*CHIRIN-CHIRIN~*
A crisp, metallic chime echoed as the wooden door was nudged open. The warm aroma of coffee immediately drifted through the air, blending with the quiet afternoon atmosphere.
The café wasn't too big. Solid wooden chairs and neat tables occupied the corners, giving a cozy feeling without being cramped. Low-hanging amber lights cast a dim glow, making the space feel relaxing. A few small potted plants rested on wall shelves, adding a touch of fresh green to the wooden interior.
Kitahara Akira stepped inside, scanned the quiet room, and chose the most secluded booth by the corner window.
"Welcome. A table for how many?" A young waitress approached with a polite smile.
Akira gave a faint smile and glanced at the empty seat across from him. "I'm waiting for a friend."
The waitress froze for a couple of seconds, mesmerized by Akira's face, before hurriedly bowing and leaving to serve other customers with blushing cheeks.
*TICK... TICK...*
The steady ticking of the old wall clock filled the silence across the empty tables.
*CHIRIN-CHIRIN~*
The door bell chimed sharply once again.
Yumiko Miura stood at the entrance, her eyes darting anxiously around the café. Her usually neat blonde hair looked a bit messy now.
At the corner table, Akira kept his head lowered, typing a message on his phone.
The phone inside Yumiko's bag vibrated. She immediately checked her screen, ignored the waitress who was about to greet her, and walked straight toward the corner booth where Akira sat.
"Is it... really you?"
Yumiko's steps slowed as she reached the table. Her eyes stared at Akira, filled with deep doubt.
Akira just nodded silently and raised his right hand to point at the empty chair across from him.
Yumiko hesitated for a moment before finally sitting down on the wooden chair.
"Hey, can you really help me?" Yumiko glared at Akira with total disbelief in her eyes.
To her, Akira was just an ordinary student who didn't stand out at all at school. Plus, they had just fought during the last tennis match. She couldn't understand why this guy would want to help her.
Akira looked out the window. "If you don't believe me, you can leave right now. After all, you're the one in trouble, not me. I have nothing to lose."
"Huh?! You—!"
Yumiko's breath hitched. She trembled with anger, but the terrifying memories of the past few days instantly killed her fury.
She looked down, gripping her school skirt tightly. "I... I just need to be sure. Because... my problem is a bit... strange..." Yumiko's voice weakened at the end.
"No need to rush, we still have plenty of time."
Akira waved his hand to call the waitress over.
"A cappuccino, please." Akira ordered a classic coffee he had wanted to try for a long time.
"And what would you like, Miss?" the waitress asked with a smile, looking at Yumiko.
In her head, the waitress figured they were a teenage couple having a lover's quarrel on an afternoon date.
Yumiko was in no mood to drink anything right now. "The same."
Once the waitress left, Yumiko stared at Akira seriously again. "So, how are you going to help me? Give me something to calm my mind."
Akira smiled faintly. He placed his right hand on the center of the table, palm facing up.
Yumiko frowned, looking completely confused by his actions.
Akira's fingers curled inward slightly, blocking the café light and making a very dark shadow appear in the center of his palm.
Suddenly, a playing card glowing with a faint blue light emerged halfway out of that deep shadow.
Akira pinched the card with his index and middle fingers, pulled it completely out of the darkness, and threw it onto the table casually.
*THUD!*
A dull striking sound echoed. The shadow-infused playing card stuck straight into the hard wooden table, cutting through the surface with ease.
*GULP...*
Yumiko's eyes went wide. Her throat suddenly felt dry, forcing her to swallow hard.
*Magic? No, I saw it with my own eyes! That darkness actually moved! Is he an exorcist, or a superhuman? Whatever, what matters is that I can finally survive!*
"Now, do you believe me?" Akira reached out, pulled the card out, and let it slide back into his palm's shadow until it disappeared.
Yumiko could only nod her head frantically in shock.
Right then, the waitress arrived with their steaming coffee. Akira took his cup, blew on it gently, and took a small sip of the warm drink before looking back at Yumiko.
"Now, tell me everything in detail."
Yumiko finally spilled the whole horrifying story without hiding anything.
"..."
Akira stayed silent for a moment after hearing the story.
"Should I call you brave or just stupid?" Akira stared at Yumiko with a helpless sigh.
Everyone at school already knew that the videotape was cursed, but the girl in front of him actually dared to watch it just out of curiosity. She was literally asking for death.
"Kitahara-kun...!" Tears finally streamed down Yumiko's face, her voice shaking violently from sheer terror. She leaned across the table. "You... you know something, right? You can drive that ghost away, right? Please... I don't want to die..."
After being terrified for so long, she finally saw a ray of hope. It didn't matter if Akira was an exorcist or not, as long as that horrifying creature could be beaten.
Akira didn't answer right away. He looked down at his coffee cup, thinking deeply.
*From her story, that has to be Sadako. Dammit, how can a ghost like that appear in this world?*
His shadow ability was versatile, but he didn't know yet if this power would even work against a pure ghost like her.
*Should I just accept it? It's definitely a quest from the system anyway.*
*TAP... TAP...*
Akira's finger unconsciously tapped the table, creating a repetitive clicking sound.
Across the table, Yumiko watched him with a tense face, terrified that her last hope would be rejected.
"Haaah..."
Akira let out a long sigh and raised his head to look at Yumiko.
"I'll try to help you. But remember, if things get dangerous, my own life comes first. I will run away and leave you behind if I absolutely have to."
"Thank you... Thank you so much...!" Yumiko cried with relief. The heavy weight that had haunted her for days was finally lifted.
"Oh, right..." Yumiko remembered something and quickly reached into her school bag.
She placed two thick stacks of cash on the table with trembling hands.
"This is two hundred thousand yen, it's all the cash I have right now. If it's not enough, I'll find a way to get more..."
Akira cut her off instantly. He moved his hand, swept the stacks of money to the edge of the table, and let them drop into the dark shadow opening beneath the table until the cash disappeared.
He didn't really lack money, and his main goal was the system reward. But refusing money from a terrified rich girl wasn't smart either. He would just treat it as extra pocket money.
Akira finished his coffee in one gulp and stood up.
"Let's not waste any more time. Take me to your house right now to see that videotape."
After saying that, he walked straight toward the exit. Yumiko quickly grabbed her bag and walked fast to follow close behind him.
But right in front of the cash register, Akira suddenly stopped. He turned around and looked at Yumiko with a faint smirk.
"W-What is it...?" Yumiko instinctively pulled her collar up nervously, her face turning red all of a sudden.
Her mind started to imagine wild and strange things. *Is two hundred thousand yen still not enough and he wants something else...? B-But if he's the only one who can save me... I...*
While Yumiko's face grew redder from her own wild delusions, Akira thrust a small piece of paper right in front of her face.
"You're paying for the coffee."
Yumiko: "..."
……………………………
19:34
Their footsteps echoed through the quiet corridor of the luxury apartment where Yumiko lived.
"I put it in the back storage room, follow me." Yumiko opened the apartment door with hands that were still shaking a bit, then led the way through the dark hallway of her home.
The two of them stopped in front of a storage room.
When the door was pushed open, an old wooden desk immediately came into view inside the cold and stuffy room. On top of the desk was a tightly sealed wooden box. The entire surface of the box was covered in strange scribbled symbols, along with a few yellow paper talismans pasted in a cross shape over the lid.
"That thing... it's inside the wooden box," Yumiko whispered, pointing her trembling finger toward it.
The talismans pasted on the surface were sacred charms she had bought from a famous shrine at an incredibly expensive price.
Akira stepped forward. But instead of opening the wooden box right away, he reached out and tore one of the talismans off the lid.
Holding the paper talisman, Akira could feel a faint, gentle warmth lingering inside it. However, that energy was fading fast. At this rate, the charm wouldn't even last until tonight.
'Looks like I got here just in time.'
The moment he lifted the wooden lid, a sudden wave of chilling malice washed over him. The source was undoubtedly the old, black videotape resting right in the middle of the box.
Akira frowned. He tried to slip the videotape into his shadow, but just as he suspected, it failed. The tape didn't budge at all.
'Guess I can't just exploit a loophole that easily.'
Akira turned his head to look at Yumiko. "Do you have a video player or a projector at home? Can I borrow it for a bit?"
"Y-Yes, wait here. I'll go get it." Yumiko rushed toward the living room.
A few moments later, she returned carrying the projector device along with its cables.
"Just to be safe, you should stay at a hotel or a classmate's house tonight. I'll text you once I've sorted this out," Akira suggested as he took the equipment.
Yumiko nodded frantically. She already knew what Akira was planning to do the moment he asked for the projection gear. In fact, she would have run away tonight even if he hadn't said anything.
Once Yumiko's footsteps faded and the front door clicked shut, the storage room fell dead silent. Akira stood alone, staring down at the videotape that was still radiating a bone-chilling aura of malice.
"Now then, it's just you and me."