Shirou, who returned from the Fairy Kingdom

After summer vacation started, Shirou began to visit "Garan no Do" frequently.

I made a promise with Shiki and Fujino that I would teach them how to control the Mystic Eyes, and I can't fail to keep my promise.

Shirou has a deeper understanding than anyone else of the terrible trouble caused by not considering the girl's feelings.

Not only Shirou, but Shiki and Fujino also frequently appear at "Garan no Dou" after summer vacation begins.

"Have you heard that rumor? It's said that girls fly through the air at the Wutiao Building."

That day, when the three of them were having coffee in the break room, Shi suddenly brought up the topic of the paranormal.

There is a luxury apartment building in the commercial building district called Wutiao Building.

It is said that at night, objects resembling human figures can be seen in the sky above the building.

This indicates that you have seen it several times already.

The image of a girl in white flying against the moon in the night sky above the building.

Even without considering the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception, Shiki currently possesses superhuman spiritual vision—

In the East, it is called "pure eye," which is similar to but not identical to the "gram sight" in the Western magic world.

Since Shi said he saw it, it shouldn't be a summer ghost story.

"The number of suicides seems to have risen to eight."

At this point, Aozaki Touko interjected, bringing up the recent suicides.

In less than a month, eight female high school students committed suicide by jumping off buildings.

No matter how you look at it, it's an unusual situation, but it's said that these suicides are unrelated, and the girls all attend different schools and don't know each other.

None of the eight people left a suicide note, and most of the suicide scenes had multiple witnesses.

Their private lives were also found to be without problems; they were neither drug addicts nor obsessed with any dubious religions.

"No wonder the police concluded that it was a completely unrelated suicide."

Aozaki Touko took off her glasses, lit a cigarette, and Shirou frowned as he ran to open the blinds.

"Don't smoke indoors when there are minors, Sister Orange."

Fujino Asagami, who had been silent all along, spoke up: "So, the suicide incident is related to the figure flying over the Wujo Building, right?"

“Since you regained your sense of pain, you’ve become more and more sensitive, Fujino.”

Aozaki Touko gave an approving look: "But unfortunately, this time you discovered it before me."

She knew very well that Asagami Fujino considered Ryougi Shiki a rival, which was why she said that on purpose.

This person's personality is just awful... Shirou thought to himself, thank goodness she's not my girlfriend.

"The suicides will stop after eight people have jumped off buildings, and then there will be a period of relative calm."

Shi said this out of the blue.

Fujino reacted strongly: "Do you know when this will end?"

"Yes."

Shi looked into the distance and nodded, replying, "I see them; there are eight people flying."

"What do you mean?"

“There was a person floating above the Wutiao Building, surrounded by girls who had committed suicide.”

The eight girls were essentially ghosts, except for one who was alive and floating. That's all.

Fujino immediately noticed something amiss: "Shiki-san, when did you see the ghost?"

“A long time ago, about three weeks ago? I remember Shirou came to my apartment that night.”

"........."

Fujino's forehead twitched slightly, and she bit her lip, saying, "The numbers don't match up. The death toll only reached eight yesterday."

With an unwavering look in his eyes, he asserted, "There are eight people. I saw eight figures flying around from the very beginning."

"you are lying!"

"Huh? Why would I have to lie?"

"Of course, it's to show off in front of Shirou-kun," Fujino thought to herself.

Shi scratched his head: "I'm not lying... the air there is weird. Right, it's as strange as hot water and ice water mixing, that's why..."

Fujino revealed a smug expression of victory: "Miss Shiki, would you like to see a doctor? I can recommend one to you..."

"Shiki wasn't lying; it's probably a problem with the timing of the Wutiao Building."

Shirou explained: "There is more than one speed at which time time passes, and the distance at which things reach decay is not uniform."

When a person dies, their "records" do not disappear.

As long as there are observers, nothing will suddenly disappear without a trace; rather, everything will gradually return to nothingness.

Orange nodded and continued the conversation.

"When the observer who 'records' is not a person but the surrounding environment, this special race of people will become phantoms and stroll around the city even after death. This is one of the phenomena known as ghosts."

Those who can see the illusions are those who share parts of the "record"... the deceased's friends and relatives.

Shiki is an exception... Fujino, you possess the same aptitude.

On the roof of the Wutiao Building, perhaps only the "recorded" passage of time is extremely slow.

So what we see are actually the records of those girls before they jumped to their deaths.

"Alright, stop talking about principles that I don't understand."

Shiki impatiently interrupted Shirou and Touko's conversation.

"They won't cause any harm. The problem lies with the guy who started it all. I need to take him out..."

Asagami Fujino got up from the sofa.

"Miss Shiki doesn't need to do anything. I'll take care of her tonight."

After saying this, the girl turned and left the agency.

"Why aren't you chasing after them?"

Orange looked at Shirou and urged him with a half-smile.

Shirou sighed helplessly and ran downstairs to catch up with Fujino.

The girl with long, straight purple hair ignored Shirou, who was walking quickly behind her, and just kept walking down the street.

"Ms. Fujino, are you angry?"

Upon hearing the boy's words, Fujino slowed her pace until she stopped.

"I've been thinking about this for a while now. Shirou-kun has always called Shiki-san by her first name."

"Sigh...that's because..."

Asagami Fujino turned around and looked directly into Shirou's eyes.

"Could you sometimes call me Fujino instead of Fujino-san, and just call me Fujino directly?"

"Fuji...you?"

"Great! Shall we go, Shirou-kun?"

Asagami Fujino smiled happily and then held the boy's hand tightly.

------------------

Volume 3, Chapter 154: Hehe, Shirou is mine?

That evening, Shirou and Fujino arrived at the commercial building district where the rumored location was located.

The buildings, built in a neat and orderly fashion, stand side by side, their walls covered with large panes of glass, now only reflecting moonlight.

Deep within the commercial building district, there stands a building over twenty stories high, shaped like a ladder—the very Wutiao Building they were looking for.

Shirou tilted his head back.

Sure enough, I saw the girl who was rumored to be floating in the night sky.

Lonely and sorrowful, the girl flew aimlessly under the glow of the enormous full moon.

At that moment, a certain impulse arose within Shirou.

In his dizziness and disorientation, Shirou felt an urge to leave this place with the girl and fly somewhere else.

"...Shirou-kun...Shirou-kun!"

Asagami Fujino's voice pulled the boy back to reality.

"Oh, sorry, I was spacing out for a moment."

"Let's go, Shirou-kun."

Fujino took Shirou's hand and they walked towards the Wujo Building.

Even with a living ghost right in front of her, she showed no fear.

"He's really grown a lot," Shirou thought to himself.

"Wait a minute, Fujino."

"what happened?"

"Let's call it a day. This building is a bit strange. I'll discuss it with Orange tomorrow and then make a decision."

"We're already here?"

Fujino frowned upon hearing Shirou's words.

Just as Aozaki Touko said, Asagami Fujino became more perceptive after regaining her senses and immediately realized that Shirou was lying.

Seeing that she seemed somewhat reluctant, Shirou asked, "Can I go to Fujino's apartment tonight?"

“…Huh?” The girl looked surprised.

Shirou said, "I heard that Fujino is renting a house outside now, but I haven't been there even once."

If it's convenient, may I come over tonight to bother you? No?

"Why wouldn't it work?"

Asagami Fujino smiled happily: "Shirou-kun is always welcome."

It was 2 a.m.

Asagami Fujino opened her eyes from her bed in the apartment.

Turning my eyes, I saw a slightly messy room.

The dining table, which hadn't been cleared yet, was haphazardly covered with playing cards and empty pizza boxes.

On the sofa nearby, the red-haired boy was fast asleep, covered with a blanket.

"........."

Fujino quietly got out of bed, walked through the room in the dead of night, and left the apartment.

There were no pedestrians on the streets late at night, only the occasional car driving by.

After walking for about an hour, Fujino arrived at the legendary building again.

This time, without anyone stopping her, she entered the Wutiao Building without hesitation.

There was no one in the Wutiao Building.

It's two in the morning, and only the pale light of the electric lamps illuminates the apartment corridor.

Fujino passed through the entrance hall that required a card swipe and took the elevator.

The elevator was empty, and the walls were covered with mirrors so that passengers could see their own reflections.

The mirror reflected a girl dressed in what appeared to be a nun's uniform, her eyes gleaming with a deep light.