Three-Player Mahjong

"Have you heard of three-player mahjong before?"
"Oh, I'm not referring to three-player mahjong in the conventional sense, but three-player mahjong played with four players."
"...Don't touch my forehead. I don't have a fever, and I'm thinking clearly. Haven't you heard of this before? Recently, it's a strange phenomenon that everyone is talking about in the mahjong parlors of the city. Even though there are four players in a game, you start to feel only three are playing."
"Is the invisible player an expert in playing concealed hands? Not really. According to someone who has experienced this phenomenon, even if that person makes tile calls like Chii, Pon, or Kan, the other players won't notice it immediately..."
"It's like the tiles disappear by themselves, and players only notice the tiles are gone when they realize that something is missing in the discarded tiles.
"And by the time they realize a tile call has been made, that person has usually started to Tenpai. They don't even notice when that person discards tiles from their hand or directly after drawing them. The safest approach is to wait for that person to Tsumo or for the game to become a draw."
"It stands to reason that players would look out for this after suffering a loss. The strange thing is... in that split second when they look down at their own tiles, that person's aura would disappear again. It would become so quiet in that person's spot that it seems like nobody is there..."
"I took a glance at that person's discarded tiles. In the blink of an eye, another tile appeared there! No matter how fast a person plays a tile, it shouldn't be so fast that you can't even see their hand, right? It's so strange..."
"The game slowly came to an end in that weird atmosphere. As the other three players continued to lose points, that person, or should I say, that 'shadow,' became clearer and clearer. In the end, the person only whispered something softly."
"Are you finally willing to look at me?"
"I've heard that a person who hears this 'curse' will be unlucky for a month."
"Excuse me, has anyone seen Hana Ninomiya around?" The two girls who are chatting about these supernatural events are brought back to reality by this question. One of them looks up and sees Kana Fujita's signature sweet smile.
"N-Ninomiya is... She is..."
"I think I just saw her go outside! Do you need me to get her for you?"
The two girls are both happy and nervous to be approached by a popular idol like this. Kana Fujita, who is already quite used to this situation, waves her hand and says: "It's alright. I'll look for her elsewhere since she isn't here. Thank you anyway... Oh, Hana, you're back."
Before she could finish her sentence, Hana Ninomiya enters the room from the back door of the classroom. Unlike what other people would do, Ninomiya instinctively takes a step back when she sees Kana Fujita. But Kana Fujita walks up enthusiastically and grabs her hands.
"The vice president asked us to see him. For the sake of his blood pressure, we better go there soon."
As they watch the duo leave, the two girls who were chatting about supernatural events both wonder about one thing: one girl is an idol who catches everyone's attention, whereas the other girl doesn't even seem to exist in class, and their relationship is a little peculiar...
"Good luck! We need to make the vice president sincerely admit his defeat at the mahjong table today!"
"We can't always rely on winning mahjong games against the vice president to make him let us off the hook for violating the school rules..." While Hana Ninomiya complains silently in her heart, she also admires the optimism of Kana Fujita. On second thought, the situation starts to feel ridiculous to her again. It's obvious that the vice president is only targeting her because she helped her junior Jane with some investigations, making her an accomplice at most, so why is the principal offender never there when it's time to get told off?!
However, she does enjoy playing mahjong games. She once thought that this kind of group game wasn't for her, but she only realized after sitting behind a mahjong table that the square table might be the fairest stage for her.
Even someone as transparent as her can catch everyone's attention if she finishes in first place or deals someone an impressive blow.
"Kana, when did the vice president start paying attention to my discarded tiles the last time we played?"
"Last time... I think it was after you beat him directly in the East 3?"
"In that case... today, I want him to know he can't underestimate me from the East 1."
Although being transparent is quite convenient and even a bit cunning in mahjong games, her goal is to make the mahjong table her exclusive stage.
I need to do my best to be noticed again today!
After all... who wants to be the protagonist of a supernatural story, right?
"By the way... Hana, you smile in this really creepy way whenever you win..."
"Eh? R-Really?"