The sound of your blaring alarm from your phone was something that you hated with every fiber of your being. It was a horrible, annoying ringing that would be more at home in some B-rated SiFi movie, but it was the only thing on your phone loud enough to rip you out of sleep. So, with a loud groan into your pillow, you reached across and snatched the device from its resting place, attempting to press the 'dismiss' button three times before you were successful. Once it was off, you only took a quick glance at the time, only to further confirm that it was indeed six in the morning.

It was no one's fault but your own that you were so exhausted. You had stayed up late with your friends, shamelessly ditching homework for some voice chat and video game fun. Yes, you knew you had to be up early and that your eight o'clock class was brutal, but you felt like you had deserved that little break. Your life the past few years had been nothing but grinding away at school work, barely even having a social life that didn't involve the occasional trip to a karaoke bar. That is also how they talked you into skipping class today to come on a little trip with them to some… haunted shrine.

A mixture of exhaustion and the desperate need for companionship had prompted you to agree, and so you all busied yourselves by scaring the wits out of each other on some horror game. You had all planned to meet up at ten, so you had wanted to get a little more sleep. But again, you had crashed the instant you lied your head on your pillow, thus completely forgetting to turn off your alarm. Now what? Should you attempt to go back to sleep and possibly end up sleeping through your meetup time? Or maybe getting up and taking a nice, long shower would be good for you.

You did neither at the moment, beginning to scroll through your social media alerts on your phone that you had been ignoring. Even your friends there seemed… distant from you. You hadn't made an update or post on anything in a couple of weeks, so overwhelmed with school work that you could hardly even breathe. Just the thought that you were going to skip class today was making you nauseous, so in an attempt to avoid the thought, you rolled over to face the wall and began searching your destination on your phone.

Shōshitsu Shrine, or The Vanishing Shrine, just a few hours drive outside of Kyoto where you were currently attending university. How dumb, you thought, scrolling through the numerous stories and claims of supernatural happenings in this place. Why would they want to go to this place knowing all the weird stuff that has happened? I swear, if something happens I'll never forgive them. I bet Mirio wants to do this just to get some type of footage!

With a heavy sigh, you let your phone fall out of your hands onto the bed beside you, figuring that scaring yourself before you even got there wasn't a good idea. You knew that there was going to be a constant conversation about all of this on the drive, so getting all worked up about it was pointless. Tamaki may be able to keep the conversation away from that stuff just because he's as nervous as I am… Though Nejire will most likely not be able to stop, I think she's the most excited just because it's something new.

Dreading the thought, you finally dragged yourself out of bed, giving a hefty sigh as you stretched. Aching bones gave way and popped, giving relief to your basically mangled body. Sitting in a chair in front of a computer playing games all night has a tendency to do that to you, but again, you had no one to blame but yourself. Just as you couldn't blame anyone else for your phone slipping from your hand and nearly landing right on your foot, making you curse out and jump back a bit to avoid it. "Damn it. Clumsy."

Gathering your clothing for the day, you sheepishly shuffled into your bathroom, giving your [fur color] cat a soft pat on the head as you passed its favorite sleeping spot. "Good morning, kitty." You were greeted with a fluttering meow in response, bringing a smile to your lips as you shut the bathroom door behind you. Purposefully avoiding looking at yourself in the mirror, you set your clothing down on the edge of the vanity countertop to begin your regular shower routine.

It went by in a blur, your exhausted mind struggling to keep hold of your surroundings, and by the time you exited the bathroom nearly forty-five minutes had passed. Normally, a shower would have you feeling refreshed, but all it had done was make you want to crawl back into bed. You refused to do so, knowing that you couldn't bail on this trip, and laying back into bed would ruin it all. So, for the two and a half hours that you had to spare, you first busied yourself with a bit of cleaning up and piddling about online.

When you finally descended the steps to your apartment, you couldn't help but give a small shiver, finding that it was quite a bit cooler than normal for summer. The puffy, dark grey clouds in the distance were obviously the reason, and you hoped that during the drive, you would outrun the rain. One, because you didn't have an umbrella or jacket with you, and the thought of going back up three flights of stairs to get those items wasn't exactly exciting. Before you could truly make your decision, a car pulled up beside your building, honking excitedly at you.

"Hey, hey, [f/n]!" Nejire called from out of the back window, waving you down excitedly. "Hurry! We have to get there fast, it's going to rain, you know! Can you tell?"

"Did you guys bring umbrellas and things?" You asked after hurriedly approaching the car, sliding into the backseat beside your nearly bouncing friend. Her long periwinkle hair was tied into a braid over her left shoulder and she was dressed for hiking, which you were… not. "Oh no, are we going to hike?! I didn't know that!"

"Oh, yes!" Nejire watched you closely as you buckled in. "There are a lot of stairs and woods around there, you know, and they don't take care of it."

"Ah don't worry about it, [f/n]. I checked it's not really hiking, just a lot of stairs." Mirio piped in from the driver's seat, giving you a comforting glance of his always present smile. "And we have enough umbrellas!"

"That's not true, Mirio, we only have two! See!" Nejire picked up one from the floorboard next to her feet. "And mine is small! Do you think two people could fit under here? Hm?"

You couldn't help but release a small squeak of surprise as the umbrella suddenly opened, nearly smacking you right in the face. "Oh geez, Nejire, close it! We can test that when we are out of the car."

"It's bad luck to open umbrellas inside," Tamaki spoke softly from the front, nearly incoherent behind Neiire's rambling on about how cute her umbrella is. "And Mirio can't see to drive."

Nejire gave an airy laugh, finally closing the umbrella. "What?! You can't get bad luck from opening an umbrella inside a car! That's just inside a building. Oh, oh, it would be really bad luck to open it in the shrine! Should we try?"

You gave a small shake of your head, pulling out your phone to hopefully distract your mind from the conversation you knew was about to start. "Can we even get inside of the shrine?"

"No," Mirio gave a small shake of his head. "I mean, sure, if you really tried to I bet we could. But we were just going to look."

"And not desecrate or be disrespectful. That place is no joke, someone vanished from there just last week." Tamaki shifted a bit in the front passenger seat, looking back at you over his shoulder. "Did you hear about that?"

"Yeah, yeah, did you hear! Some older man, he just… poof!" Nejire did an exploding hand gesture along with her description, before clapping her hands once loudly. "But, as long as you don't go there alone, it's fine! Staying together is how you stay safe! And ignore the foxes!"

"Foxes?" You looked at your friend curiously, watching her hair bob as she nodded energetically. "I didn't know there were foxes there."

"Mhmm! I did a lot of research on this, you know, I bet I could tell stories the entire drive!"

I bet you could. You gave a tired sigh, rubbing your cheek as you lied your head back on the headrest of the seat. The feeling and sound of the car driving down the highway was comforting, and you could have sworn that even Nejire's excited voice was lulling you to sleep. Just as soon as you closed your eyes, you were suddenly jerked awake by the feeling of the car coming to a stop. A familiar, heavy grogginess and a sour taste in your mouth told you that you had fallen asleep, though you were surprised to find that you were right at the entrance to the shrine.

The stairway was marked with a crumbling torii, the dark wood decayed and worn from the abuse of time. It was ominous, a clear sign that this particular shrine was not worthy of upkeep for one reason or another. There were no warning signs, but there were remnants of proof that a team of police had been here recently to conduct a search for the missing elderly man.

With a heavy intake of breath, you forced yourself to exit the car, taking a moment to adjust your t-shirt. Being up higher in the mountains, the air was cool and refreshing, though there were the sounds of a nearby road. It was comforting to be able to still have some grip on civilization, knowing that if something happened, you could find help easily.

"Wow, it's so creepy! Look, even the trees are growing away from the torii!" Nejire pointed up towards the trees as she made her way close to the entrance. "I wonder why that is! Hey, Mirio, do you know? Hm?" She patted her friend's shoulder eagerly as he came to stand beside her, which he ignored in favor of crossing his arms over his chest.

"I have no idea! C'mon, let's go!"

With that, he began to make his way up the steps with Nejire following close behind, though she did take a moment to stop and curiously touch the wood of the torii. With a heavy sigh, you were about to make your way up with them, though you noticed that there was a particular person who had not yet gotten out of the car. Coming to stand beside it, you leaned over to curiously peer inside, immediately recognizing the worried furrow of Tamaki's brow. "Hey, are you okay?"

He gave a quick shake of his head, only giving you a quick glance before back down at his phone he was clutching tightly in his hands. "I think I'll stay down here for… for a while. Go on up before you lose them."

"Are you sure? I can hang out with you until you're ready."

"N-No, I'll be ready in… In a little while. You can go."

You gave him a small, comforting smile before moving away from the car, starting towards the stairs. "Just text me if you need me to come back!" If he answered, you didn't hear it, trying to focus on the uneven, cracked stone steps. That's all you would need is to fall down who knows how many stairs just because you didn't see that one particular crack. The further up you went, the more you felt like the trees were closing in on you, darkening your surroundings and bringing a further chill to your skin.

Just as Nejire had said, it was creepy. It was so damn creepy, in fact, that you almost felt the urge to fly back down the stairs and hide in the car with Tamaki. It was almost as if there were eyes on you, watching your every move. You could only imagine chancing a quick glance up, only to be met with the glare of a ghoul that would steal you away. Perhaps they were behind you right now, so close that the wind on your nape could easily be the breath of a forlorn spirit. Shivering from the thought, you quickly made your way up the stairs, focusing only on the thought of your destination and not the cold feeling of clammy hands on your arms.

You were panting heavily by the time you reached the top of the stairs, but you didn't dare stop until Nejire and Mirio were in your sights. Leaning over and propping yourself up on your knees, you struggled to catch your breath, barely able to hear Nejire calling your name behind the pounding in your ears.

"[f/n]! Did you get scared? Huh? Why are you so tired? Look at this shrine, it's so much smaller than it looks online! Oh! It has bugs!"

Recovering, you stood back up, starting to make your way towards them as you tried to restrain your heavy breaths. "Wow, it is a lot smaller and… not anywhere near as creepy as the way up here."

"You were creeped out on the way up here? I thought it was pretty! Oh, oh, Mirio take a picture of me with this statue!" Nejire seemed quite uninterested in what you had gone through, but the fact that they hadn't noticed the odd energy made you feel even more uneasy. Deciding to just brush it off, you began to wander a bit, observing the crumbling ancient shrine. As you made your way over to the left side, you had to hop up over a fallen beam, careful not to trip as your sandal shifted unevenly beneath your step.

Suddenly, a flickering of light caught your eye, pulling your gaze down along the wall of the shrine. There, a small wooden box sat, with a picture, flickering white candles, and white flowers. Curious, you stepped closer and squatted down beside it, finding that the picture was of an elderly gentleman. Instantly, you felt your skin crawl, knowing that it must have been the man who had vanished just recently. The fact that the candles were lit meant that someone had just recently come up here to grieve, and you immediately felt like an asshole for showing up just to gawk at a place that housed so much suffering.

Just as you were about to stand, it began to rain, just a light drizzle. After peering up at the darkening sky, you turned your focus back to the tiny altar in front of you, feeling a twinge of sadness as the candles were put out by the rain. Placing your palms together in front of your chest, you bowed your head and gave a quiet prayer for the man's soul, before standing to find your friends to hopefully avoid a similar fate.

"Mirio! It's raining! We forgot the umbrellas and Tamaki!"

"He'll come up when he's ready, and it's just a little- ah, okay, it's raining hard."

"C' mon, let's go get the umbrellas, quick! Besides, you're the only one who can get Tamaki to come up, too!"

It was then that you heard the footsteps of them rushing down the stairs, joined in by the loud rush of rain on stone. Feeling panic bubble within you, you were quick to try and rush back to the pillar you climbed over before. "W-wait, hey, don't leave me up- WAH!"

The pillar, aged with mold, became slick in the rain, and your foot slipped out from under you the instant you tried to push yourself up. You landed hard on your backside, the pain making you hiss out and lay down in defeat. "O-Ow… Damn sandals!"

For a moment, you just laid there, hips pulsing in pain and the rain falling on your face. You could have almost admitted that it was… peaceful, to lay there like that. All peace was jolted from you, however, as there was a rustling in the brush beside you, making your eyes instantly flash open and heart race violently. You were frozen in your spot, and yet the rustling grew closer. You could just imagine a ghoul crawling towards you out of the darkness, body contorted and blood dripping from whatever hole could possibly be the most terrifying.

Damn stupid haunted shrine! I swear I am never going anywhere haunted ever aga-... A fox?

You found yourself face to face with a fox as it came to stand over you, peering down into your [e/c] eyes as if it were a human. Cautiously, you shifted yourself to the side and sat up, breathing heavily from your momentary terror.

"A-a fox… out in the rain. At a haunted shrine. I must have hit my head and passed out or something…" You adjusted your sitting position to sit on your knees, resting your hands on your thighs as you leaned over a bit to look down at the fox. Its gaze never left your face, watching you so intently that you figured it must have been scared. Though, it didn't have a frightened body posture, nor was it snarling in any way. The orange and dark brown fur that covered the animal was oddly dry looking, even with the pouring rain, but you couldn't really say you had ever seen a wet fox before.

"Uhm…" You felt a bit stupid for even thinking it, but you had an unending urge to just… talk to it. "How's it going… foxy?" As if in response, the animal's left ear gave a twitch, bringing you to notice that it was missing quite a large chunk out of it as if it had been bitten by something. Plausible, of course, since it was a wild animal. What you still couldn't get over was the way it looked at you, as if it could truly understand you or even… read your mind? It was so bizarre, so intimidating that you were beginning to feel a bit sick to your stomach. "I… Maybe you should go."

"No. You are the one that does not belong here."

The wispy voice that filled your mind startled you so badly that you were suddenly frozen with fear, gaping down at the fox as you struggled to comprehend what was happening. D-did it just talk to me?! Did I just imagine that? What the hell-

"You are not imagining anything." Again, the voice came to your mind as the fox stood from it's seated position, taking a few delicate steps towards you. It was then that your flight responses kicked in and you backed away, quickly finding that you were pressed up against the stone wall of the shrine.

Breathing heavily, you cowered as far back as you possibly could. "G-get away! I don't care if this is some hallucination from falling or if it's real, you need to get away!"

The fox did not move from its spot, though its tail did sway a bit. "It is not a hallucination. But, I am not the one that needs to leave."

"Fine, fine, I'll leave. I've obviously gone insane." Your voice trembled as you spoke, feeling your entire body shaking as you began to stand. "I'm gone! I'm out of here forever."

"You misunderstand me, [f/n]."

Again, you found your body frozen, fearful gaze locked on the fox as it stared up at you. You couldn't move an inch, not as it approached you and not even as a wicked grin crept across its lips, revealing human-like teeth.

"It is your soul that does not belong."