The "classmate's little sister" cover story was something they'd hashed out on the way.
Uchiha Hikari's age and height worked fine in the Naruto world, where kids become ninja at like, ten. But in modern society? She looked like a middle schooler, no question. They couldn't spin a lie too far-fetched.
"So you're Miko's friend! Come on in!"
Miko's mom found the "Uchiha" surname a bit odd but welcomed Hikari warmly anyway, ushering her inside. She sat her down and quickly brought out tea and snacks.
By now, the Spirit-Sight Command Talisman's effect was starting to fade.
—It only lasted an hour or two. Hikari had one more talisman but felt it'd be a waste to use it now, so she decided to save it for tomorrow.
And so…
While munching on snacks, Hikari noticed Miko, sitting beside her, looking a bit off.
"…What's up, Miko? Staring at me like that—did I get something on my face?"
"Um…"
Miko's lips moved, but she didn't speak, wary of alerting any spirits. Instead, she pinged Hikari in the group chat.
[Yotsuya Miko: Miss Hikari, that strawberry daifuku you're holding… it's got a few tiny old men crawling on it. If you eat it, you might end up eating them too.]
[Nameless: …]
Suddenly, the snack in Hikari's hand lost all its appeal.
…
That piece of daifuku was quietly set back on the plate. Later, when the table was cleared, Miko's little brother, Kyosuke, nabbed it and ate it.
Nothing weird happened after, though Kyosuke did make two quick bathroom trips.
That night.
While Miko was in the bathroom showering, Hikari knocked, slipped in, and used Yasakani to suck dry the soggy spirit crouching in the corner.
Later, when sharing a bed with Miko, she dealt a swift slash to the spirit hiding in the blankets.
Come to think of it, there should be two more spirits in Miko's house.
One was Miko's deceased father—a rare spirit in the original story with a normal human form and his pre-death consciousness intact. The other was some bizarre, misshapen giant spirit, maybe a dog or something else entirely. But since Miko didn't point them out, Hikari wasn't sure if they were hiding in another room or just not around.
"By the way…"
Hikari paused, thinking. "Miko, when you came into the room earlier, did you see that spirit?"
"I'm not sure… I didn't exactly check the blankets on purpose," Miko said hesitantly, trying to recall. "But the one in the bathroom? That one definitely showed up after dinner. I didn't see it when I washed my hands before eating."
"Hm…"
So where were these things coming from?
Did they just… spawn periodically, like in a video game?
Hikari mulled it over for a bit before giving up. She wasn't exactly an exorcist and didn't know much about this supernatural stuff. No point burning brain cells on it. Better to wait until Kikyo's business was sorted and ask her to handle it.
Time skipped to the next day.
Hikari woke up early, brushed her teeth and washed her face with the toothbrush and towel Miko's mom had just bought, then headed out with Miko.
Her original plan was to swing by Miko's school and deal with the issue of Takanotsume's mother.
But Miko said she didn't know anyone named Takanotsume.
"Huh?"
Hikari blinked, then it hit her.
Right.
In the original plot, Takanotsume only transferred to Miko's class as a new teacher after Miko awakened her spirit vision, and there was a time gap between those events. Right now, Miko's homeroom teacher was probably someone else.
As for the shrine dedicated to the "Fox God"…
"There are a ton of shrines around Tokyo," Miko said cautiously. "Just in this area, there are four or five nearby, and probably more if you go further out to the suburbs. I'm not sure which one you're talking about, Miss Hikari… Is it important? I could take a day off school and help you check them out one by one."
"…No need."
Hikari scratched her head.
Coming too early had its downsides—lots of plot points hadn't kicked in yet.
That "Fox Shrine" didn't exist in the real world; it was in some invisible otherworldly space. Showing up now might mean the door wouldn't even open. After all, Miko's busty, food-loving bestie, Yurukawa Hana, wasn't around, and all signs pointed to her being the one the "Fox God" was most eager to "eat"…
Granny Mitsue knew the shrine's location, but Miko didn't know her yet either…
"Let's switch gears. Miko, there's an abandoned department store around here, right?"
"…Yeah."
After watching Miko pull up the location on her phone's map, Hikari let out a relieved sigh.
"Alright, I'll help you out this far for now. This magatama necklace—I got it from Tanjiro's world. You saw yesterday; it wards off spirits. I'll lend it to you for protection. I'll check with Miss Kikyo later to see if she's got any better talismans or can teach you some spells…"
Hikari wasn't an expert in the supernatural, but since Miko's spirit vision was so strong, her spiritual energy probably wasn't weak either.
"If you're in danger, let us know in the group chat. Worst case, you can jump to me or Bulma's world… or Tanjiro's, if it's daytime."
"Got it. Thank you, Miss Hikari!" Miko bowed deeply in gratitude.
Hikari waved it off, then remembered something. "Oh, right. Do you have any cash on you? Lend me some, I'll pay you back next time."
…
About half an hour later.
Hikari sat on a roadside bench, holding a massive ice cream cone, her legs dangling and swinging lightly. She licked the cone while scanning the crowd on either side with her pitch-black eyes.
On the walk from the bus stop, she'd kept her Mangekyo Sharingan active the whole time, absorbing seven or eight spirits along the way.
No one could see the three-tomoe in her eyes because she'd bought a pair of black contact lenses.
Come to think of it…
This was Hikari's first time in a proper "modern society."
Sure, it was Japan, not , but elements scattered around the streets and the occasional passersby speaking Mandarin still made her feel a strange sense of familiarity.
Chomp—
Hikari polished off the last bit of her cone in one bite, hopped off the bench, and gazed down the street at the dilapidated department store in the distance, its exterior looking like it'd been ravaged by fire. "Dessert's done… time for the main course."