Official Chapter 2, guys! I can't guarantee updates this fast all the time.

Kotoko went to class as intended, but she found that she couldn't concentrate—even more than usual. The council wasn't nearly as frightening as she remembered, but the unease she felt remained. The previous night, she practiced shifting books and even accidentally set one on fire. She hated that Korean textbook anyway. Kotoko looked up at the board and realized that she had no idea what was going on. Numb, she stood up in a jerking fashion and left, wandering towards her usual lunch spot with Satomi and Jinko.

Satomi waved in front of her several times before Kotoko woke up enough to realize it.

"What?"

"Were you really not listening to a thing I said? What did Irie-kun do now?"

"Oh. He didn't do anything." Kotoko smiled what she hoped was a big, bright, beaming smile. "In fact, I think I'm going to go see him now!"

She texted Irie-kun in front of them for good measure, though she knew he wouldn't text back. A lot of things had become clear literally overnight. Irie-kun only texted when it was absolutely necessary and couldn't possibly be avoided. Before, it never bothered her. Now, she was trying not to think about it. Thinking always bothered her enough anyway. She never exerted her brain much because when the thinking occurred, thoughts followed, and she would begin to second guess the way she lived her life up to that point.

Kotoko shook it off and wandered off. She wanted to see Irie-kun.

She was halfway to the economics building when she sensed it. It felt like a pulse of power, coming from someone else. Kotoko could sense things too? Grandma didn't have that. She giggled. It was her own special thing. It took her a moment to remember that there was some purpose to her sensing something out of the ordinary. When she did, the pulse was growing faint and almost gone. Without thinking about it, Kotoko followed it, walking a little faster so that she could feel the pulse get stronger again.

She was walking towards the law building, which was a strange place. She never had any reason to go there before. She looked around, feeling as if she woke up from a dream when she felt the pulse, it almost hurt, making it's way into her head and chest like extremely loud music and then—oomf

A boy ran into Kotoko, nearly knocking her over. She looked up at him, finding him quite handsome (not as handsome as Irie-kun, but close) but that wasn't what captured her attention. On his back was a spirit, a girl with long black hair clinging to him with pale arms wrapped around him and her hands clasped over her chest. The boy didn't seem to notice it, aside from the fact that he was shivering slightly.

"Oh, hello!" he exclaimed cheerfully.

"Hi!" Kotoko said too loudly. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to bump into you."

"It's all right! I wasn't paying attention either, Miss Aihara."

"You know who I am?"

He coughed, blushing. The spirit looked at her with dark and cruel eyes. Kotoko nearly screamed but barely held it in.

"I'm Takendo Nakagawa. I'm—I study law."

"Oh." That still didn't explain how he knew her name.

"Would you go out with me?"

The spirit let out a long wailing shriek. "I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME! I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME! SAY NO! I KNOW YOU CAN SEE ME—YOU'LL PAY IF YOU DO."

"I'm sorry, I—"

"Sorry, it's just that I've seen you for a long time—and—"

"Well, the thing is—"

"I know you like Naoki Irie."

"Then why—"

"Well I feel like we bumped into each other for a reason."

The spirit was seething. Kotoko took a deep shuddering breath. She supposed she would have to take the spirit off his back. Grandma said when spirits did that, they slowly drained the life of the human they've attached to. Kotoko figured she would have to remember a lot more, since she finally received the gift and was recognized by the council. Part of the deal was helping humanity, even if it was by taking a spirit off of a college student's back.

"I—well, I will."

"Really? That's great! We should go on a date then, how about the amusement park?"

"Sure!" Kotoko barely squeaked. The spirit was still screeching.

Now, if only Kotoko remembered how to perform an exorcism.

Naoki looked down at his phone to find a text from Kotoko. The idiot had sent him a text telling him she was going to find him at his building. He sighed, resigning to the fact that his day was going to be disrupted a little earlier than usual. He was anticipating having to wait for tennis club, but he supposed Kotoko's irritating presence could be welcomed a little earlier than schedule. Only, she didn't come. No one mentioned seeing his stalker anywhere near the economics building.

He had gotten so used to her that her absence was slightly….

No. It was peaceful. Her absence made things peaceful. So why was he still waiting for her to jump out at him, her bright smile usually followed by some irritatingly stupid suggestion? She was so annoying. Time inched by and soon it was time to go to tennis. He didn't even know if he liked tennis all that much but he was good at it, so he always did what he was good at. He wouldn't ask her why she didn't come, but he wanted to.

"I'm afraid Aihara can't come today. She texted me saying she wasn't feeling well." Sudou informed him at practice, even though Naoki wasn't seeking out that information.

Kotoko never missed a single practice. The idiot wasn't any good at tennis, but she sure as hell tried her best. He found that more admirable than laughable, but he wasn't going to share that with her. The moment he said something somewhat complimentary, she took it and ran. He pulled out his phone, ready to send a text when he decided he didn't want to. Surely, she would be quick to explain herself. He just hoped she wasn't getting too sick. Because he didn't want to get infected, of course.

After exchanging numbers with Takendo, Kotoko distanced herself until she couldn't feel the spirit's presence anymore. She took a train, then had to take a bus to where her grandmother was kept. She was cremated and put in one of the many cases, her name on the urn and her picture in front. Kotoko clasped her hands in prayer before opening the case. For one terrible moment, she thought she would drop the urn as she removed it from its pedestal. She carefully placed it on the ground and opened the sliding top of the pedestal itself. Kotoko pulled the book out and placed it in her bag, before arranging everything as it was before.

On the bus, Kotoko sat in the corner and began to read.

Witches and sorceresses had a lot of trouble reading anything other than the Old Script. They attributed it to dyslexia most of the time, though Kotoko never got tested. They just thought she was stupid, therefore she was stupid. She hadn't read in Old Script in years though, making it slightly difficult to get through, though by the time she was on the train again, the words were able to slip into her head so easily that she felt smart, truly smart.

If the spirit didn't want to go, which seemed very likely, Kotoko learned that it would take thirteen nights to banish her. She supposed that meant thirteen days of dating Takendo.

"Well," she thought, "he seems nice enough so it shouldn't be too bad."

But what will Irie-kun think? Wouldn't he get jealous? Or would he think she was trying to make him jealous? She supposed that could take care of two birds with one stone. Or maybe, just maybe, she could like Takendo. But all that thought was silly when he had a spirit on his back.

When Kotoko got home, everyone was waiting for her in the living room. Even Naoki was there, though he looked bored and like he didn't want to bother with it all.

"What's going on—?"

"Where have you been? We were so worried about you!" Noriko exclaimed.

"But—" Kotoko realized just how late it was when she finally returned. "I'm sorry, it won't happen again. I'll text next time."

"Where were you?" Yuki asked flatly. "Not that I care."

"I was visiting Grandma."

"Oh dear, why didn't you say? I would have gone with you." Father told her.

Kotoko bowed her head. "I'm so sorry for worrying you all!"

She quickly ate the dinner they left her and ran up the stairs to her room, only to be blocked by Irie-kun.

"Irie-kun—"

"You're hiding something." It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Kotoko smiled. "No I'm not."

"Yes you are."

"No I'm not."

"I don't want to argue with you."

"Then stop." Kotoko said abruptly.

Irie-kun's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. He was taken aback by her statement. Kotoko brushed past him, for once feeling like she had won. Once she was inside, she laid out candles and lit the incense she collected at the store. It was practice for the first night. Somehow, she would have to get Takendo to spend time with her after dark and come up with a justifiable reason to go out thirteen nights in a row.

Ugh. She hated all this thinking.