𝕂𝕦𝕔𝕙𝕚𝕤𝕒𝕜𝕖-𝕆𝕟𝕟𝕒: 𝕛𝕙𝕤𝕜

三十一

『ꜱᴇᴄʀᴇᴛꜱ: ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ 31』

Hanako and you were floating upside down, staring down at the two younger students. His hand was tight around your waist as he held onto you a lot tighter, pushing you closer to his chest, "sorry we're late! Had to pick up a friend!" He smiled and tilted his hat down. Hanako swiftly dodged the crowd of butterflies coming towards him before stepping to the side and rushing forward, slicing the ghost clean. Surprisingly, he was able to do all of this with you in his hands.

You puffed out your cheeks and he set you down, the ghost disappearing into smaller patches of butterflies. "Hi there kids!" Hanako laughed and waved.

"You guys came for us!" Yashiro let out a breath of relief while Kou deadpanned at his joyous expression, even when they were near death he still had the audacity to act calm about it. You stood next to Kou and turned to look at him.

"Are you okay?" You asked, brushing his hair back to see if there were any major injuries to his head or exposed areas. Kou felt the burning sensation creeping upon his face and he quickly turned to the side. Hanako narrowed his eyes slightly at the scene and quietly separated you two with his hands, looking left and right to see if there was enough room. He nodded to himself.

". . . What?" Kou looked at him with a questionable expression. Hanako gave him a playful smile before pulling you closer to his chest, brushing your hair with his other hand and laughed at the blond exorcist. He wrapped his arms protectively around you, his cheeks so close to you, you could feel some heat radiating off of it.

"Noothing~" He teased. You huffed as you slowly wrapped your arms around Hanako. You were dealing with a little scuff from the Student Council President earlier, and it seemed coincidental that Hanako's meeting ended the moment Teru decided to leave. It would have been extremely stressful if Teru and Hanako were to cross eyes again.

"You shouldn't be so mean to him. . . " You mumbled next to his ear, only to get a small giggle.

"Pssh. . . He could handle it." He whispered in your ear. "Besides, he was totally giving you weird looks." You rolled your eyes at his response.

"Aah! What have you done!?" The teacher from earlier ran across the hallways to pick up the books that were left on the ground. He started to brush away the water droplets that were on the books and carefully placed them back on the shelf. "Nooo, look what you've done to my precious books. . . "

"S-Sensei?!" Yashiro gasped in surprise, visibly confused at how their own teacher was able to make it into the 4pm Bookstacks. "What are you doing here. . . ?"

Behind the teacher was Kou's ghost that loomed over him, it's hand reaching forward to the teacher. You grit your teeth and steadied your scissors, preparing for another clean slice through him. Although you sensed that this man wasn't an ordinary person. "Sensei, behind you!" Kou called out, alerting the man of the upcoming doom.

However, the spirit was simply slammed into the ground, crushed into several small pieces by a large hand that came out of the man's back. You yawned as Hanako awkwardly stared at the man's spider limbs that protruded out of his back. "Here I am trying to keep my mouth shut. . . And you two just won't stop yapping! It's annoying!" The man lifted his clawed hand away from the crushed spirit, "ugh, this is why I hate kids."

He gripped onto Kou and Yashiro's clothes and held them up in the air, "these books have turned red, you read entries from the future, didn't you? Entitled brats." He huffed in frustration as he pointed to the book in his hands. "Now then. . . " He reached out towards the floating butterfly, bringing it closer to his sharpened jaws and swallowed it.

He menacingly stuck out his tongue, "how are you planning to make it up to me?"

Hanako poked the man's side, "no bullying." he said, with a casual and laid back smile. The mysterious man dropped Yashiro and Kou and brushed his hands.

"I know, I know, O Honorable Number 7. I was just kidding. I won't lay a hand on the boss's guests." You gently helped Yashiro up to her feet and patted her knees, trying to dry her from the water.

"Uh, hey, Hanako, what's he. . . ?" Kou asked.

Hanako floated in the back with a neutral smile, "oh, you haven't been introduced!" Hanako pulled you closer to his side as he walked up towards the taller man. "School Mystery Number 5—'The 4pm Bookstacks' He's the curator Tsuchigomori." Tsuchigomori breathed out smoke from his kiseru and stood with a small hunch, most likely from all the limbs that were coming out of his back, similar to a spider's legs.

"You kids play nice!" Hanako grinned.

You pinched Hanako's cheek and he reacted with a small, 'ouchies' noise. "You decide to tell them this after?" Hanako giggled at your actions.

ᴛᴇᴀᴄʜ ᴍᴇ, ᴛꜱᴜᴄʜɪɢᴏᴍᴏʀɪ! (ꜰᴏᴏᴅ)

Hanako floated above you, holding onto your shoulders gently, "so do you only eat butterflies, Tsuchigomori?" Kou coughed and gagged in disgust at the recent scene. Yashiro tilted her head in confusion at the two's interaction. Your eyes sparkled in curiosity as you eagerly nodded and stared at him.

"No, I eat all kinds of other things. . . Like. . . " He stuck his tongue out, "human children. For example."

The group shivered and gasped at the response, all of them huddled together and slowly backed away from the adult. You all started to run away in fear of being eaten by the giant spider human.

"Wah-ha-ha! Wait, don't go!" He called out towards the group.

"Eeek!"

"Stay away from us!"

"Do you eat them deep-fried or plain?!"

"What kind of question is that?!"