Tokyo Exorcism Diary

“The rain’s been relentless lately.”

Hoshino Gen cast a glance at the torrential downpour outside and casually remarked.

Shimizu Yuu didn’t respond. Instead, she gazed at the soot-blackened staircase and the charred walls before asking, “Should we go up?”

Hoshino Gen smiled without answering, but his feet had already stepped forward.

As black, snow-like ash swirled in the air, he led Shimizu Yuu to the top floor.

Unlike the scorched stairwell they had just ascended, the moment they set foot on this level, it felt as if they had stepped from the peak of summer into the dead of winter.

A chilling cold pervaded the air, completely unaffected by the raging fire that had consumed the floors below.

Shimizu Yuu hugged herself tightly, her teeth chattering from the cold. Even her breath, when exhaled, turned into a visible mist.

Hoshino Gen’s expression finally shifted from his usual nonchalance to something more serious. Loosening his school tie slightly, he muttered, “The yin energy here is thick. No wonder the Special Affairs Unit has been stalling on dealing with this place.”

“Are the ghosts here really that difficult to handle?” Shimizu Yuu asked, struggling to speak through the shivers. After all, she was still wearing her school’s summer uniform—just a white T-shirt, a tie, and a short skirt.

Even with her limited knowledge of this world, she knew one thing: they hadn’t even encountered a ghost yet, and the sheer cold alone was enough to be life-threatening. Something about this situation was far from normal.

“Probably.”

Hoshino Gen raised his right hand, where black energy surged and condensed into a blade. With his left hand, he pulled out a talisman and ran it along the blade’s edge. Lava-like patterns flared to life, spreading from the hilt to the tip, radiating intense heat that rapidly dispelled the surrounding chill.

“We’ll know once we take a look.”

With his sword in hand, Hoshino Gen led Shimizu Yuu swiftly down the corridor. The rain continued to pour, and when stray droplets landed on the cursed blade, they evaporated instantly with a faint hiss.

Before long, they arrived at the restroom on the top floor of the school building.

A wooden board, bearing the words “Do Not Enter,” had been nailed across the door. Hoshino Gen casually slashed through it with a single stroke, stepping over the shattered wood as he entered.

To the left was the men’s restroom. To the right, the women’s.

According to the intel, the girl had been murdered by her lover inside the men’s restroom. Without hesitation, Hoshino Gen turned left.

Contrary to what one might expect, the restroom was utterly unremarkable. Aside from a thick layer of dust from years of abandonment, there was nothing unusual about it.

Shimizu Yuu, who had followed him in, was equally surprised. “This place seems… normal? Is this the only restroom on this floor?”

Hoshino Gen motioned for her to stay quiet.

His gaze swept over the five stalls. Stepping forward, he pushed each door open one by one.

When he reached the fifth stall, however, the flimsy wooden door refused to budge.

Hoshino Gen let out an amused chuckle before pivoting and delivering a sharp side-kick, splintering the door into pieces.

Yet, beyond the shattered doorway, there was—nothing.

He paused, glancing down at himself, then at the cursed blade in his grip, still radiating warmth. Something clicked in his mind.

Looking toward Shimizu Yuu, who stood at the center of the restroom watching him curiously, he hesitated for a moment before saying, “It might be my presence that’s keeping the ghost from appearing. If I step away… do you have the guts to stay here alone?”

After a brief pause, he added, “This isn’t an order, nor is it part of your job as my assistant. I’m just asking.”

Shimizu Yuu swallowed hard, her nerves rattled. Her voice trembled, either from fear or the cold—maybe both. “H-how far are you talking about?”

“One floor down?” Hoshino Gen replied uncertainly.

At that, her expression instantly crumbled. “That far? If the ghost shows up, can you really make it in time to save me?”

Sure, she had a tendency to get swept up in the moment and do reckless things, but in this eerie, freezing atmosphere, her courage had its limits.

Hoshino Gen thought it over and sighed. “Forget it, let’s head back. This isn’t something you can handle anyway. I’ll go ask the Special Affairs Unit how they gathered their intel before we try again.”

As he spoke, the cursed blade in his hand dissolved into flowing light and vanished. With a quick gesture, he signaled Shimizu Yuu to follow him out.

Just as they stepped out of the restroom, Hoshino Gen suddenly halted. Something occurred to him. He turned to Shimizu Yuu and extended his hand. “Give me your hand.”

He wasn’t about to leave empty-handed.

Shimizu Yuu blinked in confusion. When she realized what he was asking, she forgot about the cold entirely. Her face turned crimson, and she stammered, “W-what are you saying?! Holding hands in a place like this… A-and we’re just friends! I—”

Hoshino Gen rolled his eyes in exasperation and simply grabbed her hand, pulling her along as they walked back down the corridor.

Shimizu Yuu instinctively tried to resist, but his grip was firm, and her weak struggle didn’t amount to much.

As she felt the cool touch of his fingers wrapped around hers, her brain short-circuited. She was practically overheating from embarrassment, trudging along in a daze, completely oblivious to everything around her.

Not even the cold rain splashing on her skin registered in her mind.

Not even when she passed by a classroom and caught a glimpse of a girl standing inside.

Wait.

A girl?

What other student would be in this godforsaken place?

It was like a bucket of ice water had been dumped over her head. Shimizu Yuu snapped back to reality, every hair on her body standing on end.

“Hey!” she screamed.

But Hoshino Gen reacted even faster.

Releasing her hand, his right palm immediately summoned his cursed blade, and in one swift motion, he slashed through the classroom window, shattering it to pieces.

Without hesitation, he leapt through the broken frame.

He knew it.

A girl, murdered by the hands of her lover—along with the unborn child in her womb—would never allow a young couple to flaunt their affection before her.

No matter how intelligent a vengeful spirit might be, in the end, they were creatures bound by obsession and resentment.

And in the face of such emotions, logic was nothing more than a sandcastle waiting to be washed away.

The moment Hoshino Gen landed inside the classroom, the girl inside slowly lifted her head.

Her ash-gray face bore an expression of unfiltered malice, and her pitch-black eyes were like bottomless pools, brimming with a thick, suffocating hatred.