Chapter 2

…Eep?! What was that cracking sound just now?!

That was probably the temperature or the humidity causing the building to shake.

Oh… Aha, just a little shake…

…Hang on, but anybody’d get scared if they suddenly hear a weird sound, right?

—Yes, you’re right. HiMERU thinks that’s very normal.

…I don’t get how you can be so calm. Even after listenin’ to all those ghost stories, you still aren’t scared?

No, not particularly. You hear many stories of this kind when you’re in this industry, but none of them have any actual credibility.

Huh…?! There’s that many of them?!

Yes. A lot of them seem to come out of TV and radio stations, and many studios too. Of course, you also hear about rural hotels performers stay at, among other things.

And as Shiina mentioned, there are quite a few unsolved cases within the ES building.

Ngh… What do you think you’re tellin’ me…!

However, as said before, none of those stories are hardly credible. You have no reason to be afraid of them.

If anything, HiMERU cares more about the inconsistencies in the composition of these stories.

I don’t know if I should say this, but it’s seriously like you’ve got no emotions. I’m pretty sure you’re the only one who’d be so dumb as to poke at the holes in a horror story…

Well, HiMERU can’t deny that.

Oukawa, we’re at the restrooms. HiMERU will wait outside for you, so go ahead and take care of things.

Oh, yeah. I’ll go do just that.

Umm, the lights—Ah! Here, right? Flip the switch, and…

……

(The lights didn’t come on… This is just makin’ me even more scared to go to the bathroom…)

(That huge mirror and the way it’s so quiet in such a huge space just makes it worse.)

(But if I just stay here, I’ll never get to calm down.)

(—Okay. HiMERU-han’s waitin’ outside for me. And it’s a real nice and clean bathroom too, so I can’t imagine there’s anything unusual about it.)

I’m not scared, I’m not scared, I’m not scared…

Why, it’s little ol’ Rinne-kun right behind ya, Kohaku-ch—

GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!

O–Oukawa?! What on earth is going on?!

……

—Umm… What exactly is happening here?

GYAAAH?! My arm’s broke my arm’s broke!

I–I–I–I–I ain’t scared of you!!! Rest in peace, you monster!

…Now it’s clear. That idiot must have gone through HiMERU’s blind spot and surprised Oukawa.

Oukawa, Oukawa. Please calm down and take a good look. That’s not a monster; it’s Amagi.

GYAAA—Ah…?

Kohaku-chan! I give, I give! If you don’t let go my arm’s gonna break! Clean in half!

… Hngh—!

Owowowowowowow?! Kohaku-chan?! I said I’m not a monster, dammit! It’s me! Your reliable unit leader Amagi Rinne!

Yeah, I’m makin’ it worse because it’s you! You’re always doin’ such stupid-ass things!

AAAAAAH! Uncle, uncle!!!

Sigh… Enough, you two. If you keep shouting, security will get suspicious, and that will hinder our activities.

—So it was you! I’ve had enough of you!

Yes. That was in poor taste, Amagi.

…Mm? Elhum pahg~ (welcome back~) Munch munch…

Ah! Niki! Why’re you scarfing down the food all by yourself?!

—Munch munch… Ahh. Becaaause none of you ever came back.

And like! It was rough for me too, y’know!

Normally I’d be sleeping at a time like this to conserve my energy. But since I’m up late, I just got hungrier and hungrier…

And I already burnt so many calories telling ghost stories. So I was totally at my limit. Munch munch…

I was gonna wait ‘til everyone got back though.

But then I was like, when are they coming back? And just when I was wondering what I should do, all of a sudden I heard Kohaku-chan screaming from somewhere far away.

I figured Rinne-kun played some stupid prank on him, and that made me realize you’d all be real slow getting back here.

I knew that even if I kept waiting patiently for you guys, there’d be no point in it if I ended up dying before that happened. So I decided to go ahead and dig in to replenish my energy. Munch munch…

Of course. It’s as if you’ve been through this whole song and dance before. You predicted Amagi’s actions with the utmost perfection.

Munch munch… Well, we’ve been together a long time~ I’ve pretty much got him figured out. Munch munch.

Don’t keep eating while you explain everything. Give us some too.

—Ah?! Wait, you ate most of it already?!

Oh! But I saved the pizza with all my faves on it for last. Don’t eat it all by yourself, Rinne-kun!

You think you have the right to say that, you bastard?

Is this seriously the way we’ve gotta go about training…?