Chapter 004: Human Ghost

Human Ghost ( 人間霊 "Ningenrei" ) is the fourth chapter of the Kekkaishi Manga written and illustrated by Yellow Tanabe

Summary
Yoshimori rushes to Karasumori Academy with Madarao, worried that the pâtissier ghost may be the disturbance he detected earlier. Instead, he finds the ghost cheerfully waiting for him just inside the school gate. The ghost has changed his mind about his circumstances: he enjoys being a ghost now, and has even less desire to pass on. Tokine and Hakubi arrive next, and while Tokine is hesitant about leaving the ghost unattended, she is more concerned about the malicious presence still inside the school, and hurries off to deal with it. To prevent the ghost from being eaten by Ayakashi, Yoshimori orders him to come inside as well. As they venture into the school, Yoshimori describes how things tend to transform when exposed to Karasumori's power, and the ghost recalls talking with a gloomy, older man earlier in the day. Yoshimori instantly realizes that the man is a second ghost.

Tokine and Hakubi track the ghost's scent to a classroom, where they find Masano Murakami, a man with an enormous scissor claw in place of his right hand. Yoshimori, Madarao, and the pâtissier ghost arrive a moment later. Masano threatens to attack, angered by his depressing lot in life, but Yoshimori destroys his arm by collapsing a kekkai around it. Masano quickly regenerates his arm, so Yoshimori rapidly destroys his body until only the head is left. Yoshimori forces Masano outside of the school, and asks if nothing good happened in his life. Masano recalls a daughter that he misses, and Yoshimori encourages him to go see her, giving him directions to Yumeko Hananokoji's office. He warns Masano to never return to Karasumori or he will be destroyed, and Masano flees in fear.

Several days later, Yoshimori is putting the finishing touches on his latest candy castle, and is congratulated by the pâtissier ghost, who is still hanging around. They are both chased out of the house by Shigemori, who tries to destroy the ghost.

Characters (in order of appearance)

 * Yoshimori Sumimura
 * Pâtissier Ghost
 * Madarao
 * Tokine Yukimura
 * Hakubi
 * Masano Murakami
 * Shigemori Sumimura