The last chapter is finally out!

Only feelings

Her fierce eyes wouldn't stop looking at us. Despite the fact it was so dark, I could clearly feel so many mixed emotions coming from the ghost. There were sorrow, anger, sadness and even madness. I wondered what or who could have made her become like that. I even started to feel sorry for her. I looked at Yakumo-kun's face, which irradiated a gloomy aura due to the shadows. He wasn't doing nor saying anything, hence my anxiousness got worse.

Then, Isabelle appeared out of nowhere next to the door of the room, which was been opened without no sound. She waited for the ghost to speak to us:

— Leave, young man. I have something to say to this girl. — Her voice was almost a whisper and sounded as if the voice came from another dimension.

— You've gotta be kiding me. As if I were to leave her here. — Yakumo-kun answered for me.

— Wow! How come did you come here in the first place? He seems to care about you a lot. — I was surprised by Isabelle's reaction.

Suddenly, I kinda understood something. The women ghost were trapped in a beauty shop, and their targets were young girls who wanted to improve their looks. But I didn't think what purpose could have those girls for having those feelings of wanting to change themselves. Why did I want to look more beautiful? The answer to that question could have the key to this mystery.

Gotou-san woke up. His head hurt like Hell from the hit but he came to his senses fast. He was left alone in the hall of the shop. Then, he decided to take a stroll since Isabelle seemed to have forgotten about him. Maybe, he could find some more hints.

Suddenly, he approached an old door which was different from the others. On top of that, it had a signal saying "personal only", which made it even more suspicious. Gotou-san didn't hesitate to open it. As expected, the door was closed, but that was no problem for Gotou-san's brute force. He kicked it and broke the chain which had it sealed. As the door fell on the floor, he barged into the room with a gun in his hands. Someone shouted.

— Who's there?! — Gotou-san got startled.

— Please... Don't shot...! Help us! — It seemed like a girl's voice.

— Identify yourself and I won't harm you.

— My name is... Shima Seri. And my friend here is called Godai Uta.

The woman ghost's presence were getting stronger. To the point that Yakumo-kun started to have the chills. Her purpose was to make him leave the room, so that I could be alone with her. In fact, I wasn't affected by her power, since it seemed to be made of hatred for men. Suddenly, Yakumo-kun sat on his knees.

— It's enough, Yakumo-kun! Leave...!

— Shut your mouth up. — As always, he doesn't let me finish what I have to say. Then, as I put my hands on him, I realized he was drenched in cold sweat.

— Yakumo...?!

He fainted.

I put Yakumo-kun's body in the floor and stood up. I had something to say.

— Why are you doing this? And who exactly are you, Isabelle?

— I don't understand... That man... — The woman seemed quite surprised at Yakumo-kun's actions.

— No wonder she's amazed. Me too. — Isabelle spoke in her behalf. — How come you came here wanting to change yourself, Haruka-chan? This man seems to care about you already.

— I see. I understand now. — I got close to the woman ghost, who was standing just in front of me. — You also wanted to look beautiful, don't you? Since you also liked someone.

— Don't butt into our business. — Isabelle teleported next to me in a second.

Now that she was so close, I observed her more. She was beautiful, as if her beauty wasn't from this world. Her hair was brownish and wavy, and her eyes were green. Very unique.

An ideal beauty.

— Isabelle. — I didn't avert my gaze. — Aren't you the perfect beauty that this woman wants to be? Could it be... That you are just a puppet?

— How dare you...?! — Isabelle had raised her hand against me. However, that didn't stop me from keeping saying what I had to say.

— Me too. I also wanted to look beautiful for the person I like. You say he cares about me but I'm always wondering what he really thinks. I got so anxious that I wanted to be better and better. I understand your feelings. However, you cannot kidnap young girls out of envy just for your sake. You died! So please, stop this.

Whereas the woman didn't move an inch, Isabelle's expression turned bad. She really seemed like she wanted to kill me. Now that I said everything out, I started to feel scared. However, something made her suffer terribly and, finally, she disintegrated. When I looked down, I saw Yakumo-kun holding a magic seal in his hand.

— Yakumo-kun! — For how long had he been awake exactly?

— I never fainted. I just faked it so that I could analyze these ghosts. As you said, Isabelle was just a puppet created by this woman here. A seal will be enough. However, the woman has to leave on her own.

— Who asked you...?

— Even though you say that, I bet you were wondering if I heard everything.

Neither me or the woman ghost couldn't say a thing after that because Gotou-san barged into the room like crazy. But he didn't come alone. Shima Eri and Godai Uta were there too.

— How's your name, woman? — The ghost hesitated for a moment before answering to Yakumo-kun.

— Haruka.

We were astonished when we learnt that she had the same name as me. None of us said anything for a minute. Then, Shima Seri broke the silence:

— Ha... Haruka-san. — Her voice was trembling a little but she kept talking. — Don't be upset anymore, please. A woman is important not only by her looks...

— Yer lying.

The ghost didn't seem to realize what Eri-chan meant. However, I did.

When I tried to take action, it was too late. The woman called Haruka started to emanate a very dangerous aura. Even Yakumo-kun, who had been silent for a while, reacted to this. The same for Gotou-san.

As we were getting out of there, Haruka-san would leave us alone. A wind blew the two young girls and me far away from the men, so that they couldn't protect us. Yakumo-kun tried to grab my hand but it was no use. In the process, my feet got tangled and I fell, making my knees bleed. Then, Yakumo-kun shouted:

— Haruka! Are you alright?!

— Yes...

Then, the wind softened. I noticed that Yakumo-kun's word had some kind of effect on the woman.

— Haruka?!

— ...

— Haruka, say something, are you hurt?! Haruka!

I fainted on the floor. Seri and Uta-chan also started to call out my name. Everyone there was worried about me, to the point that no one realized that that small wound wasnl't enough to make someone collapse.

Suddenly, the woman stopped the wind completely, and her aura turned somewhat sorrowful. She stood next to me and extended her hand, which reached my head. At that moment, I opened my eyes.

— Did you see, Haruka-san? Did the men's voice calling out your name make you come to your senses? Everyone here was worried about me, but not because I'm beautiful nor ugly. It's because it's me.

— I see... I've been... Wrong... All this time I...

Before she finished the sentence with her face drenched in tears, everything disappeared in a blink of an eye. Even the building. All what was left were ourselves lying on the grass.

— How clever of you, Haruka-chan! You used your own name to make us call the woman and soothe her. Don't you think so, Yakumo-kun? — Gotou-san was moved. However, Yakumo-kun didn't seem to agree with him.

— I see.

—Anyway, I'm gonna take these two young girls with her families. See you two later, ok? — Gotou-san said his good-byes and left us alone.

— Yakumo-kun, how's your wound?

— Are you stupid? I really thought your hurt yourself.

— But I did it. We could resolve the case. Anyway, we should get going. It's late.

Yakumo-kun's aura was getting strange, so that's why I felt like running away out of the blue. However, he grabbed my arm when I tried to stood up.

— Haruka. — He said with a serious voice. After a short pause, he spoke. — There's no need for you to worry about such silly things as your looks.

— What? I wasn't worried...

— You are pretty. — He pulled me down and I fell on top of him.

— Yakumo-kun, let me go... What are you saying so suddenly?

— Are you blushing already? Then, what are you going to do? I didn't finish talking. — His face got closer. — I think you are beautiful. And even though you are noisy, I miss you when I'm alone. All in all, I'm saying I like you too, regardless of your looks. So don't do such crazy acts again because of this, roger that?

I didn't know if I was dreaming due to the hit in the head or not. I started to feel very tired. But, just before passing out in his arms, I remembered Yakumo-kun's sweet kiss. The touch of our lips made me feel as if I were floating in the air...

Is this the true feeling of loving someone?

Thanks for reading and see you soon! :)