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The Circus Night,
Eli, Nozomi, and Niko sat in a middle row together, watching the show run on the stage. With Lion, Tiger, Horses and Elephants standing next to each other. Along with line of people, that were probably the animal trainers. Waiting for their turn after the acrobat shows, the animals were silently staring into the blank space—taking no interest to the show that they probably have watched for a hundred times now.
The acrobat's certainly put on a good show—though something feels off on the stage, something that made the air feel heavy and unfriendly for a certain group. Rin and Hanayo tried their best to pay attention to every detail, both from their regular vision to the spiritual one. Maki, on the other hand, couldn't see anything but the show itself. And found herself extremely intrigued by it. Her eyes sparkled and her hands clasped together….
On the other side of the room, Honoka, Umi and Kotori are watching quietly, each of them ended up sitting separately. It's still unknown whether they took notice to anything supernatural, aside form the show itself…have they forgotten of their main purpose?
Nozomi and Eli could see in better detail, there are so many souls seen on the stage—not only human, but the animals as well. Niko looked serious when trying to focus on almost everything she saw, causing her to not quite enjoying the show…
After a while, the purplenette started to get slightly bored and began to look around for another source of entertainment. Looking at the blonde is certainly her own personal entertainment, but reminding herself to not bother Eli's focus. So she decided to chat with someone else who sat next to her instead…
"Nikocchi, what are you looking at?" Nozomi said.
"I don't remember when you started calling me Nikocchi, but shut up…I'm trying to focus some more… there's certainly something wrong with this circus…even when the rest of the audience seems to enjoy it…"
"I don't remember either, it just escaped from my lips! Either way, what'ca looking at?"
"Not sure….something just feels off… well… the animals are trained and disciplined, for sure, but they're not treated badly, while knowing that this is a zoo and they sort of know how to treat them. The Acrobat's are also well trained and disciplined, no sign of abuse….hmm…what else…?" Niko tried to locate other clues
"The lead of the circus….I feel something off about him…" Eli suddenly said.
"Huh? Well…yeah… him… hmmm….." Niko tried to focus again.
"Ah—!" she widens her eyes.
"What is it, you two?" Nozomi asked curiously.
"I wouldn't want to speak it out loud, but can't you try it on your own, Nozomi? It's quite simple and with your current spiritual level, you should be able to do it at ease…"
"Well—thing is, I don't know how to do it…"
"Just try to deduce it on your own…" Niko said.
"Sheesh… why am I getting thrown around like this—…" Nozomi quickly make a turn to Eli
"—Ericchi! Teach me!" she said playfully—but instead of being taught, Eli kissed her lips quickly and returned her attention back to the man. Thank god, Niko was still too busy focusing, she didn't notice that at all…
But really, it's shameless to do that out of nowhere in a public area.
Nozomi blushes madly, hoping no one to saw that…
But what was her intention?
Did she try to teach her?
How is that even teaching…?
For whatever sake, now, Nozomi went all quiet—focusing on the show and her vision again…
When Nozomi decided to focus—she realized that something was added into her vision, a transparent vision set a layer on her sight, then it eventually became much clearer when she focused on something specific.
For the first time, she was focused on a lion. From there she figured out that the lion was raised since it was a baby—which was almost be killed by her own mother for unknown reasons. Then the circus took him, taught him and praised him with love. At one point, he finally grew up—and he was also allowed to mate with another circus lion.
Why do I get that kind of detail? That's pretty detailed…
She said in her mind.
Do I want to know whether someone mated with another…? I certainly don't…but, is this what they see as well?
She asked herself as her eyes set on Eli and Niko.
Or is it just me…?"
She asked again.
Maybe I should just try someone else anyway…
She continued as she tried to focus on the circus leader…
…well..
There certainly is something…
Dark….
And….
Not so friendly…
There's a vision of a woman, who complained to him about how he never returns home. She said something like….
'Why are you not returning again—?! Do you love those animals more than us?'
Then the vision suddenly changes.
There's a big house, with a big garden…Nozomi was expecting it to be a garden for animals since they were the earlier topic, but…instead of animals, there's a group of young men—gambling with cards and real money.
'Yo—dad! How's the tiger?' said the young man cheerfully.
'haha—don't you ask that to him, your mom could get angry! You don't want an hour lecture!'
'hahaha! Ain't nobody got time for that…!'
And now for some reason, Nozomi realized that it wasn't a cheerful banter for him, instead it was a mockery.
'I thought you love them too!' sounded a crying man's voice—which was probably his own.
'I did—but if it makes you love them more than your own family, then I have no choice but to punish you…' the woman said—and a vision of a dead monkey was sighted. The cause was from a blunt force—but….is this truly? Does anyone really have the guts to be that cruel?
The next thing she could see— a brute force from an unknown man was applied towards a woman. It was cruel and much more brutal that she could ever imagine.
A murder had occurred in his past—but she wasn't sure of what she was seeing. Though, she knows something—something about where the murder happened…
It was on this very stage!
The one where the show was taking place!
No wonder there's such a stagnant aura around them—now they just have to figure out where this woman's soul is or what she's feeling right now…
Or maybe, she needs to figure out what happened next…?
Like, where the body was hid…?
Nozomi once again tried to focus…
And she swears…
What she sees is something really gruesome. The woman was mutilated, then fed to all the carnivore animals—her bone remains were crushed and thrown in a trash bag along with the other carcass….
This is crazy…
Perhaps the woman's soul is what they're looking for…
With such a cruel treatment, she's probably up for sweet vengeance right now…
She needs to be stopped before her soul becomes stronger—and things could get ugly for this place...
After the show,
The audience began to leave immediately. They seem to be oblivious about the unsettling atmosphere, while the specific group stayed inside as they watch the circus staff clean up what was left after the show.
"The show was great, don't you think?!" Honoka asked to her close friends cheerfully. Umi and Kotori gave her a worried face instead,
"Honoka… you weren't paying attention to what we needed to do…were you?" Umi asked back.
"Eh…the details of the show…right?"
"Hnnn..that is true….but… not quite…." Kotori replied.
"Oh…." Honoka gloomed.
Kotori and Umi sighed heavily.
"Now…how can we match up our data if you weren't paying attention…" Umi said sadly.
"W-what data?" Honoka asked.
"Uhm…well…this is what I have, Umi-chan…" Kotori handed her a note—ignoring the clueless Honoka.
Umi took a moment to read and crosscheck the information written on the note, fortunately, some of them matched up with what she had...
"Ah…yes… I saw this too…" Umi said.
Honoka quietly tried to take a peek,
"A strange pair of hands appeared from the ground—giving commands to the animals…then a pair of legs were floating through the acrobats… but there wasn't any full-body appearance during the show…" she read…
"But we certainly see bodies!" Honoka said loudly
"Not that body…. not even the other one! We're talking about—the soul…" Umi said.
"Oh…"
"It's the body parts, Honoka-chan…." Kotori said.
"Body parts…? Uhm…not quite sure what you're talking about…" Honoka said.
"This is why you should've been paying more attention!" Umi scolded again.
"Uh…but I certainly did see that there's a soul presence helping the show go smoothly…"
"That's all you know…?" Umi tried to make sure,
"Eh…uhm..what else…." Honoka tried to think.
"…what about the….uhm… unnecessary sound?" Kotori asked.
"Sound…? I didn't hear any unnecessary sounds…perhaps we should confirm with Maki…" Umi suggested.
"You mean…the off beat drums?" Honoka asked.
"Yeah… there was an off beat drumbeats, but I wasn't sure of it…"Kotori said.
As they talked, Maki, Rin, and Hanayo approached them…
"Senpaii! How was it nya?!" Rin asked cheerfully.
"Oh…Rin…." Umi smiled at her as she watches them getting closer.
"We got a little information from our side…what about you?" Kotori asked.
"Hehe… we got little too—we couldn't really catch it, but I suppose we can try to connect this information with each other…?" Hanayo replied.
"Yup! We surely can!" Kotori replied to her as she took her notes from Umi—then ran to Hanayo to crosscheck them.
"W-wah! Maki-chan! So you heard the offbeat drum too?"
"Yeah…and I mentioned it there because something feels off with the sound itself—it's like it was made to be put on speaker rather than the correct one…"
"W-wait…so the drums that we heard…?"
"It was crystal clear, and not through the speakers…"
"Uh…is it possible that the speaker is just late…?"
"No way, they have different tones and power…" Maki replied.
"W-wow…but I suppose I should've been amazed that the correct one was the one that didn't come through the speakers…I thought the speaker was meant to be for the ones that were prepared for the show….?"
"That's certainly the case…but they can't lie to my ears…" Maki replied again.
"Uh… there's also this… a headless, armless, and legless body floating above the audience seats…it appeared right on top of your area…"
"W-what?!" Honoka, Kotori and Umi were surprised to the statement made by the timid girl.
"H-how did you even see that…." Umi said.
"It's true-nya! It looked like a soul!" Rin added.
"I'd be actually scared if it wasn't in a soul form!" Kotori said.
"You're not scared of the soul-nya?" Rin asked.
"Well…we are pretty used to these soul stuff—and know that they can't touch us so… we don't really get scared of them…." Umi replied.
"Hehe, yeah…sometimes they just look scary or gruesome…" Kotori added.
"Ooohh! Our seniors are here!" Honoka suddenly said as she points to the other trio who walked to approach them.
"Hey—everyone!" Nozomi greeted them.
"How was it for you all…?" Niko continued.
"Mmmm….we have our information written in the report… we saw a few body part souls involved in the stage…" Kotori said.
"Ah… just as expected…we know where that comes from…" Nozomi said.
"The only part we didn't see is the head, I wonder where that might be…?" Umi added as she also takes a look at the written notes.
"Hnn…I don't know if we want to look for that….hehe…it's kind of…scary to imagine us looking for…. A head without a body…" Hanayo said.
"But we need to find it, might be a crucial detail…" Nozomi said.
"I guess I should just give up on this mission then…I don't think I want to look for a head…." Maki said.
"Hmmph! What a coward! I thought someone was swearing at another that she will not look for her if she bails out in the middle of the mission!" Niko said as she glanced to Maki.
"Heh—I didn't mean to bail out, I just can't do the job because I can't even see them!" she replied loudly.
"Now-now, let's just get on with the next step, ok? We don't have forever, plus, remember that we have to finish this before midnight…" Nozomi said.
"Ah…right…so what do we need to do next…?" Umi asked.
"We hide…" Nozomi replied immediately…
"H-hide…? Wh-why….?" Umi asked again.
"We need to stay and go unnoticed by the guards, then after everyone leaves, we will do our investigation…" Nozomi replied again.
"Just how long do we need to hide?"
"The circus will be closed soon—so we probably need about an hour to wait for the staff to leave…Hopefully, there will be no guards tasked to patrol inside this building…"
"If it is soon, then we should probably look for a place to hide quickly…." Kotori said.
"Don't worry about that, Ericchi has figured out a place…"
"E-Eh…?" Everyone flustered, their eyes quickly set on Eli...
Eli sighed softly…
"I guess you want me to do it now, huh?"
Once again,
They're all in the middle of the darkness…with only lights that came from the ceiling gap.
"W….where are we exactly….?" Honoka asked.
"I told you, it's right under the audience benches…." Nozomi said.
"H-how can we all be here…? I thought there weren't any entrance to this area…"
"Well… that's a little personal don't you think?" The purplenette replied playfully.
"Hey—I don't think it's something personal to ask about how we all can get here when there's no entrance…."
"Should we even ask about how we will get out…?" Niko said.
"Maybe we should just ask how we know that they left if we're all here under the benches…"
"There's Kayo-chin, don't worry-nya!" Rin said.
"Uh… yeah…I sort of think that too…" Hanayo said.
Nozomi giggled,
"So…next question…?"
"There is no-next question you idiot! Just answer how we all got here…"
"Well then, since none of you are appreciating my privacy…I'll just tell you to ask Ericchi…"
"uh…" Everyone went quiet—scared to talk with the blonde who has been staring at them quietly.
Niko beckoned to everyone, which was responded by everyone except for Eli and Nozomi. They started to discuss….looking away from the two.
"Why would they need to do such just to talk with me…." Eli mumbled,
"That's what you get because you're easily ticked off… you make people feel uncomfortable…." Nozomi replied bluntly.
Eli remained silent, it's still unclear as to what she should feel towards the latter's words. Nozomi smiles at her and grabs her hand,
"….if only you can make everyone as comfortable as how you make me, maybe everyone will love you the same way I love you…." Nozomi said with her playful smile.
"Not like I need everyone to be like you…. one is enough…" Eli replied again with a slight blush on her face. It's true that it was dark, but with just a small light, Nozomi could see the hint of red, causing her to giggle from the 'cuteness.' She couldn't help but to plant a gentle kiss on her cheeks.
"You're so loveable if you don't deny what your heart says…" the purplenette whispered suggestively.
"….it's not that I want to have that anxiety… it just exists in me…" Eli replies.
"Yep… that's why, removing that is my job—no…. it's our job… I don't want you to only feel comfortable when you're being around me…I want you to start being comfortable with yourself….and with our friends too…"
"Mmmh…." Eli grumbled again.
And suddenly…
"B-Bweeh?! M-Me?" Maki exclaimed.
The rest of the group makes a begging face at her.
"F…Fine…." Maki turns around, facing both Eli and Nozomi.
"Good luck Maki-chan!" Hanayo cheered in a hushed tone.
"Good-luck-nya!" Rin said in the same manner.
"Heh….alright…sooooo….. Eli…" Maki started,
"Eli-senpai, Maki-chan! She is a senior!" Honoka loudly whispered.
"Huh….who cares about that…" Maki replied.
"I knew it will be a bad idea to ask her…." Niko put a palm on her face.
"We should've asked Umi-chan…" Kotori whispered.
"You can address me like that, if that makes you feel comfortable…" Eli said.
Everyone looked shocked by the small revelation.
"….how about this… I know it might be hard, but I want you all to never address anyone between us as a senior. Be as comfortable as you like…" Eli continued as she crossed her arm.
"U…uh….ok…so…that makes it…. Eli-chan?" Honoka asked.
"H-Honoka!" Umi panicked.
"Sure…I don't mind…" Eli replied.
"O..Oh…." Umi responded in her surprise.
"Ok! Eli-chan! How did we get here?" Honoka asked.
"H-Hey! I thought you wanted me say it!" Maki said.
"It's still a secret, but I'm the one who is responsible. Don't worry, everyone will be outside once we are sure that all the staff left…" Eli replied.
"Oh—ok!" Honoka replied cheerfully.
"Uh….E-Eli-chan…. c…can I…ask a question too?" Hanayo said timidly.
"Yes…" Eli replied.
"…..i-is it really ok for me to think you as friend now…?" Hanayo asked.
Eli slightly jumped at the question,
"I—I mean! I've been thinking you as my senior…so…." Hanayo's voice faded.
"What are you talking about…? Why can't you have a senior as a friend?"
"O…oh….i-it's kind of silly isn't it…?"
Eli has no idea how to respond to the statement, so she decided to remain silent.
"A-Anyway…." Umi tried to save the conversation,
"I…I'd like to ask something as well…" she continued.
"What is it…?" Eli replied—her voice is still a little stiff and cold.
Umi slightly hesitated, but she decided to just ask away…
"…I really admire your perfection in many studies— would you mind teaching me sometimes?"
"Fine with me, as long as you come at the right time…." She replied.
"Thank you…" Umi replies politely with a gentle smile.
"Oh—Oh! Eli-chan! I want to ask too-nya!" Rin said cheerfully.
"Go on…" Eli replied.
"Well—what about this, hmm….what's your hobby?"
"I have plenty of them… depends on my mood I suppose…"
"Oooohh! Tell us tell us!"
And they began to talk as they waited for the time to pass….
Meanwhile….
A flipped swan boat and two siblings lay on a stone path near the lake… Eve and Lilith, who were finally able to stop their boat from spinning. For unknown reasons, neither of them feels sick or nauseated, as if they are very used with such kind of swiftness...
"Damn you, sister…. I hate you so much…"
"Thank you—I love you too, Eve...you have nice legs…"
"Oh shut up you whore… why did you even want to pay a visit to this zoo, if you aren't even interested in looking at the animals…?"
"Well...humans seem to be a lot more interesting than those animals…"
"Is it her again?"
"Mmmmmm….Maybe…." the older one replied with her cheeky voice.
"….when are you going to give up…"
"I don't know… don't care…but don't you think it's nice to see love between girls blooming?"
"…sure…. Idiot… whatever…."
"We should go to the other world now…"
"…and why is that…?"
"It's to see Dai Mao of course! I heard he looks handsome!"
"And you are…what? Planning to get into his bed…?"
"If I could do that, sure… does he have a wife?"
"From what I know, my stupid sister… he is… a king….and he already has…a family...which includes a wife and some kids…"
"…I'm sure he won't mind having kids from me…"
"Oh…please… sister…no…. I also heard his wife is pretty strict and scary…."
"Hmm….? The only 'pretty' I heard is that she must be really pretty…"
"…..sister…I don't know what to tell you anymore…." Eve put her palm on her face.
"Excuse me…" a woman approaches them.
"Oh...a woman! Hi!" Lilith said cheerfully.
"Do any of you happen to know where the circus is…?"
"The circus…? At this time of night? They probably already closed their show and preparing to go home…" Eve said.
"Yeah… what do you want to do in a circus at this time of the night?"
"Hm…maybe I should've introduced myself… my name is Chieko Harada, a detective…. I just happen to be here to investigate a case…"
"Ohhh…is it a murder…?" Lilith asked excitedly.
"Hmm….maybe, but it's more like a missing person investigation. A woman was reported missing by her family yesterday, her husband—the leader of the circus here, said that she was last seen at home Her son didn't help much but her daughter mentioned her coming to this zoo before she went missing…"
"Oooh! I know! her husband is the murderer!" Lilith said.
"W-wait...how could you just jump into that conclusion!"
"It's pretty obvious! Because he said she was at home! Her daughter said she went away!"
"Sister…please… you don't just jump into conclusions like that…"
"Well…this isn't a weekend, nor is it the start of the weekend either. So their daughter will have more past information than the husband…so yes, still obvious… he is the murderer because he lied about such kind of information…" Lilith continued.
"I…I don't know how you can just say that, it's a crime to accuse the innocent, you know!" The detective said.
"My-my, you're not as smart for detective are you? I thought it's clear that the child goes to school early in the morning, while the circus leader goes only a few hours before the show. This zoo only has two shows, one around dusk and the other at night…"
"Ok—that's it, you're coming with me, miss!" the detective said,
"With pleasure! I don't mind to come while standing!"
"Urgh…sister…." Eve placed another palm on her face.
Back inside,
The light has turned off, and all the staff has gone home. The group finally sneaks out from hiding. Wanting to not attract unnecessary attention, the nine girls decided to not use flashlights. So with no lights, they have to rely on the night light shining from outside the building.
"Ok, everyone…listen carefully…" Nozomi started,
The group listens quietly...
"…..we're going to look in teams again… but this time, we will go in pairs…"
"In pairs…? But there's nine of us here!" Niko said.
"One of you will have to stay here as a scout…someone that will warn everyone if there's anyone else coming…" Eli said.
"Yep…and worst case scenario, we need this person to cause a loud distraction and help buy us some time…" Nozomi said.
"Loud distraction… for some reason, I know who the perfect candidate for that is…." Umi said.
"Y…yeah…me too…." Kotori added as she glances towards Honoka.
"Alright, so that's set… Honoka, you're the scout…"
"Ok! Leave that to me! But what should I do if it's not necessary to make any distraction?"
"Ah—so that's why you wanted me to bring these…" Maki said as she took out four walkie-talkies from her bag….
"….W-wah…? How did you get those-nya?" Rin said
"…eh…? Well… these are just some spares from the clinic…"
"Oh…is it really ok for you to borrow those?" Umi asked.
"Yeah, no worries... We have a lot of them…" Maki replied. While a pair from each group began to pick out a walkie-talkie. Not having to discuss about who will go with who.
"Nya-nya…this is Rin-chan nya, over!" Rin talked into her walkie-talkie..
"Hey...isn't it a little too loud…?" Hanayo asked.
"If you're using the speaker, yes, it is… that's why I also brought these…." Maki replied as she takes out four headsets, handing out each one to the pairs.
"Ah….This is the expensive one… impressive…" Eli said as she attaches the headset onto the walkie-talkie.
Hearing her being complimented, Maki turns her eyes away, feeling slightly embarrassed,
"Hmmph… this is nothing…I have better ones…"
"So what are we looking for, exactly…?" Umi asked, trying to get them all back to the point.
"Body parts, it looks like the soul is split from each other…so we need to find them and get them all back together…" Nozomi said.
"How…?" Umi asked again.
"Well, I assume that each of you has your own abilities…like… you….. you can spawn spiritual weapons, right? So why not the other things?"
"Ah…like…a spiritual box?" Umi asked.
"Yes…and you must be with…Kotori-chan. I think she can touch souls…"
"U…uh…yes…"
"What about me? I can't even see them…" Maki said.
"And neither can I…." Niko said.
"Then you two need another person to pair up with…" Nozomi said.
"Alright, then I guess I'll go with Rin…" Maki said.
"Ok-nya!"
"Uh…what about the four of us go together? I think we can use some extra help from Niko-chan's and Maki-chan's abilities…." Hanayo said.
"Well, the point of being in a smaller number is to not make too much noise, can you all do that?"
"Of course…" Maki said.
"Then you're fine to go…" Nozomi replied.
"Ok-nya!" Rin said cheerfully again.
"W-wait…where should I hide…?" Honoka asked.
"You need to get on the rooftop and pay attention to both entrances. Which, fortunately, in this case is only the front and back door.…" Eli replied.
"Oo...ok...so the roof top it is!"
"Make sure you don't get caught by the guards outside this building…or we will all be in trouble…" Nozomi said.
"Got it!"
"Alright then, everyone ready?"
"yeah!" they reply loudly.
"Sssshh! Not too loud!"
Each of them have gone along with the arranged team,
Umi and Kotori headed towards the acrobat's room. Feeling pretty confident that acrobat might have something related to this case.
"…—that's pretty much my theory on this…" Umi finished her explanation,
"Uhn…I agree with you about this soul wanting to help out in the circus…but, Nozomi-chan told us that she was murdered and mutilated. I think it's strange for her to be extremely friendly…"
"We will never know when this person died. But there's a chance for her to be like Reiko…"
"Eh…but..Reiko-chan….didn't get murdered. She's not really wandering around because of vengeance. It was more like an anger, she eventually got over. She was disfigured by a train and then sought for her legs and found a way to grow it back instead…"
"Hmm… it strengthens my point, this soul isn't that bad…so we may want to be as gentle as we can…"
"Hnng…well, I think we will always have to be gentle regardless of what they are like…"
"I don't think I want to be gentle if they're bad…"
"Well... for me, being gentle is not a choice but a must, especially because we don't know them personally, so there's no reason for us to be not be gentle toward others…"
"That's…..nice of you…Kotori…." Umi replied.
"Hehe… anyhow, we should be quiet and focus..."
"Ah—true, let's keep moving…. My sword is ready!" Umi said as she takes out her spiritual sword.
"Umi-chan! No sword should be involved! Be gentle!"
"I'm joking…"
"uh…what? You're joking…? That's unexpected…"
"W….Why are you surprised from me making a joke…? It's not that weird, right?" Umi stowed her sword with a slight blush on her face.
Kotori remains silent, still trying to understand Umi's intention…
"I mean….I…I—…" the bluenette flustered.
"…I just don't want to be a spoilsport…. Uhm…..or…let's say…I…I don't want to be boring…"
Kotori couldn't help but to smile and giggle at her….
"….Umi-chan… you don't work that hard to entertain me. Plus its not like we're not dating or anything…we're just working together…"
"O...Oh…right…" Umi scratched her cheek shyly.
"Hehe…but I enjoy you being silly…"
"A-aaaah! W…we're wasting time, let's go…." Umi said as she walks ahead of the brunette.
"E—Eh? Umi-chan! Wait!"
On the other side,
Niko, Rin, Hanayo and Maki decided to get themselves to the animal cages. Most of the animals doesn't seem to be awake— the nocturnal ones are, yet they seem to be tired from the show. But the most noticeable thing is that none of them panicked when they saw the three girls walking.
"These animals are very used to the humans, huh?" Maki said.
"Yeah… I believe so…" Hanayo replied.
"…It would have been troublesome if they were used to humans. Just imagine them panicking in the middle of the show…" Niko stated.
"Yeah-nya! But it's not like that kind of thing never happened-nya!"
"W-What do you mean…?"
"Well-nya… I've heard a few times that in a another circus, animals were raging and causing injuries towards the staffs and audience. It was very scary-nya…!" Rin said.
"O…oh….I totally thought it happened here…"
"Nope, this circus doesn't have any raging animal record-nya!"
"That's good. Then I suppose they took care of them well?" Hanayo said.
"Hehe...but rumor says, they didn't do that well with the staff, there's always people getting fired or leaving each year…"
"Isn't that normal?" Maki asked.
"No, not really….not in an entertainment industry… when they hire someone, they supposedly have passed through the entry trial…so when someone is getting fired—it's either they aren't good enough for the show's future or something fishy is happening in the management…" Niko said.
"Wwoaaah…Niko-chan knows so much-nya!" Rin commented.
"Hmmph! Of course!" Niko replied proudly
"Hey, do you all hear that?" Maki asked.
"Hear what—? What does your ears hear this time…?" Niko asked.
"I hear someone singing…" Maki replied.
"No-nya…I hear nothing…" Rin replied.
Hanayo tries to think for a moment…
"…mm…can you tell where it's coming from…?" she asked.
"The stage…" Maki replies again. Making everyone turn back to where they came from.
Niko, feeling troubled began to focus on the sound and use her ability at the same time.
A fast consciousness travels to the past, revealing a vision of a woman without arms and legs, being dragged all the way to the stage. Blood trailed up to the sandy grounds, as a man with an acrobat axe in his hand, stood next to her…
'I will….I will remember….remember this….'
The woman said.
'The night may be dark and I may have never seen your true face behind that mask…. but I will remember this… because I know… I know who you are…'
'You are someone who hides behind fear…'
'….You are someone who hides behind anxiety…'
'….do you think no one will blame you because you have that inside you? No…. not at all, people will know…and they will…. feel uncomfortable around you….'
'….and because you've shown your anxiety….and because you have refused to change the way you see everyone…. We all decided to make your anxiety come true…'
The man still quiet, held his axe up to the air,
'We used to feel fine, but since you think that we are all looking at you mockingly, we decided to do so….'
'we used to feel that your pets are cute and deserved to live a happy life with us...but since you decided to think of us as the murderers. We all decided to be their murderers…'
'…and since you always think that I never support your ambitions… I decided to change and show I didn't…and watched you grieve for your favorite pet's death….one that you thought,would take you to the world across the seas….forever gone….'
The man's hand, which held the axe, began to shake.
'….this is the end…you will kill me now, right? Stop me from living before I'm tell you more of the truth outside your delusions…'
No respond….
'…..tell you what? One day…when someone finally finds out what you did to me… I will make sure you join me in the grave… the grave that you will make for me once I'm gone….And perhaps—along with people that you have claimed to be 'leaving' the circus…? I've always known where they have gone to…'
Niko quickly stops her focus in the vision as she sees the man furiously bring down his axe onto the woman's neck.
"W-whoa! That was scary!" Niko commented.
"What did you see, Niko-chan?" Rin asked.
"Something happened on the stage…" Niko said.
"Huh? Yeah…I hear someone is singing on the stage, but…. what is it exactly?"
"I can't hear it, can you tell us what the lyrics are…?"
"Huh…? Well…Not sure…but she's saying something like… I remember you, I know who you are… and I want you to join me in the sand castle…."
"S-sand castle…?"
"She is probably talking about her grave, so that might be where she was buried—could we find the soul there too?" Niko said.
"Maybe… let's go…" Maki said.
"W-whoa-whoa! Wait! This is a little scary—what if we find her without her body…?" Niko said.
"uh….well…should we all just look for Eli-sen—….I mean..Eli-chan and Nozomi-chan for safety?" Hanayo replied.
"Y..yeah…I guess..it's always safest to go look for them and tell them about it instead…" Maki agreed.
"Well, I'm sure they knew about it earlier than us…" Niko smirked.
"Still! We still need to look for them for safety-nya! We don't know how her mood might be!"
The storage room,
Nozomi and Eli went there as their first choice—they both could feel something off from the place and definitely, they were proven right…. A horde of wild souls suddenly came up to attack—but most of the attacks were aimed towards Nozomi while Eli stood there to protect her.
"….what on shattering earth are they all up to…suddenly sneaking up on us like that…" Nozomi yelled as she lashes out numerous flames against the attacking soul—she has no more reason to spare them as they keep attacking her.
"…I'm sure they just want your neck…I could just stand here, do nothing and they won't do a single thing to me" Eli replied.
"Did someone send them out of jealousy?" Nozomi smiled playfully.
"Maybe… but she isn't going to get you….ever…"
"Ericchi—you're soooo….heroic…" Nozomi said with a teasing voice.
The blonde only sighs in response as she keeps shoving off the wild soul trying to attack Nozomi.
"….we should finish this and hurry up home—I can't wait for…"
"—You are going home, remember that you all need to leave me before midnight…" Eli cuts in.
"…but I really was hoping to meet her and fight her face to face…I'll tell her who owns the crown and throne here…"
"…I still think you are too amateur to match her spiritual level… you can't fight her…she is too strong…"
"How can you judge me to have a low spiritual level…? I thought you just gave me some power…"
"…it's still not enough…she is a thousand times stronger than you…"
"Wit…Ericchi… Wit… I still think my wit can beat her…Remember the story about Tanuki outwitting the nine tailed fox…?"
"That's a legend, Nozomi…not something real…"
"Well, people said ghosts aren't real either—but here they are, with us…and there's you— a nine tailed fox…"
Eli rolled her eyes,
"I'm still against it for now, you have to prove it to me first, later…"
And suddenly….
"Nozomi-senpai! I mean… Nozomi…!" A high pitched shouted from their walkie talkie.…
"Ooh…Kotori-chan, what's up?!" Nozomi asked.
"Help—we are being surrounded!" Kotori said as they could hear a lot of rattling noises coming from their side.
"Where and how did that even happen?" Nozomi asked in worry, Eli seems to be quiet as she listens to the conversation.
"We don't know… I only found a pair of soul hands and then pulled it out—and suddenly a lot of souls emerged from the ground and started attacking us! I thought they won't be able to do anything but…. Umi-chan can't move her left hand anymore after it got slashed! There are a few axe thrower souls here and they are very dangerous! The numbers also keeps increasing!"
"I'll teach you how to heal a soul—but stay near and survive for a few more minutes… and if you think you can't do it, just run into the storage room…" Eli said.
"E-Eh…? Is that Eli-sen…I mean… Eli-chan speaking? How did she even hear me?" Kotori asked.
"Well, that's Ericchi for you..but for real…hang in there…. We are being attacked too…"
"Oi-oi, what about us? We both are about to approach you two…" Said Niko's voice from the walkie talkie.
"C-can we do anything at all?" Hanayo asked as well.
"Run to the stage, somewhere big enough for us to move around…" Nozomi replied.
"Actually, Maki said she heard something in the stage, sounded like someone is singing…" Niko said.
"Hmm...maybe that's what we need to stop to make these souls stop appearing…" Nozomi said,
"So that means… we're still going to the stage?"
"Yes…let's meet up there as soon as possible!"
Outside the building,
Honoka—surprisingly has not yet gotten bored of her task, but she certainly is not paying attention as she left her walkie-talkie on the floor while having fun with the binoculars that were apparently left there for recreational purposes.
The rooftop of the circus show house is a tower often used by the visitors to have a better view of the zoo. By putting in some coins, people will be able to see with the binoculars for at least an hour. Though with a little knowledge that she learned a while back, Honoka was able to cheat the system by creating a small spiritual hook to trigger the Binocular lids to open...
She is very thankful to Umi for teaching her how to do so, it has proved to be very useful.
When she looked down through the binoculars, she ended up checking on the animals, instead of doing her actual job…
But on the bright side, she could see a couple of guard's activities. She has to admit, some of them are pretty bothersome for waking the animals from their sleep rather than doing their actual jobs. After a moment, Honoka realized that three women are now walking towards their direction— one of them feels familiar, but as she takes a closer look again—she realizes that three of them are some people that she knows.
"Oooh…isn't that, Eve, Lilith, and Detective Harada…?" she said to herself.
As she speaks, she also realized that Lilith took a notice to her presence and smiled playfully.
"W-whoa? She can see me from that far?" she exclaimed.
"…w..wait…did she smile at me or…?" Honoka looked around, finding nothing behind her, not that any soul lingered around either….or at least, not in her vision…
As soon as she tried to think of a reason why she smiled at her, she noticed the path that the three women got through—there's only that one path that led to a specific place….
And this specific place is where she is right now. And needed to warn her friends soon.
Honoka quickly picks up her walkie-talkie and turns it on…
"Hello! Hello! This is Honoka! Respond to me, over!"
"What's up Honoka-chan? Just speak, we are busy right now! Over!" Kotori said.
"There are three women heading this way! Lilith-san, Eve-san, and Detective Harada! Over!"
"Detective Harada….?" Nozomi responded through the walkie-talkie.
"yeah! I'm very sure she is detective Harada, we've met her before, right? over!" Honoka said.
"What is a detective doing in this place…?" Nozomi said.
"Could she know about the murder…?" Niko asked.
"Probably… but right now, we need to somehow finish this within a couple of seconds and get ourselves into hiding!" Nozomi said.
Honoka was about to respond, but something else happened to the three women…
Lilith playfully shoved the two women away from the building… looking at the big tree and all… she wonders what they were really up to…but either way, thanks to that, she has a good news to report…
"Well…something stalls them for now, just keep going! Over!" Honoka said.
No respond from the group.
"Hello? Are you all there…? Over!"
"We are—Honoka-chan, just be quiet for a moment, we're trying to focus!" Kotori said.
"O…Ok…over!"
Down in the stage,
A massive amount of bones rise from the ground—possessed by spirits, which may have been waiting for this time to come. A head of a woman floats above the air, a lot disfigured soul and bones surrounding her…chanting a strange creepy march as the woman's head sings the song that Maki has been hearing…
What do these souls really want from them?
They have no idea, nor do they have enough time to think of a reason as they keep fighting off the invading wild souls. Umi has to use her sword, Kotori has to try her best to use the ability she just learned, Hanayo and Rin hid somewhere along with Maki and Niko as none of them were able to fight—while Eli has to protect them along with her dearest Nozomi.
"Uuh….. if only we could do anything at all!" Hanayo said.
"Just stay here, I really think this is the best choice since we won't get in the way!" Maki said.
Niko remained silent, focusing her sight on the soul marches...
"It would be better if our abilities could do anything at all-nya…" Rin said.
"Heh—like what? Putting a soul into somewhere in your case?"
Rin remained silent to Maki's statement—thinking that it's probably a good idea somehow.
"I—I mean! Don't do that! Just stay here! Don't get in their way!"
"I wonder if there's anything that can keep them inside-nya…." Rin said.
"Like a Good Luck Charm? I heard it's sealed with a strong power…" Hanayo said.
"H-hey! Listen to me! Don't do anything ridiculous! We will get in their way!" Maki said.
Hanayo and Rin doesn't like the idea of sitting around when they really wanted to help…
"I have a good luck charm, can we really use it?" Hanayo replied as she hands a good luck charm to Rin.
"Let's give it a try-nya!" Rin said as she stands from hiding,
"Oi! Rin!" Maki tried to pull her back down, but instead of Rin, she pulled down her trouser, revealing a second trouser under.
"W-Whoa! Maki-chan! You're a pervert-nya!" Rin said.
"I-I didn't mean to do that, damn it! Plus, why do you have a second trouser on?"
"It's just in case I get too scared-nya…"
"Huh…wait…did you usually—….?"
"Aaah! Ok I'm going-nya!" Rin shouts before she jumps out and—
"Nyaaaaaaa!" Rin charges her focal point.
"R-Rin-chan!" Nozomi panics, while she was close to getting attacked by the very soul next to her—luckily Eli noticed it fast and she quickly grabs Nozomi into her embrace.
"Focus! Nozomi…don't let yourself get distracted by the the smallest things…" Eli said as she begins to lead a battle dance with Nozomi.
"Well—I have you, I have no reason to worry about myself…" Nozomi replies, falling into rhythm with the blonde.
"Silly… you still need to worry about yourself, now what do you want to do again?"
"Rin-chan…she is out of her hiding!" Nozomi said.
"Why would you worry about her, look what she has in her hand…" Eli replied again,
Nozomi takes a good look at it—there's a good luck charm, created with double barriers around them.
"That's a pretty strong good luck charm…I wonder what she is planning to do with it…?" Nozomi asked.
"I hope you didn't forget the ability she has…" Eli said.
Nozomi tried to think of a connection between the good luck charm and Rin's ability…
A few seconds passed as they keep twirling around the place while defending themselves against the massive soul attacks.
"Could she be….?!" Nozomi finally grasps the idea right before a massive vortex spawned over Rin's current spot. Using the vortex, Rin started to absorbing all the existing souls, including the chanter and the woman's head. Her hands, body, and Legs are absorbed as well, along with a few animal souls soon joining in.
Everyone in the place was very surprised—and glad to have someone doing that….
Who would've expected her to be able to solve this in seconds? But then again… how can they communicate with the woman's soul….?
"That was…amazing…Rin-chan!" Kotori appreciated.
Umi smiled as she finally takes a break from all the fighting.
"Hehe! Thank you-nya!' Rin replied cheerfully.
"That was a good idea, I've never thought that as a possibility…" Nozomi said.
"Hmmph… well—at least my idea didn't go to waste…" Maki said.
"I know you were against it before…" Niko said.
"Huh? Why would I be against my own idea…?" Maki replied with a blush on her cheek.
"Now-now, Rin-chan, can you somehow summon out the woman's body parts? We need to talk to her and decide what we should do to her soul…" Nozomi said.
"Uh…for that part….I don't know-nya… I haven't really seen the woman's face…and…I don't even know how the body looks either…"
"Nn….I guess that's a problem.… We can't just release everything either…." Umi said.
"Uhm…yeah…and we don't have that much time either…."
"Hand me that…." Eli said, beckoning to Rin to hand over the charm. The cat-like girl agreed immediately. The blonde whispered a prayer and quickly summons the woman head, the arms, the hands, the body, and the legs… Each part of the body has a set of clothes—with cuts on each end showing that it was cut by the time of death…
The body is soon making reaction with each parts, eventually sticking together…
Her eyes opened and she began to float while being surrounded by them….
She looks very worried and afraid—which was luckily noticed by Nozomi…
"Relax, we're not going to harm you if you are willing to cooperate with us…"
The spirit turns herself to the speaker—she was still afraid for a second, but as she looks into her face…
"Cooperate with you—Toujou Nozomi…? You must be dreaming…" the spirit says with a frown on her face.
"Y…you know my name already?"
"Everyone knows you in the spirit world….and we don't like you….Toujou Nozomi…."
"….Alright, I guess I should've remembered that I'm infamous…" Nozomi replied.
"You're arrogant… the most arrogant human to ever exist…" the spirit continued.
Nozomi remained silent, everyone seems to be awkwardly listening to it as well—wondering what they should say to that…
"….I believe, when your time as a mortal ended, you'll be the enemy of everyone else in the spirit world…your name might be engraved in your tombstone and be remembered as a champion, but you will never be forgiven for what you have done to our kind and be gone as you step into the immortal world…"
"….and why is that? Because I'm being the police by stopping your kind from doing anything bad to this 'mortal' world…?" Nozomi replied—somewhat arrogantly.
Hanayo, Kotori, and Rin seem to be a little worried from the way she talks to her.
"Who are you to tell us what to do—and who are you to act like you can control us…you are not a hero—and you don't even know what we felt throughout our life…you tried to be the justice, but you are no one to say as you have never been able to bring peace to yourself…"
Nozomi still remained silent, Eli too somehow, has something that she can agree with…
"….and what are you trying to say? Because someone is not perfect, they can't remind others about anything?" Umi said with anger in her voice.
The spirit turns to her,
"One who has killed a guardian, saying this to me….? How pathetic… you are saying that so that you can get away with your mistake…" the spirit says. Umi remained silent, biting her lips as she tries to come up with a reply… Kotori's worried face suddenly changed into a frown,
"So what? Umi-chan did a mistake, but that doesn't make it wrong for her to exist— do you spirit enjoy blaming people for what they have done in the past? No wonder you can't move on…" she said bravely.
"….and you, the child of someone who triggered a massive spirit massacre—it's all because of your mother that many spirit has lost their place and has been banished before their dreams could come true…" the spirit says. Kotori is about to say something again—but, she mentioned about her mother… did she know her mother….? Will it be bad for her mother if she tries to go against her…
"…why are you speaking like you spirits are to be treated like a god? Aren't you just the same as all of us? I always thought it as a respect to elders that we need to remember…!" Hanayo said.
"I refuse to listen from someone who has abandoned someone's feelings till his death…he was dreaming to have you—yet you remained silent in your place…! You're cruel and disrespectful to your kind, but you expect us all to be well after we become different…" the spirit says again. Once more, the girl becomes speechless.
"That's not true! Kayo-chin has never been cruel to anyone— you are the one who is being cruel because you have never wished to understand anything from her! You judged us to be cruel—you are twisting every fact around to your own favor!" Rin said.
"….liar! Humans are all the same, holding their prides up and pretending to be not—especially you! You have never accepted anyone's appreciation because you want them to keep appreciating you, right?" the spirit pointed to Rin. Rin would deny that so hard, but what can she say? If she says that, will that be a way for her to make others tell her the other way around?
"Hey—what is this human you are talking about? You're talking nonsense here… You described everyone as evil beings, but you never know what may be good about them… maybe if you tell me that you have never seen anyone good, I wouldn't trust you because you have never let your eyes see anyone good…"
"You are blind—yet you talk about what my eyes see… how pathetic are you?"
"She isn't blind—she definitely see us, but hey—who needs eyes if ears can hear a sad being like you ranting? Either way, I'd ignore how your face looks like…because you are clearly too narrow minded for me…" Niko responded before Maki was able to reply.
"Is that what you will tell to your father as well? He narrowed your mind so that you never see the truth!"
"He is doing it for good purpose—and I've realized that…your argument is invalid!" Niko said.
The spirit is about to say something again, but—
A very rough spirit blast knocked her away, far enough from them.
"Enough!" Eli said.
Everyone remained silent as they watch her standing with a challenging pose.
"I know who you are—you don't need to take one's form anymore…." She said.
Nozomi questioned the sentence—how could she know she is someone else than the soul they were looking for…?
"Ericchi…. who is this soul?" Nozomi asked.
Eli glanced to her,
"I'll tell you later…. But for now, can you take everyone out? It's almost midnight already…." She continued.
"Why….? We aren't done with her…."
"No… you are all done with her—she is no longer here…this is just a fraud…"
"Fraud….?" Nozomi flustered.
"Explain later, Nozomi… just…run now….with everyone… this is going to get really ugly…"
Nozomi and the rest of the group remained in their place, wondering what is going to get ugly…
As soon as they're thinking about it again, the spirit eventually shows her true form—Even Maki started to be able to see her, growing into a dark fashioned creature with long arms, pale skin and monstrous height. Her face was beautiful, though it eventually turns into a creepy face with an abnormal wide smile, sharp teeth and pitch black slanting eyes…
More pair of arms grew from her back—sharp claws on every fingers and thick uncomfortable atmosphere enveloped the area…
"So you have decided to betray me this soon—Ayase Eli! Poor choice! I thought you were smarter than that!"
Hopefully the next chapter is up soon~
Sorry for the long wait!