The Girl on the Rooftop

That summer, I fell in love with a ghost.

I can’t remember her face.

I can’t remember her name.

But I still remember her voice.

“You’re not strange.”

Was she a ghost?

Was she human?

I never found out.

And now, summer is coming again.

＊

A girl in a white dress stood on the rooftop.

Beyond the fence.

Her shoulders moved.

She took one step forward.

Without hesitation.

Into empty air.

“Watch out!”

I shot to my feet.

I ran to the window and pressed my hands against the glass.

The rooftop of the building next door.

No one was there.

There was no sound of anyone hitting the ground.

No scream.

Only the shadow of the fence, stretching across the rooftop floor.

“…Kusunoki?”

Someone said my name.

Every eye in the classroom turned toward me.

Damn it.

I had completely blown it.

Then—

“Kusunoki.”

The atmosphere in the classroom changed.

I turned around.

Mio Kirishima.

A second-year student and president of the student council.

Top grades. Outstanding athlete. Beautiful, brilliant, and practically drawn from a textbook illustration of the perfect student.

With one flawless smile, she stole everyone’s attention.

“Sorry to interrupt. A teacher wants to see you.”

Saved.

No.

Not saved.

This was simply the entrance to a different kind of hell.

“…All right.”

My classmates’ stares stabbed into me like needles.

Jealousy.

Despair.

Envy.

“Sorry, everyone. I’ll only be borrowing him for a moment.”

She gave the class another gentle smile.

The door closed behind us.

The murmuring faded to the other side of the wall.

We walked for a while.

As soon as we reached an empty corner of the hallway, Mio’s smile vanished.

“‘Watch out,’ huh?”

She muttered it under her breath.

“That wasn’t what it looked like.”

I tried to shut her down as quickly as possible.

Mio continued her assault.

“Want me to do an impression? Oh no! Watch ooout!”

An exaggerated performance.

A merciless follow-up attack.

“Please stop. I’m going to get angry.”

“‘Don’t look. Don’t touch. Don’t get involved.’”

She raised one finger at a time, drawing out every word.

“‘That’s my policy when it comes to ghosts.’”

The Three Laws of Ghost Avoidance.

A policy I had personally explained to Mio.

“Pfft.”

“…Now no one will ever marry me.”

I covered my face.

Mio looked delighted.

She was a demon.

An actual demon.

“Putting that aside—”

Please don’t put it aside.

“Let’s catch that ghost.”

“What?”

What did she just say?

“We’re catching it. Today.”

Had she finally lost her mind?

“President Kirishima, you do know ghosts can’t be caught, right? They’re not insects.”

I spoke slowly, as though explaining something to a small child.

“It’ll be fine. With your power, Kusunoki.”

My power.

The special ability to see ghosts.

“I’m not that kind of superpowered guy.”

I could see them.

That was all.

Nothing more than an unusual condition.

“And here I thought this was your chance to redeem yourself.”

Mio gave an exaggerated shrug.

“But I suppose you can’t do it. Oh well. If you can’t, you can’t.”

She began bringing the conversation to a suspiciously quick conclusion.

I knew exactly what she was doing.

This was a negotiation.

Come on, me.

Show her what you’ve got.

“…Could you tell everyone that what they saw was rehearsal for a performance I’m doing at a nursing home?”

“Oh, that’s right. Of course it was. I’ll make sure everyone in your class knows.”

A perfect answer.

A hundred and twenty points out of a hundred.

Her face broke into a brilliant smile.

“Then our first step is a strategy meeting. Let’s go.”

A consensual relocation.

In practical terms, an abduction.

I knew this was insane.

But I couldn’t argue.

Because I was Itsuki Kusunoki, vice president of the student council.

Allow me to introduce our deranged little team!

The girl who wants to catch a ghost: Mio Kirishima!

The guy who can see ghosts: Itsuki Kusunoki!

That’s everyone!