Tokyo bombing incident Nth time

It sounds like Akemi doesn't know what's going on either.

"So, all over the class right now are all sorts of weird and supernatural rumors about this strange thing, and Chinami is especially afraid of these things after what happened last time," Akemi continued. "But she doesn't want to be seen as uncaring about her classmates—she was supposed to be the third person, but she made up an excuse to ask someone else to go in her place, promising to help next time. Now that it's the fifth person, she's put herself in a very awkward situation."

This was indeed a rather awkward situation, Yuri understood. "So how did you comfort her?"

“I told her not to believe in these superstitious things, that it’s unscientific. I’ll go with her to visit, and there definitely won’t be any problems. She can rest assured.” Mingmei’s voice was flat and emotionless, very fluent, as if she had said it several times before.

You really have the nerve to say that. Yuri understood why Akemi said that, but he still wanted to point out that it didn't reflect reality.

"--So, putting aside whether the supernatural or not things are scientific or not, you've already said that, so what does she have to be afraid of?" Could it be that Mingmei's tone was particularly heavy, or that her casual remark somehow provoked the other party?

“I don’t know, but she said with a sob that she heard evil spirits like to bully the weak—if the two of us go together, the evil spirit will definitely only target her, and the result will be the same.” Mingmei spread her hands. “Simply put, she doesn’t trust my ability to protect her, right? I hope nothing bad happens when we go tomorrow.”

That makes sense. So why are you walking so heavily and looking so listless? Mingmei herself might not have noticed this, or she might have thought it was unnecessary to say it, but Yuri was quite concerned about it.

"Isn't that great? Are there any other problems?" Yuri floated around in the middle of the room. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

“Not for now, unless I buy food and you can cook.” Akemi’s voice was weak. “I feel like I’m starving.”

Yuri was speechless. It turned out he was hungry. There really wasn't much to cook.

...After a while, Yuri suggested again, "Do you want me to come with you tomorrow? I can help out in some way."

"Huh?" Akemi seemed not to understand.

"Would you like me to come with you to visit the sick person tomorrow? That way, we can look out for each other if anything happens," Yuri said more clearly.

"What are you going to do? Nothing's happened yet, has it?" Mingmei's eyes showed confusion.

"Wouldn't it be too late if something happened?!" Oh no, this person is so hungry that he has lost his ability to think.

Yuri floated closer to the other person, looked directly into their eyes, and tried to keep his tone calm. "I sincerely and seriously suggest that you go and eat something. I feel that you are really not in a good condition."

"Going out now is too much of a hassle, and I don't have an appetite. I'll just take a nap." Mingmei stood up unsteadily and walked towards the bedroom. "I'll set my alarm an hour earlier. If I'm not up by tomorrow morning, wake me up so I can go out to eat early."

Yuri watched as the other person shakily walked into the bedroom and closed the door.

Alright, what's next? Continue researching the uses of the spiritual essence? With nothing else to do, Yuri started tidying up the coffee table for Akemi, but stopped as soon as he started.

Mingmei's homework has only been modified by two words, and even if you include the time wasted by that talkative spirit, it's still too little.

Judging from her appearance, it's impossible for her to get up in the middle of the night to do her homework.

Yuri picked up the pen.

Consider it a small token of friendship. I'll do what Yuri can do for her—there are textbooks nearby for reference if she can't do it, and there's nothing I can do if she really can't.

Chapter Twenty-Six: The Invisible

The next morning, Akemi woke up without Yuri waking her. She seemed to be in better spirits than before she went to bed, but she was still not feeling well.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Yuri once again offered his suggestion: to go with Akemi to visit Chinami while she was sick.

Akemi refused again this time, but she agreed to leave Yuri a general map—as well as the address of the person being visited and Chinami's address, and agreed that if she didn't return by too late, Yuri could go look for her.

After watching Akemi leave, who refused Yuri's request to come along, Yuri, who had been working on his homework all night, began to rest.

There wasn't actually that much homework, but Yuri's proficiency was really not impressive.

The so-called rest was just continuing to carve the broken pieces of wood that Akemi had picked up outside with her small knife. Recently, Yuri felt that he had grasped a bit of the essence—although the level of detail was zero, it was now recognizable as humanoid.

According to Mingmei's assessment, if you add some chicken blood or anything else, she could play the role of a cursed doll.

Unfortunately, it still can't move; Yuri doesn't know how to do the joint parts yet.

—With growing unease, Yuri sculpted seven or eight cursed dolls while whiling away the time, and then night fell.

—Akemi really didn't come back on time.

This is not a good idea.

Yuri flew out the door and began to move according to the route map; the distance was not very far.

First, there's the fourth person, the home of Yamana Aomori.

The two targets lived in the same relatively upscale apartment complex, very close to each other. The apartment complex itself was also quite convenient in terms of transportation, meaning there were plenty of rides available, and even some room for choice.

The reason Yuri went to the fourth person's house first was because he suspected that Akemi had exposed something on the spot and then got trapped—in addition, his house was on a lower floor.

After a period of effort, Yuri arrived at the target's doorstep. As usual, he transformed into his spirit form and entered the house, only to find a family he didn't recognize chatting.

Just then, a middle-aged woman spoke up, "That's strange, you're really not faking illness to skip school?"

"Mom!? Of course not! Weren't you worried about me before? How come you started to doubt me as soon as I got better?" The unfamiliar boy who spoke must be Yamana Aomori. He still looked a little weak, but he was conscious.

“But you just got better after being visited in the hospital… Could it be that one of the two people who came was someone you liked—” the middle-aged woman continued to express her doubts.

"No way! Didn't I already say? The previous students were the same!" At least his voice had returned to normal.

"Alright, keep your voice down when you talk to your mother," the middle-aged man who looked like the head of the household said. "Besides, you've just recovered from an illness; talking so loudly isn't good for your health."

After the boy bowed his head in agreement, the middle-aged man continued, "If it's as you said, then those two girls will be alright, won't they? I saw one of them, named Kurauin... Kurauin what was it again? She was already being helped away by that girl named Kakizaki Akemi."

"Yes, I hope that child named Chinami will be alright?" the middle-aged woman added.

"I don't know," Yamana Aomori answered honestly. "That's too fast. I only started feeling unwell after I got home, and I started feeling unwell even before she left... Maybe it's because she's not in good health to begin with?"

"It might just be psychological, scaring yourself. Luckily, she's in this building, so at least she can get home." The middle-aged man thought for a moment. "When you go to school tomorrow, keep an eye out. If she doesn't come, bring her a gift to visit her. After all, she's suffering because of you."

"Isn't this a bad idea? She's pitiful, but what if she gets infected again and spreads to Aomori?"

"We can't just let others suffer for us! If it gets back, we'll just have to accept it. Aomori is healthy and can handle it."

"How can this be—" "Stop arguing—" "I'm just stating the facts—"

It seemed there wasn't much left to see, and Yuri sensed their argument wasn't going to stop anytime soon, so he withdrew.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On his way to Chinami Kurauin's residence, Yuri sorted out the information he had just received.

First of all, the best news, which may sound impolite, is that Akemi didn't get infected, or at least she didn't show it immediately; it was her friend Chinami who did.

Then, Chinami's symptoms appeared very quickly, far exceeding Aomori's expectations, who had personally experienced it.

Conclusion – Although there is no evidence, it is very likely that something happened to Akemi after she helped Chinami home, and she was unable to leave.

In short, you'll find out when you get to the target's house.

Yuri once again made his usual way through the door, but this time he felt a little obstructed.

Looking up, the source of the sense of obstruction points to a magatama-shaped decoration on the wall.

It seems to be a protective charm that does have some effect, but if a spirit is really serious, it can still easily get in... It's better than nothing, I guess.

There was no one in the living room, but faint voices could be heard coming from the bedroom.

Yuri got as close to the bedroom door as possible, but still couldn't hear anything inside. He silently apologized in his heart, went through the door, and entered the room.

—It looks like the kind of room a young girl would have, at least it's not much different from the kind of room Yuri imagined.

A pale-faced girl lay on the bed, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow and uneven; it must be Chinami. Akemi sat on the edge of the bed, holding Chinami's hand, while a worried-looking adult man stood beside them.

Akemi noticed Yuri float in, her eyes widened, and then she raised her voice slightly.

“Mr. Kurauin, Chinami’s condition did indeed deteriorate suddenly, but it has stabilized for the time being and has not worsened further.”

"Hmm? Is that so?" Mr. Kurauin remained worried. "I didn't expect what Chihiro said to be true. If I had known, I would have tried even harder to dissuade her..."

“You’ve already said that, I don’t think there’s any need to blame yourself. Nobody expected this.” Mingmei raised her other hand, then put it down again. “I think it’s better for her to rest now. I’ll stay with her for a while longer. You can go do other things.”

"Okay, let me know when you're leaving, and I'll see you off."

"Thank you for your kindness. I will let you know when I leave—there's no need to see me off."

Mr. Kurin left the room, and as he passed Yuri, who was standing in front of the door, he suddenly shuddered, but after looking around and not finding anything, he left and closed the door behind him.

Yuri moved closer to the bed and lowered his voice, "Is she still awake?"

Mingmei shook her head and replied in an even lower voice, "She couldn't hold on any longer and fainted as soon as we got home. She woke up once when I took her to bed, but she should be asleep again now."

Yuri circled the patient a few times but didn't notice anything unusual.

I tried passing through the patient, and it went smoothly, indicating that the patient's body was not possessed by a spirit.

After careful observation, some anomalies were discovered—a purplish-black aura seemed to be enveloping Chinami. Yuri reached out and touched it, but it passed right through. It only affected Chinami's direction—Akami, standing nearby, wasn't touched at all.

“This isn’t normal, but I don’t know why.” The Mongolian doctor, Yuri, gave up on treatment. “Have you noticed anything wrong?”

"After seeing Yamana, nothing happened at first, but I noticed that Yamana was acting strangely, as if she was affected by some kind of spiritual energy." Akemi whispered what she had seen. "Soon, while I was still observing, Chinami made a statement of visiting, and then that spiritual energy was transferred directly to Chinami."

Spiritual power usually refers to the ability of a spirit to influence its surroundings through its own properties. For example, a forest spirit can accelerate the growth of trees by using its spiritual power. However, it can also mean "I don't know what this is, but it has an effect." In this case, Akemi is using the latter meaning.

"Directly?" Yuri asked. Shouldn't this situation involve some kind of process? Like, for example, the black mist in the air gradually drifting from Yamana Aomori towards Kurauin Chinami, eventually completing a full transfer in the process—or something like that?

“…What you’re talking about is a form, but this time it’s not, or rather, this time it’s too fast, I didn’t even have time to do anything.” Mingmei shook her head.

"So what is the reason for this, and how can it be solved?" That is the key question.

"do not know."

"No—" Yuri was speechless.

“We don’t know yet; we need to investigate further,” Akemi added. “The problem right now is… there are just too many possible sources.”

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Akemi briefly explained the possibilities she was aware of.

The spiritual power of spirits/ghosts, malicious curses from humans, some kind of creature that interferes with dreams from a distance, and some miscellaneous oddities that are difficult to categorize.

Chinami started feeling dizzy in someone else's house, and considering the spiritual energy that Akemi sensed, we can rule out the possibility that Chinami's dizziness was psychological—it's true that Chinami's panic may have accelerated the process of her being harmed, but it was definitely not the root cause.

The common characteristic of the remaining things is that those who have an impact can intervene from a great distance without having to be physically present.

The next thing to be ruled out is the spirit energy of the ghost—because Yuri didn't recognize it either. If it were a ghost, it should have reacted more strongly to the spirit energy.

After Yuri reluctantly pointed out that he was probably not a normal ghost, Akemi immediately agreed that this could only be considered half the case.

Unable to further filter the source, the two turned to discussing the effects of this spiritual force.

This is much easier. First, this spiritual energy weakens a person—this weakness can be all-encompassing, leading to loss of physical strength, decreased power, and so on, ultimately resulting in a loss of consciousness.

People who are physically strong and mentally resilient are more resistant to this.

In this respect, Chinami and Akemi are almost the complete opposite. Chinami is not physically strong, and her mental state was weakened in the last incident—unlike a certain guy who is exceptionally physically strong and almost recklessly brave.

This is very likely why the two of them went to visit the sick, but ended up transferring the visit to Chinami instead.

Secondly, this spiritual energy can cause nightmares. This isn't entirely reliable—people with weak bodies and clouded consciousness are prone to overthinking. But since four people—including the one holding Akemi's hand, making five—have nightmares, and none of them experienced complete darkness and felt nothing, creating nightmares is clearly one of its effects.

Finally, this spiritual energy will transfer to the person who comes to visit the sick, while other family members will not be affected.

This means that simply being near someone doesn't automatically trigger a redirect; there are specific rules for redirection—it could be someone visiting you in the hospital, but it could also be other related content, such as classmates or friends.

So what kind of being could create a spirit that weakens people, gives them nightmares, is contagious, and does evil anonymously?

“I feel like there’s as many of these as you want—whoosh—.” Yuri and Minmei reached a consensus.

With nothing else to do, Akemi gently pulled her hand away from Chinami's and left the room.

After firmly declining Mr. Kurao's offer to see her off, Akemi took the elevator and left the apartment building.

Yuri floated steadily behind.

“I think this thing shouldn’t be manipulated by anything intelligent,” Yuri said, halfway home.

Akemi turned her head, waiting for an explanation.

“Lack of purpose.” Following his own train of thought, Yuri, the former Mongolian doctor and now a third-rate detective, began to explain his logic: “If it is manipulated by something intelligent, it must want to achieve some purpose. Logically speaking, it should be concentrated on the same person, rather than jumping away when someone comes to visit.”

Akemi turned her head back, but Yuri could see Akemi nodding from behind.

Since he wasn't interrupted, he continued, "Indeed, spreading the story to more people helps create an atmosphere of panic, which is similar to how spirits hype up their presence to obtain spiritual essence. But in that case, it should try to connect the story to itself, or connect it to itself when it triggers nightmares—in short, it should attract attention to itself. Right now, there's absolutely no such action; everyone's nightmares are different."

“What if that being itself can draw power from nightmares? Weakening the body might be to promote the appearance of nightmares, as long as it’s a nightmare, it doesn’t matter who it is,” Akemi pointed out the flaw in this theory.

"Didn't I say that focusing on the same goal would be more advantageous?" Yuri didn't understand.

"—What I mean is, what if every jump is to someone who is weaker in resistance?" Akemi added, "You make a good point, but we still have to rule out that possibility."

"How do we eliminate it?" Yuri was a little down and couldn't think of a solution for the moment.

"Tomorrow I will go and check on the physical condition of the people who were previously diagnosed with the disease. If the physical condition of the later patients is significantly better than that of the former, then your theory is likely to be correct; otherwise, it remains questionable."

That's a good idea.

After taking a few more steps, Mingmei suddenly turned around. "From your theory, I've come up with a solution to the current problem. —As long as your theory holds true, we can start implementing it."