The Invisible Answer

“Senpai, I implore you to withhold this incident from my mom, please…” Naomi clasped her hands together as she pleaded.

“I told you to go to school, didn’t I?” Eiji raised a brow.

“But I couldn’t let you be alone with—“ Naomi glanced at her upperclassman walking beside them, clad in their school’s uniform. “…Specters. With the specters!”

Grabbing hold of the round doorknob of the familiar establishment Eiji was about to step into, he looked back at the two girls lying in wait.

“Go on.” He waved with this head at the two girls urging them into “Dream”

It seemed Eiji and Co wouldn’t actually attend Saturday classes this morning.

“Skippy skippy!”

Elated, Naomi skipped inside the establishment, humming to herself. Safe to say, she didn’t mind not going to school all that much.

“I might get a picture of senpai sipping on his juice for my blog, too!”

“Oye.”

Prompted by the young man, Honoka walked into the empty bar as well, albeit a little shifty.

The air-conditioned interior, albeit always devoid of life, lacked yet another crucial ingredient.

“Ah!”

Said ingredient shuffling out of the back room, passing a few glances at the new customers.

“Eiji nii-san!” The blonde, young lady beamed with a smile at the sight of her childhood friend.

“Ah-re?” Then her expression contorted into a questioning one, as she gazed upon not one, but two girls in tow.

“Nii-san?” Naomi played back, curious but benevolent.

“Yume…san?”

“Honoka-senpai?!”

“Haah…” Eiji sighed, at this utterly ridiculous mix up of long-lost acquaintances.

“What in the multiverse is going on?!” Naomi bellowed.

<*><><><*><><><*>

“So, you came here in order to… discuss something important?” Yume repeated after Eiji once again, as she set glasses of water and a copy of the menu on the table for each of them.

“I didn’t know you worked here, Yume-san.” Honoka spoke slightly taken aback.

“And I didn’t know you were accounted with Eiji nii-san…” Yume smiled slightly “…To the extent you’d skip class together, even.”

“Hey, what about me? Aren’t I a potential love rival, too?” Naomi pointed at herself, slightly offended.

“Love?!”

“Rival?!”

Honoka and Yume voiced out in unison, while Eiji just shook his head in exasperation.

“Kanzaki-kun and I aren’t acquainted…” Honoka cleared her throat, still feeling the effects of Naomi’s declaration.

“Then…?” Yume cocked a brow, utterly confused.

“Oh, I’m acquainted!” Naomi raised her hand, with a grin.

“She’s the founder of the Occult club.” Eiji threw his childhood friend a lifeline.

“Yes, and our discussion is of utmost importance!”

“Oh, I see…” Yume nodded, and readied her notepad. “So what can I get you two?”

“Two? But we’re—”

“I know Nii-san’s order already.”

“Ho…”

Yume smiled even brighter, in response to Naomi’s puzzled statement.

“I’ll have a glass of milk!” Naomi proclaimed proudly.

“Uhm, could I get some coffee?”

“Coming right up!” Yume nodded, and grinned menacingly, as she made for the counter at once.

Right as the heavy atmosphere dissipated, Honoka looked at Eiji gingerly.

“Uhm… Kanzaki-san?”

“Hm?”

Honoka fidgeted, before voicing her question.

“Why are we here? And what was that about you being… an exorcist?”

Perplexion was evident across her face, as she eyed the young man.

“Oh, senpai is a professional, spirit vanquisher who—“

“Put a sock in it, already.”

“Owie…”

Eiji chopped Naomi on the head, before leaning across the table slightly.

“I am an exorcist, yes. I wasn’t joking around. This matter is as serious as it gets.” He said sternly, causing Honoka to gulp.

“B-but… what do you even mean?”

“The day before yesterday, you tripped over on the stairs. Yesterday, some thugs tried to rob you… And today, you were almost ran over by a car… Your misfortune is gradually getting stronger.” Eiji explained, “Sorry for making you skip school today, but your unfortunate mishaps have turned into something dangerous. Something we can’t neglect.”

With one final look, Eiji asked.

“Do you really think all that has been happening to you, to be just coincidence?”

“All that has been happening to me…?” Honoka muttered, sinking further into her seat, and into her harrowing thoughts.

“Your misfortune… is not normal.”

“Eh?”

“So you’ve found out the type of specter, senpai?” Naomi mused, while Honoka blinked in confusion.

“I believe so.” Eiji nodded, “Meh.”

“Yes, Eiji-dono?” The floating eyeball emerged from thin air, at the call of his master.

“W-what?” Honoka was startled, turning her head frantically.

“What’s wrong, Takenaka-senpai?” Naomi cocked her head. “She can’t see Meh, right senpai?”

“Hm…” Eiji looked on, curious. He found the girl’s reaction quite vexing.

“What’s wrong, Eiji-dono?”

“Ah!” Honoka jumped up again, startled.

Eiji had a hunch at first, but that slight uncertainty solidified into something concrete at last.

“Can you hear something?” Eiji asked, catching the girl by surprise.

“Oh… yes. I think I can. It’s a squeaky, high-pitched voice. I can’t see where it’s coming from, though…” Honoka glanced around in search still.

“Hm.” Eiji snorted slightly.

“She can hear Meh, but not see him? What does that mean, senpai?”

“Great question, Mizuno Naomi! I believe it means; Takenaka Honoka is an Auditor!”

“An… Auditor?” Still startled, Honoka mused.

“Yes.” Eiji nodded. “Auditors, or listeners, are people with the ability to hear specters, and other spiritual beings.”

“Oh, kinda like my ultimate sight?!” Naomi smirked proudly at herself.

“Not exactly Mizuno Naomi! The sight is an ability, exorcists, and people who’ve had close brushes with specters possess! Listening on the other hand, is a sense.”

“A sense?” Honoka mused again. It seemed this conversation had caused more questions than answers to sprout in her mind.

“Indeed! Auditors are born that way. Even if you can’t see specters, you can very much hear them instead!”

“Ah…” Honoka’s eyes blinked in realization. “I always felt like I could hear stuff others couldn’t… I just brushed it off as a heightened sense of hearing though…”

“Does it run in the family, or something?” Naomi inquired.

“Eiji-dono can’t know that, Mizuno Naomi. There must have been some element to have caused this trait to sprout within her, however. Maybe her parents?”

“You being an auditor, works in our favor, however.” Eiji nodded, while Naomi perked up.

“Oh, will we use her hearing to catch the specter this time?!”

“Not exactly.” The young man shook his head, “During those incidents… have you heard anything peculiar, before, or after something happened?”

“I…” Honoka contemplated, before nodding hesitantly. “I have…”

“What did you hear exactly?”

“It was some kind of… very low whispering… Gibberish… Distorted…” Honoka winced as if a headache was coming along. It seemed as though the mere memory of the senseless prattling in her brain brought her discomfort.

“When the car came speeding down the road… the whispering got louder. Stronger. That’s why I stopped. I was…” Honoka leaned back, “…Overwhelmed…”

“I see.” Eiji nodded in response.

“What does that mean, senpai? Did we figure it out already?”

“We most certainly have!” Meh spun in place, elated. It seemed Naomi’s cheery attitude had rubbed off on him.

“Takenaka.” Eiji called out, stern.

“Y-yes?” At the mention of her surname, the upperclassman jolted out of her trance.

“I know this is a lot to take in… but there’s a specter haunting you.”

“A specter?”

“Specters are malevolent spirits. Thankfully, senpai is a professional at vanquishing them from this world!”

Naomi for once, provided a reasonable explanation. Albeit somewhat exaggerated.

“So my misfortune was caused by a… spirit?” Honoka couldn’t help but look doubtful.

“Yes. All those unfortunate events. The slip ups. The minor inconveniences. They were all caused by a yakubyo-gami.”

“Yakubyo…”

“…Gami?”

Naomi and Honoka looked on, puzzled.

Thankfully, Meh filled in the blanks.

“Yakubyo-Gami are minor, less dangerous specters, which bring about misfortune and illness on humans!”

“So do they possess you? Is Takenaka-senpai possessed?!” Naomi gasped.

“Some do. Most yakubyo-gami don’t have the capacity to do that, though. They’re lesser specters. They tend to hide away from plain sight, but I’ve never seen one up and disappear before.”

“But how do you know Takenaka-senpai isn’t possessed?”

At that question, Honoka shifted awkwardly in her seat.

“She isn’t, Mizuno Naomi!” Meh chimed in, “Possession is a constant state so Meh would have been able to sense it anywhere, anytime! As it stands, Meh can only sense the malevolence seconds before something bad happens instead.”

“Oh…” Naomi pretended to understand. She was sure she’d get it at some point, however.

“So I’m not… possessed?” Honoka heaved a sigh, as she listened in on what the peculiar voice, had to say.

“Unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” Naomi cocked her head to the side quizzically, “Why are you being mean to her all of a sudden?”

“I’m not mean.” Eiji sighed, “If you were possessed, Takenaka, then we would have been able to find the specter at once, and exorcise it.”

“Ah…” Honoka nodded, “But as it stands… you can’t?”

“There’s no trace of it anywhere. My Shikigami, the squeaky annoying voice you’re hearing, can’t track its energy. It’s like it’s…”

“Invisible.” Honoka nodded again, her expression grim.

It was clear the specter was around, maybe in hiding. There was no one way to find it however, as things stood.

“But!” Naomi got up from her seat, an infectious smile on her face, “We will definitely find it, and stop it! Right, senpai?”

While her statement, and the way she used “we”, could use some work, it really did help elevate spirits across the table.

“Yes. We will.” Eiji nodded reassuringly, causing the older girl to smile slightly.

“Your order is here. Sorry for the wait.” Yume finally came back, this time her mannerism as prim and proper as always.

“Oh!” Naomi’s eyes shone at the sight of her ice cold milk.

Why would she get milk? They were in a 24-hour bar weren’t they? Eiji thought, as he sipped on his orange juice.

“Thanks, Yume.” He nodded, causing Yume to smile back at him.

“I happened to overhear something about… possession?” The young lady kept her smile, as her eyebrows furrowed slightly.

Honoka fidgeted awkwardly, while Naomi was left staring, probably fantasizing something about the anime she watched last night.

“Occult club business.” Eiji shrugged, “Don’t worry about it.”

“Hmph.” Yume pouted for a second, before retreating back behind the counter. “Maybe I should just transfer to your school and join the club, too. Nii-san, you dummy.”

While Yume had muttered that last part, there wasn’t really much in the way of Eiji hearing her loud and clear.

Despite feeling a little guilty, the young man couldn’t disclose any more than that. Yume was one of the few people in his life that he didn’t want to get caught up with specters.

“How do we… find the specter though?” Naomi asked, as a silence hung heavy in the air.

“Can you tell us anything else? Something about the incidents?” Eiji crossed his arms, while Honoka tapped her fingers across the table nervously.

“I… can’t remember anything of note...”

<*><><><*><><><*>

The time in “Dream” flew by, as Eiji tried to find some sort of clue as to how the specter kept striking against Honoka time and again without showing itself. As it stood, they were stuck in a stalemate. The young woman was reserved, and extracting information from her wasn’t easy. Even if her well-being depended on it.

“No way!”

“It’s true, Senpai even said “wow, you suck at this game!””

“Oh, that sounds like Nii-san!”

“I even have a blog with pictures of senpai! Look!”

“Oh, what’s the handle…?”

While Eiji and Honoka were stuck in an endless loop of unanswered questions, it seemed Naomi and Yume had become fast friends over some juicy Kanzaki Eiji gossip.

“One time, Eiji nii-san came to our house to see my brother… but then a dog starting chasing him on the way here! When he reached the house, he was so exhausted and angry he didn’t speak a word!”

“No way! A dog chased senpai?!”

“I was 11… ” Eiji tried to defend himself, while the two gossiping girls giggled behind their palms.

“Was it big and scary, or something?”

“No it was a Chihuahua!”

“Pfftt!”

Right as the mocking continued, Honoka cracked a smile too.

“Were you afraid of dogs, Kanzaki-kun?”

“No… what was I supposed to do? Stand around and get bitten?”

“Heh…” The emerald-eyed girl chuckled.

Glancing at the clock though, she did a double take. “Oh!”

“What’s up?” Naomi asked, looking over from the stall she sat on across the counter.

“I need to get home, already.”

Eiji furrowed his brows.

“It’s too dangerous to be alone.”

The young man voiced sternly. Indeed, the earlier life-threatening incident wasn’t a good indication of Honoka staying safe when left unsupervised.

“Not to mention Eiji-dono might catch a glimpse, or even better, catch, the specter if everyone sticks close to Takenaka Honoka!” Meh whispered. Well, it wasn’t possible for Yume to hear, but he still did.

“I see…” Honoka nodded at that, silently contemplating. “Do you wanna come over to… my place then? Mizuno-san, Kanzaki-kun?”

Indeed, that would help ease Eiji’s mind, and it would keep Honoka from any other sort of spiritual unfortunate attack.

It was settled.

Eiji nodded, and Naomi perked up.

“We shall let nothing harm you, Takenaka-senpai!”