Tokyo Exorcism Diary

Cold rain lashed against them, drenching Hoshino Gen and Shimizu Yuu in an instant.

Beneath their feet, it felt as if they were stepping on twin storms, suspending them mid-air without immediately plummeting. It was as if an invisible pair of glider wings had unfurled behind Hoshino Gen, while the biting rain jolted Shimizu Yuu back to her senses.

Yet before she could even panic over the fact that she was plummeting from the sixth floor, something even more terrifying happened.

A grotesque, dark blue-black shadow leapt from the corridor, moving so fast that it was impossible to make out its true form.

Shimizu Yuu barely had time to slap Hoshino Gen’s back. “Something’s here—”

Before her voice had fully fallen, the blue-black shadow lunged at Hoshino Gen’s back. A baby-like face turned toward Shimizu Yuu, giggling eerily.

For a moment, Shimizu Yuu felt as if all the blood in her body had frozen still. A bone-chilling cold surged straight to her brain, nearly robbing her of consciousness.

But it was only for an instant.

Hoshino Gen didn’t even bother with the ghostly infant clinging to his back. Instead, he produced a talisman from seemingly nowhere and slapped it onto Shimizu Yuu’s back. Then, his hands clamped around her slender waist—and without hesitation, he flung her away.

Mouth agape, Shimizu Yuu stretched out her hand toward the rapidly shrinking figure of Hoshino Gen. But the next moment, a fierce gust of wind surged behind her, sweeping her away. Caught off guard, with no idea how to control this force, she flailed like a dying drone with a failing battery, tumbling onto the balcony of an abandoned dormitory building.

Meanwhile, Hoshino Gen, riding the storm, grabbed the ghost infant latched onto him. A surge of black energy coursed through his right hand as his demon blade plunged mercilessly toward the struggling entity.

“Geh geh…” The ghost infant let out a sharp, unsettling chuckle, as if Hoshino Gen’s killing intent was nothing more than a playful game. Just as the blade’s tip was about to pierce its blue-black skin, its body suddenly dissolved into black smoke, coiling around the demon blade before slithering up Hoshino Gen’s arm.

The black smoke swiftly reformed into the ghost infant—but this time, its size swelled over tenfold. It had become a grotesque mountain of flesh, crushing Hoshino Gen as it sent him plummeting straight into the campus courtyard.

Boom!

The impact sent water splashing in all directions, the dull crash reverberating across the rain-soaked school grounds—only to be drowned out by the eerie laughter of the monstrous infant.

Pinned down by the creature’s massive hand, Hoshino Gen lay in a puddle. His right eye was vacant, but the crimson glow in his left eye burned even more intensely.

A sigh echoed from somewhere—soft, yet unfathomably profound. It wasn’t the sigh of any living being, but a sound carrying an indescribable weight and emotion. Just a single breath, yet it invited endless speculation.

On the ground, Hoshino Gen’s right eye shut completely, and the radiance in his left eye dimmed. Yet within that eye socket, the once-blue iris had vanished entirely, replaced by a deep crimson sheen, as if it had always been that way.

As the sigh faded, the ghost infant—who had just been gleefully cackling over its new plaything—suddenly stiffened. It was like a mouse hearing the cry of a cat. With a violent shudder, it yanked its massive hand away from Hoshino Gen.

But it was too late.

A blur of red streaked through the rain—so fast it was impossible to see clearly.

With a crisp snap, the ghost infant’s enormous hand was severed, hitting the ground with a wet thud.

The creature froze for a moment, its grotesquely twisted face contorting into an almost human-like expression of confusion. It looked down at the severed limb, but where Hoshino Gen had been pinned just moments ago—there was nothing.

Instead, Hoshino Gen now stood a short distance away, his left eye glowing like a crimson crystal. He examined his own body, tilting his head slightly, as if testing something.

Then, he smiled—a disturbingly beautiful, almost bewitching smile.

Upon seeing this, the ghost infant’s expression instantly shifted to sheer terror. Its bloated, tumor-ridden flesh wriggled frantically, sprouting a new hand as it scrambled backward, desperate to flee.

Because in its eyes, Hoshino Gen was no longer a human male in a school uniform.

He was a nightmare wrapped in swirling crimson silk—a ghostly woman, exuding an aura so terrifying that the creature could hardly bear to look at him.

‘Hoshino Gen’ didn’t move. He stood in place, seemingly absorbing something unseen. A moment later, he extended a single hand. A bead of deep red blood welled at his fingertip, coalescing into a sigil mid-air.

He pointed toward the retreating ghost infant.

The blood sigil shot forward like a bullet, cutting through space in an instant before slamming into the infant’s massive body.

A burst of rose-colored flames ignited, enveloping the ghost infant with an eerie, almost tender warmth.

“Uwooooh——!!!”

A shrill wail tore through the rain. The ghost infant’s body exploded into black smoke, trying desperately to escape the flames. But no matter how it shifted forms, the fire clung to it like an unshakable curse.

It shrank back to the size of an ordinary infant, thrashing in agony across the rain-drenched ground—until it rolled to a stop at ‘Hoshino Gen’s’ feet.

‘Hoshino Gen’ crouched down, resting his chin on one hand, his gaze filled with quiet amusement. Then, he extended another hand—this time, five fingertips bled simultaneously, forming five distinct sigils in the air.

One by one, the sigils descended onto the ghost infant.

Light pulsed in dizzying succession. And when the glow finally faded, the ghost infant was gone.

All that remained was a simple, ancient-looking bracelet.

‘Hoshino Gen’ picked it up. Casually, he tossed it into his mouth, swallowing it whole.

At that moment, a wooden desk came hurtling down from the school building, crashing toward him with deadly force.

Yet, oddly enough, the solid object passed straight through his body as if he weren’t there at all, shattering upon impact with the ground.

Unfazed, ‘Hoshino Gen’ turned his gaze upward.

Standing in the window of a classroom was a schoolgirl ghost, her uniform nearly cleaved in two by a deep, gaping gash. She glared at him with unbridled hatred.

‘Hoshino Gen’s’ smile remained serene. With a gentle flick of his wrist, another blood sigil formed and shot toward her.

No sound.

Only a burst of rose-colored flames erupting, reducing the schoolgirl ghost to ashes in an instant. The fire did not stop—it spread, consuming the entire classroom, then creeping across the school building.

Rain poured heavily, but ‘Hoshino Gen’ only turned his head.

Not far away, Shimizu Yuu stood frozen, gripping a wooden stick, staring at him in stunned silence.