RP Shinjuku Academy Paranormal Investigation Club

"Um... most spirits aren't very happy when you burn things down," Eiji cautioned. There were some, of course, especially if whatever was being burned down was in their sacred place...

...Actually, there might be something to that, if there was something going on with the construction in the new sports field - but burning down the dressing room and/or the school probably wasn't the solution.

"I think we'd be better off trying to placate them than risk angering further. We're um... we're the Paranormal Investigation Club, right? Not the Paranormal Burn-It-Down Club. So... let's... investigate. Maybe we can talk to some of the girls about what's been stolen and when, if they're willing, but we might have better look taking a peek at the field and seeing if there's anything there. I can probably do that, if we want? I'm usually pretty good at talking to spirits." Sometimes better than talking to people, even. It wasn't that Eiji didn't like people or anything, it was just that being in a new school was hard and none of her friends from middle school were in Tokyo and...

... Quietly, she sipped at her tea, blinking her eyes quickly and hoping no one noticed.

"I... have some incense, in my room. Sometimes that will attract a spirit. And maybe Akina could bring some tea?"
 
"I kind of know where this has been happening, we can go down there," Miiko said, shocked at her own forwardness. After a brief, awkward pause, she continued, "A-after they're done with the field. And the changing rooms. And we probably shouldn't burn it down, I think that would make people very upset." She knew it would make people upset, actually, considering she would be one of those people. She may not be on the track team any more, but she missed her time with them and still found comfort on the track when there was time and no one else was around.

What was a bit more confusing was the certainty everyone talked with about spirits. They almost spoke as if they were real, instead of something that people used to believe in a long time ago before anyone knew any better. It was odd, and she expressed as much through furrowed brows and a return to silence, letting everyone else speak. 'I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, given the name of the club...'
 
“That sounds like a good idea, we’ll, not burning anything down but,” Akina tapped her camera with her knuckle, then looked to Chiasa “Miss Hasegaea, while we are looking into the sportsfield and talking to some of the others who were affected could you and Miss Saneyoshi do me a favor?” Akina asked with a smile.

“Ah, yes, sure, what is it?” Chiasa asked.

“Could the two of you set this camera up in the changing room? It should be fine while club activities are going on, but we’ll need to remember to turn it off when clubs start wrapping up tonight.” Akina said looking back at Kyō and offering a small smile. It was a little different from her idea, but it wouldn’t be bad to see if they could catch something in the act. ”In the meantime we can go check out the field where they were doing construction, I assume I should bring along the nice cups?” Akina said, looking at Eiji.

“I can see if any of the other girls from the swim team would like to talk,” Chiasa added, as she carefully picked the camera up.

“That would be helpful, thank you.” Akina said, putting her hands together, “Was there anything else people wanted to look into before we get moving?”
 
Miiko hadn't had time to respond to the question of the favor before the newcomer, Chiasa, did on both of their behalf. Well, she had already spoken up and gotten engaged in the conversation, so she supposed she was in it now. Besides, if she was going to be a member of this club, she was going to have to do something, and doing something with only one person watching was better than with several. Or, she hoped so, anyways. It was always hard to tell until it was time to do the thing in question.

Setting up a camera wouldn't be too difficult, though, and considering Chiasa had taken the camera so readily, most of the responsibility was taken off of Miiko's shoulders. At this point, she wasn't much more than an escort, which, all things considered, was very easy and difficult to mess up. She set her eyes towards, but not on, Akina, and shook her head. No questions from her, or none that she would voice readily at this time, anyways.
 
[Volt]

Sayane nodded at the succinct, if a bit weird round of introductions from Kyo. It was nice to know the television wasn’t broken, at least? Before she had time to ask more about that, another student came in, one with an actual problem. Sayane listened as she slowly munched on another stick of Pocky, taking in the girl’s story. Akina seemed the most calm of the group, comforting the girl with tea and asking the questions that probably should be asked in this situation. Sayane was just curious about what kind of ghost hangs around in locker rooms.

The other girls began chiming in, once again asking the proper questions. She nearly choked on what was left of her Pocky when Kyo spoke up, hiding it behind a coughing fit. This girl was weird, maybe the type who used a ghost club as an excuse to work something else out. She wasn’t one to judge. It made sense that if it started around the same time as the construction, the spirit would be annoyed. They’d had some work done on their house a while ago and it was impossible for her to sleep during it..

Suggestions were brought up of how to lure the spirit out, of tea and incense. She saw an opening in the conversation that she could contribute to.

“Why not try food?” She asked, sticking another piece in her mouth. “That usually gets them to calm down when I run into them.”
 
Eiji nodded along with the suggestions from the other club members - the ones that didn't involve arson, anyway. She wasn't sure whether or not the camera would work; some spirits had ways with such things or ways around them, but not always. Still, it was worth a try. Akina seemed eager to go, which seemed to mean that the meeting was about to be over. It was probably about time to finish her tea, then - Eiji didn't want nice tea to go to waste.

One of the other girls added in a suggestion of food, which was also perfectly reasonable, but what made Eiji look over wasn't the suggestion of food. Rather, it was the perfectly delivered when I run into them - as if this were just a normal thing. The relief on Eiji's face must have been evident - at least there was someone else here in Tokyo who not only thought the spirits were real but had actually met them and tried to appease them a little.

"Food is good," she confirmed. "So we try to lure them with incense, then make an offering of tea and food? I think it should work. Um, miss Chiasa, since it's your team being affected, I think it might be more meaningful if part of the offering came from you and your team, so maybe you and anyone on your team who's willing can collect some food to offer? A lot of spirits also really appreciate regularity, so once we've established a rapport, maybe you can start bringing things once in a while - it doesn't have to be much, it's more just a little something to show you're thinking of them that's important."

Eiji finished her tea, standing up. "Um, did anyone want to come with me when I get the incense? It's not far, just if anyone wants company."

Oh. It's me. I want company.
 
"Food is good," Kyo echoed passively.

Angry things liked food. Sometimes, things were angry because they needed food to begin with. Food was very important - they talked about that in science class. Without it, things died. Spirits, however, were already dead, if they were even alive to begin with, so she wasn't very certain what they'd get angry about if they didn't have food. It wasn't like they needed it or anything.

If they weren't alive, though, that meant they probably didn't have a lot to do.

She frowned.

"Why offer food? They're not hungry. Maybe they're bored."

Then she smiled her friendly, toothy smile.

"We can give them games."
 
”I can get some food after we set the camera up, does it need to be anything specifically? I think I still have some rice in my lunch box, or I can get a bread from the snack machine, whichever you think would be better.” Chiasa said to Eiji. She glanced up at the ceiling for a moment, her lips pursing before looking back down, “If giving offerings is all we need to do to stop the theft, then I think even the skeptical girls would be more than happy to pitch in, but I’ll talk to them about it.”

“Games? Some spirits might like that, but food is more common right? Everyone likes having something tasty to eat.” Akina said with a quick smile. Eiji might know the proper reason behind the different sorts of offerings, she seemed very knowledgeable about these sorts of things. There was probably more to it than simple likes and dislikes, but that was good enough a reason for her. Knowing something works was often as important as knowing why it was that something worked. In her experience anyway. “I’ll be more than happy to join Eiji, I need to bring the tea along anyway.” Akina said, tapping the side of the pot with her fingernail. She turned her attention to Sayane and Kyo.

“Would one of you like to join us, and the other head to the locker room? I’m sure Miss Hasegaea and Miiko would appreciate another pair of hands to help set up and do a little snooping.” Akina winked, before looking at the clock hanging above the doorway. “I think we should meet up back here in thirty minutes or so so we can discuss our findings. Does that sound agreeable to everyone?”
 
[Volt]

One of the other girls gave her a look when she suggested food. Sayane was ready to retort, but it wasn’t the look she had expected. The girl didn’t look at her like she was crazy, but almost like she was relieved? That was weird, but also interesting! She agreed with Sayane too, which automatically made her cool. What was her name? That weird girl, Kyo, had done the introductions too fast. She thought it was Eiji, but she’d have to check to be sure.

Kyo suggested games, which was dumb. Spirits don’t play games, except for maybe ones that they came up with. Sayane had never thought to ask. Akina seemed ready to split the club up to get their various offerings and components, and she confirmed the girl’s name was in fact Eiji. Sayane piped up.

“I’ll go with you too, Eiji. Company would be fun, and we can talk about spirits!”
 
Well, everyone seemed to know what they were supposed to do, and maybe even how to do it better than they originally planned. Miiko wondered for a moment if there was a way to do what she was supposed to do better, when her main goal was mostly to be sure the camera made its way to the changing room unscathed, and that Kyo behaved herself. A second glance at said camera and clubmate confirmed two things to her; the camera was very expensive, and Kyo was very sure of herself. Maybe she should have volunteered to go with Eiji instead.

Soon, they broke off into their individual groups. Miiko followed along just behind Chiasa, hoping to stand far enough away to not immediately prompt a conversation, but close enough to help if either her or the camera was put into any sort of immediate danger. The last thing she wanted was everyone's eyes on her, and the best way to avoid that was to be sure everything went okay, with no terrible surprises. She shot a cautious glance to Kyo, checking to make sure she wasn't getting into any mischief, before looking back to Chiasa, with an idea of how to better do her job, like she had tried to think of before.

"Uhm, has, I mean, how have things been going missing? Has anything been found since?"
 
Oh, wow, that actually worked! Not that Eiji had been super desperate for it to work or anything, no, she was totally fine, she just- really really really needed some friends.

Whoa. Okay. Play it cool. People did not want to be friends with someone quite that desperate. "Come on, then, it's not far! I'm staying in the dorms." Very close, actually, which was good, because it meant that she didn't have to make a whole lot of conversation along the way. That minimized the chances of her saying something weird that she really shouldn't. It didn't negate them entirely, unfortunately. Eiji didn't really think she was weird, but the people in Tokyo sure seemed to. Any time she tried talking about the spirits she'd just gotten... odd looks. And sometimes they called her a country girl. And sometimes they called her worse.

And then they wondered why the spirits around here were all cantankerous... except they didn't, they just ignored them. "Dad's in Tokyo, but he works all the time, so it was easier for me to stay at school." There, that was a nice, normal statement, wasn't it? "So, um... what got you interested in the club?"
 
"Course it hasn't," Kyo interrupted, holding her fingers out in a square in front of her. "They wouldn't've been stolen if they weren't wanted, and if you find 'em again, that means they weren't wanted - which means they weren't stolen! Just lost."

She spun her fingers on the pair walking beside her.

"Click!"

Miiko had taken the camera, of course. Kyo wanted it - but Miiko had gotten to it first. It wasn't exactly fair. Kyo knew how to use a camera. Not - a super fancy camera like that one, but she'd used a phone camera before, and that was basically the same thing. Besides, old hand cameras like that one were ugly and outdated.

Wasn't like she wanted it or anything.

"Click! Click!"

She spun her fingers on Chiasa, holding them close to the other girl's face.

"Click!" She grinned. "Isn't it weird we're putting a camera in your changing room? Maybe we're the perverts."
 
“Is that so? Well it sounds like the perfect amount of time to get to know one another then.” Akina said as she stood. She took a moment to brush the wrinkles out of her skirt, offering a small nod to Miiko as she took the camera. She had faith that those three would find a good spot to set up, without any need for fire. For now, however, her job was to oversee the tea so trust would have to be enough. Akina picked up the electric kettle, and an empty tea cup before following Eiji and Sayane out of the room.

Eiji was helpful enough to keep the conversation moving as they walked which kept the smile on her lips. It was nice to get to know people. “If you don’t mind me interrupting, I’m living a little off campus for similar reasons, my mother likes to keep to the family’s estate while my father travels often for work.” It helped ease the nerves when others shared too, she thought anyway. “And to your question, when I was small my grandparents used to tell me all these stories about our ancestors and their tangles with the supernatural. I always loved those stories and wanted to meet ghosts myself because of them, help show that the world isn’t so… dull.”

—~—~—~—~—~—

“That isn’t a wrong way to think about it, I suppose,” Chiasa said as their little group made its way down the hall. The logic seemed straightforward enough, a little weird but there didn’t seem like there was anything wrong with it. Granted, everything about that girl, Kyo was it, seemed a little weird. “We don’t know how someone keeps stealing the stuff too, like teachers have watched the entrance while we were at practice and things still went missing. So that’s, oh!”

Chiasa leaned back as Kyo suddenly pushed her hands close to her face. Like a picture thing? The smiled awkwardly after the girl said click. “I uh, yeah it seems a little weird, but should be fine as long as no one changes, right?” She said with a nervous chuckle.
 
A group of three should have been worse than a room full of people, like when she had first arrived at the club room. With so few people, it would be easier for everyone to focus their attention on her, but thankfully, Miiko had been graced by Kyo's decision to come with herself and Chiasa. Walking next to the odd girl made her feel much more relaxed, her anxieties about what to say or do taking a backseat to her preoccupation with Kyo's curiosities.

The question about the morality of the camera placement was an issue, though. Miiko frowned, and looked down at the thing as the trio walked, contemplating it for a moment. "I... Hm. Well, uh, no one should be using them now. Or, uh, shouldn't be, for a little while, anyways. We have Chiasa's permission, also, so it should be fine?" they said, though it came out more as a question, and directed at the air more than either of her compatriots.
 
Kyo shrugged.

"I just think it's very silly. It's still a good idea, probably. Click!"

After that click, she froze - then grinned wide.

"Last one there is the pervert."

She broke into a run.
 
Oh, good, other people had weird messed up family situations, too.

Wait, that wasn't good. Eiji felt a little guilty about it, but somehow it helped to know that hers wasn't the only family where things were... well, weird. "My mom stays at our estate, too, with my little brother," she offered. "Mostly my grandparents take care of it, but I'd like to some day. When I'm older, you know?" That was where she felt at home - not here in Tokyo, with not enough spirits and all the ones who were there angry about things. It wasn't just them - the people tended to be angry about things, too. Eiji supposed it was easy to be angry about things, when you just jumped from one thing to another without any time or space to reflect on any of them.

Most of the talk along the rest of the way was superficial, but Eiji didn't mind. They were all sort of getting to know each other, and it was okay to take a little time for the simple things. She told them about her mom and her grandparents and her little brother, and little things about the estate. Not the big thing, not... yet. That probably came later. Or maybe it was just that Eiji wasn't sure how to bring it up, and before she knew it, they'd reached the dormitories and she was unlocking the door to her room.

"I'm home!" she announced, habitually, to the empty room. It was the sort of room that was somewhat obsessively tidy, with the bed neatly made and everything put away exactly in its place. There wasn't a lot that wasn't completely necessary, which was a testament to how little Eiji wanted to be here. The room did have a nice window, though, where she'd set up a small shrine, with a small cup of tea and a small cinnamon roll on a decorative plate, a stick of incense, and a vase of fresh flowers. The shrine had no pictures, though, only a clay pot full of dirt.

"Um, I brought some friends." Friends? Were they friends? Eiji wanted friends, and she hoped they were. "This is Sayane and Akina. I hope you can meet them some day."

Oh, right, she was being weird. And probably a bad hostess. Eiji sighed, awkwardly. "Um, sorry. This is... or, this isn't Kaede-hime, but she gave me a seed before I left, so I'm trying to grow it. I don't know if she's here at all or not, but I've thought it's best to be polite?" Nope, still weird. Oh, well. If they wanted to walk away and never talk to her again, it was best to get that over with. Eiji opened a cabinet, reaching up to take out a few packages of incense and try to figure out which one the locker room spirit might like best.
 
Miiko watched as Kyo took only a few moments to ponder the counters made by herself and Chiasa. She didn't agree that it was silly, but she did agree that it was a good idea. Why wouldn't it be a good idea? They were trying to catch whoever was taking things from the changing rooms, what better way than a camera?

Well, what if they saw the camera, and avoided it? Or just took the camera? Would Akina be upset by that? These questions weighed heavily on her mind, right up until Kyo laid a challenge at her feet, the challenge of a race. For a second, she thought she shouldn't, to be careful with the camera, or to not leave Chiasa behind. Those thoughts had no conviction, though, as she found her grip on the camera tightening, and before she really put too much thought in it, Miiko was off, running after Kyo, not quite in a sprint but quicker than a jog.

She was determined to not be the pervert of the three.
 
“Huh? Wait— hey!” Chiasa called after the backs of the two girls as they took off down the hall. She looked back over her shoulder, checking for any sign of teachers before she sprinted after the duo before they could get too far away. They were going to get into so much trouble, if they got caught, why were they doing this? Doing her best to push her consternation aside, she did her best to not get branded the pervert.

…

The smell of chlorine hung heavy in the air as Chiasa took a deep gulp of air, her hands resting on her hips as she caught her breath. She was a swimmer, not a sprinter so she mostly just felt flushed and miserable, but happy that a teacher hadn’t caught them.

“Okay” The Chiasa said, cleaning her throat. She brushed her skirt with the back of her hand as she straightened up, looking at the other two. “Now that we know who, uh, the pervert is, let’s get the camera set up”

The air was warm and humid as the trio entered, it was quiet, but not silent due to the faint hum of the overhead lights and whirr of fans from the school’s air conditioner. A repetitive drip echoed from the showers to the right. One of the rows of lights were off, giving the rows of gray lockers a gloomy atmosphere. Would they need all the lights on for the camera? She looked back at the other two girls.

“So, it’s these lockers here that things go missing from the most.” She said, with a motion of her hand.

—~~—~~—~~—~~—

“Thank you for having us,” Akina said, slipping her shoes off as she entered Eiji’s room. She followed Eiji deeper into the little room, careful not to bump into anything. Which, as neat as the room was, was largely unnecessary, still she was a guest here so it was best to be cautious. Akina followed Eiji over to the small shrine, and placed her kettle down on the before bringing her hands together and bowing her head to the shrine.

“Thank you for having us, Kaede-hime, I wish for the best as you grow into a fine tree.” Akina kept her hands together for a moment longer before she leaned down and picked her kettle up. “Though, if it’s a seed perhaps there should be a new name for this tree,” She added with a small frown.

“In any event, is there anything we can help you find?”
 
[Volt]

Sayane walked with Eiji and Akina the short distance it took to get to Eiji’s dorm. The conversation quickly turned to reasons for joining the “ghost club”, and she listened as Akina gave her reason. Wow, an estate, that must be nice. She just had a cramped apartment that she did her best to stay out of. Sayane shook the thought from her head, that wasn’t a good way to make friends if you kept focusing on negative stuff like that. Granted, it hadn’t helped her in the past, but who knows? Eiji seemed pretty desperate, so maybe there was something going on there. Maybe she’d have someone she could bring with her when exploring abandoned buildings!

Eiji’s room was kinda empty, compulsively tidy. Something about it just made Sayane wanna rumple up the bed or something, show the place had been lived in. The announcement to the clearly empty room was a bit weird, but she’d seen weirder. The explanation made a bit of sense? Sayane mirrored Akina’s movement, a bit awkwardly, before she finally put together what Eiji meant. Kaede-hime must be some sort of tree spirit back at her estate, and she brought a see with her. That was nice.

“Yeah, anything we can do?” Sayane chimed in. “I usually have more luck with sweet things myself, the spirits I find love sweets.”
 
"Sweets are really good," Eiji agreed with Sayane quickly. Perhaps part of the quickness was just related to the fact that neither one of them thought it was weird that she was talking to a pot of dirt. "I like incense because the scent travels, and then sweets for at the shrine. Like the incense is calling them and the sweets are what's there? Something like that."

She set a few different types of incense in front of her, wondering which one would be best for attracting and soothing a spirit that was maybe grumpy about construction. Eiji didn't really know, because at home she would have thought that people would ask the spirits first, but Tokyo... well, Tokyo wasn't like that. She turned to Akina, who seemed to have a decent understanding of Tokyo, offering four different selections. "What do you think?"

And Sayane was totally right about the sweets, but that wasn't too hard, either. "Um, Sayane, if you want to look in that bottom desk drawer, there's some candy." Were they going to think she was uncouth for keeping candy in her desk? Was that a thing? It seemed like it should be a thing, but then again, Eiji was pretty much worrying about everything since she'd gotten here. Maybe she needed to chill out.

"Maybe you can grab enough for us to bring for everyone?" That seemed like a good idea - people usually liked sweets too, even if they weren't spirits. Well, except maybe Kyo... okay, so bringing enough for everyone was definitely a good idea, then.
 
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