Chapter 17: Shinomiya-san, Become a Catgirl!

"Choose a candy," a cold, hoarse voice quietly echoed from the adjacent stall.

"Hey, who's speaking?" Chika asked, her nerves on edge.

"It's your 'neighbor' from next door." Amamiya glanced at the pale hand extending from beneath the neighboring cubicle door. Just as Chika had described, the hand held two candies—one red and one blue. "They want me to make a choice."

Chika's voice rose in alarm, "There's someone in the next stall!"

Amamiya couldn't help but comment, "It's obviously a vengeful spirit. Look at the hand—pale, covered in scars. How could you have mistaken it?"

"I'm sorry!" Chika stammered guiltily. "But haven't you seen those street experiments, Natsuki-san? When someone's on the phone, they'll still grab whatever's handed to them without even thinking about it."

She continued, "That's what happened! When the hand reached out, I took the candy instinctively."

"Now's not the time to be discussing that," Kaguya interjected coldly. "Why would that thing offer us candy in the first place? What happens if we take it?"

Kaguya was highly cautious. Accepting a stranger's gift was dangerous enough, but from an evil spirit? There had to be a hidden cost.

In response to her question, the hoarse voice from the adjacent cubicle gave an answer: "Blue for body, red for life."

"Eh? What does that mean?" Chika asked curiously.

Amamiya stared at the hand, and a text prompt appeared before him: 'If you choose the blue candy, you'll lose a body part. If you choose the red candy, you'll lose your life.'

Chika gasped. "That's outrageous! It's just candy, how is the price this steep?"

The vengeful spirit's hand waved impatiently. "Pick one."

Amamiya remained calm and suddenly asked, "Why can't I choose both?"

The spirit, startled, was silent for a moment before responding, "What do you mean?"

"I want to take both candies."

"...Fine. You may take both."

"Wait a moment," Amamiya continued, "Has your candy expired?"

The ghost was clearly taken aback by the unexpected question.

'What is this human talking about?'

"...No," the spirit answered, barely suppressing its frustration.

"Hold on," Amamiya persisted. "Have your candies passed food safety regulations?"

The spirit was dumbfounded. 'This human's seriously asking about food safety in a haunted bathroom?'

"No, they haven't!" The spirit's voice was filled with fury now, and the fingernails on its pale hand grew longer, dripping with malice. "Human, choose a candy!"

Without flinching, Amamiya calmly replied, "Selling unapproved food items is a serious offense. Are you sure you want to continue down this path?"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The stall door rattled violently as the spirit's rage boiled over. "Stop stalling! Pick one!"

Amamiya sighed dramatically. "If you're going to ignore my warnings, I have no choice but to take action."

In a surprising move, Amamiya grabbed the ghost's wrist firmly and declared with utmost seriousness, "You're under arrest."

"Meow?" Chika let out an incredulous sound from her stall. The scene had shifted so suddenly—how had Amamiya gone from being terrorized to arresting the ghost?

The vengeful spirit's voice turned cold. "Human, you court death."

But Amamiya was unfazed. "You misunderstand. The reason for your arrest is not the sale of unauthorized candy... but for being in the girls' restroom."

"...What?"

The spirit was momentarily speechless.

"Why are you, a boy, in the girls' restroom?" Amamiya asked with a stern expression.

The spirit was stunned.

Chika gasped loudly. "A perverted ghost!"

"No! I'm not!" the ghost denied quickly.

Amamiya continued, "Did you hear the recent broadcast? Our location is announced every ten minutes. When the next update goes out and they find you hiding in the girls' restroom, what do you think will happen?"

The spirit fell silent.

The consequences dawned on him—disastrous. If the vengeful girl spirits found him here, they'd tear him apart without hesitation. A boy ghost in a girls' restroom? No explanation would save him.

Realizing the danger, the spirit tried to flee, but he found that Amamiya's grip on his wrist hadn't loosened.

"Let go... human," the spirit growled, threateningly.

"Shut up," Amamiya ordered, unbothered by the spirit's threats. "Open the door and let the girls out."

Inwardly, the spirit was fuming. 'How dare this human boss me around!'

A few seconds later, Chika's relieved voice could be heard, "The door... it's open!"

She and Kaguya quickly exited the stall. Amamiya, still holding the spirit's wrist, turned to Chika. "Return the candy."

"R-right." Chika hurriedly handed the candies back to the ghost, who took them without protest.

Only then did Amamiya let go of the spirit's wrist. The three of them walked out of the bathroom together.

As they hurried down the hall, Kaguya reminded them, "The next broadcast will start soon."

"Let's head to the rooftop!" Chika suggested, raising her hand excitedly.

Just then, the dreaded announcement echoed across the school, broadcasting their location once again. The eerie atmosphere of Ghost Academy buzzed with renewed energy as spirits began to stir.

The trio bolted up the stairs, aiming for the rooftop. But when they reached the top, they found the door locked.

"Don't worry," Chika said confidently, reaching for the hairpin in her hair. "I can pick this lock. It'll only take three to five minutes."

"You know how to pick locks?" Amamiya asked, surprised. "Why didn't you mention this earlier?"

But without waiting for an answer, he turned and said, "We don't have three minutes. Let's go."

They dashed down the stairs again, only to find themselves face to face with a tall, suit-clad ghost, shrouded in a thick black mist. Its malevolent aura seemed to take shape in various grotesque forms, making it look even more terrifying.

A text prompt appeared in front of Amamiya:

'[Title: School Dean]'

'[Weakness: Obsessed with cats, even if he becomes a vengeful spirit, he will not harm cats]'

At the same moment, the ghost with the beautiful legs appeared again behind them.

Caught between two powerful spirits, Amamiya took out the cat-ear headband and turned to Kaguya, whose calm exterior belied the message floating above her head: 'How scary... so scary... so scary...'

"Shinomiya-san, become a catgirl! Quickly!"