Chapter 7 - Restless Spirits Pt I

They mustn't fight any more. They cannot. Otherwise...

Otherwise... we will...

It cannot be helped...

We are at our limit...

I wake up. Swirling purple mist fades away, and the lanterns too. There is a faint sound of wind chimes...

Seems like more than one spirit visiting me today. ... perhaps two or more spirits speaking to each other above me?

I dress and sit down for breakfast. Tsume smiles at me, his regular facial expression. I smile back, but it doesn't feel right. There's something heavy sitting in the pit of my stomach- I can barely eat my rice. Even the miso soup, Miya's specialty, tastes bland. I force myself to finish my food, however, and get up.

Tsume eyes me carefully from the rim of his rice bowl.

"I'm just going to go pray at the shrine- I'll catch up with you at school, okay, Tsume?" I smile, grabbing my bag and quickly exiting the house, maintaining a fast walk towards the shrine despite it being in the opposite direction to school.

As soon as I enter the shrine grounds, passing under the faded Torii gates, my soul calms. My breath relaxes. I feel the heavy pit in my stomach ease its impact as I rummage in my pocket and pull out a couple of small coins, tossing them to the donation box before clasping my hands together in prayer.

Those who watch over me... Grandpa... Asura... their faces cross my mind and I feel my lips press together more.

It's been hard losing you... I'm lost without your guidance... please...

I raise my eyes to the bells, reaching out to shake the cords.

Please guide me well. Tell me what I am to do...

The bell rings for roll call. Everyone should be sitting in their seats. However, as I round the corner, Class 1-A is standing outside of their classroom, peering in through their windows. Atsu-senpai, taller than most of his classmates except for a select few, looks concerned as he gazes into the classroom. One girl, the friend of the confessor the other day, is sobbing loudly, consoled by her two friends.

"I... I'm telling you, I was hearing voices! They were whispering terrible, terrible things! And then I saw hands coming out of the walls! I was so scared...!"

Murmurs ripple through the class. People are whispering. Some feeding the panic, others thinking it is nonsense. Yet no one seems brave enough to step into the classroom. The girl who is crying turns her face towards Atsu-senpai, their class representative. Between heaving sobs, she asks,

"You... you believe me, right, Atsu-senpai?"

His eyes are glossy, and only come back to their sharp self when he hears his name, emerging from whatever reverie he had immersed himself in. He opens his mouth, but he appears to be lost for words, biting his lip and turning away slightly.

A teacher rounds the bend and, upon seeing the hysteria of the girl on the floor surrounded by her concerned looking classmates, takes a deep breath to compose himself before announcing that their roll call be in the school courtyard.

"I'll leave you to pack up everything and you can join us later, Mr. Tsukiyama." He says, turning on his heel and walking off. Everyone begins to shuffle after him, leaving me and Atsu-senpai.

Or so I thought.

"What do you make of this?" Tsume's voice comes directly behind me to my right. I jump a bit, startled, whirling around to see him. His gaze lingers in Atsu-senpai's direction before shooting towards the classroom.

"Shouldn't you two be in roll call now?" Comes his reply.

"That's not the answer I wanted from my question. Now, what do you think." It isn't a question anymore.

Silence. Then Atsu-senpai speaks.

"Angry spirits." Tsume snorts.

"I didn't expect you of all people to say that. Guess miracles do happen."

"Then what does she think it is?" The auburn-haired male leans his weight on one leg, hands tucking into his pockets.

I almost miss his asking me as his voice is drowning, fading as several whispers emanating from the classroom grow larger. Too many voices overlapping each other. I can only make out select words from different tones.

Rage. Fear. Sadness. No peace. Make the fighting... finish...

"... Atsu-senpai is correct." I say, still listening to the spirits. The classroom is awash with purple mist. The lanterns are once again there, but the paper exterior is ripped. No wind chimes like those spiRits this morning.

Angry spirits. Why have they awoken? And here, in the Academy?

"... There you go. I guess the mutt does have a brain." Tsume mutters.

"What did you just say to me, you little snake?" Atsu-senpai bristles, clearly hearing him.

"Do you want me to repeat it again?"

"I don't want you to. I dare you to."

The window closest to us begins to bang, like someone is slapping a hand against it without restraint. The voices howl and screech, moaning together.

Stop... make it stop...

The banging continues in several spots, the windows rattling and shaking in protest.

"The spirits are telling you to stop fighting, so could you please listen to them?" I yell out, forgetting to control my volume. The two had already stopped, however. I could feel their unease at the noise of the windows from unseeable hands. I feel my legs beginning to step away from the windows, eyes scanning for any signs of the glass about to break.

"You... hear them?" Tsume asks tentatively, cautiously. I can hear the surprise underlying his voice. I sense Atsu-senpai's shock too, as the banging ceases almost immediately when they stopped arguing.

The voices simmer down from their crescendo. The howling stops, the spirits continuing their mingled conversations.

Pain... anguish... stop it all... only...

If only...

The voices chime together mournfully.

If only... if only... oh... if only...

"They're... sad. They speak about something that could stop these negative emotions... if only something happened. But they seem so hopeless about it."

Yes yes... child... you hear us well... then please... we must bestow upon you an unfair task.

Please... for their sake and ours.. don't let them fight...

Only when there is peace... can we truly be free...

We will be watching... may you be guided well.

The purple swirls disappear. The torn lanterns fade away.

"What did they say?" Atsu-senpai asks. I turn slowly around to face the both of them. My gaze shifts from Atsu-senpai to Tsume, Tsume to Atsu-senpai. There is no longer the heavy pit in my stomach, rather, it's replaced with nervousness. I have a very distinct feeling they will not like what they are going to hear.

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"No way." The two of them speak in unison, turning their heads away from each other like sulking children. They even both have their arms crossed, and upon seeing each other do the same move, they turn away even more.

I can't believe what I'm seeing.

Despite their appearances as mature young adults, they really aren't keeping up said appearance. Perhaps when no one is around, they

"Whilst this may pacify the spirits as you say, I do not think it will be as simple as you say." Tsume says disparagingly. Atsu-senpai shoots him a glare.

"Small boy, large words." He mutters. Tsume's eyebrow twitches.

"So, girl, you're telling me that we gotta get along in order for the spirits to... what? Not scare a girl half to death? The spirits aren't asking for much, are they?"

"I—" I begin to say but Tsume cuts in, smirking at the taller male.

"I am relatively surprised you got that through that head of yours."

"Tsume—!" My mouth opens in shock.

"One more word about my head and you'll find yours through that window." Atsu-senpai's fist is slowly raising, balled so tightly I can almost see veins popping out. He tilts his head back slightly, staring down the white haired male over the tip of his nose.

"Atsu-senpai—!" Not you too! Not after what I just said! I would at least have thought you would feel something about this, being a fighter, right?

Nooooo.... nooo....

A voice beneath me wails. The voice hurts my ears as a hand grabs my ankle, several shooting to the roof and interlinking with each other, plunging my sight into the darkness.

I knew it... it was going to happen...

Another cries out.

... But I never thought... not this quickly...

"What the- hey! What's going on?!" Atsu-senpai shouts, but his voice sounds so faraway.

"Let go of my foot! You damn snake-"

"I am not holding onto you, you mongrel. Something appears to be dragging us downward—" Tsume, trying to sound calm, is unable to hide his panic nor urgency.

I feel pressure around my ankles, working slowly upward. My legs, thighs, waist, chest and neck all feel like something is pressing against them. It's so hard to breathe, and I cannot see nor move.

Then suddenly, the pressure releases. I feel my body drop to the floor as I gasp for breath, coughing. I'm sitting on cold, smooth floor, mist swirling around my legs. I raise my head, looking around. The world is dark. This doesn't look like any place in the Academy at all.

So where are we?

The voices of the spirits are whispering, moaning, chanting, yet they do not echo. Tsume and Atsu-senpai are to my right and left respectively, already on their feet. Their backs are turned to me, and they say nothing.

"... Tsume? ... Atsu-senpai-?"

I get to my feet slowly, dusting myself off.

"What..." Tsume is the first to speak. His voice trembles. I've not heard such wobbles before. His hands are shaking at his side, though his fists are closed as if trying to stifle their motion.

"...What is that?"

As I turn around to face what they're facing, my eyes widen. The breath in my lungs seem to freeze. I'm surprised my legs don't buckle and I fall again, then again they're frozen with fear. Fear is what's keeping me standing.

The voices raise in volume, collectively howling despair, and Atsu-senpai clasps a hand over his ear. Tsume winces as the voices vibrate the ground beneath us. In front of us is a large slimy black mass which towers over us, arms wiggling outward from it. Purple mist swirls around it, but it is darker in colour, and flickers like flames. Its mouth opens, drooling black slime, and several eyes open halfway.

"You..." It moans. Tsume and Atsu-senpai seem to be able to hear it.

"You... so it is you..." The arms flail this way and that, splattering black ooze over the smooth floor. The eyes roll in several different directions.

"Disgusting..." Tsume murmurs to himself.

"You... made us like this!!!!" The mass howls. The ooze leaks from its eyes and flows into its body, becoming one and an endless cycle.

"Horrible, horrible! How dare you! ...You will pay!! Pay!!! Pay with your souls! Pay with your life!!" The hands, wiggling like worms, merge together to form one large arm with sharp fingernails. It pulls back into its body, then like an arrow firing from a taut bow string, the long arm shoots straight for us, claws ready to strike.