Something’s Very Wrong with Her

I pushed my way through everyone, barely managing. The smell of sweat was almost tangible. When I finally reached the center of the circle… Yume? I didn’t get it at first.
She’s the most popular girl in school, but that’s no reason for everyone to swarm her like vultures. Usually, people just watch her like some exotic animal on display.
No wonder. She looked like a doll. Tiny waist, wide hips, big boobs. Blue eyes, long blonde hair. And those long, sharp nails, like cat claws. Everything a bunch of teenage idiots needed to imagine inappropriate stuff.
Then I finally figured out why. She was wearing a tiny skirt, and her bra was showing. Yume was a gyaru; her clothes were usually edgy and skimpy, but this… this was extreme, even for her.
Before anyone could elbow me for blocking the view, I turned my back, trying to leave. Emphasis on trying. Because a cold hand grabbed my shoulder, scratching my back with those claws.
“Hey hey… what do you think you’re doing?”
Yume pulled me right into the middle of all those guys. They looked out of their minds, drooling.
“Look, I just wanted to see why everyone was here. I wasn’t looking at your… private parts, please let me go, for Fortune’s sake.”
I said that, but I couldn’t stop glancing at her cleavage. What can I say? I’m an orangutan too.
“It’s not what it looks like.”
She tugged at her shirt. I stared at the ceiling, silently asking the heavens why this was happening. Yume squinted and smiled.
“Give me your number, cutie.”
Cutie? Number? Why me? Curiosity really is a curse.
“If I give it to you, you’ll let me go?”
“Of course, sweetie… if that’s what you want.”
She scratched my chin. I gave her my number as fast as possible and ran away as fast as my legs could carry me.
I searched for Lorenzo around the school; it was packed. Most of the boys were surrounding Yume. After running up and down the stairs, I found him in the storage room.
“What the hell are you doing here?”
“Yume… she tried to hit on me…”
Lorenzo was tough, but his weakness? Blondes. Unfortunately, he still hadn’t recovered from that trauma. I patted his back gently.
“Relax! She won’t touch a finger on you!”
The next few days were the same. Yume kept showing up in shorter and shorter outfits. More boys and girls gathered around her. Lorenzo and I were there at all costs.
And of course, Yume didn’t stop messaging me. I replied to some, ignored others. How did I go from completely invisible to the crush of the most popular girl in school?
Rumors started spreading that there were lipstick marks on the mirror in the girls’ bathroom. Suspicious. All the other girls stopped wearing makeup. According to them, they “couldn’t steal Yume’s shine.”
It got so weird I had to confirm the rumor without looking like a creep. I paid the janitor to take pictures of the supposed lipstick marks on the mirror.
The lipstick was a vivid red. Too vivid to be real, but too real not to be true. I went straight to Lorenzo. He was sleeping in the living room.
“Yo, Lorenzo!”
“What do you want?… You only shout like that when you’re asking for something…”
“Is that how you greet your best friend?”
He looked at me with disdain. Some kind of silent anger.
“So… can you make me an exorcist scroll?”
“No.”
“Buuut whyyyyy?”
“You just mess things up with the scrolls!”
“That’s a lie! Just tell me one time I used a scroll wrong!”
“Hmmm… the day I gave you the only explosive scroll I had… and you blew up my dad’s safe to get money.”
In my defense, I owed a loan shark. Either he got beaten, or I handed over my head.
“There’s also the… mind-swapping scroll…”
“I don’t remember that one.”
“You swapped minds with the teacher to get her grades… but her husband was in his fertile period—”
“Okay, shut up. I didn’t need to remember that.”
“But… why do you want the scroll anyway?”
“I’m suspicious about something with Yume. I want to be sure before making any claims.”
Lorenzo yawned. Looked at me, looked at the ceiling, then back at me again.
“I’ll make it for you… But…”
“But what, man? Spit it out!”
“You’ll have to go to the Ten Lords’ meeting and take the seat.”
“Fine, I’ll do it. Now make the damn scroll.”
“Okay, okay… You accepted faster than I expected.”
I’d have to take it anyway. If I didn’t, I’d just be accelerating the inevitable. I could also take advantage of it.
Lorenzo tore a sheet from his notebook. He rubbed his fingers, ink dripping from the tips. He drew symbols on the paper, carefully rolled it up, and handed it to me.
It was time to leave. Very few people were in the classroom, and luckily, Yume had sent me a message.
<Yume> Wanna come over to my place today? My parents won’t be home…