Tsukiyomi Ruri was somewhat surprised. “The floating desks and chairs again? Wasn’t this supposed to be over?”
“I thought the incident was over too, but the security guards are all talking about ghosts, and they even resigned en masse. That proves there’s still a problem at the school we haven’t figured out.” Izumi Shirayuki said, clearly invigorated.
She was always full of curiosity about all sorts of unexplained things, wanting to get to the bottom of them. This was precisely why she founded the Urban Legend Club.
Now, Inoue Keiko was no longer coming to school at night to train her abilities, and the yankees had been arrested. Yet, the strange phenomenon of floating desks and chairs persisted. It was highly unusual.
The more unknown something was, the more alluring Izumi Shirayuki found it. She was genuinely curious!
“Tsukiyomi-san, our club activity isn’t over yet. Let’s investigate the truth together!” Izumi Shirayuki patted Tsukiyomi Ruri on the shoulder.
“…Fine.” Tsukiyomi Ruri couldn’t refuse.
Next, they went to Inoue Keiko’s classroom, but upon asking, they learned that Inoue Keiko hadn’t arrived at school yet.
Izumi Shirayuki said to Tsukiyomi Ruri, “In that case, let’s go investigate the situation first.”
“How do we investigate?” Tsukiyomi Ruri asked.
“According to the last report the security guards left, they encountered the floating desks and chairs in the music classroom. So let’s go check out the music classroom.” Izumi Shirayuki said, taking Tsukiyomi Ruri’s hand.
Before Tsukiyomi Ruri could say anything, Izumi Shirayuki was already pulling her by the hand and running towards the music classroom.
Feeling Izumi Shirayuki’s soft, warm hand, Tsukiyomi Ruri simply let herself be pulled along.
In no time, they arrived at the music classroom.
The music classroom was quite spacious. Since no one had a music class right now, there wasn’t a single student present. However, there was one female teacher in the room, tidying up the uneven chairs and desks, arranging them neatly.
“I’ll go ask about the situation. Tsukiyomi-san, take some photos. We might capture some clues.” Izumi Shirayuki said to Tsukiyomi Ruri before heading over to the female teacher.
Tsukiyomi Ruri expressionlessly took out her smartphone and casually snapped a few photos of the classroom. Then, while Izumi Shirayuki was talking to the teacher, she came over and looked around a bit.
When her hand landed on a desk, Tsukiyomi Ruri noticed something different. She reached out and felt the desk’s rounded corners again.
Seeming to discover something, she touched several other desks and made a judgment in her mind.
‘This desk is slightly softer than the others. That’s very unusual.’
A spark of interest ignited, Tsukiyomi Ruri walked around the music classroom and found that parts of one wall felt slightly softer compared to other sections of the wall.
Of course, an ordinary person might not be able to detect this subtle difference, but Tsukiyomi Ruri, having been a highly experienced Reincarnator in the past, could perceive this kind of anomaly.
‘Could it be that a ghost has actually appeared?’
Tsukiyomi Ruri began to think.
In numerous Reincarnation Worlds, ghosts were never in short supply. And all ghosts shared a common trait: they possessed abilities like invisibility and passing through walls. Furthermore, based on Tsukiyomi Ruri’s understanding, when a ghost passed through a wall, it would often make the wall slightly softer. This softening wasn’t permanent and would gradually recover over time.
Now, in this very music classroom, the unusual softening of the wall and the desk seemed to tell Tsukiyomi Ruri that a ghost had been here, and not too long ago.
Tsukiyomi Ruri channeled energy to her eyes, her pink pupils scanning the music classroom.
Although ghosts could render themselves invisible, Reincarnators could see them by focusing energy into their eyes. Unfortunately, this time, Tsukiyomi Ruri found no trace of a ghost in the music classroom.
“Tsukiyomi-san, did you take all the photos? Let’s go.” Izumi Shirayuki came over and said to Tsukiyomi Ruri.
Tsukiyomi Ruri nodded and followed Izumi Shirayuki out.
Once they were in the corridor outside, Tsukiyomi Ruri said to Izumi Shirayuki, “Izumi-senpai, it’s time for class. We should go to class first.”
Izumi Shirayuki looked slightly disappointed at that. She wanted to continue the investigation, but what Tsukiyomi Ruri said made sense. So she could only part ways with Tsukiyomi Ruri.
However, after they separated, Tsukiyomi Ruri had no intention of going to class.
She planned to find the ghost hiding within the school.
Based on her earlier assessment in the music classroom, Tsukiyomi Ruri could deduce the direction the ghost went after passing through the wall. After all, if a ghost could phase through walls, there was no need for it to turn corners. She just needed to investigate in a straight line.
Passing by her own classroom, Tsukiyomi Ruri spotted her Homeroom Teacher.
“I need to take a leave of absence.” Tsukiyomi Ruri called out in passing.
“Why do you need to take a leave, Tsukiyomi-san?” The intellectual female Homeroom Teacher pushed up her black-framed glasses and asked curiously.
“Menstrual cramps.” Tsukiyomi Ruri said without changing her expression, and left.
Homeroom Teacher: “…”
Whether the Homeroom Teacher minded this excuse or not was of no concern to Tsukiyomi Ruri. She headed straight for the back of the teaching building.
She looked up to gauge the music classroom’s position. If the ghost passed through walls from there onward, then based on a straight-line trajectory, its destination was very clear.
It was the Fountain Pool.
Several spouts in the Fountain Pool gushed water, sending streams a meter high before they scattered and fell back down, creating countless ripples in the basin, accompanied by an endless splashing sound.
Tsukiyomi Ruri went to the edge of the Fountain Pool and touched it, nodding in satisfaction. She felt a softened spot; a ghost had definitely been here.
Immediately, Tsukiyomi Ruri focused energy into her eyes again and looked.
‘Ghosts generally dislike sunlight, so during the day, it’s hiding in the Fountain Pool?’
Tsukiyomi Ruri stood beside the Fountain Pool and peered inside. Her gaze penetrated the water, and she could see at the bottom of the pool a long-haired girl lying there, sleeping.
It was a good thing ordinary people couldn’t see ghosts; otherwise, seeing a girl lying at the bottom of a fountain pool would probably make them call the police.
Tsukiyomi Ruri observed the ghost. The girl-looking ghost had long purple hair, her skin appeared very fair, and her facial features were quite delicate. Her clothes resembled a princess dress from another world, snow-white, adorned with layers of intricate patterns that kept the dress from looking plain.
“Hey, come out.” Tsukiyomi Ruri called out.
At the bottom of the fountain pool, the girl opened her purple eyes, which were somewhat similar to Izumi Shirayuki’s, glanced around, then turned over and closed her eyes to continue sleeping. She clearly had no idea that Tsukiyomi Ruri was talking to her.
