Chapter Nine
I Can Peek in the Women's Restroom
"How is it inside?"
"Very wet, all water! Don't come in too fast, or you'll slip..."
"..."
A few metaphorical black lines appeared on Yu Hisashi's forehead at Yotsuya Miko's highly ambiguous reply.
"I was asking if there's anyone inside?"
"Oh, no one!"
Yotsuya Miko's voice came from inside the restroom. Yu Hisashi glanced up at the women's restroom sign and finally relaxed.
This was no joke.
A girl barging into the men's room was, at worst, social suicide.
But a boy caught in the women's restroom? That was a one-way ticket to getting expelled.
Stepping on a thin layer of water on the floor, Yu Hisashi entered the women's restroom.
Compared to the men's room, there wasn't anything particularly special about it.
Just replaced the urinals with stalls, that's all.
Seeing Yu Hisashi enter, Yotsuya Miko immediately scurried over to stand behind him.
"It's in the stall at the very end..."
"Are you sure it's Hanako of the Toilet?"
"That's what she calls herself. I can't confirm... but she clearly seems more intelligent than other Evil Spirits."
She spoke with some nervousness.
"Seems more intelligent..."
Yu Hisashi already had a guess in mind.
As Yu Hisashi moved forward, Yotsuya Miko instinctively grabbed the hem of his shirt.
Following closely behind him, step for step.
Just as Yu Hisashi reached the stall door, Yotsuya Miko seemed to remember something and tugged his shirt again.
"W-wait, when you perform the Spirit Exorcism later... should I step away?"
Yu Hisashi was taken aback for a moment. He replied with a hint of helplessness.
"I'm demonstrating this for you. If you step away, who am I demonstrating for?"
After speaking, he looked at Yotsuya Miko's slightly flushed face and her head lowering further and further. A sudden realization struck him.
"Yotsuya... you're not misunderstanding something, are you..."
Seeing her little face grow even redder, Yu Hisashi was certain. This girl had definitely gotten the wrong idea.
"Yotsuya, my Spirit Binding Technique is completely legitimate. If you want to learn something less legitimate..."
"Gomen! My thoughts were too dirty! Yu Hisashi, please start quickly!"
Before he could finish, the blushing girl hurriedly interrupted.
Last night.
While frantically searching online for Spirit Exorcism methods, she accidentally found a link on an anime forum.
*"Spirit Exorcism Master Subdues Hanako of the Toilet, Hanako Wails Repeatedly!"*
Adhering to the principle that people who like anime are good people and definitely wouldn't lie, she grabbed her notebook, ready to jot down the key points of Spirit Exorcism.
The video was intense, the battle was fierce, and crucially, it was pixelated!
Yotsuya Miko couldn't sleep all night after watching it.
Yu Hisashi shook his head, didn't ask further, and directly pushed open the restroom stall door.
Inside, an Evil Spirit wearing a school uniform, its form still vaguely recognizable as a young girl, suddenly opened its blood-red eyes.
"A boy! A damn boy actually entered the women's restroom!"
The Evil Spirit let out a sharp, shrieking cry.
The sound, like nails on a chalkboard, grated on the ears, stirring up irritation!
Yotsuya Miko nervously took two steps back, afraid she might hinder Yu Hisashi's Spirit Exorcism.
Just as she was imagining what method Yu Hisashi would use, she saw a faint blue light glow in his eyes.
Without any extra movement, he simply slapped the Evil Spirit against the door panel.
Then, left and right, he went to work!
*Slap! Slap! Slap! Slap!*
Yu Hisashi kept up a running commentary.
"Step one of Spirit Binding, weaken the Evil Spirit's power first!"
"To put it simply, beat it up first!"
Yotsuya Miko watched with a touch of astonishment as Yu Hisashi landed over a dozen slaps.
Strangely, the fierce glare in the Evil Spirit's eyes seemed to clear up quite a bit.
Yu Hisashi pinned the Evil Spirit with one hand and took Yotsuya Miko's hand with the other.
The next moment, she felt something strange and warm flow into her body.
"Here, you try it too!"
Yotsuya Miko hesitated for a moment. She looked down at her own small hand, now faintly glowing. She thought about how miserable she'd been these past few days because of Evil Spirits.
She gritted her teeth, closed her eyes, hardened her heart!
*Slap!* She landed a palm strike.
The sensation was soft and fluffy, like hitting a plush toy!
"Good, again!"
To help Yotsuya Miko overcome her fear of Evil Spirits and build confidence, Yu Hisashi had her hit it over ten more times.
Seeing her movements gradually relax, Yu Hisashi continued.
"Alright, next is Spirit Binding!"
Yu Hisashi began to perform Spirit Binding and Commanding, giving Yotsuya Miko a detailed explanation as he went.
He didn't expect her to learn it in one go. This trip was mainly to help her eliminate fear and lay a foundation.
With Yotsuya Miko's talent of Innate Yin-Yang Eyes, Yu Hisashi felt she should be able to master the Spirit Binding Technique quickly!
"That's about enough!"
As Yu Hisashi stopped his movements, the black resentment缠绕 around the Evil Spirit had also mostly dissipated.
It was a JK Evil Spirit with a relatively清秀 appearance.
"Are you the urban legend, Hanako?"
Yu Hisashi asked.
The JK Evil Spirit shook its head rapidly.
"No!"
"Your identity after death is what you make it. I just thought using that name would scare people more, so I used it..."
Yu Hisashi's expression didn't change. He had already anticipated this.
The greater the reputation, the wider the spread, the stronger the Evil Spirit's abilities.
An Evil Spirit like Hanako, frequently appearing in urban legends, was unlikely to be in a place like Soubu High School.
"So, what can you do?"
"Fight, drink, get perms, do nail art..."
As she spoke, the JK Evil Spirit shrunk its neck, observing Yu Hisashi's expression. Seeing his brow furrow slightly, it hurriedly added.
"I can also hide in the women's restroom and take sneaky pictures..."
Before the JK Evil Spirit could finish its sentence, Yu Hisashi expressionlessly收起 it.
"That means it's completely useless!"
He turned to Yotsuya Miko.
"I'll keep this Evil Spirit for now. Once you've got the basics of the Spirit Binding Technique down, you can devour its spirit."
Yotsuya blinked, then nodded slowly. The tension in her shoulders began to ease.
Then she remembered something.
Her face flushed crimson as she gently pushed Yu Hisashi toward the door, her voice dropping to a whisper.
"Yu Hisashi, wait outside for a moment... I need to use the restroom..."