So sorry for the long delay on updating this fanfic! I got caught up with a combination of other fanfics, my own freelance writing, and other stuff. Plus I wanted to take some time to put together an electronic file of all my notes on this series so I have a convenient way to double-check the Harry Potter terminology as well as my original terminology for stuff without having to painstakingly look back on the 100 plus chapters for any specific information on a spell or whatnot. Anyway, I hope you guys continue to enjoy my fanfic!

135th Spell: Aka Manto

After Haru got done helping Higa with restoring the eastern lawn of the school, he got a message from Hikari delivered to him by her white Inari Kitsune familiar Kusano. The message told Haru to go to in the girls' bathroom on the first floor of the school castle. So he went there and found Rui much to his surprise.

"Did you get a message from Hikari too?" Haru asked.

"Yes, I did," Rui admitted. "But it doesn't say why she wants to meet us in this bathroom."

"Same here," replied Haru. "Do you have any idea why she would pick this particular bathroom to meet up?"

"No, though I have heard that it's haunted."

"Haunted?"

Rui shuttered. "It was a story I heard when I was in Primary School from the upperclassmen, who said this bathroom has a ghost that haunts the fourth stall. But it's not just any ghost."

"What do you mean?"

Before Rui could answer, Hikari's voice came from the other side of the closed door to the bathroom. "Hey, you two! Get in here!"

Not wanting to question the order, Haru and Rui obediently entered the girls' bathroom. Like the boys' bathroom Haru went into when he saw the ghost of his dead stepsister Daichi, it consisted of a shared sink with multiple faucets and four stalls with Japanese-style toilets in them. Hikari was kneeling on the floor of this bathroom with a mortar and pestle along with the recipe book she stole from the Inner Library.

"There's no point in you two standing out there when you could just talk in here," Hikari said.

"But why did you have us meet here of all places?" Haru asked. "Aren't you worried someone is going to spot me going into a girls' bathroom when I'm a guy?"

"If I was worried about that, I wouldn't have had you come here, Ryuji," Hikari insisted. "Besides, everyone avoids this bathroom due to Aka Manto."

"Aka…Manto?" Haru had never heard of such a thing.

Suddenly, the fourth bathroom stall at the end creaked open. From it emerged a looming figure that hovered off the ground wearing a red cape covering it from head to toe and a military-style cap that covered its face.

"Get back, Hikari!" Rui said as she took out her Japanese Elm tree wand.

"Red paper, or blue paper?" asked the red-caped figure in the voice of an older teenage boy.

In one of its red gloved hands appeared a trail of red-colored toilet paper while in the other was a trail of blue-colored toilet paper.

"Don't answer its question, Haru!" insisted Rui. "If you answer either way, you'll die!"

"But I don't need toilet paper," Haru said.

Hearing that, the red-caped figure groaned. "Aww, not again!"

The toilet paper trailing from the red-caped figure's hands disappeared, which he clenched.

"In the 50 years since I started existing, I've only managed to lure one child into my stall while the rest of you just come in here either on a dare or to make fun of me!" complained the red-caped figure, pointing an accusing finger at Haru and Rui. "So which are you?"

"These are the two lackeys I was telling you about," Hikari said to the red-caped figure.

"Lackeys?" Haru was offended. "Why, you—

"Calm down, Haru," Rui said, pinching Haru's shoulder before he went charging toward Hikari. "I'm sure there's a perfectly good explanation for why Hikari is referring to us as her 'lackeys' as she puts it."

"Honestly, it was the only way I could persuade Aka Manto to let you come in," Hikari answered, nodding toward the red-caped figure. "Because he doesn't like friend groups."

"Why is that?" Rui asked Aka Manto.

"Before I became a ghost, I was in a friend group," Aka muttered out loud. "Then one of my friends lured me in here and I died! So now I hate friend groups."

Aka then floated back to the fourth stall and slammed the door behind him loudly.

"So as you can see, Aka is pretty harmless once you refuse his request for toilet paper," said Hikari. "Now, the real reason I called you in here was to give you both these."

From the pockets of her pink school kimono, Hikari pulled out two pieces of paper that she handed to Rui and Haru. It was a list of items that was identical on each paper:

Polymorph Kampo Ingredients:

- Sakaki Tree Leaves (one whole branch worth)

- Blood Grass (aka Kunai Grass, a fistful)

- Kitsune Tail Fur (two handfuls)

- Tanuki Sack Hairs (two pairs)

- Skull Shavings of Intended Creature (one skull each)

- Camphor Berries (one berry each)

"You want us to collect these ingredients for you?" Haru guessed.

"That's right," Hikari confirmed. "Because if I did it, that would throw more suspicion on me than there already is."

"Does that mean Inku-sensei already knows the book is stolen?" Rui said.

"He has noticed the book is missing, but doesn't suspect any one of stealing it yet," replied Hikari. "So the sooner I start brewing this Kampo, the quicker I can return the book."

"But where are we supposed to get these ingredients?" Haru asked. "It's not like we can just access Midorime-sensei's classroom with the Magic Circle Backdrop since we would have to do it when the teachers aren't around."

"I think there's a Kampo storeroom next to the Caretaker Closet where Ako-san gets her cleaning supplies from," Rui said. "We could probably find most of these ingredients there, but we'll need some kind of distraction to keep Ako-san away long enough to grab them and leave."

To be continued…