Chapter 9 - Shikikan-Sama

Friday, October 16th, 2020

Emily took the stairs of the psych building two at a time as she checked her watch. She had a minute left, but her pace slowed as she remembered that this wasn't high school, and she wouldn't get in hot water just for being tardy. There was no chiming bell to fear anymore. She grasped the door handle of the classroom, and took a few seconds to steady her breathing and fix her composure before entering the room.

The general psychology classroom had only 25 students or so, mainly due to it being an honors class variant. Emily scanned the room, and found that there were a few open seats scattered around it. A few faces turned to see the new arrival, but no one said anything as the professor was still unpacking her bag in the front of the room. Eventually, Emily found who she was looking for on the right side of the class. Naka's jet black hair could stand him out in a crowd as he always used a ton of product in it to make it slick. However, she was disappointed to find that the only open seat near the exchange student was one behind and one to the right of him. She set her things down as the lecture began, and began to take notes.

The notes kept up at a quick pace, but Emily found herself unable to focus on the lecture. Why hasn't he noticed me yet? He knew I would be in this class. She thought, thumping her pencil against the desk in annoyance. She tried to focus back on her notebook, but eventually the urge became too much. Screw it, I can copy the notes later.

"Naka." She whispered to him. No response. "Psst. Hey, Naka." She could see him tense up a little, but he didn't turn to face her. The clock on the wall above his head showed that only ten minutes had passed since the class started.

Is he ignoring me on purpose? She frowned. "It's me, Emily." She said, louder this time. A few students turned their heads at the noise, but Naka only made a quick glance at her before turning back around. From what she saw, he looked distraught.

"Please hold your conversation until the end of the course." The professor said in a boilerplate monotone voice, adjusting her glasses. Emily gave up and decided to wait until class got out to talk to him. She began to scribble down more notes when she noticed some movement from near Naka's seat, almost like a soft glow. Sneaking a glance, Emily's mouth nearly fell open in surprise.

Standing next to Naka was a tall woman with long black hair that flowed outwards from two red and white bows, trailing down to her legs. She wore the mask of a golden phoenix to obstruct her face, along with a fiery red silk dress adorned with feathers and eastern decorations and a golden trim. Her black leggings peeked over Naka's desk as the woman stretched her arms out, emphasizing her quite ample chest. Emily tore her gaze from the woman's assets as she noticed no one else in the room had even acknowledged her arrival, as if she had appeared out of thin air.

Wait a minute, is she a... no, she couldn't be. But no one else sees her... Does Naka have a stand? Emily freaked out in her mind. However, her train of thought was interrupted by her noticing that the mysterious woman was staring directly at her, a soulless gaze came from beneath the mask. The two met each other's gazes as Emily nearly panicked.

She's gonna know I can see her! Thinking quickly, Emily squinted at, and past, the beaked mask before raising her watch. She then pretended to adjust the watch's time. Her watch was already correct, so she just pressed enough buttons to reset it back to the time it was already set to. The figure seemed confused at this, and turned around to see the clock on the wall that she was obstructing. Turning back to face Emily, the woman only saw her double checking her watch was correct before returning to her notes. To Emily's horror, however, the tenacious figure began to slowly approach her desk. Her black heels had an odd hinged metal protrusion on the back of them that swayed from side to side as she walked, but each step was silent on the carpet. Emily tried to ignore the approaching figure, instead sneaking a glance at Naka. There was sweat beading on the side of his face.

She found it increasingly difficult to write her notes as two hands appeared, resting on the left side of her desk. The woman leaned over Emily, her impressive bosom only inches from the student's face. Emily prayed that she wouldn't start sweating like Naka, and her handwriting became a bit shaky.

The eyes behind the phoenix mask glanced down at her notes, and she stood back up to look at the board. A grin cracked from under the mask as she gleefully strolled in front of the student's desk, blocking her from viewing the board. Now, let's find out what you can really see. The mysterious woman thought in a singsong internal tone. Her grin widened as the girl she watched stopped writing. However, the smile disappeared as she reached into her bookbag. Did she break her pencil? She thought as the student pulled out a handheld pencil sharpener and began to sharpen a new point. The woman decided to reach between the girl's arms to grab the broken piece of pencil lead, inspecting it briefly. She then tossed the lead at the girl, and it hit her arm.

Emily glanced at her arm, noticing the small mark the lead made on it. She then pretended to look around as if the projectile had not been launched from the woman in front of her. Looking back at the board, she still couldn't read it due to the harrassing figure still blocking her view. Now that her pencil was sharpened, she had to start writing something. So, like any sensible premed student would do, she started writing down random jargon she'd seen from a textbook. She looked back up at the board once again, only to realize that her dogged tormentor was searching for a new way to make her crack. Slowly, the woman reached her hand up to the top of her dress, placing her grasp on the gold trim fabric covering her breasts. Emily could see the faintest of smirks from under the mask as she began to pull down.

Emily wasn't disgusted or surprised, but instead attempted to hide the frustration and anger that was welling up within her. This bitch thinks she can flash me for shits und giggles? Well just you wait, you'll have another thing coming…

Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of Naka clearing his throat loudly, drawing the gazes of the two girls. His eyes stared at the now exposed woman with a "Cut that out" sort of glare, and all the while he appeared to have moved his book bag onto his lap for some reason. Noticing that the woman was once again staring back at her for a moment, Emily played the part by cocking her head at Naka's gesture as if she had no clue why he'd done so. He shot Emily a defeated look as the class continued, and the risque figure scoffed at her. She returned her silk dress to its standard, more modest, position and faded away with an orange glow that surrounded both her and Naka.

So she was his stand? Emily pondered. But what the hell was that all about?

…

After 15 minutes or so, Emily's class finally released, and she waited outside the exit as she thought of what to say. Naka eventually passed by her, so she matched his pace as they walked.

"Hey Naka! Long time no see, huh?" She greeted.

He adjusted the strap of his backpack and tried to avoid her gaze. "Oh, hey Emily. Look, I know I haven't talked to you in a while, and I'm sorry. I've had a lot of things come up recently."

"Well, vhat kind of things?" Emily said with concern, leaning forward. "I vas worried about you. You could've told me about what's going on, you know I'm always here to help you."

He scratched the back of his neck. "It's just that this whole situation is so hard to explain. Weird things have been happening lately, and I'm not sure who I can tell about it."

How do I bring up what I saw to him? She thought as the both of them began descending the stairs of the building. Maybe we should sit down somewhere first.

"The student union isn't far from here. Do you want to play some pool? There's a new game room in there this semester." She offered, nudging his elbow.

"Oh, well, I guess that's fine. It can't be for too long, though. I'm watching a movie with my roommates tonight." Naka relented.

The two began walking towards the Student Union building, and Emily was searching for another topic to make small talk about. Looking at the transfer student walking next to her, she noticed a strange vial attached to his neck with chains. There appeared to be some metal object in the small vial, but she couldn't quite make it out.

"Pardon me asking, but what is that you're wearing on your neck?" She asked. He held up the vial so she could see it better. "It looks like an ordinary piece of scrap metal."

Naka's eyes widened as if he were trying to calm down, and Emily was unsure if she saw him begin to glow for a split second. Quickly recovering, Naka responded.

"It certainly looks like it. Remember when I went on that oceanography trip with my dad last summer?"

"Ja, you went to a shipwreck, right?" Emily confirmed.

Naka stopped to hold the vial up to the light. Getting a better view of the piece, Emily could see the metal object was bent in an odd shape. "Is that from the ship you saw?" She asked.

The two began to approach the Student Union's entrance as he let go of the vial. Its chain necklace swung for a second before coming to rest as he opened the door for her. "That is a piece of belt armor from the Japanese aircraft carrier Taiho."

As they entered the building, Emily spent only a second looking around the large, circular atrium before something caught her eye. The restrooms on the ground floor were closed due to damage, as a sign in front of its door described. Are university students usually this destructive? She thought, before instead recalling Naka's explanation as the two began to ascend the stairs to the second floor.

"That's neat and all, but why are you wearing shrapnel from a warship around your neck?" She questioned, her palm sliding along the handrail of the stairs. Maybe it has something to do with his stand, or whatever the hell that thing was back there. She wondered.

The pair finished their ascent and turned towards the game room, away from the building's atrium. Naka was attempting to form his response when he stopped dead in his tracks. "Did the game room always have two entrances?"

Emily followed his gaze to the side wall of the room they were in, a larger hall with tables on each end and windows on the right side. A few of the tables had TV's on them, but what had grabbed her attention was the far wall. On the right side of the interior wall was a door with the sign "game room" above it. On the left side, however, was a gaping hole in the wall. There was yellow warning tape barring access to the wall, which was splintered and in pieces. Overall, the hole was about wide enough for two people to fit through at once. Gazing through the opening, both students could make out yet another hole past it, this time leading down through shattered floorboards into the ground floor.

"Maybe we should sit somewhere else." Emily uttered.