Chapter 1 – An Encounter with the Unknown

My body felt so heavy that I couldn’t get up.

Feeling sluggish on a weekday isn’t unusual. I’m sure everyone feels like that sometimes—not just me.

But this wasn’t that kind of heaviness. It wasn’t a mental or emotional issue.

It was physically heavy—like someone had added fifty kilograms on top of me. I couldn’t tell the exact weight, but it wasn’t something ridiculous like a hundred kilograms, right?

At first, I thought it was the infamous “sleep paralysis.” Since this was my first time experiencing it, I was weirdly impressed, thinking, Oh, so this is what sleep paralysis feels like.

But as it turns out, it wasn’t sleep paralysis—it was more like a manual version of it. Whatever fascination I initially felt quickly turned into fear.

“Finally awake! Kogoro, you’re such a sleepyhead.”

The person speaking in that overly relaxed tone was Hiiragi Kaede, my childhood friend.

When I opened my eyes, I found her sitting on top of me.

Yeah, I know. It’s the ultimate fantasy scenario. And let me tell you, she’s pretty cute.

Any healthy guy would probably be consumed with jealousy—or maybe murderous intent.

But if you were in my position, you’d feel nothing but pure terror.

Why? Because Kaede and I hadn’t been close for years.

The last time we walked to school together was back in our first year of middle school. Let me do the math… that was four years ago. Yeah, four years. I’m a second-year high school student now, so that adds up.

We hadn’t walked to or from school together since then. At school, we barely exchanged a few words, and even those interactions dwindled as time went on.

For someone like her to barge into my house and wake me up like this? It’s straight-up horror material.

“What an amazing way to wake up,” I muttered.

If this had happened back when we were still close, I might’ve joked, “You’re heavy! Lose some weight!” in my usual blunt style. But now? No way. Especially in this situation. She was sitting on me with the blanket and all, which made it impossible to move, let alone fight back.

“You’re saying such nice things now, Kogoro. You’ve really grown up. I’m impressed.”

Her words sent a chill down my spine.

You know that weird thing your body does sometimes after you pee? Where you shiver uncontrollably for no apparent reason? I don’t know the science behind it, but that’s exactly how I felt. Except this time, it wasn’t the good kind of shiver.

“Hi-Hiiragi… Why are you rubbing your cheek against mine?”

It was already weird that she could rub her cheek against mine without a second thought—even though I hadn’t washed my face yet. But the act itself was even more concerning. Normally, this would be the kind of situation where you’d focus on her softness or her scent. But trust me, that entirely depends on the person.

“Why are you calling me by my last name? Why won’t you call me Kaede? We’re childhood friends, aren’t we? Right?”

W-Wait… She can talk this smoothly? Why am I discovering this side of her now, in this situation of all times?

“Kaede, calm down. I haven’t even washed my face yet. Rubbing your cheek like this isn’t exactly hygienic.”

“It’s not dirty. See?”

Mmff?!

What the hell just happened? My cheek feels weirdly warm now.

“Kogoro, you can lick me too, you know?”

“What?”

Lick…? She doesn’t mean mocking. She means literally licking, right? What the hell is she even talking about? And… wait.

Did she just say, ‘Kogoro too’?

“What’s wrong? Would you have preferred a good morning kiss? You can’t, you know—we’re not at that stage yet.”

Her logic was completely broken. Isn’t licking someone way more intimate than kissing? If anything, licking feels like it belongs in a totally different category.

My terror had reached such heights that I was starting to feel oddly calm. First things first, I needed to wash my face.

“Kaede, do you have time?”

“Time? Wait, is this… are you asking me out on a date?”

Who the hell invites someone on a date before school? If you’re going to do something like that, just skip school altogether.

What happened to the Kaede I knew? The one who used to blush like crazy just from seeing a kiss scene in a shojo manga? Sure, people can change over four years, but not this drastically. If someone told me the real Kaede had been swapped out for an impostor, I’d believe them.

“We have school soon, don’t we? I’d like to get up and get ready, so could you get off me?”

“Oh, sorry, sorry. Got a bit carried away.”

“Yeah, you did. You’re surprisingly heavy for someone your height, though.”

Ah.

Why did I say that? Her sudden airheadedness made me fall back into my old, tactless habits.

“Kogoro…”

She’s going to snap! What do I do? Should I strike first? Roll her off me, cover her with the blanket, and pin her down with a counterattack?

“I’m so glad! The old Kogoro is back!”

I had been planning to strike first, but apparently, I misjudged the situation. To my surprise, she didn’t seem to have any murderous intent.

But still—the old Kogoro? I wish she’d go back to the old Kaede.

“But saying ‘heavy’ to a girl? That’s a no-go. Absolutely not.”

Nope, there it is. That’s definitely murderous intent. She’s out for blood.

“Uh, um, well, you see—uh, that…”

“That what?”

Crap. My mind’s gone completely blank. It’s whiter than the panties I accidentally saw on her back in elementary school. Actually, those were a little yellowed…

“Can I make an excuse?”

Wait, what? Was that lame pun her way of going back to her old self?

“Anyway, let me get ready. We can talk on the way to school, okay?”

“Fine. But don’t think I’ll forget about the ‘heavy’ comment. Got it?”

With that ominous declaration, Kaede—or whoever she really was—finally left the room.

Please just forget about it. One of your few good traits used to be that you didn’t hold grudges. Stick to that, I’m begging you.

“…Did she really lick my face…?”

I felt on the verge of tears. This was far scarier than the time my mom found out I skimmed some change from the grocery money she gave me.

“What the hell was that…? It’s not even school yet, and I’m already more exhausted than I’ll be all day.”

Is this my “popular phase”? Did my prayer for a chance to be popular get twisted by some divine game of telephone?

Wait… Popular…? A wish… Could it be connected to what happened yesterday?

No, that’s ridiculous. That was just the ravings of a lunatic. There’s no way it’s related.

It all started yesterday after school.

For the first time in my life, I received a love letter. It came in a plain, long white envelope, so at first, I thought it might be a challenge letter. But it was an actual love letter.

Although… the elegant handwriting and the phrase “I’ll be waiting in the etiquette room after school” kept me from ruling out the possibility of a challenge until I met the sender.

But no, it was undeniably a love letter. And fortunately, it wasn’t some burly guy waiting for me. It was a girl.

She had long black hair—not wavy but naturally unruly. To be blunt, her appearance gave off an impression of poor grooming.

Still, regardless of how she looked, it was a love letter. I was spared the “duel” scenario. Not that there was ever any actual danger of that.

But now that I think about it… if my gut feeling from back then was correct, I’d have preferred a challenge letter from a macho guy. At least a macho man wouldn’t have used sorcery.

“Um, excuse me. Are you the one who gave me this letter?”

I asked nervously, my inexperience with these things showing plainly. That tone probably would’ve been enough to kill any feelings for me if the sender weren’t so determined.

The girl with unruly hair turned around slowly in response to my question.

“You came, Kogoro-kun. I’m so happy. You really are such a kind person.”

I was stunned. Sure, I was shocked by her bangs and her eyes, which reminded me of a ghost from a Japanese horror movie. But what truly shocked me were her words.

She called me by my first name right off the bat, and her follow-up lines were terrifying.

Despite this being our first meeting, she acted like she already knew everything about me. It was genuinely frightening—and it still is.

“I’m a third-year student, Kurokawa Miyabi.”

(That name sounds familiar…)

Even though I’m not the type to mingle with upperclassmen, her name rang a bell.

“As you probably know, I come from a family of jujutsu sorcerers.”

“Jujutsu sorcerers… Oh!”

That’s when it hit me.

The Kurokawa family is infamous around here as an old, established lineage of sorcerers. The family’s reputation is downright terrifying. And now I remembered the rumors about their daughter attending our school.

“It must be disappointing, huh? Thinking you got a love letter, only to find out it was from the most hated person in the school.”

Yeah, her family already had a bad reputation, but within our school, her personal reputation was even worse.

People said she cursed anyone who got too close to her, driving them to madness, self-harm, or even crime. The rumors were so bad it was practically bullying.

…Now that I think about it, maybe those rumors were all true.

“I don’t care about baseless rumors. Honestly, I’m just happy to have received my first love letter. And having it come from a beautiful senpai? That’s a huge bonus!”

“Happy…? Beautiful…?”

My desperate lack of romantic experience was making me giddy.

I’d grown distant from Kaede, my only childhood friend, and had all but given up hope on having any kind of relationship with the opposite sex. Though now that Kaede and I were talking again, that situation was somehow even more hopeless.

But still, a beautiful upperclassman had confessed to me! Sure, her hair was messy, but if she styled it properly, she’d be stunning. Honestly, even the messy look had its charm.

“They say I kill small animals and use them in black magic, you know?”

“Rumors are always full of nonsense. Unless… are you saying it’s true?”

That’s ridiculous. They’re just making things up based on her appearance.

Besides, aren’t jujutsu and black magic completely different things?

“They say I cursed the baseball team for bullying me, and one of their members took a direct hit to the groin and had to be hospitalized.”

I didn’t know about curses, but I had heard about that bizarre incident.

Apparently, one of the players lost a… certain part, and his girlfriend dumped him after that.

Honestly, our baseball team is pretty obnoxious, so while I felt a bit sorry for the guy, it also served him right.

If losing one testicle was enough for his girlfriend to leave him, there wasn’t any real love there to begin with.

“Please, don’t make me laugh! It’s just a freak accident, and they’re using it to blame you. Honestly, you’re the real victim here, Kurokawa-senpai.”

Even though I’ve never been much of an athlete, I could still tell the baseball player’s actions were cowardly. Using the person you bullied as a scapegoat? Disgraceful.

“Thank you. But in that case, the rumor is true. Not about the animals, though—that’s completely false.”

“Wait, are you saying you did curse him? That’s… haha…”

I didn’t know much about sorcery, but I thought it was more about divinations or summoning spirits, not… this.

“He called me a ‘creepy, ugly nerd,’ so I cursed him to be miserable as a man.”

Well… yeah, losing a part of yourself, embarrassing yourself publicly, and getting dumped is pretty miserable for a man.

“As a fellow guy, don’t you feel bad for him? Don’t you think I’m a horrible person?”

“He deserved it. Any guy who insults a woman like that deserves to take a ball to the crotch every game.”

I was completely sincere. Whether sorcery was involved or not didn’t matter.

“Kogoro-kun, you really are a good man.”

“Oh, well… I wouldn’t say that…”

Ugh, I’m so pathetic. Just getting complimented by a girl had me completely flustered.

“I’m glad I worked up the courage. My heart’s racing like crazy—it’s never been like this before.”

With that, she grabbed my hand and pressed it to her chest.

I’d assumed she was flat because she was so tall and slender, but she was surprisingly well-endowed. Not huge, but enough to make me panic.

“Sen-Senpai!”

A classic flustered reaction.

Seriously though, what kind of guy could stay calm in this situation? Her unruly hair didn’t detract from her scent, which was unexpectedly nice.

“This means you don’t think I’m gross, right? If you did, you would’ve pushed me away.”

“Didn’t I already say you’re beautiful?”

With just a change of hairstyle, she could be stunning. Not dating her would be insane… and yet, here I am, hesitating.

“Great! Let’s go tell my old man… I mean, my father.”

Wait, what? Her choice of words was alarming, even after she corrected herself.

“W-Wait! Isn’t this moving too fast? How about we start as friends…?”

“No. We’ll seal it with blood.”

What kind of outdated tradition is that? I’m the type who cries from a paper cut—there’s no way I can handle this.

“I’ll handle everything, even your physical urges. Don’t worry; it won’t just be once.”

I might’ve attracted the wrong kind of attention here. Sure, avoiding a life of loneliness is great, but isn’t this a bit too fast?

“Are your parents part of the anti-Kurokawa faction? If so, I’ll convince them. Without curses, if possible. For their sake, not mine.”

What should I do? It’s only the second floor—if I jump, I’ll survive, right?

…Looking back, I should’ve jumped. Maybe it was already too late by then.

If only I hadn’t entertained her back then… Kaede wouldn’t have spiraled into whatever she’s become now.

I’m sorry… truly.