Edited to fix typos and add/remove some lines
JC silently sat on the roof of Cherryton, along side Legoshi, Jack and the other 701 boys, all staring skywards, that night, there was meant to be a meteor shower, Jack having invited JC in an effort to give him a spark of inspiration,
"so, JC, anything yet?" he asked,
"nothing so far" JC responded, having a notepad and his phone ready for any ideas when they come,
"you know, they say the moment you are born, a brand new star appears in the sky too" Jack stated as they all looked skyward "that's your Guardian Star"
"great, so, which one is mine?" Miguno questioned
"o-oh, i-i wouldn't know" Jack replied to the unexpected question "you're the only one to get it to shine, so you're gonna have to figure it out on your own"
"sounds like it would be easy to find though" Collot said, JC remained silent, scanning the stars for his Guardian star, hoping that it would give him a sign,
"you promised us a meteor shower, right?" Durham said to Jack in an accusing tone "a once-in-a-lifetime celestial show?"
"i don't control it" Jack shot back, glancing back up at the sky "it is weird, we should be able to see it from here" the 7 of them sat in silence until Voss sneezed,
"gesundheit" JC said to Voss
"hey, do you think we should head back" Legoshi proposed, Jack suddenly jumping up, running off to grab his telescope, the 6 of them sat together for another hour before the others started to leave, JC remained behind for a little while longer, as he got up to leave, he thought he heard something, he glanced around, seeing nothing, but he had the feeling that he was being watched, he remembered a similar feeling months ago, back when he first went into the drama club, he shook his head and left, too tired to think about anything else, he glanced skywards once more, catching a glimpse of several meteors streaking overhead, he gave a gentle smile
"shame the other guys missed it" he started recording the shower for a bit before leaving to return to his cabin and get to bed for class the next day.
"why do you think I would lie about this?" Jack demanded as the others were grilling him about missing the shower last night "there was defiantly something in there"
"sounds like your using this as an excuse to make up for the shooting stars, aren't you?" Durham accused,
"I've heard about this before" Collot admitted "there's supposedly a 6-eyed monster that shows up around the school sometimes"
"oh yeah?" Miguno looked at Jack "well there you go Jack, it was just a mysterious, horrifying monster" JC glanced at Legoshi, who was on his phone, having a good idea why he was,
"you only think it's funny because you didn't see it"
"uh, wait" said a raccoon student who was nearby "where were you when you saw this thing? Lecture Room 2, right?"
"yeah, just about there" Jack responded, JC stared, wondering where this was going "so what?"
"what? You haven't heard?" the raccoon questioned "what you saw was Tem's ghost" this got the boys worried, JC, on the other hand, was more curious then anything "it's been 6 months since the devouring incident and the prep hasn't been caught, right?" JC frowned, nearly 6 months of his PTSD from seeing the aftermath of said incident "so these days, if you go down there in the dead of night, you can hear Tem's footsteps echoing down the hall"
"uh, how can you even be sure it's him though?" Durham questioned, sounding sceptical, but worried
"it can't be anyone else" the raccoon stated "besides, if you haven't noticed, someone else is missing now, and he was seen around there a lot"
"what? Who?" Miguno questioned, JC knew who, but he also knew that they were last seen at the summer festival grounds, so his disappearance only fuelled this rumour,
"Louis obviously" the raccoon muttered to them "it's not like him to cut classes, so there's definitely something freaky going on" just as he said this, Legoshi's phone went off, scaring them,
"oh, I'm sorry" he said, JC gently shaking his head, not listening to the rest of what the raccoon was saying, he stared down at his notepad for a few seconds before he grinned, lifting and twirling his pencil around his fingers, getting the attention of the others, excluding Legoshi
"looks like JC has new inspiration" Voss said, jumping down to see what he'd write, JC started jotting down a plot line "murder at a school, caused by a student or staff who had given in to their lycan instincts, reports of "ghost" sightings cause the Anti-Lycan Defence Team sends Marcus to investigate undercover" JC stared at the line of text he wrote, smiling gently, but he couldn't get his mind off the real ghost encounters, he frowned gently
'i need to investigate this "ghost" more before I go any further with this idea, if it is a prank, I'll probably have it be the lycan of the week, if not, maybe more then, I've been meaning to get members of the "6 Lycan clans" involved'
Later that night, JC stepped into room 701 to get more ideas,
"hey guys" he said as Collot let him in,
"hey JC" they chorused, JC spotting the milk boxes on the floor
"whats all this then?" he asked, sitting with them
"we dared Miguno and Durham to go to the hall outside Lecture Room 2 and bring back photo evidence" Jack explained,
"if they do so, then they get all this milk" Voss added "if not, we share it" Legoshi went to the mini-fridge and pulled one out,
"want one?" he offered JC,
"nah, I don't like soy"
"hey, it's OK, this is the real stuff" Jack explained, as Legoshi opened the box and handing it to JC, he took a timid sip and gasped,
"this is the real deal" he exclaimed "why didn't you tell me I could've gotten real milk?
"you never asked"
"huh, fair" JC said as Jack looked towards the window
"think those guys are OK" he questioned, Legoshi groaning a bit "whats up dude?"
before Legoshi could answer, the 5 of them heard the running footsteps, followed by Durham and Miguno bursting through the door, looking spooked,
"we found it, monster's real"
the next day, while the 701 boys were at the public relations department in club building 5, JC looked around the door outside the lecture hall, seeing someone he didn't expect to see there
"Louis?" he said nothing as he stood and turned to JC
"hello JC, been a while"
"yeah, it has been" JC said, Louis walking past him,
"you should know, I'm leaving Cherryton" this causes JC to turn and look back at him "i only came back to hand in my resignation and leave with a positive note"
"so I'm guessing you've made up with Legoshi?" he paused and looked back at JC
"more or less" Louis replied, continuing on his way, JC stared silently before turning back to the hall, seeing Durham's smashed phone, he picked it up, extracting the memory card and putting it into his phone to check for any photo or video files, the most recent photo was of Durham standing right by the door, giving a peace sign, a large eye watching him and the photographer, whom he knew would've been Miguno, JC copied the photo and put the card back into Durham's phone and put it in his pocket to return to him later.
"dammit, we were fooled by a freshman!" Jack exclaimed, reading the article in paper the next day
"good photo" Legoshi complimented "is that the one you took on your camera Voss?"
"yeah" Voss said,
"the shutter is set to go off anytime it senses heat" Collot explained, pulling his phone out "then, it automatically sends the picture to our phones, see" JC looked at the photos, the first was that of Voss' hands, probably when he was setting up the camera, the second was of an insect flying past, the third was the image of the guinea pig student, the fourth was something unidentifiable, JC frowned, hearing that it might be a cockroach,
"mind sending me that image, I want to have a closer look at it"
"sure thing JC" Collot said, sending him the image, JC looked at it silently, then pulled up the image that was taken on Durham's phone, he frowned slightly, looking at them both,
"I'm not satisfied" JC said as he and Legoshi headed to the drama club "i honestly don't think that most of these sightings are of the guinea pig in the report"
"really? What do you think it is?"
"i cannot be sure, have you seen or heard anything strange recently"
"now that you mention it, I have been hearing an odd noise that no one else can"
"can you describe it?"
"kinda, it's sorta like…"shaaa"….or something, I've been hearing it since Jack said he saw it"
"interesting, and weird, that your the only one to hear it" JC said "either way, I'm going there tonight to confront…...whatever this is"
"are you sure about this?" Legoshi questioned "what if it's something that could devour you?"
"if it was, don't you think those who have encountered wouldn't be with us?" JC responded, Legoshi stared, getting what JC was saying and nodded silently.
JC kneeled in-front of Tem's photo, the darkness around him seemed to be infinite, but he stayed alert, wondering if the "ghost" would appear to him, like it did to Jack, Miguno and Durham had encountered the previous nights, figuring that the footage that Voss and Collot had captured wasn't the whole story, he kept his eyes closed, his sense of hearing and smell sharpening in the darkness, that's when he heard it, a slithering sound, along with the "shaaa" sound that Legoshi had described the day following Jack's encounter, keeping his eyes closed, he slowly stood, unconsciously looking towards the door to the lecture hall, he inhaled and sighed, thinking of something to say to this presence that he could feel watching him, remembering a line from an old movie he enjoyed when he was younger,
"you can no longer hide in shadow" he said calmly, his calm turned to surprise as the presence responded, with the exact line that followed his
"i am shadow, a shadow that guards the gate" the voice said, a deep feminine sounding voice "now run along, or accept your doom" JC smiled gently
"sounds like you enjoyed the same movie, to quote it effortlessly" he said, remaining calm "why don't you come out?"
"i must stick to the shadows, in order to find the one"
"the one?"
"the one who committed the most heinous of crimes within the very walls of this school" JC's head tilted down to Tem's photo
"Tem's murderer" he said, sensing that whatever the presence was, was surrounding him, and whoever it was, their face was right in-front of his, he could feel the gentle breath on him,
"that is correct" he felt them moving a bit, as if examining him more "but I am curious, why are you here, and why are you keeping your pretty brown eyes closed?" JC's brow furrowed a bit, whoever this was, knew him well enough, or they had been watching for quite a while,
"I'm here to seek out the being who is scaring the other students" JC replied "a creature described as having 6 eyes, able to get from behind there" he pointed to the lecture hall door "to in there" he pointed up to a vent "not many creatures of this world fit that criteria"
"quite the logical thinker" they said, JC feeling them moving closer "have you figured it out yet"
"i didn't, until just before" JC replied "something that has something that resembles extra eyes, I first thought a peafowl, with those dazzling tail feathers, the "shaaa" sound, which, hearing myself, sounds like a rattling, that threw me off, and then, just as you made your presence known, I figured it out, I couldn't hear footsteps, but I could hear something, that clenched it, the slithering, only one creature fits all the clues; a rattlesnake"
He didn't hear a mention of confirmation nor denial as he heard it moving away, JC slowly opened his eyes, catching the massive, signature rattle at the tip of the tail slithering away from the lecture hall, he frowned and left, not wanting to be there any longer than he had too.
"your a fool you know that, knowing that it could've been dangerous and yet you went there, alone and unprotected"
"better to know what really is happening, rather then remain blind to the truth" JC replied silently, having finished 17 pages of the new draft "but then, beings like us prefer that the true be illuminated, right Juno?" she stared a him, sighing gently
"yeah, I'm just a bit shaken with Louis's resignation" she replied,
"i bet most of the drama club are, especially Legoshi, knowing him" Juno stared at him, remembering nearly blowing up at Legoshi the day before yesterday
"i feel so terrible for going off at him now" JC silently got up and hugged her, causing her to gasp gently and blush from this "w-what are you doing"
"comforting a friend, like a good friend should" he said to her, she looked at him in silence before wrapping her arms around him "and I've been curious, what was the real reason for the hug when summer ended?" Juno blushed more
"h-honestly…..i-it…..it was…." JC kept silent "b-because I…..l-l-like you, a-a-a lot"
"same" JC replied, feeling her hugging a bit closer to him
"th-this is nice"
"this doesn't have to be the last time we do this" Juno looked at him silently, a smile slowly growing on her.
"Six-eyes? That's her name?" JC asked Legoshi
"yeah"
"a bit bland, but a massive rattlesnake with eye patterns on her body might not be as choosy when it comes to names"
"either way, she's asked me to find Tem's killer" JC looked at him
"seriously? Why you out of everyone?" Legoshi sighed
"the brawl at the spring performance, and my relationship with Haru"
"i see, any leads?"
"2 currently, someone who I spotted running by the window last night, someone who does it nightly, and Tem's friend Carl" Legoshi explained, JC looked over to said Alpaca, hearing him discussing female gym clothes getting stolen, JC silently thought to himself, not noticing Jack approaching and giving Legoshi way to speak to Carl, by speaking with Els
'i want to help Legoshi with this, but what can I do? I'm just a human, I cannot sense anything others cannot like him, nor do I have the strength, the only thing we're good at is adapting'
JC looked up as Legoshi got up and walked over to Els.
"so, JC, whatcha thinking about?" Jack asked, snapping JC back to reality
"uh….story for the current Beetron chapter" JC quickly said
"no kidding? The school is a buzz with your most recent work, how many more volume are you planning on making?"
"another 4 for now" JC said "volume 7 will set up the final arc of the series" JC explained before standing "i must get back to it" he headed off, shooting Legoshi a text as he left, heading to Lecture Hall 2, he looked around the destroyed door silently, running a finger over the damage, a splinter coming free easily
'had to be a powerful creature that could do this damage, hmph, that narrows it down so much, to every species of lion, tiger and bear, unless I'm forgetting something'
JC silently leaned on the windowsill, looking at the door silently
'whoever they are, I bet that they were close to Tem, someone I might know well, unfortunately, that doesn't narrow it down'
JC stared at the door silently, not seeing a figure looking directly at him before they walked off, JC turned his head, only catching the heel of the figure, getting a chill from just that alone,
'why do I feel like I'm next?'