Uzui stared at Rengoku with new eyes. The guy had defeated a monster with pure physical force, and he didn’t even know it.
“What’s wrong, Uzui?”
“Nothing.” He forced his gaze away from Rengoku to meet the eyes of Tomioka, whose face was as white as paper. Uzui swallowed in surprise at his colleague’s obvious terror. “You okay, Tomioka?”
“I-I’m fine, Uzui. Um...Rengoku’s just really something, is all. Who knew?” Tomioka forced a laugh, but his eyes weren’t smiling. Sweat poured down his face.
“Next we get the monster crawling around the hallway!” Rengoku dashed from the classroom, ready to strike while the iron was hot. He didn’t know that Kanae had already exorcised the old man. Uzui was about to follow him and explain when he heard Rengoku shout, “Found it! Upstairs!”
“Huh? Kanae already got that one...” Uzui peered into the hallway just in time to see Rengoku leaping up the staircase six steps at a time. “Rengoku! Kanae already took care of that guy!”
Uzui looked over his shoulder at Kanae, seeking her agreement. There was a troubled look on her face. “I did hear something upstairs,” she said.
Tmp tmp. Uzui heard it too. The sound of heavy footsteps.
“It might be a burglar,” said Kanae.
Uzui shook his head. “Would a burglar be stupid enough to stomp around like that?”
Anyway, this was a school. There was almost nothing of monetary value. Which wasn’t to say it was impossible. Just the other day, he’d heard about a high school that upgraded its computers to the latest model and immediately had them stolen, plugs ripped out of the wall.
Still not sure what was going on, Uzu followed Rengoku up the stairs. At the top, he stopped in surprise. “You guys? What’re you doing here?”
Tanjiro Kamado, Zenitsu Agatsuma, and Inosuke Hashibira stared back. All three were members of the band Uzui led, Seedy Style Democracy.
“You’re telling us you’re not here out of idle curiosity? You came to bust the ghosts yourselves?”
“That’s right,” said Tanjiro. Normally one of the most responsible senior students, the boy looked crestfallen. “I had to do something. My little sister’s friends are all scared.”
The other boys jumped in to explain that they’d eagerly offered to lend their friend a hand.
“I’m not scared of ghosts! I’ll kick their butts!” Inosuke thrust his chest out and snorted. “I’m the boss, after all. Can’t let my minions go into danger alone.”
It seemed they both meant well, at least. Rengoku turned to the last member of the group, whose face stiffened.
“My only desire is to keep the peace of the academy,” he said.
“Yeah, yeah.” Uzui waved a dismissive hand. “Why’d you really do it?”
“What do you think?” Zenitsu’s eyes burned with excitement. “If I get a rep as a monster hunter, all the girls’ll be hot for me! Next year, I’ll be swimming in Valentine’s chocolate!” The words rattled out all at once, as if he couldn’t stop himself. With a gasp, he shut his mouth like a trap.
Uzui snorted a laugh. “I figured you, at least, had less than pure intentions.”
“That was total entrapment!” Zenitsu cried. “A forced illegal confession! How dare you?”
“You told on yourself, dummy.” Uzui turned away in annoyance. “Well? What should we do with them?”
Rengoku looked at the three boys thoughtfully. Tanjiro was shrinking into himself with embarrassment, Inosuke was throwing his head back proudly, and Zenitsu was cradling his blond head, startling even in the dark, moaning, “No … No …”
“Even setting aside the, um, less admirable motives, it’s good that you’re thinking about your school and fellow students.” Rengoku put on his sternest face. “But we still can’t allow you to sneak in here at night on your own.”
“We’re not on our own,” Inosuke argued, digging around in his ear.
“Oh?” Uzui glared at Inosuke.
Tanjiro stepped forward to support his friend. “He’s right! We wouldn’t break into the school without permission. We asked Mr. Tomioka and he offered to come with us. He’s in the restroom right now.”
Uzui barked out a laugh. Zenitsu was a bit of a sneak, but he was surprised that Inosuke and Tanjiro would lie to him. They didn’t have the guts for it. “Whoa, there. Don’t make up stories. Mr. Tomioka has been with us all night.” He looked back, but no one was there. “Tomioka?”
Was he still downstairs? He must really be scared. Uzui was about to check the stairwell when he heard a surly voice.
“You called?” Giyu Tomioka stepped out of the nearby men’s room.
Uzui frowned. “You really were in the can?”
“Yeah. What of it?”
“Wait, whoa, hold up.” Uzui waved his hands in front of him. “How’d you get up here ahead of us? You’ve been with us the whole time.”
“Like hell I have.”
“No, we met in front of the school gates at eleven-thirty. Remember?”
Uzui looked to Rengoku for help. Frowning in confusion, Rengoku said, “What are you talking about, Uzui? Tomioka said he had other plans tonight.”
“Huh?” Uzui’s jaw dropped.
“You didn’t say you were coming here with some students instead. You should’ve just told us, Tomioka. Why the cold shoulder?”
Tomioka grunted. “I wasn’t paying attention to your jabber. That stewed salmon really hit the spot.”
The flat affect. The few words. The eyes that hid what he was thinking. That mask-like face. No doubt about it: this was Giyu Tomioka.
So who had he been patrolling with?
“Man, you’ve been out of it today, Uzui,” Rengoku was saying. “Talking to yourself, complaining about Tomioka when he wasn’t even there...”
Talking to myself? He wasn’t there?
“You’re looking pale. Do you have a cold or something? Don’t you think he looks sick, Tomioka?”
“Yeah, I guess,” said Tomioka.
Now that I’m thinking about it …
The whole time they’d been patrolling, Rengoku had never spoken to Tomioka. He hadn’t even called his name.
According to Kanae, Rengoku couldn’t see or hear supernatural entities.
But that means...
“Sorry, Uzui,” Kanae said. “I thought it was a harmless copycat spirit, so I decided to let it be for a little while. But it turned out to be an evil spirit that targets men with girlfriends. It copies the face of someone close to its victim, then drains his life force.” Her face blossomed into a smile. “But I just exorcised it, so no worries!”
Uzui caught a glimpse of his own face reflected in a window. His skin was ashen, his cheeks were hollow, and his eyes stared out from black pits.
Suddenly dizzy, he passed out.
Tengen Uzui slept for two full days.
He recovered with the devoted care of his three girlfriends, but the students and staff whispered that the devil had taken him. Rengoku and Tomioka worried about his strange behavior during the ghost hunt, and Kanae quietly handed him a paper charm against evil.
Zenitsu, the only one of the midnight invaders to be punished, was made to write an essay on good intentions. A month later, determined to get his Valentine’s chocolates, he dragged Tanjiro along on another secret mission. But that’s a story for another time.
To this day, a chunk of rock salt is embedded in the blackboard in the biology lab. A new rumor has started that it’s a talisman of positive energy.
At any rate, Kimetsu Academy is once more at peace, in its own way.