Ten Ghosts Night Parade (6)
Just climbing the stairs would take me out of the corridor rules. The moment the cat youkai was about to set foot on the stairs, I swung the baseball bat in my hand without a moment's hesitation and hurled it. Clang! Clang clang clang clang!
I didn't throw it at the cat youkai. The spot I aimed for was toward the Staff Room, an empty patch of floor with nothing there. I prayed the admin's tip about luring them with objects would pan out.
The youkai chasing me swiveled its head, tracking the bat's path, and fixed its gaze on the fallen bat. Then it pivoted, slinking toward the baseball bat with deliberate steps.
This was my opening. I dashed up the stairs, maximizing the distance from the youkai. From the direction it had been, something crumpled with a grotesque squelch.
Free of the third floor, I headed straight for the Gym Storage. It was packed with perfect lures for the cat—soccer balls, baseballs, volleyballs, basketballs. Not a ton of them, though. One big box held a mix of soccer balls, volleyballs, and basketballs, while a small basket contained about ten baseballs.
I didn't have a bag or anything, so bulky ones like soccer balls were out. I settled on baseballs for the win. I grabbed the whole basket. My baseball experience was limited to a few games of catch back in school, but that should suffice. I wasn't aiming for precision—just tossing them.
Before heading back to the third floor, I swung by the Guard Room to check the CCTV. No sign of the cat youkai or any others anywhere. Even the faint figure at the end of the fourth floor had vanished. From what I'd seen of their patterns, they usually lurked hidden until I showed up, then slinked into view. The drunkard had appeared when I opened the door, but without provocation, youkai generally stayed out of sight. Aside from that blatant one pacing back and forth on the first floor, CCTV was mostly useless.
A sharp knock jolted me. I whipped around—Kim Eat-Chil stood there. Not fully intact, though. His left arm was gone, ripped clean off where it should have been. Looked like he'd tangled hard with the female student youkai.
"Kim Eat-Chil…! Your arm!!"
"Oh, this? It's nothing."
"I know."
"You know?"
I'd slipped up. I'd only seen that physical attacks didn't work in my dream. I tried to play it cool with a nonchalant face.
Kim Eat-Chil had no expression in his youkai form, so I couldn't read his thoughts. He just stared at me, not pressing why I knew.
The air grew awkward. I pivoted quickly. "Uh… what happened to the youkai you were fighting?"
"Wasn't fighting."
"…The one you had a run-in with?"
"Said to prepare yourself."
"……Me? Or you?"
"You, obviously, ajusshi."
I was floored. I hadn't even taunted it—why me? But whining wouldn't help; better to brainstorm countermeasures.
"That female student youkai… just avoid her shadow, right?"
"Yeah. Don't step on the shadow."
"But shadows need light, yeah? Where's the light source?"
The sky outside was pitch black, no moon or stars. City lights existed, but they didn't reach the school. Here, without a flashlight, I could see at night thanks to the emergency lights. In short, they were the only light source.
But the female student youkai's shadow was blatantly off. In a place that defied physics, nitpicking science was silly, but if it was a shadow, it should react to light—yet it stretched in directions that ignored the emergency lights entirely. It even extended on its own whim.
"Oh… that? You don't know?"
"What're you talking about? Know what?"
"You wouldn't get it even if I told you."
"?????"
Kim Eat-Chil spoke like there was some light source I couldn't see. Why hold out? Was he getting petty revenge for my earlier bluff? What a small-minded youkai.
"Anyway, the shadow doesn't just teleport from front to back, right?"
"Whoa, ajusshi, does your shadow do that?"
"Drop it."
Whatever the light source, knowing the shadow didn't teleport was enough. It meant just steering clear of its direction kept things safe.
To retry the third floor, I confirmed the first-floor youkai passing down the right corridor and left the Guard Room. Kim Eat-Chil trailed right behind.
I should've taken that youkai's "prepare yourself" warning more seriously. Never imagined it'd hit me like this.
"What're you doing? Not coming up?"
The female student youkai leaned against the wall by the third-floor stairs, waiting. She hadn't been visible on CCTV—blind spot, apparently. Her shadow stretched long toward the stairs, like a light source was embedded in the wall. No way to climb without crossing it. Going back down risked breaking stair rules again. I glanced back at Kim Eat-Chil shadowing me.
"What."
"Charge! Kim Eat-Chil! Body slam!"
He didn't budge. Instead, he pointed to his missing left arm with his right. No face, but the absurdity radiated off him.
"Kim Eat-Chil? You named it?"
A clear voice echoed from above. I nodded silently to the female student youkai. She propped her chin, pondering deeply. Like Kim Eat-Chil, expressionless, so no clue what she was thinking.
"Fine. Security guard ajusshi? Name me too, and I'll step aside."
She proposed a deal: a name for passage.
A name? What made it worth asking for? I'd named Kim Eat-Chil by accident and gained a slight ally. Kkamang-i and Soonbaek-i were godlike creators; some scrub like me naming wouldn't change much. No clue. Too little info to guess. But I wasn't about to name every youkai I met.
"Eat-Chil. Your take?"
"Do whatever."
He only helped with door duty, nothing else. Meant I was on my own.
I pulled a baseball from the basket and gripped it. The female student youkai tensed immediately.
"Can't even give me a name?"
"You can name yourself."
First test: Tossed it into the shadow. It sank like quicksand, no bounce, slowly vanishing.
Second test: Over the shadow. It flew free, hit the 2nd-year Class 1 wall, bounced back toward me—and got sucked into the shadow.
Confirmed: Safe as long as it didn't touch the shadow.
"Gonna jump over?"
"Sorry to disappoint, but I'm not that dumb."
One slip in her movement, and I'd be screwed. Now, straight at the youkai. She caught it effortlessly.
"What? Catch?"
"Whoa, quick reflexes."
"…Weird. Why so chill? Can't go down."
"Dunno. Maybe 'cause shift end's far off."
I tossed and caught a fourth ball casually. Shame she had no expressions to read.
Didn't matter. I waited calmly. The balls weren't for her anyway.
"Check your back."
She tilted her head, confused, then glanced. The massive cat youkai had crept close, fixated on the ball in her hand.
"Hold on…"
I gave her just enough time to process—and dodge. As she flung the ball away, the cat lunged. Its mouth gaped—not normal animal jaws. Dozens of teeth crammed inside, whirring like a grinder. Whether teeth or not, it pulverized the ball and her right arm holding it. Then the cat reverted to normal, nonchalant.
It reacted to the ball but showed no aggression toward youkai directly. Perfect for cleanup—I readied another toss.
"Stop!"
The high school youkai yelled. Expression blank, but her voice dripped urgency. I lowered my arm to hear her out. The cat sat by the stairs, watching me.
"I'll let you live. Just don't throw."
"What? Let me live?"
"…H-help you. You need it, right? More than that Kim Eat-Chil?"
"Hmm…"
She groveled desperately, a far cry from before. Never dreamed I'd hold a youkai's fate. It felt like a small balm for all my powerlessness since arriving here.
I pondered how to handle the female student youkai.