"WAIT FOR US!"
Turning around, Kita Ikuyo saw that it was Yotsuya Miko and Yurikawa Hana, who had just separated from them not long ago.
Yotsuya Miko dragged Yurikawa Hana as she ran all the way over. Only when they finally reached them did she release Hana's hand, panting heavily as she came to a stop.
"What's wrong? Don't tell me you ran into a Ghost?"
Hachiman looked suspiciously in the direction they had come from, then at the flustered Yotsuya Miko and the utterly bewildered Yurikawa Hana.
"Y-Yeah! Just now... not long after we split up, we found a Ghost about two people tall. When Hana and I were talking about it, it seemed to have heard us, and it suddenly turned to look right at us."
Yotsuya Miko rested her hands on her knees, gasping for air before slowly straightening up. She glanced behind her as she spoke, afraid that something else might be watching them.
The sight of that ugly, long-tongued monster suddenly burning to death had truly terrified her. She'd been running the whole way here, too scared to stop even for a moment.
"Uh... I didn't see it. Miko said she did," Yurikawa Hana, who had been dragged along in confusion, patted her heaving chest and, after steadying her breath, awkwardly corrected the story.
'Does Miko actually like Hachiman?'
She'd just said she didn't, but after searching all over for him and failing to find him, the moment he left, she found a Ghost, and ran after him like her life depended on it.
She didn't really think her best friend Miko was boy-crazy, but... honestly, it was still easier to believe that than to believe in ghosts.
"...", Yotsuya Miko looked at Yurikawa Hana, who clearly didn't believe her, and fell silent for a moment.
She'd known this would happen. Hana couldn't see ghosts or spirits. If she believed, she'd be terrified like Ichiji Nijika, but if she didn't, she'd be like this. That was why Miko had never planned to tell her about such things in the first place.
"So, what about now? Did that Ghost follow you?"
Ichiji Nijika didn't care whether Hana believed or not, she herself was clinging tightly to Hachiman's arm, her pretty face pale with panic, staring at the direction Miko and Hana had come from. She both wanted to see something and was terrified she might actually see something.
"Two people tall... could it be, like, really big? And if so, can it live without eating?", Gotou Hitori, on Hachiman's other side, widened her eyes in curiosity, staring into the empty air where ghosts might appear.
Maybe because Hachiman was beside her, she didn't feel scared at all, just deeply curious about what those things looked like.
People had to work to earn money and eat. But ghosts? Did they eat people? Or their own kind? Or not eat at all?
If Hachiman hadn't said he'd take care of her for life, and was already giving her allowance money, she might've wanted to become a ghost herself, just to avoid having to work one day to survive.
"No, it didn't follow... but now that I think about it, it's weird. It was about to pounce on us, but halfway through, it suddenly vanished, like it was burned away by invisible flames."
After catching her breath, Yotsuya Miko's mind calmed down a bit. She shook her head, hesitating as she recalled what had just happened.
It was the first time she'd seen anything like that. Usually, when she accidentally encountered ghosts, she pretended not to see them and hurried away, she'd never seen one die.
"Burned away mid-pounce? Hm... that might have something to do with me," After hearing Miko's description, Hachiman glanced at Hana, who still looked doubtful, and said uncertainly,
"People with strong life energy naturally emit it through their bodies. That energy can form a kind of aura that burns away Ghosts."
In the original story, strong spirits could use Hana's life force to erase and consume weaker ones, like the Tiny Old Man's shell, so he figured he could do the same, maybe even more powerfully than Hana.
But just now, the distance between him and Miko's group had been quite far. Even though they hadn't been apart for long, they'd gone in opposite directions. It had taken the girls some time to run back.
For him to burn a ghost from that far away... did his aura really reach that far? But if Hana had been the one to destroy it, that didn't make sense either, her life energy wasn't that strong.
Still, if his life-energy aura had indeed wiped out the spirit at that distance, that would explain why he'd never seen ghosts before, despite his growing strength and sharpened senses.
If ghosts couldn't even approach him, naturally he wouldn't notice them.
After all, he had to support Iris, Elio, Lala, and the others; feed Kaede, Suzu, and Tsubaki from the student council; and provide for Sakurai Hana, Asai Saki from the disciplinary committee.
Not to mention club athletes like Hayase Saki and Narahashi Miki, whose appetites were huge. His daily expenditure of life energy was astronomical. If not for his constant improvement, he would've burned out long ago.
So a tiny bit of life energy burning away nearby spirits wouldn't even register to him.
"So you have that kind of ability, Hachiman?", Yamada Ryou blinked, as if seeing him in a new light.
She didn't understand everything, but if he could destroy the Ghost that terrified Miko from such a distance, then clearly Hachiman was far more than just a guy close to Iris and the other demi-humans, he was formidable himself.
"Then doesn't that mean we'll be fine as long as we stay near you?", Ichiji Nijika looked up at Hachiman, who didn't seem to be lying or just trying to comfort her, and suddenly felt calmer.
Maybe she couldn't rely on him at home, but at school, she was in the same class as him.
Wait, no, Hachiman was in school, but he skipped class every day. Even teacher Kirisu had scolded him countless times to no avail.
No, this wouldn't do. She had to talk to Yumiko, Marin, and Yuina about taking turns keeping him in class, even if it meant "bullying" him there as a reward.
"In theory, strong life energy can burn weak spirits, but it can also attract stronger ones. I'm not sure how powerful mine is, or whether it'll draw in something worse."
Hachiman had no idea that Ichiji Nijika was already planning a rotation system to "bully" him into staying in class. He continued calmly,
"But don't worry. Iris and the others are strong. I'll ask them if they can set up protective wards for you all, something that'll trigger automatically if danger appears, and I'll come to you immediately."
Even though his "romantic list" system would alert him of danger instantly, he knew words alone weren't enough, he needed to do something to ease their minds.
Even if it was just a surface measure, the real protection would still be there.
"Right, Yotsuya-san, you have special eyes that can see ghosts. But Yurikawa-san, your body's a bit special too, your life energy's unusually strong, and that tends to attract Ghosts," After explaining himself, Hachiman turned to Hana to warn her.
If his overflowing life energy was like poisonous honey, deadly to any ghost that touched it, then Hana's was like sweet honey: irresistible to weak spirits, though only slightly harmful to them.
"Me? I'm special too?", Hana froze, pointing at herself, surprised to be part of this at all.
"So that means... that Ghost was probably pouncing at Hana...", Yotsuya Miko thought carefully, realizing Hachiman's explanation fit perfectly.
That huge, ugly, long-tongued ghost hadn't attacked immediately after noticing them, it was only when it saw Hana that it went berserk, like spotting food, before burning to ash mid-pounce.
If what Hachiman said was true, then Hana's situation was far more dangerous than her own ability to see spirits.
In that moment, Miko felt deeply relieved that she'd decided to tell Hachiman her secret.
Otherwise, when her best friend Hana got into danger, she wouldn't even know why.
"Then let's test it. Yotsuya-san, you go to the end of the street and see if, once you're farther from Hachiman-kun, you start seeing ghosts again. If that's the case, as long as he's at school, we don't have to be scared," Kita Ikuyo, seeing everyone so engaged, offered her own idea.
It wasn't that she didn't care about Miko's safety, but since Miko was the only one who could see ghosts, and pairing her with Hachiman hadn't revealed anything before, this might be their best shot.
"Well... that seems like the only option. I'll try it. But if I run back, Hachiman-kun, make sure you run toward me too, okay?", Miko hesitated but nodded. She needed to know the range of Hachiman's protection. As long as she stayed within it, she'd be safe.
"After all, I don't know exactly how far my aura reaches. If you go too far, I might not be able to get to you fast enough."
"Don't worry. I'll keep my eyes on you the whole time. Don't leave my sight. If anything happens, just run straight back, I'll come meet you," Hachiman nodded, not overly worried.
Ghosts didn't harm people easily, it wasn't like killing humans with a knife. They were formless; it was their invisibility that scared people most.
"I'll go with you, Miko. We can test whether I really attract ghosts," Seeing her terrified friend still volunteering to test the aura's range, Hana immediately offered to go too.
"No, Hana, you shouldn't. You're too heavy and too slow," Miko refused without hesitation.
Hana couldn't see spirits, her reactions weren't fast enough, and she wasn't exactly light on her feet. Miko would end up dragging her if they had to run.
It was late, so there probably weren't many spirits around, but if she looked carefully, she might still find some weak ones.
Given that the earlier ghost had burned up mid-pounce, these things might not even be conscious, just driven by instinct.
All she needed to do was attract one's attention and then run back.
"Uh... I'm not that heavy," Hana glanced down at the soft flesh on her stomach and awkwardly scratched her cheek.
Had she been eating too much lately? Miko actually called her fat.
After turning down Hana's offer, Yotsuya Miko shuffled hesitantly down the street, looking around after every two steps for signs of ghosts and checking to see if Hachiman and the others were still there.
"Ghosts? Spirits?"
"Phantoms? Yokai?"
"I don't know what you're called, but don't hide, I can see you."
"Come out, come out, I know you're there."
After much mumbling and stalling, Miko finally reached the end of the street, muttering softly, but there were no ghosts in sight.
She was already far from Hachiman; going farther would put her out of his line of sight, into a darker, emptier street with fewer people and lights.
"What's going on today... I can never find them when I'm looking. Usually after school, I see tons of ghosts wandering around."
Miko frowned. Maybe Hachiman's life energy aura had cleared this whole street, and she'd need to move to the next one to find any.
But as she muttered, the people queued up on the next street suddenly all turned their heads at once,.revealing hideous, hollow, and distorted faces staring straight at her.
"You can see us... You can see us!"
"GROAAAR!"
Miko froze. Just moments ago, she'd thought there were no ghosts, but the crowd of "people" were all spirits, clustered together. A chill raced down her spine; her body stiffened.
'Crap! This is bad!'
Her legs wouldn't move.
She wanted to pretend she hadn't seen them, but she'd been talking aloud about ghosts the whole time, there was no pretending now.
"Yotsuya-san, why are you frozen there? Didn't we agree you'd run right back if you saw one?", Just when Miko thought her legs might never move again, Hachiman's voice sounded right beside her.
He should've still been waiting at the other end of the street, but he was suddenly at her side, Ichiji Nijika clinging tightly to one arm, Gotou Hitori to the other.
Seeing him there instantly calmed her, like she'd swallowed a tranquilizer. She turned her head back toward the line of ghostly figures.
But in the brief moment she'd looked away, those ten-odd ghosts had already almost burned away. She only managed to see them vanish completely.
'A-Amazing!'
'So the reason no ghosts ever showed up at Sobu High... was because of him.'
"Gulp!"
Watching the spirits vanish in an instant, Miko swallowed hard. The tension left her body all at once, her knees giving out beneath her.
"Yotsuya-san? Are you okay? Were those things really that scary?"
Hachiman quickly stepped forward, dragging the two girls with him to catch her before she collapsed.
He hadn't expected Miko to agree so decisively to test his protection range, only to be so terrified she couldn't even run.
Then again... in the original, Miko had lost control out of fear before. Though the author had only hinted at her embarrassing moments subtly.
"S-Sorry... please, Hachiman-kun, let me lean on you for a bit," Miko's strength had completely left her. Unable to stand, she pressed her flushed face against Hachiman's chest, too embarrassed to look at the equally frightened Nijika.
"If... if I dirtied your clothes, I'll pay you back."
'How... how embarrassing!'
'And in front of a guy, no less, Hachiman-kun of all people!'
[🎉 Shoutout to Avish, Gaster, Manuel, Rohan & Baron for joining p@treon. Thank you very much.🤗]