Chapter 2: Let’s Hide
After school.
Regular students didn’t want to remain in the school building until evening, so they quickly left.
Teachers, too, remained holed up in the staff room and didn’t wander around the school building. Therefore, it was easy for Houzuki to stay behind.
“Fufufu”
It was 4:40 PM.
Standing proudly in the hallway, his silver hair and red eyes blazing, Yuiru Enen laughed boldly.
It was unclear what he found amusing, but he seemed eagerly anticipating the game about to begin. No, perhaps he was looking forward to eating the ghost.
“Fufufufu, I have been waiting for this moment!”
“Shut up, Yuiru.”
Peeking out from the classroom into the hallway, Houzuki worried if someone would come.
If a teacher came for a patrol, she would undoubtedly be told to leave. No matter how much she explained, “I’m here to solve the supernatural phenomenon,” it would be futile.
Well, in reality, she wasn’t here to solve the supernatural phenomenon but to devour it. Not Houzuki, but Yuiru.
“What will I do if a teacher comes?”
“You don’t understand, Houzuki. We’ve still got four minutes left. Even if a teacher rushes over, it’ll be too late.”
Yuiru, who is overflowing with self-confidence, seems to have completely forgotten about the existence of the student guidance teacher who is already making rounds.
“…………Why are you bringing me into this?”
“My condolences, Teacher.”
The biology teacher, Kuroomi Otoya, who had been forcibly brought along by Yuiru, sat slumped in a student’s chair, despite having his own work to attend to. It seemed like a hard time for him.
And the remaining participant is Houzuki’s friend, Aoyagi Towako.
Perhaps she’s excited about the hide-and-seek, she’s unusually standing beside Yuiru stoically. Is that daunting pose a trend?
Then, a chime that shouldn’t have rung echoed through the school building.
Gara~n, goro~n.
Gara~n, goro~n.
The chime sounded horribly distorted.
As soon as the grating chime ceased, all other sounds within the school building vanished.
The raucous voices of the girls visible from the window, the rallying cries of the students engaged in club activities—everything disappeared into silence.
Amidst the absence of sound, the next thing Houzuki heard was the voice of a girl.
“Let’s play hide and seek, shall we?”
Turning around, a child stood with the sunset casting its light through the window behind her.
With a bobbed haircut and a mouth torn up to the ears, the eerie child peeked out with jagged teeth.
Looking over Houzuki and the others with bloodshot eyes, the child then happily said,
“You’ll hide, and I’ll seek.”
“Sure thing.”
Yuiru replied from the hallway before Houzuki could respond.
“However, you become my food when you lose.”
“I won’t lose.”
The child with the bobbed haircut smirked, revealing jagged teeth through the mouth torn up to the ears.
“Well, you seem quite confident. Just make sure you don’t lose.”
With that, Yuiru dashed out of the classroom.
That jerk, he’s planning to hide early.
Even though the rules of the school-wide hide-and-seek were vague, Houzuki and Otoya, the only living participants, were completely left behind. Can they resent him? Can they call him sneaky?
Houzuki and Otoya stood dumbfounded, listening to the counting voice behind them.
“One…,”
The girl counted down, her face hidden.
Houzuki and Otoya rushed out of the classroom, fleeing in the same direction.
To end this hellish school-wide hide-and-seek, they had to run from that child while searching for the rusted can. It was a reckless rule—them playing “can-kicking” while the child played hide-and-seek.
“Two…”
The time for the seeker’s actions drew near.
“What should we do? Where should we hide!?”
“Since it’s a school-wide hide-and-seek, the hiding range is too vast. Plus, we have to find the can!!”
“Damn it, the more I hear, the worse this rule sounds!!”
Running through the deserted hallway, racing up the stairs, searching desperately for any hiding spot available, Houzuki aimed to evade the girl at any cost.
For now, evading her was the priority. The consequences of being caught were unknown.
She might be devoured by those jagged teeth.
Slipping into a deserted first-year classroom, Houzuki hid under the teacher’s desk, while Otoya nestled inside the cleaning supplies cupboard.
“Where do you think Yuiru went!?”
“He’s probably hiding in some cunning place, knowing him.”
“I envy ghosts, honestly. If only I could become transparent, I’d never get caught.”
“But we can’t afford to die right now, so let’s do our best to stay alive.”
As they exchanged words from under the teacher’s desk and inside the cleaning supplies cupboard, suddenly,
“Seven…”
For some reason, the countdown voice sounded alarmingly close.
“――――Ugh”
Houzuki hurriedly covered her mouth.
Why does the bob cut girl’s voice sound so close?
Their encounter had been in the third-year classroom, which was on a higher floor than the first-year classrooms. Is the ghost moving?
“Eight……”
That’s cheating.
Is she looking for them during the countdown?
Frustrated by the overly cunning actions of the ghost, Houzuki, hiding under the teacher’s desk, gritted her teeth. If she clicked her tongue in this silent classroom, she would definitely get caught.
“Nine…”
The countdown is about to end.
“Ten…”
The countdown’s end sounded dangerously close to Houzuki, concealed under the teacher’s desk.
