SUBMIT

21

        Kuono had left the room in a hurry and Menreiki, alongside Nanami were left in the main area alone. The cursed spirit looked over at the sorcerer who seemed thoughtful about her words, and she whispered, "I am a bad person."

"Maybe," Nanami mused as he rubbed his tea cup. "But you're hiding something. Or you just don't want to tell us something."

Menreiki said nothing, merely standing up and holding her hand out to Nanami, "Come."

"Where are we going?"

"Just follow. Whatever I desire, you will do for me, right?" Menreiki tilted her head at him with eyes that seemed innocent. But there was a forcefulness inside of it that made it known that he shouldn't deny her. Nonetheless, it seemed a bit subdued from when they were in Shibuya just a few hours ago.

Truly, if someone from the future had told him that he would die and get rescued by the legendary curse, Menreiki, only to go onto a sudden journey to her old house where a former servant's descendant resided within, all in a span of a few hours, Nanami would stare at them crazily.

He looked at her outstretched palm before grabbing onto it, holding it loosely while she gripped onto him tightly. She pressed herself close to him as he slipped through the masks and entered her personal space. They were silent as they traversed down a hallway, passing by numerous rooms that seemed to have been untouched. He was rather curious about who used to occupy what room, although he knew that Menreiki would never reveal such a thing so easily.

She stopped in front of one room, "This is . . . where it started."

The masks suddenly started to aggressively swirl around her at her words, their actions causing her to press her forehead against his bicep. The gesture made him press his tepid hand on the back of her head to console her . . . strange behavior. It was an action that seemed to reek of helplessness. Then she did it again, shouting for an invisible entity to be quiet, and the sound of her voice caused the rapid twirling to come to a halt.

When he looked upon her, she seemed to be getting paler, and he held her steady with a firm grip on her elbow, "You're not looking well."

"Please discover it on your own. Please see what I cannot tell you." She whispered, ignoring his words as she stood on the tips of her toes, pulling him to her. He kept his eyes trained on her, his mouth shut right as he watched her face get closer. The sorcerer watched her tip her head down, and as their forehead bumped, Nanami was suddenly engulfed in a bright light.

When he opened his eyes, he was still in the hallway of the house, but he seemed to be a lot closer to the main room. Although, the only thing that seemed rather unnatural there was the natural sunlight that was cascading inside the house. The sudden change in time caused him to look around with caution, his eyebrows furrowing.

It was nighttime when they arrived, so why was the sun setting?

Surely, this wasn't one of Menreiki's ways to get rid of him.

"Ojousama, your father would like to speak to you before he departs."

Nanami turned his head to see a young woman with her hands politely pressed in front of her, a patient smile on her face as she looked into the main room of the house. Nanami carefully took a step forward, and a couple more until he stood next to the woman without her noticing him. He waved his hands in front of her face, and it was only when he grazed the tip of her nose that he realized that he was transparent.

He could go through the walls and past her body, although the latter didn't cause her to shiver or shift in discomfort.

The woman only shifted as her smile wavered, "Ojousama?"