Emerald Fortune

Another morning.

Another school day.

Another lunch break.

It had been roughly a week since the Kisaragi Station incident. Despite a few minor night patrols, the streets of Shina had been uncharacteristically quiet.

“Senpai, here—try this!” Naomi urged, thrusting a piece of pickled radish toward Eiji’s face with her chopsticks.

“I’ll pass.” Eiji didn't even look up, leaning back to avoid the yellow target.

Naomi wasn't one to back down, even if it meant force-feeding her upperclassman her mother’s homemade bento.

“Come on, say aaaaah!”

“Nope.” Eiji nibbled on his canteen-bought melon bread instead.

They had recently started taking their lunches in the Occult Clubroom. Usually, a serene silence hung in the air—or it would have, if Naomi didn't fill every passing second with chatter about things that didn't matter to either of them. Still, Eiji preferred that over the suffocating social pressure of his own classroom.

“Okay, then say nitroglycerin!”

“Whafggdfjgnbs—!”

“Hehe!”

Before Eiji could even process the absurdity of the word, Naomi seized the opening and stuffed the radish into his mouth. As the young man reflexively gulped it down, a lethal, delinquent-grade glare surfaced on his face.

“You dumbass, what the hell do yo—”

Click.

Naomi’s camera flash caught him off guard yet again. With a smirk so wide it would’ve made the Joker look like an amateur, she tapped away at her phone like a woman possessed.

“Oye, what are you doing?”

“'Pouty Senpai probably didn't like my mom’s lunch... exclamation mark... heart emoji.' Aaaand... post!” Naomi hummed giddily, clutching the phone to her chest.

“Explain. Now,” Eiji stated, his eyes boring holes into her.

“Don’t worry, Senpai! It’s just a photo for my Picstagram blog!”

“Your blog?”

“Yes! It’s a blog made up entirely of photos of you!”

Eiji reached out, his gaze icy.

“Hand over the phone.”

“Eh?”

“Now.”

Naomi hung her head, looking defeated. She sighed, glanced up at him with a resigned pout, and then—

“See you after class, Senpai!”

She vanished. She was through the door and down the hall like a gust of wind.

“Oi!” Eiji stood up, but even with his superhuman reflexes, he couldn't catch her when she was protecting her "sacred treasures."

He made a mental note to create his own account just to report her blog for harassment.

“This idiot…”

With a frustrated sigh, he locked the clubroom door with the spare key the "President" had graciously provided.

As he roamed the hallway toward his classroom, his persistent servant flickered into existence.

“Eiji-dono! Meh has a report!”

“If it’s about the weather, spare me.”

“No, Eiji-dono. It is about malevolence...” Meh lowered his voice, even though Naomi was the only one in the building who could possibly hear him.

“I’m listening.” Eiji came to a halt by the staircase.

“There have been sudden spikes of malevolence within the school grounds lately, but they vanish as quickly as they appear. Meh cannot make heads or tails of it!”

“Inside the school again...?” Eiji muttered. Schools were magnets for Specters; teenaged negative emotions were like high-octane fuel for the supernatural.

Even still, recent events were far more frequent than usual.

“Indeed! But due to the erratic nature of the spikes, Meh cannot locate the source!”

“Just perfect.” Eiji shook his head and started up the stairs.

“Woah!”

Just in time, a girl stumbled on the final three steps above him. With a dull thud, she hit the floor, her arms failing to cushion the fall.

“Ouch...”

Eiji wasn't fast enough to catch her, but he was at least considerate enough to gather the items that had spilled from her blazer pocket.

“Hm.”

His eyes landed on a matte purple card: a membership for a dance school called Move. He recognized the name—didn't Hatsue mention she went there?

“Uhm...”

The girl stood up and dusted herself off. Eiji handed her phone and card back.

“Here.”

“Uh… Thank you…” She offered a timid, fleeting smile.

Her eyes were perfectly round, holding a striking emerald-green hue. As she bowed in gratitude, her wavy hair—tied in a braid—bopped against her shoulder. She was slim and elegant, though her posture betrayed a certain unease. She looked like a senior, radiating a quiet maturity.

Under her loose, askew ribbon, a silver necklace caught Eiji’s eye. The pendant was a matching emerald trinket. Wearing jewelry was a direct violation of school rules, which made the choice to wear it even more peculiar.

She hurried past him down the hallway.

“Eiji-dono! Eiji-dono!” Meh began flying in frantic circles.

“Please don’t tell me that girl...”

“...Is the source of the spike! As she fell, Meh sensed it clearly!”

Eiji exhaled a long, weary cloud of breath.

“Did you see anything? A Specter pushing her?”

“No... Meh saw nothing of the sort.”

“Then it was probably a coincidence. If something were actually targeting her, we’d have seen it clearly just now.”

“That is… a reasonable train of thought…”

Even Meh couldn’t argue with that.

“Let’s focus on what we can see.”

Eiji kept walking, but his gut told him the "quiet" week in Shina was officially over.

⌁◉⌁

Another typical, uneventful day of classes wrapped up. Eiji—unemployed as he was—decided to pay the Occult Club a visit. It was becoming a habit, mostly because he knew exactly whose wrath he’d incur if he didn't show his face at least twice a week.

“Urghhhh…”

Despite her senpai being right there with her, Naomi wasn't in the best of moods.

“...”

“Urghhhh…”

Eiji tried to ignore her, keeping his nose buried in his palm-sized manual, but the unusual, wet grumbling noises eventually wore him down. He looked up from the text, exhaling through his nose.

“...What is wrong with you?”

“I think karate practice is finally catching up to me, Senpai!” Naomi pressed her squishy cheek against the table, looking like a deflated balloon. “My body is sore in places I didn't even know existed...”

“Maybe you should quit, then?”

“I can’t possibly do that! How else am I going to get the skills to be your sidekick?” Despite her slumped posture, Naomi’s eyes suddenly flared with an intense, geeky determination.

“You aren't anyone’s sidekick...” Eiji sighed. He really couldn't wrap his head around how she was still so stuck on that title.

“Hehe. Don’t worry, Senpai... I know you’re a tsundere.”

“For fuck's sake...”

It seemed Hatsue wasn't the only one who had pigeonholed his personality into a trope.

“Oh, that reminds me!” Naomi perked up suddenly, though she didn't move her cheek from the table. “Can you please take these over to Sawada-sensei? They’re the final papers needed to make you an official member.”

She pointed a shaky finger at a stack of three papers on the edge of the table.

“I’d go myself, but I’m just... Haaaah....” She let out a dramatic, soul-cleansing sigh.

She really did look exhausted, Eiji noted. His first instinct was to refuse—he wasn't anyone’s errand boy, especially not for a club he’d been blackmailed into joining. Every petty fiber of his being told him to tell her to walk it off.

“Fine. Be right back.”

Against the overwhelming odds, Eiji stood up and took the papers. Naomi offered a weak, grateful smile.

“Thank you, Senpai.”

“Whatever...”

The faculty room was in a different building from the clubrooms, making the trip longer than he would have liked. He walked with a steady, lazy gait, eventually reaching the room where the teachers gathered.

He gave a brief, polite knock and slid the door open. The air-conditioned room was a welcome relief. The layout was standard: desks arranged in a large 'O' in the center, with a small kitchenette tucked against the far wall.

“Kanzaki-kun?”

A short, middle-aged woman stared at him in puzzlement. Seeing a "problem student" in the teachers' office during his free time was usually a sign of impending trouble.

Eiji frowned. He recognized her as the Home Economics teacher, but his brain’s hard drive failed to pull up a name. He’d probably spent too many classes staring out the window to bother learning it. Luckily, the silver nameplate on her desk saved him.

“Suzuki-sensei.” Eiji gave a slight nod.

Regaining her composure, Suzuki-sensei shifted back into her professional, dependable mode. “It’s rare to see you here. Can I help you with something?”

“I need to give these to Sawada-sensei.”

“Oh? Can I see?”

Eiji handed the papers over. As Suzuki-sensei scanned the documents, her eyes narrowed in surprise, then quickly lit up. “Well done, Kanzaki-kun! I’m glad to see you’ve finally decided to engage in some school activities!”

Her smile was genuine. Despite her age, she had a gentleness that made her feel approachable. On the other hand, Eiji just felt awkward. He shrugged.

“Uhm... thanks?”

“Now, Sawada-sensei isn't here. He’s in the counseling room with a senior, but it should be over soon. You can head over there and catch him yourself.”

The counseling room. It was back in the clubroom building—a place Eiji knew all too well. It wasn't uncommon for him to be summoned there at least once a month for "discussions" about his attitude.

With a sigh, Eiji retrieved the papers. He was heading back exactly where he’d just come from.

This time, the trip felt shorter. Eiji’s mind was occupied by the looming "side quest" within the school. The idea of yet another exorcism involving a schoolmate was a headache he didn't need, but one he couldn't ignore.

Last time he had to deal with a schoolmate being hunted by a specter was what led the nuisance called Naomi to him.

He reached the counseling room and raised his hand to knock, but the muffled voices from behind the door made him pause.

“Takenaka-san, we really need to do something about these grades.” It was Sawada-sensei’s voice—calm, but with a raspy edge of concern.

“I… I’m aware, Sensei.”

The reply was light. Feathery and brittle, almost ethereal. There was a strange quality to it, like a frequency that didn't quite belong in a small counseling room. Eiji frowned. He recognized it—it was the girl from the stairs.

“Your scores were near-perfect last year,” Sawada continued. “But since starting your senior year, you look… unfocused.”

“…You’re right, Sensei.”

“Is something distracting you? Something you need help with?”

“No, Sawada-sensei. I just… I haven’t been sleeping well lately. It’s just fatigue.”

Despite the teacher’s attempts to open her up, she remained a closed book.

“I see. If this is about your mother, then—”

“Sensei! I have that essay you asked for.”

Desperate to kill the topic, the girl fumbled loudly with her bag.

“Okay... but that paper was due on Wednesday.”

“It… was?” She paused. “It was!”

Her voice spiked into a panic as she rummaged through her things with increased urgency.

“Still, I have it right her—”

CLANK.

The sound of a cup being knocked over echoed through the wood, followed by a frantic scramble.

“Woah!”

“Oh my god! I’m so sorry, Sensei!”

“Don’t worry about it, Takenaka-san, but your essay…”

“Oh!”

There was a sudden, heavy pause. It didn't take a genius to realize the essay was now drowning in whatever had been in the cup.

“I-I’ll just rewrite the whole thing!”

Steps hurried toward the door. The handle turned, and the girl burst out into the hallway, clutching a dripping stack of papers and her bag to her chest. Her emerald eyes made brief, startled contact with Eiji’s before she looked away and vanished down the hall.

Eiji stared after the upperclassman. It was definitely her. The girl Meh had flagged as the source of the malevolence.

A lot of bad luck for one day, Eiji thought as he finally stepped into the room.

“Kanzaki-kun?” Sawada-sensei looked up from the mess of coffee on his desk, his black-framed glasses sliding down his nose. He looked utterly bewildered.

“I came to deliver these, Sensei.”

“No more essays, please,” Sawada sighed, taking the papers.

“They’re not.”

“Oh. Right. Mizuno’s Occult Club… are you really joining?”

“Seems like it.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Sawada pushed his glasses back up. He was a young literature instructor, tall and neat, who had only recently joined the staff. He’d agreed to be the club’s advisor on paper simply because no one else wanted the job.

“Everything seems to be in order. As the advisor, I welcome you.”

“Thanks.” Eiji turned to leave.

“Oh, Kanzaki!”

Eiji stopped at the door. “Yes, Sensei?”

“Please tell Mizuno-san that while I’m trying to keep the club afloat, we’re going to have a problem if it stays just the two of you. This school prides itself on freedom, but occupying a room for something as abstract as the 'occult' isn't… a strong look.”

Eiji remained silent. It was a fair point, even if he didn't care about the club's survival.

“And I hope you aren't really messing with anything paranormal in there… I’d rather not have a demon released on campus if I can avoid it.”

“Don’t worry, Sensei. There won't be any demons.”

Specters, on the other hand…

Eiji kept that thought to himself.

“Good. You’re free to go.”

Errand complete, Eiji headed back to the clubroom to grab his belongings.

As he entered, he was met by a flush-faced Naomi, who offered a weak, glassy-eyed smile.

“Hey, Senpai…”

Eiji caught the exhausted tone immediately. He walked over and threw his bag over his shoulder. “Come on. I’m taking you home.”

“Eh? But it’s still early…” Naomi whined, her cheek still pressed against the cool table.

Eiji ignored the protest and helped her up, grabbing her bag as well. Her face was bright red and her forehead felt like a radiator. She’d finally hit her limit.

“I think I might miss practice today…” she muttered.

“No shit.”

He led her out to the parking lot. Luckily, he’d brought his bike today. He got her onto the back, making sure she was steady before heading toward her apartment. The "sidekick" had pushed herself until her body gave out.

After dropping her off and making sure she was inside, Eiji didn't head home. He had too much on his mind. Between the "missing" malevolence, the emerald-eyed senior, and the stress on campus, he needed a place to think.

Only one location came to mind.