“Exorcise the malevolent spirits lingering here, wishing only peace for the myriad common folk…”
Ayane recited lines with a distinctly archaic flair, holding a Kagura suzu (TL Note: A bell used in Shinto rituals) that appeared to be made of plastic and metal scraps.
She walked a circuit around the center of the podium, which was temporarily serving as a stage, shaking the bells as she went.
A girl, presumably playing the role of the evil spirit, also circled once, then slowly retreated from the stage’s center, symbolizing the exorcism of the evil spirit.
This was Class 1-E, Ayane’s homeroom.
Shion sat in the back row, resting her head on her desk, watching their play rehearsal.
‘What on earth makes them think a Kagura suzu can be used for exorcism!’
‘Evil spirits are meant to be vanquished by the Spirit Cutter!’
‘If there were special anti-evil spirit artillery shells, I’d gladly drive a tank and blast them all to kingdom come!’
Shion grumbled internally, still sprawled lazily across her desk.
“Stop, that’s excellent.
The scene for the second exorcism segment will be just like that.
Hoshimori-san, pay attention to your pacing.”
The girl holding the script below the stage, who seemed to be the director, called out.
Shion, who had just been sprawled on her desk, instantly straightened up at the director’s words.
She then saw her sister on stage, gazing at her with a beaming smile, her lips clearly mouthing, “Idiot big sister, idiot, idiot.”
‘Of course, this is Class E.
When someone says ‘Hoshimori-san’ here, they’re almost certainly calling Ayane, not me.’
Shion mouthed back, “No dinner for you.”
‘As for why I had to run off to Class E?’
‘Objectively, perhaps my cuteness factor was too high, and the magic that makes coffee delicious was predictably too popular.’
‘But subjectively, the moves were just too mortifying.
Igarashi Rie’s nosebleeds probably wouldn’t stop anytime soon, and Iori Shigure, her face flushed, had begged me to teach her the movements.
Class A was simply unbearable.’
‘So, Shion had no choice but to escape to Class E, the farthest classroom from Class A, at least to lie low for a while…’
‘If this town didn’t have only one school, Shion would absolutely, without a doubt, be figuring out how to transfer…’
Shion had only been there for a short while, and since many Class E students remained, she could easily blend in.
After all, she and Ayane looked practically identical; a casual glance wouldn’t reveal the difference.
‘Hmm… as long as they only look at our faces and don’t let their gaze drop lower, they won’t notice.’
As the set changed, Ayane moved to the side to wait for her next scene, making several funny faces at her sister as she exited.
Several boys then ascended the stage, holding wooden kendo swords and attempting to strike a menacing, battle-ready pose.
“Here, two great daimyo (TL Note: Powerful Japanese feudal lords) commenced their final battle.
Thousands of soldiers and common folk would lose their lives in the war, and the scarred land would once again be stained crimson with blood…”
Another girl below the stage, holding a script, delivered the narration with dramatic intonation and profound emotion.
‘It seems to be a historical play,’ Shion mused.
However, the boys on stage, playing generals and soldiers in the battle, were utterly distracting.
Given that the Class E students were still in their school uniforms for the rehearsal, the combination of modern black school uniforms and archaic wooden swords created a peculiar aesthetic, like robots performing a folk dance.
After a few swings of their wooden swords, the boys fell with exaggerated movements.
This nearly made Shion, sitting in the back, burst out laughing.
“The lingering thoughts of the deceased once again transformed into spirits of the myriad lands, tainted by malevolence…”
The narrator continued.
‘This is quite similar to my current exorcism work,’ Shion thought, idly fiddling with her fingers as she watched the stage with keen interest.
Several boys, draped in black cloaks, then rushed on, presumably playing the evil spirits.
Spirits were not an entirely unfamiliar concept to the town; after all, even the school forums discussed such things.
Of course, most people currently regarded them as supernatural legends tied to the town’s history, or perhaps as settings from some manga.
For instance, tales of the shrine miko (TL Note: A Shinto shrine maiden) in town having to exorcise evil spirits born from people’s grudges, and so on.
Only Shion knew that evil spirits were genuinely real, that miko truly had to perform exorcisms, and that these were, in fact, necessary conditions for clearing the game.
“All efforts to suppress the evil spirits have been declared a failure…”
Ayane once again ascended the stage, kneeling in the center of the podium, her head bowed.
Behind her stood a red torii (TL Note: A traditional Japanese gate most commonly found at the entrance of or within a Shinto shrine), constructed from cardboard boxes.
“The miko donned a fox mask, offering her final prayers within the crumbling shrine.”
Ayane retrieved the fox mask from behind her and placed it over her face.
The red cardboard torii was pushed over, symbolizing the collapse of the shrine’s faith and destiny.
Shion, watching this scene from her seat below the stage, involuntarily stood up, her eyes wide.
Even though the air conditioning was on in the classroom, fine beads of sweat formed on her forehead.
The scene from her dream, a dream she should have forgotten, seemed to gradually resurface before her eyes.
‘Why is Ayane playing this role?’
‘That day, while delirious with fever, Shion had dreamt; even without seeing the miko’s face beneath the fox mask, she had somehow felt it was Ayane.’
‘And the blade in her hand that day was the Spirit Cutter; Shion had seen it clearly.’
‘But isn’t Ayane my sister?’
‘My sister, who loves clinging to me, my sister with whom I spend every day.’
‘Why would my own sister pick up the Spirit Cutter and swing it at me?’
‘No, no, no, that wasn’t Ayane.
I didn’t even see her face in the dream, so why am I so sure it was Ayane?’
‘What’s more, she seemed to recall sensing an extremely potent aura of an evil spirit emanating from the miko wearing the fox mask.’
Shion felt as though she was starting to babble incoherently.
At that moment, the miko wearing the fox mask had, without Shion realizing it, approached her and extended a hand.
Shion shrieked in fright, stumbling back a few steps and knocking over her chair, drawing the attention of the entire Class E.
“Big sister, it’s me! Are you alright?”
Ayane pulled off her fox mask.
“Did you bump your leg on the chair, big sister?”
Her hand opened, revealing a piece of candy.
Shion, still shaken, stared at her sister, barely able to catch her breath.
“Ayane, you scared me half to death!”
Shion suppressed the urge to give her sister a playful flick on the forehead.
Ayane pressed the candy into Shion’s hand, then shook the fox mask in her other hand.
“Big sister really is an idiot, getting scared by this mask.
It’s just a cheap souvenir from last year’s Autumn Festival stall, you know.”
When the other Class E students realized it was just a false alarm, they resumed their rehearsal.
Ayane helped right the chair, then squeezed onto it right next to Shion, pulling out a piece of candy for herself and beginning to eat it.
“That’s all for my part, big sister.
There’s just a little bit of the ending left.”
Ayane said, chewing on her candy and holding her sister’s hand.
Shion leaned against Ayane, her heart rate, which had surged from the adrenaline rush, slowly calming down.
For some reason, Ayane’s grip today was exceptionally tight, as if…
…she didn’t want to lose something.