RP Shinjuku Academy Paranormal Investigation Club

Kyo came running up behind to bring up the rear - which was a little odd, considering she'd had the lead, and neither of the other girls had seen her in passing when they ran. Grinning wildly, she skidded to a halt at the poolside, far less out of breath than she had any right to be.

"Guess I lose," she said. "Oops."

And left it at that. There was, after all, something far more exciting than silly games here. She approached the row of lockers, pressing her ear against the first, then the second, then the third. Kneeling down, she twisted the dial left - right - left - and with a click, the locker swung open. She stepped to the side.

"Hide it here?"
 
It felt nice to run again. Since being taken off the track team, she had been a lot lazier than she'd liked, spending her time moping around the house rather than doing something productive. She knew the way well, too, so she was entirely free to turn her mind off, forget about the new circumstances she found herself in and focus entirely on the movement, and her breathing. Arriving at the pool, just outside the changing room, she felt more relaxed than she had in a week, and she had been so focused on herself, she hadn't noticed when she passed up Kyo.

As the other two caught up, Miiko stepped into the locker room, the one Chiasa said stuff had been vanishing from. On a cursory glance, everything seemed... normal. Nothing seemed immediately wrong, and if anything, it felt more comfortable to her than the club room had been. Miiko was surprised, however, when Kyo stepped up to a locker and, rather nonchalantly, popped it right open, offering it up as a hiding place. "W-wait, hold on. How'd you know the combination?" she asked, supremely confused, but stepping forward with the camera nonetheless.
 
“Sweets are always nice, if you don’t know what you’re else the spirit might like, drinks too are good to offer up.” Akina said, agreeing with Eiji’s statement. Kettle in hand she joined Eiji as the girl set out several different sticks of incense for Akina to look through. Akina picked through them carefully, giving each a little sniff before she chose one and held it out for Eiji to take, “this one should pair the best with the tea I have.” she said with a smile.

“Chocolate should go well with the tea too, I think, though I doubt there are any sweets that wouldn’t be tasty.” She said, giving Sayane a wink, ”So be sure to bring plenty and I can take us down to the construction site once everyone is ready to go.” Akina paused for a moment, looking back over her shoulder back to Eiji.

“Oh, and can you let me know when Kaede-hime sprouts? I’d love to say a proper hello then.

—~~—~~—~~—

“Is it really okay to leave that in here?” Chiasa asked as Kyō popped one of the lockers open. Placing a camera in the changing room was questionable enough, but that camera also looked expensive and this was the locker room that things kept disappearing from. Still, if the lady wearing the kimono thought it would be fine then she was likely aware of the risks she was taking, right? “Is this your locker then?” Chiasa added to Miiko’s question.

CRASH.

Chiasa jumped in place at the sound of something heavy hitting the ground. A high pitched screech followed, like metal bending. Chiasa froze in place, staring through the doorway to the showers. Was that a shadow shifting in the gray light? She turned to look at the other two girls, her lips silently asking what they should do.
 
Kyo stared blankly at the other two girls, then smiled wide, shaking her head.

"Of course it's not my locker," she replied, "Look, my name's not on this bag!"

It was really a very stupid question. Why would she have had to listen to the lock to open it if it was hers? Was she just hearing its secrets? She had to bite back a giggle at that one - locks never told their secrets. They were too uptight. That was a good one, a very good one. She'd have to tell that to her friends.

Except, she didn't get the chance. A loud crash rang out through the locker room a moment later, and Kyo's attention flicked, catching the tail end of something moving.

"We're alone, right?" she asked casually, closing the locker with a click and taking a couple steps back.
 
"I'll let you know!" Eiji was mostly just happy to find someone who didn't think that it was weird that she had a shrine set up for a pot of dirt, even if that pot of dirt had a seed in it. Most people thought that was weird, and trying to explain that Kaede-hime was a maple tree spirit hadn't really helped the situation at all. Akina didn't seem to think it was weird, though, and that made Eiji feel a lot better about everything.

It didn't take the three of them long to gather everything that they might need, mostly because Eiji's room wasn't actually that big and didn't actually have very much in it. Some incense sticks, a sack of candy that was big enough for both the spirits and the Paranormal Investigation Club, and Eiji's jacket, because she was good at being sensible sometimes and her mother would have scolded her for going out without a jacket.

Eiji missed her mom. Her mom had always been good at balancing the needs of the spirits with the needs of the people around them. She fit in well in the estate, in a way that Eiji thought her dad really... didn't, even if he'd been the one who had grown up there. Maybe that was why he was always off in Tokyo, doing business people things. He'd stopped by to see her room a couple of times. He had't been particularly impressed with her pot of dirt, either. He'd suggested she put it in a closet.

They'd fought about that. Eiji wasn't happy about that, but she didn't know how to make it better, especially when Dad wouldn't listen. Maybe the spirits felt like that, too: angry because people weren't listening to them. She might not know what they wanted, or might not be able to understand them, but at least she could listen.

Even if that was apparently too hard for Dad. She sighed quietly to herself as she relocked the door, then forced her usual cheerfulness back into her expression. "So, ready to go?"
 
[Volt]

“Oh, uh, me too.” Sayane added half-heartedly. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have an introduction, she still just found it a little bit weird. The spirits that she ran into didn’t have names or introductions or special shrines and pots of soil. They were just sorta hanging around, and if she ran into one she’d give them some food. If she didn’t, she left anyway since they were probably just hiding. It was normal to be nervous when some random person started stomping through your home.

Akina went to pick incense while Sayane rummaged through Eiji’s bottom desk drawer. Rummaging was actually a pretty strong word for it. Apart from the bag of candy there were only a couple other things in the drawer, neatly organized. Sayane pulled the chocolate out, silently cheering. She was gonna ask if she could have a piece anyways, not that Eiji seemed like the type to refuse.

She turned to the rest of the group, incense and sweets at the ready. She nodded to Eiji, flashing her a smile. “Let’s hope Kyo didn’t burn down the locker room while we were gone.” She joked, but that seemed like something they’d have to worry about.
 
"No, not mine. I don-" Miiko was cut off, very rudely, by quite the clamorous sound, something falling loudly to the floor from the direction of the showers. She froze instantly, mind racing to the possibilities. Maybe all of this spirit stuff was true, maybe there was a ghost haunting the locker room, maybe it was about to crawl out of the showers and come after the three of them and they would go missing next.

Or maybe something fell off a rack. She forced herself to calm down, looking between the two younger girls as they each showed signs of panic. This was a hobby club, they were investigating for fun and to set Chiasa's mind to ease. There wasn't anything in the showers, they just needed to let the camera run for a bit, come back to get it, and be done with it when they found the person who was taking stuff. She stepped towards Kyo, a nervous chuckle making its way from her lips. "Of course we're alone, no one was in here when we came in. Just- just set the camera down, and we'll come back for it later. Right?"

Miiko reached out her hand for the camera, keeping her eyes trained on the doorway to the showers.
 
“Well it looks like we got everything we needed,” Akina said, glancing over to see what all Sayane had managed to find as they followed Eiji out of her dorm room. From the looks of things she found some chocolate, which brought a smile to Akina’s lips. Hard to say no to chocolate, though any snacking would have to wait anyway. Still, she looked at Sayane with a little grin. “How about we set aside some candy for the rest of the club, that should make for a nice reward for the other girls once they finish up with the camera. So long as you would be okay with that Eiji?” Akina paused a moment for her to answer before she led the trio out of the school dorms.

The walk from the dorms to the construction site wasn’t a particularly long one, though the small talk was nice. Blue tarps were pulled tight over top construction supplies with a simple chain link fence cordoning off an area of ground where construction equipment sat under the shade of a large cherry blossom tree. Off to one side an older building sat between the construction area and the student dorms. “If I’m not mistaken that’s the old boiler room.” Akina said with a frown.

“Want to check that out first?”

—~~—~~—~~—

“There shouldn’t be, I mean everyone should have changed already, right?” Chiasa said, her voice a sharp whisper. The shadows swelled, its edges threatening to spill into the locker room, and Chiasa could only just imagine someone just standing there on the other side of the wall. Why were they there? Who was it? It had to be a girl, maybe she just heard their voices and was hiding because she didn’t recognize them? Some people didn’t like changing with others around so perhaps that would explain everything? That all made perfect sense, then, why did she feel so cold?

Plip… Plip… Plip…

Chiasa blinked at the sound of water dripping. She stared at the ground, but she couldn’t tell if the shadow had moved at all. She swallowed dryly and turned towards Miiko.

“Yeah, we just uh, need to put up the camera and we can leave.” Chiasa said. That’s right! They didn’t need to check on the weird sounds, and as long as the weird sounds kept on their side of the wall then everything would be fine.

Still, Chiasa wiggled in place as she took a little half step to the side. “A little peak wouldn’t be too bad, right?” She asked, mostly to herself.
 
"I don't think she would burn do-" Eiji stopped her response to Sayane about halfway through. It wasn't really kind to think that someone would burn down a locker room, was it? But then again, Kyo sort of seemed like the sort who might - not on purpose! But... no, actually, maybe on purpose.

Oh no these aren't kind thoughts. Eiji made herself take a breath and let it go again. "I... also hope nothing has happened to anyone." There. That was better. Truthful and kind. They started off, candy in hand, towards the construction zone, pausing as they passed along the fence. Akina asked if they should go check it out, which -

"I don't think we're allowed in there," Eiji pointed out, though her cautionary phrasing was somewhat belied by the fact that she was attempting to peer through the links in the fence at the time. "Maybe just... a peek?" A peek couldn't hurt, right?

Oh no, it's going to be us who burn down the locker room. I was worried about the wrong person.
 
Miiko, camera in hand, set it down gently, angled in such a way to capture as much of the locker room in frame as she could manage, all the while keeping a cautious eye on the doorway to the showers. Chiasa was creeping towards the shadows, towards the sound, mumbling about how surely they were alone. Yes, they had to be. It was after school hours, everything else had wrapped up for the day surely, it was just something falling off a shelf or something. No matter how many times she repeated something along those lines to herself, she couldn't shake the anxiety, and with the camera placed, she felt no need to stay here much longer.

She moved back over to Chiasa, grabbing her shoulder firmly, though only gently pulling her away from the showers. "N-no, I think we should just go. I put the camera down, we don't have- have to stay. Right Kyo? We're good to leave?" Miiko had no idea why she phrased the question that way. or why it had been phrased as a question at all. She was the eldest of the three, she should just say what they were going to do. "Let's go," she said, lacking any sort of conviction or confidence, nervously eyeing between the two other girls.
 
Kyo glanced between Miiko and Chiasa. One wanted to leave, one wanted to stay. Well - from the sound of things, they both wanted to leave, but Chiasa also kind of wanted to stay, despite also wanting to leave. That was very curious to Kyo. Usually, once she knew what she wanted to do, she knew she wanted to do it. Second guessing her own thoughts wasn't really something she did. Which is why when the thought came into her head to be the brave hero and investigate the scary noise for the two obviously uncomfortable girls, well, she took it full throttle like it was the best idea she'd ever had.

Because every idea was the best she'd ever had. She was - she was like Yu Narukami, bravely facing the darkness, not just the real darkness, but the human mind darkness too!

"Scaredy cats," Kyo called out in a nasally sing-song. "It's probably just a janitor. Or maybe a serial killer. Or a janitor serial killer."

Walking nonchalantly towards the source of the noise, she waved at the darkness.

"Hello! Are you gonna kill me?"
 
“Oh, I doubt anything dangerous is lingering around school, there’d be rumors if there were, people are surprisingly sensitive to danger from the unknown.” Akina said, looking back over her shoulder to see if there were any others around before she rolled up the skirt of her kimono and tied it off so it would stay neatly out of the way on her thighs, she gave the same treatment to the white robe she wore underneath.

“A little peek sounds like good fun.” Akina said with a wink. She reached up, taking hold of a link well above her head before slipping one of her sandals into another link. With a grace that was perhaps at odds with her appearance, Akina scrambled her way up, slid her legs over the top, careful not to let her kimono get snagged on any of the links poking up, before she dropped down onto the other side. She stepped over to where a pile of sandbags held the fence in place and put her foot on them.

“Be careful, it’s a little wobbly on the top.” She said with a smile. This really was more fun with friends, wasn’t it?

~~—~~—~~—~~

It’s juuuuust a small little peek, right? Those couldn’t hurt, it was just a locker room! The scariest thing in locker rooms were cockroaches after all so this was all perfectly fine. As Chiasa leaned to the side, the shower stalls slowly creeping into view as she moved. Uniform doors cracked in uneven angles, motionless… only—

“Eeip!” Chiasa yelped, with a little half-jump as Kyō rushed past her into the shower room. She pressed a hand to her chest as she caught her breath sending a wide eyed look back over her shoulder to Miiko. Kyō was not doing a little peek! Not at all! Chiasa’s lips moved wordlessly with that thought, trying to get the point across to Miiko. They were in the same club, right? And Miiko wanted to leave, so Miiko should know what to do, right? Still, despite herself Chiasa shuffled another few steps closer to the doorway.

No voice returned from the stalls, or better yet no masked janitor jumped out with a sharpened broom. The metallic whine continued, accompanied by a strangled gurgle of water. It was from the last stall, wasn’t it?

“Do… do you see anyone?” Chiasa asked. No, wait no that wasn’t right at all! She cleared her throat. “We, uh, have the camera set up, if we want to go back to the club room?” She hadn’t meant it to be a question, but her voice lilted at the last moment as she poked her head through the doorway.
 
Oh, no.

They were definitely going to be the ones getting into trouble.

Eiji was not used to this. She was not a getting into trouble sort of person. Eiji was quiet and respectful and followed the rules and - and - and Akina was over the fence.

Now what? Was she supposed to just stand here pretending that none of this was happening? Was she supposed to go ahead to the locker room? But Akina was her friend and one of the first people who didn't think Eiji was a horrible weirdo, and friends didn't abandon each other. Even if they were getting into trouble. Especially if they were getting into trouble.

"Oh, no, this is such a bad idea..." Eiji wasn't sure if she was saying that to herself or Sayane or Akina, but there really wasn't anything else to do, so she secured her bag a little more tightly, then moved up and climbed over the fence. Eiji was a good climber - she'd climbed a lot of trees. Or, mostly she'd climbed a lot of one tree, but she was still pretty good at it.

She landed on the other side, looking around for the inevitable source of them getting into trouble.
 
[Volt]

Akina suggested setting aside some of the chocolate for the rest of the club, which Sayane greatly appreciated. She’d already been eyeballing the candy, but was glad for the permission to swipe some before it was given to the spirits. She was prepared to return to the other girls as they passed by the construction site. It didn’t look too dissimilar from the abandoned buildings that Sayane liked exploring. Funny, how the only difference between abandoned buildings and ones under construction was just that the latter would eventually become the former.

A sly grin spread across Sayane’s face as Akina suggested checking out the construction site. Eiji halfheartedly tried to squash the idea, but Sayane could see her peering through the links as well. She came around quickly enough, though, and Akina led the charge up and over the fence with practiced ease. Sayane let out a low whistle of appreciation at the other girl’s skill, especially climbing in a kimono. In her early days, Sayane had snagged herself too many times on chain fences and wires. Not like anyone cared, but she’d liked some of those clothes.

Eiji also moved up and over the fence a lot easier than Sayane thought she would, with the standard worrying that seemed to be the girl’s trademark. After she’d made it over, Sayane launched herself at the fence, clambering up and over with little difficulty. She landed softly on the other side, grinning at the other girls.

“You’ve both done this before, haven’t you?” She chuckled softly as her gaze darted between the two.
 
“I’m not telling if you aren’t.” Akina said, tapping her index finger over her lips as she gave her two companions a quick wink. Once the others were safely on the other side Akina turned to attention to the construction yard with a spark of excitement in her eye that seemed to be on the hunt for a little more than just a peek.

The construction yard was quiet, no doubt due to work being done for the day, or, well, hopefully done for the day. It would be rather unfortunate if one of the workers caught them snooping around, wouldn’t it? Akina was clearly unbothered by the possibility as she led the trio forward.

The old boiler house didn’t look too large from the outside, and the door hung half open letting afternoon light shine into the gloom within. The cherry blossom tree sat a few yards away, sturdy with its age the tree twisted halfway up as if it were a person attempting to pop their back. Long branches hung heavy, close enough that one could reach up and grab hold of one, though the shorter might find the stack of building supplies neatly bound under a tarp useful if climbing was their aim.

The air hung still in a warm haze, though the leaves shifted gently.

“That tree is older than this school, I think. It’s in the construction photos for the old school building.” Akina said.
 
"I climb trees," Eiji said defensively. "Not fences!" Eiji had never climbed over a fence before in her life. Well, not the ones you weren't supposed to climb over. When it was shorter than walking all the way down to the gate, sure, that was just a shortcut - but it wasn't like she climbed fences into places she wasn't supposed to be.

Not until now, anyway.

Oh, no. This was getting worse all the time. She was lost in her thoughts and didn't even look around until Akina spoke, and then she looked up sharply, fixing on the tree in front of them.

"Oh."

That was a different sort of oh. Fences and breaking into places were confusing, but ancient trees? Eiji knew exactly how to deal with ancient trees.

"We should go make a greeting. And an offering." A tree that old had to have some sort of spirit, and even if it wasn't the one they were looking for, it would have been rude not to acknowledge it.
 
Akina gave a wink that immediately drew Sayane's attention. Here she'd thought this prim and proper girl in a full kimono was some good two-shoes, but she seemed to have a little bit of fun in her after all. Sayane chuckled, both in response to Akina's insinuation and Eiji's indignation. That girl was either going to get them into trouble or end up hopping fences and breaking into places with the rest of them. She didn't really share their fascination with the old boiler room, at least not the same kind of fascination. Sayane had seen lots of old places, but what each one interesting was what they had unique to them, whether it be their layout, hidden secrets, or their own spirits.

Outside of it stood a large cherry tree in blossom, and Sayane decided to try and get Eiji to lighten up. Remembering her recent comment, she glanced over at the other girl. "Race you to the top."

Sayane waited to see Eiji's reaction before running off towards the tree, scrambling up the trunk and wrapping her arms around the lowest branches, heaving herself up and onto them before looking to continue upwards.
 
At this rate, it wouldn't be the janitor-serial killer to end Miiko's short, innocent life. It would the the antics of Kyo, and her refusal to simply leave the terrifying sounds from the shadows alone. She took a half-step in front of Chiasa, on account of her being the oldest, tallest, and de facto in charge (or so she thought), and with as stern a voice as she could manage (good enough for younger siblings, not so for people she'd just met), called out to Kyo.

"Kyo, we should go. We did what Akina asked, we can see whatever is- whatever might be here on the camera later. Come on."
 
"Sayane, wait!"

It was no use, really, because Sayane was already off and running. "You can't just-"

Nope, definitely too late. Eiji shifted the bag on her shoulders, then took off at a run to try to catch up - but stopping at a distance in front of the tree and giving it a respectful bow. "I apologise for my friend's.... excitement. Please forgive her for any discourtesy. Thank you for being here."

You were supposed to make your greeting first, not just climb up there without so much as a may-I? Some of the spirits could get kind of prickly about that sort of thing, and the last thing you wanted when you were climbing a tree was for it to be prickly.

"I'm going to look around and see if there's a forgotten shrine around here that we can fix up to make an offering. It might be small, or grown over. If not, we can clear a little space and set one up ourselves." Well, Eiji could, anyway. She had no idea what the others were going to do.
 
Kyo turned back to the rest of the girls with a wide grin, spreading her arms out.

"Nothing's here! Spooky noises in a locker room, huh?"

She stepped backwards into the showers proper, shadows covering her.

"Pipes crash! Faucets drip! You're all a bunch of babies. Don't worry, though -" She spun around the face the darkness. "Kyo will protect you! Come out, come out!"
 
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