Image credit: にこむらさん ( piapro . jp / M866533)


School cafeterias are well-established as being full of strange sights. They're the closest things that students get to freedom during the school day, and so by nature they're filled with odd outbursts and unexpected experiments. It's hard to look out-of-place amid the varying degrees of chaos.

It was a testament to her oddness, then, that the girl managed to turn any heads at all. But in a sea of matching school uniforms, the bright patches sewn against her black skirt and the mismatched length of her socks were an obvious beacon for curious eyes.

No one at the table of eight spared a glance at her, however. They were all reacting to a joke – with either laughter, eye-rolls, or a mix of the two. It was this group that the girl approached, speaking without an ounce of hesitation.

"Do you really want your wish to come true?"

Although soft, the small girl's voice managed to stop the group's well-worn melody in its tracks. One by one, eight pairs of eyes turned to her with only the vaguest hint of recognition.

It was Gakupo who broke the silence, shocked out of his usual instinct to flirt with any unfamiliar figure in a uniform skirt. "Look, uh … whatever your name is …"

"Ia."

"Ia. If you overheard me wishing that Nekomura-sensei would teach in her underwear … That was just a joke."

Kaito snickered, but Ia just kept looking at them with wide eyes, her expression grave as a pastor. "Well, isn't there anything you wish for? Something you'd do anything to get?"

For a few in this group – Meiko and Len in particular – this question stirred up immediate curiosity. But none of them voiced it, not yet.

Despite this, Ia nodded as if in answer. "I know a place where wishes come true," she said. "But all wishes come with a price. If you want to know more … Come find me." And with that, she walked calmly out of the lunch hall, ducking serenely to avoid a flying orange from a nearby table.

The others watched her go, utterly baffled. "Okay," Meiko said, "I'll be the one to say it … What the hell was that?"

"Who the hell was that, actually," Miku said, looking like she had bent to smell a rose and had gotten a whiff of sewage instead. "Did you see her clothes? And the way she was talking – who did she think she was?"

"I don't know," Rin said, "I mean, I know that she just transferred here a few weeks ago, she's in my second period. But I haven't gotten the chance to speak two words to her."

"They say she's a little odd," Len said quietly. "People … Y'know, make fun of her."

Kaito raised an eyebrow. "I say she's a little odd, too." Gakupo snorted in response.

Luka stared after where the girl had left, brow furrowed. "I wonder where she went …"

Gumi shrugged, eyeing the same place nervously. "I don't know. Luka, did you want the rest of my sandwich? I'm not hungry anymore."

The conversation moved on, but none of them completely forgot the strange girl or her strange question: Isn't there anything you'd wish for?

Meiko thought about a boy with a bright smile, the last time she had held him, and bright red flowers piled on top of a grave.

Len thought of the bruises hidden under his shirt, the sneers of the upperclassmen, and the worried eyes of his sister when he came home late from band practice.

Miku thought of bright lights and a microphone, and thousands of people shouting her name.

Gakupo, Luka, and Gumi all thought of nights spent alone in their bedrooms – although they did so for very different reasons.

Kaito was more amused than anything. And Rin, well – Rin was the type who always wanted to see her friends happy, and she thought they deserved a shot at whatever it was that they wanted most in this world. When she suggested that they at least ask Ia what she meant the next day, no one disagreed.

Ia was surprisingly easy to find. Sitting in the corner of the lunchroom, her table was surrounded by eight empty chairs. She looked up from her sandwich with an expectant gaze.

"I knew you'd come. Would you like to sit down?"

Meiko, never one to mince words, crossed her arms over her chest. "We'd like to know what you meant yesterday. About making our wishes come true."

Ia shook her head. "I never said that. I just said I knew a place where they could come true." She nodded at the table. "Sit down."

Begrudgingly, the group sat. Len looked over his shoulder, as if afraid of someone noticing him. He made a conscious and rather obvious effort not to sit directly next to Ia.

"It all started when I was out walking, late one night." She lowered her voice, her tone belonging to one who was conferring a great secret. "A person approached me – they had their hood up, and they had the strangest voice. It wasn't the voice of an old man or a young woman – it was somehow every age and gender all at once. They appeared almost in layers, out of the fog … And they called to me by name."

Miku scoffed, the sound more nervous than dismissive. "Do you really expect us to believe this?"

Ia locked eyes with her with a calm gaze. "Do you want to hear the story or not?" After a long moment, Miku looked away, frowning. Ia continued. "Anyways, I stopped dead in my tracks when the figure called to me. I knew it could be dangerous, but I was rooted to the spot. They approached me without a sound, and in that same, strange voice, they said, 'Ia, would you like me to grant your heart's fondest wish?'

"I didn't know what to say. The figure seemed to realize this, and they laughed. 'Oh,' they said. 'Don't think I'd give it to you for just anything. All wishes come with a price, and you must be prepared to pay it.'

"I couldn't help but ask. 'What do I have to do?' The figure laughed again."

Ia paused for a moment, looking from face to face, as if gauging their reactions. "They told me to go to the old house on Willow Street. There, my dreams could come true."

Kaito, who had been smirking all through the girl's story, suddenly turned serious. "Whoa! Okay, look, this is not something I usually say, and I get you're not from around here, but … That's not cool to joke about!"

Everyone turned to him in shock, as if woken suddenly from a deep sleep. "What are you talking about?" Rin asked.

"Didn't any of you hear what happened …? It went down … my freshman year, I think." Kaito frowned slightly.

"Well, none of us were in high school yet," Luka reminded him, "Unless you count Meiko, but she transferred here later."

Kaito scratched the back of his head, uncharacteristically solemn. "I guess, but … I would have thought it would have been big news. Considering what happened and all."

"What happened?" Gumi's voice was quiet, and she looked around after speaking as if to confirm that everyone else was wondering the same thing.

"Uh … There were these two girls. Haku and Neru. They were seniors then, I think. They went missing just before Christmas break. People … People said that they went to that house. I don't know if it was a dare, or a joke, or what, but … that was the last anyone ever saw of them."

Miku looked back at Ia with disgust. "What are you trying to pull here?"

For the first time, some surprise filtered onto Ia's features. She raised her hands, palms up. "I'm not trying to pull anything. I didn't know about the story either – I just moved here, remember?"

Gumi glanced to Rin, who shrugged.

"It still seems awful convenient," Meiko said. "Why don't you just let old ghosts rest, huh?"

"Who said they were dead?" No one had an answer for Ia. "Anyways, it could be nothing. But … I'm a little curious as to what's inside the house." At that moment, the bell rang. As people began shuffling out of the cafeteria, Ia stood. "If you are, too … Let me know. It would be better to go in a group. And since I was the one called … It would be better for you to have me, too." With that, she walked out.

The group could only sit, staring at each other as they tried to process the conversation.

"… I want to try it."

Len had been so quiet during the entire encounter, it was startling to hear his voice. But when his friends turned to him, his expression remained firm. "It's probably nothing," he said, "But why not try it? If we're all together, I'm sure it won't be that dangerous."

Rin put her hand on his shoulder. "Are you sure, Len?" He nodded. The twins often seemed to share a connection, an ability to hold an entire conversation without speaking. For a long moment as they looked into each other's eyes, that seemed to be what was happening. Then Rin nodded back. "If it's what you want … I'm coming too."

"Let's do it, then," Meiko said, as if that closed the matter entirely.

Miku scoffed. "This is ridiculous," she huffed, "But whatever, I guess I don't have anything better to do."

"I'll join in," Luka said.

"I'll go if the rest of you go," Gumi said quietly.

"Why not?" Kaito said, shrugging.

"I'm in, too," Gakupo said, right on Kaito's tail.

"It's decided, then," Len said, "We get this Ia girl and go to the house."

Miku frowned. Ia offended her sensibilities on multiple levels, mainly aesthetic ones. "Do we really have to bring her?" she asked. "She's weird."

"But she might know something more," Len said, "I mean, I'd feel better with her there."

"I agree with Len," Meiko said decisively.

Miku sighed. "Fine." She grinned rather wickedly. "At least we'll have a human shield, if we need it."

Ia was already waiting on the corner of Spruce and Willow Street when the group got there. Outside of her school uniform, she looked even stranger, her bright sweater clashing awkwardly with her neon skirt.

"She looks like a rainbow threw up on her," Miku sniffed, smoothing her own perfectly coordinated designer dress out over her knees.

Gakupo and Meiko laughed. Gumi shifted uncomfortably and Len gave Rin a rather upset glance, but neither of them spoke.

"You came," Ia said as they approached, sounding uncharacteristically surprised. Here in the bright sun, where they were expecting her, she lost a lot of her mystique. She was just a small girl with long hair and strange clothes.

"Well, yeah," Rin said. "We said we would."

Ia cocked her head to the side. "Well? What are you all going to wish for?"

Gakupo grinned, looking to Kaito. "I'm going to wish for the power to charm women." Kaito laughed and high-fived him.

"Nice, bro! I was just going to wish for an unlimited supply of ice cream."

Ia looked at them, her expression odd. "… I see." She turned. "Let's hope you keep your humor through this adventure." With that, she set off down the sidewalk, but her usual aura was ruined by her constant glances over her shoulder, to see if the others were following. They were.

The group talked amongst themselves, but they didn't have time to talk for long before Ia's voice cut through the quiet chatter. "We're here."

The house was surrounded by a large wall of trees, so it came as a surprise when you finally stumbled upon it at the end of the street. Even the next-door neighbor could live there without ever knowing the house existed. Its lawn was overgrown with wildflowers and from one of the largest trees hung a broken old swing, the seat too small for anyone but a child.

The house itself was in even worse shape. All tarnished wood and hanging shutters, the second floor looked like it collapse into the first at any moment.

"Geez," Len said. "Is that thing going to hold up?"

"Only one way to find out." Ia turned, her expression seeming strangely vulnerable. "Are you guys ready?"

"Yes," Meiko said, gaze steely.

"Yes," Miku sighed.

"Yes," Len replied.

"Yes," Rin said, putting a hand on her brother's shoulder.

"Yes," Gumi nearly whispered.

"Yes," Luka said, almost thoughtful.

"Yes," Gakupo said.

"… Yes," Kaito said, frowning up at the house like it confused him a bit.

"Then it's decided," Ia said.

There was a moment of pause while everyone looked up at the house. Miku noticed the grime and grit that covered it. Meiko thought of the creaking wood that must hold the place up. Len marveled at how no light seemed to get through the windows. Gumi stared at the broken swing, wondering where the child who must have owned it was now. Luka looked at the overgrown wildflowers, wondering how something usually so beautiful could look so grotesque.

Then Ia was starting forward, bright converse leaving tracks in the long grass, and the others followed, one by one.


So! It's been awhile, and I know this wasn't the next story I announced when I finished Rotting Camellias. Unfortunately, In Persona is a story with really fun characters, but a plot that I'm having a hard time grasping the voice of. (Come to think of it, I'm having a lot of the same problem with Going Viral.)

So now, for something completely different, here's Murderous Manor. And this story works in a pretty unique way, so listen up!

This chapter and the next chapter (scheduled to be published next Sunday) will be used to set up the scene and the plot. Then, at the end of chapter three, a character's life will be put in danger, and the rest of the characters will be given a puzzle of some sort. It will be up to you, the reader, to solve that puzzle. If you can do that within a week, the character lives. If you can't, the character dies. You'll get a chance to decide the fates of most characters, but there will be more on that next week.

I'll be publishing Chapters 2 and 3 a week apart, but after that, there will be two weeks between each chapter – one week for you guys to solve the puzzle, and one for me to write the chapter. I'll keep specific dates in the description, and a schedule can also be found on the tumblr I made for this fic specifically. It's at murderousmanor . tumblr . com (remove the spaces, obviously), and you can follow there for updates, behind the scenes stuff, and more! You can also find character profiles and similar things there. I hope you check it out!

See you all next week, and I hope you're as excited about this project as I am!