Natsuya Yoruhana didn’t pick up her phone when Seiji tried calling her.

Perhaps she was busy or resting. At any rate, this wasn’t a good time for her.

Seiji gave up on attempting to contact her. She was probably worried about the upcoming Yin Yang Master duel, so bothering her about another matter seemed inappropriate to him.

s.h.i.+ka Kagura’s issue wasn’t something that needed to be solved immediately. While he sympathized with her, she had already lived with her condition for a long time, so one or two more days probably wouldn’t make a difference.

The most important part was that she herself had given up on asking for help.

Seiji sighed at the situation.

If he was able to meet her again tomorrow and have a discussion again, then he would try contacting Natsuya one more time.

‘Let’s stop thinking about it for now.’

Seiji returned to his apartment.

After turning on his computer and checking his email, he noticed that Editor Yos.h.i.+zawa had sent him a message.

The message basically said that his final draft of "I’ll Die If I Don’t Become Handsome" was excellent and asked whether it was his final version which would be published by Thunderbolt Literature.

If so, he needed to fill out some forms via email.

‘Final version to be published… of course, yes.’

Seiji filled out all the necessary applications and sent the confirmation to Editor Yos.h.i.+zawa.

It was now time for his usual grinding session.

Oh, starting from today, he planned to begin grinding [art] as well…

The next day.

Seiji and Mika walked to school together with Kaede Juumonji for the second time.

Kaede began the conversation with normal topics. She didn’t talk about anything strange.

Mika, who had mentally prepared herself beforehand, felt this situation was even more unexpected for her.

Seiji, however, considered this to be only natural.

If Kaede acted up every single morning, then that would give him and Mika an excuse to refuse to walk together with her, so of course she wouldn’t behave that way.

Since Kaede was making normal conversation, Seiji also responded in turn and smoothly pulled Mika into the conversation.

And so, they reached school with no conflict whatsoever between the trio.

After splitting up from Kaede and meeting up with Chiaki, Seiji suddenly remembered the drama club president’s kidnapping… er,"capturing" of s.h.i.+ka Kagura. Did something happen to the drama club president as well then?

"Chiaki, has something unlucky happened in the drama club recently?"

The tomboy blinked in surprise."Why do you suddenly ask?"

"Because I heard some strange rumors… so I just wanted to ask." Seiji acted rather casual about it.

"Hmm…" Chiaki looked deeply at him before running her hand through her hair as she considered things.

"Our demonic vice president has been feeling tons of stress lately due to the upcoming school festival. Her forceful comments and book throwing ability have greatly improved as a result. Everyone in the club has been victims, especially the club president! Does this… count?"

Seiji was rendered speechless upon hearing this.

"What strange rumors were you talking about?" Chiaki asked a question of her own.

Mika also looked in his direction curiously.

Seiji rubbed his chin.

About s.h.i.+ka Kagura… he felt that it might have something to do with "mystical abilities," so he didn’t really want to say it out loud.

"Not much of a big deal, really… Just leave it at that for now. If it becomes something, I’ll let you guys know."

Chiaki tilted her head slightly.

Mika reflexively copied her and also tilted her head.

"Okay, that’s that, then." The tomboy accepted it for what it was, and didn’t pry further into the matter.

The pigtailed girl had a confused expression on her face.

In between cla.s.ses.

Seiji received a call from Natsuya.

"Sorry for not picking up your call yesterday, Harano-kun."

"Not a problem, President. I’m the one who should apologize for bothering you so impulsively when I know you have so much on your plate…"

Natsuya smiled at hearing Seiji’s apologetic tone.

"Since you knew all that and still contacted me, it must have been something important."

"Important…? To tell the truth, I don’t really know." Seiji paused for a moment."President, do you know the middle school second-year student named s.h.i.+ka Kagura?"

There was nothing but silence on the other end of the phone.

"President?" Seiji had an ominous premonition.

"s.h.i.+ka Kagura… I know her name," Natsuya answered in a calm tone.

Seiji raised his eyebrows.

The president actually knew s.h.i.+ka’s name, and had such a tone, which meant…

"She’s… a unique existence… but as for you, how did you know about her, Harano-kun?"

"It was like this…"

Seiji gave a brief explanation of what happened last night.

"I see, so she wanted to ask for help." There was a hint of sympathy in the president’s voice."But… I’m so sorry, Harano-kun. n.o.body will be able to help her."

The commotion from Seiji’s fellow cla.s.smates having fun, walking around, or chatting with each other during break suddenly seemed to fade into the distance for him.

Seiji frowned.

"Why’s that, President?"

Natsuya could tell that Seiji wasn’t as calm as he appeared on the surface.

"She’s a unique existence, because her problem… isn’t one that’s solvable, even by mystical abilities.

"It’s difficult to explain over the phone, so come on over to the student council office if you would like to know more.

"Although I think that it would be better for you to give up on knowing or doing anything about this…"

"I’ll come right away during lunch break; is that fine?" Seiji interrupted her without giving her a chance to finish.

Natsuya remained silent for several seconds.

"Okay."

And so, their conversation ended.

Seiji put away his cell phone and looked out the cla.s.sroom window up towards the sky.

Dense dark clouds loomed overhead. It seemed like it was about to rain.

Lunch break.

Seiji arrived at the student council office.

Natsuya was waiting inside by herself.

"It seems like there’ll be bad weather today, Haruta-kun."

"It seems likely it’ll rain, President."

The two of them casually conversed about the weather before they both lapsed into silence.

Natsuya sighed.

"Are you angry, Haruta-kun?"

Seiji blinked.

"Not at all; why do you ask?"

"Because I feel like you’re angry." Natsuya walked over to the table and began to pour some tea.

Seiji stood where he was as something flashed in his eyes.

"Fine, perhaps I am, just a little." He sighed."But not at you, Prez. I’m angry at… I don’t know how to describe it."

"Sit down first and have some tea." Natsuya remained calm.

"Mmm… Thank you."

Both of them sat down and began sipping tea at the round table.

"s.h.i.+ka Kagura…" Natsuya slowly began to talk after she set down her teacup."She was someone that I noticed during my investigation.

"After I confirmed that I was about to be challenged to a Yin Yang Master duel, I investigated every single student that came to this school either this or even last semester… Of course, that didn’t include you.

"In order to prevent the enemy from sending a Spirit-branded Retainer as a spy?" Seiji rubbed his chin in contemplation.

Natsuya nodded.

"Yes, this type of example is rather common. Sending a Spirit-branded Retainer into the enemy’s defense to obstruct their plans or attack from within are all popular tactics. Only one person stood out from the other students—s.h.i.+ka Kagura.

"Her ident.i.ty was filled with abnormalities, and as a student she was abnormal as well, to the extreme… This made it obvious she wasn’t a spy."

Seiji nodded in understanding.

An enemy’s agent who had secretly infiltrated the school would want to avoid standing out more than anything else. Any spy who was ridiculously handsome or beautiful and attracted attention everywhere he or she went like in some television dramas was no better than suicidal.

"n.o.body else seemed abnormal, while she was the complete opposite. Although I didn’t feel that she would be a Spirit-branded Retainer, I still carried out a deeper investigation on her. Then I discovered… her uniqueness." Natsuya sighed.

"What uniqueness?" Seiji asked in a calm manner.

Natsuya looked directly at his face.

"The ‘Reaper’s Curse,’" she said in a soft but clear voice."In the realm of Yin Yang Masters, we call it by that name."

Seiji paid attention quietly.

"In this world, every person’s actions will have some effect on him or herself, on others, and on the world—some people call this ‘karma.’

"According to this explanation, all of these effects and people that produce them are like a huge unstoppable wave, as huge as the ocean—the so-called ‘Sea of Karma.’

"Everyone is caught within it, and they create karma and are affected by it… Fortune or misfortune are produced by it as well.

"But within the ‘Sea of Karma,’ sometimes unique existences similar to whirlpools will appear. They themselves won’t be affected, but will affect everyone around them instead…

"‘Karma…’ Those that come into contact with these special existences will become strongly influenced by ‘karma;’ they will either meet with great misfortune or fortune, or even sink into chaos.

"The ‘Reaper’s Curse’ is the term for the unique abnormality which affects everyone around the carrier… and brings them misfortune."