The road to Akademi was long and difficult for Taro.
The first obstacle he had to face was that deadly fog keeping him away from the school. He had to make a stop at the town's other shrine, which was an adventure in itself.
He had encountered a lot more of those machete wielding female spirits. Each one more deadlier than the last.
It wasn't just these Rain Slashers either. Accompanying them were more of those Rain Walkers. Only these ones were much bulkier than the others.
Bulky is the polite way to put it. These spirits were fat. Possibly due to stressful workloads can lead individuals to start gorging on endless amounts of snack foods found almost everywhere.
Even though obesity rates aren't all that high in Japan, Taro could swear the number of overweight people he passes by in the streets have been increasing with each passing year.
Maybe it's a sign of times to come? Who knows?
With the help of the omamori in his possession, paired with the Torii gate at the shrine, the fog leading up to Akademi had been cleared, Opening up the next leg of his journey.
It would have been a welcome change if it weren't for all those spirits dressed in police uniforms began hunting him down with their batons.
They were just simply quicker than the slashers and took just as many hits as those fatter Rain Walkers.
With the gates of Akademi in his sight, he could hear Kiseki explain to him his description of his new enemies.
"Shadow Hunters… born from the self destructive nature of those who lost sight of what they wished to protect and became the thing they wished to fight.
Public trust in the police force… is hardly even there… I'm afraid. I heard stories of police brutality. Incidents happening alongside what many are calling a broken justice system. It's enough to… Are you even listening?"
Having already tuned the voice out, Taro answers. "No."
He could care less about the subject of public trust in police. He'd been traveling and fighting non-stop for hours trying to get back to Akademi.
The sky is looking pretty dark and it's only going to get darker. Rain had continuously been pouring on him. There's no doubt that he's going to get sick after all of this. If he survives.
Kiseki had asked him multiple times to take a moment to sit down and rest. But he refused.
He would like nothing more to relax after all the fighting he had done, but this isn't about what he wants anymore.
Something's going on in Akademi and he'll be damned if he doesn't find out what it is. What else is he supposed to do? Despite all the searching he's done, he hasn't found any ghosts of his formerly alive friends and accomplices. Osana? Likely dead. Budo? Likely dead. Shozo? Likely dead.
There it goes again. The depression. Nothing he can do about it. No matter how hard somebody works towards something, everything can be taken away in little to no time at all.
As he continues moving forward, he shook his head and just accepted that it's really all he can do right now. It's what they would have wanted.
"So Taro… How's your school life? Is it as good as you thought it would be?"
"Oh, don't get me started! It's a really long story and it's something you wouldn't be interested in anyway!"
As he stepped past the open gates, he was taken aback by how quickly the scenery changed right in front of him.
The sky turned from a really dark gray to almost white in a matter of seconds. The leaves on all the trees turned from green back to pink as if spring had just started again.
And above all else, the rain almost stopped completely. He could feel his clothes dry themselves off without the need for a towel.
"Well then." Taro said as he put his hands on his hips. "This is a welcome change of scenery."
It was then that he heard a girl's voice seemingly coming from the clouds above.
"My name… Is Sumire Saitozaki…
I'm known to some as… a potential murder victim."
"Huh? Sumire Saitozaki?" Thought Taro. "Yeah, I know of her. A long time ago, she disappeared and they… found a bit of her blood on the wall of the girl's bathroom… Uh oh."
That caught Kiseki's attention. "Huh? Uh oh? Why uh oh?"
Taro was about to explain when he saw a pink line appear on the ground in front of him leading into the school.
"I guess she wants us to follow the path." Said Taro before he began following the line.
He kept hearing Sumire's voice as he made his way into the empty courtyard. He remembers countless conversations with his friends as he took a moment to stare at the fountain.
"The year was 1989. I was just starting out a new year in Akademi…
I met a boy… He was a very… cool… boy… I planned to confess to him by the large tree in the back."
As the pink line led Taro to a staircase, he knew almost exactly where it would lead to: the girls bathroom on the third floor.
His instinct turned out to be true as it led him to that exact place. If she had been murdered here like that journalist in that trial said she was, her ghost much have claimed Akademi as her spiritual domain.
"My life ended here… by the one who couldn't just leave us alone."
"Wait a minute." Taro thought. "Now that I think about it, the suspect in the Saitozaki case was… Her name was…"
"Ryoba Aishi." Sumire's voice echoed through the walls.
"Aishi." Before Taro could think of it any further, he heard giggling from behind him.
He turned around to find an unpleasant sight.
Another one of those spirits. This one is different from everything he had faced today. It's wearing the Akademi sailor suit uniform and doesn't look as intimidating as the Rain Walkers. Despite the fact that it doesn't have a head like every other spirit does.
"What the hell?" Taro's confusion grew. Just where in the hell does Jack Lieber find these apparitions? A spirit world? A parallel universe? So many questions.
The schoolgirl ghost ran up to Taro and proceeded to kick him on the right side of his face, sending him to the floor.
It felt as if his cheek exploded. His teeth felt weird when he closes his jaw. It was all so much to take in at once as he groans in pain.
The groaning didn't do anything to stop the spirit from kicking him while he's down. The blows to his ribcage were enough to make him cough up blood again. It was as if the spirit's feet were made out of solid steel. "Is this… what dying feels like?"
"Dude! She's fucking killing you!" Kiseki shouts in his head. "GET OUT OF THERE NOW!"
Kiseki's shouting was enough to push him in the right direction. He quickly got up and exited the bathroom. Sumire's voice continues narrating.
"We as humans come from the dust and we return to the dust.
The school incinerator made quick work of it."
The schoolgirl spirit didn't waste any time following Taro into the hallway but by then it was too late.
There was enough distance between the both of them for Taro to prepare his bow and arrow. All it took was one hit and the spirit was down for the count. The scream he heard was something he paid little attention to.
"Geez, man." Said Kiseki as he began to heal Taro's injuries. "What the hell was going through your head, man. I know she looked beautiful… considering the headlessness, but I didn't think you'd let yourself get hurt like that."
"Aishi… I love that name." Said Taro. "I mean… it's funny when you really think about it, don't you think?"
"Huh? What's funny?"
"My parents grew up attending two different high schools in Nihon. Nobody in the Yamada family had attended Akademi before me."
He began walking towards the courtyard. "At the same time, there are many students today that walk the hallways their parents walked in back when they were students. Ayano is one of those students."
"Huh?" Kiseki sounds intrigued. "So it was your girlfriend's mother that killed this Sumire girl? Now SHE'S working with Jack Lieber!? That's one hell of an alliance!" "Hold on!"
As Taro walked into the courtyard again, there was something that wasn't there before.
A cube is levitating above the fountain and inside of it is an imprisoned ghost. Surrounding the fountain are half a dozen headless student spirits. Four more schoolgirls and two spirits wearing the iconic Gakuran uniform.
"Looks like Shin wasn't kidding." Said Taro as he prepares himself for a fight.
"Why the hell would he be kidding!?" Shouted Kiseki as Taro began to fight the spirits.
He had done so much fighting today, this didn't seem all that bad. The male students took more hits but they weren't as fast or as athletic as the females.
"Hey, Kiseki, mind if I gave my own description this time?"
"What do you have in mind?"
After defeating a female spirit, Taro began explaining.
"Let's call the female students… Students of Misery.
They originate from the… anxieties of young female students."
Before long, the fight had almost come to an end. There was just one of the males left with its core exposed.
As Taro reached out to grab it, he spoke again.
"Their male counterparts are… The Students of Pain.
Originated from the relentlessness of male students faced with… uncertain futures."
"Hmm… So in a way you could say that you're…"
"Fighting my own reflection, yeah." Taro sighs as he looks up at the levitating cube. Defeating the spirits had opened up the top, freeing the ghost inside.
The ghost approaches Taro. He could hear a feminine voice.
"Heh. I've been told that there was a person who is still breathing after all of this. It's very nice to meet you, after all this time, Taro Yamada. The Star of Akademi."
Taro blinks twice. This ghost knows who he is?
"Uh, do I… do I know you? Have I seen you around Akademi?"
"Oh, nobody in Akademi has seen me, but I see everybody." The ghost said. "Names… addresses… secrets. I have it all. I'm willing to share with anyone who asks… for the right price. You may have heard of me before.
You may call me… Info-chan."