Chapter 487: You’re breaking the rules!
Translator: imperfectluck Editor: Kurisu
"Then let's play demon-human tag," Ya-chan spoke up after a moment of silence.
"How is that game played?"
"You shall act as the demon 'it', and come catch me."
"If the specific rules are reasonable, sure," Seiji agreed.
A human acting as a demon and a demon acting as a human… well, this was a type of trial, he supposed.
Forcefully fighting Ya-chan and using his power to suppress the ghost might end in a bad result. And he knew that this ghost wasn't a malicious one. Playing a game with it and figuring out how to beat the ghost at the game seemed like the best idea to him.
Both of them agreed on certain rules. Ya-chan then transformed this area into a gigantic room with many folding screens as obstacles.
These folding screens were all decorated with white cherry blossoms. This seemed abnormally beautiful under the dim yellow lighting of the room.
Thus, the game began.
Ya-chan's body instantly turned into a fast streak of light!
Seiji cast [Evolved Body-strengthening technique] on himself and rushed towards the ghost at top speed!
The ghost child moved rapidly in between the folding screens. The golden Seiji followed closely after and gradually closed the distance.
When Seiji had gotten close enough, he lifted his hands and pounced!
*Whoosh…* Ya-chan suddenly changed direction and dodged Seiji's pounce.
Seiji, who had missed, went rolling forward on the ground and broke several folding screens before his momentum finally stopped.
"Heehee~" The young ghost snickered at his plight.
Seiji silently got up and continued chasing after the ghost.
A while later, he had closed the distance between him and Ya-chan again.
Seiji cast [Evolved Telekinesis]!
A large golden hand appeared and attempted to grab at the ghost child.
Ya-chan suddenly changed direction again!
Seiji was prepared for this and instantly changed his golden telekinetic hand's direction as well!
It seemed that he was about to catch the ghost child this time. However, Ya-chan suddenly flew upwards and dodged the attempt again!
Seiji once more missed and went rolling forward on the ground due to his momentum, breaking many folding screens.
"You can't catch me, hahaha~"
Seiji had a displeased expression at hearing Ya-chan's prideful taunts.
"I was merely warming up. I'm going to get serious now!" Seiji got up and rushed towards the ghost again.
The chase continued for quite a while.
Seiji was able to continuously get close to Ya-chan, but the ghost was always able to dodge his efforts to catch it. Seiji continuously missed and kept rolling on the ground.
Ya-chan had extremely high speed, and the ghost's changes in direction didn't have any predictable elements to them at all. Nor did the ghost's speed appear to obey the laws of physics. It was able to change directions instantly without any decrease in speed whatsoever.
Should it be said that it was to be expected of a ghost?
Seiji had quite a helpless expression after failing to catch the ghost for the umpteenth time.
The ghost laughed delightedly at his predicament.
Ya-chan even voluntarily came closer to Seiji and made silly faces at him.
"Seems like you're having quite a lot of fun."
"I am~"
"Seeing how you're having so much fun, how about telling me about Miyabi Ishihara's situation?"
"No way~"
"Why not?"
"No means no~" Ya-chan kept shaking its head while making silly faces at Seiji.
Seiji took a good look at the ghost.
"Alright then… do it now!!" he suddenly shouted loudly.
Ya-chan was quite surprised by Seiji's sudden outburst. The ghost then witnessed a blinding flash of light that made its body feel much heavier.
The ghost was suddenly suppressed by a gigantic diamond-shaped seal!
Seiji used this opportunity to rush towards Ya-chan at a much higher speed than he had used earlier!
Ya-chan reflexively tried to dodge this. But, the ghost's movements were sluggish due to the seal's suppression. Ya-chan didn't even have time to deal with this gigantic seal that suddenly appeared when the golden figure arrived right before it…
"I've caught you."
Seiji revealed a true smile as he tightly held on to his target. "You've lost, Ya-chan."
"Eh…" The ghost child was still in a daze, not understanding what had just happened.
"Thanks for your excellent support, Matsutani-senpai." Seiji turned to the right and gave his praise.
"Oh man… Just think of my age, would you? Making me work so hard, honestly." The pudgy middle-aged man kept complaining as he appeared.
"You weren't noticed at all even though you made the preparations for such a large seal. As expected of a former ninja."
"It's because this little bratty ghost really lacked experience… and there's also the fact that your acting was too skilled, so you attracted all of its attention. As expected of a handsome guy like you."
"This doesn't have anything to do with my looks, I think." Seiji could only smile wryly.
"I said before that appearance is everything! No matter what a handsome guy does, it'll attract attention. It's just the opposite for fat otakus. Everything they do will be ignored," Matsutani stated seriously.
Ya-chan finally came to its senses and realized what happened upon witnessing this scene—a trap had been set for the ghost!
"You're breaking the rules!" the ghost child shouted angrily.
"I didn't break the rules at all." Seiji looked towards the ghost. "There was no such rule like 'no outside help' in the rules that we agreed upon."
"Rule-breaking is rule-breaking. I won't admit your victory!" Ya-chan shouted.
Technically speaking, Seiji had indeed scammed the ghost, but…
"I won't allow you not to recognize my victory." Seiji narrowed his eyes. "I went along with your request and played with you as you wanted. We also agreed on a specific set of rules and I won without breaking any of them. It's your turn to hold up your end of the bargain."
"I'm not going to—"
"If you still aren't going to keep your promise, what I'm going to do next is beyond the level of 'no longer being polite' to you, Ya-chan."
Seiji increased the volume of his voice and tightened his grip on the ghost. There was also a sharp glint in his eyes.
Ya-chan was rendered speechless.
"Fine…" The ghost child pouted. "I suppose that you won, Harano onii-san."
Thus, the game ended.
Miyabi Ishihara was currently dreaming.
She dreamt that she was a child who went to visit her grandmother's home in the countryside. She got lost while playing around outside.
Just as she was scared to the point of being about to cry, she met a child around her age.
This child had brown hair, yellow eyes, and was wearing a striped t-shirt and blue shorts. He was a cute boy… or maybe a tomboyish girl?
"I'm Ya-chan. What's your name?"
"Oh, you're Miyabi? That makes you a Ya-chan as well, just like me, hehe~"
"Miyabi-chan, let's play together!"
Miyabi nodded when faced with Ya-chan's brilliant smile.
The two children started playing together in the countryside.
Ya-chan led Miyabi in catching worms, harvesting fruits, playing with cats, playing in the river, admiring the tall cherry trees…
Miyabi had a great time playing Ya-chan.
However, Ya-chan then wanted to play hide-and-seek and hid in a large house.
Miyabi was unable to find Ya-chan no matter how much she searched. Just as she was starting to get worried, she suddenly realized that this wasn't a dream, but a memory instead!
Ya-chan that hid itself after playing hide-and-seek didn't appear in front of her again.
Miyabi didn't know Ya-chan's real name, or whether Ya-chan was a boy or girl. She couldn't find Ya-chan anywhere.
A while later, Miyabi's grandmother passed away.
Miyabi never returned to her grandmother's countryside village again.
The fun she had playing together with the child named Ya-chan became her precious childhood memory.
Seiji and Matsutani found Miyabi Ishihara.
Her black-rimmed eyeglasses had disappeared, and her hair had turned snow-white. She also had two black cat ears growing out of her head. She was currently sleeping quietly on a chair.
She was sitting in the banquet hall where all the award-winning authors were seated. The room had been transplanted into the middle of the countryside scenery.
Seiji was about to get closer to check on her situation when Ya-chan transformed into mist and disappeared.
The entire room started becoming misty. The gigantic cherry trees outside the room started slowly vanishing together with the cherry blossoms. All the other countryside scenery started vanishing as well, and this entire space became the hotel's banquet hall again.
"Mmm…" Miyabi slowly woke up.
"Why did I fall asleep…?" She groggily rubbed her eyes before realizing that she was missing something. "My eyeglasses… where are my eyeglasses?"
"Rather than your eyeglasses, there's something else you should be paying more attention to, Ishihara-senpai," Seiji told her. "Such as the cat ears currently growing on top of your head."
"Eh?" Miyabi was rather surprised to hear this.