Chapter 12: The Shrine that Grants Love (Or Something Worse)

The morning started with a howl.

“WE’RE GONNA BE LATE!”

My bedroom door slammed open, and Lunaria stood there—bedhead, pajama shorts, one sock, and absolutely zero shame.

I blinked at her from my bed. “…It’s six thirty.”

“We’re gonna be late emotionally!” she shouted, then disappeared down the hall like a gremlin-powered rocket.

I closed my eyes again. For three seconds. Then—

“BREAKFAST IS EXPERIMENTAL TODAY!” Reina called from the kitchen. “WEAR SOMETHING YOU CAN WASH!”

…I got up.

xXx

By the time we were ready, the three of us had gathered at the door of our apartment suite. Lunaria was still chewing on toast and hopping into one shoe. Reina looked like she’d memorized three spells and forgotten her student ID. I just had my water bottle and the faint hope that no one talked to me today.

Before we stepped out, Reina squinted at Lunaria. “Ears.”

Lunaria puffed her cheeks. “Aww, really?”

Reina was already tracing a glowing sigil in the air. “Unless you want to get pulled into a lab and studied.”

With a shimmer of light, Lunaria’s tail and wolf ears blinked out of existence.

“I feel naked,” she muttered.

“You’re still wearing two shirts,” I said, walking past.

The elevator dinged.

“Do you think the eggs were supposed to sparkle?” Lunaria asked.

“They were fine,” Reina muttered. “Mostly.”

“They pulsed.”

“They were fresh!”

I said nothing. I figured it'll be best not to comment on that.

xXx

The elevator doors opened with a soft chime, spilling us out into the quiet lobby. Marble floors. Velvet chairs no one sat in. That faint citrus scent that always made me suspicious of Chester.

Speak of the devil. He was already standing near the front desk, like a cutscene NPC who never moved.

“Good morning, Little Mistress,” he said, bowing slightly.

“Morning,” I muttered, stepping past him.

Near the lounge area, Fuyuki stood sipping coffee like she’d been awake since the Meiji era. Perfect navy blazer, heels, not a single strand of hair out of place.

Beside her, Kazu looked like he’d lost a battle with his alarm clock. And maybe gravity. His mug said: “Not Before Coffee”, which felt more like a public safety warning than a joke.

“Heading to school?” Fuyuki asked politely.

“Unfortunately,” I said.

Kazu gave Lunaria a squint. “Didn’t you have ears yesterday?”

Fuyuki’s eyes flicked to her as well. “And a tail.”

Reina crossed her arms. “It’s a spell. Suppression glamour. Blending into human society is kind of… tedious.”

There was a pause. The kind that suggested mutual trauma.

Both adults nodded quietly.

Reina perked up. “We’ll be back by four! Unless something weird happens. Which it usually does.”

Kazu blinked. “Is that… common?”

“No,” I said.

“Yes,” Lunaria said at the same time.

Fuyuki raised an eyebrow. Kazu took a long sip from his mug like he was trying to erase the last ten seconds of his life.

“Have a good day,” Fuyuki said, clearly rethinking her decision to live here.

“You too,” I replied. Then I followed Reina and Lunaria out the front doors.

xXx

The walk to school was mostly uneventful, unless you count Lunaria trying to race a bus and Reina enchanting her hairpins mid-step because they “weren’t sitting in the right plane of balance.”

I chose to pretend I didn’t know either of them. It was easier that way.

As we reached the school gate, we passed a small group of second-years huddled near the bike racks. Their voices dropped to a hush the moment we got close—but not enough to keep Lunaria’s ears from twitching under the spell.

“They say if you go up behind the old cram school and hang your ema at the hillside shrine, your love will come true…”

“Only if you do it on a full moon night, though.”

“Yeah, but lately... stuff’s been weird.”

“You mean the couple who both got food poisoning?”

“And the girl who saw a crying lady in red by the ema board?”

“Barefoot. And bleeding. They say it’s cursed now.”

Lunaria’s eyes lit up. “Ooh. Spooky shrine gossip. I live for this.”

Reina tilted her head, thoughtful. “Crying woman in red… sounds like either a kitsune or a low-tier vengeance spirit.”

I blinked. “That’s your first guess?”

Reina shrugged. “I mean, we live in Shibuya, not Silent Hill. The local spirits are mostly subtle.”

“People actually fall for this kind of thing?” I asked.

She turned to me, serious. “Mio. You live with me and Luna. How do you not believe in a haunted shrine?”

“She has a point,” Lunaria added. “Compared to our apartment, a cursed hill sounds relaxing.”

“I don’t believe in rumors,” I muttered.

“You didn’t believe in wolf-girl either,” Lunaria said brightly.

“Nor witches,” Reina added, way too casually.

I sighed. “Give me a break. I just don’t trust rumors.”

The bell rang, and the crowd thinned towards the building.

xXx

Lunchtime.

Reina had summoned a mini circle of wind to keep the tree petals from falling into her bento. Lunaria was eating like she hadn’t seen food since last week.
I was just trying to finish my rice before Lunaria started eyeing mine.

“So,” Reina said, mouth half-full. “Shrine trip tonight?”

“No,” I said.

“We check it out during the day,” she offered. “Then scope it out again on the full moon.”

“You sound awfully enthusiastic for someone who thinks it’s a low-tier spirit,” I muttered.

“It’s for research. And magical integrity.”

“It’s because she’s a romantic,” Lunaria said, pointing at Reina with a chopstick. “She wants to see if the ghost bride is real.”

Reina didn’t deny it. “It’s a rare case. If there’s a curse, we might be able to dispel it before it hurts anyone else.”

“And if it’s a fox spirit, maybe she’s just lonely,” Lunaria said, uncharacteristically thoughtful. “I’d be angry too if someone turned my shrine into a couples’ Instagram spot.”

I sighed. “Fine. We’ll take a look.”

“Yay!” Lunaria beamed.

“But we’re not wishing for anything,” I added. “No writing names. No love confessions. No full moon romance rituals.”

Reina gave a suspiciously innocent blink. “Define confession.”

“Define shut up,” I said.

Lunaria leaned closer to Reina. “So… who were you planning to write on your ema?”

Reina didn’t flinch. “You first.”

“Ladies,” I warned.

“Oh, come on,” Lunaria said. “Just for fun. We all know who Reina would write.”

“Do we?” Reina replied with a too-sweet smile.
“Because I’m pretty sure you’d smudge the ink trying to write ‘Mio’ in kanji and end up confessing to a mailbox.”

“I would not!” Lunaria snapped. “I’m good at writing!”

“You once misspelled ‘wolf’ on your PE locker.”

“It was stylized!”

I put down my chopsticks. “I will bury you both under that shrine.”

Reina laughed. “That’s technically a love confession.”

The bell rings. Lunch is over.

Reina packs up her bento like she’s done it a thousand times. Lunaria tries to fit an entire onigiri into her mouth sideways.

I just watch them, chopsticks still in hand.

Tenants. Magical girls. Walking disasters.

This is my life now.

And tonight, we’re going ghost-hunting.

Of course we are.