Chapter Five: The Rumor Mill, Hard At Work

"Mm, I transformed too," Sakura said, showing off her transformation stick, as she, Suzumi, Sayaka, Natsumi, and Aiko ate lunch together in a quiet, more secluded part of the Juuban Junior High courtyard. Sayaka's lunches were famous, the stuff of legend, and all the girls liberally took what they wanted from her spread. The girls were, of course, deep in conversation about the new development in their lives. They proudly described their outfits to one another and talked of their powers, wondering if they would somehow change if they transformed. At one point, though, the conversation was derailed because of the arrival of an outsider, a friendly girl from Sakura and Suzumi's class named Ayaka Kominato.

"Hi, everyone!" Ayaka chirped, knowing that this group was usually never separated.

"Hey, Ayaka," Sakura said.

"Hi," Suzumi said. Sayaka, Natsumi, and Aiko simply waved because they were eating and didn't want to seem impolite. Ayaka's eyes darted from side to side before she leaned in closer and started to talk in a quiet voice.

"Did you hear about the angry spirit of the school?" Ayaka queried.

"What's that?" Sakura asked, already looking scared.

"It's a building where children go to learn," Ayaka replied jokingly, grinning brightly. "Oh, you mean the spirit?" The group nodded in unison. "It's a new thing. Apparently there is this angry spirit sulking around here, looking for people who are pure of heart."

"Pure of heart? What do you mean?" Aiko asked.

"I mean like, people who are still virgins…" Ayaka trailed off as the face of every girl in the group blanched. "I take it from the sudden terror that all of you still are." There was more unison nodding. "Me too. She took a girl today."

"The spirit took someone?" Natsumi asked.

"Yes. She took Chisato-chan," Ayaka replied. Natsumi audibly gasped.

"Oh my God, I was wondering why she wasn't in class today!" she exclaimed. "I thought she was just sick."

"No. She's gone." Ayaka's lip quivered. "I don't know where she was taken."

"Wait a minute," Suzumi said. "How do you know this, Ayaka? Did you see it happen?" Ayaka nodded vigorously. "Then tell us how it happened!"

"Chisato and I live in the same apartment complex, so we always commute to school together. We take the same train. Today, the trains were delayed due to maintenance, so we got to school late. Chisato thought that, if we snuck in to the school a different way, we wouldn't get in any trouble. So, she took me around a part of the building I've never seen before. Apparently, there are some older classrooms that aren't in use anymore," Ayaka explained.

"Asbestos," Suzumi muttered. "That's the reason they're not used anymore, there's too much asbestos for them to be safe."

"Right," Ayaka replied, nodding. "Well, Chisato and I were wandering around that part because we got lost. We were all alone and suddenly we heard this rustling noise. A woman with long black hair wearing little more than a bathing suit, fishnet tights, and big boots popped out of the bushes. She had red eyes."

"Red, like bloodshot?" Sayaka queried.

"No, red, like the colored part of the eyes were actually red instead of brown or blue or what have you," Ayaka replied, making the girls gasp. "She stared at us for a few minutes with those creepy red eyes. Then, she said something about the two of us being sufficient. Her hair grew long and snatched up Chisato, who of course was screaming bloody murder. I was too afraid, though, so I ran away." Ayaka paused to sigh. "I haven't told anyone else about this yet, but I might."

"Ayaka, you should!" Sakura insisted.

"What if people don't believe me?" Ayaka asked, feeling insecure.

"Then forget about them!" Aiko insisted.

"Yeah, I should go tell people," Ayaka said. "Thanks for listening and helping me out, guys." She stood up and ran off to spread the word.

"A freaky red-eyed woman stealing people away?" Sayaka asked. "Where would she be taking them?"

"I don't know, but we need to find out," Sakura said.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Aiko asked.

"I have no idea," Sakura confessed.

"Maybe we should wait to see if this spirit strikes again," Suzumi suggested. "I know that sounds terrible, but if it happens again, then it is a bit more believable. Who knows? Ayaka may have been making that up, but like I said, if it happens again, then it's more believable." She shrugged. "That's just how I feel."

"I need more proof, too," Natsumi said with a nod.

"Well, then, let's wait for more proof to arise," Sakura said firmly.

For the next few days, all was quiet on the Juuban Junior High front, leading Sakura and friends to believe that Ayaka's story was a fabrication, even though Chisato was still away. Other people were told this story, though, and soon enough it was the thing to talk about, whether in class, between class, at lunch, or anywhere else. Unlike most rumors, in which some details get filtered out or edited as the story progresses down the grapevine, the details of this one remained constant—the spirit always had red eyes and long hair, always wore a skimpy outfit, and always preyed on the pure of heart. Some girls, fearing that they were potential targets, elected to unwisely remove the pure of heart distinction, mostly by finding a quick boyfriend to go all the way with. Sakura and friends, though, remained pure, though they were aware it made them a potential target.

Then, it happened again. A girl and a boy were taken this time, snatched up from within one of the abandoned, asbestos-infested classrooms together. Their friends testified that the abducted couple was just looking for somewhere private and forgot that those particular classrooms were always cited as the source of the malignant spirit. Three people taken was adequate proof for Suzumi, who started spending her class periods wondering how to find this spirit and take her down for good. She had such minimal information, though, that it drove her crazy.

The next day, another girl was taken. Most of the school was in a panic, while some people fervently refused to believe in what they dismissed as mere urban legend. Their opinion was supported by the fact that all four victims soon returned to class, looking wholly unscathed, though they were all acting quieter than usual. People decided that their sudden silence was due to emotional scarring from the whole abduction experienced and decided to just leave them alone until they felt ready to speak out. For a while, everything was back to normal at Juuban once more.

Suzumi, though, still had her doubts…