Chapter 20 Ayano Aishi: The (Miss-)adventures of the occult club.
What a bummer, we got sent to the counsellor for walking those mechas through the hallways…
The next day Kaga Kusha behaved differently than his usual self. He was lost in thought (he is smart, so what could he possibly be thinking?) and then he told us to be inconspicuous with our activities. No problem, we got this. We will store the mechas outside, protected with high tech blankets.
Kaga Kusha then proposed that we would let everyone interested see our science club so we can get good publicity and so that the students and teachers will understand better, what we are doing, so they don´t fear the science club anymore. Some students came and Horo Guramu explained to them what he was doing inside the science club. The students seemed satisfied and most of them liked the holographic technology. Someday it will become widely accessible and applicable and people like that thought.
I decided to do less science activities, the mecha incident was not amusing, and went to the occult club instead, which had formed just recently. The occult club has no specific religious beliefs and only wants to contact supernatural beings and prove their existence.
The members of this -for now- unofficial club are Oka Ruto, Shin Higaku, Chojo Tekina and Daku Atsu.
Shin Higaku likes reading and the occult, but otherwise his interests are not similar to mine. So I don´t talk to him very often. I am fairly indifferent about him.
Same for Chojo Tekina.
Daku Atsu is more interesting, he dislikes gossip and violence and likes the occult, reading and justice.
In the end I like Oka Chan the most out of all of them.
I have talked with her several times, she is shy and quiet and stutters a lot , like I do when I´m very hesitant and nervous, and the bullies and many other students regard her as creepy. You're all stupid, she is not scary at all! Dark does not equal evil. You haven´t met my mother yet.
I like Oka Ruto a lot because she is very friendly and well versed with the occult, I showed her my planchet and she told me that she has one too! She couldn´t convince anyone other than her parents and the occult club members that ghosts exist, however.
Her parents have a business called "Spiritual consultation" where they offer their services to clients and believe they offer them genuine help and Oka worries, because she couldn´t bear the thought that her parents are in the wrong and that´s why she wants to prove that supernatural things exist.
She also has some similar interests as I have: Martial Arts, Cats and Reading, and she dislikes Memes and Gossip.
Hmm maybe I could teach her martial arts? I think she is insecure and anxious, this could help her get more confident.
When I talked to her first she asked me if I would like to join her club, and I politely declined, stating that I love the science club, but I am willing to cooperate with her, cross club cooperation should really become a thing in the future I think, and she was happy to know I was willing to help her.
She seems lonely and wants to have friends. Like me before I met the Kurusu sisters. Ah I miss them, it will take almost a year to see them again.
I can talk to her about all those interesting topics, such as the Reikon, Onryous, Ikiryous and many more. We also talked about many dark, gruesome, sad, creepy and scary things, Japanese creepy pasta, such as Hachishakusama, and about the Suicide forest Aokigahara. It is really sad, that so many people's lives are so horrible, that they want to end it all.
Suddenly I got really worried and asked her if she did self-harm. See her stockings and fingerless gloves, whatever they are called? If people's mental health is damaged too much, they may self-harm as a maladaptive coping strategy. Luckily my coping strategy is to think about certain chemicals (Kaboom!) whenever I am too stressed.
Oka stammered a lot when I asked her , but she told me that she is fine and showed me her unhurt arms and legs beneath her stockings. I smiled and told her that I am very glad that she is fine.
Today I asked Oka Ruto about books with charms and curses and she gave me a nice big one.
I read about various curses and finally found a love-obsession curse and how to counter it.
I have read about the Dere types in the internet and would probably be classified a Kuudere or Dandere, but I think my mom would classify as something vagely similar to a Dorordere (lovey-dovey, but has a hidden mean side), but not as evil. She can still be quite loving after all.
Yandere? Nah that sounds crazy, I don´t believe could possibly be the case. Umm on second thought though… the love-obsession curse, namely the Aishi curse could be classified as yandere curse. Is my mother a yan- no! no! Think about chemical formulas! Ammonium Nitrate! Ethylene! TNT! Anything else!
Anyway, I want to break the Aishi Curse, so I can live normally.
The book told me fascinating things. First of all you need to socialize with people and have good friend so you already have social connections which will improve you mental and spiritual wellbeing. If you are socially isolated, it will be much harder to counter the love-obsession curse.
You need to have people you care deeply about and need to develop and have empathy and compassion.
Once you are mentally and spiritually well, shaking of the curse becomes much more likely and achievable than otherwise.
I need to craft an amulet necklace. I will use various materials which will have magical effects to them.
The core piece of the amulet necklace will be the venom of the bushmaster (Lachesis, a genus of pit viper). It will be stored in a vial and protect against the envy. Same goes for the dried parts of the plant Staphisagria macrosperma, which will protect against supressed anger.
Other pieces of it include Hyoscyamus — known as the henbanes, these are plants in the nightshade family, and interestingly enough burnt lime combined with Potassium hydrogen sulphate and even natrium chloride.
Then once the "senpai effect" strikes I need to take the right homeopathic pills( depending on the symptoms) and then run to the mythical Cherry tree at the school and say the spell words which will break the curse.
Now I feel much safer. I can do something about the curse. I will take my time to get the ingredients for the amulet with the vials and the right homeopathic pills.
I thanked Oka for the big book and went to the science club activity.
By the way, Joho´s newspaper came out, it was about the mecha incident, and said that the science club may have plans for world domination, or they may just want to try things out. It also talked about the bake sales of the cooking club, about the newest artworks of the art club members and other things, and unsurprisingly - murders which had happened in our prefecture.
Oka chan stalks the Basu sisters, she believes they are demons. But they can stand in broad daylight, how could that be, and Oka chan does not want to hear that they aren't actually demons and just plain humans. To be honest, I don´t know for sure what they actually are, but since they can stay in the sun, they must be fairly normal. They must not necessarily be full demons, they could half-demons or be something else entirely, which we don´t know about yet. They search for something, but haven't found it yet and they spend hours on end searching for it. And they don´t want to join the occult club. Weird ones, those Basu sisters. Both of them also like violence, that´s a bit concerning.
I once asked Oka chan what scared her the most. She thought about it, but could not give me a clear answer about what exactly scares her the most. She fears getting bullied, getting embarrassed or ridiculed, and she fears evil spirits and other dangerous entities.
I told her that I fear the wrath of my mother the most, and I am scared of evil people and murderers. Evil people feel like a more imminent threat than demons to me, that is why I am training with the martial arts club, and I asked Oka chan if she wanted to train too, so she could defend herself too, it would be really helpful. Oka cahn wants to try it out, but for now she has a more pressing matter on her mind.
Oka chan and her club also want to summon a demon, but so far they have failed every single time. They try to use the Sachiko ever after ritual from corpse party:Book of shadows. Never heard of such a game…Hmm I need to look it up. Okay, so it is an survival horror adventure/visual novel game. Whatever, maybe I will play it one day.
Oka chan also likes to explore the seven mysteries of Akademi with her club members, but they have only looked at five out of the seven so far.
I decide to research about how to summon a demon first.
I had certain books at home (from the basement, are they from mother, I don´t really know for sure, but it is …. likely…) and one day I told Oka chan about a quick, dirty and never to recommend ways and a slower, but useable way to do so.
"The quick and dirty way is really simple. See the ritual knife inside the skull on the altar?
"Yes,... what is… with it?"
"If you wanna summon a demon as quickly as possible and disregarding any regard for caution, you TAKE OUT the Knife, Stab a student to death-" I gesticulating intensely with empty hands" and then put it back inside the skull , all bloodied as it is. Then you enter their realm, but the demons won't lend you their powers just yet. You need to leave the demon realm again, take the knife again and MURDER five more people. Then they will lend you their power and you can KILL as many people as you want."
Oka was terrified and stepped backwards
"But of course we are not insane and stupid! This would be the worst possible way to summon them! You would have the angry spirits(onryou) of the murdered chasing you and cursing you and would be ruined for life. Not to forget the psychological effects it would have, it would utterly ruin one's mind and it is also against any common sense or morality."
"Remember, these are not angles or neutral beings. They are DEMONS! They are dangerous and will be hostile and will try to hurt you, feed on your energy and exploit you. If you try to summon them, a bit blood and lots of wards will be necessary. Do not forget to put up the wards, better be safe than sorry!"
Oka trembled and shivered. Oh no, I overreacted!
"I´m sorry! I did not mean to scare you like that! I just wanted to tell you about my findings! I am not a monster!"
"I …know…, you never …ever ….killed anybody…. I can see it in your aura…your aura is …light…
You…are…not a…normal…human…but you are…not … evil. I see the…curse …which is burdening you … but you have … already …weakened it…somehow.
You are…. very…unusual, Ayano-chan."
"You can see peoples auras? I can do that too, look!"(Why am I suddenly so cheerful? I think I trust Oka so much, that I can show my vulnerable side more.)
I activated my aura vision. I have such an ability, but I have never put any thought in it so far and rarely used it. I used it to determine if mother was there, she usually appeared cyan, green and a little bit red. Oka was outlined in green and some red (what is the meaning of this? Oka is not evil!). I could see some students behind the walls of the occult club room passing by and some guy was outlined not just green but also… pink? What is that supposed to mean?
Oka gasped.
"Y-your…eyes…th-they a-are g-glowing …r-red!"
What?! I deactivated my aura vision and looked at her incredulously.
"I need to check this out in the mirror immediately!"
I quickly ran to the nearest mirror and activated my aura vison again and yes-my eyes did glow a little! What is this?
"There you have it Oka-chan. Proof of the supernatural.
…
Wait. Have you ever checked the Basu sisters with you aura vision?"
"Yes… but they …always appeared …green and… yellow, once they …noticed me."
"I don´t know what this means… but I think that they currently pose no threat to us.
But there is s-something e-else th..that I-I m-must a-ask you of, Oka-chan.
W-why a-are y-you outlined …not o-only in green …b-but in r-red t-too?"
Oka chan did not know, but she saw the same in me. Lots of green and some red.
She told me that it is probably because of the curse which afflicts me. Makes lots of sense really. But if the curse wants to turn me against Oka-chan… it will be destroyed by me! My frustration at this thought flared up and I almost felt angry and heavily remined of the dam of supressed emotions again. NO ONE EVER SHALL TURN ME AGAINST MY FRIENDS! No matter who or what it is, If you dare to try that, you are done for!
But I have prepared my countermeasures, so I will have a chance against this curse.
Oh, right we were discussing on how to summon a demon. There is another much safer, but more difficult method found in the books. You don´t even need to pluck out your eyes, some blood and chanting suffices.
If the old ritual doesn´t work, there is no harm in trying out a new one, right?
It took us a while to prepare properly, but I was invited to the new advanced ritual.
Yaku Zaishi volunteered too, since he likes the occult too. He has little in common with Oka, but that is okay.
By now it was early June. And on a rainy afternoon we initiated the ritual. The wards were put in place, with extra wards as precaution, so the summoned demon could not escape or harm anyone, the exorcism spells were ready to use and we commenced the ritual.
The blood pooled inside the circle , we chanted the verses and then with flash and thunder the demon appeared. It was black and misshapen had many tendrils sticking out of it, everyone except me was scared. It is an ugly thing! I thought to myself. Absolutely hideous! It began to demand more blood and body parts and promised us riches and hot men and money in return…
I yelled "Don´t listen to it, it only wants to exploit us!"
The Demon howled and roared in rage.
YOU DARE, MORTAL? THRESE ARE OFFERS YOU SHOULD NOT REFUSE. WHY ELSE WOULD YOU SOMMON ME, THE MIGHTY AKUMA?! IF YOU DON'T GIVE ME MORE, I WILL TAKE IT!
The demon started breaking the wards on by one with its tendrils and we immediately started to chant the exorcism spells.
The wards almost broke, but we exorcised it eventually and it was thrown back into its monstrous realm again.
However our sanity had suffered nonetheless and we were spotted looking weird by a teacher ("Why are you acting so weird? Behave yourself!")and were sent to the guidance counsellor again. Fuck.
I know that Genka Kunahito hates the occult…
She was disappointed to see me in her office again and despite considering to suspend us for two days, she only sent us home early that day again. I am glad that her punishment was not harsher, I apologized for making a mess again, told her that I did not expect our activities to harm our sanity, and promised to never do this again and the occult club members did the same. Maybe she was softer on us, because it was a different mess this time, and because no one got hurt…
Ugh, what now, summoning demons is out of the question, and no one will believe that we summoned one, because we don't have any pictures.
Wait, Yaku zaishi made a video of the demon. The video is received as scary by everyone who watched it. Hmm, we should keep it in secret, the already low reputation of the occult club needs to be protected.
What can the occult club do now?
Simple, lets research the seven mysteries at Akademi next. Since we won´t meet any demon this time, this will surely not make us insane again…
However, I had enough of the occult for the time being and decided to focus on other things first.