Her First Case

End of October, making Tsukino 15...a high school girl came to SPR with a case that Naru coldly rejected.

Apparently last month, around the time Masako asked them for a job, she and her friends played Kokkuri-san. And one of them started acting strange. So Naru recommended a psychiatrist and stomach-pumping since friend in question ate sand from the track field.

Tsukino couldn't believe it either. It was one of the rare times she talked but spoke only when the girl was gone.

'...I didn't feel anything weird from her at all.' she said. 'Sensei said that if clients really have supernatural experience or was near someone or something that has, it would cling to them so they know what case to and not to take. That friend probably has a mental case of depression, trying to find a way to die or something and pass it off as Kokkuri Curse.'

'Exactly.' Naru agreed.

'Jeez, at least Naru could have rejected her nicely...' Mai grumbled. 'But...die?' she questioned, disturbed.

'I don't waste time on what's not work-related.' was all Naru said. 'Students in Tokyo, particularly heavy education-oriented families strongly pressure children to the point of snapping. Its a lead cause in suicide, along with bullying.' he said as that last word made their new member flinch. 'Its easy to tell apart which student has a lousy pressured life to those with carefree lives by looking in a classroom alone, especially when test results are in.'

That really worried Mai.

A month later, a heavily-costumed Bou-san came in on a Sunday. Naru, Mai and Tsukino stared incredulously at his flamboyant appearance. Tsukino even had her poached egg halfway into her mouth from being stunned by his gaudy appearance with the yolk about to drip so she hurriedly shoved it in.

'He~llo Naru-chan!' he greeted cheerfully. 'I should've known to come better on a sunday. The city's filled to capacity I can hardly walk! Ah Mai-chan, Ice Coffee please.' he said to a still-bewildered-looking Mai.

'...is there a costume party?' Tsukino wondered aloud since he was dressed like a cowboy.

'Ahaha, iya iya, I'm in a rock band Tsuki-chan.' Bou-san grinned.

'Ehh?! But aren't you a monk?' Mai sputtered out as she made Iced Coffee, but had Tsukino chill it for her faster since she made the coffee hot first before she can put ice in.

'Yeah, but I'm the singer in a back-up band.' said Bou-san. 'Being a Monk is just my side-job.' he told her. 'There was a show I got called on for the last minute since they got a dude who can't even sing a note.' he said, sticking a pinky into his right ear while griping.

'...you're weird for a monk.' Tsukino pointed out, expecting something different.

'Ahaha, you're expecting a baldy monk in robes aren't you.' Bou-san twitched with a strained smile. 'I'm from Mt. Koya with lots of clients, my family runs a temple and my dad wants me to take over but I have to shave my head and music CDs not allowed?! No way!' he moaned. 'My musician job is my real job and I have my own band but our lead singer isn't very good.' he sighed. 'Due to my background, people come to me asking for help so its now a side job. Ironically it earns more...' he said, sweatdropping. 'But anyways, I came here for Naru-chan's expertise.'

'So, what brought you here today?' Naru asked him, sighing

'One of the fans of my band is a high school girl.' said Bou-san. 'According to her, there's a cursed desk in her classroom.' this got their attention. 'Everyone who sat on that desk in the past three months or so has been in a kind of accident, four so far. And all of them are in the same type of accident.' he said darkly.

'Didn't we have the highest number of accidents in Japan's history this year?' Naru asked him.

'I knew you were going to say that, but these weren't common accidents.' Bou-san quipped. 'All four victims were dragged in the same manner, arm stuck between train doors.' Mai freaked out at that. 'Since September, this class has changed seats three times. Every student who sat there has an accident. One of them got off lightly but the other three are worse-off. Luckily none of them are killed, but don't you find that strange?' he asked them.

'And that's not all...this girl's teacher used an Art Prep Room for his office. He started saying he was seeing a ghost in there and soon after, he fainted and was admitted to a hospital.' Bou-san continued. 'He's been coughing up blood and doctors are at a loss.'

'That's strange!' Mai burst out.

'Isn't it? There's more horror stories about mysterious illnesses and accidents at her school.' said Bou-san. 'She came to me if I can solve the mystery.'

'...does that school happen to be Yuasa High School?' Tsukino piped up.

'Eh? How'd you guess?'

'We have three more people come to us today.' said Mai, showing three filled Complaint Forms and smacking them on the table. 'Naru turned them all down because Tsuki-chan confirmed they were all faking but yours might be the real deal.'

'Its easy to fake things if so many stuff happen all at once.' said Tsukino. 'You gotta separate what's worth it and not so boss turned them down and fakers have been here so far so we didn't take them seriously. Probably wants an excuse to skip school.'

'Heee...'

'Um...' a man came in. He has a weary presence to him as well as a certain aura stuck to him. 'May I have a word with you?' he asked, showing his business card. Yuasa High School's principal, Mikami Noboru. 'Lately there are a lot of strange things happening at my school and I was wondering if you can help us out?'

Naru accepted the job after listening to the man's tale...

'Naru accepted so that means...' Mai asked Tsukino.

'He's been around his school where the bad things are...he's not cursed but by going where the incidents are, it clung to him but he's safe.'

'Whoa whoa, what're you talking about?' Bou-san asked, baffled.

'Tsukino can sort out liars and those telling the truth.' said Naru. 'Granted, I can do it out of experience, but she uses her powers to do so.'

'Heee...a psychic lie-detector, not just a pyro?'

'She's also possessing a high-degree of Intuition we had her tested, all passed perfectly. We tried with cards, one black marble in a jar of whites, blindfolded darts, the whole works.' said Mai. 'It was incredible.'

xxx

At school, Monday...Mikami-kochou had provided them a room with a guide. But Naru set Tsukino loose with Bou-san for safety while Naru and Mai dealt with...setting up base.

But what Bou-san didn't expect was Tsukino deliberately going into rooms, even when classes are ongoing that Bou-san had to excuse themselves first to the teachers, introducing themselves as SPR Members.

'Hey Tsukino-chan, classes are still ongoing!' Bou-san sputtered as she made a beeline for an empty desk...and the student supposed to sit there would rather sit on the floor! "This must be the cursed desk..." he thought as Tsukino got under the desk...and got back out holding a Hitogata with tape on it and she was a bit uncomfortable that she has many eyes on her due to her past.

'Bou-san, exorcise this desk and bless the kid who's unlucky to be assigned to this seat.' said Tsukino. 'He doesn't have much time left after school and he'll probably be the next to be dragged by a train if this curse is still following the patterns you were told about.' she said. 'But while the first four got away with wounds and dislocation in progressive worse degree...this one will live with amputation next.' she pointed at the boy sitting on the floor.

The whole class gasped and student in question freaked out.

'P-Please help me!' the boy wailed.

'Bloody hell, someone's using Hitogata to curse people?!' Bou-san swore, storming over to take the hitogata from the girl. 'We better find more of these! This is Enmi!'

'Enmi?' Tsukino asked him. She wasn't that far in lessons yet...

'Yeah, its a black spell curse. I'm not gonna say the specifics on how its done just so people won't do it too, but the creator prays out of hatred after creating the spell.' said Bou-san, looking furious. 'What they want to happen to the hated WILL happen. Let's just be glad this person is weak, because if they're strong, those four students are dead by now.' he said to the horrified class while looking at the hitogata. 'The hatred is strong in this hitogata but the power is weak, which is a relief but it grows stronger the more victims because of the hate in it so its not far-fetched that the fifth victim will lose an arm. Number four sounds like 'death' if spoken differently so after victim#4, it'll get worse till the last one dies.'

He exorcised on the spot. Both the desk, the hitogata and the boy who's the next victim but to be safe, he was given an ofuda.

'She probably did it.'

'Yeah, she did.'

'Horrible!'

'...she?' Tsukino blinked.

'Kasai Chiaki.' said a female student anxiously. 'She claims to be a psychokinetic, bending spoons...so a teacher forced her to perform on stage...but she couldn't do it so she yelled, 'I'll curse you all to death!' and since then, many things happened in this school.'

'...looks like we got a lead.' Bou-san mused. 'We better see the li'l lady for ourselves. We'll know who's the magic-user and who isn't. Let's go find more of these things, Tsuki-chan. Boss ain't gonna be happy about this.'

'Un.' and the two ran out of the room.

xxx

Naru looked at the hitogata Tsukino found.

'Not even lunch time yet for student availability and you already scored.' Mai gasped out as Naru wasn't too happy, coming to the same conclusion Bou-san did upon looking at it.

'Well, looks like an interview is no longer needed.' Naru commented. 'All we need to do, is find all this and find the one who curses to stop this person.' he said. 'Let's clean up the school before lunch break. Tsukino, you lead.' he said. 'But the spirits have already been summoned even if we burn these hitogatas so we'll have to exorcise the whole school as well.'

'OK.'

And so, with Tsukino as a bloodhound, they invaded more ongoing classes, and found more hitogatas it was enough to fill a plastic bag.

By lunch time, the school is clean, they burned it and threw the ashes in the nearby river. The last one has an active spirit in it that even Tsukino who can't see ghosts could see it that Bou-san had to get rid of it before they got the hitogata in the manhole.

'Well, that's that but I'm gonna need help...we got a lot of spirits summoned by the hitogata, one for each person in this freaking school!' Bou-san fumed as he looked around. 'I can't do it all by myself!' he complained.

So Naru called for reinforcements while Tsukino accompanied Mai to find the curser in secret. Then afterward, Mai will take Tsukino home for her safety and let the stronger ones handle the culprit. They would do the rest.

Tsukino pointed at a female teacher with short wavy hair who was 'all wrong' to her in the biology classroom.

'Are they gonna be OK?' Tsukino worried for the others.

'They will be, Tsuki-chan.' Mai smiled as they left school. 'They got actual offensive abilities.'

'I do too.' Tsukino sulked.

'Er, in terms of exorcising summoned bad ghosts. Yours is for battle so it can't do much against these bad ghosts.' said Mai kindly. 'Maybe when Lin-san teaches you how.'

'Oh...'

The conclusion was that the culprit, Ubusuna Kei-sensei was a Gellerini Child from years back and knows parapsychology very well. When Uri Geller came to Japan 20 years ago, kids started to follow him, claiming to be able to bend spoons, Ubusuna-sensei one of them. This caused them to be in the paparazzi spotlight. But when Geller's popularity fell, Psychic Bashing began. Most of the Gellerini were accused of cheating, some admitted and some forced to say they were cheating.

When Kasai Chiaki showed the same talent, the teacher sympathized with her especially when teachers began to attack them and they were ostracized. The final straw was the morning assembly...that became the motive. Sadly, Kasai was used as a scapegoat when she said that she would curse them all. She became the excuse so while the attention was on her, the teacher could freely curse everybody who attacked them both as revenge and proof the paranormal existed...who cares if anybody dies!

That, disturbed them to a great degree.

That wasn't the end of it...