When I said, 'storage room' in earlier chapters, I meant to say, 'storage house'. My apologies for the confusion, so I will say, 'storage house' from now on.

Twenty-Sixth Spell: The Storage House

Instead of answering Haru's questions, Daichi just turned around and walked down the passage to the hidden entrance of the Byakko Wing.

"Wait, Daichi!" Haru cried. "Come back!"

Past the hidden door behind the watercolor painting of the white tiger, Haru noticed Kuro the Nekomata was sleeping in a nearby corner. Trying not to wake her, he followed Daichi down the hall, down a flight of stairs, and into the courtyard where she went up to the kura-style storage house with the knotted rope across the doors.

"You can't go in there," Haru said to Daichi. "The headmistress of this school said that storage house is off-limits."

Daichi pointed to the storage house doors.

"No, I'm not going to open the doors for you," Haru said firmly. "I'll get in trouble and that won't be good."

The sound of footsteps startled Haru, and he looked toward the gazebo in the center of the courtyard. A person was peeking out from behind one of the pillars, though Haru couldn't tell who it was.

"Who's there?" Haru demanded. "I can see you."

"Darn it!" cursed a familiar female voice. "Guess you're sharper than I thought, Ryuji."

From under the gazebo appeared Hikari, who reluctantly walked over to Haru.

"Did you follow me here?" Hikari demanded.

"No!" Haru objected. "I was following…my sister…."

"Your sister?" Hikari was confused. "Oh! You mean from your Manai family? The one who allegedly got abducted by Warumo-Uragi?"

"That's not an exaggeration! She really did get taken by Warumo, and then I saw her in my room not too long ago."

"And you followed her down here?" Hikari looked around. "So where is she?"

Haru looked back, and Daichi was gone.

"She was right behind me just now. You didn't see her from the gazebo?"

"No," Hikari said. "Are you sure you're not going crazy?"

"I'm not crazy!" Haru snapped.

A low growling noise caught Haru and Hikari's attention. From the entrance to the courtyard emerged a tall humanoid figure wearing a black monk's robe with red skin, spiky hair, and one eye in the middle of its face.

"Bambō!" Hikari exclaimed. "That means Ako isn't too far behind."

While the towering shunobon yokai lumbered over, Hikari tried to undo the knot on the storage house doors. But much to her annoyance, the knot wouldn't come undone.

"Looks like this is an enchanted shimenawa knot," Hikari guessed and took out her wand. "Fortunately, I know a jinx that can untie any knot! Musukāi!"

As Hikari tapped the knot with her wand, it came undone allowing her and Haru to get into the storage house and close the doors. They listened for Bambō's footsteps, which didn't seem to get any closer. But then they heard Ako's voice.

"What are you doing over there, Bambō?" Ako called. "Get back to patrolling the first floor corridors like you're supposed to!"

Bambō made a series of low guttural noises.

"You thought you heard something?" Ako paused. "I'll check the courtyard later. Right now, I need to find that Genma girl."

"She's looking for you?" Haru glanced at Hikari. "What did you do?"

"I just wanted to get some fresh air," Hikari whispered. "The Suzaku dorms are quite stuffy even with Toku constantly blowing air using his giant feather fans."

"That's the Tengu guy, right?"

"Obviously, you dumb moron."

Haru felt a twig snap in his mind, having reached his breaking point in tolerating Hikari's insults. "What do you have against me? If it's because I burned your hand, I apologize. That was an accident!"

Just then, a strange sound echoed through the storage house. It sounded like a croak, but it was loud and vibrating. Hikari looked behind her and used the Firelighting Charm. What she and Haru saw standing in the middle of the house's interior was a giant green toad that was the size of a boulder with shiny black eyes and an elastic throat that moved every time it croaked.

"AHHHH!" Hikari screamed.

The giant toad immediately flicked its tongue, which was as thick as an anaconda. It latched onto Hikari's wrist and pulled her toward its gaping mouth.

"Let her go!" Haru shouted. "Higuāng!"

From Haru's wand shot a burst of flame that hit the tongue. The toad flinched in pain, causing it to let go of Hikari. She then fled from the storage house while Haru followed. Outside, they pushed the doors closed just as the toad flicked its tongue, which was strong enough to almost kick the doors open.

"I'll restore the knot with the Jinx Removal Spell," Hikari said. "You keep the doors shut."

"Okay." Haru agreed. "Just let me know when you're about to cast it so I don't get stuck between the doors and the knot."

Nodding, Hikari made a series of wand movements and then said, "Now! Karoi Xaóchú!"

Haru ducked under the knot and rolled out just as the knot reformed itself like it was never broken to begin with. Then he and Hikari went into the hallway near Room 110B and took some stairs up to the second floor.

"What was that?" Haru said. "And what's it doing in a storage house?"

"Beats me," Hikari responded, wiping the tongue saliva from her kimono sleeve. "Though I'm surprised you didn't notice what it was standing in front of."

"I didn't even look behind it! All I was thinking about was saving you!"

"Saving me? If you hadn't been hanging around the storage house, we wouldn't have ended up in that situation to begin with!"

"If I wasn't there, you would've done the same thing and probably gotten eaten by that thing!"

"Not a chance! I totally could have handled myself, thank you!"

At that point, Haru realized it was pointless to argue with Hikari. "Maybe you're right. But the point is we survived because we helped each other out! Is it too much to ask for a little acknowledgement, or at least an acceptance of my apology?"

For a moment, Hikari seemed hesitant. Then she huffed.

"Fine! I accept your apology. But don't expect any more favors from me, Ryuji, because I'm not your friend!"

"I wasn't asking to be your friend either. Now what was that giant toad standing in front of?"

"A second door," replied Hikari as she walked away. "That means it's guarding something."

"What could it be guarding?"

"That's what I intend to find out, without your help!"

To be continued…