Fukigen na Mononokean

That sigh means he's about to start lecturing me.

He told me not to do anything unnecessary,

but I still think telling her was the right thing to do.

Abeno-san must've thought the same thing.

"That has nothing to do

with the fact that you acted without my permission!"

...is probably what he'll say.

Mystery 7 "The Encounter"

Abeno-san gets violent when he's angry.

I should back away just in case.

Thanks for today.

Huh?

Whaaat?!

What's wrong?

What's wrong?!

That's what I'm asking you.

What did you mean by "thanks for today"?

Huh? What did I mean?

You found the ring.

And if it had been just me,

I wouldn't have been able to make them so happy.

That's what I meant by "thanks."

Wasn't today a great success overall for you?

Success?

You're genuinely praising me.

Could this be a death flag?

Don't put up flags for me. I'll break you along with it.

Good. You're back to normal.

What do you mean, "normal"?

What's so funny? You're creeping me out.

No, it's just that

you've never praised my work before.

I'm really happy!

Oh, no. I'm grinning.

What should I do? I can't stop.

Abeno-san?

Ow!

There, you stopped.

You just hit me as hard as you could!

All I did was stop your creepy smiling.

Creepy?! Wh-What are you...

I'm so sleepy.

I've been doing exorcist work for days on end,

then I go home and do homework and help around the shop.

I guess I'm starting to wear down.

Hanae.

I need to be careful, or they'll start calling me

"Hanae-chan of the Nurse's Office" again.

Hanae.

Yes?

Huh?

Was I hearing things?

Good morning.

Zenko?!

Not so loud.

Sorry.

Oh, right. We go to the same school, huh?

How'd you know I was in this class?

When I was looking for you, one of my classmates said,

"You mean Class 2's Hanae-chan of the Nurse's Office?"

Even people in other classes call me that?

Hanae.

Thanks for the other day.

I didn't get a chance to thank you then.

It's fine. I did it because I wanted to.

Hey, were you looking for me

just so you could thank me?

Oh, right. There's that, too, but...

Huh?

Aren't you the girl from Seiryuji Temple?

You're the man in the kimono...

I'm Abeno. Nice to meet you.

Fujiwara Zenko. Nice to meet you.

So she's a high school student.

So he's a high school student.

It's good that you're here, too.

Huh?

I want to ask you something.

It's this.

Is that a tattoo?

No.

Those look like teeth marks. It looks painful.

It doesn't hurt.

So you guys really can see it.

I showed some other people,

but they said there was nothing there.

I even got it checked at the hospital,

but they said there was nothing wrong with me.

So if we can see it, that means...

Zenko, look outside the window.

Can you see that?

It's a yokai.

Hanae,

is that one of the "yokai" you mentioned?

You can see it?

Yeah. I've been able to see them

since the day I was bitten by this dog.

A dog?

The bite came out of nowhere,

and this mark appeared on my wrist.

That dog was probably a yokai.

What kind of dog was it?

Well... There was something like smoke coming from it.

And it had big ears.

Well, more than a dog, it was like...

A fox, right?

Whoops!

There.

That was a surprise. What's the big idea?

I could ask you the same thing!

Who are you?

I didn't sense him at all until he touched me.

Abeno-san is actually disturbed?

Could this one be really bad news?

I had no idea there were yokai in this world

who could control their power so well.

It's been at least a hundred years.

There are still such monsters in this world?

I'm the one who bit the girl, Haruitsuki.

What?

"What?"

Haruitsuki, you forgot about me?

He seems to know you, Abeno-san.

Could he have been a client of the Mononokean?

If he were, I'd remember.

Well, I suppose it makes sense that you don't remember.

You were still small.

And I look different now from how I did back then.

Did you hear that?

Well, it doesn't matter.

Even if you don't remember, it won't hurt anything.

I'm just here to play with you.

I've been so bored lately.

So won't you play with me?

Play with you?

Although...

I don't think you can really turn down my invitation.

Ow!

Zenko!

After all, between letting her arm waste away and playing with me,

it's obvious what you'll choose.

Now then, Haruitsuki,

why don't we play some hide-and-seek again?

If you beat me, I'll remove the mark on her.

Hide-and-seek?

Yeah, hide-and-seek. You know how to play, right?

Really? Don't tell me you don't know what it is!

If you don't know, you can just go away.

I'm not interested in people who don't know what hide-and-seek is.

I know what hide-and-seek is!

I used to play it all the time!

I even played a bunch in middle school!

Middle school?

He was playing it until just recently?

Oh, really? Then there's no problem.

I'll hide, so the three of you are "it."

Okay, then. Ready...

No.

Hanae, Abeno, and I can't play.

Why not? Why not?

What?! No! Let's play!

No, no, no, no, no!

I won't remove your mark unless you play with me!

We should do as the fox says so you can get your mark removed.

No.

No fair!

Why, why? Why can't you play?

He's throwing a tantrum.

We can't right now.

How come?

Because we have class now.

Class?

I don't care about that. Let's play.

We can't.

If you want us to play with you,

then wait at my family's temple until after school.

We can play lots once I get home.

Aww!

Fine.

He's okay with it?

Good boy.

Once class is over, you'd better come to the temple right away.

Wait.

What's your name?

Sorry, but I don't recognize you.

Maybe if I hear your name...

Try to remember it yourself, Haruitsuki.

He's gone.

I have no idea what he's after.

He doesn't seem to want to be sent to the Underworld.

True. It seemed like he just wanted to play.

But no matter what,

we need to have him erase the mark he put on Zenko.

Yeah.

Then once class is over,

we'll meet at my place.

The Morose Mononokean

Is it because it's nighttime?

Because this place is deserted?

I'm getting chills.