Chapter 7

We finally got to meet Ichirou-san. He was acting really weird to me. I mean I know I've never met him before, but he was acting weird. For one, he was calm about the whole situation. I thought someone, whose student just died, would at least be a little panicked. And another thing that bothered me was he kept looking at us like we were food or something and he had this dark aura hanging around him. I couldn't really pin my finger on it. Another thing was, he didn't send us home like a normal principal would. He just wasn't normal at all. He's definitely hiding something. "Naru, I feel uneasy about Ichirou-san..." I said as soon as Ichirou-san, Ishida-san, and Hideyoshi-san had long left. He sighed.

"I do too."

"Well, this is something you don't see every day." Ayako said smiling.

"Didn't he seem off to you, Ayako?" I asked her frowning.

"What do you mean? I think you've been watching way too many anime." I sighed.

"That has nothing to do with my instincts. Anyways, would a principal normally let outsiders stay after a student's death? And why is he so calm? Shouldn't he be worried and concerned about what he's going to say to the boy's parents? Also, the look in his eyes, it was almost as if we were food or something the way he kept staring at us all. And what's with this spirit? I mean, why is it doing the things it's been doing for the last two days? What is it trying to say? What is its motive?" I said walking over to the window and looking out of it.

"Look at you going detective all of the sudden." Monk said smiling. I scowled.

"This is serious!"

"She's right." Naru said standing up from his seat. "Any one of us could've been in that student's shoes. Plus, Ichirou-san is a pretty shady character if I do say so myself."

"Then does that mean we're going to call Yasu?" Mai asked curiously.

"Yasu?" I muttered confused.

"His school was cursed and we investigated and solved it. So now Yasuhara-kun helps us out whenever he can." John explained. I nodded.

"Oh, I see. So he likes to dig around in other's business I take it?"

"Well, if it pertains to the case." I frowned. I wonder if he'll try looking into my background. Gah, this is why I hate nosy people. Not that I can't say anything, because I'm pretty nosy myself.

"Oh,"

"I'll call him." Mai offered getting out her phone.

"Okay, when Yasuhara gets here, we're going to regroup." Naru said finally. I sighed.

"I'm going out for some fresh air." I muttered.

"Be careful out there." John said smiling. I nodded and walked out of the room. What's up with this school? And seriously, what's up with the principal? Ugh, why did I agree to go on this case again? Oh yeah, because Naru pretty much talked me into it.

You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others...

"Huh? Who said that?" I looked around and saw a figure of a boy about my age.

"You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others, Miss." The boy spoke. I held in a gasp as he looked up at me. His face was covered blood and he had this really creepy smile on his face. His eyes were showed no emotions whatsoever. And there was a black line around his neck. I wonder what happened to him.

"What's your name?"

"You should stay away from this school, or you'll die like the others!"

"I understand that, but what's your name?" I asked him nicely.

"Heh, you're a stupid one." He said smirking. The next thing I know, I'm on my knees and in pain. The boy was forcing himself into my body. Was he trying to possess me? That was my last thought before I blacked out.

Mai's P.O.V

"This school is so big." Yasu said walking into the conference room.

"You made it!" I said smiling. He nodded.

"And I've brought some information with me. I did a little research on the way here. It's not much though."

"Where's Aki? Shouldn't she be back by now?" Masako asked worriedly.

"Do you think something might have happened to her?" Ayako asked frowning.

"Lin," Naru said looking at him. Lin nodded.

"Understood." Then he left the room.

"I hope she's okay." I said worriedly.

"Do you think that dark spirit could have done something?" Monk asked curiously.

"Let's hope not." Naru said grimly.

"Ah, yes, about the dark spirit you mentioned. I looked up the school's history, but it's not complete." Yasu said sitting down.

"That's fine, just tell us what you have so far."

"Okay, so about four years ago, a first year by the name of Kohaku Shichirou set the gym on fire. He waited too long to get out and got trapped under one of the ceiling support beams. He was always singled out by the student body and he was made fun of constantly. But he had good grades and he lived with both of his parents who both have good jobs and are making a fair decent amount of money. I haven't had to the chance to question anyone close to them yet, but I'm sure I can figure out more about him when I can." I felt sad hearing the way he died.

"Do you know why he set the fire?"

"No, but I'll keep an ear out for that."

"Naru! Get John! The spirit has possessed Miss Haru!" Lin yelled carrying a struggling Aki in his arms. She was growling and swinging her limbs violently.

"THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED IF SHE HAD JUST LISTENED TO ME!" The spirits yelled through Aki's voice. "I TOLD HER SHE WAS GOING TO DIE LIKE THE OTHERS IF SHE DIDN'T STAY AWAY FROM THIS SCHOOL!"

"Lin, she's not," I gasped.

"No, but I'm afraid if we don't exorcise it now, she might get seriously hurt." John nodded and started the exorcism.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was Life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. En Principio!" John had sprayed Aki with Holy Water and pressed a cross to her forehead. After that, all we could hear was the spirit's agonizing scream as it was forced out of Aki's body. Aki's body finally stopped moving and no sound came out of her as she slumped over in Lin's arms. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing hard.

"A-Aki?" She slowly opened her eyes.

"I-I'm sorry... I let it possess me..." She whispered before fainting. Lin tightened his hold on her, so she wouldn't fall.

"It's just as I thought. It's getting worse." Naru said thoughtfully as Lin sat Aki on one of chairs.

"But we haven't even done anything yet." Ayako said looking frustrated.

"I think it's trying to scare us out." Masako said as she took a damp towel to Aki's forehead wiped the sweat away.

"The question is why."

"I also have a little information concerning the principal, Ichirou-san." Yasu said speaking up.

"What is it?" Monk asked curiously.

"Well, he didn't become the principal until four years ago."

"You mean the same year Kohaku-san started school?" I gasped.

"Yes, and what more, it seems Ichirou-san was really hard on him too. Ichirou-san always called him into the office for no apparent reason but to just give him a hard time. I don't know why yet, but with a little more digging, I'm sure I can figure it out." Why that, how can someone be so mean!?

"His name... is... Shichirou... the spirit..." Aki muttered opening her eyes.

"You finally woke up." I said in relief. She chuckled.

"How did this happen?" Naru demanded. She sighed and sat up, stretching her limbs, wincing a little.

"I was just walking and then I hear, 'You should stay away from this school, or you'll die just like the others.' So I turned around and saw him. I asked him his name like three times and he just repeated what he said and then on the last time, he said I was stupid and I guess he possessed me. I don't know how I know his name but it just popped out in my mind while I was possessed. I saw memories." She said this with a distant look in her eyes, frowning. "They were horrible memories. That boy was bullied by everyone, including the teachers. He witnessed Ichirou-san doing something with what looked like a demonic circle to me. Shichirou didn't say anything but he did research on it and figured out what Ichirou-san was up to, but I didn't get to see what he was up to." I shuddered.

"I see, it looks like we've got a lead." Naru said thoughtfully. "In the meantime, we should report to Ichirou-san, Ishida-san, and Hideyoshi-san about the kids coming in here at night and then after we've done that, let's search the school for anything else we might've over looked." Aki nodded.

"I get the feeling that there's more to this than an occult." She said sighing. "Maybe there are some trapped souls here that are too scared of Shichirou to come out and ask for help." Masako stood up.

"I don't know about them being afraid of Kohaku-san but they are afraid of something."

"Very well, Miss Hara, you and Miss Matsuzaki take a look around the school. Monk, you and John do the same thing. Mai, you and I will go check the cameras and microphones to make sure they haven't been moved. Lin, you stay here and watch Miss Haru. I don't want another possession happening." Everyone nodded and I blushing a little, followed Naru out of the room. It's just me and Naru! Wah! What am I going to do!?

Aki's P.O.V

"Thanks Lin; I'm sorry about kicking you." He smiled ever so slightly.

"It's okay, you weren't yourself. Did any of that jostle your bruises?" I nodded.

"Yeah, they've been hurting more since then."

"Here, let me have a look." I nodded and lifted my shirt and let him change my bandages.

"I didn't go looking for him. He came to me."

"I know and Naru knows that too." I nodded, looking out the window, frowning. "What's wrong?"

"It's just, Shichirou reminds me of myself a little. I was bullied a lot in my other school and even in primary school. I was bullied by kids from my neighborhood and even a few teachers all because they thought I was weird. The kids and the teachers thought the same way about Shichirou. I could see it in their eyes, they all avoided him and whenever he tried to be nice, they just sneered in his face and called him names..." I shook my head. "Why do people have to be like that?"

"I don't know, but they all missed out on a good person." I looked over at Lin and smiled.

"Thanks, Lin."

"You're welcome Miss Haru." I sighed.

"You know you can call me Aki, right? I think calling me 'Miss Haru' is way to formal for friends." He chuckled.

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"You know, I feel like we've met before a couple days ago..."

"Hm, well I don't recall ever seeing you before."

"I guess I'm just being silly. But I swear we've met before."

"We may have,"

You're just like me...

"It's that voice again..." I murmured looking around the room.

I'm sorry for hurting you...

"Can you tell where it's coming from?" Lin asked urgently.

Please forgive me...

"No," I said shaking my head. "It's gone." Lin frowned. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I asked, "So did I miss anything while I was gone?" Lin spent the rest of the time that it took for the others to return telling me what Yasuhara-san had told them when he arrived.