CHAPTER 5

4/8

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A hand swings in a blur and comes crashing down on top of the alarm clock.

"Mmmph," says the owner of said hand, before gently easing herself back into the covers. Before jumping straight up out of bed.

"Oh shit," Noriko blurted out, desperately trying to untangle herself from her duvet as she hopped over to the wardrobe to put on her uniform.

"Not gonna be late, not gonna be late…" she muttered, balancing on one foot to pull on the long socks. Brushing her hair back away from her eyes, she stepped back to admire herself in the mirror for a moment. The uniform was a simple enough affair, plain black skirt, a white shirt, and a black blazer with a blue trim to its lining.

"Alright," Noriko said to herself, fixing a smile onto her face. "Let's do this."


Another delicious breakfast consumed and a far too short, nerve wracking car ride later, and she was standing before the gates of the school. The gates were ornate, iron-work affairs, topped by a wooden sign with the school's name, "Shinjutsu Academy", painted in a dark blue. Looking about, she could see dozens of cliques and groups of students milling around, chatting, running about. Wishing she had pockets to hide her hands in, Noriko walked through the gates and let the sea of voices flow over her for a moment.

"Oh come on Ei, you've gotta gimme a hint at least…" a petite girl was saying to an older slouched boy who was shaking his head as he climbed the steps.

"So ummm… my friend was wondering…" another girl was awkwardly muttering to a tanned senior. "Are you like… still going out with Arakawa-san?"

'Guess high schools always the same' Noriko thought to herself as she began to make her way up the steps... before someone ran into her going full tilt from behind.

"Woah!" she exclaimed, managing to stay on her feet. "What the hell was that?" she called after the retreating figure, but all she received in return was a glimpse of their face, screwed up and in tears.

"Wow Mashita-senpai," someone giggled behind her. "That bitch seriously thought you and she were friends."

'Oh great, bullies. Don't turn around Noriko, don't draw attention, just keep walking.'

"And who are you?" came another voice from behind her.

'Shit, too late! Alright, play it cool. You've just gotta act tough enough they don't think you're easy to mess with and not too tough that they hold a grudge. Easy, right?'

Slowly, Noriko began to turn on her heel, preparing to throw away all hope she had of a quiet and peaceful year…

"HEY!" yet another voice called from the door. Surprised, Noriko whipped her head back to face the voices owner, whose appearance made her do a double take.

Standing at the top of the stairs was a small girl, barely past 5 feet in height, with a smooth round face, pale almost to the point of being pure white, wearing the school's uniform, along with sunglasses and a wide brimmed sunhat. Looking at her gazing down on them in that getup, Noriko was immediately put in mind of some 800-year-old vampire loli from an anime. As the girl adjusted her glasses slightly, Noriko caught a glimpse of her eyes, which seemed to be almost pink or red.

"There's less than a minute to class, and none of your uniforms are within the dress code," the strange girl continued. "I'd suggest you all get moving."

"Whatever, Doll Monitor," came the voice which Noriko assumed to be the leader of the group behind her. Not wanting or caring to see how this interaction went, she quickly climbed the last few steps, passed the weird vampire/doll girl, and made it into the school.

'That both did and didn't go as bad as it could have I'd say.'

Continuing on into the school, Noriko quickly glanced over the little scrap of paper she'd scribbled on once she'd gotten back into the house the night before.

'Second floor, first corridor on the left, teachers' lounge. Teacher's name is… Miss Unmei Masayume.'

Scrunching the paper into a ball, Noriko navigated her way through the crowded corridors towards the stairs on the other end of the building.

Squeezing her way through the press of people, Noriko passed by a glasses-wearing girl who appeared to be having her bag checked by a male teacher.

"I apologise for the inconvenience, but I'm afraid we had to be sure," the teacher was saying, handing the bag back over. "The school has a strict no animals policy."

"I understand sir," the girl murmured. "I promise, I won't bring Kuro to school anymore. Not after last year."

"Good girl. Now get to class, first bell's about to go."

Passing by a pair of girls whispering, Noriko finally made it to the stairs and began the climb to the floor above.


The second floor seemed to be a lot easier to navigate. Looking at the signs topping the few doors she passed, it seemed as though the lower floors had the classrooms whilst this one contained the offices and the school library. Turning onto the corridor she was looking for, it was easy enough to spot the sign for the teacher's lounge. Stepping up and knocking, Noriko was greeted by an elderly bespectacled man.

"Yes dear? How may I help?" he said.

"I um… I'm meant to meet with my homeroom teacher here. Miss Masayume."

"Oh…" the man replied, blood draining from face as his eyes widened noticeably. "Well… she's eh… she's here waiting for you."

"Okay..?" she said, as the man opened the door for her and stood aside to let her in. Passing him, she saw the only other occupants in the room were two teachers standing against one wall who seemed to be having a whispered conversation, and on the other end of the room, a woman whose face was planted firmly into her desk, quite clearly asleep.

"That's her there. You can sit here at my desk if you'd like to wait," the elderly teacher said.

"Doesn't she have to start the school year with the class?" Noriko said.

"Technically yes. But to be honest, she needs the sleep. And if you knew her, you'd be pretty scared to try and prod her awake," he whispered, chuckling softly. "I'm Mister Sunada. I teach science here. What's your name?"

"Oh, I'm Orio Noriko, I just transferred," she said, extending her hand.

"Oh…" he replied, his face morphing into an all too familiar expression. "I'm so sorry for…"

"Yeah, thanks, it's almost time for class right," Noriko quickly interrupted, getting up from her seat and moving passed the surprised teacher towards the sleeping woman. "Excuse me, Miss Masayume? I'm Orio Noriko."

Almost immediately Noriko saw the woman's eyes shoot wide open, and with a slow, drawn out groan that seemed to come from the very depths of her soul, she slowly raised her head from her desk.

"Mph… cn hlp you?" she said.

"Um… sorry what?" Noriko replied. With a heavy sigh, the teacher levered herself up out of her seat and fixed her iron-grey eyes on Noriko with a stare that she could feel burying itself through her skull like a pair of red-hot needles of mild annoyance.

"Can I help you?" she repeated.

"Oh, um… my name is Orio Noriko miss," she quickly stated, fighting the sudden urge to bow. "I was told by the principal to meet you here before class starts today."

"Why are you here so earl…" the teacher stopped when a clock on the wall caught her eye. "What time is it!?"

"It's… it's 8 am," Noriko said, beginning to feel a bit frightened of this strange woman. 'This is a teacher?'

Jumping back as the teacher shot out of her seat, Noriko suddenly felt her arm almost be popped out of its socket as the woman rushed past her, dragging her along at a great speed. The few students still making their ways into their respective rooms seemed to shrink away in fear as her captor sped through the corridors and skidded to a halt outside on of the classes with a plate labelled 2-B upon it just as the bell began to ring loudly.

Releasing the death grip on Noriko's forearm, the teacher turned to her, patting her down and straightening her uniform.

"Anyone asks, we were delayed because I was showing you around the school building and we lost track of time," she said in a voice that brokered no argument. "Understand?"

"Yes Miss," Noriko replied, trying to catch her breath.

"Good. Now…" With that she slid open the door and called out to the class.

"Alright all of you, sit down. Hey, Soku, if you throw that paper, you're following it into the bin. Good boy. Now, class, I'm sure most of you know me, but for those who do not, I am Masayume Unmei. You may call me Masayume-sensei. I will be teaching history, as well as acting as your homeroom teacher. Now, I'm aware I have a certain reputation amongst the rumour mongers of the school as some sorta monster, but I want each and every one of you to know that I'm available to help you with anything you ask. Within reason."

Noriko supressed a giggle as she heard one of the students mutter a distinct 'why's she looking at me when she says that?". At the noise, Masayume-sensei turned to her and beckoned her to step further into the room. Obliging, the class began to mutter amongst themselves as they got their first good look at her.

"She's the new girl huh? She's pretty cute."

"Wonder what she's like?"

"Oh shit, the teacher's staring, shh shh."

"Quiet down now," said the teacher, motioning towards Noriko once again. "This is Orio Noriko. She'll be attending for this year while she stays with her grandfather. Is there anything you'd like to say to the class Noriko?"

"Uh…"

She'd seriously and jokingly thought of some witty or smart greeting for this moment, but now she was stood in front of her new classmates all that came to mind was a simple, "Hi there. I hope we get along."

"Thank you Noriko. Now, your seat should be… There it is, over by the wall there," Masayume-sensei said, pointing the empty desk out for her. Walking over, Noriko glanced over to her only neighbour at the desk next to hers. It was a girl, who had her near-black dark brown hair in a tight bun. She was wearing the schools uniform with the blazer unbuttoned. She had a light-tan or olive tone to her skin, and more interestingly, something that looked distinctly like a bruise on her left knee. Looking up, the two of them made eye contact, the girl having a confused expression in her in her sharp, olive-coloured eyes.

"Sorry, I just noticed your knee," Noriko muttered. "You alright? Does it hurt?"

"Oh…" came the reply. "It's um… alright. It was my fault. Well, not like I meant for it to… I mean it was an accident… I fell."

"Ah," Noriko said in response, before the pair of them eased into an awkward silence and turned back to pay attention to the teacher who'd been going over some announcements.

"Finally, I don't know why I have to announce this, but for the last time the first-floor ladies toilets are not off limits because they're haunted. They are broken. I'm not going to stop you from going in there if you want to, but if you flush any of those toilets, the school is going to stink for weeks, so on your own head be it."

"Now, concerning homeroom. After we take roll, you're free to do pretty much anything so long as you're quiet. When we get closer to the end of year exams however, you will study. Any and all questions you have I will help you with. If you need to find me outside of class, you can look either in the teachers' lounge or the library. And, of course, as I'm sure you all know, this is the only class of the day, but you'll be starting proper classes from tomorrow on, and I expect you all to work hard, understood?"

As if in reply to her question, the bell gave out a loud shrill ring. As everyone began to pack away their things and Noriko stretched her arms up over her head, she heard a bright voice of a boy to her left.

"Who's your new friend Yuzu? Ain't ya gonna introduce us?" he said. Turning her head, Noriko looked at the source of this question. The boy was a tanned fellow, with an easy smile that reached his dark yellow eyes. His face was framed by bangs of his silver hair, the majority of which was tied up in a samurai bun. Unlike the girl, the apparent Yuzu, who seemed very lithe in figure, he seemed a bit more toned and athletic.

"She's not my friend Yoshi," 'Yuzu' replied with a sigh. "We've literally only exchanged a sentence each."

"Ah, that's no excuse," the boy, Yoshi continued. Stepping around then sitting on the girls desk, he held out his hand to Noriko. "The names Arashi Yoshiki, but please, call me Yoshi."

"Um… I'm Orio Noriko," she replied, taking his hand and being subjected to a shake just as energetic as the person giving it. "The teacher sort of… introduced me though."

"Nothing like a face to face introduction though," Yoshi smiled. "The girl here who won't stop talking is Kitam…"

"HEY," the girl said, pulling Yoshi backwards by his ear. "Surely I get to decide whether or not to introduce myself huh?"

"Owowowowow okay," Yoshi chuckled out. "Are you going to then?"

"Hmmmmm," she murmured, as though she was considering whether or not she would. Letting go of the boys ear, she turned to Noriko and extended her hand as well. "I'm Kitami Yuzuri. It's a pleasure to meet you. I apologise for this idiot."

"No problem," Noriko replied.

'These two are certainly an odd couple, but they seem nice at least."

"Anyway, your name's Orio?" Yoshi continued. "That mean your grandad is old Daisuke?"

"Yeah, he is," Noriko responded, surprised. "Do you know him?"

"Not a lot, we just chat every so often," came the answer. "I work at the local Triple 7, which is pretty much the only convenience store outside of the big city, so a lot of the older people around here use it for their weekly shop."

"But anyway, enough about me," he said, turning to face Kitami. "What do you think Kita?"

"You'd have to be way more specific than that?" she answered.

"About the toilet ghost," he said, sighing as if out of frustration. "The one that broke all the toilets and almost scared that girl to death. I know you're into that sorta stuff."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Kitami said, looking away like she was trying to avoid eye contact. "Now if you don't mind, I'm going to do some studying in the library."

"Study what? We haven't had any real classes yet!?" Yoshi called after her retreating back.

"What's all this about a toilet ghost?" Noriko asked, her curiosity piqued.

"Oooo, you don't know the story?" Yoshi said with a smile. "Allow me to tell you the tale."

"As with most schools, certain clubs are allowed to enter the school during weekends and holidays. One of these clubs were the illustrious and well-known dancing club. The brightest and best of these stars was the beauty Nise Namae. Her style looks and grace on the dance floor had everyone certain she'd a dazzling future as an idol ahead of her. But, one fateful day, she found herself in the first-floor ladies room, alone, whilst the rest of the club were practicing in the hall."

While Yoshi had been telling the story, he had slowly leaned in towards Noriko, and lowered his voice as well, so Noriko was forced to lean in to hear him. She could feel the tension of the situation, could almost see the dark corridors, the dripping of the taps…

"The first-floor ladies is strange, in that unlike all the other toilets in the school, the mirrors above the taps nearest the door, have a set of mirrors on the wall opposite them. And as she washed her hands, she looked up at her reflection. And there, in that tunnel of reflection on reflection, she saw a long, pale line… like a worm or a snake, 3 or 4 reflections down. It snaked and slid up over her shoulder. And as she leaned forward, to try and get a closer look, heart beating so fast and loud you could hear it if you were standing next to her… She felt it fall down onto her… OOF!"

As he reached the finale of his story, Yoshi had sneaked his arm up and flopped it down onto Noriko's shoulder. Noriko, caught up in his words, hand panicked, and with a yelp, had punched him dead on the nose.

"Sorry, sorry, shit, are you okay?" she said, trying to see what damage she'd done.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," he replied, tenderly prodding his nose. "Jeez, you've got an arm on you. What the hell do you eat?"

"I've always been pretty strong," Noriko laughed nervously. "And I've a bit of a habit of lashing out when I get scared. I got banned from a haunted house two years ago cause I punched a guy dressed as a clown in the nuts."

"Huh…" Yoshi sighed. "Did they honk?"

"Did they…" Noriko repeated, before her mind made the connection and the two of them burst out laughing.

"Good one," she continued, giggling. "Anyway, this story. What happened to the girl?"

"Oh, right," Yoshi said, shaking his head a little. "Well, a couple of girls from the dance club found her after hearing her scream. She was a wreck when they got to her, and when the school examined the toilet to find out if someone had pranked her, they eventually decided that she'd just imagined it. She ended up moving though, and she remained adamant that she'd felt something touch her. Some of the school board had an idea that maybe it was some gas messing with her head cause the old first-floor toilets empty into a tank rather than the newer one's that go straight into the sewers. They got a plumber in, and he said if anyone flushes through those pipes that they'd end up bursting, so they closed the toilets to the students. People keep sneaking in to try and see the ghost though, that's probably why Masayume-sensei made that announcement."

"Anyway, you should probably be getting home," he declared, standing up and stretching out his arms. Looking around the room, Noriko realised that they were the only students still in the room.

"Fair enough," she agreed. "Hey, uh…"

"What is it?" he asked, looking up from his bag that he was checking through.

"Thanks for coming over and talking to me," she said. "It's pretty hard being the new girl in a school, and you seem really nice."

"Sure," he replied with what Noriko was beginning to realise was his usual grin. "Nothing more important than being friendly in my opinion."

"Guess so," Noriko said. "Anyway, see you tomorrow I guess?"

Packing what few bits and pieces she'd taken out of her bag back in, Noriko hefted it up onto her shoulder and strolled out into the corridor. Unlike the room, the corridors still had many students, chatting away in groups. Joining the general flow and heading down the stairs, Noriko sighed to herself.

'Well then. I guess that didn't go too bad at all,' she thought to herself.

Reaching the first floor, a shiver came over her, almost like a chill breeze had blown down her back. Turning as she continued, expecting Yoshi to have blown on her back to scare her again or something, what she was met with was a view of a door, slightly ajar as if opened by a draft, and within which was a familiar babyface, adorned with bowler hat. Freezing as the feeling of wrongness filled every fibre of her body once again, Noriko stared as this strange man maintained eye-contact with his (its?) startling iron-grey eyes.

Noriko was snapped out of this trance when a first-year boy pushed past her, breaking her view of the door. Blinking rapidly and shaking the uncomfortable feeling from her body, she looked up again to she the door, closed with some line of yellow tape across it.

'Okay, note to self… If things are going well, don't think about it, don't say it, just let it be.'

With one last glance to be sure, Noriko turned and walked out of the building, met Daisuke outside, apologised for her lateness, and enjoyed a nice chat on the ride home.


Author's note

What's this!? An update!? For this fic!?

I'm the author and I thought this was dead.

Jokes aside, I've been exceedingly busy recently, and all of a sudden everything that I was working on finished up all at once literally yesterday, so I looked around for something to do, and I noticed the half finished Frankensteinian mess of a chapter that I'd been working on. So I'll hopefully be doing more regular updates now, depending on what work around the house I end up doing.

Btw, submissions are now closed for all OC's. I shall be creating my own characters to fill the two gaps in the cast we have remaining, and thus, I have a full cast.