"So you're saying it was some sort of werewolf looking creature? And it just casually walked out of the bathroom?" Yuji questions, a hand at his hip and the other holding his chin in a contemplative fashion as he looks up at Yusuke Urameshi who's standing upon the elevated circular surface the main floor bench surrounds in a complete ring.
"That's exactly what I'm saying. Look, I know no one else but me saw the furry bastard, but I know what I saw." Yusuke affirms, pointing a thumb toward himself as emphasizing that he's THE key witness. He then scans his eyes over the murmuring mass crowd of students taking up the entire stairs leading up to the next floor and ? of the spacious area the murder took place last night.
"Some of you were there, too! Everyone who was down here last night heard the screaming and struggling coming from the boy's bathroom. I damn sure know some of you even peeked inside before it was mysteriously cleaned up!" Yusuke asserts, pointing accusingly at the sea of adolescents in uniform. There has to be around 150 or so of them there, more or less about 40% of the total number of enrolled students.
"Are you serious? This isn't some kind of prank, is it? Because it's definitely not cool to be pulling these kinds of jokes on our 2nd day here!" A girl shouts from the incoherent voices speaking amongst themselves anxiously.
"NO! This isn't some stupid prank! We could all be in grave danger just like those two guys!" Yusuke shouts back in turn. It's then Yuji and Maki shoot one another a knowing stare. The female half gestures toward the stairs and Yuji nods in acknowledgement, fully aware it was time to discuss and get down to business. However, the arrival of a peculiar individual on the scene cuts into the atmosphere.
"OOOOOOOYYYYY!" A booming voice amplified by a megaphone plays hell on everyone's eardrums and draws their undivided attention. All eyes fall upon a boy with a peach fuzz haircut, dark bags under a pair of steel blue eyes, a black school blazer hanging around his shoulders, a white dress shirt with its sleeves rolled up to his elbows on his upper body, three black fanciful rings on his right hand, standard slacks on his legs, and green track running shoes on his feet. In his left hand is the megaphone he's holding up to his mouth.
"Hey, what the hell…?" Yusuke grimaces as he uses a pink to sooth his eardrum.
"Who the heck are YOU!?" He asks with a scowl. The male he's addressing takes a moment to lower the volume of the device in his possession a couple of notches before he proceeds to give an answer.
"Haizukal Itchibana. Second year student. However, this will be my 4th year attending this school." A response that reduces the entire body of students to silence for severals seconds, then mass confusion begins to spread among them.
"He's a sophomore, but he's been here for four years?" One girl comments from the crowd before light chatter starts building, no doubt ridiculing the youth.
"Jeeze, man… I've heard of guys being complacent and living simple lives, but aren't you even a little embarrassed to admit something like that?" Yusuke remarks, being no exception from the rest. The boy in question, Haizukal, shakes his head in disappointment at the assessment.
"You're focused on the wrong thing, but if you must know; I was actually three grades above the average kid my age when I first came here at the age of 12. It's obvious I've been flunking for several years, but that's been intentional. I stay to help newbies who arrive at this extravagant hellhole. It's a burden I took up personally of my own volition." The boy goes on to explain, now shifting the perspective of those around him as he looks down from atop of the stairs with a calm demeanor.
"Holy crap, you've got a bit of heart for a short guy. So, what's the deal? Do monsters usually show up randomly and attack students?" Yusuke questions.
"It's not random… They appear when you break a rule, small or big." Haizukal begins. His words pique enough interest to bring his peers to silence again.
"Male or female, mistake or intentional, it doesn't matter to this school. What makes matters worse is that the typical person cannot see them. You need certain abilities - being in touch with the spiritual side of yourself on a, at least, decent level - or special items that can help you see them." The boy further elaborates.
"Huh. So this school has its own curse users, too?" Yuji questions, though more so to himself than anyone else.
"Sounds like it, but it seems to be nothing beyond being coincidental. I think the bigger question here to ask is: What kind of bizarre person runs a school like this?" Maki proposes her own question as she wears a solemn scowl.
"Yeah, maybe this all has to do with the principal. Maybe he has some sort of ancient cursed artifact or family heirloom." Yuji concurs as he folds his arms and looks on with an observant blank stare. Meanwhile, the myriad of adolescents begin worrying.
"Oh man…! I don't wanna die inside a school! That's so lame!" A guy from the bunch blurts out as he grasps around the scalp of his head in panic.
"Th-that whore sent me here to die! I knew my own mother resented me! She's just jealous that she keeps getting older and older! She hates that I'm prettier!" A girl tries to rationalize her predicament while holding desperately at the bag in her lap. Several steps down from her is Azula who's snarling and clenching her left hand into a quivering fist while her left handles her cellphone, adept thumb tapping away at the screen swiftly as she tries various ways to make a call. Unfortunately, every attempt, be it messaging, direct calling, or even using a social media app, all result in her screen telling her it's unable to connect to anyone's line in one way or another.
"WHAT IS THIS!!!?!?" The princess yells out while shooting up to stand once her temper finally blows the lid off her patience. She turns toward the male at the top of the steps and points her phone-screen at him.
"Why can I connect to the internet here, but can't make a single call out to anyone!? My phone service is premium and the bill was paid two days ago!" She barks at him, anger plain as day on her face. Haizukal meets her irrational and hostile gaze with his lingering calm one.
"Because that's how it's always been. If you want a specific reason, the actual source of the problem, then I don't know what to tell you besides that I think it's supernatural related. You aren't the first to have that issue and you won't be the last. I guess they really hate any potential of an outside force meddling here." He answers.
"No… We're all gonna die here!" Another girl from the crowd exclaims before she begins sobbing loudly. A bunch of others also begin trying to use their cellphones to make calls, testing the claim. They too are met with the same results as Azula, regardless of what kind any of them have.
"She's right! I can't get a signal at all!"
Dude, this is so freaky… Please, tell me this is some sort of bad dream. I have enough to worry about as it is."
"Screw this! I'm not waiting here to die!" Several more voices can be heard from the crowd with the last being a boy who begins rushing to make his way toward the exit far behind Yusuke.
"Move it! Let me through, damn it! Sorry, but get out of my damn way!" The boy shouts, stepping over and thrashing past as many people as he needs to until he departs from the crowd and has a clear run for the double doors ahead.
"Hey, wait a minute, doofus! Don't go running off on your own!" Yusuke shouts at him as he passes by.
"Whatever, I'm getting out of here!" The student yells back in turn.
"Let him go…" Haizukal insists, pausing as one of the doors open and shut at the boy's exit.
"It's not against the rules to shout and scream at the gates. And classes don't start until tomorrow, anyway. Let him face despair and overcome it in his own way. No escape from this place, so it's best to just get the tears out now." He explains, still using the megaphone in his possession.
"No one has ever tried? I'm pretty sure I could hop over the gate." Yusuke claims, testing to see what sort of answer he'll get next.
"Of course people have tried. It doesn't matter how high you can jump. An invisible barrier surrounds the entire school grounds. You'll just bounce right off of it and wind up eating dirt." Haizukal explains.
"Damn it… I knew you'd have an answer even for that."
"Look, I'm not going to try and fool you guys into thinking it isn't so bad here, but you can navigate the system here. The day after the arrival of new students is when they usually hand out more rule books, so expect one today. Study it like an extra credit subject and treat it like a lifeline. For those of you who want to at least go out swinging even if you aren't too good at fighting, the school actually allows you to carry and buy weapons. I guess you can steal or find them laying around, too. There's some special vending machines here throughout the place, and even spell books in the libraries. All else I can say is… Stay in groups and watch others' backs. Try not to die before the end of the school year." He concludes and heads off down a hallway, leaving the bunch to soak in all of the information given.
Time passes and the afternoon nears. By then, Kakashi is one of three male members who takes up the task of handing out rule books from the boxes they carry around. The leaf ninja makes sure to finish up with Shikamaru being the last of the boys he hands a book to. The teen accepts it as they conversate out in the hallway.
"A murder, huh? Well, I guess the school's name was more literal than I thought. Any leads?" Kakashi asks while standing with his hands in his pockets, staring outside the window and watching as some approaches the gates down at ground level.
Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.
"They say it was a werewolf that did it before disappearing soon after. Might be a jutsu of some kind or a summoning." Shikamaru theorizes as he takes a moment to open and read the school's regulations, leaning against the wall beside Kakashi.
"Out of the blue? No rhyme or reasoning?" The elder asks.
"Probably not. Though, according to some guy who's been attending this school for several years now, the creatures appear when you break a rule Regardless of how small it is."
"So they just know? No inquiries? No exceptions?"
"Seems like they would just know, yeah. Going by what that Yusuke guy was telling us, the two students were talking about going for a smoke before heading into the bathroom together. And there is a very noticeable No Smoking sign on the door. Might be surveillance cameras or a tattle tale. Not sure." Shikamaru responds as he skims over the pages, a frown of concern soon taking form onto his face at what he reads. Just as he's about to speak up again, a sudden ' B O O O M ! ' From outside snags his attention. Instinctively, he shifts where he stands and positions himself parallel to Kakashi to spot the source of the noise. There he sees Yusuke Urameshi, pointing his finger like a gun at the gate. The shinobi raises a brow curiously, but it soon becomes clear WHY Yusuke is posturing as he is. At the male's finger tip, a light begins glowing. Glinting brightly before growing into a sphere-like ball of energy the size of a fist. It grows in size again, becoming as big as a basketball and even brighter. That accumulating energy-ball grows yet again and now looks to be the size of a beach ball.
"What is he doing…?" Shikamaru utters in the moment.
"Looks to me he's testing the durability of the gate." Kakashi shares. Then, the spirit-gun slinging punk finally lets it fly.
"FULL BURST SPIRIT GUN ! ! !" That large mass of energy goes soaring like a cannonball and smacks right into the gate of a roaring explosion that causes smoke to discharge from the direct hit and strains the transparent force field around the school just enough to reveal a fraction of a crystal blue wall before it returns to being unseeable again.
"...Looks like that sophomore wasn't lying about there being a barrier around the school. It'll be hard to report back to Lady Tsunade like this." Shikamaru comments.
"No kidding. I'll see about finding a way around it. Though, completing the mission should take priority. There's no rush to send back word just yet." Kakashi responds.
"I've got some things to take care of, so we'll have to talk more later. Be careful. I'll definitely do my best to help out as much as I can for you all, but I'm not sure what we're up against here."
"What a drag, but I guess it can't be helped. I'll be fine. I'll see what else I can dig up, too." The teen responds. And with that, the two leaf ninjas go their separate ways.
Shikamaru specifically makes his way down to catch Yusuke for a discussion, unaware that two others also have that same idea.
"Man, are you freakin' kidding me? I poured over half of my spirit energy into that shot and it didn't really do anything." Yusuke sighs in annoyance as he places his hands at his hips, glaring up at the black sturdy gate in front of him.
"Well, at least I know this damn force field is crazy tough and big now. Is the whole thing shaped like a dome?" He murmurs to himself, oblivious to the pair approaching from behind.
"Yo!" A voice calls out, grabbing the spirit detective's attention. Turning he sees none other than Yuji Itadori and Maki Zennin.
"Mind if we have a word? I think it'd be advantageous for the three of us to work together since we have the same goal." Maki proposes.
"Alright, I'm listening." Yusuke tells her, putting on a serious face as he folds his arms across his chest.
"We're sorcerers from a school that helps hone talents like ours for the purpose of finding, fighting, and exercising curses. Things that you might call demons." She begins.
"Huh? Never heard of– Well, no. That's not totally true. I just honestly thought sorcerers were just hacks meant to keep morale up. You guys actually fight demons, too?" Yusuke asks rhetorically while arching a brow.
"Oh man… I probably look like a weirdo when I'm fighting supernatural scum bags, too! Man, that's embarrassing to think about." He goes on, a bit distraught at his realization.
"Does it truly matter to you what normal people think when you're protecting them from unseeable danger? We do this so that they may go on living their day-to-day lives in peace." Maki reminds him.
"Yeah. It's a thankless job most of the time, but helping those who could be in danger is all that really matters in the end." Yuji chimes in with an upbeat smile.
"Yeah… I guess you guys are right. So anyway, got a method of finding the source of the problem? Because my usual way is just straightforward. Search for clues and beat up whatever I find." Yusuke asks.
"Well, it's a lot harder this time around to detect it. There's obviously something at play here, but it's like it's hidden. I can't sense at all and Maki here has ways of taking out curses, but she can't detect them at all. We may actually have to go along with your way of doing things. Searching and stuff. Something is bound to pop up." Yuji speaks up this time.
"Yeah, I'm in the same boat with ya there. Can't feel a damn thing, either. Only during that moment from last night when that monster showed up. It was faint, so I didn't notice it right away until the screaming."
"Well, I guess I don't have to worry about numbers now. Seems like all three of you are ahead of the curve." A fourth voice cuts in. The three turn and spot the leaf ninja.
"Oh, hey, Shikamaru. What are you doing here?" Yuji asks.
"Same as you. Here to talk with Yusuke. But since you're also looking to solve this weird mystery, it includes you, too." The nonchalant shinobi answers. Soon, he stops nearby and holds up the thin rule book that's just barely larger than a notepad, given to him by Kakashi.
"By the way, you missed it, but they were giving these out to us. A book with the school's regulations. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn't bother talking about common sense, but something in this caught my eye. Seems there's tiers to the amount of trouble you can land yourself in. Meaning that thing you saw last night might be the least of our worries."
"No fooling? What's the highest tier?" Yuji asks.
"Five, and you achieve that by killing any person on school grounds or escaping the campus."
"Well, that one won't be a big worry. It's practically impossible to escape and I don't think anyone here is going to lose their mind enough to take a life. Maybe." Yusuke comments.
"Even so. How confident are you guys in your combat skills?" Shikamaru asks.
"Pretty sure I can take on whatever showed up last night." Yuji answers.
"I'll slay it, and anything else, in an instant with my specialized weapons." Maki assures.
"I've got a lethal shot and the ability to tussle with demons." Yusuke confidently states.
"Good. Because I think we should test these rules. See the extent of what we're up against here." Shikamaru proposes. It's then that the school's PA/Intercom speaks begin giving reach to a mature, yet rather timid voice.
"E-e-excuse me, everyone. Ahem! I-I'm sorry to intrude on your afternoon, but t-this is prin… principal Stelwart. I… I'd like to inform you all that classes shall be starting t-t-t… gulp! T-tomorrow! Your schedules shall be handed to you all before dinner this upcoming e-even-in-ing… U-uuhh.. Please, take care and try t-to enjoy the rest of your free day! That is all!"
"What the!? The principal is actually here? I'm about to march right up to his office and kick that geezer's ass !" Yusuke barks as he clenches a fist tightly.
"Didn't expect that either… We definitely should confront him. There's nothing to lose." Shikamaru concurs.
"Ya got that right! C'mon!" And at Yusuke's leading charge and command, the four-member group runs back inside the building. It's then and there all of them show their astounding mobility and limberness to some degree. Running faster than 40mph and easily leaping up the 55 feet flight of stairs with casual bounds before making hard right, startling the other students along the way. Straight ahead and down a corridor that neither of have been through before, but assume it has to be the general direction of the principals office. The group travels quite a ways in a short amount of time. Plenty of decisive turns and open doors way to go through on their aimless venture, but they eventually do come across the location of interest. Even if by pure happenstance.
While running past a doorway leading down another corridor to their left, the spirit detective just barely catches a glimpse of a man standing in front of a door.
"Crud, Wait! I think that's him." Yusuke informs the other as he brings himself to a skidding halt along smooth royal blue carpet flooring. The group rush back to stand before the pathway, and there they see a man in a blue suit, bearing a pitiful look on his face as he locks a door with the keys within his hand.
"Hey, YOU!" Yusuke shouts to draw his attention. He succeeds easily and even scares the older male with his sudden and aggressive outburst.
"H-h-huh!?!?!?"
"You're the principal, aren't you!? You miserable piece of trash! You think you can toy with the lives of kids like this!?" Yusuke scolds while pointing accusingly. He's about to march right over to the man in the blue suit, but the double doors suddenly slam shut on his face.
"A-u-u-uuhhh! I'm sorry! I s-s-swear, it's not m-m-my fault!" The man shouts from the other side before the sound of running footsteps could be heard.
"Hey, get back here!" The urban delinquent demands as he grabs and pulls at the door handles in front of him. The doors don't budge an inch no matter how hard he pulls. Giving up on the civil approach, Yusuke backs up several steps and rushes forward to slam his shoulder against them. Maki and Yuji both join in afterwards. Yet still, no progress is made.
"Okay, that's it! I'll blow these damn doors down!" He exclaims as he leaps back to make some space. Maki and Yuji back away to give him a clear shot. It's not like earlier, but the spirit detective charges up his ray gun double its usual potential and promptly fires that light-speed energy bullet. It erupts on impact, but it doesn't faze the doors at all.
"Ugh… you serious!?"
"Man… Those doors are pretty tough. Yeah, there's definitely something off about this school." Yuji comments.
"H-hey… hey. Hey, look out!" Shikamaru shouts in panic, managing to get the others to turn their heads just in time to see and leap out of the way of the incoming danger of a large downward fist that would've smashed Yuji into the floor. Instead, the attack makes contact with the ground and smashes a sizable hole through it.
"What the hell is THAT?" Yusuke questions.
"Man, it's kind of huge… that curse energy is nothing to shake a stick at, either." Yuji comments.
"I think this is the tier 4 disciplinary. Threatening and harassing staff members were on that list of rules, and I think we all just broke it." Shikamaru informs the others.
"We should take care of it FAST. Judging by that 3-meter hole it just left on the floor, this could get out of hand in a blink of an eye. Tch. And to think I left my weapons back in my room…" Maki warns.
What the band of four are looking at is a 14-feet bulky creature with a human-like-ish body from the neck down, its head appears to be a massive wild mullet with only a wide mouth with sharp being only the noticeable facial feature it has. The creature also has short, but pointy black nails. Its entirety - every inch of its body - is monochrome white.
"It's comin'..." Yuji comments calmly as the beast begins approaching with heavy steps that make the floor quiver within the area, hunching over as it snarls and bears its shark teeth. Its hand postures with bent and spread out fingers as if it means to claw right through them like paper. Then? It pounces with half the speed of a handgun bullet.
KROOM!
THAM!
DNMP-DNMP-... DHOOOOM!!!
The creature starts by taking a big open-handed swipe at Yuji, who manages to react just in time to duck and allows it to puncture a hole through the wall beside him. As Yuji leaps back for make some distance, the creature seamlessly uses that very same arm to then throw a backhand fist that would've not only slam the side of Mali's head against the opposite wall, but also flung her into a different room, had she not leapt back with ease to avoid the blow. What follows next is the beast attempting to pummel Yusuke's head into the ground with overhead punches that rain down with formidable force. The youth weaves his body to the right, then the left, and then propels himself into a backflipping retreat when it tries to hit him with a double-hand hammer blow that smashes another hole into the floor.
"TCH! It's too cramped for ALL of us to fight that thing in the hallway. We've got to draw him to an open space. Somewhere with more room." Shikamaru advises, presently standing the furthest in the back.
"Yeah, maybe. That thing does have some reach. Guess we can book it to the lunchroom." Yusuke proposes.
"It'll HAVE to do. Let's go!" And with that, the team turns and makes a mad dash toward the direction they came from. Right behind them the sound of that massive beast charging at them like an elephant galloping through the hallway to give chase.
[ To be continued– ]
