A relaxing time.

"Thanks for paying again, Miko~ I'll pay you back tomorrow~!" You thanked Miko as you both sat down and enjoyed a nice breakfast meal at a local diner. Of course, you weren't one to look a gift horse in the mouth and sort of went full glutton.

"Hehe, it's fine!" Miko just smiled and waved off your concerns before digging into her food. "You know, I am tempted to ask if you can finish all that...but it's you, and no matter how much you eat, it never really affects you." Though she looked briefly jealous, she just shrugged it off and went back to her own meal.

"Hmm~ Guess I just have good genetics and a great metabolism~" You smugly replied.

"Yeah, you're also usually super bouncy and all over the place~" Miko chuckled as she drank a glass of orange juice.

"So true~" You nodded, drinking a glass of milk whilst glancing around the diner. 'Guess diners are less crowded than most other areas outside when it comes to spirit activity...or maybe we're just lucky this time around.' You then let out a content sigh as you both finished off your meals. 'I should definitely start listing places where there aren't any spirits, just to have some relaxation spots~!'

***

"By the way, how's your family doing these days? Pretty well?" You asked curiously as you both walked down the street.

"Hm? Oh, yeah! Everyone's doing fine, Mom's doing mom things and Kyosuke's starting to hit his growth spurt now though. He isn't the small runt he was back then, but he's just as protective as ever." Miko hummed out.

"Oh? You sure he's not getting even MORE protective of you~?" You teased her with a playful grin.

"Pfft~ Lay off, Hana~" Miko rolled her eyes though genuine amusement and embarrassment were showing on her face. "Seriously though, I wish he'd trust me more to take care of myself, I'm tougher than I look, and he's the younger sibling here, not me!"

"Aww, I think it's kinda sweet though! Siblings gotta look out for each other and all that~!" You nudged her shoulder. 'She is right about the tougher part, having to deal with spirits on a daily basis can be super stressful, so it's a wonder she's managed to get by so far without having a mental breakdown.'

"Yeah yeah~ I guess you're right, Hana~" Miko conceded.

"Mhm~ Of course, I am~ I'm an expert at these kinds of things!" You announced proudly, giving yourself a pat on the back.

"Even though you don't have any siblings?" Miko raised an eyebrow.

"That's beside the point! Point is, I'm an expert and you have no right to judge~!" You smugly proclaimed.

"Hm hm~ Sure thing, Miss expert~" Miko sighed and simply accepted it.

"Ehehe~"

"Hehe~"

You both shared a laugh at the silliness of it all.

...

"Fuaah~ You know what? Relaxing in the park after a hearty lunch is a nice way to pass the time." You said as you and Miko walked around a nearby park.

"I couldn't agree more." Miko nodded, deciding to take a few pictures of some flowers. "The flowers are looking very healthy here."

"And they're so pretty too!" You added up, following her lead and snapping some shots as well.

"After you're done taking pics, want to sit on the bench and just chill?" Miko suggested.

"Hm? Oh yeah, sure!" You heartily agreed to a small break time as you quickly finished up your flower photoshoot and you both settled down on the bench. "Nothing beats a peaceful day after a hectic week of school, huh~?" You spoke, scrolling through the photos you took and picking out which ones to post.

"Mmm...you can say that again, Hana." Miko bobbed her head in agreement, putting her head on your shoulder as she relaxed.

"PrEtttttTTyt Fl-flllowers!" A rather distorted voice caught both your attention by surprise, as it sounded right behind you, though, you opted not to quite react to it, the voice basically giving away what it was. Miko, on the other hand, did so very quickly, her head turned so fast you thought she might break her neck.

"M-Miko?" You asked her, somewhat startled and concerned about her movements. "A-Are you okay??"

"H-Hm? O-Oh, sorry, I just...uh..." Miko struggled to put together a reason to explain why she turned around to both you and the spirit, mostly to the spirit, so as not to give away the fact that she just acknowledged its existence.

"F-FLlloooWEeersss, s-sseee?~!!! Seee-See flLlloOowWWers! ...Me....~?! sSseeE SeEe mee!" The voice was garbled and somehow getting rather high-pitched in a disturbing tone. Your eyes glanced to the side and got a good profile of what the spirit looked like.

Its face was very messed up and grotesque, no surprise there. Just as ugly and disgusting as any other of the spirits you've encountered. It looked bigger than the average ones though, and that usually meant it was quite powerful. Not only that, it seemed to be covered in vines and other plant material, its whole body seemed more like a moving plant apart from the occasional small, visible patches of rotted flesh, tissue, and bone showing. Even the eye sockets were emptied and had roots growing out and wrapping around them.

You shuddered unintentionally but maintained your own composure, which was promptly interrupted by the plant-like spirit suddenly roaring.

"GGGRAAAHAAAAAAAA!!!! FFLFLOOWWERSSSSS SEEE MEEEEEEEE!!!!!" It then took a step forward towards Miko, who looked like she was about to pass out from sheer terror.

"Miko!!" You gritted your teeth and tugged on her, trying to draw her attention to no avail, she was paralyzed and that thing was starting to lean down towards her, getting far more aggressive with each passing moment, its whole body vibrating and seemingly getting larger. Quite unexpectedly, you felt like you losing your breath, that is, you felt like you were having the life choked out of you, looking at Miko, she was also turning pale and her breath shallow. 'I...I can't....hard...breathe....help....ah...' At the same time, it felt like vines were wrapping around your whole body, threatening to violate you on every level.

"Woof Woof!!! Bark Woof!!!!" The sound of a dog drew the attention of the spirit.

"...Grrraaaahhh...." The spirit growled as its head creaked and turned to the offending animal.

"Grrrrrruff!!! Woof!!"

"Wooffff Woof!!"

"GROAAAH RAAAAHH!!!"

The sounds of more and more canines somehow came over, their growls and barks directed towards the aggressive spirit, who returned their shouts and barks with its own. In the meantime, the invisible stranglehold on you and Miko loosened considerably as its attention wavered from you and focused on the mutts.

"Ah!" You gasped, feeling your breath returning to your body, trembling as you heard a slumping sound next to you. "S-Shit...Miko!" You reached for your **** friend and quickly got up, tossing her arm over your shoulder, hobbling away from the distracted monster, seeing quite a few animals pass you two by, presumably to deal with that spirit. "B...But why...what's...what's happening...?" You questioned as you looked back one more time, eyes widening to see a large, translucent stag facing off against the creature. "What the..." You then saw its head turn towards you, its gaze burning its image in your head before you blacked out.

"Sleep."

***

"H-Hana...!" A voice far away called out to you, you didn't want to wake up.

"Hana!!" It seemed closer now, you stirred, but you wanted to sleep a few mo-.

*SLAP*

"OW!" And you woke up. "W-What the heck?!" You sat up in surprise.

"O-Oh...uh...sorry, oh...I'm glad you're awake!" A sudden hug and a surge of warmth made you sigh in contentment, but you hugged back.

"H-Huh, oh...er...yeah...I guess I am awake now..." You answered groggily as the blurred form of Miko cleared and filled your sight. "Uh...why do you look so worried, Miko...?" You looked around, you were both perched under a shaded tree somewhere in the park, the entrance visible a bit of a distance away.

"W-Worried...o-oh uh...it's..um...getting late...and you know...your house is pretty far away..." Miko tried to reason that as her worries, though if memory serves you right, that was a dumb reason and you knew why she was worried, but you'd play along for now.

"Huh...? Oh...Huh, it IS getting kinda late...guess we fell asleep for a while...ugh...I feel so sore...Still...I can't really bother you and your family...you know...?" You stretched as you sighed.

"Yeah...I feel pretty sore too, like every part of me is super tired...A-Anyway, I texted my mom and she said you could sleep over if you wanted to..." Miko looked at you, a rather puppy-dog-looking face that looked very cute and made you break immediately.

"O-Okay...okay...I'll sleep over...I guess it would be a bad idea to just...well...go home when I'm feeling this tired and sore..." You conceded defeat, which made Miko smile brightly.

"Great...! I told her to pick us up here a few minutes ago and she's on her way...! Come on!" She stood up and offered her hand.

A hand that you took. "Hehe...~ Thanks, Miko." You smiled back at her as you two soon were in Miko's mom's car and were brought back to her home.