"This isn't the place to talk. Let's go somewhere else."
Genichi loosened his grip and casually tossed the vengeful spirit he had subdued to the shadows behind him.
The spirit arced through the air. Before it could even hit the ground, several black silhouettes pounced on it at once and instantly tore it to pieces.
Those fragments did not even have time to scatter before the shadows devoured them completely, leaving not a single trace behind.
Only then did Haruno realize that several pitch-black figures were standing behind Genichi.
Those figures had no faces and no features, only vague human outlines.
They stood there in silence, their bodies radiating an eerie dark aura, as if they were demons that had crawled out of hell.
"Wh-what are those?"
Haruno subconsciously took a step back, her eyes filled with fear.
Back at the construction site, the lighting had been dim, so she had not seen the shadows clearly.
Now, under the moonlight, their outlines were plainly visible. That strange, unnatural feeling sent a chill through her heart.
Genichi glanced back at the shadows and answered casually.
"Don't worry. They're just my shadows."
Just... shadows?
The corner of Haruno's mouth twitched.
Since when could shadows move on their own?
Since when could shadows tear apart vengeful spirits?
Since when could shadows stand there like bodyguards?
But before she could ask more, Genichi had already extended a hand toward her.
"Let's go."
Haruno looked at that hand and froze for a moment.
His hand was slender and strong, faintly glowing beneath the moonlight.
It was the same hand that had so easily grabbed that vengeful spirit by the throat a moment ago.
After a brief hesitation, she still reached out and took it.
The next second...
Haruno felt as if her entire body had been stuffed into a narrow pipe. The space around her twisted and warped, and everything became blurry.
Immediately after that, a violent sense of spinning overwhelmed her, making her brain lose all sense of balance.
The sensation was a hundred times more intense than riding a roller coaster.
No, that was not quite right. At least on a roller coaster, one could still see the track and know where they were going.
Right now, she had no idea what she had just experienced.
It was as if, in a single instant, she had crossed space and time.
When she opened her eyes again, she was already standing in a familiar room.
Genichi's apartment.
The apartment she visited once every month. That small place she knew all too well.
Before Haruno could ask what that method had been, her stomach churned violently, and a powerful wave of nausea surged into her throat.
She clapped a hand over her mouth and rushed toward the bathroom.
"Ugh!"
Violent retching came from the bathroom.
Genichi stood in the living room, listening to the sound, the corner of his mouth curving slightly.
That smile carried a trace of satisfaction from a successful prank.
A long while later, Haruno finally walked out of the bathroom with a pale face.
Her hair was somewhat disheveled, and the makeup on her face had blurred slightly from cold sweat. She looked utterly miserable.
But her eyes were still bright, staring fixedly at Genichi.
"You did that on purpose, didn't you?"
Her voice was a little hoarse, but it carried a gritted-teeth edge.
Genichi looked at her and nodded.
"That's right. I did it on purpose."
He admitted it without the slightest hesitation.
Haruno clenched her fists tightly, took a deep breath, then slowly exhaled.
She was furious.
But she could not do anything to him.
If he were still the same little puppy as before, the boy she had sponsored for more than two years who always kept a careful distance from her, then Haruno Yukinoshita would have at least nine different ways to handle him.
She could threaten him with living expenses, soften him with concern, guide him with words. She had plenty of methods to make him obedient.
But now?
That little puppy had evolved into a wolfdog.
No, not a wolfdog.
A wolf king.
The kind of existence that stood at the top of the food chain and looked down on all living things.
The methods she used on ordinary people were completely useless against him.
Haruno sighed, walked over to the sofa, and dropped down onto it.
"Forget it. I won't hold it against you."
She leaned back against the sofa and closed her eyes, doing her best to calm the churning in her stomach and the shock in her heart.
After a while, she opened her eyes again and looked at Genichi.
There was no longer fear in those eyes.
Only deep curiosity remained.
"So, can you tell me what exactly is going on?"
Her voice was soft, but it carried a firmness that would not allow refusal.
Compared to that small bit of resentment in her heart, she wanted far more to understand what had happened.
What exactly was that vengeful spirit?
What had happened to Genichi?
What were those shadows?
And what had that teleportation method just now been?
Those questions were like little cats' claws, scratching endlessly at her heart and making her unbearably curious.
Genichi looked at her and fell silent for a moment.
This woman truly was worthy of being the eldest daughter of the Yukinoshita family.
She had just brushed against death, witnessed an existence beyond common sense with her own eyes, and been made miserable by his prank. If it were an ordinary person, they would probably have collapsed by now, or else fled as far from him as possible and never dared approach him again.
But she had not.
She had only taken a moment to collect herself before regaining her composure and beginning to ask for the truth.
That mental fortitude was indeed unusual.
Genichi went to the kitchen, poured himself a glass of water, then poured one for Haruno as well and placed it in front of her.
"Those things are called vengeful spirits."
He sat down on the chair across from her and spoke slowly.
"I don't know how vengeful spirits appear or why they appear. But those spirits will attack people who can see them."
Haruno picked up the glass and took a small sip, trying her best to keep her hand from trembling.
"So the strange incidents at those construction sites were caused by those vengeful spirits?"
Genichi nodded.
"I don't know that."
Haruno fell silent for a moment, then asked in return.
"And what about you? How can you see them? How can you deal with them?"
Genichi looked at her, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.
"Because I also have a special power."
He did not explain in detail. He only gave a vague answer.
Haruno looked at him. Her eyes seemed capable of seeing through people's hearts.
She could tell he was hiding something, but she did not press him.
Everyone had their own secrets. She understood that.
"So the reason you suddenly refused my sponsorship today was because of this?"
Genichi nodded.
"In the past, I needed your support to survive. But now..."
He paused, his tone calm.
"I don't need it anymore."
Haruno fell silent.
She looked at the boy in front of her, and a complicated feeling rose in her heart.
The first time she met Genichi had been when her mother visited an orphanage for a charitable event.
At that time, he had been thin, quiet, and his eyes had carried a trace of confusion and wariness.
She did not know why, but she had felt that child was special, so she decided to sponsor him.
After Genichi left the orphanage, she had visited him once a month, bringing him living expenses and occasionally chatting with him.
He had always maintained a certain distance from her. Not too close, not too far. Not cold, but not warm either.
She had thought that was simply his personality.
Only today did she truly see another side of him.
The hand that gripped a vengeful spirit by the throat. The calm, unhurried eyes. The pleasure he took in a successful prank.
Was this the real him?
(End of Chapter)
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