Kazeyama: Shiawase Twilight 7

Kenta, as unofficial leader of the group was the second one into the schoolhouse, and being on the inside certainly wasn't any better than being on the outside. It was strange, there was nothing exactly wrong with the building. It was just dusty and covered with cobwebs and other insects that made their home in the school yet at the same time he could just feel eyes on him, they seemed to be coming from every dark corner or every shadow cast by seemingly inconspicuous objects. It was dark inside from the grime that caked on the windows.

For a moment it seemed like nobody was going to say anything nor move an inch apart from the group and that in and of itself was unnerving too. Soon everyone seemed to gain their own confidence and move off in separate directions to go explore. "Oh good, I guess Hayau-San and Arikado-San can take the front half of the first floor, Murasaki-San and Hisui-San you two can take the back half of the first floor, Nakano-San seems to be heading upstairs so we'll take the front half of the upstairs and new-san and Mori-San can take the back half of the second floor. So...I guess we can..." Kenta stopped short, holding his hand up to make sure the others were silent. From down the front hallway very distinct sounds of heavy clunking footsteps could be heard only to stop halfway down the hall and start up again walking away from the group on the second floor front half.

Kenta's eyes went wide and he gulped, "S-so, we all know where we are g-going, we should probably g-go fast..." He stepped away from the group and began following Kaelyn up the stairs only to hear a door open and slam shut somewhere else in the building. Oh good, it's active...
 
"Moritani Mafuyu, 15, and I'm AB." Finding himself once more in possession of his equilibrium, Mafuyu let Naoki go, straightening and crossing his arms over his chest to disguise a shiver. This was terrible. He was never cold. "And I'm fine. Just had to run."

He wasn't about to admit to being sick, especially not to someone he'd just met. Who was this guy, anyway? He didn't remember seeing him in class, and green hair was fairly distinctive. Who actually included their blood type in an introduction except for at, like, a group date? Maybe he should have been used to weirdness from students at Kazeyama by now, but somehow, he just wasn't. Buuuut, he apparently needed a partner, and if he'd counted heads correctly, he and Naoki were the odd ones out. "Yeah, sure, Mori-senpai. We'd better catch up, though."

He slipped past Naoki and through the doorway just in time for Kenta to start giving directions. Mafuyu bristled a little at the orders, but he honestly didn't feel up to complaining. He was already heading for the stairs when the footsteps started, and his own feet froze (no, not literally) in place. He glanced over his shoulder uncertainly, vividly remembering the events of their first day of class. He may have been part spirit himself, but that only made Mafuyu even more leery when it came to this stuff. But he didn't want to look like a dweeb in front of all of his upperclassman, so he shot Kenta a sly smile. "Come on, senpai. Don't tell me you're scared. We're not, right, Mori-senpai?"
 
Ame tensed as the sounds of footsteps, and soon after a door slamming, echoed through the dusty old hallways. This was no good, she'd be of absolutely no use if she was this nervous, she needed to keep a calmer state of mind to safely use her powers. The faint glow drew her gaze to the fireflies now hovering around Kotaro. Besides Arikado, she didn't really have much idea about the abilities of her peers, so it was certainly interesting, and the soft glow was a bit calming as well. At least they'd be able to see.

But, back to focusing on the task at hand, Ame looked down the main hall of the first floor. Suzuki had assigned them to search the back of the first floor, so that was probably the direction they needed to head. She took a deep breath then, the faster they found this, the faster they could all get out of here. "So, Kotaro-san... I guess we should go this way," he muttered as each pair of students began heading off in their directions. She stepped down the way, slowing wherever the floor cleaked, glancing into open doorways and not seeing much besides dust and old desks.
 
Naoki blinked down at the new boy or girl, Moritani-kun? Whatever it was, though the voice made it seem male. So boy. He gave a little smile. "Ah..." He was momentarily lost for words but luckily Kenta was giving directions of where he thought people should go. Front half of the second floor? At least he'd get to be up high. There should be an interesting views up there.

Naoki followed Mafuyu to the stair landing and watched the boy freeze at the sound of the foot steps that were already there. He allowed himself a deep breath and a little smile as the boy baited their fearless leader. He gave a little chuckle. "I'm shaking in my freshly shined loafers, Moritani-kun but I need the credit..." He stretched, knowing his large goggles attached to his face made him look a little otherworldly sometimes but he couldn't handle the idea of not being able to see.

"I'm going."

Naoki headed up the stairs carefully, making sure that the steps weren't going to break under him or those who came next. Safety first. He paused at the head of the stairs and looked around, alert. "All clear, Moritani-kun. " He knew he seemed casual about this whole encounter but he wasn't and his ears were perked, steps light as he walked a few feet towards the broken windows.
 
Mafuyu's coldness was likely no accident. . . but that was a story for another day.

Despite his offensive nature, the Demon did take note of how it turned his teammate into somewhat more of a sourpuss than before. Such a wet blanket. Mindlessly his left hand rose to play with the soft snow white hair which framed a face just as pale all while suppressing an annoyed sigh with relative ease. Resenting her for not loosening up would not really help at all even if he felt confident enough to handle anything which could come at them.

"I was listening. Don't worry, I'll protect you."



From the cold smoothness of his seductive tone actually came undertones of genuine concern for her safety. Perhaps it might throw her off if she picked up on them. Absentmindedly his gaze seemed to wander in response to her question at first. But in actuality the Demon was checking to see if they had gotten far enough away from the others to escape their line of sight. Yuki started to walk past her as though he had silently chosen what direction he would like to proceed in.

Yukisa would likely have no time to react against what came next from the rather unpredictable student.

Suddenly his left hand was cupping her chin with the sincere intimacy of a longtime lover. Gentle as a snowflake, his grip's strength could likely change at any moment on a whim to have the crushing power of an avalanche. But would she be repulsed with anger and fear? Right away the chilling touch would sink in to the bone as his arctic aura swelled out of it's confinement to Yuki's body. All around her the temperature dropped until her breath showed plain as day in the air itself.

"This way."

Chuckling ever so softly in his throat, lips with the softness of powder and the firmness of a glacier twisted into a smirk while remaining only about a foot away from her lips. Some amusement was obviously gained from how he had twisted answering her question around into creating this very moment. Everything around the two students, even time itself, appeared to freeze to make it stunningly surreal. For all the creepiness of this location and the air hanging heavy with the sense of lurking danger. . . Arikado appeared indifferent to it all. Right now Yuki appeared to be concerned only with coming onto Yukisa as both his eyes shimmered like crystals trying to silently tempt her into leaning in for a kiss.

"Lets go."

And just like that he was suddenly behind Yukisa, facing the other way as though he had never stopped walking in the first place. Even those last two words had actually come from behind the girl instead of where the Demon supposedly had been standing in front of her a split second ago. Right hand resting leisurely on his hip, the left was slightly out of sight covering his mouth and nose contemplatively. Quite obviously Arikado was waiting for her to catch up. Nothing about him gave off the faintest hint of guilt or nervousness. Looking over his shoulder at her with an innocent expression an eyebrow arched suspiciously as the left hand dropped away all in one motion.

"Did your brain freeze? I said this way. Don't be scared. Come on Hayau-San, let's go!"

Had he really just done all that? The touch of his fingers likely felt incredibly realistic. Even his scent lingered as evidence that something had occurred. But the arctic aura had vanished completely, leaving behind the natural atmosphere of the haunted structure. Certainly their current location had to be considered as well before accusing Arikado. Ghosts were obviously here since the doors were already opening and shutting themselves. Not to mention the sounds of footsteps that belonged to none of the living. Was it a spirit that he might have roused from a few moments ago trying to put them at odds with one another through hallucinations?
 
Floor boards creaked at the most inappropriate times, waiting specifically for Kaelyn and Kenta to pause, letting them know they weren't alone. Up on the second floor, only slivers of light managed to squeeze through cracks or filter through very dirty windows. Dust stirred with every step Kaelyn took, leading the way toward the back half of the floor. It was darker back here, less windows, less air. Maybe it was just his imagination but Kaelyn felt like the walls were moving, as if the old abandoned schoolhouse was breathing, inhaling and exhaling with excitement over its guests.

Sticking with his assumption that the talisman had to be where the supernatural energy was most abundant, Kaelyn began opening doors. The first one gave way to a classroom. The windows were completely boarded up and the young siren was only able to tell what the room held based on the shadows surrounding the desks. "There's so few to a classroom..." he muttered, taking a few steps inside the room. "Everyone must have known each other very well." He didn't know whether that would have been frightening or comforting if he were in that situation. He was terrified of attention, though perhaps having a select few understand him a little better might not actually be so bad... Perhaps.

"What do you think the talisman is?" he said to Kenta, eyes still adjusting to this new darkness. He glanced down at the desk he stood in front of and shivered a little. There were two perfect handprints etched into the dust, as if someone had been sitting at the desk and had placed their hands on the surface like an obedient student. "That's so cool," he mumbled, leaning closer to inspect the prints. "Creepy, but cool."

Really, he hadn't spoken this much to anyone other than his parents. Kenta should consider himself lucky! But maybe it was more because he felt just a little more comfortable around the boy than the rest of his classmates.
 

The boy's flippancy had thus far been enough to bring out her childishly fearful and bratty side, which she had some contrition about and was the cause of the apologetic timbre to her previous words. He seemed to have deiced where he wanted to go and was in fact heading in that chosen direction. Yukisa was fine with that, really, and she had no desire to choose the direction herself. Exhaling softly, she prepared to follow him when she heard his next words that made her stop in her tracks once more and caused her to jerk her head up in response to look at him, her stern expression mellowed by the assertion. From the taut muscles and the sour mindset, Yukisa could feel herself ease suddenly. It was as though he'd chosen entirely the correct route, where Yukisa had been expecting mocking about her inability to defend herself.

Before she could go anywhere, though, chilling visions arose and seemed to toy with her, simulate fingers holding her chin. Yukisa's eyes widened when she heard words again, breaking her from whatever spell seemed to have overcome her. Her partner seemed to have not even noticed and Yukisa closed her eyes briefly, letting the dark lashes fan across the skin that had turned surprisingly red. Biting her lip, Yukisa wondered if the vision was Yuki's doing or some deviation of her errant mind. or perhaps even a spirit. As pleasant as he seemed to be acting though, she could only guess that he had no inkling of what had transpired.

His words rang through the air, urging her to hurry and Yukisa looked around warily, unsure of what had transpired. Despite her feeling on the matter, he had said he would protect her and now, jittery and a little bit nervous, Yukisa caught up to him. Without thinking, her fingers found the cloth at his back.

"Th-thank you. I will apply my best efforts to keeping you safe as well."

Proceeding further in was already starting to make Yukisa edgy, though when she noticed her hands clenched around his clothing, she released him. Her attention was caught in a hallway that wound out of sight further back, a shimmer of red that seemed like a glinting reflection. Motioning with her hand for her partner to follow, Yukisa picked her way delicately toward it.

Dust seemed to gather at Yukisa's heels with every step that she took further away from Yuki, forming hushed clouds at her feet. The powdery substance seemed to hang in the air where it had been stirred up, creating a veil that began to hide Yukisa from Yuki's sight.
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Kenta gulped as he slowly made his way up the stairs with Kaelyn. The whole building felt alive the deeper inside they went. It was almost like something was guiding them either to their demise or the talisman Kenta couldn't be sure. He gulped as Kaelyn stepped into a classroom and he hovered at the doorway for a moment before quickly following after the other boy, his hands gripping the grip of his katana as he followed along. His gaze shifted from desk to desk, to the chalkboard then back to the desks. He was sure that a shadow just flashed across the windows but he shook his head, his eyes were still adjusting to all of the darkness after all.

"Wh-where is the talisman? I don't know..." Kenta whispered as he stepped towards the back of the classroom, leaving Kaelyn to study the desk he was standing by. "Maybe it belonged to an instructor? That would've been a useful question to ask..." He spoke a bit louder now, making sure Kaelyn could hear. As he lifted one of the desk-tops from somewhere just outside in the hallway he could hear the shrill scream of a woman followed by what he could've sworn were the sounds of something heavy dragging. His breath caught in his throat as he turned to look at the window through the door and could make out the vague figure of a man, roughly his age, his school kimono covered in blood splatters. As soon as Kenta saw it his jaw dropped and he moved backwards as quickly as he could, stumbling back and running into Kaelyn. "Th-that man, out there..." He raised a shaky finger to the back door of the classroom, "Covered in blood, carrying something behind him..."
 
The smell of mildew was thick in the air as Mafuyu shadowed Naoki up the creaking stairs. He almost plowed into the back of the older teen when he paused, forcing Mafuyu to catch the railing to keep his balance. As he did, he felt something wet under his hand, a sticky sensation that sucked his eyes straight to the banister. Predictably, it was coated in blood. Shivering for reasons other than illness, he jumped, wringing out his hand even as the gore vanished. Without a second glance he hastened after Naoki, sticking to him like glue as they progressed further into the upper floor. "What exactly are we looking for, senpai? You didn't say. How am I supposed to know if I see it?"

Sure, it would probably be kind of obvious, but he was cranky and sick and he didn't want to stay in this creepy building any longer than he had to.

He must have just been lucky today, because as he finished speaking, the unmistakable sound of a young girl crying began to echo in the hallway. Going rigid despite himself, he grabbed Naoki's arm again.
 
Naoki really didn't enjoy the supernatural and looked around the hall before starting off in the direction Kenta had sent them. "I don't know what it looks... we don't know, it's just a talisman." He could heard a faint growling and the doors rattling as they walked down the hallway. "I guess we should start the rooms, one by one..." He tested the door knob with his fingers and found it ominously chilly. He shook the handle a little making sure it wasn't locked, not that there were keyholes to indicate it had one. At least inside was better than outside with the crying sounds that didn't help his nerves.

One good push had the door swinging open into a dark room, windows covered in dust. The desks all were the same as when they'd been left, just dustier. "It probably isn't in here..." Naoki muttered to Mafuyu. "You wanna help me check the desks anyway Moritani-kun?" Naoki stepped into the room, the air chilling around him and suddenly set a whirl with gusts of wind that whistled against the desks and caught on his pants and pushed at him. A supply closet in the back of the classroom rattled and something inside moaned loudly. Naoki froze and took a deep breath. "Another one..."
 
A smile passed along his pale lips upon noticing Yukisa's touch, feeling that his mischievous nature had finally started to pay off. In fact it made the Demon start thinking up other little tricks to get her blushing again. Such a priceless look upon her face was rather enticing. Girls were certainly an interesting bunch. How they treated one truly did depend on one's approach. Mentally making a note on how to treat her, Yuki proceeded to lead her in the direction he had chosen.

Until she started to wander off.

Oh well.

Keeping up with the mortal rather easily, Arikado took note of the dust starting to rise up in an ever so slightly suspicious way. Icy blue eyes started to pick up on spectral hands veiled within the dust reaching out for Yukisa. Luckily he those demonic eyes saw into their little gambit. Save for that one kid in the class who could see ghosts Yukisa might have been caught in a deadly trap. Only that priestly boy could actually control the spirits. . . though it was likely only to a certain extent.

Reaching out he quickly grabbed Yukisa by the hand and pulled her back from the shimmering red light. Though he did not pull her harshly, it still had enough strength behind it to pull the healer right up against him. Yuki was aware that this sudden action would require some form of explanation however, to prevent her from getting angry with. Not that he was afraid. . . more that he wanted to keep her outlook on him in a more pleasant light.

"The dust is moving strangely. It was reaching out to you. Trying to consume you and separate us all at once."

Now those icy blue eyes looked down the hallway past Yukisa and saw a more humanoid form taking shape. From what he could tell this was not some young student that was covered in blood like what Kenta saw. This one was taller and resembled an older man. Possibly a teacher or a janitor. . . which meant either it was the spirit of a pervert. . . or it recognized Arikado for what he was and was attempting to protect the girl from the Ice Demon. Both of those possibilities displeased him.

"If you think about it. . . makes sense that a sprit can control dust since most of it is just dead skin."

Even if having Yukisa's body held protectively against his felt rather nice, it was not the way to protect her at all. The girl might even recognize his coldness from their little moment together earlier. Although the cold of an Ice Demon would be toodifferent than that of a ghost. So it might not occur to the healer just yet. Instead of letting her stand in front he smoothly moved her to stand behind him but still kept her close.

"Stay alert, make sure nothing sneaks up on us from behind."

Yeah my senses could detect something coming from any direction in such a cramped space. . . but it's better if she feels useful right now. Otherwise she'll get panicked. Right now I need to focus on this spirit.

Possessing the dust was certainly no small feat since it meant controlling hundreds upon thousands of particles at once. Now the roused spirit guarding the room with the strange glint was growing even closer to the pair. Around it the wind started to swirl, trying to lift up loose objects to throw at them. That told Yuki his opponent was not some weak fledgling spirit. But they were not invincible by a long shot. Arikado had faced malevolent spirits before attending Kazeyama. It came with the territory of being raised in a family of demons.

An amused shimmer took hold in his eyes right before thrusting his hand forward with the palm open and facing out.

Exploding outward from his hand came a chilling gust of wind which caused a thin frost to build in it' path. But the main blast had been directed at the dusty creature. Sure enough the blast had enough power to accomplish Arikado's goal. Down to the last particle of dust, each one had been frozen solid. Whether the spirit could control them or not. . . dust that could not move held no strength since it could not gain any momentum.

Without hesitation he spun swiftly in a one-hundred and eighty degree turn to face his partner. On his lips hung a confident smile that bordered on being an outright smirk of triumph. Now she would be impressed with his powers, right? More importantly. . . she might even be impressed with him. But all that remained to be seen. Plus they had yet to investigate the classroom and there might have been even more spirits around that had been roused.

"See Hayau-San? Everything's cool."
 
There was a greater chance that the talisman was a personal possession, whether it be a student or a teacher whom had once owned it. At least Kaelyn thought so. Following Kenta's lead, he lifted the lid of the desk he was inspecting but found nothing. He almost overlooked an intriguing development, but at the last moment it caught his eye and drew him back around to face the desk. The perfect handprints had been marred, not by Kaelyn nor the dust shifting since it was far too thick and caked on, but rather as if there had actually been hands resting on the lid when Kaelyn had lifted it. The result was a set of drag marks.

Kaelyn would have been lying if he said he wasn't a little creeped out by it, but as his heartbeat quickened so did his interest in this old school building. Once again he was about to look away when something new happened. An invisible finger began to write in the dust and Kaelyn cocked his head to the side to read it properly. "Danger? Duhhh," he muttered, reaching a hand out toward the seat. If anyone were actually sitting there, he would have made contact with their shoulder. That is, if his hand hadn't been frozen in place by a blood curdling scream.

Whirling around, Kaelyn had just enough time to react before Kenta was backing right up into him. Together, they stumbled backward against the desk, the writing ghost momentarily fleeing the former's mind. It was difficult to think about ghosts when someone like Kenta was close enough that Kaelyn could smell the faint lingering auroma of the boy's soap. Of course the most natural reaction was Kaelyn's face turning beat red, though he couldn't bring himself to remove his arms from around Kenta's waist nor could he tear his gaze from the little portion of neck exposed just above the collar of Kenta's uniform. His mind became muddled as he tried to determine exactly which emotion he was feeling, what was causing his mouth to grow suddenly dry and his stomach to feel as though a million butterflies were madly flapping about inside. Why did it suddenly feel so warm in that room? Kaelyn swallowed a nervous lump in his throat. Normally he was one to quickly stomp out emotion and settle back into a calm, but this one he was feeling at the moment was...addicting?

A dark shape moved and caught the corner of his eye, tearing his gaze away and saving him from the strange torment Kenta's closeness had caused. He glanced up, following the boy's finger as it pointed to the back door of the classroom. "What guy?" he asked, moving a hand up to gently touch Kenta's shoulder, speaking lightly over the opposite shoulder. "There's no one there. Maybe you're just letting this creepy place get to you? However, about that scream... Do you think that was one of our classmates?" Maybe they should go check up on everyone, just in case...

Though the idea seemed logical, Kaelyn felt like his feet were firmly glued to the floor and he wasn't quite sure why.
 
Ame and Kotaro made their way towards the back of the school building, walking down a wide hallway with what appeared to be old classrooms branching off from its sides. The hallway was shrouded in darkness, making it hard to see where they were going. Kotaro could barely make out the far end of the passage, situated at what seemed to be a great distance. An exit sign was placed above a pair of double doors, its light long since having gone dim.

He could hear the sounds of footsteps and slamming doors coming from other parts of the building, but he reminded himself they were most likely harmless. Most spirits disliked being disturbed without just cause, and this was probably just their reaction to the students' intrusion. The wing he and Ame were in was completely silent, though, but he could hardly take that as a good sign. The heavy feeling that had weighed down on him ever since they had entered the school was as strong as ever, and it only grew heavier as they ventured further into the disused structure. Creeping along as if they were afraid of startling something, or perhaps each other, they came to a stop outside one of the classrooms whose door stood ominously open.

Peering into the room, Kotaro blinked as his eyes struggled to adjust to the dense darkness inside. After a moment, once the light from his spirit fireflies had penetrated the dusky gloom, he could see that the room was filled with desks, some remaining in neat rows as if awaiting the arrival of students that would take their seats, others turned over and piled haphazardly on top of one another, resting in jumbled heaps near the corners of the classroom. The desks as well as the floor were covered with a thick layer of dust; a testament to all the long years they had sat undisturbed. At the front of the room, hanging midway between the floor and ceiling and spanning nearly the entire wall was a large, blank chalkboard.

Taking a few tentative steps into the room, Kotaro made his way over to the chalkboard, his firefiles trailing after him. The smell of chalk was still redolent in the air, and as he inspected closer, he saw that there were still a few small pieces lying in a shallow groove projecting from the bottom of the board. Picking up one of them, he turned it over and over with his fingers, feeling its smoothness and the powdery residue it left on them. The piece was perfectly round and dulled at both ends, another sign that no one had used this room or the chalkboard in a considerably amount of time. Placing the piece of chalk back where he had found it, Kotaro turned to explore the rest of the classroom.

He had barely taken a few steps when he heard a noise behind him. It was a soft, stoccato tapping, intermitently interrupted by a slow scraping sound. This persisted for a few tense seconds, during which Kotaro nervously had to work up the courage the turn around. It was almost as if... someone was writing on the chalkboard. But, it couldn't be that, seeing that he was the only person in the room. Not unless Ame had entered behind him while he wasn't looking and noiselessly made her way to the chalkboard. Either way, there was little denying it now. Kotaro new for certain what was making the sound, the only question left to be answered was who was responsible for it.

Abruptly pivoting on one heel, Kotaro quickly turned all the way around to face the chalkboard, the front of the room bathed in the emerald glow of the fireflies lazily orbiting his body. As he turned, he glimpsed out of the corner of his eye a piece of chalk, possibly the very same piece he had examined, fall to the floor as if dropped by an invisible hand. No one was standing there, not even Ame. Stranger still, and frightening enough to elicit a gasp from Kotaro, was that there were now a series of characters written upon the chalkboard.


"協力してください"​
 
Kenta hadn't quite realized what he had done as he backed into Kaelyn and nearly toppled both of them over the desk. He was too preoccupied with what he had just seen. His mouth hung agape as he waited for something, anything to happen. Would the blood soaked man come after him next? Or was it just a trick of the school's spirits?

When nothing happened Kenta slowly closed his mouth and looked down to realize that Kaelyn was clutching him tightly, certainly a cause for him to blush quite a bit, but he couldn't move, frozen in place by fear and the odd comfort that the other boy's arms had on him. Kenta lowered his arm and craned his head forward a bit to try and peer into the murky darkness to see if anything approached them from the door. Between Kaelyn's breath down his uniform's collar and the knowledge that the ghost might still be lurking around them a shiver ran down Kenta's spine and goosebumps covered his arms.

"I d-don't th-think this place is g-getting to me, but you m-might be right about the classmate..." Kenta nodded, pulling himself free from Kaelyn's grasp, moving cautiously towards the back of the room where he saw the bloody figure. As he stepped closer to the back door of the classroom a hand manifested itself in clear view of both boys, glowing with an unearthly orange glow. The hand curled its finger, motioning for them both to follow it. Kenta gave chase as it exited the room and went down the stairs once again. A similar hand appeared to all of the other students no matter where they were, all of them leading to a teacher's office on the first floor where the hands would disappear behind the broken door. Kenta tried to open it, being the first to arrive to find it wedged against a desk.
 
Kotaro stood there, shocked to his core and unable to speak or move no matter how hard he tried. It wasn't exactly that he was frozen with fear, though. Somehow he sensed that what he was seeing was of incredible importance, and it was as if something was holding him rooted to the spot where he stood until it fully sank into his brain.

He read the message scrawled onto the blackboard once more. Help us. It was a simple message, but it sent his mind reeling with its implications. Who was it that needed help? The obvious answer would be to assume that it was one of the spirits trapped in this place. As irrational as that sounded upon first consideration, he knew it had to be true. There were spirits in this place. Of that much he was now certain. And it made perfect sense that they would reach out to him, seeing as he was a medium. His entire purpose in life was to facilitate the communication between the worlds of the living and the dead. In fact, his main reason for coming to Kazeyama had been to learn how to hone and better use these very abilities.

Still, however, something seemed slightly off about the whole situation. The phenomenon he had witnessed seemed inconsistent with the malevolent prescence he had felt ever since coming to this place. The feelling he was getting from this particular spirit or spirits seemed much more benign. They hadn't used violence to get his attention, for one thing, and that seemed to rule out that they were the angry ghosts he had been warned he would encounter here. Instead, what he sensed was almost like desperation, a plaintive cry for help that moved him to sympathy.

Then, the apparition of a beckoning hand appeared before him just as suddenly as the episode with the chalk had transpired. This time he was not as frightened, probably due to the fact that he was already as tense as he could possibly get after experiencing what had just happened. The dismembered appendage slowly began hovering toward the door of the classroom, indicating that it wanted them to follow it.

Looking over at Ame, Kotaro gave her a solemn nod and said, "I think it's best we go along with it."

Following the hand out into the hallway and back into the main entrance of the building, they were lead outside the same office where Kenta and Kaelyn were already waiting.

"So, you both saw it too?" he asked. Seeing that Kenta was trying to push the door open with some difficulty, Kotaro decided he would offer to help. "Do you need help with that?"
 
He couldn't be sure, but Kaelyn thought he might have felt Kenta tremble in his embrace. Was that from him? Was being so close to him that uncomfortable? He hoped it wasn't the case; that he didn't make people feel nervous, Kenta especially because Kaelyn was definitely starting to warm up to that boy.

Kaelyn couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when Kenta pulled free and he let his arms drop to his sides again. He remembered the writing ghost then and was about to turn back around when he caught the other boy moving away. "What is it?" Kaelyn asked, moving in the direction of his classmate, stopping short as his question was clearly answered right before his eyes by a...

"Floating hand? Also cool," the siren mumbled with a grin across his face. However that grin disappeared as the hand took off, Kenta chasing after it without a second thought and Kaelyn was left to scramble after the both of them. "W-wait!" he called, pausing at the top of the stairs. Kenta was much faster than he was, putting far too much distance between them. He took a deep breath and lept. Using the railing for balance he landed halfway down the staircase with a loud thunk. His heart beat hard in his chest when he realized that board had almost snapped under his weight and he was quick to repeat the action and reach the bottom floor before it changed its mind.

The shortcut put him closer to Kenta and he arrived right after the other boy, bending over and holding his knees to catch his breath. When he stood up again, they were joined by two more students. If Kaelyn remembered right, they were Ame and Kotaro. He gave a small nod of acknowledgement but then reverted to his usual shy self and sank into the background to let the others decide what to do about the desk blocking the door. His power was useless against inanimate objects anyway...

Actually, he'd never thought to test that theory but he wasn't going to do it right now. His power was unstable, difficult to control, and potentially deadly. The image of blood on pavement flashed before his eyes, serving as a warning and he quickly turned his thoughts elsewhere. He glanced sideways at Ame and offered a little smile. "Did you hear the scream too?" He was glad she was alright, though he worried about the other two girls somewhere in the building.
 
Focus... keep looking and get this over with. Ame thought to herself after the bone chilling message was scrolled out on the old chalkboard. Just being in such an eerie and dark place had her a little more than nervous. More nervous than she had been about being alone with a boy. As she continued looking in the desks, most wither empty or filled with dust sheets of paper, she couldn't shake the feeling of... being watched, eyes staring daggers into the back of head, only to make her turn around and find nothing but darkness and the soft glow of Kotaro's fireflies.

Another deep breath calm herself... only to jump up and get tense all over again as a scream achoed though the corridors and classrooms. She panted once she remembered to breath. This place... it was bad for her heart, not to mention her mind. "I... I don't think the talisman is he--" she started to softly speak, but cut herself short when an orangish glow appeared in the corner of her vision. The ghostly hand gestured, clearly beckoning them to follow. That didn't sound like a good idea to her... what if it wanted to lead them into a trap? Though Kotaro didn't think the same way.

She nodded and followed the boy, though the hand didn't take the two of them of far before they found two of their classmates, Kenta and Kaelyn, already at the door of the teacher's office. She nodded as a greeting, glancing to Kenta pushing at the door before Kaelyn's voice turned her attention his way, though as usual she couldn't maintain eye contact for long. "Oh... y-yeah... it was pretty frightening," she admitted nervously. That door seemed to have something blocking it on the side... "Ah! Um, I mean... Kenta-san, Kotaro-san... I think I can..." she muttered, gesturing to the door as she stepped forward, raising her hands a little. If she could be useful here just a little bit, she didn't want to miss the chance, so she focused and mentally pushed at the door. The wood creaked and cracked as the door, and the desk inside, were pushed back into the room.
 
As the door of the supply closet juddered and opened with a sound like splintering wood, Mafuyu sidestepped a desk, putting it between him and the closet. It wouldn't do much, but maybe it would buy him some time. He hoped.

Meanwhile, something began to move in the shadows of the closet.


Its arms emerged first. One by one, pasty white hands planted knuckle-first against the rotted floorboards, bent in unnatural angles at the elbow. Hair followed, colorless and frayed, hanging like woolly curtains in front of a snakelike face and pupil-less eyes. The emaciated, deformed body was next, and the spindly legs, which it used to crawl forward toward the pair of students as it curved its mouth into a grotesque parody of a smile.

"I'm so hungry," the thing crooned, in a voice as androgynous as its figure. "Soooo huuuuungry... Soooo long. Come here..."

Blanching, Mafuyu clambered up on top of the desk he'd chosen for a barrier. It seemed like height might be a better advantage here. Meanwhile, his brain was working overtime. Crap. What do I do now? I'm not really very good in a fight. Maybe if Mori-senpai distracts it, I can help trap it? Or search the desks? His eyes turned to the older boy for any kind of indication of what Naoki was planning.


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So focused had she been on searching for the talisman and going in search of the glowing red spark that Yukisa had neglected to look around her at all and instead she had let her attention be caught by the beautiful red glow of that little light, which had bewildered her mind and seemed to strip it of thought. To herself, she had reasoned that perhaps the glow might be the artifact in question but in truth, she hadn't much questioned anything about it. Instead, she thought with some frustration in herself, she'd been led astray by what must be the spirits.

Caught and saved by the workings of her partner, Yuki, she couldn't help but chuckle at his little joke. This was especially true given her nerves, which were on edge because of the potential threat. The tactics he'd employed were cunning, causing the dust to be too heavy to float on the air. She was, though she might begrudge it a little bit, quite impressed with him and her continued pleasant expression was a testament to such.

"Sorry for wandering off like that and thank you very much. I thought I saw something, that's all..." Yukisa offered up in explanation, wearing an embarrassed half-smile, since he did not seem angry with her. "Did you see anything else of interest, or should we look around the room and move on?" She realized now that her words were deferential - she was asking him rather than asserting, but it seemed to be the more effective option and she resolved not to beat herself up for the appearance of vulnerability as she was indeed more vulnerable than he.

Turning back to the room, which still needed to be searched, she thought that she could hear whisperings on the slight breeze that stirred but could not lift the frozen dust. Things in the building were clearly not as they seemed and it was doubtless now that they were not alone here. The spirits were eyeing them whether they could be seen or not.
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Yukisa's less assertive nature actually gained her some favor with the Ice Demon. Honestly there was very little criteria which needed to be fulfilled for him to like someone. Shallow as it was, her youthful looks were one of the things which had warmed him up to her at first. First impressions of her personality had been that the girl was a stuck-up party pooping teacher's pet. But now that had started to change the more Yuki got to know her.

Unfortunately a ghostly hand decided to interrupt their little moment together.

But on the other hand it gave him an easy answer.

"I'd have to say that deserves some looking into. Wouldn't you agree, Hayau-San?"

Without wasting another word or really even waiting for a reply, Arikado took his classmate by the hand in what almost appeared to be an excited pursuit. Perhaps he was just a touch crazy? Most people didn't chase after floating hands with such enthusiasm and so little hesitation. Then again he had stopped the 'dust-ghost' with very little effort. Given Yuki's rather arrogant personality so far it would not take much to deduce that it could have gone right to his head. But didn't he prove to be deserving of such self-confidence through subduing the specter so easily?

Regardless, the two reached the classroom on the first floor quickly enough. Once there they both encountered Kenta, Kaelyn, Kotaro, and Ame who had beaten them to the classroom door. Yuki wasn't entirely sure if they had all been summoned here by the strange hand without having asked the others. . . but it was a definite possibility. Had the rest encountered 'dust-ghosts' as well? Either way Yuki was not terribly disappointed by him and Yukisanot being the first ones to arrive. Instead he took one look at the barricaded door situation and smiled mischievously when Ame took care of it rather quickly.

Almost devilishly, in fact.

"Nice work."

Words of praise had flowed out without hesitation for his roommate. For a human her gift was rather useful for multiple situations and scenarios. Rather touching to think the school had put her in the same room as him to watch over the Demon if that was in fact the reason for it. Otherwise he was just a bit too full of himself.

Stepping into the classroom before the others could, walking as though he were on some fashion runway rather than a haunted classroom, Yuki left himself seemingly wide open for whatever came next. Perhaps he was just eager to see what awaited them? Or did he sense what was inside and decide to protect them from a potentially violent spirit? Icy blue eyes darted around the room while the Demon focused on his inhuman senses to detect anything from beyond the grave.
 
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