Chapter 15: The Snack Cult Claims Two

Breakfast was the usual chaos.

Reina was trying to toast bread with a magic flame because she no longer trusted the toaster. Lunaria was upside down on the couch, for no reason, feet kicking the air, toast in her mouth.

I just sat at the table, slowly drinking tea.

Reina held up the slice of bread triumphantly. “Perfect char.”

“It’s black,” I said.

Yet somehow, the center was completely pale.

“Wait, how is it not even warm in the middle?!” Lunaria asked, utterly bewildered. “How do you mess up bread?”

“Says you?!” Reina snapped. “The one who almost set the kitchen on fire trying to fry bread!”

“It was one time!!” Lunaria barked, ears twitching indignantly. “And technically, you enchanted the flame!”

I just sipped my tea.

The two silly raccoons didn’t stop yelling.

“…I had a dream last night.”

The raccoons stopped.

That quieted the room fast.

Reina lowered her bread. “What kind of dream?”

“I was a kid,” I said. “Barefoot. Somewhere in a field. There were other children, and… a fox. Pink fur. She played with us. Saved me from a flood.”

Lunaria blinked. “Wait, wait. Saved you? From what?”

“The flood, it pulled me under. She swam after me. Pushed me onto the shore.”

“And then?” Reina leaned forward, eyes locked on mine.

“They found her body later,” I said. “Buried her. Built a shrine.”

Reina didn’t speak right away. Her expression was unreadable.

“…There was more,” I added. “She came back. Divine. With nine tails. Said her name was Tamamo.”
I hesitated. “She touched my cheek and… told me to be kind.”

There was a beat of silence.

Then Lunaria made a small “pffft” noise.

“Wait, you? Kind? That’s what the fox goddess picked?”

“She said it seriously,” I muttered.

Reina leaned forward, squinting her eyes.
“Out of all the people in the world, a deity looked at you and said ‘be kind’?”

“She had nine tails. Maybe one of them was confused.” Lunaria added.

I held up my right hand.

“The mark vanished when I woke up.”

Reina and Lunaria exchanged a look, puzzled with curiosity.

Reina pulled out her notebook from thin air, flipping through the pages, searching for something.

“That wasn’t just a dream,” she said. “It was a spiritual memory.”

I raised an eyebrow.

“They’re rare,” she continued, flipping pages, “but they happen. Usually under three conditions: one, it’s placed in your mind deliberately by someone else. Two, the surrounding magic is strong enough to trigger memory echoes. Or three—”

She glanced at my hand again.

“A curse backfires.”

Lunaria gasped. “No way. If Mio’s cursed, does that mean we’re cursed too? Is it contagious?!”

“I’m not cursed,” I muttered.

“No,” Reina said, tapping her chin, “but the shrine was sealed. If something powerful reacted to you being there... it might’ve triggered the memory.”

Lunaria held up her toast. “So basically, Mio touched ghost goo and remembered her past life?”

“That is the dumbest and most technically correct way to put it,” Reina said.

Lunaria beamed. “Thank you.”

Reina looked at me again. “We need to go back. Tonight.”

I blinked. “Seriously?”

“We don’t know what the mark meant. Or if it really vanished. We have to check.”

Lunaria clapped her hands. “Yay! Round two!”

“I didn’t say yes,” I muttered.

“You didn’t say no either,” Reina said.

I sighed.

“…Fine.”

xXx

The walk to school took ten minutes on a normal day.

Which meant today is an absurd day.

Lunaria insisted on walking backwards to “train her sixth sense.” She tripped over a vending machine curb five steps in.

“I meant to do that,” she declared, brushing herself off.

“You’re going to get hit by a truck into another universe,” Reina muttered.

“You’re just jealous of my reflexes.”

“Your reflexes are so bad, even curses and hexes dodge you out of pity.”

“Ack—! How dare you!”

The two raccoons started arguing again.

However, I—
I couldn’t stop thinking about last night’s dream.

It was so vivid.
So real.

At some point, we passed a pair of housewives by a flower box.
I hadn’t even realized we were that far.

Couldn’t help overhearing.

“…I passed by that old path yesterday. You know, the one behind the cram school.”

“Ah, yes. That narrow trail up the hill?”

“Mm. It felt… strange. Cold all of a sudden. I thought maybe it was just the wind, but then I heard something. Like fabric rustling. But no one was there.”

“At this time of year? Could’ve been a stray cat.”

“Maybe. But it didn’t feel right. My dog just froze. Wouldn’t move an inch.”

“Really?”

“He kept barking. Stared straight into the trees. I had to tug the leash just to get him walking again.”

Reina slowed slightly, trying to process what she just heard.

Lunaria looked over at her, blinking once… then grinned.

“Ooooh~ someone's making the Thinking Face,” she teased, nudging Reina’s arm with her elbow. “You gonna solve a mystery now, Detective Witch?”

I reached over and pinched her cheek.

“Let her think,” I said.

“Yeeees~” Lunaria mumbled, face squished like a pouting dumpling.

Then, just as suddenly, she perked up.
“Ooh! I smell chocolate!”

And off she went, sprinting the moment the school came into view, probably chasing the scent of snacks or just hyper from sugar.

Reina and I followed at a more reasonable pace.

xXx

Homeroom hadn’t even started yet, and the classroom was already too loud.

Someone had their phone on max volume. Someone else was laughing so loudly that I could hear it from outside. And near the window, as always, were them.

The gyarus.

Three of them, clustered together like a limited-time gacha unit banner.

Arisa, the ringleader, was waving a glitter pen around like a wand. “I swear, Minamin~ you and Class Rep totally give the same vibe.”

Minami didn’t look up from her textbook. She just blinked slowly.

“I don’t see it,” she said.

“She means you’re both pretty and scary,” said Yui brightly, opening a snack. “Wanna choco stick, Luna-chama?”

Lunaria had already accepted two and was reaching for a third. “Thank youuu~ You guys always have the best snacks!”

Yui was completely charmed by Lunaria’s cuteness. The kind of look that said she’d happily adopt her on the spot and spoil her forever.

I slid into my seat near the back, trying not to get spotted by the trio.
Which, unfortunately impossible.

“Good morning, Class Rep~!” Arisa called out, grinning like she knew it would annoy me.

I blinked. “Morning.”

“Oof, cold,” she said, clutching her heart. “Rejected before I even said hi properly. Minamin, see? She’s exactly like you!”

“I’m nothing like her,” Minami said, turning a page.

Reina looked between them, then leaned toward me.

“Friends of yours?” she whispered.

“No,” I said.

“Are you sure? They keep feeding your werewolf.”

“I’m sure.”

Lunaria turned around in her seat with a bright smile. “They’re my frens~”

“You just want their cookies.”

“Can’t it be both?”

Yui waved again. “We sit near each other Reina chan, but you never join our snack time! That’s a crime~”

Reina blinked. “Eh? Snack time’s real? I thought that was, like, your private group snack thing!”

Yui gasped. “No waaay! Snack time is for everyone! From now on, you’re officially invited forever, okay?!”

I watched the conversation spiral into sugar-fueled diplomacy.

…Great. Now my witch is getting recruited by the snack cult.

xXx

Lunch break.

Somehow, we ended up sharing a table with the gyaru squad.

I didn’t even remember saying yes.

One second, I was opening the lid of Chester’s expertly packed bento, and the next, Arisa was dragging chairs over and rearranging the entire table like she owned it.

The cafeteria was loud. Naturally.

Our corner, louder.

Reina was poking at her tamagoyaki with a chopstick, frowning like she wasn’t sure if it was overcooked or undercooked.
Lunaria had unwrapped a sweet potato croquette and was already halfway through it, munching like a gremlin on lunch break.

Arisa, queen of volume control set to zero, leaned over the table. “I swear, Reina-chan, your name sounds like an idol or something. Reina Summer~! I can totally picture you on stage with a mic and glitter!”

Reina blinked. “Oh! I do have a glittery hair clip. Somewhere.”

Arisa grinned. “See?! Destiny.”

Minami glanced up from her lunch and muttered, “She’s way too clumsy to be an idol.”

“Exactly,” Yui said, laughing. “She’d be the funny one who trips during the intro but somehow pulls it off.”

Reina grinned. “Well… I have fallen off a stage before. During middle school drama club.”

Minami sighed and went back to her rice.

Yui held up a strawberry daifuku with her chopsticks and leaned over the table.
“Luna-chama~ aahhn~”

Lunaria opened her mouth without hesitation, bright-eyed and eager, like a loyal puppy getting a treat.

“That looks good…” Reina mumbled, subtly scooting her tray closer to Yui’s snack pile.

“You want one too, Reina-chan?” Yui asked.

“For research purposes,” Reina said, already reaching.

I have officially lost both my raccoons to the gyarus and their daifukus.

Chester’s bento boxes were neatly portioned and clearly handmade. My rice was packed into a clean triangle, set alongside a few slices of tamagoyaki, glossy karaage, and steamed greens arranged with the kind of precision that said “you better eat every bite.”

I picked up a piece of karaage in silence.

“You’re always working so hard, Class Rep~,” Arisa said, poking my arm with her chopsticks. “C’mon, let us pamper you a little~ Just this once~”

“I’m literally just eating,” I said.

“Exactly. Growth.”

Lunaria nodded solemnly. “Mio getting pampered is my favorite arc.”

Arisa gasped. “Ohhh—I can totally picture it! Mio-sama sitting on a golden chair on the auditorium stage, all high and mighty with a golden rod in one hand and that signature ice queen face—just silently judging us from her velvet-draped throne while we kneel in matching uniforms like loyal attendants.”

“Attendants?” Reina asked.

“Royal retainers,” Yui said with a serious nod.

“Still kneeling,” Arisa added smugly.

I stared at my bento in silence.

…Hmmm. I’m tempted. That might be fun.

And then, just as the chaos was starting to level out, Arisa clapped her hands.

“Hey hey, you guys ever heard of the Seven Mysteries of Shibuya First High?”

Reina perked up instantly. Like a conspiracy theorist hearing the word “the earth is flat.”

“Urban legends?” she said. “Tell me everything.”

Arisa grinned. “Okay, so like—most of them are probably fake, but one’s kinda creepy. There’s the third-floor bathroom stall that locks itself…”

“Malfunctioning hinge,” Minami said, barely glancing up.

“…and the music room mirror that reflects people who aren’t actually there—”

“Cleaning lady,” Minami muttered.

“…and an old janitor’s closet that no one’s been able to open for years. People say it’s cursed.”

Lunaria’s eyes sparkled. “Ooooh. Haunted closet boss fight?”

“But one of them might actually be real,” Arisa said, lowering her voice.

Everyone leaned in.

Except me. I kept eating my karaage.

“Hanako-san,” she whispered. “Classic stuff. The second-floor girls’ bathroom. People say you can hear crying if you pass by alone. Red skirt. Scratched voice. If you knock three times on the stall and call her name…”

“She answers,” Reina finished, almost reverent.

Her notebook was already out.

I stared at her.

She stared at Arisa like she’d just unlocked a side quest.

…Of course. This won't end well.