Thank you for your interest in this new SPR cases, and I hope you enjoy!
- Forever Yours, Mana -
-Piece One-
"She's dead."
The whisper was said loud enough to be heard by the entire class. And just like that, as if it were talk of the weather, the news was quickly dismissed. Not a single student in the classroom felt remorse upon hearing it. Instead, a ripple of laughter spread out to all of them - save one long-haired girl. Her fingers curled into lightly-held fists, eyes fixed on a loose piece of string hanging off the end of her knee-length skirt.
"Good riddance." A boy said with spite. "It's not like she ever had any friends or anything."
"She was creepy," The bearer of the news murmured back.
Some heads turned towards the emotionless girl with morbid curiosity, but Sayuri remained detached. Her face reflected none of the panic that had her mind in turmoil.
It was almost cruel how life continued on so normally after a death. The boys seated next to the windows were folding paper airplanes and racing them against each other; the girls up front were discussing outfits in a fashion magazine - laughing, talking, whispering. The corner desk at the back of the classroom was the only one without a backpack hanging from the side of it. Not a single flower had been left on it for mourning. No one cared.
Sakura High tried to avoid as much publicity and scandals as possible. A suicide would only taint the prestigious school's reputation and there was no reason to mourn the death of a girl who'd brought the end to herself. More than anything, Haruka Mana was considered a disgrace.
The chattering hushed as the substitute teacher entered, her shoes clicking as she made her way to the front center of the class. She was young in appearance and had a gentle countenance that was difficult to read. Without returning the student's curious glances, the substitute wrote her name on the blackboard with precise strokes.
Minamoto Aya
The teacher faced the class and smiled a thin smile. "I'll be substituting as your homeroom teacher for the next trimester. I am looking forward to be working with you."
All 29 students replied with the proper greeting. Then roll call began. One thing after another, she was quick to act and was precise in her movements. Sato's voice was as crisp as her exterior, light yet demanding.
"Honda."
"Present."
"Yukino."
"Yes."
Sayuri let her shoulders sag the slightest bit. Maybe she would leave school during lunch and skip the last few classes of the day. It was a new term but she wasn't in the mood to study and knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything. The way the other students were looking at her, expecting her to burst out in tears at any moment, was getting under her skin.
"Inoue."
"Here."
Yes, she would go home. As roll call continued, the classroom's temperature dropped the slightest bit. Sayuri shivered as a strange feeling crept across her back. Something familiar. She almost turned around to look. Instead, she turned to her left to see that all the windows were all shut.
"Haruka."
As the ringing of the last syllable hung in the air, an eerie silence suddenly filled the classroom. Minamoto looked up. Each student stared back at her, searching her eyes to figure out if she was playing a sick joke on them. But with a slightly confused look, Minamoto looked back down at her list and said: "Haruka Mana."
Whispering girls glanced uneasily at their new teacher. Eyes shifted and fingers fidgeted. No one dared look back to the desk they knew couldn't be occupied. Didn't the substitute teacher know? Was she not informed by the principal before her duties?
"Is she deaf?" Mrs. Minamoto asked a boy in the front row. He looked away, frowning and leaning back in his seat.
"Haruka Mana, I called your name and I expect an answer. At least raise your head!"
Everyone turned around in union to stare at the desk at the very left-hand corner. Empty.
Sayuri raised her hand and said quite plainly, "Sato-sensei, Haruka Mana is dead."
This time, there was no laughter; only the chilled silence of raw fear.
..x..
"Good morning Naru! Sorry I'm a bit late…Did you hear about the haunted factory on the news the other day? Maybe if we called and offered our assistance – " Mai's cheerful words were suddenly cut off when she saw the purple and blue patterns of an especially beautiful kimono. She knew the moment she saw Masako's sweet smile that whatever the medium was about to say would not be good news.
"Ah, Mai. We were just about to leave for lunch. What perfect timing."
That fake-sweet tone annoyed her. It really did. Mai didn't need to ask who 'we' were, because it was Naru's arm Masako was clinging to. Mai bit her lip when she saw the time - 10 A.M. He's only been in the office for three hours. What was he thinking?
She tried to keep irritation from her voice. "Ah, Naru. I thought that a to-be client was coming in today. Besides, don't you think it's a bit early for lunch?"
Naru looked at Mai with an unreadable expression and held her eyes. Her countenance had always been too easy to read, and she was now clearly angry. But he well couldn't decline Masako's invitation now and the young man didn't feel like having another meaningless argument so soon into the day.
"He will be coming later this afternoon at 3 PM," Naru said, and Mai frowned in reply. "I'll be back well before then, so -"
Naru was interrupted by a timid knock on the door. All three heads turned to the sound. Masako loosened her grip on Naru's arm with a small 'oh' as he took a step forward, glancing at his watch. The knock persisted and Mai called out, asking the person to please come in.
The door opened slowly. A middle-aged man walked into the office, glancing uneasily at Mai, Masako and Naru, clearly uncertain of his entrance. He kept the door open with one hand in case he would be asked to leave. "Is this the SPR office? I called in yesterday and made an appointment…"
"Why yes!" Mai exclaimed, glad for whatever reason that had made the man come at such a conveniently earlier time. "Please come in. I'm Taniyama Mai, Nar- Ah, Shibuya Kazuya's assistant."
Naru glanced warningly at Mai before facing the man. "Yamamoto-san? You're here much earlier than you'd scheduled."
Yamamoto closed the door. He nodded and clasped his hands together as he bent over in a small bow. "And I apologize for the inconvenience, but my case is rather urgent and I hoped that I could talk to you as soon as possible. If you were to accept, then maybe you could come to our school…today?"
There was short pause. Mai wondered if Naru would turn him away for the time being; he wasn't lenient in situations like these. But maybe it was the tone the man was using that Naru nodded and motioned towards the couches with less of an irritated attitude that he normally would have expressed.
"Please take a seat. My assistant will bring you tea. Hara-san, you may stay for the questioning. We will have to schedule our outing for another time."
"I understand." Masako said, trying to hold back her disappointment. Just when she'd finally been able to get him out of his seat….The medium pouted as Mai passed by cheerfully with a tray of tea.
"Well then Yamamoto-san," Naru began, opening a file from his desk and briefly reviewing the information written on the sheets of paper. "Please describe your situation."
Yamamoto rested both hands on his knees and took a breath. "As you know, I am the principal of Sakura High School. A girl named Haruka Mana recently committed suicide by jumping off a west campus building." He paused to take a sip of the beverage that was put in front of him. His frown didn't ease as the minutes passed. "Well after that, many disturbing instances have occurred. Abnormal situations. The students in the class which Mana had been in are all behaving eerily. There is no right way to describe them. If you ask a question, they won't answer right away…just give you an unnerving stare…." Throughout his ramble, Yamamoto would not look anyone in the eyes. His thoughts were a worried mess, Naru realized, due to stress.
He decided to take over.
"Yamamoto-san, were there any instances that could have been directly related to Haruka Mana's death?"
"Yes, yes…" The older man rubbed his face and pressed a fist against his upper lip in thought. "The students' odd behavior began after a new substitute arrived. Aya Minamoto-san came to stay for half a year. But on her first day she…" Yamamoto licked his lips as he searched for the right words to use. "She brought disturbances to the class."
"What happened?" Mai questioned before Naru could, pressing the tray tighter to her chest.
"Minamoto-san was taking roll when she started speaking to Mana, as if the girl was sitting in her seat. The problem is, she's dead!" Yamamoto let out a harsh sound that was half a chuckle. "At least, this was what I was told. It's been two weeks since then and I would have left the incident alone if it weren't for the strange things that started happening afterward."
The principal sat on the edge of the coach and raised a hand as he began to explain, looking morbidly excited, yet terrified to tell the tale.
"Students outside the main class have been seeing images linking to Haruka Mana. Many of the female students claim that the bathrooms are haunted and that they feel a strange presence every now and then when they are alone on school grounds. In class 2-B, the one where Mana had been in, all the students are been harassed by their friends. They've become an isolated group, being told that it was their fault that this is all happening. I'm not sure - but one by one, the students have been targeted."
Up until then, Naru's face had shown no emotion. But at the word 'targeted' he tensed up the slightest bit.
"They've been targeted, and the injuries have been getting worse and worse. At this rate…" Yamamoto left it at that and sat back. There was a short pause as Naru tapped one end of his pen on his pad.
"Shibuya-san, I take my job very seriously. I do not wish for my students to get any more injured. Please accept this case and cleanse Haruka-san's spirit!"
Later That Afternoon
"…and that's what happened." Mai finished with a nod. She passed out cups of tea and sat down in her seat.
Each SPR member, minus Lin, went off with their own thoughts. They'd all just arrived one by one after Mai had called them in. Now they were all awaiting Naru's verdict in the room next to his office.
"Another high school case, huh?" Takigawa said lazily, biting into his muffin. "This is gonna be fun."
"So what did Naru say to the principal after that?" Ayako asked.
Mai shook her head. "Strangely, he said that he wanted to think about it. Normally he would have accepted right away, or rejected it."
Takigawa took a sip of his tea and leaned against the couch, letting his head hang off the edge. "I personally hope that Naru rejects it."
Everyone looked surprised.
"Why Takigawa-san?" John asked.
"Well, schools are especially creepy!"
Mai looked up with a tilt of her head. "Creepier than mansions? No way! I hope Naru accepts. The principal looked really desperate and the case sounded like it shouldn't be left alone."
"That's true." Ayako looked straight at Takigawa. "At least some of us are mature enough to not let their fears get in the way of work."
Takigawa jerked back to a sitting position and pointed a finger at the smirking miko. "Hey! I only meant that-"
The door to the room opened and Naru walked out of his office, not surprised to see all of the other SPR members seated on the couches.
"Yo, Naru-chan." Takigawa said with a grin, forgetting his earlier irritation. "So? What were you doing in there?"
"Just some research." Naru replied.
"As usual." Mai muttered. Then with a louder voice, she asked: "Would you like some tea Naru?"
The teen shook his head. "That's not why I came out. I've decided to accept the case. Madoka will be acquiring some information for us as well, but she won't be coming to the school with us."
Takigawa groaned and Mai clapped her hands together.
"When will be going to visit the school Shibuya-san?" John asked softly.
"Tomorrow morning. I will provide everyone with the exact time and directions shortly. Mai, store up the equipment into the van with Lin. He's already started."
"Okay!"
With that, Naru walked back into his office. After Mai left the room, the other members could hear the sound of Naru's voice through the door.
"We accept." Naru said. "My team will come over first thing tomorrow morning by 7 o'clock. Yes, and please prepare a spare room where we will be able to conduct our research and questioning…and please make sure that Aya Minamoto-san will be there."
With that, the SPR were sent to Sakura High School for the first case of the summer.
..x..
One more girl had fallen over during lunch period. The fifth victim ever since Minamoto had seen Mana in her seat two weeks ago.
Maybe this end would be unavoidable.
Maybe if she'd stopped Mana before she could have thrown herself off the edge, none of the things that were going to occur would come to pass.
As Sayuri regretted, she did not realize then that this was exactly how Mana wanted things to be.
To Be Continued…
End Note: Well, this will have a bit of a different feel from my other stories. Shorter chapters for one. I hope you liked it so far. Please review with any thoughts, compliments and/or critiques so that I may hope to improve for you all. And go to my profile to friend me on Facebook! Tell me you're from here so I don't ignore you =)