"So many strange incidents have been cropping up lately. The reports alone have piled up quite a substantial amount..." I said with my crossed as my dull gaze set upon the mountain of reports.
My coworker laid her upper body flat on her desk as she dragged out a winded sigh. "Uuuh~ we're so understaffed. Why does all of this stuff have to happen~?"
"That just shows how much people rely on us." I replied to her in a monotonously. "And most Judgment work is this kind of boring paperwork."
She raised her head slightly from her position and whined. "Shirai-san, you take your work so seriously and yet you act like getting reprimanded is your hobby or something."
"That last part was unnecessary~" I promptly pulled her cheek.
"C'mon, you're in the way of my work!" She retaliated by pulling mine.
Tokiwadai, as big as it is, only has around 180 people that makes up the entire student body. It is a famous place of learning that only the best of the best can acquire and yet, despite being a school that only accepts elites, it is an undeniable fact that the students are still teenagers.
And just as any teenager are, they cannot escape the obvious cycle: Drama and Rumors.
With certain students with more prominent backgrounds forming their own cliques, it is a blessing to know that their squabbles barely bleed into the bigger political landscapes in the outside world. It is almost an unwritten rule that problems caused by students, must be solved by students. Again, it's a blessing compared to that other 'elite' school that promotes gambling and has had its conflicts affect the real world on multiple occasions.
But the problem I am facing now is that there are rumors of haunting in this school, which might I remind, is located in a city dominated by science.
From an outsider's perspective, it can be glossed over as a made-up story created by bored students and that the real perpetrator of these hauntings was that of a serial pranker. Especially since the nature of these incidents are more mean-spirited than ones that caused more serious injuries.
However, from my view of things, Shuzenji had already informed me of the supernatural side. And the fact that he has already taken care of the last incident, it is suspicious that more suddenly appeared.
If it was the me before, I would have been plenty on guard --Definitely not scared or anything!-- of ghosts and phantom running around the school grounds. Sure, spirits and Youkai are scarier than them but it wouldn't be called an irrational fear if it was logica- A fear I definitely do NOT have.
As it stands, Tokiwadai's rumor mill is running and is currently picking up speed. Perhaps it is due to the fact that Halloween is next month? Regardless, this prestigious academy is currently on the cusp of forming it's own 'Seven Mysteries' just as any school would.
Going against the babble of girls that run these 'light-hearted rumors' would only promote them faster. It would be in best interest to consult my friend on how to handle this matter.
Which then reminds me of his current state.
He has been evading contact as much as he can. He takes his duties to an further extreme beyond his limits and is running himself ragged from exhaustion.
I had heard of what happened from the nurses and I do believe that it is not a fault of his own to have failed in saving them and yet, he still cannot help but take those deaths and have them plague his mind with guilt and remorse.
He copes with these emotions with work, just as my father had been when my late mother passed away.
Informing someone like his grandmother wouldn't do well. Shuzenji is the obviously the type of person to bottle up his emotions and frustrations so he would only withdraw further into his shell if I were to call upon an outsider to this current affair.
I suppose that I should check up on him tonight.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shuzenji does have a habit of prowling in the night, a notion that has caused me a a degree of frustrations some time ago. Thanks to a stroke of foresight however, he had allowed me to keep the tracker on his phone.
He had told me that I should look for him if I ever happen upon an emergency situation with a supernatural or if, in his own words, 'Accidentally rip apart spacetime and summon something I shouldn't have or some other similar magical disaster.'
I appreciate the show of trust but I shall refrain from being irritated by the lack of faith. Worrying about such an absurd notion might be normal for his side of things.
Regardless, with the tracker still on his phone, it was fairly easy to locate him.
It does raise questions as to why he is talking by himself. I am not too sure if he is talking to an unseen supernatural or if his exhaustion was worse than any of us thought it would be. It certainly complicates the matter if both conclusions are equally plausible.
Another fact that caught my suspicions is that he is currently being stalked by a little girl?
She doesn't seem to be in distress and her clothes appear to clean and near to be a runaway. I even took a cursory glance at the area just to make sure but there doesn't seem to be any would-be kidnappers in the vicinity.
I know that Shuzenji should have sense her by gaze by now, or even my gaze for that matter but he's too preoccupied(?) with talking. Or maybe he's just that tired(?). Or perhaps it's the quirk of that girl.
In any case, looking a bit closer, the girl is also frowning as she kept her gaze at him. Although I admit that it doesn't paint a healthy picture to see a young man talking to himself.
"Oohhh~~~ What do we have hereee?~~"
I heard a voice from behind that made me teleport away and look around the surroundings. To my astonishment, there was nobody.
The revelation sent a shiver down my spine.
'No! calm yourself, Kuroko!'
"You look familiar~? Have we met before?~~~" Said the voice.
I kept quiet as I was looking around to search for it's origin to no avail. Instead, The little girl have made her way towards where I am. It shouldn't be possible with the distance but she somehow did it. I considered to teleport away but I stopped myself from doing so because one, Shuzenji is still here and quite visibly not well and two, if they wanted too do me harm then they would have done so already.
"Shirai-san, I presume?" She bowed slightly. When I got a closer look at her face, I noticed that she kept her eyes closed. That, and from whatever skin was left exposed looked pale and unnatural. "I apologise on behalf of my friend if she has startled you."
Her words calmed me down somewhat and my mind has brought reasons as to why she knows my name. The more common conclusion that I draw stipulates her as a friend of a friend, specifically Shuzenji's.
"Indeed." A gave her a curt nod. "And might I ask what you and your... Friend is doing here out late?"
"We-" "That simple!" The girl was interrupted by the voice. I glanced around again but to no avail. "See, we were following our friend over there 'cause we're like, supeer~ worried about him~ He's been looking worse for wear even by our standards, right?~~ And we can't help but be curious? Worried? Worrious?~ Anyways it's like that~"
The girl released a faint sigh. "Yes. Simply put, we have garnered a concern about the state of Aniki." As if realising something, a small gasp escaped her lips. "Ah, where are my manners? My name is Hina. And knowing that you are aware of our side, I am a cursed doll." She gave a graceful, formal bow. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you."
"And my name's Mugi!~~" The voice spoke again jovially. "Look to your right!" I turned my head to the direction she specified, only for my sight to be met with a wall. "Look closer!~" Observing carefully, I noticed a moving shadow next to mine and Hina. "That me! Mugi the Kage-onna!~ You don't need to be alone in dark, because I might be there too! That's me, the ever totes adorbs and super reliable Mugi-chan! Yoroshiku ne~~"
Somehow, I have a feeling she gave me a wink at the end.
"So you know of me?" I turned my gaze back to Hina as she seems to be the most reliable. "Guessing from when you said 'our side' earlier, I assume Shuzenji has been speaking about me? In good light, I hope." I joked to ease them a bit.
"Yes, Aniki has indeed spoke of you."
"It's nice to have friends you can talk with about all~ sorts of things, right?~"
"I have a question." I asked while gesturing to Shuzenji in the background. We were still following him around as he talked to seemingly nothing --in my eyes at least--. "Why do you refer to him as Aniki. And is he talking to someone I cannot see?"
"That's two questions tho?~" The Shadow, Mugi, pointed out. Hina gave her a stern look, well, somehow while still having her eyes closed.
"Aniki is Aniki." She said as if it was common sense. "And no, he isn't communicating to anything unseen. Please pay closer attention to his arm." She pointed out. "On his wrist is a Tsukomogami."
"An object that gained life?"
"Yes." She nodded. "Our original intention was to 'kidnap' Aniki and force him to take a break." I gave her questioning glance at that sentence. "But it appears that someone else has done that in our stead." She smiled softly.
"What's even cooler is that the little bracelet isn't known in the area~ So like, that means it new~ Which means that the little thing was raised by Kii-kun! Isn't that just. SO. PRECIOUS!~"
"I see..." Well, certainly I can understand that point. Knowing that it's a new life, wouldn't that make it a child or infant? So does that mean that Shuzenji is good with children?
"Shirai-san." The voice of Hina snapped me out of my thoughts and brought my attention back to her. "You should go back."
"Why?" I asked incredulously. "He is also my friend. It stands to reason why-"
"Why you should go back." She interrupted me. "Please don't get me wrong, I have nothing against you to be dissatisfied with."
"Don't take it the wrong way, okay?~ But I mean, you're Human~"
Before I can speak, Hina's voice spoke out with a deep chill so cold that made me involuntarily shiver. "Mugi-chan, please be quiet for a moment."
She then addressed me once more while ignoring the now frightened shadow-woman. "Apologies. What she meant by her words is that you should rest while you can. I am aware that Humans need it to function properly during the day." She said. "That is why I propose that we take shifts."
"Go on."
"Our side will endeavour to do our best during the night, and you and your other friends would do the same during the day."
"That is reasonable, yes." I nodded. "I'll do my best. But why would you go so far?" Was she saved by him at some point as well? It would make sense.
"Right... It is only fair." She said while she began to walk away. "A life for a life. That's all I'll say. Now go and sleep before the sun rises, we'll take it from here."
I kept my eyes on the figure half my size just a little longer. The shadow shrugged and gave me a short apology before running after both her and Shuzenji.
A moment later, I left by teleporting.
I finished my night routine and laid on my bed back at the dorms. I thought about what happened today so far and began thinking about contacting Uiharu to discuss how to ease Shuzenji tomorrow, it should be fine being the weekend and all.
And with that, I fell asleep.