To use it or not to use it.

It was made of dark, varnished wood. The alphabet was written in black, as were the words ‘YES’, ‘NO’, ‘HELLO’ and ‘GOODBYE’.

“When did you get that?” Mila asked her.

“Ordered it on Monday. I was surprised that it took only a day to arrive,” Grace told her.

“You think…” Noelle swallowed. “You think it’s a spirit?”

“It’s… a possibility, right?” Grace said. “I… almost didn’t bring it. I shouldn’t have. I’ll be relieved if nothing happens and it turns out this is just a dumb idea, but if it turns out Oliver is… possessed…” Grace’s eyes fell on me, and I easily read the worry in them. Worry over me, over my safety instead of hers. “I also don’t want to get you all involved, just in case. If we happen to be dealing with a malevolent spirit, I’d rather you not be here to…”

“See what I mean?” Alice said, interrupting Grace. “You want to try it alone with Oliver, don’t you?”

“And what if it’s dangerous?” Grace asked her.

“Then don’t do it,” Alice answered quickly. “Do you think we’ll be relieved we’re not getting involved instead of worried about what might happen to you two?”

“She’s right,” Sarah agreed. She then let out a heavy sigh. “Stop trying to do everything on your own.”

“I… don’t know what to think,” Noelle said, looking down at her knees. “I want to believe nothing will happen, but… what if it does?”

My chest felt tight, and a million questions and possibilities passed through my head. And yet… that’s all they did. They passed through, and the more I thought about it, the less worried I became.

It’s hard to explain. Logically, I had to consider the possibility that whatever was happening to me could be potentially dangerous. I couldn’t simply dismiss it and worry about it later, not anymore. However, I couldn’t help but feel that… it wasn’t dangerous. I didn’t want to admit it because I didn’t have any proof. It was like telling someone to freely play with a gun just because you think it’s unloaded. But that’s the thing, I was being cautious because I felt I had to be. A big part of me didn’t believe these powers were dangerous. Inconvenient at times, yes, but benign in the end.

…

I only hoped this feeling was correct.

“We’re getting too caught up in the worst possible scenarios, don’t you think?” Mila said. “We said it the other day, right? Weird as it is, we like what’s happening. Who’s to say that whatever… entity or thing is evil? What if it’s just helping us out?” Mila smirked. “What if it’s helping Oliver get a harem?”

I flinched, but the girls all laughed. The atmosphere in the room lightened up with that.

“Right, right,” Grace said, nodding. “And there’s no guarantee it’s a spirit at all. We don’t have any leads, so I figured we could at least try this.” She looked at me directly. “But what does the man in question think? I’m proposing the idea, but it’s up to you if we try it out or not.”

Should I follow my gut feeling or listen to the million cautious voices in my head? Which of the two had gotten me closer to where I wanted to be in life? When I thought of it like that, the answer was clear.

“I want to try it out,” I told them. “But anyone who feels uncomfortable shouldn’t be **** to stay.”

Sarah grinned fondly. “You have a good feeling about it, right?”

“I… think so. I can’t promise nothing bad will happen, but…”

“Good enough for me,” Sarah said. “I’m staying.”

“Same here. It was my idea, after all,” Grace said.

“I’m staying too,” Mila said. “If a spirit really did possess Oliver, I want to ask her name.”

Alice chuckled. “How do you know it’s a her?”

Mila stroked her chin with exaggerated gestures. “Well, Oliver attracts more girls than guys, right?” She laughed. “How about you, Alice?”

“I’m taking part, too. I don’t care if I end up cursed. I’m not letting you do this on your own.”

That left us with…

Noelle flinched when she felt all eyes on her. She was tense and grabbing onto her knees. “I… I don’t know. I’m… scared.”

“Then you don’t need to take part,” I told her with a smile. “We’ll tell you how it goes.”

Noelle’s eyes met mine. Her shoulders relaxed, as did her expression. She stared at me silently for a good moment before she spoke again. “No, I changed my mind. I’m staying.”

“Noelle, don’t **** yourself,” Alice told her, squeezing her hand for comfort.

The redhead smiled and shook her head. “I’m not. I was thinking that… being with Oliver makes me feel safe. I’m not the only one, right?” The girls nodded. “If so, then it’s hard to believe whatever he has is something that would harm us. T-That’s why…”

Noella blushed madly, but Sarah nodded in complete agreement. “I know what you mean. I don’t like getting esoteric, but when we have sex, it’s like I can feel a deeper connection.”

“I mean, he’s pretty big, so of course you’d feel a ‘deep connection’,” Mila said, her grin way too proud of that joke.

We all just stared at her in silence. Until Alice broke said silence by bursting out with laughter.

“D-Deep connection…!” she repeated and laughed even harder. Mila puffed out her chest proudly.

“Anyway…” Grace said, ignoring Mila’s joke and Alice’s laughter. “Let’s do it after school.” She turned to Noelle. “You two don’t have council stuff to attend to today, do you?”

Noelle shook her head. “No, we have everything in order. We can come here no problem.”

“Good. Now, would someone please splash some cold water on that woman?”

Yeah. Alice was still laughing. It was really cute.

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