CHAPTER 7
"…ck".
"Oh…" William said with an unsure tone of voice. "Um… May I ask that you keep the cursing to a minimum? I am technically a kid."
"No no no no… Why?" Noriko groaned. "I've enough to worry about when I'm awake, I don't need this to become a freaking recurring nightmare."
"I apologise if you are so uncomfortable as to consider your visit a 'nightmare'," William replied, a hint of strain to his voice as the chair turned a corner, presumably having some difficulty making the wheels comply due to his size. "Regardless of your feelings however, the Master has summoned you, and therefore, you must be brought to him."
"Oh, shut it runt," Noriko snapped, her uncomfortable feeling of unease, along with the tight bounds keeping her on the chair wearing down what little temper she had. "And could you knock it off with all the 'Master' crap, what the hell kind of weirdo makes a little kid call him tha-"
Noriko was cut off as suddenly looming ahead of her was the familiar doors which once more opened up to reveal a bright, blinding light. Once more, Noriko was forced to close her eyes to protect them as they passed over the threshold.
"Welcome back Trickster," the long one, Igor was his name, greeted her with his strange high pitched voice. "I know it has not been long since your last visit, but things have progressed to a point where I feel we shall not be cut short this time."
"Good, then maybe this time I can get some answers," Noriko growled. "What the hell is this, some sorta nightmare? Am I going mad? Are you supposed to be some manifestation of my past traumas?"
"Hmhmhmhm," Igor chuckled. "Nothing so malign, indeed. This is the Velvet Room. It is realm that exists between that of reality and that of dreams. It's form is dictated by the state of the heart of they that are granted access to it."
"Okay?" Noriko said, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes as she felt the beginnings of a headache coming on. "So you're telling me this is some sort of… other world? And you've dragged me here while I'm asleep? Oh god, neither of you are actually weird snake demon ladies like Kitami showed me in that book are you?"
"Umm…" a very confused looking William responded. "No? Not that I'm aware."
"It is plain to see that you are confused, as well you should be," Igor said, his toothy grin never shifting from his face. "I shall endeavour to allay any fears or doubts you may have."
"Okay?" Noriko sighed, taking a few breaths to try and calm her heart, which had begun to beat a sharp tempo in her chest.
"This, as I have stated, is the Velvet Room. It exists between dream and reality, mind and matter. It is a place created so that we, as host and attendant, may aid you in a time of struggle that resides in your near future."
"So… you're like…" Noriko said, trying to wrap her mind around what he was saying. "Never mind, continue."
"You, are the Trickster. One who has been granted, or shall be, a power most unique. However, you must discover this power on your own. Once you have, it is our duty to aid you in nurturing and developing that power, so that you may resist the evil that threatens the world with its malevolent will."
"Right…" Noriko replied, wishing that her hands were free so that she could massage her temples. "You'll forgive me if this is a little difficult to process… It sounds like the plot to some anime or game or something."
"Of course," Igor said reassuringly(? His high-pitched voice didn't really convey tone that well). "You may take your time to come to understand this place, and your fate. For now however…"
As if on cue, the clock on his desk began to beep once again.
"Our time is once more up," Igor said, shifting slightly in his seat. "When next we meet, I feel, you shall have come to understand much more than I could explain in words. William, please return her to her room."
"Of course Master," the boy replied, already dragging over the familiar gas bottle.
Whether through confusion, or an odd sense of trust in these strange people, Noriko relaxed as much as the chair could allow and let the invisible fumes drag her down into a comfortable darkness once again.
4/10
Noriko woke with a slight start as her alarm once more rang out with the volume of a screaming demon, blinking rapidly as she sat up trying to get her bearing. Yawning and stretching before rubbing her eyes, Noriko sighed to herself as Igor's words ran over and over in her head.
"It is our duty to aid you in nurturing and developing that power, so that you may resist the evil that threatens the world with its malevolent will."
'God, it sounds crazy,' she thought to herself as she changed into her uniform. 'And crazier still is for some reason… I feel like it's the truth. Hoo boy, to much weird stuff in one go, my brain's gonna fry at this rate.'
And with that, Noriko ran her hands through her hair and, giving herself a once over and a sigh in the mirror, she went downstairs to breakfast.
Noriko spent most of the day staring off into the distance, running through the strange and startling events she'd been through recently. No matter how many times she tried to work out some form of regular explanation barring... well, insanity, she just couldn't.
'There was that weirdo at the train station...'
"Noriko..."
'Then this weird recurring dream with this dude who's nose could poke peoples eyes out...'
"Hey Noriko."
'...and that weird assistant kid of his.'
"YO, NORIKO!"
"Huh?" she exclaimed, shocked out of her reverie by the sudden shout next to her ear. "Sorry, what were we talking about?"
"Nothing, I was just saying hello," Yoshi, the source of her thoughts interruption, said with a concerned look. "You okay? You were just staring off like you were having some sorta flashback or something."
"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay," she replied, massaging her neck as she looked around at the now emptied room. "I just uh... had a bad night sleep, that's all."
"Alright then," he said, face lighting back up with his usual grin. "So, lunch at the usual spot then?"
"As much as I'd love to put up with your antics some more, Yoshi," Yuzuri sighed, "I've got to head down to the gym though. They're having a meet for the team to discuss the plan for the year."
"Team, what team?" Noriko questioned, a look of surprise spreading over her face as she glanced at Yuzuri.
"Oh, umm... I'm a part of the schools gymnastics team," Yuzuri replied, blushing slightly. "That's the reason I had that bruise you mentioned when we first talked."
"Ooohhh. Well, that's pretty cool," Noriko said. "Good luck, and try not to break anything, huh?"
Chuckling a little, Yuzuri made her way out of the room with her bag hoisted over one shoulder. "I'll try," she called back as she left the room.
"Soooooooo," Yoshi said expectantly. "Shall you be joining me my dear?"
"But of course I shall darling," Noriko simpered in response. Grabbing her wrapped up sandwich, they made their way out of the room and down the empty corridor.
Turning onto the stairs to the ground floor, Noriko glanced around her. The school seemed mostly deserted, only the occasional pair of students or patrolling teacher making an appearance. Judging by the sound of the murmurs and chatter, most of the students spend their lunches either in their or their friends classrooms, or outside the building enjoying the sun. What luck or turn of fate caused her to lean over the banister of the stairs as they made their way down them, Noriko didn't know. But what she saw was a familiar figure glancing furtively back and forth at the foot of the stairs leading to the first floor corridor.
"Wait a sec," she whispered, grabbing hold of Yoshi's arm.
"Oooowww, careful Ms Vice-grip," he replied, taking the hint to keep his voice down despite his complaint.
"Whats-her-name, uuhhhh," Noriko muttered in explanation, "Shina! She's at the bottom of the stairs."
"So?" Yoshi questioned, rubbing the sore spot where Noriko had grabbed him. "She goes to this school ya know."
"Just- can we just keep an eye on her for a couple seconds? See what she's up to?"
"And here was you saying you didn't want to make waves," he responded, a mischievous grin starting to spread over his face. "Alright, let's do it."
Their silent vigil on the stairway was soon rewarded, as the ex-cheerleader soon seemed to reassure herself that no one was around, and quietly stepped into the corridor. Carefully making their way down the steps, trying to keep her in sight, the pair watched as she turned off to the right and out of sight. Reaching the entrance to the corridor and peeking around the corner, all Noriko's suspicions and fears were confirmed, as they witnessed Shina taking down one of the lines of yellow tape and ducking into the closed bathroom.
"What the hell is she doing?" Yoshi muttered.
"I dunno, but I'm gonna find out," Noriko said, sneaking out onto the corridor and over to the door.
"Wait up," Yoshi whispered, following behind her. "I'm not allowed in there, it's a girls room."
"Yoshi, no one's allowed in there, remember," Noriko sighed. "I don't think your gender is really the issue here."
And with that last exchange, the pair reluctantly ducked into the dimly lit and already foul smelling room.
The room was dark, a lack of windows and non-functioning lights forcing the entrants to pause to allow their eyes a moment to adjust. Stepping forward carefully, Noriko could feel her heart beating so hard she was sure it could be heard. It wasn't only the typical fear of disobeying rules, or entering a dark unknown place... There was something more behind it too. She could sense that same instinctual feeling of wrongness as well, the same sort she felt whenever that baby-faced thing was around. Though her first thought was to call out to Shina, she could feel the words die in her throat, nothing more than a shuddering exhale passing her lips. The cold was surely completely natural, it's a dark room with no exterior walls, that hasn't been used in ages. She almost screamed as a hand fall on her shoulder. Turning whilst raising her fist, Yoshi lifted his hands out in apology, mouthing 'Sorry'.
The pair continued deeper into the room, before hearing someone muttering and the sound of a door rattling in its frame. A few steps more, and they could just make out the single cubicle, it's door just coming free at Shina's two-handed yank.
"Shina!" Noriko forcibly whispered.
Shina, caught by surprise, whirled around, a look of wide-eyed terror on her face, though she quickly seemed to calm upon sighting the source of the noise.
"What are you doing here huh?" she muttered, the same bitchy tone of voice as when Noriko had confronted her earlier still as strong as ever. "You trying to sabotage my reentry ceremony to the cheer squad?"
"What, no!" Noriko replied incredulously. "I'm here to make sure you don't end up doing something stupid, no clue why, guess I'm just nice that way."
"We're not allowed in here, and if you think someone like Sugure will take you back if you break rules like thi-"
"SHUT UP," Shina snapped, a wild look suddenly appearing in her eyes. "Sugure's all I have. That squad is all I have. If I'm not with them, I'm nothing. Just some loser girl who couldn't make the cut."
"Oh my god, this is brilliant, keep it up," a voice came from behind Noriko and Yoshi. Turning, they saw standing behind them, recording them all with her phone, Mashita Sugure.
"I know you, loser girl... and you joker boy..." she said in a sweet voice that belied the venom of her face, pointing at Shina and Yoshi respectfully. "But I don't know your face, which prolly means you're Noriko, right?"
Noriko didn't reply. She couldn't. She was far too busy attempting to control her temper. This girl clearly had done horrible things to Shina and the others on the cheer squad to promote a reaction like she'd had when Yoshi had cast aspersions on Sugure, and it was clear that her purpose here was to enact some sort of further torture on her victim. However, Noriko knew that this girl was related to the principal. Hence, she could not walk up to her, punch her overly tanned face in, snap her phone into pieces and return to class. She'd love to, but knew she couldn't.
"My uncle told me about you," Sugure continued, a clearly mocking tone of fake sympathy tinging her voice. "Such a poor tragic past. Look out for her, if you see her, won't you Sugar. Sure unc, I will. Hehehe, well Shina and Yoshiko, if you guys breath a word of this, this video placing all of you in this bathroom goes public. You'll have detentions till the end of the year. And you Noriko-chan... you and I are gonna be best friends, or the whole school finds out what happened to your dear old mom an-"
Noriko knew many things about this girl. She was extremely manipulative. She seemed to force people into stressful or painful situations just for her own amusement. She was the niece of the principal, many teachers supposedly doted on her, and she was probably a very dangerous person to get on the bad side of.
Sugure knew very few things about Noriko. She was aware of her past. She knew she was living with her grandfather. And the two big things that she didn't know that she was about to learn, was that she had some anger issues, and a mean right hook.
"SUGURE!" Shina squealed as she collapsed to the ground, clutching her nose.
"Get! Off! Me! You SKANK!" was her thanks as Sugure shakily made her way back to her feet, before dismissing Shina like a dog. "YOU! OUT!"
Cowed, the submissive girl scurried away. As soon as she was gone, Sugure turned, face twisted into an ugly sneer of livid rage and hatred.
"Listen here you little BITCH," she growled. "You'd better hope you didn't break my nose, cause if you did, I'm not gonna settle with having you expelled. I'll file charges, I'll make sure that a school won't touch you with a ten foot pole for as long as you live, I'll have you locked up for assault mark my words."
As if to emphasise her words, the room itself seemed to be getting colder and colder as she grew angrier and angrier. At the end of her tirade, she flung both her hands outward, and the one holding her nose flecked out droplets of blood, which had begun to ooze from her nostril. Noriko, already regretting her rash actions, felt her eyes being drawn by the flying drops of scarlet, seeing it impact the surface of a mirror.
"What are you looking at huh?" Sugure said, turning to stare at the mirror as well. Turning back to her, Noriko saw the rage slowly drain from her face.
"Sugure?" Yoshi said, a look of curious anxiety on his face. "Listen, Noriko didn't really mean it, okay. Whatever you want, me and her will do it, just don't report us please."
"Do you guys not... see that?" Sugure muttered, backing away from the mirror, a look of slowly dawning fear on her face.
"See what? Are you okay?" Noriko asked, glancing between Sugure and her reflection. The feeling of wrongness had returned tenfold, like a thousand nails were scrapping across hundreds of blackboards.
Noriko wasn't sure what happened next. The best she could describe it was, Sugure turned to her with a look of fear, her eyes which had just a second ago had viewed her as a slug unworthy of touching her now silently begging for help with a horror she didn't understand. Then, everything just seemed to turn sideways, and suddenly, she was falling. The last thing she saw before the world span away into darkness, was a familiar baby-faced man closing the door of the bathroom behind them.