, opened her mouth and said:
"Sakurai-kyun~"
(*ᴗ͈ˬᴗ͈)ꕤ*.ﾟ
Sakurai Saki stared back at her with a blank expression.
(•_•)
"Secretary Fujiwara, there's no telepathic bond between us. Just saying my name won't make me understand you."
"I want…"
"The tempura, right?"
Before she could finish her sentence, Sakurai Saki stuffed a piece of tempura into her mouth.
Fujiwara "puppy" Chika-chan happily nodded her head.
(ෆ˙ᵕ˙ෆ)♡
Chewing, she mumbled unclearly: "You guessed right~"
Shirogane Miyuki, sitting across from them, had clear envy written all over his face.
If only he and Sakurai could be in sync like that too.
Just imagining it made him feel so cool.
Shirogane Miyuki — this man — was, in some ways, very childish.
Eye contact communication.
That so cool!
ദ്ദി ˉ͈̀꒳ˉ͈́ )✧